I am Da Song

Chapter 259 A New Way Out for the Bandit Army

Competing with the people for profit, these four words come from "Historical Records": Those who eat salary should not compete with the people for profit, and those who receive the big ones should not take the small ones.

Its original intention is to strictly prohibit officials who eat state salaries from engaging in industry and commerce and competing for profits with the people.

But like a well-dressed beast, it quickly loses its original meaning over time.

I don't know when, these four words became the best tool used by officials to restrict the emperor.

The emperor wanted to levy business taxes, they said, "The emperor doesn't say how much, the princes don't say what's good, and the doctor doesn't say what's wrong."

Okay, the emperor wants to make money himself. They said: "The emperor competes with the people for profit, and the people in the world are in dire straits."

The emperor asked, what should be done if the country's finances are insufficient?
The officials twitched and proposed a reluctant way to increase taxes!
They can endure tax increases, suck out the bones of ordinary people, sell their sons and daughters, and starve to death everywhere, but they can't bear a little bit of competition with the people for profit.

Because this citizen has been an official from beginning to end, a scholar-bureaucrat, a big tycoon and a big gentry who are exempt from taxes.

As for those people who have been drained of all their blood and sweat and all their property?Naturally, it cannot be counted as a citizen.In the eyes of the scholar-bureaucrats, they can only be regarded as gray animals with two legs.

Therefore, since King Zhao Huan came to the world, in the final analysis, there is only one thing in all the internal affairs reforms, which is to abolish the tax-free privileges of all the people in the world.

Whether you are a relative of the emperor, or an official scholar-bureaucrat, even a general who leads an army of 30 in a decisive battle, as long as you are a subject of the Song Dynasty, you must pay taxes honestly!
The effect was immediate. The fiscal taxation of the Song Dynasty achieved a huge scale of 4000 million guan in that year, which is unprecedented in three generations.

With the support of this huge financial revenue, Song Dynasty has made rapid progress on the road of prosperity of the people and the country, and an unprecedented prosperity has revealed a corner under the veil to Song Dynasty.

With this unprecedented relaxed environment, Zhao Huan is naturally relaxed and comfortable, and will not be fooled back by the scholar-bureaucrats at all.

Are they only allowed to monopolize the business in the south of the Yangtze River and have a lot of money?The emperor and ordinary people are going to stick to the little output in the field and rely on God's charity to eat?

So to the worried queen, Zhao Huan comforted: "As long as the business is upright, you don't buy or sell by force, and you pay taxes according to the law, the imperial merchants are just ordinary merchants. And regarding the imperial merchants, I will not send any officials to manage them. Since the birth of the imperial merchants From that moment on, they do not have any power characteristics, do not have any official power, and are just ordinary businessmen."

As royal chaebols, they definitely have some conveniences, but they absolutely cannot intervene in the market and buy and sell by force.

And most importantly, Zhao Huan did not intend to elevate the imperial consortium to a special status.This means that all their operations are subject to government supervision and management.Its nature is similar to Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants.Except for being named Huangshang, they did not have any of the privileges enjoyed by the royal family.

Zhu Lian was worried, and said: "The officials like to talk about three points, so let me give you an example of the three points period, I hope the officials will not be angry."

Zhao Huan said with a smile: "The empress is the emperor's virtuous helper. Empress Changsun has repeatedly persuaded Tang Taizong, which is a good story for a while. If you are worried, it just happens to fill in the gaps for me. It doesn't hurt to speak up."

Zhu Lian breathed a sigh of relief, held Zhao Huan's right hand, and said: "Three minutes ago, Emperor Ling of Han also liked to pretend to be a merchant, and counted games in the West Garden. Let the palace maids be customers, and the emperor is a merchant. Government affairs put the country in danger, and the world is lingering. It must be used as a lesson from the past."

Zhao Huan said with a smile: "Qing is worried that I will go to do business in person?"

Zhu Lian nodded slightly.If the emperor is unreliable, there are all kinds of strange things. It is not uncommon for calligraphers, carpenters, and generals to pretend to be. It is not impossible for today's officials to pretend to be merchants like Emperor Ling of Han.

Zhao Huan laughed and rubbed the top of Zhu Lian's head, and said, "Don't worry, I will leave this matter to the people below, and I won't do it myself."

"Besides, unlike Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty who roamed around the imperial palace, the imperial merchants will truly go deep into the people and engage in industry and commerce. There is nothing wrong with them. The queen can discuss with me about where to start."

"It's you and me, husband and wife, working together to choose a career. Isn't there a folk saying that men are afraid of entering the wrong profession, and women are afraid of marrying the wrong man?"

Seeing that her husband had already made perfect preparations, Zhu Lian didn't want to spoil his interest, so she sat next to him and said seriously: "If the government doesn't plan to patent the country like salt and iron, then the imperial merchants have to choose a direction carefully." After all, facing fierce competition, how to ensure that Huangshang can make a profit is the key."

Then Zhu Lian asked with a smile: "However, even if you want to choose a career, you must know what resources the officials can provide to the imperial merchants. What confidence do the officials have so that the imperial merchants can make profits in business instead of losing money?"

Zhao Huan smiled triumphantly, and said, "You think I've been looking through some files these days. Then I'll test you. As the hostess of a family, do you know anything about the family property?"

Zhu Lian bit her lips and thought for a moment, shook her head slightly, and said with a smile: "I really didn't pay attention to this, I only know that the storehouse is full, enough for the current palace to spend decades."

Zhao Huan glanced at Yan Ying and asked, "Xiao Yinger, do you understand the affairs of the Renming Palace?"

"Ah?" Yan Ying didn't expect that the question would suddenly fall on her head, her beautiful eyes widened instantly, her expression confused: "I don't know either, I've never paid attention to it before."

Zhao Huan smiled faintly, took out an excerpt from the dossier, handed it to the queen, and said, "Ai Qing, look, this is the main property of the family. It is also the wealth that Qing, the mistress, can dispose of at will, and it will never lead to civil affairs. suffering."

"I have found a few deals that are sure to make a profit, and I will let the Royal Merchant start with these aspects first."

"The first is the land. There are six Huangzhuang in Gyeonggi, with a total of more than 39 hectares of fertile land. They are leased to the common people for cultivation, and the rent and tax are calculated at 40 yuan per mu. That is, one mu of land is transferred to the internal treasury, and one cent is paid for regular taxes. , eight points go to the common people. For this item alone, the annual income is [-] guan, which can be regarded as [-] guan.”

Zhu Lian nodded slightly, this item can be regarded as a sure profit without compensation.Moreover, renting it to the common people at a low rent can also give the common people a good impression of Huangzhuang and accumulate folk fame for the royal family.

At present, the most important production resource, besides land, is population.

Zhao Huan said: "Another resource is the assassination of criminals. Previously, people who committed crimes would be assassinated as criminals and sent to the army. But after we reformed the conscription law, all the children of good families from the people were recruited to join the army. These criminals who were assassinated would not Recharge the army, but serve as corvee for the government as a prisoner."

"I have discussed with the right minister that among these people, those who have been sentenced to less than five years in prison will serve as corvees in the local area, building bridges and water conservancy, building cities, and building roads. Those who have been in prison for more than five years must serve the royal family. This includes prisoners of war, prisoners, and royal family There are more than [-] men and women, and I don’t intend to let them farm the land, but to open several workshops and let them work in it.”

These people don't say that Xue Fanfan stepped on the sewing machine and smoked, but also must shake the textile machine to pieces.

(End of this chapter)