Liu Fangyuan stood at the bow of the boat and was looking at Zixiong. He thought that what he said would scare the other party away, but he didn't expect to be retorted by the other party's words! At that moment, he was furious and said loudly: "Nonsense! You just accepted it at will.
It is already a big mistake to pay taxes. I am kind-hearted and considerate of you, but I still know my mistake and refuse to correct it!"
Not only was He Lishui not angry when he heard this, but he said directly: "Master He, you said that I was wrong to wait. I would also like to ask, this canal is a ship used by the imperial court to transport grain. The imperial court has strict regulations prohibiting the carrying of goods. Are you?
Why don’t officials even know this? Then who among us made the mistake?”
The reason why He Lishui, a prison guard, dared to speak like this was because when Liu Haojia sent him to the canal to collect taxes, he told He Lishui all the reasons he could think of, so he didn't care at all what Liu Fangyuan said to him! Because
After listening to Liu Haojia's teachings, he felt that the imperial court had suffered a huge loss by collecting less tax revenue from the canal for so many years!
Since ancient times, the grain production in the north has been lower than that in the south, and a large amount of food from the south has been needed to supplement it, so water transportation came into being! And many officials and wealthy businessmen bribed people who transported water to carry goods! When there was less, a ship must have at least 30% of the goods.
, often the entire ship is full of cargo!
In this way, both parties benefited a lot, but this situation seriously affected the transportation of grain. Moreover, the ships could not be intercepted for tax collection, so the entrained goods were openly exempted from tax, which caused great trouble to the court.
losses, so the imperial court once strictly prohibited ships from carrying cargo.
But as the saying goes, where there are policies, there are countermeasures! Although the imperial court strictly prohibited the entrainment of goods by water ships, the entrainment trend is still getting worse! The reason is simply that during the entire activity, the water transportation party, officials and merchants, and the inspection and tax collection party were all there
Naturally, we cannot stop profiteering! But don’t forget, the order prohibiting ships from carrying cargo is still there!
So Liu Fangyuan was stunned by what He Lishui said, and it was hard to reply! Because He Lishui was talking about the imperial decree. You can violate this decree, but you don't want to be pointed out, otherwise it will be a problem! But Liu Fangyuan has some problems after all.
It was hard to give up good wealth, so he refused to give in and said loudly: "The things on these ships are all my personal belongings! I want to be an official in Beijing for a long time, so it is only right to bring more personal belongings!"
He Lishui sneered and said: "Mr. Liu, my people just happened to be back. Why don't we let them talk about it and find out whether it is furniture or goods!"
The people He Lishui was talking about were several other Jin Yiwei. They had already boarded the following ships and opened the cabins to take a look. Liu Fangyuan was on the first ship to stop them, but no officials on the other ships dared to stop the Jin Yiwei. Naturally, they would
Everything in the cabin was clearly visible!
The first Jinyiwei who came over said: "Sir, the second boat is filled with high-quality rice paper and pens! There are thousands of pens alone!"
Then another one came up and said: "Sir, the ship behind is full of porcelain and lacquerware!"
Several other people also reported what was on board one after another. As a result, these six ships were filled with all kinds of best-selling goods!
He Lishui clapped his hands and said: "Mr. Liu, if you don't say secret words or say anything else, those Hu pens alone are not your property! Those Hu pens are enough for you to write for a lifetime, let alone other goods.
!”
Liu Fangyuan snorted and said: "So what? I am an official and have tax-free privileges. It is legitimate to transport some goods! Open the water gate quickly and let me leave!"
He Lishui laughed and said, "I don't know when the imperial court gave you the tax exemption?"
Liu Fangyuan went crazy after hearing this, pointed at He Lishui with his finger and said: "You are really an ignorant madman! Officials and gentry are the pillars of the country, so naturally they are exempted from taxes, just to cultivate more righteousness, you vulgar
What do you know?"
He Lishui raised his eyes and sneered: "Master Liu, this is nonsense! The imperial court has never given officials the privilege of tax exemption, only exemption from service! If you don't believe it, I will argue with you in front of everyone.
The law of the country?”
Liu Fangyuan heard that a guard in uniform wanted to discuss the law with him. He was so angry that he blushed and became thick-necked! In his opinion, it is a natural thing for officials and gentry to be exempted from tax. How could it be just exempt from service! So he said sharply:
"You're talking nonsense! What do you, a martial artist, know?"
He Lishui sneered and said: "Am I talking nonsense? Today, I will teach you the laws of the imperial court! Back then, Grandpa Taizu ruled the world..."
In fact, He Lishui is right. Gentlemen and officials do not have the privilege of tax exemption or exemption from service. Only "official households" have the privilege of exemption from service. However, this privilege is not only available to "official households", but also to military households, horse households, and all special households.
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In the final analysis, this kind of privilege in the Ming Dynasty was based on "status" rather than class. In other words, it was a treatment for individuals. The exempted service refers to handymen.
At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang established a system to push many government expenditures and public services to the common people. The common people were asked to serve in order to reduce the court's expenditure. This was called handyman.
To give an example: when an imperial envoy goes to a certain county to do business, the county should host a banquet. In the Ming Dynasty, "hosting a banquet" was considered a chore and should be provided free of charge by families with a certain number of acres of land in the county.
Why did the Ming Dynasty exempt some status households from chores? It was because these people were already serving. For example, a certain official was from Suzhou. It stands to reason that his family should be responsible for the labor force in Suzhou City, but because he had already arrived
While serving in the capital, there was no way to do duty in Suzhou, so the emperor could directly exempt his family from the chores.
Moreover, this kind of behavior has become a common practice in the court. There is no need for the emperor to issue an order. In other words, when this person becomes an official, he is automatically exempted from this handyman. But please note that he only has this right after he becomes an official.
!Without an official position, even a Jinshi is inevitable!
Of course, this example is rough, but the meaning is probably correct. However, after the mid-Ming Dynasty, handymen became a heavy burden! One reason is that the local government randomly allocated all the increased expenses to the people. This caused
The burden on local people is getting heavier and heavier.
Then there are the consequences of the monetization of handymen. How about if someone doesn’t want to serve, they can discuss with the yamen whether they can hire people to serve at their own expense? The local yamen naturally agrees. As time goes by, the censor feels that it is too troublesome to dispatch the servitude, so it is better to convert it into money.
Well, if you collect the money from the Yamen and then hire people to serve, the wages can be even lower, and you can still earn a little!