Chapter 309: Reorganization of Jiangnan State Taxation Bureau and New Tax Types
Zhu Houzhao began to appreciate Wu Wending a little. He actually didn't have a deep impression of Wu Wending. He only knew that this guy was a general, but he also had a rough temper. He had an unpleasant quarrel with Zhang Zhong because the eunuch Zhang Zhong wanted to take away his participation in pacifying King Ning. After being recommended by Wang Shouren, he went to Nanzhili as governor to succeed Yan Song.
Now because of the tax reform in Jiangnan, Wu Wending actually proposed to kill all officials who were unwilling to reform the tax policy and did not care about the interests of the people in Jiangnan. Zhu Houzhao had to admit that Wu Wending looked like a civil official on the outside, but he was determined to kill in his heart. The military attache seems to be willing to kill someone if he disagrees with him.
But in fact, only such officials can suppress thoughtful officials.
Although Wang Chengyu, Zhang Jin and others hated Wu Wending till the very bottom of their teeth, they could not find any reason to blame Wu Wending for the moment.
Wang Shouren felt much better. Wu Wending was his former partner, and they had killed the rebels back to back together. The friendship was naturally not comparable to that of ordinary officials. Now that he saw Wu Wending standing up to support him, he was naturally very happy, at least they could fight side by side again.
Wu Wending also glanced at Wang Shouren and couldn't help but raise his thick eyebrows. He didn't want his friend, the founder of mind science, to work alone when he was a cabinet minister. As for doing so, he could make the emperor happy and make Wang Shouren regard him as a political ally. It is just a matter of course that I will continue to support myself in the future.
Cong Lan did not mix some personal feelings into Wu Wending's bombardment like Wang Shouren, but he also admired Wu Wending's courage to stand up and fight against the Jiangnan plutocrats and his wisdom in understanding the relationship between the government and the people, which was at least better than Huang Zhong's. Be better.
Cong Lan glanced at Wang Chengyu provocatively: "Let's see, even Wu Wending of Huguang wants to reform the tax policy. Can your officials in Southern Zhili and Zhejiang resist the material arguments of officials from other provinces?"
Zhu Houzhao saw that these officials were silent. He didn't know what these officials were thinking for a while. Sometimes he also felt that it was difficult to guess what these officials were thinking. Although he had the East-West Factory and Jinyiwei, when everyone Only think about him, and when he needs to think about everyone, it is obvious that everyone knows him better, not that he knows everyone better.
At this time, the only thing Zhu Houzhao could do was to keep thinking and have his own opinions.
Reforming the tax policy in Jiangnan, to put it bluntly, means increasing commercial taxes, because Jiangnan is no longer a farming society. If commercial taxes are collected in the same way as agricultural taxes, the court will obviously suffer a loss.
After all, the productivity levels of commercial civilization and agricultural civilization are different. One has the foundation of industrial science and technology to transform nature, while the other depends on the sky.
Of course, the imperial court could suffer a loss by not increasing its share of interests in Jiangnan's commodity economic activities and making the people of Jiangnan prosperous. However, the consequences of doing so would only lead to the emergence of more plutocrats in Jiangnan.
Nowadays, there are also chaebols in the Ming Dynasty. The officials who followed Zhu Houzhao to strengthen centralization all received state shares. For example, Wang Shouren, who presided over the tax reform in Jiangnan at this time, was one of them.
But like Zhu Houzhao, these chaebols, their interests are linked to the country's income. You can say that they are bureaucratic capitalists, sucking the profits of the people all over the world, but at least they are not willing to let the Ming Dynasty fall, and they even try their best to increase the country's income, because increasing the country's income will He will get a share of the profits.
But the chaebols that emerged after Jiangnan were different. They had nothing to do with the country, and their capital was not linked to the country. If they could, they could betray the entire country. The rise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in history also had the shadow of secret support from the Jiangnan chaebols.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao had to worry about whether these Jiangnan chaebols would engage in such operations of colluding with external forces for their own benefit.
After all, capital knows no borders. Once the emperor himself and the Ming Dynasty court he leads cannot provide him with interest protection, he can sell himself directly.
Moreover, if the Jiangnan chaebols are allowed to rise and more and more wealthy private businessmen emerge, another phenomenon may occur.
In that case, central authoritarianism will definitely be challenged, and Western democracy will probably emerge as a result. History has proven that capitalism did appear first and then democratic ideas appeared in the West.
But can this democratic idea brought about by capitalism really represent the interests of the majority of the people?
Zhu Houzhao is not a thinker. As a science student, he cannot distinguish these pros and cons, but he knows that if the Ming Dynasty lets the chaebols and factory owners have the final say, then the vast majority of farmers in the Ming Dynasty will definitely not agree.
Don’t underestimate farmers. Although farmers have great endurance, once they are forced to the point where they cannot survive, the destructive power produced can destroy all the classes above them, and can even directly evolve into the tyranny of the majority, and even continue The alliance composed of the great powers, gentry, landlords, warlords, etc. was crushed to the floor and rubbed.
"Your Majesty, what Wu Wending said is treacherous and unethical! It is even deviant! I believe that the country should govern the world with etiquette and law, because etiquette is law, and the position of meat-eaters cannot be occupied by those who are not virtuous. Rule the country with morality. Benevolent government can benefit all people and extend the dynasty to eternity. It is difficult to rule a country by law for three generations. For example, the Qin Dynasty also died in only two generations. In the two Song Dynasties, people who respected virtue and observed etiquette, clearly defined the principles and disciplines, and applied Neo-Confucianism had a good fortune of three hundred years. Today, as long as the court officials abide by morality and etiquette, be loyal to the emperor and love the people, they will naturally It can bring clarity to politics!”
Before Zhu Houzhao could speak, Feng Che, the head of the Ministry of Household Affairs, stood up and said a few words. He knew that if he wanted His Majesty to give up reforming the tax policy, he would have to argue against Wu Wending on whether to rule the country by virtue or by law. Therefore, , he did not mention whether the tax policy should be reformed or not, but began to bring the topic to whether we should govern the country with virtue.
Zhu Houzhao has always felt that it is very unscientific to ask a powerful person to handle affairs impartially and fairly or even actively handle affairs just to hope for his moral standards. He admitted that Confucianism is very good at cultivating one's moral character and is also very good at brainwashing a layman into a moral gentleman. However, most people don't agree with him, or even do so openly but secretly.
Now Feng Che, the head of the Ministry of Household Affairs, once again emphasized governing the country with virtue and pinned the stability of the empire on Confucian ethics. In Zhu Houzhao's view, this was either a stupid or a bad idea.
"Rule a country by virtue or rule by law, this is a matter discussed by literati all over the world. This is a court, not a university forum, nor a school forum. We are only discussing the reform of Jiangnan's tax policy. I make a hypothesis, if Jiangnan's tax policy is not reformed , and what will be the consequences if all the provinces in the world are allowed to be rich only in Jiangnan!”
“Although the Monan Mongolian and Mobei Mongolian nobles in the north were exiled or migrated overseas, there are still a large number of Han and Mongolian people living in Hetao and Liaodong. They mainly engage in agriculture and animal husbandry, and north of Liaodong there are also female straight fishermen and hunters. There is also Wala in the northwest. Although the imperial army is currently stationed on the border, and With the advantages of weapons, there will be no border dangers. But do you know that according to Qintian Monitoring, the temperature in the north has dropped year after year, and disasters occur frequently in the villages outside the northern wall. Once the land outside the northern wall becomes even colder in the future, the imperial court will not be able to supply enough. , what will they do? ”
When Zhu Houzhao asked, Wang Shouren, who was familiar with border affairs, said: "There will be a large-scale southward movement, and it may even be an alliance of Han, Mongolian and Manchu forces in the north. In name, they will overthrow the Ming Dynasty, but in fact they will plunder the wealth of Jiangnan to solve their survival crisis." ! ”
Zhu Houzhao glanced at Wang Shouren. He admired Wang Shouren's ability to directly foresee the future of history. Isn't this the case in subsequent historical developments? Northern forces such as the Manchus, Mongolians, and Han bureaucrats formed a bandit group (Eight Banners) and went south directly to destroy the dead. The Jiangnan gentry and plutocrats, who were selfish, lacked foresight and even aided the tyrants, never recovered. They had no ability to bargain in the face of the Manchu aristocrats who had absolute military power and no lack of national sentiment.
"Not only the north, but also the foreign chieftains from the southwest and northwest, even the tyrants from Henan, Shandong and other places, how can you make Jiangnan the only rich man? No common man is innocent of the crime of harboring a jade. Jiangnan refuses to benefit the world, and the world can only Use swords to divide the interests of the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, the Southern Song Dynasty occupied the interests of the south of the Yangtze River. The reason why we can have a hundred years of peace, so that those who wear white clothes do not know about famine, is not because they contribute to the north with their years. If the tax policy in Jiangnan is not changed and does not benefit the court, then there will probably be great chaos in the world in the future, and even the rise of foreign races. Massacre Jiangnan!”
Cong Lan also said the same thing. Wang Chengyu remained silent for a long time before saying:
"What your Majesty and all the superior officials said may be reasonable. I am not ignorant of the world's power. However, the people in Jiangnan can benefit only because they have worked hard and are not at fault. What's more, even if the imperial court has not reformed the tax policy, the local officials have already stepped up efforts to levy , the various miscellaneous fees collected secretly have reduced the profits of the merchants and the people. If the tax policy is further changed and explicit taxes (official taxes on the surface) are levied, it will be difficult for the people to make any profit. For this reason, the ministers suggested that the court should not compete with the people for profits. ! ”
Wang Shouren hesitated to speak. He really didn't expect Wang Chengyu and others to be so harsh in their words. He and Cong Lan both spoke directly and still insisted on their opinions.
"What Wang Qing said also needs to be considered. Local apportionment and hidden taxes abound. The government, gentry, subordinate staff, and rural officials benefit the most, but the court and the people benefit the least. This is the most unreasonable and the most unreasonable. It needs to be contained. If the court has no money, it cannot maintain stability, and if the people do not have enough profits, they will turn merchants into bandits! ”
Zhu Houzhao said something at this time, and Wang Shouren also stood up and continued to add:
"So, what we are talking about is reforming the tax policy, not directly talking about increasing taxes. How to reform the tax policy is naturally not to simply levy taxes based on business profits. The details must be carefully considered. The first step is to set the threshold;
If it is a small business and the profit is only enough to support the family, the court can exempt it from tax or even subsidize it, but those who make huge profits need to impose additional taxes, and a gradient can be set, that is, the tax share for different profit levels will be different. Those who monopolize malicious competition or even operate operations that are detrimental to the world will not only be heavily taxed but also punished! ”
After Wang Chengyu heard what Wang Shouren said, he had no choice but to give up the idea of asking the court not to change the tax policy. He only continued: "In this case, how to determine the specific tax system is the most important thing. The tax system should be formulated by the court and should not be levied by local officials. Moreover, The imperial court should prohibit local governments from imposing additional taxes and levying excessive taxes.”
"The lower officials disagree with Wang Butang's remarks. How can the local government not have enough money to help the urgent need? Once there is another drought or flood, how can it wait for the court to allocate funds? Wouldn't it lead to food not arriving and the hungry people already suffering from hunger?" Starve to death first!”
As the governor of Southern Zhili and a local official, Wu Wending naturally hoped to have more financial freedom without having to rely on the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate money.
"The imperial dynasty has been running for more than a hundred years, and it is funded by the imperial court, and there is nothing wrong with it. The local area already has the income from fire consumption, and if it wants to have its own finance and taxation, what does Governor Wu want to do?"
Zhang Jin, the left minister of Nanjing Household Affairs Bureau, asked aggressively.
As a representative of the Jiangnan gentry, he wholeheartedly disapproved of reforming the tax policy, but now even if the court wants to change it, it has to change it. He does not want the tax policy to be in the hands of local officials. This will only affect the centralization of power and is not conducive to him. The interests of this capital official.
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile. He had to admit that all parties in the officialdom had their own considerations. Although each other began to accept tax reform, the power to tax and to set tax quotas became the focus of debate again.
In fact, this is just a question of a tax-sharing system or a tax-packaging system. The tax-sharing system means that the central government unifies taxes and then allocates part of them to local governments. The tax-packaging system means that the central government outsources tax collection to local governments or private groups. Undoubtedly, the former is more conducive to centralization and unified financial planning.
And when Zhang Jin asked Wu Wending this question, he was naturally questioning Wu Wending's idea of wanting to be a military envoy like the Tang Dynasty and relying on taxation to separate the country and become self-reliant.
Wu Wending himself did not expect that he would set such a trap for himself, and hurriedly said to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, I have no intention of doing this! I just believe that the tax reform in Southern Zhili is to prevent local officials from exploiting the people, and to encourage local governments to The government has more financial resources to benefit the people's livelihood, but now taxes are only collected by the court, which inevitably leaves local governments with no money to benefit the people. ”
"Well, the power to tax and how much tax to collect can only belong to the Ministry of Household Affairs. The Ministry of Household Affairs can divide part of the tax for local use, but no local officials have the power to send additional taxes. This is the bottom line on which the Ming Dynasty depends. Otherwise, , is the Ming Dynasty still a country? ”
Zhu Houzhao will naturally not decentralize financial power. Allowing local officials to have certain administrative appointment rights and sharing part of your money is already the biggest concession for him as an emperor. How can he allow you to have a high degree of local autonomy so that you can freely collect taxes and then have a higher degree of autonomy? How is it different from an independent kingdom? How can the central court control local areas and subsidize the wealth from rich areas to poor areas to achieve the purpose of alleviating conflicts and maintaining stability.
Zhu Houzhao does not want Ming Dynasty to become the European Union in the future, an organization that you can leave if you want.
"I made a mistake in my words, but your Majesty is still wise!" Wu Wending said with some shame.
At this time, Wang Shouren, Wang Chengyu, Cong Lan and others all shouted: "Your Majesty is wise!"
"In this case, what is certain now is that the imperial court still needs to change the tax policy in Jiangnan. How to change and re-tax the tax will be the responsibility of the central court. I have previously established a Jiangnan Taxation Bureau to collect the annual taxes in Jiangnan. Now the Jiangnan State Taxation Bureau is still responsible!
However, the officials of the Jiangnan State Taxation Bureau have to make changes. I am worried that Zhang Jin, the left assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, will not be able to handle it."
Zhu Houzhao said he was worried that Zhang Jin would be too busy, but in fact he was worried that Zhang Jin cared too much about the interests of the people in Jiangnan, so he still lowered the tax.
And Zhang Jin couldn't say that His Majesty the Emperor is not afraid of getting tired, so he could only bow his hands and say humbly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for understanding me. I will do my best. Even if I die, I will never be able to repay Your Majesty's kindness. I am not very talented and have little knowledge, and it will be difficult for me to shoulder the great responsibility alone."< br>
"A decree was drafted to set up a tax reform group, with Cong Lan, Zhang Jin and Xiong Fen in charge. Fang Xianfu was transferred to take over Xiong Fen's position, and Xiong Fen was promoted to the right minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs, with Cong Lan as the leader and Zhang Jin and Xiong Fen as the deputy."
Zhu Houzhao naturally had some considerations in doing this.
Cong Lan, the head of the Audit Bureau of the Ming Dynasty, knew how much tax the imperial court needed to collect at least from Nanzhili and Zhejiang, and it was from Shandong. He would definitely collect more and not less. After all, only by collecting more would the people in Shandong and other places benefit. Profit;
Zhang Jin is from Nanzhili and comes from a bureaucratic family, so naturally he will not let Cong Lan go too far;
However, Xiong Fen had served as a local official in Nanzhili and was familiar with the actual income of the lower class people in Nanzhili. He was from Jiangxi and was Jian's chosen student in the emperor's heart. He was naturally more objective and could play a role in mediating the conflicts between the two.
Wang Shouren couldn't help but secretly admire this, and thought to himself that His Majesty the Emperor was indeed following some rational thinking in employing people, rather than just relying on personal likes and dislikes. This was the move of a wise emperor!
Naturally, Cong Lan and Zhang Jin were in complicated moods. They knew that they would inevitably have a quarrel with each other, and the most important thing was to see whose side Xiong Jin was on.
……
Next, of course, there was the issue of taxation amounts and gradient settings. Cong Lan and Zhang Jin had already quarreled before Xiong Yan arrived in Nanjing. They almost didn't fight, but they also blushed several times.
"I'll go to Nanjing Central University to find a few top students in arithmetic. I'll have to hire a few masters who can do math. This tax reform will not allow northern officials like Cong Lan to exploit our Jiangnan people too much in this tax reform!" Zhang Jin said.
And here, Cong Lan was no exception, asking her staff: "Has Director Yue of the Qian Law and Arithmetic Department of Capital University arrived? This tax reform can no longer let the officials and gentry in Jiangnan take advantage!"
……
"Cong Lan and Zhang Jin, two beloved ministers, have been quarreling over the tax reform. Cong Lan hopes to get one out of five, while Zhang Jin hopes to get one out of fifteen. You are here at the right time. Try to choose between them. Suitable tax rate, results as soon as possible, I will get your final results within a month!”
Zhu Houzhao was summoned by Zhu Houzhao after Xiong Pan arrived in Nanjing, and was given face-to-face instructions by Zhu Houzhao. Then he was interviewed by Wang Shouren, and finally came to the Yamen of Jiangnan State Taxation Bureau.
"Shilang Xiong, you came just in time. Let me take you to the Shandong Guild Hall. Some of them come to Nandu from Shandong to work. You can understand their current annual salary pressure and think about whether the one out of five proposed by me is right. It's more reasonable!" Cong Lan took Xiong Yan and started to walk out.
At this time, Zhang Jin also came over and stopped Xiong Ban: "Shilang Xiong, Zhang just invited you to go to the cement factory in Jurong, the southern capital. You can find out how much income the factory owner there can earn every month. If we calculate one out of five Congbu Halls, how many workshops will be unable to open?”
With such tug and pull, Xiong Jin almost tripped and fell to the ground, so he had to hold his hands and said: "Two adults, please don't be anxious. Xiong just arrived in Nandu and met His Majesty and Mr. Ge, and he also knew about the dispute between the two of them. , I have also visited many people along the way, and I have also brought the trade volume of Ningbo, Songjiang, and Suzhou over the years in cloth, cotton, silk, silk, and tea. We will discuss it in detail when the time comes. "
Only then did Cong Lan and Zhang Jin stop pulling Xiong Yan.
Xiong Yan also discussed with these two people again.
Cong Lan and Zhang Jin are still quarreling with each other. Cong Lan is a graduate of the National Academy of Administration and has a set of theories, while Zhang Jin is a famous Confucian in Jiangnan and has a set of theories on making decisions for the people.
Fortunately, Xiong Fen finally got the two people to agree to a compromise tax reform plan with the help of his own practical data from serving as an official in Jiangnan for many years.
Wang Shouren gave the tax reform plan of the three people to Zhu Houzhao. After reading it, Zhu Houzhao was very satisfied. He had to admit that Cong Lan, Zhang Jin, and Xiong Bin did a good job, and even had some forward-looking ideas, such as adding similar The content of personal income tax and value-added tax in later generations.
After all, in areas with developed commodity economies like Jiangnan, many professional managers with high salaries have emerged.
While enjoying high social benefits, these people have to pay some public service fees, but this means that staff such as Master Shaoxing also have to bear corresponding taxes.
Don't look down on these staff. With the development of the Ming Dynasty's commodity economy and the implementation of the new policy of the court, many officials are required to understand both finance and technology as well as control public opinion, not to mention agricultural production and data statistics. This means that these officials More and more staff need to be hired.
In this way, many students of the new school have become the favorites of major officials and staff when they are hired. Even for some senior staff, the officials give them no less treatment than some local officials.
Value-added tax is naturally a new tax after the development of commodity economy.
Zhu Houzhao could guess that the three officials Cong Lan, Zhang Jin, and Xiong Fen had investigated the actual situation in Jiangnan and knew that the circulation of goods in Jiangnan was no longer as simple as a transaction between a buyer and a seller.
"It is said that this is all Xiong Punti's suggestion, which suggested low tax rates and multiple tax types. Based on his experience as a local official in Susongning, he realized that rich households have more sources of income, while poor households have a single source of income, and multiple tax types are low. Naturally, the tax rate can be exempted and overburden the common people. Even if the taxes are increased, it will only be about 1 out of 10, which does not harm the people;
Moreover, the inheritance tax proposed by Xiong Bin makes me think it has some merits. There are many rich families in the Jiangnan chaebol. When I was coordinating, I found that there were many families involved in the division of family property or that became enemies due to the division. What's more, They forced the widow to commit suicide in order to take advantage of her property and sell her daughter. The court also needed to legislate for inheritance inheritance. Naturally, it also needed to collect some inheritance tax to ensure the smooth inheritance of the family property! ”
When Wang Shouren said this, Zhu Houzhao nodded: "According to Confucian etiquette, dividing a family is an ominous thing. It is also taboo to divide a family. It is important to live under the same roof for several generations. However, regardless of whether you are rich or poor, families will inevitably have disputes and divide for profit. In order not to cause the weak to be bullied and the strong to be too dominant, this should be done!
In addition, it is unreasonable for dandy children to enjoy wealth and honor by devouring the remnants of their ancestors' kindness, but not contributing to the peace of the country. The inheritance tax must be levied, and Xiong Bin's tax amount is also more reasonable! It's just that this will make powerful users even more disgusted! ”
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(End of chapter)