Emperor Deqing was very aware of the sensitivity and complexity of commercial tax issues.…≦
The current situation of commercial taxation in the Ming Dynasty can be said to be full of disadvantages, but everyone - except the imperial court - obtained a lot of benefits from these disadvantages: after local government offices privately set up tax collection stations, they could obtain additional activity funds; the imperial court
Most of the officials secretly bought shares in the smuggling shipping companies and received large dividends every year; the lowest-level officials also obtained a lot of gray income through this, and their lives were quite nourishing; even the common people also benefited from business taxes.
The epidemic of smuggling caused by the ills has brought many benefits. After all, the price of smuggled goods is lower...
As a result, no one is willing to change the current situation of commercial taxation. Even if everyone knows that the court's money and food turnover has always been difficult, and the rectification of commercial taxation is the best solution, no one is willing to try to change it.
For most people, "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism" is certainly a precious virtue, but its prerequisite is that one's own interests are not compromised.
Therefore, anyone who wants to change the status quo of business taxation will arouse countless hostility and lead to fierce backlash.
Because of this, although Emperor Deqing also maintained a supportive attitude towards the rectification of business and taxation, Emperor Deqing did not show his true thoughts at the beginning, but repeatedly forced Zhao Junchen to express his opinions.
Even if this is to transfer the grievances of the officials to Zhao Junchen, it is also to use Zhao Junchen's performance to test the reaction and bottom line of the officials. Of course, if Zhao Junchen can actually explain the commercial and tax rectification in addition to expressing his opinions,
It would be better if the officials who hold an opposing position have nothing to say about the necessity and feasibility of it.
Therefore, when the time was right, Emperor Deqing was also willing to secretly cooperate with Zhao Junchen and help Zhao Junchen express his views.
So, after Zhao Junchen explained the meaning of "pilot", Emperor Deqing said again before the officials could refute: "This is a good suggestion, but where are you going to conduct the pilot? What are you thinking of?
The method. And what is it specifically?”
Regarding Emperor Deqing's inquiry, Zhao Junchen had been prepared for a long time and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, my pilot target is not a certain place, but a shipping company!"
"Is the boat sailing?" Emperor Deqing was slightly startled and asked.
Zhao Junchen nodded, and then further explained: "My plan is that the imperial court will first select a shipping company as a pilot target. And give this shipping company tax-free privileges, so that this shipbuilding company will not be troubled by taxes from various places for a period of time.
, as compensation for the loss of the imperial court's commercial tax and in return for the tax-free privilege, the shipping company needs to pay a portion of its income dividends to the imperial court every year... In this way, as long as the shipping company can make a profit, the imperial court's commercial tax can be fully guaranteed.
, it’s just that the way of collecting commercial taxes has changed slightly.”
After a pause, Zhao Junchen continued: "If I follow my idea, there are three benefits of such a plan: First, after the shipping company receives the preferential policies from the court, it will no longer have to use tax evasion and smuggling to make profits. Once promoted, it will also
Private smuggling activities can be suppressed to the greatest extent, the court's commercial tax revenue can also be guaranteed, and the plan to rectify commercial taxes can also achieve specific results; secondly, after shipping companies avoid taxes from various places, the transportation cost is low and can
Ensuring that private prices will not fluctuate too much and bypassing the obstruction of local government offices can ensure the stability of the situation between the government and the opposition; thirdly, during the pilot period, compare the commercial taxes paid by this shipping company in previous years and the reactions of the government and opposition parties.
, the imperial court can also specifically evaluate the feasibility of this plan."
In this way, Zhao Junchen explained the plan he had conceived for many days.
Zhao Junchen's proposal can be described as whimsical, even a little bizarre, so after hearing Zhao Junchen's description, all the officials felt that Zhao Junchen's proposal was really deviant, but it was also because
In this way, the officials did not know how to refute.
Taking advantage of the surprised officials, Zhao Junchen did not remain silent, but explained many details in detail, such as the purpose and significance of the plan, the shipyard's operating model and dividend ratio, and the court's views on the company.
The shipping company’s monitoring methods, the advantages of this plan and the things that need attention, etc., are just a few.
After Zhao Junchen explained his idea in detail, nearly half an hour had passed.
In order to convince Emperor Deqing and the officials, Zhao Junchen had almost no reservations about his idea of rectifying business taxes.
But it is only "almost". In fact, Zhao Junchen concealed a very important fact, that is, the scale of this pilot boat shop! - In Zhao Junchen's plan, the scale of this boat shop will be extremely huge, not only
It is the merger of dozens of powerful shipping companies into one place, and the ships, funds, and manpower of the smuggling shipping companies that the court will inspect in the future will all be invested in this shipping company. In other words, once this shipping company is established,
After that, coupled with the preferential policies of the imperial court, a dominant company will soon be formed, and it will soon be able to completely monopolize the shipping business of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River Waterway.
Of course, Zhao Junchen would not elaborate on these situations, otherwise he would scare all the officials.
In addition, Zhao Junchen's concealment can also paralyze officials, preventing them from correctly recognizing the threat of this plan, and minimizing opposition voices.
On the other side, after Zhao Junchen explained all his ideas in detail, when the officials finally reacted, they found that although Zhao Junchen's plan was a bit absurd, Zhao Junchen had indeed considered it thoroughly and in detail.
The officials found that apart from criticizing Zhao Junchen's method as absurd, they could not find any flaws or shortcomings in this method in a short period of time!
As a result, there was a brief silence in the Huangji Hall. Within about a cup of tea, no one spoke, whether it was Emperor Deqing, Zhou Shangjing, Shen Changmao, Zhu Heyu, or the officials.
Silently digesting the information Zhao Junchen told.
After all, Zhao Junchen's idea is too novel, and it will take some time for everyone to accept it.
Then, after detailed consideration, many officials discovered that Zhao Junchen's plan was indeed feasible. If the changes were made according to Zhao Junchen's plan, the imperial court's commercial tax revenue could not only increase significantly, but also maximize the stability of the government and the opposition.
Stable - but the only thing that has not changed is that the interests of the officials will be violated, but this reason cannot be clearly stated, let alone used to oppose Zhao Junchen's plan.
Fortunately, because of Zhao Junchen's misleading and concealment, all officials believed that Zhao Junchen's plan was not large-scale at the beginning, and it was just a matter of "selecting a shipping company" for piloting.
Even after discovering this, many officials were slightly moved, thinking that they had found a way to destroy Zhao Junchen's plan - as long as the shipbuilding company suffered losses during the pilot period, the shipbuilding company would not be able to pay dividends to the court.
The imperial court's commercial tax revenue not only cannot be increased, but will also decrease. This means that Zhao Junchen's plan failed, so Zhao Junchen's idea cannot be promoted...
In just a moment, many officials secretly decided that if Zhao Junchen's idea did not get the permission of the imperial court, it would be fine. But if the imperial court adopted Zhao Junchen's pilot proposal, then they would immediately unite to support Zhao Junchen's pilot project. The boat is stumbling secretly!
Then, all the officials focused their attention on Shen Changmao, the chief minister of the cabinet.
Because Shen Changmao clearly opposes the rectification of business and taxation, many officials already regard him as a spokesman for their interests, so all officials hope that Shen Changmao can express his attitude first!
Under the attention of everyone, Shen Changmao pondered for a moment, and then slowly walked out of the queue.
…
ps: I encountered some issues and the update was late. I’m really sorry.