The treasury is almost empty enough for rats to escape.
But the country of Ming Dynasty still has to keep functioning.
The salaries of imperial officials must be paid, the bandits in Shan and Shaanxi must continue to be suppressed, the defensive capabilities of the Jiubian Military Town are even less likely to be abandoned, and the annual military expenditure of several million taels for the Guan-Ning Jin Defense Line is indispensable.
There is also the clan salary, which has been lower in priority. It is related to the face of the royal family, so it should be paid more or less.
money.
All of the above require money.
Every minute and every second of every day costs money!
The one million silver dollars that Xujiazhuang lent to Zhu Youjian was just a drop in the bucket, and it couldn't provide any relief for a moment, because it still owed countless debts.
what to do?
Inside Dongnuan Pavilion.
"Additional conquests can only be made by conscripting Liao Xiang, Your Majesty!"
Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant of the cabinet, said: "Not raising taxes cannot solve the problem of the court's lack of money. If we don't raise taxes early, the situation will only become worse. It's like a serious illness in life. It's better to take medicine early than to get rid of it."
Zhu Youjian of Chongzhen said hesitantly: "Do we really need to increase taxes? The burden on the people of Li is already extremely heavy, so we can't send more taxes. How about imposing additional commercial taxes? I asked Qichunnian, the commercial representative of Xujiazhuang, and he said that the tax will be increased
There is no problem with taxes, and they can even be levied more, but they must be treated equally, and merchants all over the world must pay taxes as one, otherwise Xujiazhuang will not respond. My dear ministers, since the number of merchants is small and they mostly live in the city, it is easier to levy taxes, why not increase the commercial tax?"
Is it okay to increase taxes on businessmen? Zhu Youjian did ask Qichunian personally about this question, and got a positive reply. Commercial taxes can be collected completely, and the profits from doing business are quite high. Let alone one for thirty taxes, one for ten.
It can be afforded, and at most it will just increase the price of the goods, and the burden can be passed on to consumers. Unlike the farmers who are subject to the land tax, once the burden is too heavy, people will really starve to death, and eventually they will have to kill officials and rebel.
It can be said that collecting business tax is far better than imposing land tax.
But when it comes to business tax.
"Your Majesty, commercial taxes are not allowed. As long as they are collected, the flow of goods will be blocked, prices will skyrocket, and the people's burden will be heavier. Food from the south will no longer be transported to the north. The food-deficient north will be starved, and the capital will have no food available.
, this is the strategy of killing the goose to get the eggs and drinking poison to quench thirst."
"Just increasing the land tax will only increase the burden on the people by 3%, which is harmless. If the commercial tax is collected, the burden transferred to the people will be 3%, and the foundation damage will be more serious."
"Your Majesty, most of the merchants in Ming Dynasty are the families of officials, gentry and clans. Even your Majesty has many royal shops. These are all merchants. I would like to ask these shops, do the tax collectors dare to collect taxes? Do they dare to offend the powerful?
Things?"
"Your Majesty wants to increase business taxes, so just increase the taxes on Xujiazhuang alone. Most of their goods come from overseas, and the prices are already high. They are not necessary for people's lives. If the price increases ten or a hundred times, it will not affect people's lives. It is
The most suitable object for collecting commercial tax."
"Yes, Xujiazhuang is making a lot of money every day. The money is so much that it can buy people's hearts and bribe His Majesty. If it is not stopped, it will definitely become a disaster!"
Warm body and benevolence, how can you be so favored? Qian Xiangkun and other cabinet ministers advised him one after another.
Faced with collective opposition from ministers.
The reasons and views are high-sounding, but they can't find any loopholes. It seems that as soon as business taxes are collected, the world will be over.
It was like bullying him that Zhu Youjian had no knowledge and didn't know much about business matters - although he really didn't know much about it.
But Zhu Youjian will definitely not adopt the bad idea of only collecting commercial taxes on Xujiazhuang, which is an obvious double standard. He is not stupid enough to believe whatever the cabinet ministers say - although he is also moved.
one time.
all in all.
The meeting went to the end, after all possible solutions were discussed. As a result, based on the arguments of the cabinet ministers, only raising land taxes was feasible.
"Come on, add 3% of Liao's salary, increase it early and end it early!"
Zhu Youjian suppressed his blush and had to say these words.
"Your Majesty is wise! As long as your Majesty is willing to cheer up and the people have a little patience for a few years, the additional levies will definitely be cancelled."
"It's because the Liaoning Salary Club has all been cancelled."
"In five years, no, six years, at most six years, our Ming Dynasty will begin to recuperate, and in ten years we will enter the prosperous age of Chongzhen."
All the cabinet ministers comforted and painted cakes for the young king, which made Zhu Youjian feel a little better.
And this scene in Dongnuan Pavilion.
Not only historians who wrote notes on daily life were writing records.
In a corner, there was also a small electronic device that recorded the entire meeting and quickly sent the data.
Outside the Forbidden City, in a house on Zhuque Street, the sound of beeping sounded, and then turned into invisible radio waves, instantly crossing a distance of nearly a thousand kilometers, sending a very important intelligence message to a place in the south.
…
Xinghua County, Xujiazhuang.
An impromptu staff meeting was held.
"I just got the news that Emperor Chongzhen has agreed to increase the Liao salary."
Xu Yuan, who was sitting at the head, shook his head and said: "Although the additional levy is only three cents, I am afraid that there will be another fatal straw that weighs on some people."
In the late Ming Dynasty, the burden on the people was actually very heavy. With an additional levy of 9% this year and 3% next year, and a tax cut this year and an additional increase the year after, it seemed that the increase each time was not much.
On the surface, the people can afford it, but the taxes received by the imperial court every year have not increased significantly, but have become less and less. In fact, they only enrich the local corrupt officials.
In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, minister Xu Biao came to Beijing from Jianghuai and found that there was not a single farmer farming on the thousand-mile road from Jianghuai to Beijing. It can be seen that the order of the Ming Dynasty had completely collapsed by this time, and all the farmers were bankrupt.
.
"Your Majesty is confused!"
Fang Yizhi was heartbroken. He already understood the people's sentiments very well and could only describe it with sadness and anger: "The land tax cannot be increased. If it is added, more people will give up their land, become bandits, or flee to other places. What can be collected
Taxes will only become less and less. This is a vicious circle. How can Your Majesty be so confused?"
At this time, Fang Yizhi wanted to go to the capital immediately, come before the emperor, and try his best to persuade and prevent the increase in land tax from happening.
"Our Majesty has grown up in the hands of women in the palace since he was a child. He has never seen the crops in the fields. How can he understand the sufferings of the people? If he is fooled by ministers and civil servants again, of course no one will bear the price to speak out for them.
The court is extremely short of money, so on the premise that it is impossible to affect the interests of the gentry, it can only increase taxes on the common people."
Butler Zhao Jinde elaborated on his point of view.
"Didn't Brother Xu lend you one million silver dollars to Your Majesty? Where is this money?"
Fang Yizhi asked still not understanding.
"After all the money was spent, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, took away 500,000 yuan, Liang Tingdong, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and Li Shouqi, the admiral of the Beijing camp, each had 150,000 yuan, as well as this one with 50,000 yuan and that one with 30,000 yuan. All the millions of silver dollars went to the hands of the civil and military officials.
I don’t know if this money has alleviated the financial difficulties here. However, the sales volume of our Xujiazhuang products in the capital increased by 30% in November. Many customers were extremely generous and spent the white dollars flowing out of Xujiazhuang. In addition,
The Xiangcheng residence of Li Shouqi, the admiral of the Beijing camp, bought 50 Peugeot maids in one go. The mansion ate more than 20 sheep, dozens of chickens and ducks every day, and the level of luxury was comparable to that of the imperial palace."
Xu Yuan said calmly.
"How dare they, how dare they?!"
Fang Yizhi opened his eyes wide and murmured repeatedly. He felt like he was about to vomit blood because he was holding back his blood. He really couldn't accept such a thing.
But after a trip to the capital and spending 300,000 silver dollars, he knew that this must be true. He knew that the life of many courtiers was ten times a hundred times more luxurious than that of the imperial palace. Only His Majesty the Emperor lived the most frugal life, and the result was even more luxurious.
Take the blame for these corrupt officials who deserve to be killed.
Because the policy of increasing land tax was issued in the name of the imperial court.
What is at stake is the emperor's reputation.
When the common people cannot bear it and want to rebel, the most direct target of their resentment is the court, the emperor, rather than a specific official.
The one that suffered the most damage was the imperial power.
What can be done?
Fang Yizhi was so anxious that he wanted to fly to the emperor immediately and desperately try to persuade him to prevent the additional conscription from happening, but did he have the ability to stop it?
Can he stand up to the group composed of all the civil and military officials in the court?
it's useless.
In addition to beating his chest and beating his feet here, feeling sad and understanding all the actual situations, he still can't do anything. This is the greatest sorrow of being an idealist.
Xu Yuan comforted him with a few words, saying that the boat would be straight when it reached the bridge. At present, Xujiazhuang was still in the stage of development and growth, and could not play a greater role in the court. As long as it developed well for two more years, it might not be able to interfere with the court by then.
, but the ability to exert influence and stop the continued tax increases on the people is definitely there.
The worst case scenario is to lend money to Chongzhen again.
After hearing this, Fang Yizhi felt much better, but an idea took root in his heart and gave him an immature plan.