After the princelings agreed on the business tax reform strategy, they also agreed to keep a secret and keep a low profile for the time being, and then left the East Palace one after another and returned to their respective homes. ◇↓
But it was said that the prince's young master Guo Tang immediately found his biological brother Guo Min after returning to his mansion.
In the Guo family, the nominal head of the family is Guo Tang, who is the crown prince and young master. However, Guo Min has always been responsible for the management of the Guo family's chores, staff, and various properties. Regardless of Guo Tang's profound knowledge and position
Gao Juezun, but it is not an exaggeration to say that I know nothing about those account numbers, money, rice, oil, salt, and business operations.
In a certain sense, the real head of the Guo family is Guo Min.
However, this does not mean that Guo Tang is unimportant. In fact, without Guo Tang, the crown prince and young master, as a signboard, the Guo family would not be as prosperous as it is now!
"Brother, you came to me in such a hurry, but what happened?" Guo Min asked quickly after arriving at Guo Tang's study.
After Guo Tang hesitated for a moment, he did not say anything about the decision he made in the East Palace today, but just asked: "Guo Min, tell me, how is our business doing now? How big is the scale? How much is the profit?
"
Upon hearing Guo Tang's interrogation, Guo Min couldn't help but be stunned.
In Guo Min's eyes, his brother has always been aloof and uninvolved in worldly affairs. He regards money as a piece of junk that smells like copper. He doesn't even mention it much on weekdays, for fear that mentioning money will make him tacky.
Why did you go out of your way today and ask yourself about your family business?
So, Guo Min asked: "Brother, why are you asking about this? But do you need enough money to buy antiques? If this is the case, brother, please mention that our family's business is going smoothly now. We have made a lot of profits. If brother needs it, how much money can we spend?"
A thousand taels of silver is not a big deal."
On weekdays, most of Guo Tang's salary and silver are used to buy antiques and authentic works, as well as the four treasures of the study. He spends a lot of money on these. Guo Min thought that this time Guo Tang asked about the business situation of his family, there were some elegant and expensive things.
The salary was high, and Guo Tang couldn't afford it, so he wanted to get some money from the government.
Seeing that Guo Min had gone astray, Guo Tang frowned and said: "Why am I asking for money from you? Why are you asking for money? How come you can think of money in everything? You have become more and more vulgar over the years!...
...Forget it, I won’t talk nonsense to you, just tell me about our family’s current business situation.”
When Guo Min saw Guo Tang reprimanding him, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly.
…
Originally, the Guo family was not a well-to-do family with abundant money and food. In fact, before Guo Tang entered the officialdom and rose up the ranks, the Guo family's family background was very ordinary, just an ordinary farming family. However, because Guo Tang had been studying since he was a child, he was determined to become a farmer.
Because of his fame and high talent, the Guo family had high hopes for Guo Tang, believing that Guo Tang would definitely shine on the family line, but they had never wronged Guo Tang.
At that time, Guo Tang's parents worked hard day and night, and were very miserable. However, Guo Tang never even did housework, let alone farming. His younger brother Guo Min had been setting up stalls in the market to do small business since he was a child.
Although he rolled his eyes, Guo Tang had half a tael of pocket money for expenses every month. The Guo family lived frugally and devoted all their efforts to provide for Guo Tang's education. However, Guo Tang's quality of life was different from ordinary people.
There is no difference between the young master of a landlord's family.
Then, Guo Tang did not disappoint the Guo family, and actually got the second place in the examination. After entering the Hanlin Academy, he relied on his articles and poetry to rise step by step, so the Guo family also relied on Guo Tang's reputation to become more prosperous. During this period, Guo Tang
Min even started a business under the banner of Guo Tang!
Guo Min has been setting up a stall in the market since he was a child. He is thoughtful, quick-witted, and well-informed. With Guo Tang's name as his backing, his business naturally grows bigger and bigger, and he makes more and more money! During this period, because of Guo Minshen
Knowing his brother's character, he never mentioned business matters in front of Guo Tang. He would only give a large amount of silver to Guo Tang's Changsui every month. Once Guo Tang fell in love with something, the Changsui would immediately take care of it.
During the purchase, Guo Tang not only never handled any money, but also did not even ask about the price.
Therefore, Guo Tang has never experienced the embarrassment and pain of being short of money and food, and naturally he will not understand how precious and useful things like silver are! In Guo Tang's eyes, silver is something that is never in short supply.
Why are there still people who are obsessed with this and are greedy? Even for such vulgar things, they take bribes and harm the people? It is really vulgar!
Although Guo Tang has never experienced the suffering of people's livelihood and spent most of his life in the Hanlin Academy compiling and annotating classics and history, since the saints have said that it is wrong to do this, then this kind of thing is naturally wrong and still incomprehensible.
.
It is precisely because of this that Guo Tang has a good reputation in the officialdom. He is famous for "treating gold and silver as dirt". He has never taken corruption or bribery in his many years of official career. Under the law of "birds of a feather flock together", Guo Tang
Tang not only became the prince's young master, but also one of the core figures of the prince's party! From then on, "everyone talks and laughs, and there is no idle person", and his character becomes more aloof and arrogant.
Therefore, in Guo Tang's eyes, his brother Guo Min's behavior of always talking about money is really tacky.
In fact, Guo Tang has criticized Guo Min for being a vulgar philistine more than once!
In response, Guo Min could only shake his head and smile bitterly, but he could never refute.
…
At this time, Guo Min also shook his head with a wry smile, but when Guo Tang asked, he did not hide it. He just explained: "Brother, now our family's business is going smoothly, and the family business is getting bigger and bigger. Every month
About nearly ten thousand taels of silver have been accounted for, and the amount will increase further in the future!"
With tens of thousands of taels of silver coming into the account every month, wouldn't it mean that there are more than 100,000 taels of silver in earnings every year? How big of an elegant garden can such a large amount of silver buy? How many antiques and treasures can be purchased? As for the Cao family,
Chinese rice paper, Hui ink from Jixi, fine Huzhou purple brushes, and precious Tao inkstones, wouldn’t it be possible to get as much as you want?
Even though Guo Tang had never known the preciousness of gold and silver, he couldn't help but be slightly shaken at this moment, but he finally came to his senses and shook his head: "That's not what I want to hear. I just want to know that our family's business is all involved."
In what aspects? Have you ever done anything like smuggling or tax evasion?”
Guo Min was stunned again, seeing Guo Tang asking in such detail. He had a vague premonition in his heart, but he still said truthfully: "Brother, among our family's properties, although there are some rice and grain shops, taverns and inns. However, among them
The most profitable thing is shipping on the Grand Canal. As you know, brother, once the rice, salt, silk, tea, and enamel bambooware from the south are shipped to the north, you can get several times the profit, and the fur, medicinal materials, cattle and horses from the north can also be shipped to the south.
The profits are huge, and our business... naturally has some cases of smuggling and tax evasion, but this kind of thing is just common now. Every business is doing this, and it is even more forced. Brother, you don't know, the businessmen of the imperial court are now doing it.
There are too many taxes and they are too heavy. You have to pay taxes when passing through counties, governments, and provinces. You even have to pay taxes when passing by Huangzhuang Barracks. There are so many commercial taxes, toll taxes, license taxes, and so on.
If all is paid, our firm will not only be unable to make money, but will lose several times the amount of money!"
After hearing Guo Min's answer, Guo Tang hesitated for a moment, and finally ordered: "All these businesses are temporarily suspended! I will go to the East Palace today. The prince has made a decision to crack down on smuggling and tax evasion firms in the future. I am the prince.
Dear friends, you can't commit crimes at this time and ruin my reputation! But you don't have to worry. In addition to severely punishing smuggling and tax evasion businesses, the prince also wants to rectify the commercial tax of our country and abolish the redundant ones.
Tax station. At that time, business taxes will no longer be complicated, and you can just continue doing business."
After hearing Guo Tang's words, Guo Min's expression changed.
Guo Min understands very well that the reason why the Guo family's business is profitable is because of smuggling and tax evasion! If smuggling and tax evasion are not possible, even if the commercial tax is reduced, the Guo family's business income will be significantly reduced.
Compared with Guo Tang, Guo Min loves money a little bit, so he quickly said: "Brother, you must advise His Highness the Crown Prince, this is absolutely not allowed!"
Guo Tang frowned and asked, "This is a good thing for the government and the people, why not?"
Guo Min understood Guo Tang's character and knew that at this time, he could never say that doing so would cause the Guo family to lose a lot of money, but he had to find a credible reason, so his mind changed quickly, and after a while, he actually found a real reason.
!
"Brother, the prince has made too many enemies by doing this! Think about it, how many tax stations are there from south to north, from east to west? How many officials make money from this? I am afraid that the officials in the world are among them.
There will be as many as fifty-six out of ten! By doing this, the prince has offended more than half of the officials in the world! In addition, most of the commercial houses in the world rely on smuggling to make profits. After the prince rectified the commercial tax, although the commercial tax was reduced, because
Without smuggling, the profits of the merchants have also been reduced. Nowadays, the people behind many trading houses are noble and high-ranking officials. By doing this, the prince has offended the merchants and nobles of the world! And... By the way, there is
, The reason why prices in our country are not high is also because of smuggling by merchants. If smuggling is no longer possible, then prices will definitely increase, and then the prince will offend the people of the world! Therefore, you must not do this! "
If Zhao Junchen were here and saw Guo Min, he would immediately think of the trap he had designed for Prince Zhu Heyu, and he would immediately regard Guo Min as his enemy!
It's a pity that Zhao Junchen doesn't know Guo Min! Although he knows that such a person exists, he doesn't pay much attention to it at this time.
In some respects, Guo Min's knowledge is much better than that of the princelings!
However, even if Guo Min saw the hidden dangers, how could he convince the prince to change his mind?
In fact, Guo Min couldn't even convince his brother!
"Humph, although the future is difficult and dangerous, as long as it is beneficial to the people of the world, what do we have to fear?" Guo Tang heard Guo Min's reasons, but his face was full of disdain.
Seeing Guo Tang's statement, Guo Min became more and more anxious, so his heart suddenly changed. When he saw the various antiques and treasures in Guo Tang's study, and the precious Four Treasures of the Study, he suddenly paid attention again.
…
ps: The computer has been stuck repeatedly during this period. I couldn't bear it anymore so I went to have it repaired. I concluded that "it should have been replaced after using it for so many years", so I replaced it and delayed the update. Please forgive me.
In addition, I saw many new and old readers in the comment area asking Chongzi to update "The Rebellion". Thank you for your love and affirmation of "The Rebellion". Chongzi also assures everyone that "The Rebellion" will definitely be completed. After the completion of "The Regent"
Updates will be resumed as soon as possible! Just updating two books at the same time is really beyond Chongzi's ability. I tried it some time ago and it was really difficult. It's not that the plot will be confusing, but the writing style is different, the style of "Regent"
It is more dark and utilitarian, and its grammar is practical and smooth, while the writing style of "Rebel" needs to be lighter and more elegant, and the plot is more leisurely and gentle. The two are too different. They are different attempts of Chongzi. It is really difficult to switch.
Please understand!
...(To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!