In the blink of an eye, ten days later, those who had received the invitations had gathered in Hangzhou!

Time was in a hurry, and some people came by boat overnight after receiving the invitation, not daring to delay even a moment.

Fortunately, the transportation here in Zhejiang is much more convenient, otherwise it would have been impossible to gather together in such a short period of time.

The Dong'an Hall of Ruyifang has also begun to be repaired. Although Wang Chuan is from Hangzhou, he had already stayed at an inn near Ruyifang as early as last night. He was afraid that he would waste time and not arrive in time.

Early in the morning, Wang Chuan arrived at Ruyifang. Ruyifang was still crowded with guests today. Many people had heard about the CPPCC and wanted to join in the fun. The business of Ruyifang had improved a lot compared to before.

Young Master. Only when he arrived near Dong'an Hall, guards began to appear here, and people were strictly prohibited from coming in and out at will. Wang Chuan took the invitation out, and the other party let him in.

This feeling made Wang Chuan enjoy it very much. Since he got the invitation, Wang Chuan suddenly felt that he was superior to others. He used to do business, but doing business was different from doing business. Merchants discussed politics, which was also the first of its kind.

suffered.

There were quite a few people coming in, gathering in twos and threes and chatting.

Some of them recognized each other and greeted each other.

The Dong'an Hall in the front occupies a large area and is not small in scale. However, it has been renovated and a plaque has been replaced above, calling the CPPCC to listen to government affairs.

The four words "listen to politics" are mainly to avoid violating taboos. If you say "discussing politics", it will inevitably make people guess, so I simply changed it to "listening to politics".

Wang Chuan followed the flow of people into the hall, which had completely changed its original appearance.

The entire hall has been repaired. For example, the doors and windows have been sealed as much as possible. After exiting the main entrance, the entire huge hall has become a sealed matchbox.

The tables and chairs inside are also very cleverly designed. They are designed in a zigzag shape, with a round platform as the center, and all the tables and chairs are placed in circles around the round platform.

The center position is obviously the podium, and there are five circles of 300 seats. The positions in the back are getting higher and higher, forming a layout similar to the Colosseum.

When it was originally designed, the main reason was that if more than 300 people participated in the meeting, if it was like going to court, with the emperor sitting at the top and other people standing on the left and right, no matter how good your voice is, your voice may not be able to impress everyone.

Hearing·This is to discuss politics, that is, everyone has time to talk. This must ensure that everyone's speech can be heard clearly. This closed design, as well as the zigzag arrangement of tables and chairs, can make every effort possible.

A person listens to the maximum extent possible.

After all, there are no microphones in this era, so we can only try our best.

Each table and chair has a name. Everyone must find their name to sit down. It is naturally a bit troublesome to find more than 300 seats. However, each batch of tables and chairs will have a designated area. For example, which area will the merchants be in?

In which area the scholars will be, within this range, everyone will find their own desks and chairs.

Wang Chuan found the table and chair. It was in the third row on the east side. It was neither good nor bad. He happily sat on the table and chair. The position here was relatively high and he could see any blind spots.

In addition, in the closed room, there are lanterns hanging on the wall, making the inside extremely bright.

On each table, there is a booklet with the contents of today's meeting written down. In the morning, the discussion was on commercial tax. They had a lunch break at noon. In the afternoon, the discussion was still on commercial tax.

In the morning, the discussion on business tax was mainly conducted by the person presiding over the meeting. In other words, no one had a chance to speak and just listened. However, in the afternoon, although the discussion was also about business tax, everyone could express their opinions and opinions.

, but you can raise it, and you can speak freely if you feel dissatisfied with it.

Everyone sat down one after another. After half an hour, all seats were empty. Even when the governor came in with a group of officials, everyone just nodded and sat down in their seats despite everyone saying hello.

in position.

This kind of thing gives people the first impression that it is rare. Because it is an unprecedented thing, everyone seemed a little nervous, and the venue was completely silent.

Finally, Xu Qian's figure appeared.

Everyone stood up one after another to salute Xu Qian.

Xu Qian smiled, pressed his hands and said, "This is not a government office, so there is no need to be polite."

Immediately, he walked directly onto the stage in the middle, holding a document in his hand, and began to say: "Time is limited, so I will not gossip. What we are discussing today is commercial tax. What is commercial tax? Since ancient times, collection

Taxes support the country, and the country supports its soldiers, and raising its soldiers protects its people. I have read through the annals of history, and I have never heard of a court that did not pay taxes, nor have I heard of merchants who did not pay taxes."

"It's just that in the Ming Dynasty, the court did not pay taxes to merchants. But if you think about it, you know that even though they didn't pay, they actually paid more. Although the court didn't pay, the governments in various places and various levels exploited and used various methods.

The harsh administration and miscellaneous taxes have never been less, but what is the benefit of doing so? The imperial court cannot collect money and grain, but all your money has enriched local officials, and countless people have enriched their own pockets.

"

"In this case, instead of doing this, it is better for the imperial court to collect taxes uniformly, so that the imperial court can use the money and grain to provide relief and raise troops. Why bother to enrich others? Therefore, I believe that commercial taxes must be levied and must be levied.

It’s just a matter of how to conquer, so I’ll just give you some simple opinions.”

"Taxation is not meant to force everyone into bankruptcy, so the tax system must be within the acceptable range of everyone, but it cannot be too low, causing the court to have no money to use and no food to adjust. In addition, the tax burden must be levied,

I'm afraid it's not easy. If you tax each workshop, there will be two problems. First, concealing the report. I think you are not a fuel-efficient lamp. If the merchants who set up workshops let you bear the annual surplus yourself,

If the imperial court continues to collect taxes here, I think you will find that many of the reports are false."

At this point, everyone couldn't help but laugh awkwardly, even Wang Chuan laughed too. Everyone is a businessman, and no one is a fool. If his workshop has an annual profit of 10,000 taels of silver, he will definitely repay 10,000 taels of silver.

Thousand, this is determined by their attributes. They are merchants, and merchants are here to make money. Production is to make money, and hiding taxes naturally makes money. Why not make this money?

Qian continued: "After all, it is difficult to count. The problem of underreporting is very serious. The second problem is also very serious, that is, it is difficult to estimate profits. If the government is so happy about success, you will make a profit of 10,000, but what the government reports to the court is not

It’s 100,000 yuan. If we collect a tax of 100,000 yuan from you, I’m afraid you won’t be able to maintain it.”

This is a very important consideration, and this is what many people are worried about, because it is difficult to calculate profits. It is easy to hide them yourself, but the government insists on saying that your profits are high. After all, the right to collect taxes lies with others.

If someone insists on heightening, but your arms can’t twist your thighs, what can you do?

Wang Chuan couldn't help but nod, feeling that what Mr. Xu said made sense.

Xu Qian said: "So, when the imperial court collects taxes, it might as well use the New Deal Money and Grain Bureau model to collect cotton mulberries, iron ore, coal mines, timber, and tolls. For example, when cotton mulberries are collected, the tax on cotton mulberries is very high.

Good statistics, the difference in output will not be big. How many acres of land you have planted cotton mulberry, the court will collect how much money you have. The same is true for minerals, iron ore, coal, wood, clay, tea and other raw materials if you want to sell them in the market

, you must obtain a license, and the license requires taxation. In this way, the court only needs to supervise a small number of people on a fixed basis, and it can receive taxes. And if your workshops want to produce, they must purchase raw materials.

When taxes rise, the gentry and merchants who produce raw materials will inevitably have to raise prices to sell them. You purchase raw materials at high prices and put them into production. In fact, the original intention is to impose a heavy tax burden. In the end, these taxes are borne by everyone.

Get up and take responsibility.”

This taxation model actually existed when the New Deal was implemented, but it is not standardized and universal enough for everyone to accept.

For example, if the gentry who grow cotton originally grow a hundred pounds of cotton at a price of one hundred taels, but the government levies a tax of one hundred taels on them, then the merchants who purchase cotton will definitely have to raise the price. Those who sell cotton will

Gentlemen, one hundred and eighty taels are sold to merchants who collect cotton. After the merchants receive one hundred and eighty taels of cotton, they have to process it, such as making it into cotton cloth. Originally, if they made cotton cloth with one hundred and eighty taels of silver, they could sell it.

One hundred and fifty taels of silver, but because the purchase price was too high, the cotton had to be sold for two hundred and one taels of silver. The garment workshop that purchased the cotton had to bear the cost of the two hundred and one taels of silver after the purchase.

After the price of cotton cloth has increased, the profit will be reduced by at least twenty or thirty taels of silver. In addition, they have to transfer the burden of this tax to the dyeing and beading workshops.

In the end, of the one hundred taels of silver, the cotton growers paid twenty or thirty taels, the weavers paid another twenty or thirty taels, and the merchants of garments, dyeing houses, and beadworkers borne another twenty or thirty taels of silver.

Of course, in fact, it is impossible to collect a tax of one hundred taels on cotton worth one hundred taels. At most, it is only thirty or forty taels. After the tax is shared layer by layer, the actual output of one hundred taels of silver is,

Finally, when it comes to the ready-made clothes, the final price may have reached three hundred taels of silver. The tax that everyone bears is only thirty or forty taels. This tax rate is acceptable to everyone, and it is easy to put away. You are innocent, so there is no need.

I am worried that merchants will not be able to absorb this tax.
Chapter completed!