I'm really not doing business

Chapter 582: Light taxes and levies harm the poor, and giving the people time to rest is a waste of money

Qi Jiguang's worries soon came true. These court officials did not dare to attack Duke Fengguo Qi Jiguang, and only dared to attack Li Rusong.

When others accuse you of rebelling, you'd better have the strength to rebel. In this way, no one will blame you. Instead, everyone will coax you, fearing that you will really rebel.

Li Chengliang and Li Rusong, father and son, did not have the ability to rebel. The An-Shi Rebellion also proved that local warlords only had a short lifespan. Once their desperate criminals were defeated, they were finished.

Zhu Yijun picked out a few of them, made a special response and published them in the official newspaper, so that everyone in the world could see the true faces of these guys.

For example, Feng Mengzhen, the censor of Shaanxi Province, analyzed the reasons why Li Rusong was so cruel based on feng shui and his birth date. According to this person, Li Rusong's birth date made him a person with a violent temper. From the perspective of feng shui, water is yin, soldiers are yin, and generals are even more yin. Therefore, the floods of the Yangtze River in Huguang and Nanya this year were related to the court's dispatch of strong troops to Baoding Prefecture.

Zhu Yijun replied: Since you know Feng Shui and Bazi so well, why don't you take a look at yourself and see if you have this obstacle in your life? Submit a memorial to the Ministry of Personnel to transfer Feng Mengzhen to Kaiping Prefecture, the Beijing Xingdusi, to reclaim wasteland.

Take Zhou Liangyin as an example. Once he was transferred to a remote area to reclaim wasteland, the term was ten years. If he performed well during these ten years, he would still have a chance. If he did not perform well, he would have to stay there forever.

Supporting the border areas is not the same as exile, because exile is unlikely to be forgiven and there is no amnesty. Supporting the border areas means working in the border areas, and if you can do it well, you may even have the opportunity to rise to a high position.

However, Zhou Liangyin was the only person in the entire Ming Dynasty who could be considered to have reformed. In another year and a half, the Ming Emperor's assessment of him would expire.

For example, Li Zhi, the imperial censor of Zhili, started with the story of Li Rusong's Pingwei Village, saying that "the dogs in Li Rusong's family have grown horns, and there are often strange lights", which is a sign of treason. Your Majesty should take a closer look, Li Rusong and Li Chengliang are both born rebels, even their dogs are rebellious!

Zhu Yijun replied: Bring the dog with horns to Wenhua Hall within three days, but if it doesn't, it will be a false accusation and the crime will be three times more severe, with exile to Java.

Li Zhi tried his best to find a dog with horns on its head, but he didn't find one. He only found a dog with more luxuriant hair on its head, and it was not from Li Rusong's house. He was eventually exiled to Java.

This was an extremely severe punishment, even more severe than beating with a stick in court. With beating with a stick in court, there was a possibility of being re-employed because of one's reputation, but with exile to Java, one would never be able to return in this life.

However, the iron law of false accusation and prosecution was in place, and Li Zhi was eventually exiled to Java.

For example, the Censor-in-Chief Wu Yunzhen not only impeached Li Rusong for massacring the people in Pingxu Village, but also impeached Lieutenant General Gu Chenggong, Huang Xiao, Guerrilla General Yang Side, and Lieutenant General Jiang Xianzong. These four people colluded with Li Rusong, showed off their military power in the local area, disturbed all directions, and requested the court to withdraw troops and return to Beijing to stop the aggression.

Zhu Yijun replied: These four people were all promoted by me from the ranks of common officers. They were taught personally by General Yu and General Qi. I personally examined their personalities and found them worthy of important positions. You said that they were in collusion with evil. Does that mean that I, as the principal of the Military Academy, am the leader of this evil gang?

Wu Yunzhen was questioned until she was so ashamed that she had no choice but to retire. Zhu Yijun immediately approved it and ordered the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites to expedite the process. They stripped Wu Yunzhen of his official position and fame and sent him back home. He had the best ending among all of them because he did not make false accusations. Li Rusong was indeed showing off his power and causing trouble for everyone.

The nine-jin cannon blasted for a day and the siege lasted thirteen days. The owners of the villages were so scared that they demolished their walls one after another. Didn't that disturb everyone?
"Feng Bao, go and tell those students who work as farmers in the Ming Dynasty! They must prepare well for the exam. If they pass, I will allow them to rise to the top!" After Zhu Yijun finally finished processing today's memorials, he rubbed his brows and said loudly to Feng Bao: "If you fail the exam, don't say you are a scholar anymore!"

"What the hell is this? There are too many cheap scholars in the court!"

Talking about violence getting out of control in the Ming Dynasty is a false proposition. Zhu Yijun was overwhelmed by the tricks of these scholars.

Zhu Yijun is the leader of the young and vigorous group. This group of people even dared to impeach a general who came from the Military Academy!

It's simply an insult to God!

"Your Majesty, Li Rusong, the deputy commander of the Beijing camp, has sent a memorial." Feng Bao placed the memorial drafted by the cabinet and approved by the Imperial Household Department in front of His Majesty. Feng Bao had already read the contents of this memorial, which was very bold.

"Oh?" Zhu Yijun picked up the memorial, read a few lines, and then laughed.

Li Rusong was not completely ignorant of the affairs in the capital. He had expected the censors' impeachment. Since he dared to do so, he must have a way to deal with it.

This time, Li Rusong did not mention the criticisms of court officials in his memorial, but every word and sentence was a response to the criticisms of court officials.

"Interesting, interesting. This guy Li Rusong has finally learned how to be roundabout! And he chose the roundabout way of debate, which is what the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty are best at. Very good!" Zhu Yijun said three good things in a row while holding the memorial.

Compared with the content of Li Rusong's memorial and the criticisms of court officials, Zhu Yijun was more pleased with Li Rusong's growth.

Li Rusong did not respond directly to the criticisms of the court officials, but rather took a roundabout approach. The core of his memorial was just two words: increase taxes.

The distribution is based on 50% for the public, 40% for the private sector and 10% for the landlords.

That is, the imperial court's straw tax was 50%, the landlord's rent was 10%, and the remaining 40% belonged to the people. All the exorbitant taxes and levies were imposed on the land. This is Wang Chonggu's memorial on equalizing land and labor.

"I once studied under the Governor of Nagasaki, Xu Wei. I was dull by nature and made no progress. Governor Xu often sighed and held his forehead. I asked Governor Xu why the people of the world were still displaced when the tax rate was only one in thirty? As a result, many Han people from the interior of Liaodong fled there. Governor Xu sat in silence for a long time and was unable to answer. I was dull by nature, but when I was thirty, I finally understood the confusion I had when I was young. It was all because the court reduced taxes." Zhu Yijun read the first paragraph of Li Rusong's memorial.

The land tax in the Ming Dynasty was one in thirty, which was a very good and benevolent policy. However, with such a low tax rate, the people still lived in great difficulty. Why was that?
Li Rusong observed Baoding Prefecture for a long time and finally figured out something. It was all because the court’s taxes were too low!
"The Book of Han, Food and Goods Records, says: The wealthy invaded and robbed the land. The tax was nominally 30%, but in reality it was 10% of the tax. Why? Since the Han Dynasty, the imperial court has imposed a tax of 10% on the land, but in reality it was 10% of the tax in the countryside. The nominal tax rate is 10%, but the burden on the people has not been reduced at all. The nominal tax rate is 10%, so the imperial court is weak, but in reality it is 10% of the tax, so the wealthy are strong. The poor people still bear the same tax burden, the wealthy are strong, the imperial court is weak, and the whole country is exhausted."

Zhu Yijun read another paragraph and pointed at the memorial and said, "Did you see that? Li Rusong is quoting from classics. Haha, if Governor Xu Wei knew about this, I'm afraid his jaw would drop to the ground!"

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, every dynasty has been accompanied by serious financial crises at the end of its reign. The imperial court was poor, while the aristocratic families were rich. In the end, there was chaos in the country, many heroes emerged, and countless lives were lost.

Xu Wei had only four words to describe Li Rusong's reading: his eyes turned dark. He thought Li Rusong was a rotten wood that could not be carved. After all, people like Xiong Tingbi, who were both talented in literature and martial arts, were a minority among the minority. The fact that Li Rusong had martial arts skills made him less interested in reading, and Xu Wei could not do anything about it. In the end, Li Rusong could only learn to read.

Now, Li Rusong has learned to quote from classics. This is mainly due to the teachings of Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou. Qi Jiguang never put down his books and read in his spare time. Li Rusong gradually discovered that Qi Jiguang's intelligence did not come entirely from his natural talent, but also from continuous learning, which touched Li Rusong deeply.

Without anyone's persuasion, Li Rusong started reading on his own. As the saying goes, a scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days of absence. Now Li Rusong has learned the methods of the lowly Confucian scholars.

The quotations from the Book of Han prove that this phenomenon has existed since ancient times.

"The stronger the wealthy become, the more annexations they will suffer. If the imperial court reduces taxes, the wealthy will become stronger, and the disaster of annexation will be exacerbated!" As Zhu Yijun read on, he found that what Li Rusong said made some sense.

In his memorial, Li Rusong started from the perspective of supply and demand and based on the theory of contradiction, he observed this issue from two perspectives: one is top-down and the other is bottom-up.

From top to bottom, the court collected less, while the rich collected more, so the rich would definitely be stronger than the court, and it would be nonsense for the court to control the rich.

From the bottom up, it is considered from the perspective of supply and demand. The court's taxes are too light, so the wealthy can lease the land to more tenants. The basic logic of "if you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will do it" is formed. The bargaining power of the wealthy becomes stronger, and the strength of their servants also increases. Strong personal dependence relationships are established, the amount of exploitation of landlords from a piece of land increases, and the speed at which the wealthy accumulate wealth increases.

After Li Rusong stated his point of view, he provided supporting evidence.

Since Altan Khan invaded the capital in the 29th year of Jiajing and Baoding Prefecture built dikes to protect itself, the taxes collected by the court have been decreasing year by year. The exorbitant taxes and levies that were originally levied by local government offices were all collected by the dike owners. The number of mergers made by the dike owners exceeded the total of the past 170 years, which eventually led to the tragedy of turning people into compost.

"Light taxes and levies harm the poor, while giving the people a rest will result in a lot of waste." This was the first time Zhu Yijun heard such a view, but he found that what Li Rusong said made a lot of sense.

In this memorial, Li Rusong proposed everything from phenomena to problems, then to causes and finally to solutions. Five for the public, four for the common people and one for the landlords. This was the solution Li Rusong proposed.

Increase taxes. As long as the imperial court is determined to increase taxes, the annexation problem will be greatly alleviated.

"What kind of trouble is this, sir? He actually expressed his approval in the floating vote!" Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng's floating vote with a frown.

Feng Bao said confidently: "Sir, you are extremely dissatisfied with the lowly scholars' attack on Zhenwu. Sir, you are dissatisfied. This tax increase is digging up the root cause. The court's financial resources are sufficient. The land survey and population census have been completed one after another. The population is divided into the land and the tax is clarified. Moreover, Sir has always wanted to implement the "One Whip" system, which is also a reform of finance and taxation."

"Increasing taxes, adding more and more, will eventually fall on the common people. We won't increase taxes." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in his hand. No matter how reasonable Li Rusong's words were, taxes should not be increased easily because they would only increase the living burden of the poor and laboring people.

"Your Majesty, the gentleman also said that the tax increase was not enough." Feng Bao said tentatively.

Tenants have a limit to their labor. If the imperial court demands 50% and the local gentry demands another 50%, and if the rent exceeds the limit required for the tenants' lives, the tenants will naturally ask the wealthy to reduce the rent. What if the wealthy refuse to reduce the rent? The massacre of the He family in Gaoyang is an example. This is the logic of not raising taxes enough.

This is also the origin of the 50% standard. When the wealthy cannot extract enough wealth from the land, the income from the land will be greatly reduced. At this time, the wealthy's desire for mergers will plummet, and they will turn to handicraft workshops, and larger-scale production will appear.

"The teacher also said that we should include the granaries in various places in the evaluation, evaluate the grain prices, strictly limit the prices of grain, and reduce the profits of grain. Only in this way can grain be distributed in all directions." Feng Bao further explained Zhang Juzheng's supplement to Li Rusong's memorial.

The Changping Granary has existed since the Han Dynasty. It was established to regulate grain prices, store grain for famine and disaster preparedness, and supply the needs of officials and civilians. The operation of the Changping Granary was included in the Kaocheng Law to keep grain prices at a lower level and reduce land output. This actually curbed mergers and promoted grain production.

This is a policy based on the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, a situation where there is nothing to be combined and nothing to be merged. When the income from grain is low, the exchange value of grain will drop sharply, and its use value will be highlighted. The land will naturally flow from the rich to the common people, and the grown grain can be eaten by the people.

"Sir, you are truly a scholar. You are taking a two-pronged approach of raising taxes and lowering grain prices. If you do this, there will be civil unrest." Zhu Yijun curled his lips, picked up the red pen, and rejected Li Rusong's memorial as well as Zhang Juzheng's opinion.

Li Rusong's memorial did not mention a single word of the criticisms against him by court officials, but every word was a counterattack. He was digging for the roots of the powerful and wealthy.

Land was the lifeblood of these powerful and wealthy people, and Li Rusong was going after the key points of the court officials. Zhang Juzheng was expressing his anger. Enriching the country and strengthening the army were the core contents of Zhang Juzheng's new policies. Such criticism of Li Rusong was a provocation to the new policies.

These seemingly reasonable words are actually just expressions of attitudes, not for real promotion.

For such a big matter, Zhang Juzheng posted a floating note. In fact, he made such a suggestion because he knew that the emperor would not agree. Zhang Juzheng taught Zhu Yijun that if a policy order looks perfect, then it must be very dangerous. If the court increases taxes, it looks simple and direct, and all aspects are good, but it is very dangerous.

So, what is the cost of raising taxes?
The Ming Dynasty also had a typical example of raising taxes, levying three taxes. The result of levying three taxes was: driving the people to become bandits, so how could they be suppressed?

A strange cycle emerged. Due to natural disasters, man-made calamities, internal and external troubles, the empire suffered heavy financial losses, barbarians rose up in all directions, bandits ravaged the country, the imperial court had no money or food, and could not form an army to stabilize the country. It could only levy three additional taxes, which resulted in the good people being forced to take up arms and become bandits.

In order to stabilize the country, more taxes were imposed, which forced the people to become bandits, making the country even more turbulent and requiring even more taxes. In this way, a vicious cycle was established.

In the 46th year of Wanli's reign, the Liao tribute began to be collected. In the 10th year of Chongzhen's reign, the suppression tribute began to be added. In the 12th year of Chongzhen's reign, the tribute was exhausted but the bandits were not suppressed, so the training tribute was added again. In the 10th and 12th years of Chongzhen's reign, Yang Sichang said to Emperor Chongzhen: Only three or four cents of silver will be increased for a hundred acres, which will slightly curb annexation!
The same logic applies to Yang Sichang: increasing taxes will reduce mergers.

All the ideas were great, and the additional taxes were not much, but this was indeed the case in the Ming Dynasty. After the imperial court levied the three taxes, government offices at all levels in all regions would never miss the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and plunder. Hundreds of millions of people were secretly charged additional taxes.

Therefore, raising taxes was actually a way for Zhang Juzheng to threaten the court officials, just to scare them.

The violence in the Ming Dynasty is now completely under the control of His Majesty the Emperor. This is the situation that Zhang Juzheng wants to see most. Moreover, His Majesty has worked hard to govern the country and is able to exercise the imperial power smoothly. This situation cannot be disrupted in the slightest.

If you criticize the strengthening of the military, I will clamor for tax increases, and the main goal is to hurt each other.

When there is a civil unrest, the first to be affected are the local gentry, the powerful and wealthy. When the news spreads to the emperor, the whole country will be in danger.

Zhang Juzheng's proposal was soon known to the court officials, and everyone immediately chose to remain silent. The voices criticizing Li Rusong immediately disappeared, because everyone knew that Zhang Juzheng always did what he said, and he could really do it!
When they learned that His Majesty the Emperor had rejected the memorial, the court officials began to praise the Emperor.

As the turmoil in Pingding Village gradually subsided, a world was achieved in which only the lowly scholar was hurt.

In the eyes of many people, the two liberal leaders, Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi, usurped the banner of freedom, flattered their superiors and exchanged them for their own interests. In the eyes of these people, freedom should not discuss class. Freedom must deny class in order to be free.

Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi went from being standard-bearers to traitors, which was a cause for great regret. At the same time, the size of this limited liberal group grew larger and larger. Even Yao Guangming, a dandy disciple from a wealthy family who migrated to Beijing, became a supporter of this school and followed Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi to the grassland.

This greatly surprised those in the capital who were waiting to see Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi make a fool of themselves.

Yao Guangqi was stabbed in the face when fighting with pirates while growing kelp, and became a joke in the capital. Yao Guangming did not learn his lesson at all, but instead joined the traitors in the discussion of the alienation of people by power, money, and religion. Is this an issue that should be discussed? !

The absolute liberals' proposition is to deny the theory of contradiction and class theory. In the view of the absolute liberals, there is no such thing as class. We are all human beings. Using class to differentiate and confining people within the cage of class is not freedom at all.

Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi left the capital amid a barrage of insults and went to the grassland to study.

Zhu Yijun was very surprised that Yao Guangming went to the grassland. Logically, a carnivore like Yao Guangming should advocate absolute freedom, but Yao Guangming put it into practice and even personally supported limited freedom.

The reason is very simple. Under the feudal monarchy, the class system is that below me, all beings are equal and are all people who are exploited by me; above me, there is a strict hierarchy and all beings are people who exploit me;

Even a luxurious family like Yao Guangming's has to rely on laws and public order and morality to protect its own interests.

Although the Yao family, as the representative of the powerful and wealthy family in Xitu City, had been fighting with Wang Qian for a period of time, the emperor did not punish the Yao family, but let them do whatever they wanted until Yao Guangqi made a mistake and was taken away by Ling Yunyi.

Your Majesty is a man of his word. Once he sets rules, he will abide by them. This is excellent news both inside and outside the Ming Dynasty.

The people of Beijing found that this year's haze disaster was not as serious as last year. There was no feeling of darkness. Although there were still strong winds and a lot of sand, and the coal smoke was still choking, there was no longer the illusion of being unable to breathe. Coupled with cotton masks, everything was barely acceptable.

The Gewu Report of the Gewu Academy quickly explained the reason. Because of the conquest of the grassland, the Ti cavalry no longer went out of the border to burn the wasteland in autumn in the past two years. This was why the air quality improved in a short period of time. If we want it to get better, we just need to wait for the vegetation in the capital to recover, and then the sky will be clear and the air will be fresh.

There are only 100 million people in the Ming Dynasty. The absolute number means that when no one cuts down trees excessively, the vegetation will recover very quickly.

The Ministry of Revenue fell into its annual busyness and the comprehensive audit began.

From November to December, the main work of the Ministry of Revenue is to audit the six books and one account book in various places. In each audit, the account books sent to the capital by the local governments are very different. The Ministry of Revenue will order the final accounts to be sent to the capital before the end of the year for those with problems.

In fact, once the Ministry of Revenue requires the final accounts to be sent to Beijing, it means that there is a problem here and that personnel changes are about to take place. This is a very clear signal.

Some are happy while others are sad. While some are wailing and loudly complaining about the harsh criticism from the court, some are holding banquets to celebrate their fortune made this year.

The person who set up the buffet was Wang Qian, the Ming Dynasty’s censor in charge of Yanxinglou’s transactions.

The reason why Wang Qian held the buffet was very simple. The value of the Suiyuan Highway tickets he held increased again with the completion of the highway from the capital to Guihua. Wang Qian's total personal assets had increased from the initial investment of one million silver coins to 310 million silver coins.

If Wang Qian sold all the tickets for Suiyuan Chidao in his hands, his profit this year would exceed that of all the businesses of Lao Wang Wang Chonggu, including the dividends from Kaihai Investment.

Wang Chonggu was worried, always fearing that his family was too rich and would be beheaded by His Majesty. Wang Qian held a banquet to celebrate. In this era when one tael of silver could buy one hundred kilograms of pork, a profit of more than two million silver was a typical wealth myth.

Wang Qian's profit this time proves one thing, that is, investment is not equal to speculation. The returns from long-term investment are more stable and more profitable than those from speculation.

As for short-term speculation, the more you earn, the more you lose. When you settle the accounts at the end of the year, you are still losing money because the court will levy a 0.3% tax on every transaction.

In the words of Mr. Wang himself: In trading, a dog may earn more than a human being because the dog cannot understand rumors and will not panic because of them.

Because of the legend of Mr. Wang's wealth, speculators were increasingly calling for the court to issue tickets for the Jingkai Road and Tianjin Mizhou Road. The Ministry of Revenue gave the answer: they would not be issued.

This is a very clear boundary. The hinterland roads would definitely not issue tickets in trading houses. The hinterland roads were under the one-man rule of the imperial court and were completely monopolized. Even for the Suiyuan Road, which was open, there was no management and operation rights, only a negligible 10% dividend right.

This is clearly not free.

The Ming Dynasty was extremely conservative and the inland roads were strictly monopolized, even if there was no money to repair them.

This disappointed the speculators, but of course they were also excited, because if the Ming emperor wanted to establish his career, he would definitely expand his territory, so the court might issue new tickets for the vast Western Regions and Liaodong! Although these places might not soar like the Suiyuan Chidao, they would at least have stable returns.

While the officials in Beijing were discussing whether the court had too many monopolies, the leaders of the liberal faction, Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi, led fifty people on a study tour to the grassland. The route was from Xuanfu to Kaipingwei. Kaipingwei was very desolate, and there was not even any highway. The journey was a huge challenge for these fifty-two scholars.

After leaving Xuanfu, the area became desolate. The whistling of the wind was much more violent than that in the hinterland. Under the weeping and complaining sound of the wind, the study tour group encountered its first challenge, which was horse bandits.

Accompanied by whistles, shouts and the sound of horse hooves, horse bandits appeared on the horizon, waving scimitars in their hands, and came towards the study tour group, then turned around and fled at an even faster speed. They didn't even fight, just turned around and left without any lingering feelings.

Because in addition to seeing the fat sheep of the 52-person study tour group, these horse bandits also saw the Ming Dynasty's imperial cavalry ready for battle.

The 200-man Ti cavalry, led by Chief Justice Chen Mo, formed 52 chariots into a circle. A total of 12 nine-jin cannons were exposed from the side chariots. The horse bandits immediately knew that they had hit a wall this time, and those who ran slowly would be left behind.

When the horse bandits turned around and fled, one hundred and fifty Ti cavalry rushed out from the gaps between the vehicles and chased in the direction the horse bandits fled.

It was not until dusk that the 150 Ti riders turned back. The leader, Chen Mo, was holding a human head in his hand. He was the leader of the horse bandits. There were also 17 bandits tied up on their horses.

Everyone is covered in blood, but it is the blood of the enemy.

"So, now you still have doubts about Young Master Huang sending two hundred Ti cavalry for protection, and think it's making a fuss out of nothing?" Chen Mo threw the boss's head in front of Lin Fucheng, took off his helmet, and asked calmly.

"No! Master Huang is so good at predicting things!" Lin Fucheng immediately shouted loudly: "Chen Mo, you are finally back. There were wolves outside the convoy just now, more than a dozen of them!"

Chen Mo wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a smile: "Why are you panicking? I left fifty people behind. Do you think fifty Tiqi can't deal with a dozen wolves? Don't worry, nothing will happen to you."

Without the emperor's support, these horse bandits were no match for Duntai Yuanhou. Now with your majesty's full support and sponsorship, and with extremely sophisticated muskets, cannons and horses, these horse bandits will have only one fate, and will become the souls killed by the swords of the Ti cavalry.

Chen Mo was also avenging his comrades.

(End of this chapter)