The end of July in the second year of Shenwu arrived as scheduled.
Nearly eight months have passed since the New Deal was drafted and implemented. Under the strict supervision of the cabinet, at the end of July, more than 100 prefectures and counties in the entire southern Zhili Province finally reported the data on acres of land to the Ministry of Household Affairs again, and listed the mines and forest land in each state and county.
, orchards and barren hills are also reported to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
After the Ministry of Household Affairs summarized it, there were obviously some changes in the second data compared to the first data.
The area of mulberry fields has increased to nearly 20 million acres, a full five million acres more than the first time. The paddy fields have reached nearly 40 million acres, and the dry fields have only 10 million acres. The overall number has also increased by nearly 10 million acres than the first time, reaching
A total of 70 million acres.
Both Ma Shiying and Zhang Yan were shocked by such data, but Zhu Cixiang still frowned.
70 million acres sounds scary, but in the previous life, Jiangsu Province alone probably had more than 70 million acres of fertile land. Adding Anhui into it, it would have been over 100 million acres anyway.
What's more, the population in South Zhili is not as dense as that of Huguang and Guangxi. Like Henan, the plain areas are basically developed, which is the closest to the previous life.
In the previous life, the rice in Northern Jiangsu was as famous as the rice in Northeast China. It was impossible to just cultivate the fields like this.
Thinking of Jiangsu North Rice, Zhu Cihong slapped his forehead and suddenly realized that he finally knew where the problem lay.
It has been hundreds of years since the Southern Song Dynasty when the Yellow River diverted the Huai River and flowed into the sea.
Nowadays, there are swamps and lakes all over northern Jiangsu. If the Yellow River rises slightly, it will be Qianli Zeguo. Where can the fertile farmland come from?
"Ma Aiqing, I am very satisfied with this data, and I believe in its authenticity. However, I still have to check it one by one, but I will slowly check it county by county. Each county can report it at any time before it has been verified.
Update data."
Although the cabinet has already checked it once, Zhu Cixiang still needs to check it again.
After all, once the farmland data of each county is reported, it will no longer be possible to falsify it in the future. It will be done once and for all, and it will be worth the trouble.
The purpose of the inspection is not to ransack homes and kill people, but to make officials everywhere understand that there are no loopholes to exploit in the new policy.
That's why he checked county by county and gave them the opportunity and time to make corrections.
"Your Majesty is wise, I also think it would be best to check again."
Ma Shiying hurriedly said that he knew that the emperor could not completely trust the six cabinet ministries and local officials.
"The next step is the reform of commercial and government affairs. Nanjing will add a Ministry of Agriculture and a Ministry of Commerce. I am going to impose maritime bans and collect tariffs. We will build docks at major coastal ports and set up a municipal shipping department under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Commerce. For the time being, it will only be in Nanjing.
Implemented in Zhili and Zhejiang.
In addition to collecting tariffs, shops and restaurants in various cities and towns also collect business taxes every year. Within one month, all states and counties in South Zhili must clearly classify and rank the restaurants and shops in the territory, and then report them to the Ministry of Commerce for filing.
To prepare for the subsequent collection of business tax, this is the specific standard for how to rate..."
Zhu Cixiang said and handed him a booklet.
As for commercial tax, in addition to customs duties, he only plans to collect business tax for the time being.
Because business tax is no more complicated than land tax, whether it is setting up a card to collect tolls or collecting taxes from workshop owners, it is not a simple matter.
It is too difficult to formulate a perfect tax collection system, and it is even harder to get officials in various places to collect taxes in accordance with the tax collection system.
As for supervision, it is even more difficult. The conditions are not enough. Zhu Cixiang would rather not accept it than force it, otherwise it will be a devastating blow to Ming Dynasty's business.
That's why he decided to only collect business tax. After all, the shops and restaurants are there and can be seen and touched. Although it is also troublesome, it is still possible to formulate a set of reasonable and complete standards.
All stores will be divided according to the size of the city, scale, and type.
Large cities such as Nanjing, Suzhou, and Yangzhou are classified as Class A, some prefectures and prefecture cities are Class B, and county towns are Class C.
Similarly, the sizes of shops, restaurants, brothels are also divided into grades one to six.
Then there are types, such as shops, restaurants, teahouses, brothels, bathhouses, etc.
Anyone with a fixed store must pay tax, but some small vendors who walk in the streets are no longer taxed.
Brothels will be taxed heavily, and casinos will be cracked down hard, and every establishment will be closed down if found. Although it is impossible to ban them completely, they must not be allowed to tolerate gambling. After all, nine out of ten gambling houses are cheated.
Generally speaking, taxes are paid according to the size of the city, the size of the shops, and the type of business premises.
Ma Shiying was a little surprised when she took the brochure handed over by the female soldier.
What surprised him was not that Your Majesty wanted to impose a maritime ban and collect customs duties and commercial taxes, but that Your Majesty only collected these two.
Forget about tariffs, how much can we collect every year from the so-called business tax of shops and restaurants in the city?
Without looking at the brochure, he knew how much he would not receive every year.
In his opinion, if there is a commercial tax, it is natural to collect the tax on the carriages and horses entering and exiting at the city gate, set up checkpoints on the official roads and rivers, collect the carriage tax on the coming and going of the caravans, and go to the large weaving and spinning workshops to collect the tax.
Taxes, these are the big ones.
So he thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, I think this business tax should include small and large workshops in various places. We should also set up checkpoints on the official roads of rivers to collect vehicle and boat taxes from caravans."
Zhang Yan on the side also nodded in agreement.
"I understand what Ma Aiqing means, and I have also thought about setting up card tax collection, but there are too many loopholes in the actual implementation, so it is better not to collect it.
As for the workshops in various places, they are not business premises and cannot collect business tax, but must collect industrial tax. I have made my own decision on this and do not need the responsibility of the Ministry of Commerce. The main task of the Ministry of Commerce is to collect customs taxes and make clear statistics and ratings of shops in various places."
Zhu Cixi waved his hand.
Both of them were confused and could not understand the difference between business tax and industrial tax.
But if you don’t understand, just don’t talk about it.
Immediately, Zhu Cihong asked him to recommend two ministers and four ministers. After finalizing, he finally said: "Ma Aiqing, the eight ministries of the cabinet must seize the time and start collecting this year's agricultural tax and commercial tax before October.
As for how to collect it at that time, I will notify you separately."
"Old minister, I obey the order!"
Seeing that His Majesty was confident, Ma Shiying did not mention the matter of officials in various places collecting taxes randomly, took the booklet and left.
The next day, Zhu Cihong issued three edicts again.
The first edict was to establish the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce to coordinate matters related to commerce and agriculture in the world.
The second edict imposed a maritime ban and established a shipping department to collect customs duties and business taxes.
The third edict was to promote commerce and establish the Ming Dynasty Royal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
All merchants in the world can apply to join the Royal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Once approved, they can become members of the Royal Chamber of Commerce and Industry by paying a membership fee every year. As long as they do business and open workshops in a regular manner, they will be protected by the Royal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.