Picked up a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 197 Wanting to open a business ban (three more)
The peddler pleaded with some trepidation, and then looked at Liu Hong who was beside him. Liu Hong frowned and asked, "What's going on here?" Only then did the four or five guards notice Liu Hong who was beside him. , looked at the attendants around him, cupped his hands, and said: "My lord, don't misunderstand, there is a small market in Luoyang, where traders are allowed to settle in, but other land boundaries are not allowed."

"These vendors are unwilling to pay commercial taxes, so they sell here, which violates the law of the Han Dynasty, so it is like this."

The peddler was already a little discouraged, with a helpless look, and began to pack up his goods, Liu Hong frowned, and asked: "How to calculate this tax?" Geng Zu replied: "To calculate the price of the goods, ten draws. "

"What?" Liu Hong was taken aback and asked, "How much did you say? One out of ten?"

"He has a cart worth less than a hundred dollars, and he has to pay ten dollars?"

Gengzu froze for a moment, then nodded, and the rest of the vendors were also caught by Gengzu, and they began to pack their things one after another. Liu Hong asked angrily: "My big Han peasant tax is only [-] in [-], what is this?" Why is the business tax so heavy?" The pawn was a little embarrassed, and said: "You are a student, I am a big man who pays attention to agriculture, and the heavy tax on merchants is something that has existed since the founding of the country."

Liu Hong was silent for a moment, looked at the panicked faces of the traders around him, shook his head helplessly, and said, "They are all farmers, they just sell small things, merchants." He looked at the middle-aged man in front of him. , Untied a jade pendant from his waist, handed it to him, and said: "I know the emperor, I will tell the emperor about these things, you can take this thing, and show it to Zhou Yi when you arrive at the county government office. , he won't make things difficult for you."

The man was a little scared and didn't dare to take it. Liu Hong put it in his hand and said with a smile: "In the future, if your youngest son enters the Taixue, let him take the jade pendant to the Taixue for a sacrifice. When the time comes, I...I will take care of him myself!"

After finishing speaking, Liu Hong turned around and left. Zhang Yun and other embroidered clothes envoys followed him and left. The vendor looked at the jade pendant in his hand in a daze, looked at the pawns around him, and asked, "Who is this Zhou Yi?" ?”, Geng Zu’s expression was a little apprehensive, he thought for a while, and said, “It’s the order of Luoyang.”

Hearing this, the vendor was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses, and bowed in the direction Liu Hong was leaving just now.

When the watchman returned to the county office, he quickly reported the matter to the county magistrate Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi picked up the jade pendant, looked at it a few times under the fear of the dealer, and suddenly his face changed drastically. He held the jade pendant in both hands. , and handed it into the hands of this person, he said gently: "This thing is actually a gift from a nobleman, so you should take good care of it."

The merchants nodded, and Zhou Yi ordered the soldiers to release these merchants, but he felt in his heart that it was difficult for a Beijing official to do so.

When Liu Hong returned to Luoyang, he hurriedly found Wen Renxi and He Xiu. He did not hold a court meeting alone, but asked the two people to go directly to the palace to talk to him. When they arrived at the palace, Liu Hong was looking through the business tax records and reports from various places. After they arrived, they saw that the emperor was seriously observing the memorial, so they didn't make a sound and waited quietly.

After a while, Liu Hong suddenly said: "Master He, I have something, I hope Master He can clear up my doubts!" ​​He Xiu nodded and said: "Your Majesty, it's okay to say."

"Big man, why do you want to emphasize agriculture and suppress business?"

He Xiu looked at Liu Hong with some puzzlement. It was a very simple truth. He didn't believe that the emperor didn't know, but since the emperor asked, he could only answer. He said: "Nongmulberry is the foundation of the country, and the common people If it is a business, it will damage the foundation of the country, and farmers will lose their hands. Moreover, merchants seeking profit are the most treacherous, which is not beneficial to the country. If they don’t care about agriculture, they will only be opportunistic, so they emphasize agriculture and suppress business.”

"Then, Mr. He, are those vendors who come out to sell small things also count as merchants?"

"Of course it is."

This time, He Xiu hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he nodded his head. Liu Hong was a little puzzled, and said, "But it's not that they don't do production. Farming and mulberry, weaving clothes, and making shoes, don't they? Mulberry?", He Xiu frowned, and said: "If you make it yourself and use it yourself, it is naturally considered agricultural mulberry, but if you sell it, it is an act of a merchant."

Liu Hong then told what happened to him today, and after he finished speaking, he asked back: "That person just wants to earn some money, in exchange for pens and inks, so that children can go to school, but business taxes are like this. Serious! I thought that if the people have money, their lives will be rich. This is not a bad thing, and the court should not stop it!"

Wen Renxi nodded and said, "It's true. If the people are rich, the country will be rich and the taxes will be higher."

However, He Xiu argued: "The people are rich because they have food in their families, not because they have private property. If the people's families are rich, who would want to work hard? A country will not be a country!" Liu Hong frowned. , Said: "Mr. Wen, think of a way!" Wen Renxi cupped his hands and said: "There is a precedent for this matter. Your Majesty can separate merchants from handicrafts. The taxes of big merchants will remain the same. As for the small traders in your Majesty's mouth. , can reduce taxes.”

"Reduce the commercial tax to one forty."

"It's just that, if this is the case, I'm afraid that many people in the world will follow suit. There are not many farmers." He Xiu said from the side, and Liu Hong squinted his eyes, and said with some emotion: "The grain in the treasury is piled up, but the people can't afford it." Pen and ink, so, how can it be considered a flourishing age?"

"The population of the Han Dynasty is 7000 million. Is it possible that some people do weaving and handicrafts, which will affect the food production of the Han Dynasty? I don't believe it. In the future, there will only be more and more people, and the cultivated land will be limited. Mr. He Ah, you said that only when I am respected and loved by the people of the world, just like the people of Hejian Kingdom, can I be considered a wise ruler, if I don’t think about the people, how can I make them respect and love me?”

He Xiu just didn't speak when he heard Liu Hong's questioning.

Wen Renxi has many shortcomings, but there are also many advantages. For example, he acts extremely quickly, which even Wang Fu can't match, especially when it comes to money issues, he is always extremely fast. At the end of the year, he implemented new regulations. This regulation was not even discussed with the ministers. He removed the commercial prohibition in a small area and allowed vendors to sell.

I have to say that this regulation made the officials of the Han Dynasty immediately criticize him for the same reason. You are violating the ancestral system of the Han Dynasty and the national policy of the Han Dynasty. The national policy of the Han Dynasty is emphasizing agriculture. To suppress business, do you still want to encourage business now?Wen Renxi did not fully ban business, and his new policy only targeted small craftsmen.

These small handicraftsmen are still farmers in essence, because they make woven clothes and raise silkworms themselves. These basic handicrafts have not completely separated from the roots of agriculture, but the merchants of the big Han are not stupid. In the gap of this policy, raw materials such as silk are purchased from the people at high prices, processed and sold.

In the process of using slaves, domestic slaves, etc. for processing, they can make huge profits without investing too much.

(End of this chapter)