After Hu Changan entered and stood still, people were introduced one after another by the little eunuch.
Finally, after everyone had arrived, Zhu Yuanzhang finally raised his head from the memorial.
Without too much nonsense, Zhu Yuanzhang coughed lightly and started today's discussion directly: "Now the Ming Dynasty's household registration system has been almost established. Now, I want to further find out how many fields there are in the local area, so that it can be better in the future.
I wonder if you have any advice on tax collection?"
Now that the Ming Dynasty has just been established, the household registration system has not yet been perfected.
The one currently in use is something called a household post.
The household stickers clearly record the number of people in each household, the type of work they do, and their address and other important information.
At the same time, in order to prevent official fraud, the signatures of all handling officials are also recorded in detail on the household stickers.
From the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs to the local handlers, there are many.
If you want to arrest someone, you can really catch them right away.
Zhu Yuanzhang was also quite satisfied with this.
However, it is not enough to know how many people live in each household.
The household registration system is not only for population counting, but also for tax collection.
Today, part of the Ming Dynasty's taxation is levied on a per capita basis, and the other part is levied on a land basis.
The current household registration records simply record the number of acres of fields each household has, but there is no detailed description of the specific shape and quality of the fields.
You should know that even if the area of land by the river and the saline-alkali land on the hillside are the same, the fertility of the land will definitely be different, and the output will naturally be very different.
Wheat fields and mulberry fields, even if they have the same area, have different tax types.
If no distinction is made and the tax is simply and roughly based on area, the people will definitely have objections.
Now that the Ming Dynasty has just been established, it is still possible to collect taxes through simple methods, but it is definitely not an option in the long run.
As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Xu Duo, the Minister of Household Affairs, stood up first and said, "Your Majesty, how about following the method of the Song Dynasty?"
"Order a special person to measure the land among the people, and use a thousand steps from east to west, north and south as a square field, with earth peaks at the four corners of the square field as the standard. Then according to the soil color, thickness and fertility of the square field, it will be divided into five grades.
This serves as the basis for tax collection.”
As soon as Xu Duo, the Minister of Household Affairs, finished speaking, Wu Lin, the Minister of Personnel Affairs, expressed a different opinion: "Your Majesty, although this method is good, there are not enough manpower to implement it!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was also silent.
Today, in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, there is indeed an extreme shortage of officials.
In order to avoid the war in the late Yuan Dynasty, a large number of intellectuals chose to live in seclusion in the mountains and forests, unable to escape the chaos.
Currently, both the central and local governments are extremely short of manpower. It is already difficult to maintain the normal operation of the dynasty. Adding another task of measuring land is indeed powerless.
After everyone heard this, they were silent for a while.
Measuring the land is a good thing, but it’s hard for a clever woman to make a living without rice. What can we do if we have no money and no one?
Xu Duo, the Minister of Household Affairs, thought for a moment and said with difficulty: "How about asking local officials to report it directly?"
"No!" This time, it was Zhu Yuanzhang, who was in the dominant position, who raised objections.
Even Lan Haitang and Hu Changan knew that imperial power did not go to the countryside. As the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, how could he not know this?
"If local officials are allowed to report directly, then they can report however they want."
"It won't be easy to conceal some land or something by then?"
"How can I collect and pay taxes with false data?"
Under Zhu Yuanzhang's soul questioning, the ministers fell into silence again.
Indeed, this is also a stupid move.
While everyone was thinking hard, Hu Changan, who was standing at the bottom, was overjoyed.
Good guy, isn't this just giving him points?
Others don't know, but Hu Changan knows the standard answer.
The mileage system that will be implemented next year is the perfect answer to this question.
It not only avoids high management costs, but also improves the ability to control the grassroots level.
Without further ado, Hu Changan hurriedly came out and said: "Your Majesty, I have an idea called the Li Chang System. Can you elaborate on it?"
As soon as Hu Changan finished speaking, a tall old man with high cheekbones walked out of the queue and interrupted Hu Changan's speech: "Your Majesty, how can you allow a child with a yellow mouth to talk nonsense in the court? Who is it?
Bringing this person with no official position to discuss matters? What kind of decency is this?"
The person who came out was none other than South Korean Gong Li Shanchang.
This Li Shanchang was a heavyweight who followed Zhu Yuanzhang through all the ups and downs. When the Ming Dynasty was founded and people were rewarded for their merits, Li Shanchang was at the top of the list.
At the same time, Li Shanchang is also the actual controller behind the Huaixi Group.
Before being demoted, Hu Weiyong was said to be the prime minister under one person and above ten thousand people, but in the final analysis, he was just a pawn to please Li Shanchang's rise to power.
It can be said that most of what Hu Weiyong did was secretly instructed by Li Shanchang.
With Hu Weiyong's downfall this time, although Li Shanchang picked himself out cleanly, he also lost an important chess piece.
For this reason, Li Shanchang had to bite the bullet and return to the court, taking over the position of Tujie Yushi Zhongcheng, and once again became the apparent controller of the Huaixi Group.
Without Hu Weiyong as a shield, Li Shanchang's risks are undoubtedly much greater.
For this reason, Li Shanchang naturally disliked Hu Changan, who had caused all this.
This time, Li Shanchang was surprised when he saw Hu Changan in the meeting. He also had a new consideration.
This young man often makes strange moves to harm his good deeds. We must take advantage of the young man's wings to suppress him first.
As soon as Li Shanchang said these words, he was immediately praised by many followers.
Today, the Huaixi Sect still has considerable influence in the court.
After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his eyes widened and he retorted: "Why, I called him here. Do I need to report to you Li Shanchang if I want to do something?"
"Hu Changan is the savior of my great grandson, so why not let him enter the palace to discuss matters?"
As an old fox among old foxes, Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally clear on Li Shanchang's petty calculations.
The Huaixi faction formed gangs in the court for personal gain, took bribes and perverted the law. Zhu Yuanzhang would not believe it without Li Shanchang's instructions behind the scenes.
However, Li Shanchang was a founding hero after all, unlike Hu Weiyong who was promoted from behind. Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to make innuendoes for a while, hoping that Li Shanchang would stop and be obedient.
After Li Shanchang heard this, he was also shocked.
It seems that His Majesty is also a little dissatisfied with him.
However, Li Shanchang didn't mean to stop and repent. He just lowered his head and said yes, but he was quite unconcerned in his heart.