Chapter 311: Market Strike and Northern Plutocrats Going South
Cui Yuan, the Marquis of Jingshan, was also horrified at this time. He simply couldn't believe that the tax collectors from the Internal Revenue Service would dare to bombard his palace because of tax collection.
But Cui Yuan still did not forget his dignity as a marquis, and he still said to Ma Yinglong and others with a stern look: "You, you are rebelling!"
"Why do you say that, Lord Marquis? We are just collecting taxes and collecting taxes according to the decree of the imperial court!"
As he spoke, Ma Yinglong led his men into the inner courtyard of the Marquis of Jingshan's Mansion, began to interrogate the Marquis of Jingshan Cui Yuan's money and grain account books, and confiscated them all.
After three or four hours, all the properties of Marquis Jingshan were taken care of by Ma Yinglong and others.
Immediately, Ma Yinglong said: "Master Hou, the total annual income from your various industries is about 540,000 silver dollars. Calculated according to the corresponding tax rate of the court, you need to pay taxes of 52,110 silver dollars this year. This batch of We will transport the silver coins first. You still have more than 400,000 silver dollars worth of property left, and you even have more than 200,000 cash dollars left, so you won't be ruined! You don't have to worry too much. The court wants to maintain the peace of the country and has to collect taxes. Say goodbye! ”
Ma Yinglong waved his hand as he spoke: "Carry away the tax money and give the tax payment certificate to Marquis Jingshan. Let's go!"
Marquis Jingshan looked at a tax payment voucher in his hand, and then at the carts of silver coins that were taken away by the IRS. He was naturally very heartbroken: "I want to see the emperor, I want to see the emperor! These people from the IRS It’s too much to deceive others, it’s too much to deceive others!”
Like the Marquis of Jingshan, the powerful officials and gentry in Southern Zhili and Zhejiang all encountered compulsory taxation measures, and some were even beaten to death.
Naturally, these powerful officials and gentry also reacted violently.
But Zhu Houzhao didn't care about this, because no matter what, as long as he wanted to make Ming Dynasty better, he had to take this step, and the vested interest groups such as powerful officials and gentry must be offended! There is no way around this. It is simply impossible to expect vested interest groups to realize their conscience and give up some of their own interests!
Is it difficult to accept paying taxes? There are many rich people in later generations, but they still have to be taxed when they should be taxed. To put it bluntly, the rich in this era still have no sense of the country, and they do not need to contribute to the country’s public services. A sense of effort.
The scenery of Mochou Lake is beautiful. Zhu Houzhao is either planting tadpoles on Jiangnan beauties in his house, or watching the tadpoles that sprout in spring by Mochou Lake. The gunshots and shouts outside the garden seem to have nothing to do with him.
"Your Majesty, Cui Yuan, the Marquis of Jingshan, Li Shu, the Right Councilor of Nanjing General Affairs Department, and Wang Dao, the supervisory censor, are all seeking to see Your Majesty outside the palace. They all want to impeach the imperial court for excessive taxation and extortion, which has caused public resentment." After Gu Dayong reported to Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Houzhao listened. He just waved his hand: "Just say that I am very busy now, and the internal affairs have been handed over to the cabinet. Let Wang Shouren, the cabinet scholar, go see them."
When Wang Shouren came to these powerful officials and gentry, he didn't say much. He only said: "The tax collection is the responsibility of the Jiangnan State Taxation Bureau. The specific formulation is also formulated by the Jiangnan State Taxation Bureau. If you are dissatisfied with the tax rate, or are dissatisfied with the tax rate, If you are dissatisfied with the tax collection method, you can report it to the Jiangnan State Taxation Bureau. I apologize that Wang cannot help, as Wang himself is also paying taxes.”
Seeing that Wang Shouren didn't care, the powerful officials and gentry had no choice but to curse Wang Shouren and even began to impeach Wang Shouren.
But Zhu Houzhao ignored any memorial to impeach Wang Shouren.
Unless there is a rebellion, it is impossible for the powerful officials and gentry to stop the imperial court's tax collection work.
The powerful officials and gentry also realized this, and therefore they became increasingly dissatisfied with the current situation of the court.
……
Li Shu was one of them, and as an official of the General Affairs Department, he also found that His Majesty the Emperor was inactive in this regard, so he became even more disappointed.
But Li Shu didn't know how to fight against the powerful officials in the court and force the inactive emperor to give up the tax reform policy.
At this time, a scholar named Ji Xuan came to him, and Ji Xuan only said that he was a wealthy businessman in Huizhou. He rashly came to see Li Shu because he had his own opinions on the court's new tax policy.
Li Shu met Ji Xuan because he saw Ji Xuan's generous gifts and his family had many contacts with wealthy businessmen in Huizhou.
"Nowadays, the imperial court is imposing new taxes in Jiangnan and is levying excessive taxes on wealthy households. This has caused many wealthy families to complain. Overseas merchants in towns in Jiangnan must register for business certificates and pay taxes before they can do business. Students cannot bear to see this. Merchants all over the world are in chaos because of the new tax, and they cannot sit back and watch the traitors and traitors of the imperial court impose arbitrary taxes and expropriations! ”
"Therefore, the students intend to ask the powerful officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River to unite with us and other wealthy overseas businessmen to resist the court's new tax policy, so that the court can understand that such excessive taxation will only drive the people of the south of the Yangtze River into despair!"
What Ji Xuan said made Li Shu very shocked. As a member of the powerful officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, he was also dissatisfied with the court's new tax policy. However, he was not a serious businessman after all, and he had never thought of asking wealthy overseas businessmen to unite against the court. But now, What Ji Xuan said made him a little interested and asked: "Mr. Ji, why don't you elaborate."
"Strike!"
Ji Xuan dipped some tea and wrote these two words on the table.
Li Shu nodded: "Li can contact the local wealthy gentry in Nanjing, Suzhou, Songjiang, Hangzhou, Ningbo and other places in the south of the Yangtze River. I just don't know how much capital you Huizhou can come up with."
"Within a month, if a merchant from the Jiangnan area comes to Jiangnan to purchase, Ji will kill himself to thank him!"
After Ji Xuan said this, he said goodbye to Li Shu, and when he arrived at Xiaguan Pier, he boarded the ship and said: "Go back and tell Chang Shi that Ji will not let His Highness's three million silver dollars go to waste. If the court cannot get the tax reform to give up this time, Ji is willing to die to thank His Highness!”
……
This taxation has not only damaged the interests of powerful officials and gentry, but also ordinary merchants, as well as high-level hired talents such as craftsmen and professional staff and shopkeepers.
These people also began to be dissatisfied with the current policies of the court.
People like Ji Xuan discovered this opportunity, and when they could not take advantage of ordinary people, they wanted to unite these middle classes such as ordinary merchants, handicraftsmen, professional staff and shopkeepers, and prepared to put economic pressure on the imperial court and force the imperial court to Abandon the new tax policy.
"Butcher Shi, close your pork shop! Mr. Ji will compensate you for your money! You will not suffer any loss! Moreover, you have to understand that Mr. Ji wants you to do this for your own sake. As long as the court goes on strike because of us. And if you have to give up the new tax policy, you don’t have to pay so many more silver dollars every year!”
At this time, people sent by Ji Xuan had already begun to ask ordinary merchants in the market to close their shops.
No coincidence.
At this time, the salt merchant He Hang also received Li Shu's letter and began to order his shopkeeper: "Follow my father-in-law's instructions, transport all the salt to Huguang, and do not come to Jiangnan to sell it this year!" Here, Jingshan Hou Cui Yuan's The disciple Cheng Rixing also met him Li Shu's servant Zhan He said: "This is the salt quotation owned by our Lord Marquis, and it will be sold to you at 80% of the price! As long as the court can give up reforming the tax policy this time, the salt quotation can be given to you at a cheaper price by then!"
"Please rest assured, Lord Marquis, this strike is the result of the joint efforts of all the large households in Jiangnan and Huizhou merchants. Shanxi merchants have also joined in. The reserve of silver dollars this time is no less than 300 million. By then, Jiangnan will be without salt and without food." There is no tea, no oil, no food, no prostitutes for men, and no fat for women!”
Zhan He said goodbye to Cheng Rixing.
Therefore, while the tax collection work was in progress, major shops in Jiangnan began to close down. Merchants also returned to their hometowns with original goods. Some staff and shopkeepers also began to take the initiative to resign, and even some brothels began to close. Storytellers, singers and opera singers are no longer in business.
Jiangnan is already a commodity economy society with a high urbanization rate and a number of citizens unmatched in other places. Therefore, daily life relies heavily on commerce.
"Everyone, Keshi Cloth Store is no longer open for business. From now on, all you weavers should go back!"
The owner of the largest cloth shop in Danling Town, Zhenjiang Prefecture also began to close down his own cloth shop, leaving more than a hundred weavers unemployed!
Not only that, workshops and factories in all industries began to close down, and a large number of low-level craftsmen and workers lost their jobs. Without jobs, these low-level craftsmen and workers had no source of income, and people became panicked.
This is not the most frightening thing. What is really frightening is that as the implementation of the new tax policy is extended, more and more people in Jiangnan find that the prices of daily necessities such as firewood, rice, oil and salt are getting higher and higher, and they are even impossible to buy. Some yesterday It's still open, but it's closed today.
"Your Majesty, these merchants are currently on strike, and it is difficult for the ministers to buy enough eggs, flour and other items for a while. I think they are resisting the court's new tax policy. The price of a chicken in Jiaxing has actually increased to five yuan. Ten silver dollars!”
Gu Dayong also reported the situation outside to Zhu Houzhao at this time.
Zhu Houzhao nodded and looked only at Wang Shouren: "How many unemployed workers and craftsmen are there?"
"Reporting to your majesty, Ying Tianfu Yin has just reported that more than 40,000 people in Nanjing alone have lost their jobs, and they are all now in a state of hunger and cold. Fortunately, Yan Song, the Minister of Agriculture, left more than 100,000 dan of sweet potatoes in Nanjing. It is difficult for hunger to occur now. It looks like a dead man, but the food supply for so many officials and troops in Nanjing has also become a problem!”
Wang Shouren replied.
"It seems that, as you expected, these powerful officials and gentry as well as wealthy businessmen from all over the country who came to Jiangnan to do business have really begun to use their most ruthless tactics. They would rather go on strike and suffer short-term losses than let the court renew The tax policy will be implemented smoothly." Zhu Houzhao threw his fishing rod into the lake and stood up angrily.
"Exactly, it can make the entire Jiangnan go on strike. It can also be seen that the Jiangnan chaebol with strong financial resources must be behind this. I am afraid there are other wealthy businessmen from other places, but our court is not a vegetarian. Although the current strike is forced The people in Jiangnan were unemployed and even suffered from hunger. Hungry, they all complained about the new tax policy of the imperial court. However, the strike caused great losses to these powerful officials, gentry and wealthy businessmen. If they went on strike for a day, they would make less money. Now it depends on who has the stronger financial resources. Who lasts the longest! ”
Wang Shouren replied.
Zhu Houzhao nodded: "Have Xu Jing and the others arrived in Nanjing?"
"Everyone can arrive in Nanjing within this month. The heads of the Xu family, Liu family, Luo family, Jiao family, Ma family, Zhang family, and the Chen family. The heads of the seven families who were favored by His Majesty as royal shareholders all came in person. , Cong Lan has already gone to Yangzhou to meet with them. Now the Lianghuai and Changlu salt fields have been ordered to ban the sale of salt to salt merchants. Mr. Chong, who has set up a bureau, estimates that he will be able to bring the salt back within four or five days. "
After Wang Shouren said that, Zhu Houzhao said nothing more. He and Wang Shouren had already expected that the powerful officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River would do this. After all, these people are no better than peasants who have nothing, and there are not many of them who would risk being killed by several tribesmen to rebel. With such courage, all he can do is go on strike and rely on his strong financial resources to fight the court economically.
But the difference between the Ming Dynasty and the past is that the country also has a group of die-hard chaebols. These chaebols are all related to Zhu Houzhao. They are the largest bureaucratic capitalists in the Ming Dynasty. They even manage the huge state-owned assets of the Ming Dynasty on behalf of the court. assets.
Therefore, it is not that easy for the plutocrats in Jiangnan to really compete economically with Zhu Houzhao and the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention the emperor Zhu Houzhao, even Wang Shouren's own Wang family can come up with huge assets of one billion silver dollars. Otherwise, Wang Shou Ren would not be willing to come to Jiangnan for Zhu Houzhao to implement taxation policies.
After the country enters industrialization, it is inevitable that it will enter the era of imperialism and the emergence of trust capitalists. The top political families that control the imperial power will naturally become super chaebols. The same is true for the families mentioned by Wang Shouren at this time. Successfully, he became the leader of a big chaebol.
And below them are the so-called Shanxi merchants, Hui merchants, Jiangnan chaebols, etc.
However, because these people are all Zhu Houzhao's lackeys, and they are all families closely related to the national interests, and therefore they are relatively low-key, so the plutocrats in Jiangnan ignore the existence of these people, just like they ignored Zhu Houzhao. Of course, maybe these Jiangnan plutocrats are more confident and have stronger assistants.
anyway.
Under the secret control of the Jiangnan plutocrats and wealthy merchants, the Jiangnan strike continued. At this time, Xu Jing and other imperial merchants also went south because of Zhu Houzhao's secret order.
Yangzhou City.
Xu Jing, who controlled the Ming Dynasty's national capital of no less than hundreds of billions of silver dollars, was sitting in a large four-wheeled carriage wrapped in silk. He looked at the large number of unemployed workers who had nothing to do but lived on sweet potato porridge and those who were walking due to lack of oil and water. The listless people in Jiangnan said to Cong Lan, who was also in the carriage:
"Cong Butang, don't worry. Xu will not bring nothing when he comes to Jiangnan this time. Xu has prepared 100 million silver dollars this time, and has signed a contract with Ye Butang of the Infrastructure Bureau, and decided to bring this The money is used as the initial payment for the construction of the Nandu Yangtze River Bridge. It doesn’t matter if the bridge is not successfully repaired by then, it will at least be enough to provide a living for hundreds of thousands of workers!”
"The student also brought 50 million silver dollars this time. The student's uncle has always been grateful for His Majesty's kindness and always wanted to do something for His Majesty. He also told the student that everything in the Liu family belongs to His Majesty. Now, although the student is He is the person in charge of the Liu family's property, but he is still in charge of His Majesty. The students are not as caring for the people as Master Xu. For his own sake, the student only wants to build a large royal garden for His Majesty in Nandu, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Yangzhou. As His Majesty's palace, the student has already submitted a memorial to the Royal Horse Supervisor, and His Majesty also agreed. Quarrying stone, cement, and bricks is estimated to require tens of thousands of craftsmen!”
Liu Jin's nephew Liu Xuan also expressed his stance to Cong Lan.
The heads of other major families also expressed their opinions.
Cong Lan was naturally very happy when she saw this: "This is great. When the time comes, we will show the powerful officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River how powerful our wealthy merchants in the north are!"
Most of the industries of these imperial merchants are in the north and overseas. Therefore, as a northerner, Cong Lan should regard them as his northern plutocrats.
Xu Jing did not deny it, only smiled and said: "In your Majesty's words, this will be an event where the country advances and the people retreat! In any case, doing this can ensure the long-term peace and stability of the Ming Dynasty! It can also make the imperial power of the Ming Emperor permanent! ”
I have tonsillitis and a bad cold. I will only write four thousand words today. Please forgive me. In addition, as of the writing of this book, several large chaebol families that appeared by mistake in the past have had to call them south to invest again because Zhu Houzhao encountered the challenge of the Jiangnan chaebol to resist the new tax policy. This will undoubtedly strengthen these families. The big chaebol family, of course Zhu Houzhao himself The royal capital will also grow with it. I don’t know if it is a bad thing. If it is a bad thing, I don’t know how to improve it in the later stage. Book friends can give me your opinions. Thank you book friend zxdao for a reward of 100 starting coins. Thank you for the reward of 100 starting coins for a pound of sugar. reward
(End of chapter)