While Zhu Jianshen was amazed, he was also a little worried. If it was allowed to develop, the threat would increase day by day.
One day, it will even become so powerful that it can overwhelm the imperial power!
Zhu Jianshen's heart burst with murderous intent, but it quickly disappeared. He knew that today's merchants could not threaten the imperial power at all, so there was no need to be so anxious, and the national treasury was not rich now, and the business tax was a big one, so he could not abandon his martial arts skills.
Let it grow for a while first, but don't let it become a climate... Zhu Jian thought deeply.
At this time, after Shen Xin finished speaking, he woke up from his excitement and bowed his head again, feeling uneasy in his heart.
He was vaguely aware that the emperor would not punish him severely, but he was also afraid that he would be fined another few million taels. He was really running out of money.
If we impose further fines, we will no longer be able to turn over funds.
Shen Xin murmured: "Your Majesty, all the money of ordinary people is reflected in the property, and the remaining money is not... not much."
Zhu Jianshen sneered and asked, "So, I have wronged you for tax evasion?"
"Uh... the grassroots didn't..." Shen Xin said humbly, "the grassroots didn't intentionally evade taxes. I guess it was the guy below who did it without permission. The grassroots will investigate it strictly after we return."
The emperor could not be at fault, but Shen Xin did not dare to take the blame, so he had to find a lame excuse.
Although the reason was lame, at least it was bright on the surface. It not only did not humiliate the emperor, but also removed himself.
Zhu Jianshen didn't want to catch one and kill him. As Li Qing said, Shen Xin was of great use to the Ming Dynasty. He could harvest wool, but he couldn't kill him directly.
"Well...go about your business."
"Yes, the common people obey the decree." Shen Xin was overjoyed. This feeling of never ending his life was so wonderful that he didn't even care about being fined three million taels of silver.
Compared with his wealth and life, anything can be compromised. Besides, three million taels will not make him unable to survive.
"The grassroots resign!"
Shen Xin kowtowed twice, stood up shakily, took a few steps back, turned around and exited the small courtyard.
As soon as he went out, he saw the Jin Yiwei on both sides of the door. They were all big and round, and the evil spirit rushed towards his face. He couldn't help trembling, and nodded and bowed as he walked.
I secretly swore in my heart: Even if I am beaten to death, I will not offend the imperial court!
~
"Your Majesty, how is it?"
"Business is indeed important." Zhu Jianshen nodded, "I underestimate the importance of merchants to the Ming Dynasty."
Li Qing smiled and said: "But just now the emperor had murderous intentions."
"Really? You saw it wrong!" Zhu Jianshen's heart suddenly trembled, but he refused to admit it.
Li Qing curled his lips, but did not argue with him, he just said: "It is true that merchants becoming big is not always a good thing for the Ming Dynasty, and there is no guarantee that they will not lose their tail;
But for now, the merchants are far from having that much energy, so please, the emperor, please don't stop eating because of choking. "
Zhu Jian was silent for a moment and said: "Be born in sorrow and die in happiness. It is necessary to prepare for a rainy day. What if the merchants become bigger in the future?
When the wealth reaches a certain level, most Ming officials will have to use money to do things, and they can further transform into official careers! "
"Well... that's the truth." Li Qing nodded and said, "But this is based on the fact that the emperor cannot make the decision. As long as the emperor is in power, everything will not be a problem.
And the emperor also needs money, doesn't he? "
Zhu Jian sighed deeply and said, "I won't rush to touch them, but if they show signs of threatening the imperial power, I won't be lenient."
"Yeah, okay." Li Qing had no objection to this.
Seeing that he was so talkative this time, Zhu Jianshen looked much better and said, "Shi Heng and the others are coming back soon. You should prepare yourself and come up with a charter."
After a pause, he added: "About business... In the short term, I will provide certain conveniences to that Shen Xin so that he can quickly pull..."
Seeing that he had forgotten his words, Li Qing added: "Domestic demand."
"Yes, after stimulating domestic demand, I will strictly control it." Zhu Jianshen hummed, "Including the merchants, officials and gentry in Jiangnan, I will not let them grow wildly;
Not to mention whether Shen Xin evaded taxes, ninety-nine percent of those wealthy landlords in Jiangnan had evaded taxes. "
This is a fact. They have been doing this since the Jingtai period. Zhu Qiyu also knows this, but he hopes to stabilize it first. At the same time, he is also afraid of pressing too hard and causing trouble.
However, after Zhu Qiyu's death, commercial taxes shrank further, not just one point or two points.
Li Qing naturally knew that, but in comparison, Li Qing wanted to maintain a good relationship between the emperor and his ministers for a period of time. There were more than 50,000 officials in the Ming Dynasty, so they could not keep suppressing them and had to relax sometimes, otherwise they would be forced into panic.
But we can't relax for too long. In recent years, Ming officials have gained a lot of benefits overtly and covertly, so the gap must be tightened.
"Are you confident now?" Li Qing asked.
"I certainly have it." Zhu Jianshen smiled confidently, "You don't need to worry about this. You only need to deal with the grassland tribes that are about to return."
Li Qing warned: "Don't be too aggressive in your methods before you have established your prestige."
"Don't worry, I know it well." Zhu Jianshen asked, "Have you ever seen me act recklessly?"
"At the beginning, I didn't know who was searching for my sweetheart all over the capital. I was so anxious."
"... That was an exception." Zhu Jianshen said with a dark face, "I have always been cautious in dealing with the situation in the DPRK. In short, you can rest assured that I will not act out of impulse."
Li Qing nodded slightly. He felt reassured about Zhu Jianshen. This guy was indeed calm enough.
"Then Shen Xin will probably come again tonight. Do you want me to bring something to him?"
"Give him a hint and let him do business with confidence, but don't give him too much face." Zhu Jianshen snorted, "I still hate merchants."
Li Qing nodded with a smile: "Okay, I asked you to come here today mainly to let you understand the importance of business. There is nothing else. If the emperor has other matters, please go back first."
"...You are so good. Everyone brings tea to guests, but you can't bear to bring out a glass of water." Zhu Jianshen teased: "Do you dare to be stingy again?"
Li Qing was speechless: "Okay, I'll go to the East Kitchen and give you a scoop."
Zhu Jianshen's face was full of black lines: "Forget it, let's skip it."
"No, it's inevitable." Li Qing said boldly, "You have to drink it."
~
When Li Qing came out with the water ladle, Zhu Jianshen had already fled.
Li Qing shook his head and smiled, and drank tons and tons of it himself, "Well...it's a lot worse than the imperial mountain spring water."
He went back to his room and picked up a copy of "Water Margin" and leaned on the recliner to pass the boring time.
In the evening, Shen Xin came to the door again.
This time, he did not dare to ask Li Qing for help. The money would not come back, and he had no intention of asking for it. He just wanted to turn the page quickly and not let the emperor catch him collecting money alone.
"Master Hou, you know that making money in business requires a process." Shen Xin vomited bitterly, "From investment, building workshops, to recruiting workers, training workers, cultivating industrial supply, and production and sales... …How can I get my money back so quickly? I don’t have much money now.”
As he said this, he took out a large stack of banknotes from his sleeve, all of which were in denominations of one thousand taels, and visually estimated to be no less than 50,000 taels.
"The common people will always bear in mind the kindness of the Marquis to the common people." Shen Xin said with a flattering smile, "This is a small respect. I hope that the Marquis will not dislike it."
Li Qing hesitated for a moment, accepted his intention, and said: "I think Boss Shen should understand why businessmen should not fight with officials."
"The grassroots understand." Shen Xin nodded.
Of course he understood that if it hadn't been for inflation, he wouldn't have ended up where he did today. óΠъ.oяＧ
Li Qingdao: "Letting more people get benefits is the value of your existence and the existence of all merchants; there is a saying that harmony makes money, well... you just need to do business as you should, and you will make enough. Too greedy."
"Yes, the common people will obey the order of the Marquis." Shen Xin nodded solemnly, and then said with a smile: "Master Marquis, where is the Emperor...?"
"I will help you find a favor." Li Qing promised, thought for a while, and then said, "There is one more thing you should keep in mind."
"Master Marquis, please speak."
"Don't take your business to the capital." Li Qing said calmly, "The emperor's feet are where the temple is. If you stand out here, even if you don't look for others, others will keep an eye on you. You must remember the lesson from last time. If you are taken advantage of by the big people here, If you keep an eye on me, you can drink a pot of it."
Shen Xin's heart trembled, and he hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "The common people will remember this."
"Well..." Li Qing breathed a sigh of relief, "Go ahead and go about your business. Don't get involved in political matters. If you really can't escape, you can write to me. I will help if I can."
After a pause, "But remember, I help you because you can bring benefits to the people."
"The grass people remember it."
…
Li Qing continued to watch "Water Margin", but his mind flew to the future development of the Ming Dynasty.
In today's Ming Dynasty, business has been very developed, and various industries have been fully promoted. It can be said that the future is bright. However, behind this great success, there are also hidden dangers.
Prosperity lies in business, but also hidden dangers.
In this era, the imperial court did not exert strong control over local areas. It was not that it did not want to, but that it was unable to do so.
Information was transmitted too slowly, and the relationships among local officials, gentry, and people were also complicated, making it impossible to manage effectively with just one hand and one finger at a time.
With the rapid development of commerce, the voice of merchants will also become larger and larger, which will inevitably affect the government and even threaten the imperial power.
This is also the reason why Li Qing did not refute Zhu Jianshen.
However, developed commerce is very beneficial to the people and can also provide high taxes. It would be a pity to give up the development of commerce because of this.
This seems to be a dead end. No matter how you do it, there are disadvantages... Li Qing thought hard, but he still couldn't find a way to solve it.
"Human nature..." Li Qing sighed softly: "Let's see again. If it doesn't work, we can only use the simplest and crudest method."
This is an idea that Li Qing has pondered countless times but overturned countless times.
Secretly cultivate a force of your own and use physical methods to bring order to chaos!
But this approach was tantamount to treason. Li Qing had no idea of loyalty to the emperor. He was worried that if he did this, if things continued like this, the successors of the Ming Dynasty would be left flat.
Or maybe he became a big villain and the court tried to suppress him at all costs, which eventually turned into a situation where they fell in love and killed each other!
