For the vast majority of politicians, the so-called "position" is just an insignificant thing that can be discarded at any time. Only interests are important and eternal.`
To put it simply, interests determine the position!
Therefore, in today's major court meeting, Shen Changmao clearly stated his stance against commercial tax rectification, because such a stance can bring him a lot of popularity, reputation, and supporters, and can also stabilize his position. Even though Shen Changmao knew very well that Emperor Deqing supported the rectification of business and taxation, and his position might offend Emperor Deqing, Shen Changmao still had no hesitation.
However, Shen Changmao also knew that the corrupt status quo of commercial tax was indeed a very serious problem. Therefore, after this problem was exposed, under the righteousness of the court, the officials did not have any legitimate reasons to oppose the court's rectification of commercial tax. They could only Try to delay and sabotage as much as possible - but sooner or later, Emperor Deqing will accumulate enough power to suppress all opposition voices, and then unswervingly try to reverse the corrupt status quo of commercial taxation.
Shen Changmao knew this very well, but fortunately he did not have to successfully prevent the commercial tax rectification. He only needed to clearly show his opposition to the commercial tax rectification, and then cooperate with officials to secretly sabotage it. It was enough.
Because of this, after hearing Zhao Junchen's proposal, Shen Changmao did not immediately refute it. Although Zhao Junchen's idea sounded absurd and bizarre, it was also feasible, and Zhao Junchen had blocked all possible steps in advance. The flaw in the rebuttal, "ridiculous and bizarre" is certainly a reason to prevent its implementation, but it is not a decisive reason... The most important thing is that Shen Changmao was also misled by Zhao Junchen's statement, thinking that Zhao Junchen was just It’s just a matter of “picking a shipping company” to conduct a pilot project. It doesn’t seem like a big threat, and it can be easily sabotaged secretly.
Therefore, after Shen Changmao came out of the queue, his attitude was not firm. He just said: "Master Zhao's proposal sounds quite ridiculous. It seems a bit fanciful, but I'm afraid it may not be feasible..."
Zhao Junchen said with a serious expression: "That's why I proposed to conduct a 'pilot' first. Shen Fu, you also know. The current situation of commercial tax corruption has seriously affected the court's cash and grain turnover, and is related to the hundred-year extension of the Ming Dynasty." To survive, we must try to reverse it. As for whether Xianguan's idea will work in the end, we need to try it before we know... Otherwise, if any method is completely rejected without trying, then the court may never be able to reverse it. The current state of business taxation is rotten.”
After hearing Zhao Junchen's answer, Shen Changmao asked: "However, I would like to know how long Master Zhao's pilot will last? What if Master Zhao's attempt fails to achieve results in the end?"
In response to Shen Changmao's inquiry, Zhao Junchen was still well prepared and immediately replied: "The official believes that a one-year pilot is more appropriate. If after the pilot, the commercial tax paid by this shipping company to the court can be significantly increased. If it does not cause too much chaos, then Xiaguan's idea can be gradually promoted; on the other hand, if the results are not great, or it causes large-scale chaos in the government and the opposition, then naturally it should be stopped immediately and then try other methods. .”
Then, Shen Changmao confirmed again: "In other words, Mr. Zhao only needs a shipping company and one year to prove the feasibility of his plan? If the results are not great, or it causes large-scale chaos in the government and the opposition, the court will Can we stop this plan immediately?”
Zhao Junchen nodded again and said: "That's exactly it."
Then, Shen Changmao turned to Emperor Deqing and said, "Your Majesty, if this is the case, I have no objection to Lord Zhao's proposal."
Shen Changmao's final confirmation seemed unnecessary and all nonsense, because Zhao Junchen had already explained everything clearly before.
But these words are not just pure nonsense, because these nonsense are actually Shen Changmao's hints - he is hinting at how officials can stop Zhao Junchen's business tax rectification plan.
Obviously, most of the officials are smart people, and they are best at subverting the truth and stumbling in secret. They also understood Shen Changmao's hints.
Therefore, after hearing Shen Changmao's statement, all the officials tacitly agreed and did not continue to refute, and they all acquiesced to Shen Changmao's point of view.
In this way, under Zhao Junchen's misdirection and concealment, the biggest obstacle was solved.
On the other side, after hearing Zhao Junchen's explanation and Shen Changmao's statement, Emperor Deqing frowned slightly.
As the representative of the court's interests, Emperor Deqing naturally hopes that the court's commercial tax issues can be resolved as soon as possible, but Zhao Junchen's proposal seems a bit trivial, and may not be successful. In this regard, Emperor Deqing is not I like Zhao Junchen’s method of rectifying business taxes.
But on the other hand, Emperor Deqing also knew that opposing the rectification of business and taxation was the common will of the entire bureaucracy. Even if he was the leader of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, he could not easily confront the entire bureaucracy. Even Emperor Deqing is now They have received the support of Zhou Shangjing, but the direction of their cooperation is only to stabilize the situation between the government and the opposition, and does not include rectifying commercial taxes. Moreover, on the issue of commercial taxes, even Zhou Shangjing may not be able to control the ideas of the members of the "Zhou Party"—— This is also the reason why Zhou Shangjing has kept silent before.
Therefore, no matter how impatient Emperor Deqing was, he could only slowly divide the opposition forces and achieve his goal bit by bit.
From this aspect, Zhao Junchen's proposal is at least a successful start and a necessary attempt, which is not bad at all.
So, feeling conflicted, Emperor Deqing turned his attention to Zhou Shangjing and asked: "Zhou Aiqing, you are a veteran of the court. What do you think of Zhao Aiqing's proposal?"
After hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, Zhou Shangjing slowly stepped out of the queue, and then expressed his agreement, saying: "Your Majesty, Zhao Shangshu's proposal seems a bit strange, but for hundreds of years, our dynasty has been doing it in the official camp of Yantie. Ji Ji also received assistance from Hui merchants and Shanxi merchants. This shows that Zhao Shangshu's proposal is not without precedent. Therefore, the veteran also agrees with Shen Fu's statement. Since it is just a pilot project, it can be tried for a period of time according to the plan. Maybe it will be effective."
Zhou Shangjing is different from Shen Changmao. Shen Changmao only sees the benefits brought by his opposition to the rectification of commercial taxation, but Zhou Shangjing also sees the huge benefits generated by the rectification of commercial taxation - both for the imperial court and for the people. own interests.
In fact, before this, Zhou Shangjing had reached a tacit agreement with Zhao Junchen. Zhou Shangjing would assist Zhao Junchen in completing the business tax rectification plan, but at the same time, Zhao Junchen also needed to divide part of the benefits to Zhou Shangjing.
To put it simply, Shen Changmao's "interests determine his position", while Zhou Shangjing "makes his interests consistent with his own position", but he is much smarter than Shen Changmao.
Therefore, Zhou Shangjing also supported the imperial court's rectification of commercial taxes, but like Emperor Deqing, he had been careful to hide his true thoughts in order to avoid arousing the hostility of the officials.
Now, seeing that Shen Changmao has changed his attitude and the officials' opposition is no longer strong, Zhou Shangjing finally expressed his attitude.
Zhou Shangjing's attitude was cunning, but it did achieve immediate results.
Affected by Zhou Shangjing's statement, Emperor Deqing hesitated again for a moment, and finally agreed to Zhao Junchen's plan, saying: "Since Zhao Aiqing has already had an idea, I will leave this matter to you and allow you to take full responsibility. You choose a shipping company and give it tax-free privileges, and then make up for the court's commercial tax losses in the form of dividend sharing. I hope Zhao Aiqing will not disappoint me in the end."
While speaking, Emperor Deqing did not ask Prince Zhu Heyu for his opinion at all.
In fact, because of certain behaviors of Prince Zhu Heyu, Emperor Deqing decided not to allow Prince Zhu Heyu to continue to participate in business tax matters.
On the other side, Prince Zhu Heyu, who had previously vowed to prevent Zhao Junchen from obtaining the power to rectify commercial taxation, showed no reaction at this time - in the view of Prince Zhu Heyu, the rectification of commercial taxation should be a severe crackdown on smuggling. , it should be resolute governance, and it should be a drastic change of the status quo, rather than finding a shipping company for a pilot project - therefore, Prince Zhu Heyu did not have any objections. In his opinion, Zhao Junchen's plan was completely meaningless. , and it has nothing to do with commercial tax rectification.
In this way, for Zhao Junchen, another major obstacle also disappeared.
Originally, if Zhao Junchen wanted to take over the power of commercial and tax rectification, even with the support of Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, he would inevitably encounter many obstacles. Even if he could finally achieve his goal, he would definitely go through countless arguments and compromises.
However, due to Zhao Junchen's concealment and misinformation, this authority eventually fell into Zhao Junchen's hands easily.
Everyone underestimated Zhao Junchen's "pilot" plan. No one could have imagined how much trouble Zhao Junchen would eventually cause in just one year, with just a boat shop and a seemingly inconspicuous attempt. Movement and stillness will have such a far-reaching impact!
Therefore, when the dust settles, Zhao Junchen will reap the greatest benefits!