Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 498 Promotion of Commercial Taxation

For the reform of the clan, the impact is far-reaching.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Household Affairs, if the new "Regulations on Suzerain and Vassal" are implemented, the annual royalties paid by the imperial court will be reduced to one million shi.

If the money is folded according to the Jiajing period, it can be reduced to 700,000 shi.

And you must know that in the last year of Wanli, the world's Zong Lu together, was as large as 7 million stones, accounting for about [-]% of all land taxes.

It is undeniable that although there was too much damage to the clan in troubled times, the Suzerainty and Vassal Regulations contributed a lot.

Presumably, it won't be long before the problem of Zonglu that has plagued Ming Dynasty for 200 years will be completely resolved. This is the beginning of distress for finances.

Because they have never been paid a patriarchal salary for so many years, and now there is an extra expense, how can they not be troubled?

On the other hand, the left servant of the Ministry of Finance begged to see the emperor a little impatiently, and talked about suitable matters.

Although the cabinet has a clear division of labor and each has the right to speak about the six ministries, it is only in terms of decision-making, and the specific implementation depends on the six ministries themselves.

In this way, the dignified servant of the household department naturally has a higher status.

The emperor readily agreed.

"His Majesty--"

The new year has just passed, and the smell of fireworks has not yet dissipated. The small fireworks inside the palace are still in full bloom. A large number of eunuchs and maids are watching the fire. Everything is to make the princesses happy.

Hubu Zuo Shilang came over respectfully, with a strong smell of sulfur in his nostrils, he couldn't help but cupped his hands and said:

"There is a news from Beijing that the previously used million silver dollars are about to be exhausted, so I request another million silver dollars."

"Why is it costing so much?"

Zhu Yixi gathered the fur on his body, and said puzzledly, "It won't take so much money to burn down a few palaces!"

Hearing this, the Zuo Shilang of the Household Department looked helpless: "Your Majesty, in addition to the imperial palace, there is also the outer city wall, and more importantly, the ditches in Beijing are renovated on a huge scale, and more than [-] people are employed every day."

"Millions of silver dollars have persisted until now, and Jiang Shangshu is already very capable."

As he said that, he still showed some complaints: "You asked to build the palace before, and it cost a lot of logs to raise the army..."

"How many silver coins are left in Taicang?"

Zhu Yixi waved his hand, feeling a headache.

"During the New Year's Eve, all kinds of rewards, banquets, etc. cost 15030,000 yuan silver dollars, and there are still 5 million silver dollars in Taicang."

"Crossing out 1 million, can you persist until the summer tax?" Zhu Yixi asked a serious question.

"It's enough to stick to the summer tax, but just in case, if there is any natural or man-made disaster, more money will be used."

The household servant said honestly: "However, the only thing I am happy about is that there is enough food and grass."

"Then give it to him."

Zhu Yixi said decisively: "It is worthwhile to spend several million silver dollars to get a perfect Beijing city."

There are many problems in the city of Beijing, but the sewer and sandstorm problems are enough to top the list.

The current population of Beijing City is less than 200,000, which is just suitable for large-scale transformation, creating a new soul for this future capital.

He didn't want to stay in a city made of shit, just thinking about it made him shudder.

These problems are already prominent in Nanjing City today. More than 3000 people are needed every day to collect manure, and the supply is often in short supply.

The rampant garbage was also the main reason for the large-scale outbreaks of plague and smallpox in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Wait, smallpox, cowpox, it seems that I have to do it for my children, just in case.

"You came to see me, not just for this matter?"

Suddenly, the emperor looked at him thoughtfully, and said: "The transfer of money and food in the cabinet should be placed on my desk tomorrow."

"Your Majesty's lesson!" The servant hurriedly bent over, thought for a while, and then said slowly: "This time, I came here because of the customs duty."

The tariff mentioned here refers to the commercial tax.

Commercial tax is composed of sitting tax (shops, trading entities, etc.), customs duty, and gate tax, and customs duty is also called overtax, which is the abbreviation of customs tax.

In history, Liguan in the late Qing Dynasty was its peak.

Hearing this, Zhu Yixi suddenly realized.

In the Huguang area before, in order to expand finances, checkpoints were set up at key points to collect taxes, which is theoretically the same as the banknotes of the canal.

As a result, the commercial tax revenue has skyrocketed, and the monthly income has exceeded 100,000 taels.

Later, it was popularized in Sichuan, where the terrain was rugged, and the customs tax was very fast, and the commercial tax soared to more than 200,000 taels.

Now that the Ministry of Household Affairs has brought up this topic again, there is no doubt that they want to extend commercial taxation to the Jiangnan area.

For the poor household department, this is definitely a huge living tax, and a steady stream of living water is enough to nourish the long-poor household department.

"The business tax in Jiangnan..."

Zhu Yixi hesitated slightly.

"Your Majesty, as long as the business tax collection is perfect, rebuilding the city of Beijing will be easy, and it will even be easy to support several northern provinces."

The servant couldn't wait to make a promise.

Of course, the emperor understood the potential of going south of the Yangtze River, especially the prosperity of its people today, which would definitely surprise people.

However, will the collection of tariffs affect his customs?
Treasury revenue and internal money revenue are two different things.

Zhu Yixi was not surprised by Hubu's boldness and daring to touch the tiger's butt.

Although the main body of the Ming court is still in the south, the actual power at the top is concentrated in the hands of the northerners.

For example, the first assistant Zhao Shu and the second assistant Zhang Shenyan were both from Shanxi, and the group assistant Yan Chongxin was from Hanzhong.

Among the six books, Wang Yingxiong was from Sichuan, and Jiang Yueguang was from Jiangxi.

The middle and lower levels of the six ministries came from the merger of Liu Cao, the military and political department in Huguang.

In the army, there are a lot of them, countless.

The situation of north facing south is obvious.

Under such circumstances, even if the strength of the gentry in the south is taken into account, the center can still make a deadly move. After all, this is not his hometown.

As for the household servant in front of him, upon hearing his accent, Zhu Yixi knew that he was from the north, apparently taking advantage of Jiang Yueguang's trip to the north to make some political achievements.

"If you want to do it, then do it."

The emperor struggled for a while, and then said: "I only have one, and there must be no trouble."

"Your Majesty, don't worry, Huguang and Sichuan have implemented it for many years, and the Ministry of Finance has long been experienced."

He patted his chest and smiled happily: "The tax soldiers who collect taxes are all from the local militia, and the officers are veterans who have retired from the battlefield. No one will dare to evade taxes."

"I mean, don't arouse public indignation, take it step by step, don't be too radical."

Zhu Yixi said helplessly.

"Don't worry, we will act impartially, and we will never overcharge and take too much. We promise to keep him from talking too much."

The chest slapped loudly, and the smile on the man's face couldn't be stopped.

The emperor was worried and decided to give it a go: "Start with Anhui Province first, and it won't be too late to go to Jiangsu later."

(End of this chapter)