Qiming 1158

Chapter 894 I will bear the blame
To start with businessmen?
Shi Hao pondered for a while, then shook his head.

"We can't say that we will increase the commercial tax from the beginning, but we should say that we will levy the agricultural tax on the landlords and gentry, apportion it to them, and then change the commercial tax after they protest, so that there will be less resistance. A lot."

Ye Yiwen and Zhou Linzhi heard it, and praised him again and again, and felt that Shi Hao was worthy of being a sophisticated politician.

The two complimented each other, but Shi Hao was not at all happy.

"Just the business tax is probably not enough. There are only so many businessmen. Even if it is doubled, it is estimated that it will not be enough for the military and the country."

When he said this, Ye Yiwen became a little sad.

"Is it still necessary to levy an agricultural tax? To the gentry?"

Shi Hao shook his head.

"That's too difficult. At present, the imperial court is in urgent need of money. It takes too much time to negotiate with the gentry.

Ye Yiwen and Zhou Linzhi looked at each other and knew what Shi Hao meant.

It is nothing more than adding a little more to the already heavy burden of the common people, squeezing more oil and water from them.

This is not without negative effects, so Shi Hao's complexion is not good.

"The situation in the country is difficult, so I can only temporarily suffer the people for a while, and I will bear the stigma. After this period of time, the tax will be restored to its original state, so that it can appease people's hearts. By the way, let's put the salt Add ten...five cents to the price."

After hesitating for a moment, Shi Hao stood up and said, "Do you want to go with me to see His Majesty?"

Zhou Linzhi and Ye Yiwen looked at each other.

Although Shi Hao was appointed to lead the Privy Council, the emperor now trusts Shi Hao, and Zhou Linzhi and Ye Yiwen have not yet established a firm foothold, so they have to listen to Shi Hao's advice on many things.

But they didn't want to get involved in this matter.

Once this kind of infamy is borne, it is not so easy to get rid of it.

"Let's go, the two of us still have official business."

Zhou Linzhi got up and thanked Shi Hao.

Shi Hao nodded and went to find Zhao Tan by himself.

A few days later, news came that the imperial court was preparing to levy an agricultural tax. It is said that the method of levying is not simply to increase the burden on the common people and scrape the money of the poor, but to levy the tax according to the amount of land.

In short, the court planned to measure the fields and levy more taxes on those with more land according to the number of fields, so as to make up for the shortage of military affairs.

The news came out, my good fellow, the shock of the entire court and the reaction of the officials were stronger than when they targeted Zhang Jun. One or two immediately attacked like wild cats whose tails were trampled on. They almost didn't take this policy. Shi Hao, who proposed it, devoured it alive.

One bite and one fight for profit with the people, one bite is greedy, one bite brings disaster to the country, and one bite deserves to die.

Shi Hao, who had been an official for so many years, suddenly became the first sinner in the Song Dynasty to bring disaster to the country and the people in their mouths. Some people even wrote to Zhao Tan to let Zhao Tan stay away from such villains as Shi Hao to avoid being deceived by him.

Shi Hao, who was prepared for this reaction, stayed out of the house, turning a blind eye to the many people who suddenly came to his door to harass him.

On the other hand, Zhao Tan also insisted on cooperating with Shi Hao, refusing to approve similar performances, refusing to meet officials who came to see him, until things got so turbulent that the entire Shangshu Province was a little difficult to operate normally, Zhao Tancai Finally let go.

Since you are unwilling to impose agricultural tax by the imperial court, then it is better to levy business tax. In short, the imperial court will increase the tax, and the commercial tax will be increased without the agricultural tax. You choose.

This time, the officials who jumped up were a little reluctant to jump. Of the two choices, the latter one was obviously much better than the former. The lesser of two evils, their attitude softened.

Shi Hao stood up at the right time and submitted a proposal for levying business tax and paying additional taxes to various regions. This proposal was quickly signed by Zhao Tan, and then quickly handed over to the Shangshu Province for approval and implementation. The whole process has not yet been completed. one day.

Many people only came back to it at that time and realized that this was a double reed sung by the emperor and Shi Hao.

Many people were angry about this, but it was done, and they had nothing to do. They could only say that Shi Hao couldn't be better off.

Commercial tax is still related to the interests of some officials, and they will definitely not pay honestly.

As for another levy...

It's fine for everyone to divide the money of the poor ghost into [-] to [-]. There is no objection to this.

Apart from a few people standing up to cry for the people and do political performances, most people have no extra advice.

This matter has just passed at the central level, and as for the repercussions it will cause at the local level, it is yet to be seen.

However, since the interests of some people are damaged, it will never develop smoothly so easily, and there will inevitably be more and more special situations.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, there are ripples in the taxation issue, and the Ming Kingdom north of the Yangtze River is also undergoing profound changes.

After Su Yonglin returned to the Central Capital, after several months of hard work like an old scalper, he finally solved many problems accumulated during the chaotic period, and also dealt with government affairs. The central court and the local government have finally gradually embarked on the established track. .

The political cadres trained through the surprise training course went to the place one by one to share the pressure for the seniors who used to work alone for two or three people.

The hellish overtime did not return until the end of September and the beginning of October in the third year of Hongwu, before Su Yonglin's large-scale anti-corruption campaign. During this period of time, let alone Su Yonglin's exhaustion, even Xin Qiji, who had always been healthy, was tired once. .

Fortunately, after October, the decentralization of a large number of political cadres trained by the Zhongdu School of Political Science and Law solved part of the problem, and a group of grass-roots cadres who had been transferred from the army by Xin Qiji also completed the decentralization, and gradually filled the vacant positions in the local area. up.

Su Yonglin can finally let himself and the court take a breather, rest for two or three days, get a good night's sleep, take a bath, and relax.

However, the country's problems always come one after another. Just now there is no need to work overtime every day in hell, and there is another big problem that hits Su Yonglin's head.

On the sixth day of October in the third year of Hongwu, Su Yonglin had just finished a day's rest when he received a report from Kong Maojie, director of the Supervision Department of the Renaissance Society.

After reading this report, Su Yonglin frowned gradually.

This is not a report of a sudden problem, but a summary report of a long-standing problem, which comes after months of investigation by the Inspectorate.

The grassroots situation that Su Yonglin has learned in the past is a process of gradual recovery and development of agricultural productivity at the macro level.

But he knew very well that this was an inevitable phenomenon after he abolished the exorbitant taxes and the high degree of exploitation of the peasants.

This is the strong resilience and productivity of the small farmer economy itself, but it has been inhibited and destroyed by extortionate taxes and land acquisitions and poor infrastructure in the past.

He solved extortionate taxes and land mergers, strengthened infrastructure, and completely released this part of the productive forces, which exploded suddenly with the improvement of farmers' enthusiasm for production. Therefore, since the founding of the People's Republic of China three years ago, the output of summer grain and autumn grain has been rising every year.

This can certainly be said to be a change brought about by policies, but at the same time, it is also a natural law, something that must happen. Every dynasty has experienced such a period of time.

The difference between the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty is the difference in the institutional level. Through the difference in the institutional level, the grassroots of the Ming Dynasty can mobilize farmers to repair water conservancy and roads, so as to increase grain production and resist natural disasters.

Therefore, the explosive growth of productivity is also a matter of course, or the problem is the lack of growth. The potential of the traditional economy is far from reaching its peak. Su Yonglin's actions are only to accelerate the process of the traditional economy developing to its peak.

But in this process, it is not without problems, and it is not smooth sailing.

Aside from natural disasters and climate anomalies that occur every five years or so, the Ministry of Supervision’s report focuses on the competence of grass-roots peasant association cadres.

Through this report, Su Yonglin learned about some contradictions that cannot be ignored in the current grassroots peasant associations.

(End of this chapter)