Wei Jiansu hurriedly came to see the emperor. Today, during the political meeting, the emperor proposed the plan to upgrade county officials without consulting him in advance, which surprised Wei Jiansu.
Li Ye knew he was coming, so he smiled slightly and said, "Please sit down!"
He then said to Wei Gao: "Go and invite Zhang Xiangguo!"
Li Ye smiled at Wei Jiansu and said: "Although the upgrading of county officials was not discussed with the Prime Minister in advance, there is no need for the Prime Minister to be angry. In the end, it was not implemented! I just wanted to test everyone's tone, and I did not say that it would be implemented immediately.
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Wei Jiansu nodded, "Your Majesty is right to have this idea. At that time, Wu Zetian also planned to upgrade the county officials, but soon there was news of fires in Dayun Temple from various places. She threw a trap and had to upgrade the county officials and let it go."
"You mean, Wei Xiangguo agrees to the upgrade of county officials?"
Wei Jiansu said slowly: "Wei Chen only agrees with half of it. The first-level officials can be promoted, but the second-level officials cannot be moved. This can be regarded as taking care of the interests of the local powerful. We can't really wipe out their interests. What will happen?"
It’s a big deal. In addition, Wei Chen still insists on piloting it in Guanzhong for one year. If it works, it will be promoted in various places.”
The first-level officials among the county officials refer to the two custodians and Xuezheng. The two custodians are in charge of the six caos. The six caos, the arrester and the prison chief belong to the second-level officials. Only the second-level officials and local powerful people have thousands of officials.
Inextricably linked.
In fact, if you can win a first-level official, the imperial court will be considered a great victory.
Li Ye nodded, "Xiang Guo will write a detailed plan and I will think about it carefully!"
At this time, Zhang Li hurried over, bowed and saluted, "See your majesty!"
Li Ye stopped talking about the county officials. He took a memorial and said: "Here is the preliminary draft of the Ministry of Household's order on the abolition of slavery. I have read it carefully. Generally speaking, it is very good and has strong operability.
But it only mentions slaves and does not mention low status. For example, it mentions the conversion of official slaves into civilians, but what about the teachers and musicians among the official slaves? If they are all converted into civilians, what is the difference between the current low status and the status of low status?
How to distinguish? There is also the issue of criminals. Many of the criminals who were exiled were exiled as slaves before they became officials. How to deal with them is not written in the draft."
Low status mainly refers to people who have fallen into prostitution, such as prostitutes, pimps, dancers, singers, musicians, musicians, etc. Their social status is very low. When they grow old and lose their lust, they often marry businessmen or internally digest themselves.
They all married musicians,
Or you might be lucky to be a concubine for a rich man.
Zhang Li was responsible for the abolition of slavery. He asked: "What does your Majesty want?"
Li Ye said slowly: "According to my wishes, I will simply take this opportunity to completely abolish the humble status, business status, military status and criminal status, and call them all civilians."
Zhang Li pondered for a moment and said: "But in fact, people have strong discrimination against prostitute women and think that they are inferior."
Li Ye shook his head and said: "Discrimination by the common people is a matter among the people, but the government cannot discriminate, and it cannot be discriminated by law. Zhang Xiangguo! On the shore of the land, are the kings and ministers all my subjects? How can it be that my people are still my subjects?"
Is there any difference between who is noble and who is humble?”
Zhang Li blushed and said, "Wei Chen understands. Wei Chen didn't think clearly and confused the government's governance with the people's preferences."
Li Ye handed the draft to him, "After the revision is completed, we will discuss it at the Zhengshi Hall. If the Zhengshi Hall passes it, I will approve it!"
In fact, the current draft is only the first step in the abolition of slavery. First, the slave markets in various parts of the Tang Dynasty are to be abolished. Secondly, all official slaves in various places must be converted into civilians. Thirdly, all slaves under the age of sixteen must be converted into civilians.
, over sixteen years old is the next step.
The abolition of slavery must be implemented step by step, but once it is promulgated, it must be implemented to the letter. If you fail to implement it or violate it, you will be punished with a hundred sticks and exiled for three thousand miles.
The Jian Yuan will send a large number of officials to patrol various places and accept reports from the people. Once a report is made, the internal guards will intervene. Once confirmed, the internal guards will arrest the person directly. If an official is involved, the supervisory censor will be notified.
It can be said that they are linked together to ensure that the abolition of slavery is effectively implemented.
Li Ye gave the draft to Zhang Li, but did not ask them to step down. He changed the subject and said: "What do the two prime ministers think of the example Yan Shangshu gave today?"
Wei Jiansu secretly smiled bitterly in his heart. He knew that household tax reform was the law that the emperor was most concerned about, and anyone who dared to commit fraud would be severely punished.
The emperor did not express his position in the political hall, but he must have been furious in his heart and would never let this matter go.
Wei Jiansu sighed and said: "Your Highness, these common people do not understand the emperor's will and just want to take advantage. Although they made mistakes, I beg your Highness to spare their lives!"
Li Ye did not express his position immediately and asked Zhang Li again, "Does Zhang Xiangguo think Yan Shangshu's description is true?"
Zhang Li said slowly: "Wei Chen is a low-level official and knows the situation at the lower level very well. It is normal for this kind of thing to happen. It would be strange if it does not happen. It is estimated that not only Hedong Road, but also the gentry and powerful people in almost all places are taking advantage of this loophole."
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"There is actually no loophole here!"
Wei Jiansu was a little unhappy. He was responsible for drafting the tax reform and pushing it forward with all his strength. How could he leave such obvious loopholes in place?
"Weichen knows that rule. It means that ordinary people with household registration in the county and owning a small amount of farmland outside the city, no more than twenty acres, can be exempted from the land tax if they have paid the household tax and live at the same time.
Ordinary people in rural areas can be exempted from household tax if they have paid land tax.
The conditions are very clear. First, you must live in the county, your household registration must be in the county, and you must not own more than 20 acres of land outside the city. It is so clear, how can those powerful landowners evade taxes?
This is not an issue of household tax, but an issue of favoritism and malpractice. Although it is clearly not compliant, the county forcibly deems it compliant. No matter how strict the law is, people must enforce it. We didn't realize the evil of people's hearts at the time!"
Li Ye nodded, "Now that it has happened, how does Wei Xiangguo think it can be made up for?"
Wei Jiansu said decisively: "To completely abolish the household tax, we must not make some people exempt from tax and others taxed. Once there is such a provision, everyone will definitely do everything possible to evade tax. In fact, this tax exemption will benefit
, far from being able to make up for the losses caused by people taking advantage of the loopholes, Weichen not only proposed to completely cancel the household tax, but also proposed to tax all farmland except official land and military land. For those who meet the preferential conditions, apply for it in person, and at least say one
After review and approval by senior officials, the overpaid taxes will be refunded."
Li Ye nodded slightly, Wei Jiansu's suggestion was on point.
Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li resigned, and Li Ye paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his hands. What Yan Zhenqing said deeply hurt him and angered him. Someone dared to take advantage of the household tax loophole to evade land tax, and it should be
This is a common phenomenon. Even if the household tax is announced to be abolished, this group of people who are bent on personal gain and perverting the law will never be spared.
Li Ye doesn't want to touch these people who want to evade taxes for the time being. It's not that they can't be dealt with, but the household tax won't be paid until the end of the year. They haven't paid the tax yet, so it can't be called tax evasion.
But Li Ye must severely punish those officials who bend the law for personal gain, kill them as a warning, and directly dismiss them from their posts. County magistrates who turn a blind eye must also be severely warned.
At this time, Li Chenghua, the commander of the inner guard, came hurriedly, bowed and said: "See you, Your Highness!"
Li Ye said slowly: "You can send an internal security team to Guanzhong Road, Guannai Road, Jiannan Road, Shannan West Road and East Road, and Henan Road to investigate two things for me. First, is there anything in the county?
Private salt exists; secondly, investigate the powerful landowners who live in the county and own hundreds of acres of land to see if they think they need to pay household tax? If they need to pay household tax, why do they need to pay household tax? The government's
Is the determination true?”
Li Chenghua hesitated and said: "I don't understand, isn't it a good thing to pay household tax?"
Li Ye shook his head, "They are trying to evade the land tax. You can go back and see how the household tax is stipulated. The household tax only costs 100 yuan, and the land tax costs 100 yuan. Which one do you think he wants to pay?"
"Wei Chen understands!"
Li Ye continued: "If you are blatantly referring to a deer as a horse, these powerful landowners should not move for the time being. You can hold the officials responsible for me. Who made the determination? The county magistrate must explain the situation in writing to the Ministry of Household Affairs within one month."
"Your Majesty, the county magistrate directly explained the situation in writing to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Is this an overstep? It would be better to explain the situation to the Internal Security Headquarters."
Li Ye nodded, "You are right, explain the situation to the Internal Security Headquarters instead!"
