Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1246 Epilogue : Dianluandaofeng is an idiom

While Xie Yan was lamenting the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, countless merchants seemed to be facing doomsday.

Starting from March 1st this year, real industrial and commercial tax reform is coming!

Taxes on grain products have been reduced across the board, especially tariffs on grain imports, which have become almost symbolic.

At the same time, the minimum price for purchasing grain in rural areas will be raised.

Each province must set and publicize a price every year. Regardless of whether the harvest is good or poor that year, grain merchants must not purchase grain below the minimum price when purchasing in the countryside.

If violated, heavy fines will be imposed and the grain business license will be revoked.

This is to prevent farmers from suffering losses due to low grain prices, increase farmers' income and slow down the merger of rural land.

The tax rates for other commodities were also slightly adjusted, but the impact was not significant.

The end of businessmen lies in corporate income tax!

Historically, this thing was invented by Britain when it was facing financial collapse due to Napoleon's invasion.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong, a corporate income tax was proposed, but it was abandoned after repeated discussions. At that time, there were not many large enterprises, and the cost of collecting taxes from small enterprises was too high.

During the reign of Emperor Dingtai, the issue was brought up for discussion again, but was later shelved as he was busy reorganizing the army.

Now this cabinet is serious about it.

The collection of factory and land taxes and chimney taxes last year was paving the way for the collection of income taxes.

The government doesn't care how you hide your business revenue. It only determines the tax rate based on the area of ​​your business and the number of chimneys in your factory. If your business exceeds a certain area and the number of chimneys (or height), you must pay corporate income tax.

Enterprises are also subdivided into three types: industry, commerce, and mining. Each type is further subdivided, and the corporate income tax rates for different types are different.

The minimum is 5%, the maximum is 10% - and it will be adjusted according to the specific circumstances.

All enterprises that are determined to be required to pay income tax will be subject to strict investigation by the industrial and commercial departments, and it will be more difficult to evade taxes in the future.

This is the only way to deal with start-up taxes.

As corporate income tax is gradually accepted by the public, the scope of collection will certainly continue to expand, and whether to collect it will be determined based on the company's revenue.

In addition, the court also added a tax on agricultural land occupation, and implemented a tiered tax rate: the more agricultural land you occupy, the higher the corresponding tax rate will be.

"Business income tax."

Xie Yan took the "Da Ming Weekly" and read it carefully, and found some loopholes that could be exploited, but those loopholes were not big.

For example, Xie Yan's cement factory did not meet the standard for income tax collection in terms of the number of chimneys, but the height of the chimneys did meet the standard. Due to the nature of the cement factory, it had to be built that high because the court had more specific regulations.

However, the cement plant and the mine can be separated, with the cement plant registered as one enterprise and the nearby mines registered as several other enterprises.

If a large mine is split into several mining companies, the land area will not meet the income tax standard, which can save a lot of tax money.

If he did this, it would be a violation of the law, but the government would definitely not investigate.

But it's not necessary. How much money can you save from that piece of limestone mine? Limestone is too cheap around Luoyang!

What's more, the imperial court must have some other tricks to avoid taxes by splitting factories and mines. Due to the length of the newspaper, the article did not explain it clearly, and the details would be sent directly to the company.

Do you really think those old foxes in the cabinet are fools?

"Our cement factory will have to pay more taxes." Xie Yan threw the newspaper aside.

Zhu Tangxi doesn't care about this. Just pay as much as you want.

Before the snow fell last year, Qin Guo Cement's patent license had been sold to seven provinces, with a different price in each province.

The least is 20,000 to 30,000 strings of cash, the most is 40,000 to 50,000 strings of cash. Sell them outright.

Some thought the money was too little, while others thought it was too much, which scared away many of those who came to negotiate.

They usually buy patents, build their own factories, and then resell and authorize other merchants in the province. In addition, they have to keep an eye on the province and be ready to file patent infringement lawsuits at any time.

This is also the reason why Xie Yan sold the products in different provinces. He doesn't have time to pay attention to infringement.

"It's moving, it's moving, come and listen!" Zhu Tangxi suddenly shouted.

Xie Yan immediately went over.

As the months went by, the fetal movements became more and more obvious. Listening to the baby's fussing in the belly has become a hobby for the couple.

Zhu Tangxi asked, "Did you hear that?"

Xie Yan smiled and said, "I heard it."

Zhu Tangxi said: "It seems like he is kicking me. He is so young and can play football. He will definitely be good at Cuju when he grows up."

These words made Xie Yan speechless. Playing football is a waste of time.

The fetus made a fuss for a while, but soon calmed down.

The princess said she wanted to take a walk, so Xie Yan helped her go out for a walk.

The school term at the Imperial College won't start for another few days, so Xie Laoliu has been very idle lately.

I also do some chemical experiments occasionally. The laboratory at home cannot be left idle, so I teach Daiyu some basic chemical knowledge.

The rest of the time is spent reading, practicing the piano, and learning music theory.

He also played with guns occasionally. He set up targets in the garden and went shooting every now and then for fun.

Xie Yan had finished reading the Four Books, but he had only finished reading them. He only memorized some famous articles and did not understand the rest of the content in depth.

After taking a walk outside, the couple returned to the piano room.

"Boom...boom..."

Xie Yan plucked the strings absentmindedly, wondering how to make a piano.

A piano must be made of steel.

After practicing the guqin for two or three months, combined with the piano sounds he had heard before traveling through time, he could basically conclude that the piano produced sound through its strings.

So, use steel wire to make strings?
Let’s not worry about the string material for now and just figure out the mechanical structure.

"Liu Lang, what are you daydreaming about again?" Zhu Tangxi felt that her husband was being lazy. Practicing the guqin was indeed very boring.

Xie Yan suddenly stood up: "I'm going to the study and will be back soon."

Soon, Xie Yan brought a stack of manuscript paper and a bundle of pencils. The pencils were invented by Zhu Ming when he was bored after he abdicated.

Use graphite, clay and rosin, grind them into powder, stir them, heat them to solidify, then press them into shape and add a wooden pen holder.

Xie Yan moved the guqin away, spread the manuscript paper on the guqin table, and picked up a pencil to design the key linkage device.

He really designed it from scratch. He had never seen the internal structure of a piano before he traveled through time.

First draw a line to represent the strings, then draw a lever.

How do I reset the keys?
Definitely need a spring.

In no time, he drew the basic structure.

But it is not the structure of a modern piano, but is similar to the original harpsichord, because the structure of this ancient piano is much simpler and not as complicated as a modern piano.

Xie Yan naturally came up with similar ideas.

It is sounded by plucking the strings rather than striking them.

If you want to use hammers to produce sound, the structure of the piano will be much more complicated, and it is impossible to design it by drawing a blueprint out of thin air.

But simplicity comes at a price. It is not possible to change the volume and timbre of the music by adjusting the force with which the fingers press the keys.

So, it appears more mechanical!

The pianist became a heartless piano-playing machine.

Zhu Tangxi watched silently, and waited until Xie Yan finished writing before asking, "What is this?"

"A kind of zither," Xie Yan pointed at the blueprint and said, "These are the strings, made of steel wire. Here are the keys. Pressing the keys will drive the plectrum to produce sound."

Zhu Tangxi said: "Just one string?"

Xie Yan shook his head: "There are dozens of them, and this is just one of them. By making the strings and keys according to the twelve-tone equal temperament, any tuning can be played."

Zhu Tangxi imagined this device in his mind, and arranged dozens of them. A smile gradually appeared on his face: "Very interesting, Liu Lang's thoughts are indeed different from those of ordinary people."

"Sister, are you interested?" Xie Yan asked.

Zhu Tangxi said: "I was very bored when I was pregnant. I couldn't relax even when I went out to party and play. So I just stayed at home with Liu Lang to create this new instrument."

Xie Yan smiled and said, "How about calling her Princess Qin?"

Zhu Tangxi was very happy to hear this, but he said, "Let's change the name. We already have Qin Cement and Princess Candy. I can't monopolize all of Liu Lang's inventions."

"If the steel wires are the strings, then let's call it a piano," said Xie Yan.

Zhu Tangxi spread out another piece of manuscript paper and picked up a pencil to draw the piano of his imagination.

The result is a rectangular box without piano legs, which must be placed on a large piano table.

Xie Yan picked up a pencil, added a few legs to the piano, and drew a bench next to it.

"So big?" Zhu Tangxi asked in surprise.

"There are dozens of keys, so they must be very big," Xie Yan said. "We'll find some craftsmen tomorrow. We will definitely need to improve the details, and a design drawn out of thin air may not be right. The steel wire used for the strings also needs to be selected and tested repeatedly. I'm not sensitive to the sound of the piano, so my sister will listen and compare. The sound box covering the strings also needs to be designed and adjusted, and the wood used needs to be compared again and again."

Zhu Tangxi sighed: "It's so complicated."

Compared with the modern piano, this thing is not complicated at all, and can even be described as "simple".

The couple continued to discuss, and Zhu Tangxi provided many ideas.

They were still chatting in bed until they went to bed at night.

Pregnant women are prone to sleepiness. Zhu Tangxi had been so excited for a long time that she was busy talking about the piano without taking a break. She yawned while talking.

"You go to Qingluan. I'm so sleepy and want to sleep." Zhu Tangxi said with his eyes closed.

Xie Yan said: "I will accompany my sister tonight."

Zhu Tangxi said, "Go ahead. You've been sleeping with me these past few days, you must be feeling suffocated."

"Then I'll watch my sister fall asleep." Xie Yan patted her shoulder gently, just like coaxing a baby to sleep.

After only three or four minutes, the princess fell asleep. It seemed that she was really tired today.

Xie Yan carefully left the outer room and gave some instructions to the night watch maid before he quickly slipped over to Qingluan.

"Youniang, it's me." Xie Yan knocked on the door.

Before the lights were on, Qingluan came to open the door and asked in surprise, "Why are you here, my dear?"

Xie Yan said: "Not welcome?"

"Liu Lang, come in and talk. It's a bit cold outside." Qing Luan happily pulled him into the house.

A light suddenly appeared in another room opposite the courtyard.

Zifeng opened the window and stuck her head out to look.

Just as Qingluan closed the door, Xie Yan hugged her from behind and said, "My dear young lady, call Zifeng tonight as well."

Qingluan blushed instantly and said shyly: "Really... that's it."

Xie Yan said: "Your names are well chosen. I have always wanted to try the taste of sex."

"My dear, you are so bad!"

Qingluan said this, but her body was very obedient and she ran over obediently to call Zifeng.

She felt a little jealous and excited, and felt that this was very thrilling.

Not long after, the two girls came back.

Zi Feng followed behind with her head lowered, fidgeting with her sleeves with her fingers.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Xie Yan ran to light the kerosene lamp. It would be more exciting to turn on the light at this moment.

"I...I'd better go first." Zi Feng was actually more reluctant than Qing Luan.

"Don't leave!"

(Forget it, I'm too lazy to revise it. I deleted a few hundred words here because of the review.)
(End of this chapter)