Chapter 142 Zheng Zhilong! Are you trying to rebel?
"The first officer chose to immigrate to Taiwan Island and did a very good job. The formation of a fleet was also very good. They are all what I want to do! I want to praise you for these!"
Zhu Cixiang smiled slightly and said with a smile to Zheng Zhilong beside him.
He saw the shock in the eyes of Zheng Zhilong and Shen Tingyang, but Zhu Cixiang did not explain anything because there was no need to explain.
As a prince, he doesn't need to explain so much to his men, and explanations are useless.
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness!"
Zheng Zhilong quickly said to Zhu Cixiang in front of him.
"Then, the battle against the Dutch was really beautiful, but!"
As he spoke, Zhu Cixiang changed the subject, the smile on his face disappeared, and he looked at Zheng Zhilong in front of him with excitement.
"You have raised private soldiers in your family, blatantly wooed Fujian officials, formed a secret party, built a rail link throughout Fujian, engaged in maritime smuggling, never paid taxes, and openly occupied the island of Taiwan. Do you want to rebel?"
Zhu Cihong listed all the crimes one by one, and Zheng Zhilong suddenly broke out in cold sweat.
He quickly knelt down towards Zhu Cixiang in front of him.
"Don't dare! Don't dare! His Royal Highness, Zheng Zhilong is guilty of death! Death!"
Zheng Zhilong felt a little regretful at this time. He originally thought that by coming here and seeking refuge with His Highness, he would be able to gain some benefits, but His Highness was so familiar with his crimes.
And he can actually count them one by one. It seems that he has already prepared for this!
What is your Highness the Crown Prince trying to do??
Are you planning to capture yourself??
Your huge house has just been built, but you haven’t had time to live in it yet?
Just when Zheng Zhilong was feeling uneasy.
Zhu Cixiang watched Zheng Zhilong's reaction with cold eyes.
Shen Tingyang on the side gritted his teeth, knelt down towards Zhu Cihong in front of him, and said: "Your Highness, please forgive Mr. Zheng. I believe that if Mr. Zheng wants to rebel, he will never come now.
I am meeting His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so I believe that the official will definitely not want to rebel!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Zhu Cixi laughed.
"You two generals, please hurry up and invite us! That's all I just said! I didn't mean anything else!"
With a smile on his face, Zhu Cixi helped the two people in front of him up from the ground.
Zheng Zhilong and Shen Tingyang were helped up from the ground by Zhu Cixiang.
"Let's go! I have already ordered people to prepare a reception banquet for the two generals! Two generals, come with me!"
Zhu Cixiang's expression changed very quickly.
Zheng Zhilong and Shen Tingyang on the side looked at the scene in front of them in confusion, with a trace of confusion flashing in their eyes. They didn't know what Zhu Cixiang was doing?
How come this falling out is faster than turning over a book!
With some anxiety and doubts in their hearts, the two of them followed Zhu Cixiang to the nearby mansion.
In the house, a table of wine and food was indeed prepared. At Zhu Cihong's request, the two of them sat down on both sides of the table.
Under Zhu Cixiang's persuasion, soon after three rounds of wine and five flavors of food.
At this time, Zhu Cihong said slowly to Zheng Zhilong and Shen Tingyang next to him.
"Both of you are the pillars of our Ming Dynasty's navy! I believe you recognize this in your hearts! I, Zhu Cihong, also recognize this sentence!"
As he spoke, Zhu Cixiang glanced at the two people in front of him. They had different expressions in their eyes, but they both said they didn't dare to say anything.
"There is nothing to be modest about. I think both of you are completely worthy of this matter! I think you are both worthy of it!
And I came here today just to talk to you two about the construction of the navy and customs taxation!"
It is indeed this!
Shen Tingyang and Zheng Zhilong felt a slight suddenness in their hearts. Sure enough, they still talked about this!
Presumably those words of His Royal Highness just now were all foreshadowing this sentence!
At this time, Zheng Zhilong felt slightly relieved.
In fact, what a subordinate fears most is not knowing what his boss means and not being able to understand his intentions. That is the scariest thing, because you have no idea what he wants to do.
Of course I don't know how to deal with it.
I'm just afraid that my boss won't follow the rules!
If I knew it, my subordinates would actually not be afraid anymore!
Because, I have already been prepared!
Of course, Zhu Cixi also saw the change in the expressions in the two people's eyes. The corners of his mouth raised slightly, a meaningful smile appeared on his face, and he continued.
"How to collect taxes is the key point! How to reform the navy is also the key point!"
Zhu Cixi looked at the two people in front of him with a smile and said.
"I have decided to establish the General Administration of Customs of the Ming Dynasty! It will be responsible for customs entry and tax collection matters. Do you two have any objections?"
"No!"
"No!"
Shen Tingyang and Zheng Zhilong knew about this happening before they came, so they were not surprised and nodded directly in agreement.
They were already prepared, especially Zheng Zhilong, who came here just for the General Administration of Customs!
Otherwise, Shen Tingyang would not be able to call him easily. At worst, if Zheng Zhilong hides in Taiwan, it will be difficult for the court to deal with him!
But having said that, Zheng Zhilong cannot leave Fujian at all.
He is a native of Fujian. He cannot leave Fujian and does not want to leave Fujian. Therefore, it is impossible for him to leave Fujian unless it is absolutely necessary.
Therefore, he still has to listen to the court's wishes!
"The imperial court established the General Administration of Customs not to compete for profits with the people, but to do the most important thing, standardizing taxation."
Zhu Cixiang looked at the two people in front of him with a serious face and said.
Since ancient times, land taxes have always been higher, but merchants have collected very little tax. This is extremely unreasonable. It is obvious that merchants earn far more than farmers.
But there are very few taxes on them, and very few on those who produce the minerals.
This is very unreasonable,
So, I decided to set up a tax type called value-added tax."
"VAT??"
Shen Tingyang and Shen Tingyang were stunned for a moment, and after looking at each other, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but ask Zhu Cihong in front of him.
"Your Highness! What is value-added tax?"
"It's simple. All transactions are composed of two parts: buying and selling. Whichever part of the money you spend when selling is higher than when you buy it is the value-added part of the commodity. This part needs to be based on a certain ratio. , handed over to the treasury for taxation, this is value-added tax!”
After hearing Zhu Cixiang's words, the two people in front of them nodded thoughtfully.
Shen Tingyang pondered for a moment, then looked at Zhu Cixiang in front of him and asked.
"Your Highness, how should this tax be collected? We don't know the specific prices of these commodities. I'm afraid it will be very difficult to collect it?"