Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 156 Tax Increases and Tax Reductions
Wang Ze never thought that Gao Ming would actually want to build Jinzhou into a prefecture and county dominated by academies, so he was shocked for a while. Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Gao Ming smiled and patted him on the shoulder again .

"That's right, Jinju is just a central state, and it's not a rich state. And as far as I know, the five counties in Jinzhou last year relied on the relief of the imperial court to tide over the difficulties. It can be seen that Jinzhou is a state. poor state."

Having said this, Gao Ming immediately smacked his lips again.

"Tsk tsk...Master Wang, think about it, if this Jinzhou is a rich place, can the Zheng family of Xingyang let go so easily?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Wang Ze rolled his eyes and nodded immediately.

"What His Royal Highness said is reasonable, so you plan to exempt Jinzhou from taxes?"

As soon as Wang Ze finished speaking, Gao Ming burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha, Mr. Wang is indeed very knowledgeable. Yes, in a place like Jinzhou, even if there are no natural or man-made disasters, the imperial court will not receive much tax. It is better to just waive its tax and build an academy to educate the people at the same time. Is it something very meaningful?"

After hearing Gao Ming's words, Wang Ze immediately smiled awkwardly, then stood up and bowed to Gao Ming.

"His Royal Highness, Gao Yi, since you plan to exempt Jinzhou from taxes and concentrate on building an academy to educate the people, then presumably Jinzhou's affairs will not be too onerous, so I don't worry about it. Please forgive me for my busy schedule. Let’s listen to His Royal Highness’s high-level remarks in the next day!”

Now Wang Ze already understood that what Gao Ming said just now was not a joke, so he lost interest in Jinzhou.

A place that cannot collect taxes can neither quickly improve political achievements in exchange for more and bigger official positions, nor can it have land to obtain more wealth and resources for the family. Wang Ze is not interested in such a place, so he has already planned leave.

Of course Gao Ming knew what he was thinking. Seeing him get up to leave, he also got up and smiled at him.

"My lord Wang is sympathetic to my son-in-law. The prince also understands. How about this? The academy I plan to build is still short of some gentlemen who can teach students to read and write. My lord Wang can also let talented people from the clan come to serve as masters. It’s quite a meaningful thing, haha!”

Obviously, it is impossible for Wang Ze to agree to Gao Ming's suggestion, because his plan is to let members of the Wang family enter Jinzhou to serve as officials, thereby rapidly expanding the influence of the Wang family in the court. For the matter, Wang Ze still respects and thank you for not being sensitive.

So, when he heard Gao Ming's hearty laughter, he couldn't help but froze immediately, and immediately cupped his hands towards Gao Ming again.

"This... Wei Chen has to go back and discuss with his family, so Wei Chen will take his leave for the first time!"

Seeing Wang Ze's forced smile, Gao Ming's heart immediately blossomed, but his face was still as warm as a spring breeze.

"Hahahaha, Mr. Wang, please go slowly. When you go back, you must enlighten the children of the clan. After all, being an official is not the only way to realize the value of life. Being a teacher is also a promising job. Okay, then I will Not much to say, Shi Jian, send off Lord Wang!"

"Yes, His Royal Highness!"

After Wang Ze was sent away by Shi Jian, Gao Ming snorted coldly.

"Hmph, I still want to pick the fruit from Lao Tzu's hands. It's a good idea. As long as Lao Tzu is around, you sons of aristocratic families will honestly take the imperial examination if you want to become an official. If you want to rely on connections to get through the back door, it's just a daydream! "

The reason why Tang’s aristocratic families have great influence is actually due to the huge number of officials, so even if the emperor wants to move them, he will be restrained, and if he wants to solve them, he must start from the source, so at this time, Gao Ming would never give the Wang family a chance to expand.

"I can only drive away tigers and devour wolves. I can't do such things as raising tigers, hehe!"

As soon as Gao Ming finished speaking, a howl suddenly sounded in the courtyard next door.

"Ouch..."

Hearing this cry, Gao Ming jumped up with a "bass".

"Oh, my Benben, has it been tied down for so long? Oh, my poor little one!"

While yelling, he trotted towards the yard next to him.

While Gao Ming was busy teasing the tiger and his sister, Wang Ze had already returned home, and then summoned several clan brothers in Beijing, and told them all about the conversation he had with Gao Ming in the East Palace.

After speaking, Wang Ze expressed his opinion on this matter.

"I don't know what His Highness the Crown Prince is struggling with, and I don't know whether what he said is true or not, so I can only wait and see what happens. If he really proposes to exempt Jinzhou from taxes in the morning tomorrow, we will give up Jinzhou. "

Hearing Wang Ze's words, the others nodded their heads to express their approval of his opinion.

In fact, Wang Ze really thought too much. In the early morning of the next day, Gao Ming proposed to exempt Jinzhou farmers from taxes in front of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty. At the same time, he also proposed to establish Jinzhou as an "autonomous prefecture".

Jinzhou has not received tax for two years. It is a relatively poor state and county, so when Gao Ming proposed to exempt him from tax, Li Shimin did not speak, and the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs did not speak. up.

The only thing that the ministers didn't understand was that they didn't understand the concept of "autonomous prefecture", so Gao Ming could only explain it to them.

"What I mean by this autonomous prefecture is that apart from the army, the appointment and removal of all officials and the formulation of government orders are done by the Jinzhou government itself. At the same time, all expenses in Jinzhou, including the salaries and salaries of officials and standing soldiers, It will also be resolved by the Jinzhou government itself, and the court does not need to pay a penny."

Hearing this, Hubu Shangshu Lu Zhi stood up.

"His Royal Highness means that in the future, Jinzhou will no longer pay taxes to the court, and at the same time, the court will not have to give Jinzhou any more money. Is that what you mean?"

As soon as Lu Zhi finished speaking, Gao Ming smiled and waved his hands.

"No, no, Mr. Lu, you are only half right. It is true that the imperial court does not need to give Jinzhou any more money. Unless there is a very serious disaster, the imperial court does not need to pay a penny, but Jinzhou does not need to pay any more money. When the court pays taxes, I only said that farmers in Jinzhou are exempted from taxes, as for other taxes that should be paid, they still have to be paid.”

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Lu Zhi became even more confused.

"The farmers in Jinzhou are exempted from taxes, so how will the salaries of officials in Jinzhou be distributed? What are the other taxes His Royal Highness is talking about?"

As soon as Lu Zhi finished speaking, Gao Ming nodded with a smile.

"Lord Lu asked a good question. It can be said that the question is on point. Then I will tell you adults."

Having said that, Gao Ming took out a small notebook from his arms, and waved it towards the surrounding ministers.

"The prince asked people to collect merchant protection fees in Chang'an City and Jingzhao Mansion. You may have heard about it. In fact, this prince is not greedy for money, but I am doing a feasibility study on collecting merchant taxes. This It's the ledger!"

Speaking of this, Gao Ming handed the notebook in his hand to Lu Zhi, and after he took it, Gao Ming opened his mouth again.

"This account book records the protection fees handed in by each merchant and even the hawkers. Of course, I still have a lot of such accounts. What I want to say is that as long as the method is used correctly, it will actually be collected from the merchants. receive far more taxes than farmers."

As soon as Gao Ming finished speaking, Lu Zhi, who was in front of him, nodded his head.

"That's right, according to the account book of His Highness the Crown Prince, the money that can be received in Chang'an City alone is more than 300 yuan a day, of which [-]% are shops, and the remaining [-]% ​​are handed in by street vendors, but His Royal Highness is How did you get it?"

Hearing Lu Zhi's question, Gao Ming laughed again.

"Of course it's a sense of security. My Tang Dynasty pays attention to 'scholars, farmers, businessmen'. Although the merchants are rich, their status is low. Except for those with backers, even if others are exploited by idlers and rascals, they can only swallow their anger. And I It is to be their backer, they have a sense of security, and then they give me the money."

Hearing Gao Ming's words, the surrounding ministers suddenly showed a look of thought, while Li Shimin who sat on the top showed a smile.

What Gao Ming said just now was actually told to him in the imperial study the day before, so now Li Shimin is already confident.

"The prince has something to say, you might as well just say it!"

"Yes!"

Hearing Li Shimin's words, Gao Ming immediately bowed his hands to him, and then bowed his hands to the surrounding ministers.

"My lords, think about it. I have become the backer of merchants, so they are willing to pay me protection fees. If Datang becomes their backer, then why would they not want to pay taxes to the Ministry of Households?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, the surrounding ministers began to discuss. After a while, Lu Zhi, Minister of the Household Department, shook his head.

"The whereabouts of merchants are uncertain, it is difficult to collect taxes, and they are not engaged in production, so they cannot be condoned."

As soon as Lu Zhi's words fell, Shang Guanyi, the newly appointed Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, also stood up and raised objections.

"Businessmen drive up prices and collect a lot of wealth. Once there is chaos, the consequences will be disastrous!"

After listening to the two people's words, Gao Ming sighed suddenly, then shook his head.

"No, you are all wrong, Mr. Lu, you said that the merchant's whereabouts are uncertain and it is difficult to collect taxes. In fact, you have entered into a misunderstanding. We do not want to collect taxes on merchants, but to collect taxes on merchants' goods!"

Having said that, Gao Ming patted his chest.

"Don't you see that I just received it? The tax I collect is on the goods. If a merchant can earn ten pennies for his goods, I will charge one penny. As long as he comes to Chang'an to sell things, I will receive the money. As for him not doing farm work, why can I ask others to do it!"

Having said that, Gao Ming smiled at Lu Zhi.

"Lord Lu, do you think there will be a shortage of farm workers after I exempt farmers from Jinzhou from paying taxes?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Lu Zhi's eyes lit up immediately.

(End of this chapter)