I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 63 Jiangnan owes taxes
If you ask for Fu (tax arrears), you will not be able to claim Fu.

It’s not that the county family is trying to push for collection, but the new regulations of the court have eliminated the original character.

The east seal and the west section have many merits, and floods occur on the Jianghuai land.

The price of Neikuma is exhausted, and the people are powerless. What can the officials do?
There were 70 old people in Suzhou, half of which were the golden flowers.

And it rains gold all over the sky?The last one is Mingjun Shuxiao.

Sigh!

The people are in trouble, and the officials are in pain.Bamboo blossoms and minerals grow soil.

——"Bu Fu Ballad"

Li Ruhua watched the emperor continue to ask questions. After sorting out his thoughts, he replied:
"Your Majesty, the current tax shortage of the imperial court is huge, mainly because local governments are in arrears, and a lot of tax money is retained by local governments."

"I am also aware of the local arrears, but the amount is too great. You are so bold and think of the imperial court! Which province has the most arrears?"

Liu Yishui and others had mentioned this matter before. At that time, they also said that there were many vacancies for local officials in the imperial court, resulting in many taxes and taxes could not be collected, so they asked the elected officials to strengthen local governance. After hearing this, he I agreed, but I didn’t expect the gap to be so big now.

Li Ruhua then took out another question book from his sleeve, raised it above his head and explained:
"Your Majesty, I have checked the arrears of taxes owed to the imperial court by various provinces. From the 44th year of Wanli to the first year of Taichang, the three provinces with the most serious arrears are Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi.

Among them, South Zhili accounted for 130% of the arrears, with more than [-] million taels, Zhejiang accounted for [-]% of the arrears, with more than [-] taels, and Jiangxi accounted for [-]% of the arrears, with more than [-] taels. "

After speaking, he handed the question book to Wang An and gave it to Zhu Youxiao for review.

Zhu Youxiao opened it and took a brief look at it. The more he looked at it, the angrier he became.I just heard what Li Ruhua said, Guangnan Zhili, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi owed more than 200 million taels in total. The amount is so huge, doesn't anyone care about it?
Seeing Li Ruhua's analysis and telling the truth to the emperor, everyone present, especially the Zhejiang Party and others, really hated Li Ruhua to death. Li Ruhua, you are going to retire, don't do such a thing before leaving. It's hard for us to sell.The Donglin Party will definitely make a fuss about this matter.

"Liu Yishen, you are currently acting as the chief minister of the cabinet. Please tell me why this is so?"

Liu Yishen couldn't help but murmur in his heart that today's imperial edict was completely different from what he expected. There were too many surprises. Now the emperor personally went out and set an example so that they could not say anything they wanted to advise Zhu Youxiao to save.

Now it is Li Ruhua who explains how serious the tax shortfall of the imperial court is, and also points out the three provinces of Nanzhili, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. These three provinces have been major tax arrears since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Doesn't Li Ruhua know?However, Liu Yishen also understood in his heart that since the emperor was concerned, there would inevitably be nothing to do.

"Your Majesty, the area south of the Yangtze River has paid the heaviest taxes to our court. This area has been in arrears since the founding of the People's Republic of China. During the Yongle, Xuande, and Jiajing periods, the imperial court had ordered to pay back taxes, but it could only meet temporary needs and could not fundamentally solve the problem. .

Nowadays, there are so many vacancies, which is unprecedented. I request you to send important officials from the imperial court to the south of the Yangtze River to recover the arrears. "

"Can we recover it just by sending an important minister? There have been arrears every year before. How could the court not know why the court has not taken any action? I think this is because someone in the court is secretly protecting and deliberately deceiving the court, so that the court does not pursue the case!"

Liu Yishen's explanation obviously did not satisfy Zhu Youxiao. If he owed so much money, would it be confiscated?It was collected and misappropriated.Are you not going to collect the confiscated items?If it has been misappropriated, where has it been misappropriated? These must be carefully investigated and dealt with.

For the imperial court, taxes in Jiangnan were extremely important. If the taxes could not be collected, many things would not be done.

Zhu Youxiao also knew in his heart that Jiangnan was short of money?There is no shortage at all. Over the past decades, overseas silver has flowed into Jiangnan, making Jiangnan extremely wealthy. If you don't even pay taxes, don't blame yourself for being ruthless.

"Master Liu, what you said is wrong. I have my own principles to tell you." A man over fifty years old with teeth and hair came out and said.

Bi Ziyan, Zhu Youxiao has long heard of this person. He was a financial expert during the Chongzhen period of the Apocalypse. When he was the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he worked hard. When financial resources were exhausted and he could not make ends meet, Bi Ziyan carefully coordinated and calculated carefully to support the finances of the Ming Dynasty. nearly ten years.

"Oh, let's talk about it."

"Your Majesty, I was once an official in Songjiang, and I paid taxes to the two capitals of Nanzhili. As far as I know, the four prefectures of Songchang Town in Zhongsu, Nanzhili, have a prosperous economy. They are also places where the imperial court pays heavy taxes, and they also have gold and silver in their internal treasury. Where the income is.

However, since the 30th year of Wanli, arrears in these places have been serious. It is not the common people who are in arrears, but the local big families, especially the rural officials and wealthy people in the Jiangnan area. The world.

It often causes local magistrates and even frontier officials to have headaches and is unable to control them.

In addition, the government in Jiangnan is cutting back on expenditures, and many local officials have "corrupted and misappropriated money." I have checked the situation of tax returns and taxes in Jiangnan from the 30th year of Wanli to the present.

When we find that there are arrears in both good and bad years, and there is no reason for famine in good years, we often repair projects or ask for tax exemptions (tax exemptions). In some cases, the arrears are even greater in good years than in bad years.

I served as a promotion official in Songjiang and discovered that since the Wanli era, there has never been affluence in the south of the Yangtze River, especially in Suzhou. There are more than 1000 machine craftsmen in the whole city, and the number of machine craftsmen working for them is conservatively estimated to be tens of thousands. The people are rich and the products are abundant. , why can’t you even pay taxes?
Therefore, I boldly believe that if the imperial court only sends important officials to the south of the Yangtze River, it will be deliberately obstructed and controlled by the local powerful, and it will have little effect."

Bi Ziyan's words touched Zhu Youxiao's heart and made him understand the reason for the arrears. Such large-scale arrears must be organized and have a reason.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Bi Ziyan finished speaking, Sun Ruyou, the Minister of Civil Affairs, immediately came forward to refute the words.

"Your Majesty Taipusi's words must be serious.

Taxation in the south of the Yangtze River is already the heaviest. Taking Suzhou as an example, the tax amount was seven times higher than that of the Song Dynasty and four times higher than that of the Yuan Dynasty.

Your Majesty, I am afraid that if there is a large-scale recovery of tax arrears, it will trigger a civil uprising!Have you forgotten that Suzhou resisted taxes during the Shenzong period? "

Of course everyone present and even Zhu Youxiao knew about this. In order to collect money, Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty sent eunuchs as mining tax envoys to collect mining taxes everywhere, causing public resentment to boil.

Suzhou sent the weaving eunuch Sun Long, who was supposed to crack down on tax evasion. Instead, Suzhou silk weaving workers beat his men to death and drove him out of Suzhou, where he no longer dared to interfere with tax collection.

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Youxiao also had concerns about the matter, but these are two different things. Collecting mining taxes and recovering tax arrears are two different things. Is it possible that the pursuit of evaded tax arrears has not been dealt with?

Not allowing Zhu Youxiao to refute, Bi Ziyan immediately replied:

"Your Majesty, I don't know what Sun Shangshu's words are because of his intentions. I suspect that Sun Ruyou is originally from Yuyao in the south of the Yangtze River. Therefore, his words are not at all what the court wants, but only for his own personal gain."

Zhu Youxiao really liked Bi Ziyan more and more, so he followed his words.

"Don't talk nonsense, tell the facts if you have them, and don't criticize them based on geography."

　I took ibuprofen this afternoon and my fever went down a bit.I’ll update one chapter first and see if I can do another chapter tonight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)