Chapter 185 A beautiful woman emerges from the south of the Yangtze River
The situation in other state capitals in southern Zhili was similar to that in Changzhou. The landowners and gentry waited and watched at first. Later, as the day approached, some small landowners took the lead in paying taxes, which caused everyone to rush to pay taxes. Finally,
Crowded together, most of them failed to pay taxes successfully.
On the contrary, ordinary people and small landowners and small traders who do not have much land have paid taxes long ago.
Bank treasurers in various places also strictly implement the regulations of the head office and close their doors for settlement when the time is up.
Then I spent two days sorting it out and sent the two lists to the branch in Zhoucheng, Fucheng. The original tax payment data was kept in bank files.
The branch in Fucheng and Zhoucheng was not sorting it out, and immediately sent these lists to the head office in Nanjing. The head office only counted the total amount of taxes paid by various states and counties, and then directly handed over the list to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and at the same time transferred all taxes
Transfer to the household account.
Due to the convenient water and land access in South Zhili, it only took five days in total for the bank to complete its work.
As for the silver and copper coins received by various banks, they can be transported slowly.
The Ministry of Revenue began to get busy, and it took five days to verify which people in various states and counties had not paid taxes and who had paid less taxes.
"how?"
"Brother Ge, the situation is not optimistic. The commercial tax is okay and the amount paid has reached 80%, but the agricultural tax is not even 40%." The Minister of Household Affairs said with a bitter smile.
Although the prefects and counties in various places had already reported their tax payments, and Ma Shiying knew what was going on, he still frowned when he heard that the agricultural tax was not even 40%.
"Mr. Ge, if this is a direct fine of twice as much, the various subway stations will definitely fall out. Otherwise, we can just make up the payment. After all, this is the first time. It is understandable that everyone is not used to it!"
The Minister of Household Affairs suggested cautiously.
Other ministers also nodded in agreement.
After all, it’s not that the gentry and landlords everywhere don’t pay taxes, it’s that they don’t have time to pay them.
Ma Shiying actually wanted to give it another chance, but the tax collection system was set by the emperor and the cabinet had no power to change it, so he had to wave his hands and said: "This matter still needs to be decided by your majesty. The cabinet cannot make decisions without authorization."
After saying that, he took the data compiled by the Ministry of Accounts and hurried to the imperial study room to ask for a report.
In the imperial study room, both Zhang Yan and Princess Kunxing were present, and they were obviously very concerned about the situation of the first tax collection.
Ma Shiying first reported the statistics compiled by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and then carefully suggested: "Your Majesty, according to reports from officials from various places, the reason why the agricultural tax payment situation is not ideal this time is not because the gentry and landlords in various places are resisting the tax.
If you don't submit it, you just have to wait and see in the early stage. If you want to submit it in the later stage, you won't have time to submit it.
Thinking of the first time, the old minister suggested that this time we should be extrajudicial and pay the penalty directly without a fine, in order to show His Majesty's generosity and benevolence!"
After Ma Shiying finished speaking, Zhang Yan and Princess Kunxing also nodded in agreement. Who would have thought that Zhu Cixiang directly waved his hand and said: "No, it is precisely because it is the first time that we must strictly implement it and let everyone in the world do it."
All the gentry and landlords understood that the imperial decrees could not be questioned or discounted.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will immediately send a list of unpaid and underpaid taxes to all states and counties, and they will be required to pay twice as much tax within ten days. Those who fail to pay after the deadline will be fined five times!"
"I obey the decree."
Ma Shiying smiled bitterly, but had no choice but to reply quickly, and then left. He knew that His Majesty would never make an exception with his insistent character.
"Hong'er, if the fine is really doubled, the final tax collected will probably exceed 40 to 50 million taels. I'm afraid those big landowners won't compromise easily?"
After Ma Shiying left, Zhang Yan was a little worried.
"The fines are all made by some extremely wealthy big landowners. It doesn't matter to them to pay twice as much. It's up to them whether to compromise or not.
If you don't pay after the due date, you will be fined five times. If you don't pay, your land will be confiscated. If you dare to violently resist the law, your home will be raided. I want to see if they are willing to destroy their families or to pay fines and taxes honestly."
Zhu Cixi waved his hand and said nonchalantly.
He just wanted to use this incident to let the gentry and landlords in the world know that the world has changed and the imperial court is no longer the original imperial court.
The policies and decisions of the imperial court can no longer be influenced by literati and gentry based on public opinion.
"By the way, Sister Huang, how is the Chamber of Commerce and Industry? No one has applied to join yet?"
"Alas, except for Chen Yuanyuan, a gold member, no one has even applied to become an associate member."
Princess Kunxing sighed, and then tried to say: "Brother, do you think our conditions are too harsh? Should we not relax them more and reduce some membership fees?"
"No, those really big businessmen don't need that much money. The main reason is that everyone has concerns in their hearts. But don't worry, Princess, everything is difficult at the beginning. As long as one person takes the initiative to join, there will naturally be a steady stream of businessmen joining in the future."
Zhu Cixi said with a smile.
The purpose of establishing the Royal Chamber of Commerce and Industry is to support a group of new capitals that are attached to the royal family and guide them to develop industry and commerce together in the future.
At the same time, it is also a kind of protection for these new types of capital, and then it is a disguised form of collecting industrial and commercial taxes.
It can be said that it kills three birds with one stone.
"Okay, just listen to the emperor brother, my sister should focus on the establishment of branches in other provinces first."
Princess Kunxing could only nod.
Since she concurrently served as the president of the Royal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, her enthusiasm has been very high, and she has to go to the former Wei Guogong Mansion in person almost every day.
Who would have thought that in the past two months, countless businessmen came to inquire and watch the excitement, but not one of them actually applied to join.
As for Chen Yuanyuan, the gold member is not counted at all. Everyone knows what is going on, so he cannot play a leading role at all.
"Hong'er, we're all done with political affairs. The selection of show girls has reached the final round. We're just waiting for you to nominate the queen yourself. How about we go and take a look now?"
"Okay, let's go and have a look."
"Brother Emperor, I'm going too."
Zhang Yan was overjoyed when she saw that Zhu Cixiang finally agreed to select the show girl, and immediately ordered people to make preparations.
After the three of them arrived at the pavilion in the imperial garden, ten beautiful ladies who had passed five levels and killed six generals had finished dressing up and were brought over by the palace maids.
After the ten beautiful ladies in palace attire were brought into the pavilion, they all lowered their heads slightly and looked very nervous.
This time, Zhang Yan helped Zhu Cixiang in the draft. Although it was only for several provinces in the south, hundreds of thousands of girls of the right age signed up to participate in the draft, which was the highest number of draft entries in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
Almost everyone who has a girl of school age and a reasonably good-looking family has signed up, and even if they are engaged, they have temporarily turned it down.
If one or two families refuse, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction, but when everyone does this, the man doesn't care much, which also leads to the fact that there are no weddings in the entire South this year.
The reason for being so active is that Zhu Cixiang asked Zhang Yan to relax the draft policy. All girls of appropriate age can participate, and they do not have to be from civilian backgrounds.
Secondly, because the emperor was young, had great achievements, civilized and martial arts, and was not inferior to the saints of the past, and his love for the noble concubine and the red lady was well known, he was almost every woman's dream lover.
The ten beautiful women who were able to stand out among hundreds of thousands of women and finally made the cut can be said to be unique in terms of body shape, appearance and temperament.
So looking at these ten beautiful women at this moment, Zhu Cixiang's eyes lit up and he straightened up immediately.
I secretly thought that the ancients did not deceive me. Jiangnan has produced beauties since ancient times. These ten beauties all have peerless looks that are not inferior to those of Chen Yuanyuan and Zhang Yan.
"Everyone raise their heads and let me take a good look."
"It's your Majesty!"
The ten showgirls have voices as loud as mosquitoes and flies. Just their voices can make people's bones tingle. They were obviously carefully selected.
The ten beautiful ladies slowly raised their heads and looked at Zhu Cixiang, their cheeks feeling dizzy.
And as Zhu Cixiang stood up and came closer, looking around them carefully, the ten beautiful ladies even became nervous and their palms became sweaty.
Zhang Yan saw Zhu Cixiang holding his hands behind his back, looking carefully at each one from the front, and then going around to the back to look up and down, as if he were selecting items, so she also gave him a fierce look.
Princess Kunxing stood aside and couldn't help laughing, watching the show.
"May I have your name?"
In the end, Zhu Cixi stopped in front of a pretty girl with the tallest figure and a fairly curvy body and asked.
"Back, back to your majesty, I, I, my concubine Zhou, Zhou..."
After being looked at carefully by Zhu Cixiang for so long, the ten beautiful ladies were extremely nervous. Facing Zhu Cixiang's questioning, this beautiful lady was so nervous that she lost her voice in the end. In the panic, her face turned pale and her eyes were filled with fright.
One red.
"Don't be nervous, tell me how old are you this year?"
Seeing that she was so frightened, Zhu Cixi could only comfort her for a while, and then asked again.
"Back, back to Your Majesty, fifteen..."
"Hold your age!"
"Where's you? How old are you?"
Zhu Cixiang looked at the other nine people again, and the result was just as he guessed, they were all fourteen, and their actual age was probably only thirteen.
"Hong'er, do you have someone you like?" Zhang Yan asked impatiently after Zhu Cihong returned to his seat.
"Take them down to rest first!" Zhu Cixiang waved his hand, and after all the show girls were taken down, he said: "Mother, these ten show girls are all dignified and beautiful, but they are too young.
None of these have grown yet!"
The appearance and temperament of the ten beautiful ladies are really nothing to say. According to the standards of this era, almost all of them can be queens.
"This...how is this too small? The daughter of the Zhou family you just asked about is already fifteen years old. She is so slim and graceful, so how can she not grow taller? My mother-in-law looks good. In the future, she will be able to honor the world and be the master of the harem."
"Anyway, it's too young. It's better to raise it for a few more years. Besides, we don't plan to raise the child any more. Let's temporarily call these ten beautiful girls talented!"
Zhu Cixi waved his hand.
Each body has not grown yet, no matter how good-looking it is, it is meaningless, so I plan to raise it again, at least until it is sixteen years old.
"Hong'er, what nonsense are you talking about? How can you not become a queen? If you are not satisfied, I can re-elect you. How about relaxing the age limit this time?"
Zhang Yan suddenly became anxious.
"Auntie, I won't hide it from you. Originally, I planned to make the imperial concubine the queen, but my mother and queen disagreed. In addition, the imperial concubine herself was not willing, and the infant could not force me. Therefore, from now on, the imperial concubine of the Shenwu Dynasty will be the emperor's wife.
The most noble woman in the world can at best be consecrated to some concubines."
After Zhu Cixiang finished speaking, Zhang Yan and Princess Kunxing were stunned, and they were so shocked that they couldn't close their mouths.
"Alas! I don't know how many blessings Ying'er has cultivated in several lifetimes, but you actually let you treat her like this!"
After a long while, Zhang Yan came back to her senses from the shock and sighed leisurely, with a trace of envy and jealousy in her tone and demeanor.
Princess Kunxing on the side also felt a little jealous of the red lady.
"She deserves all of this. If it hadn't been for her help, let alone ZTE, I might not have been able to get through the Tartars."
Zhu Cixi said slowly.
"Then you still let my mother-in-law do the draft? This will make my mother-in-law's busy work in vain?"
Such a ridiculous thing, Zhang Yan did not try to dissuade her this time, but said angrily.
"How can this be called a waste of work? My child did not say that the draft must select a queen. It was my mother who misunderstood.
But you don’t have to choose this year. You should wait until next year to choose again. The age can be relaxed to eighteen..."
Zhu Cixiang chuckled, still very satisfied with Zhang Yan's eyes, and then started to give instructions again.
"You don't want to be a queen anymore, so why are you choosing again? You can choose it yourself, my mother-in-law is too lazy to help you choose." Zhang Yan said this and stood up and left.
"Brother, your mother-in-law doesn't want to help you choose. Why don't you let me help you choose?" Princess Kunxing was eager to give it a try.
"You? Just forget it!"
Zhu Cixiang glanced at her, said the same thing, stood up and left.
"Brother Imperial, don't you believe my sister's vision?" Princess Kunxing hurriedly chased after her without mercy.