316 [His treacherous minister, my capable minister] (For Shangxian Qitian boss
Nanjing, Daqiaonan City.
Two officials came to post the notice, and hundreds or thousands of people crowded in to watch.
"How? How?"
"What kind of charter is the Kuai Nian you can see in front of me?"
“Is there any tax reduction!”
"..."
After the official posted the notice, one of them turned around and shouted: "Quiet, be quiet, I'll read it... From the beginning of August, all shops in and outside the city should go to the industrial and commercial office of the county government to apply for a business license. Before the first day of October,
All shops and businesses in the city are not taxed. Starting from the beginning of October, taxes have been reduced for all businesses. Those who do not have a business license will be severely fined!"
"Long live Mr. Zhao!" the merchants shouted in unison.
The key word they heard was "tax reduction". Nanjing's industrial and commercial taxes are extremely heavy and have only increased since the founding of the country.
Even if the new emperor ascends the throne and orders a temporary tax reduction across the country, he will always add an additional sentence: "The northern and southern capitals are not exempt from this."
The official shouted again: "From now on, we will cancel the mission office, recruitment, and corvee service. The government will conduct random inspections on city surveys, and the interval between city surveys will be at least one month!"
As soon as these words came out, all the merchants were stunned, and then they all knelt down towards the notice.
Some people shouted anything, some asked Bodhisattva to bless Zhao Han with a long life, some simply called Zhao Han a living Bodhisattva, and some cried and kowtowed crazily to the notice.
The contents of errands, recruitment, corvee... These contents are tantamount to open robbery by the government, which can trick merchants into bankruptcy.
Market survey, once every three days.
The original intention is good, surveying prices, surveying scales, rulers, buckets and other commercial tools to prevent merchants from cheating and driving up prices. But the implementation is pure nonsense, which is equivalent to industrial and commercial law enforcement officers coming to extort money every three days.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
The sales of firecrackers in Nanjing City were extremely good today. The firecrackers were sold out. All the merchants were cheering and celebrating.
The merchants know very well that no one in the world, except Zhao Han, can give such preferential treatment.
In Zhao Han's eyes, it is natural not to exploit merchants indiscriminately. But in the eyes of merchants, this is unprecedented good governance, and Zhao Han is one of his own people who speaks for merchants.
Merchants flocked to the county government office to apply for industrial and commercial licenses, since they had to register before.
The industry, population, and business conditions must be clearly stated. Based on the industry, location, store size, and revenue, it is divided into three levels and nine levels, and different taxes are levied on each level.
Many ancient city merchants were integrated with industry and commerce.
That is, the front shop and the back shop. The front is the shop, which is responsible for sales; the backyard is the workshop, which is responsible for manufacturing.
The wealth of the world comes from Jiangnan, and Jinling is its headquarters. Nanjing is the commercial center of the entire Jiangnan region.
By the time of Chongzhen, there were hundreds of thousands of people in the inner city alone. There were more than 9,000 households in the outer city registered with the government. These were all permanent residents with household registration. In addition, there were many people living outside the city who were attached to the city.
.
The total population of Nanjing at the end of the Ming Dynasty must have exceeded one million!
There are more than 100 types of merchants. Each type of merchant can range from dozens to hundreds.
There are more than 500 pawnshops alone. Huizhou merchants are the most powerful in opening pawnshops, followed by Fujian merchants.
There are also six to seven hundred large and small restaurants, and more than a thousand large and small teahouses.
Nanjing is dominated by the service industry, followed by freight.
Hou Fangyu walked through the streets, listening to the cheers of merchants everywhere, and sighed as he walked towards the teahouse he often patronized.
Halfway through, another official came to post a notice, and soon there was even more terrifying cheers.
This time the whole city cheered!
Reform the stall system and eliminate the stall chief and stall chief.
Cancel the fire armor system.
No matter where your household registration is, except for staying in an inn, you must apply for household registration or temporary household registration.
Hou Fangyu stared at the notice for a while and sighed with emotion: "Nanjing is settled!"
After the two notices were posted, merchants and private households became Zhao Han's die-hard loyalists. Even if the imperial army counterattacked and Zhao Han was temporarily short of troops, the people in the city would spontaneously help defend the city.
The Fangxiang system, ignoring the differences, can be regarded as the city's Lijia system.
There were mills inside the city and compartments outside the city, and the mayors and compartment chiefs had to collect taxes. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the mayors and compartment chiefs had all become local snakes, not only exploiting the people, but also supporting domestic slaves and thugs.
What is even more abnormal is that the local population inside and outside Nanjing is very small, while the foreign population is several times greater.
There are few locals and they have to pay taxes.
There are many people from out of town and they don’t pay taxes.
The locals suffered a lot and often broke into citizen riots.
At the same time, both sides have to prepare fire armor, which is to work for the government for free. They need to help put out fires, clear gutters, clean the streets, and sometimes catch thieves. These things should be done by the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division.
But the Wucheng Military and Horse Division is doing work for the powerful and officials for free.
Now Zhao Han treats everyone equally and has set up police stations in various places. People can just pay money for security every month and don't need to worry about other things.
The money charged for public security in Nanjing is definitely higher than that in Ji'an, because prices here are also higher.
Foreigners seem to have to pay an extra security fee, but they don't have to deal with the messy police officers, and their lives are actually easier than before.
Everyone can benefit.
These benefits were previously taken away by the powerful, officials, clerks, and local gangsters.
"Good catch!"
"Behead, capture and behead!"
At the end of the street, people cheered and shouted again. Hou Fangyu turned around and looked, but it was a village chief and his thugs who had been arrested.
The deformed urban grassroots governance ecology makes the village leader a local gangster. A village leader is a gang leader. The bigger the city, the more serious this situation becomes.
Zhao Han personally ordered that the head of the workshop and the head of the chamber be captured, and their heads would be beheaded without interrogation.
As for those gangsters, they will be punished according to the law after trial.
A large number of people followed him, wanting to see with their own eyes what happened to the mayor. After passing through several streets, they finally arrived at the execution place. The official took out a rope and hanged the mayor to death.
Beheading is too dirty and has to be disinfected with lime. It is more convenient to strangle with a rope.
The gangsters who used to roam around seemed to have suddenly disappeared. Some of them were caught, and the rest were hidden or simply fled Nanjing.
By September, Nanjing household registration and industrial and commercial registration were basically completed.
The security fees paid by residents alone totaled three thousand taels of silver a month.
However, the amount of silver collected by the Ming Dynasty was only more than 500 taels a year.
Zhao Han collected taxes of 3,000 taels a month, and the Ming Dynasty collected 500 taels a year. However, all the people felt that Zhao Han was implementing benevolent government. The taxes collected in the Ming Dynasty were so low that they often led to citizen riots.
Isn’t it weird?
Where did the 72-fold price difference go?
Restaurant.
Ma Shiying watched all this with cold eyes, suddenly drank the wine in his glass, and muttered: "This man is really the reincarnation of Taizu, and I don't dare to serve as an official under him."
Ruan Dacheng sighed: "I don't dare to be an official anymore, so let's let my children and grandchildren become officials. I have to be disciplined and not to enrich my own pockets, otherwise the family will be destroyed."
"But I'm not willing to give in," Ma Shiying said. "The Great Revolution happens only once in hundreds of years. You and I happen to be at the grand event. Should we just sit back and watch without participating in it?"
Ruan Dacheng asked: "Is it too late to become an honest official now?"
Ma Shiying smiled and said: "How old are you?"
"Fifty-three." Ruan Dacheng replied.
"I am only forty-eight years old," Ma Shiying said. "What I did in the old dynasty will not be concerned by the new dynasty. Tomorrow I will go to see Zhao Han and ask to be a small official in the town."
Ruan Dacheng was shocked and said: "My dear brother, you want to be a small official in the town? This is a sign of humiliation!"
Ma Shiying said with a smile: "If you directly ask for an official position, will Zhao Han give it to you? Then simply start from the bottom and leave a good impression on Zhao Han. As long as you work hard, you will be promoted quickly. I finally understand what the eunuch is, Donglin
The party and the society are all the same thing in Zhao Han's eyes. He doesn't care about his background, he only cares about whether he can do things well. Whatever he wants, I will do it. If I want an upright official, I will be an upright official; if he wants to be an official,
I will be an official! If he wants to criticize his ministers, I will be Wei Zheng!"
"My dear brother is really a great talent," Ruan Dacheng admired him sincerely, and then shook his head, "I can't help but feel embarrassed if I start from a lowly position. Being a county magistrate is just about the same for me."
Ma Shiying smiled and said nothing, he had completely figured it out.
To serve different monarchs, one must have different ways of serving as an official.
He was older and joined the family relatively late. He could at most become a magistrate before his death. If he lived longer, he might reach the level of participating in politics (provincial department). This would be enough. It would pave the way for his children and grandchildren, and the Ma family could continue to prosper.
The more Ma Shiying thought about it, the more feasible it became. He pointed to the excited crowd on the street: "Nanjing already has the surname Zhao, and the people of Nanjing also have the surname Zhao. At most, in three to five years, Mr. Zhao will be able to sweep the world. Haha, see you soon, brother. I want you to be stupid.
He went to be an honest official."
"Goodbye!" Ruan Dacheng stood up and held his hands.
Ma Shiying suddenly felt relieved. He had lived in Nanjing for the past two years and was in a state of panic all day long due to the resumption of society.
Instead of dawdling around all day, it's better to work hard and give it a try.
He admits that he is a villain, but as long as the emperor is happy, he can become a gentleman at any time, because he was a gentleman before. He can also become a minister at any time, because he was a minister before.
It's so simple, just go back to your old job.
The next day, Ma Shiying asked for an audience, but Zhao Han did not refuse the summons.
"Do you want to be a small official, and a small official in the town?" Zhao Han smiled a little strangely.
Ma Shiying said solemnly: "I have seen many of the good governance of the headquarters in Nanjing. In this era of revolution, I have met a wise master. Although I have little talent and little knowledge, I am eager to join in it. I am very concerned about the politics of Jiangxi.
I don’t know much about it, so I want to start as a township official, please give me permission from the town chief!”
"It's rare that you have such a heart," Zhao Han praised, "Go to Chunhua Town to help divide the fields."
"Thank you so much, Chief Town. I will definitely work hard to allocate the fields in Chunhua Town properly." Ma Shiying bowed and bowed.
Chunhua Town is located in Jiangning County, not far from Nanjing. There are many noble lands there.
It's not difficult, all the nobles are finished, it's just a springboard for promotion.
Since Ma Shiying is sensible, Zhao Han doesn't mind giving him a chance, and he can even set him up as a model: the treacherous minister of the Chongzhen Dynasty is a capable minister under me!
(Thank you Penguin Boss, the Silver Alliance of Immortal Qitian, thank Beetle, I am the black brother of the Republic, the leader of the Zhen Yi Zi alliance for the reward.)
(I promised four updates, and I won’t break my promise. The update may be very late, so don’t wait.)