"I would like to give up all the salt, iron and wine in the county and the country, focus on the basics and suppress the weak, and do not compete with the world for profit." Han Shu
The cool breeze blowing from the water lifted the bamboo curtain beside the pavilion, and the white sky and water colors emerged from under the curtain. The pavilion was extremely quiet.
The emperor has just made it clear that in order to increase the population of Guanzhong and restore the people's strength, it is necessary to modify the starting age and tax amount of the calculation and oral taxes, and to encourage births by adjusting the population tax. This will not only affect future generations, but even in the past.
Correspondingly.
Therefore, Huan Dian and others all accepted the emperor's suggestion to exempt pregnant women and the elderly from the calculated tax, and raised the starting age for the oral tax to ten to fifteen years old. The calculated tax is 40 yuan per person per year, and the oral tax is ten yuan per person per year.
Money. Moreover, the emperor uniquely proposed that when a wife is pregnant, her husband's current year's tax will be halved, and he will even be exempted from the husband's current year's corvee and tax, in order to encourage childbirth.
These are all measures the emperor intended to regulate fertility through taxation. When his authority expands in the future and he has enough state-owned land on hand, he can implement an equalization system. Land will be used to stimulate people to have more children, and the children born will be divided into families.
After that, the government allocated fields for farming. Only when more and more farmers and household registrations are directly controlled by the court, will the court have enough soldiers and financial resources, and the country will become richer and stronger.
Of course, what we are doing now will be difficult to see results without more than ten or twenty years of hard work. The emperor is not afraid of waiting, but he is just preparing for a rainy day.
After giving instructions about the population tax, the emperor's expression suddenly became solemn, with a hint of determination in his eyes: "Hedong Jiechi is between Anyi and Jiexian. The water of the Yellow River meets the flow of Shandong and forms a river.
Daqu, this is the salt pond. Now that the imperial court has stabilized Hedong, in order to cultivate the people's strength, it is natural to work hard in this area. I intend to follow the example of Emperor Wu, re-establish the salt law, and establish salt officials. Then I will operate in Sanfu
Establish iron officials, manage official transfers, and redefine the laws of salt and iron."
"Your Majesty." Zhou Zhong panicked and said quickly: "This is a policy for the world. We must not be careless. We should discuss it with the ministers first."
He has nothing to do with the official salt establishment in Hedong. Even the salt and iron official camps in Sanfu and Guanzhong have nothing to do with Zhou Zhong, who was born in Lujiang, Yangzhou. But sooner or later, the world will be reunited. If it is not curbed at this time,
, when the policy continues to be implemented, the Zhou family in Lujiang will also suffer losses.
Huan Dian saw Zhou Zhong's anxious look and knew that he had unspeakable difficulties, so he took the lead in saying: "In ancient times, the emperor did not say whether he had something or not, the princes did not say how much, and the Zhongding family did not compete with the people for profit. This is how the sages governed the people.
Dao: If the salt and iron return to the government, the common people will be poor and resentful, and the people will be uneasy, which is really contrary to your majesty's love for the people."
"The salt pond is a natural resource and is close to the capital. It should be loved and protected by the imperial court and run by officials." Jia Xu, the always low-key Shang Shu, suddenly spoke at this time: "Nowadays, there are many things happening around the world, and the treasury is exhausted.
In all states in the world, except for the ministers and officials, the rest of the pastors and guardians have no intention of paying taxes. Even the officials in various places have not been seen for three years. I dare to ask you, if your majesty wants to achieve great things and stabilize the world, the money and food needed should be from
Where did it come from?”
The emperor intended to reopen the government-run economic system of Salt and Iron, increase taxes, and weaken the economic monopoly of the powerful. This matter would not work without anyone's support. The reason why Dong Cheng was not allowed to come forward was because he was worried about Salt and Iron.
If Dong Cheng snatched the fat meat from the mouth of the powerful, the emperor would definitely share the benefits with him.
However, the lessons learned from Tuntian clearly told the emperor that Dong Cheng was indeed a good dog that could bite people, but he could not control the people under his control. If Dong Cheng was allowed to put his hand into the Yantie official camp, he would be in danger.
It won't take long for a silverfish to appear, which will not only be of no use to the court, but will also create a target for criticism by the powerful.
It is not that the Salt and Iron Policy was never implemented during the Eastern Han Dynasty, but it only lasted for a few decades before it had to be abolished under pressure from many parties. In addition to Emperor Xiaohe's weakened monarchy, more of this was due to the bureaucratic corruption in the Yantie official camp.
Hengxing, because the quality of the salt and iron produced was too poor, causing public resentment.
The emperor believed that his authority was increasing day by day, so he only needed to prevent cunning officials from sneaking into the new salt and iron official camp to avoid criticism from others.
He knew that after leaving Dong Cheng behind, he would no longer have a buffer with the scholars on this matter, and he would face huge resistance from the entire court. Therefore, Sanfu and Hongnong should not act rashly, and the newly conquered
Although Hedong is full of powerful people, it has little foundation in the court. It also has a rich salt pond, which can be used as a pilot project for the emperor's official reform.
Huan Dian glanced at Jia Xu dissatisfied: "Now that Guanzhong is stable and farming is promoted in various places, over time, the population will inevitably increase and the treasury will be abundant. Why do we need to specialize in salt and iron?"
"Huan Gong." The emperor was still very polite and respectful to his teacher: "Now the imperial court only relies on donations from Guanzhong to the treasury, but it really cannot make ends meet. If there is profit from salt and iron, there should be millions of money in one year."
.Moreover, the east of the river is close to Jidian. If the imperial court ignores it, it will be like losing it again."
"Although Emperor Xiaohe abolished the salt and iron administration, the court still set up salt officials and iron officials in various counties and counties. They only handed over the production and sale of salt to merchants and only collected taxes." Zhou Zhong calmed down his anger.
He frowned and said: "This government not only eliminates the need for business operations and does not compete with the people for profits, but also makes full use of the tax on salt and iron to enrich the treasury. If your Majesty wants to make money, you can rely on the story of Xiaohe and the emperor to specialize it.
I think it is impossible to do this."
After hearing this, the emperor slowly stood up from his seat and walked to the bamboo curtain. Through the gaps in the bamboo curtain, he felt the cool breeze and looked at the vast expanse of blue waters of Cangchi and the majestic Weiyang Palace.
Gradually, he calmed down, turned around, looked at the ministers who were waiting for him to speak, and smiled again: "In the past, when Emperor Xiaowu was the emperor, the sea was quiet and the treasury was full.
The purpose of imposing taxes is not to compete with the people for profit, but to worry that the huge profits from salt and iron will disturb the world. After Emperor Xiaohe, the court repeatedly launched conquests and depleted its financial resources, all because of the ban on salt and iron."
Emperor Xiaowu's original intention of setting up a salt and iron franchise was to replenish the treasury so that he could wage war against the Huns, but when it came to the emperor's mouth, it was pushed to such a high level. Huan Dian looked surprised, but the emperor raised his face slightly, showing no concern at all.
He blushed because of his exaggeration.
Zhang Chang thought over and over again, weighed it in his mind, and finally made a decision: "When Emperor Xiaohe stopped the salt and iron administration, it was because there were many officials who violated the emperor's wishes and exploited the common people, causing prices to boil and the people to be resentful. But after that, this matter
It still cannot be eradicated, which shows that it is not the fault of the system, but the fault of the traitor."
This is undoubtedly an attempt to overturn the abolition of the salt and iron monopoly. It seems fair, but in fact it is already speaking for the emperor.
The Shaofu is in charge of the interests of the world's mountains, seas, and lakes. Whether it is mining or making salt, private individuals cannot do without the Shaofu's approval. With Shaofu Zhang Chang's statement, Zhou Zhong became more and more anxious, but he did not dare to follow
The emperor protested bluntly and turned to Huan Dian for help.
Huan Dian refused to give in and said: "If this is the case, the imperial court can send envoys to supervise the salt officials, firstly to ensure the salt tax, and secondly to prevent the cunning of subordinate officials."
"What if the envoy is guarding the thief?" The emperor asked, "Do we need to send another envoy to guard the envoy?"
At this time, Huan Dian fell on the ground and said: "It is the fault of the ministers that the state is cunning and cunning. But the government of salt and iron must have an edict from the central government and the public can't discuss it!"
Seeing that his attitude was firm, the emperor didn't know what to say. Anyway, he just expressed an attitude today, and he didn't expect to succeed in one fell swoop: "That's all, you all should stand down!"