Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 727 Southern Tax Potential
In the capital, after receiving Liu Lishun's plan for the new district, Zhu Youjian immediately applauded.

The reason he chose Liu Lishun to preside over the construction of the new district was because Liu Lishun did a good job in Zhuolu District.

We not only utilize the traditional advantages of Zhuolu District to develop the pigeon cage industry, but also utilize its resource advantages to develop the sand and gravel industry.

So before Liu Lishun went south, he carefully analyzed the construction of Zhuolu District with the other party, focusing on industry.

Now Liu Lishun has established shipbuilding and textile as the pillar industries of the new district based on this idea. He agrees very much with this and applauds it.

In particular, he approved of Liu Lishun's approach of using the employment association to attract textile workers. He picked up his pen and wrote four big words:

Industrial city.

He gave orders to those around him:
"Give these four words to Mr. Liu as my expectation for the new district."

"I hope that this new district will be mainly industrial, using industrial products to develop a trade market and become an industrial city."

“The hired workers’ association must play its role as the main force in industrial development.”

Thinking of the restlessness of the servants in Jiangnan, he said:

"There is also a special policy for the new district, which is to ban slaves."

“Anyone who goes to the new district can apply for a temporary residence permit and obtain resident status.”

"A special engineering battalion will be set up in the new district to be responsible for its construction. All Han people, regardless of their origin, can obtain citizenship as long as they serve in the engineering battalion for three years."

“The employment association should take special care of new workers, exempt them from membership fees, solve their problems, and help them choose their own careers.”

Apparently, he intended to set up a safe zone for slaves in the South if he could not completely ban slavery.

All slaves who are desperate can go to the new area and have a chance to survive.

This will make them less likely to rebel and ease the conflict between master and servant.

As for the lawsuits and other disputes arising from this, they can be dealt with slowly.

"Perhaps the three judicial departments could set up a special Tingwei Office in the new district to handle labor relations."

"It's time to build a labor court in the Supreme Court and formulate laws related to workers."

The nine specialized courts were decided upon by him when he reorganized the three judicial departments. However, in the Supreme Court, only the courts of nobles and other frequently used ones were fully established.

The labor courts that deal with labor-capital relations are almost completely empty shells.

Zhu Youjian took into consideration that the industrial development in the new district would inevitably bring about many labor disputes, so he planned to have the Supreme Court send a labor court there to improve the relevant laws.

After ordering someone to write this down and pass it on to the three judicial departments, Zhu Youjian also presided over a regular meeting on finance and said to all the participants:

"You all saw what happened in Suzhou."

"Zhang Pu and Jiangnan Governor Cao Wenheng proposed a tax system, believing that this new one-whip method could be implemented to simplify the collection process."

"You are welcome to express your views on this tax system."

Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan took the lead and said:

"The one-tax system is a variation of the eleven-tax system, except that the summer tax in Jiangnan is less, so it can be incorporated into the autumn tax and collected all at once."

"But it is not the case in the north. I think the two-tax system should still be implemented, with two taxes collected in summer and autumn."

Zhai Fengchong, the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, and Zhang Yandeng, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, were both from Shandong. They immediately seconded the proposal upon hearing it. They believed that the autumn grain production in the south of the Yangtze River was high, so it was acceptable to merge it into one tax system. However, this was not the case in the north, and the tax should still be collected in two seasons, summer and autumn.

Li Changgeng, who was from Huguang, and Dong Yingju, who was from Fujian, believed that a single tax system was better, exempting summer taxes and collecting taxes only once in autumn, thus reducing the room for officials to manipulate the system.

Zhu Youjian listened to their opinions and it was obvious that the southern officials were more in favor of a single tax system, while the northern officials believed that the two-tax system should continue to be used.

This made him think and then he said:
"In the future, southern provinces such as Nanzhili, Huguang, etc. will implement a single tax system, which will only be collected once in autumn."

"In the north where there are two crops a year, the two-tax system is still in place, with summer tax and autumn grain collection."

"But for areas with three crops in two years or one crop in one year, a single tax system will be implemented, and taxes will be reduced accordingly."

Bi Ziyan heard this and said:

"Even in the north where there are two crops a year, there is not much grain to harvest. I think that it should be exempted from the tax compared to the south."

Southern officials were unhappy about this because the South is mostly mountainous and they believed that the tax should be reduced as well.

Zhu Youjian listened to their quarrel and asked the Prime Minister:
"Master Han, how much grain do you think the land in the north and south should pay each year?"

Han Yu was from Shanxi, so he naturally preferred the northerners to pay less taxes. Upon hearing this, he immediately said:

"Your Majesty has calculated that the average yield per mu in the north is about two dan, and in the south it is two dan and six dou."

"I think the tithe in the north should be set at two dou, and on average not more than this amount."

"The average tithing tax in the south is no more than 2 dou and 6 liters. For example, in Suzhou, it is set at 3 dou, 2 dou and 5 liters, or 2 dou, depending on the upper, middle, and lower fields."

This obviously displeased the southern officials. Li Changgeng said:
"Most of Suzhou's farmland is government-owned, so it is heavily taxed."

“How can other places in the south collect taxes like Suzhou?”

"Taizu set the land tax for officials and civilians throughout the country. The tax on official land was 5 liters, 3 he and 5 scoops per mu, while the tax on civilian land was reduced by 2 liters. The land with high rent was 8 liters, 5 he and 5 scoops, and the land confiscated by the government was 1 dou and 2 liters."

"Suzhou has many unowned farmlands, so the tax burden is heavy. Taxes in other places should be set at half or even a quarter of Suzhou's, as was the case at the beginning of the Republic of China."

Dong Yingju, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, also said:

"The Old Book of Tang says: In summer, the tax on upper fields is six liters per mu, and on lower fields is four liters. In autumn, the tax on upper fields is five liters per mu, and on lower fields is three liters."

"If we refer to the two-tax system of the Tang Dynasty and implement a one-tax system, the upper fields should be taxed at one dou and one liter, while the lower fields should be taxed at seven liters."

This was obviously impossible, and the ministers in the court had heated debates about this based on their birthplaces.

At this time, Zhu Youjian could only be thankful that the rule that people from Suzhou, Songjiang, and Zhejiang were not allowed to serve as officials in the Ministry of Revenue had been strictly enforced, otherwise the people from Suzhou and Songjiang would have quarreled with others in the court.

Finally, Han Yu jumped out to smooth things over:

"I think that except for the two places of Suzhou and Songjiang and the official fields, the average tax on other private fields in the south can be reduced to two dou."

"In the north, it has dropped to 1 dou and 5 liters, near the border, it has dropped to 1 dou, and in the bitter cold outside the border, it has dropped to 5 liters."

"This way, the state's finances will be sufficient and the burden on the people will be lightened."

The southern officials were still dissatisfied with this, so Zhu Youjian asked him:

“Will this be enough for the country?”

"Has Scholar Han ever calculated how much he can collect?"

Han Yu had certainly calculated it, and said:
"This land survey is extremely strict. I estimate that according to the new system, about 8 million hectares can be surveyed, which is more than the 8.5 million hectares at the beginning of the country."

"Assuming that the farmland in the south is half each, and the south has 4 million hectares, the tax on each of the 400 million mu is 2 dou, which is 80 million shi."

"According to the estimate that 40% of the local reserves are retained, 48 million shi can be transported to the court. If the storage and transportation losses are 20%, then 38.4 million shi can be transported to the capital, meeting the needs of the court and the various armies around the capital, including the Liaodong army."

This is the amount of tax that can be collected just by calculating the south. Zhu Youjian was very satisfied when he heard it.

But the southern officials were very dissatisfied and asked:
"Why is it only the South and not the North?"

"Four million hectares in the south, and no less in the north."

Han Yu explained to them:

"There are many disasters in the north now. Shaanxi and Shanxi are now all left behind. We still need the court to transport grain for disaster relief and pay military expenses."

"Henan is full of bandits and is likely to follow the same fate as Shanxi and Shaanxi. Many places in northern Zhili and Shandong have also suffered disasters, so it's hard to say how much tax revenue they can provide."

This is the current situation of the Ming Dynasty. It is already difficult for the North to provide taxes to the court, and the court can only rely on the South.

So after Zhang Pu got into trouble, Zhu Youjian offered as much support as possible, letting his servants attack the wealthy, implementing a new tax law in the south, and collecting more taxes. He, Han Yu, Bi Ziyan and others all planned this, but the southern officials were unwilling to pay more taxes honestly. Li Changgeng said:
"The south has also suffered disasters. My hometown, Macheng, suffered from drought last year and floods the year before."

"In the first year of Chongzhen, tsunamis hit Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Shaoxing, destroying tens of thousands of houses and drowning tens of thousands of people."

This is also a fact. When the ministers heard this, they were speechless. They didn’t know when the weather would be good and the harvest would be good.

Could it be true, as the emperor said, that there was too much killing in the world and it was difficult for the gods to take their places, which led to so many disasters?
Zhu Youjian sighed and said:
"The state affairs are difficult, we, the monarch and our subjects, should do our best to maintain it!"

"The climate in the south is wetter than in the north, so floods and droughts rarely lead to crop failures, unlike in the north, where thousands of miles of land are barren."

"There are more wild vegetables, fish and shrimp in the south, so we can exempt these from tax and allow people to collect them."

"The Shaofu Temple should vigorously print famine relief books such as King Zhou Ding's "Herbal Medicine for Famine Relief"."

"The assessment of wasteland management should be included in the performance evaluation."

These lies did not satisfy the southern officials.

They still believed that collecting 80 million shi of taxes from the south was too outrageous and demanded a reduction.

Finally, Zhu Youjian said:
"It is indeed impossible to collect all the 80 million shi."

"In this way, the average tax grain of two dou per mu in the south will remain unchanged, but an amount of 10 to 20 million yuan will be reserved each year for relief in disaster-stricken areas."

"The 60 to 70 million dan collected will still be taxed at 40 to 60 percent, and the tax revenue for the imperial court will only need to reach 40 million dan."

"We will use the extra money to build warehouses in places with convenient transportation, such as Taicang and Wuchang, and recruit workers to build water conservancy projects."

This number is a decrease of 8 million compared to the previous shipment of 48 million stones.

However, the southern officials still thought it was too high, and Han Yu said with some worry:
"Forty million dan of grain was transported to the imperial court, but 20% of it was lost, leaving only 32 million dan."

"With the loss of 20% when transporting from the capital to the local areas, the actual usable amount is only 25.6 million shi, or even less."

"If converted into silver, it is only equivalent to more than 10 million taels."

"The nine borders and Liaodong can be used up as needed by the imperial court."

The annual military pay for the nine frontier regions was about six million, while the Liaodong military pay required more than five million.

The two together amount to more than 10 million, which is the biggest burden on the court today.

Moreover, the court’s money and grain cannot all be used for border defense. Officials in the capital and the Beijing troops still need money!

Li Changgeng had been in the Ministry of Revenue for a long time and pointed out his loopholes:
"The Liao military pay must be paid in full by the imperial court, but the nine frontier armies will each be paid half by the imperial court and the local governments."

"So the nine frontiers need more than three million, and with the Liao army's salary, it's only more than eight million."

"The Emperor has also decided to reduce the military in Liaodong and cut spending by two million. This way, border military spending can be reduced to six million."

"There are five or six million left. Aren't they enough for the Beijing garrison and the officials?"

Xu Guangqi shook his head upon hearing this and said to him:

"Minister Li made a mistake in this calculation."

"Your Majesty, although you have reduced the Liaodong army, the Liaodong pay will not be reduced, it is just used in other places."

"These two million taels are used to build new firearms for the Liaodong armies."

"So the Liao military pay of more than 5 million remains unchanged, but the Nine Frontiers need to pay almost the full amount due to the frequent natural disasters now."

"Even after the reform of the guards, the military pay of the nine frontier camps will still need to be borne by the court."

"The total military expenditure for the border areas is estimated to be no less than 10 million."

"Adding to the expenses for disaster relief, 3,200 dan is far from enough for the court to spend."

Dong Yingju did not expect Xu Guangqi, who was from Songjiang, to say this, and said to him:

"If there is not enough spending, then spending should be reduced. How can we increase taxes for this reason?"

"The government should spend what it earns, not what it spends."

For a time, there was a heated debate among the ministers in charge of financial affairs in the court, especially between officials from the north and the south.

Obviously, the southern officials were unwilling to pay the huge tax of 80 million shi. Although they agreed with the one-tax system, they demanded that the one-tax system should be reduced to one dou, or even five liters and three liters at the beginning of the country.

The northern officials naturally disagreed with this, and Zhu Youjian finally compromised:
"How about one dou and five liters?"

"The land tax in the south is set at 60 million shi, 40% of which will be retained in the local areas and 10% will be used to reduce or exempt the land in disaster areas and to build water conservancy projects."

"The tax grain shipped from the capital is set at 30 million dan, which is half of the 60 million dan. As long as the local officials receive half of the new tax amount and send it to the transfer warehouse, they will pass the test."

This number was lower than before. Although the southern officials still felt it was too high, they could only accept it with the support of Han Yu, Yang Jingchen, Xu Guangqi, Bi Ziyan and others.

Some northern officials also believed that the number was too small and the court's finances would be in deficit.

Zhu Youjian said:
"One of the reasons for the court's financial difficulties is the excessive transportation losses."

"If we change to silver, can we reduce the loss?"

Dong Yingju, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance who was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue Bank, said:
"Reducing silver can naturally reduce losses, especially when using silver dollars and subsidiary notes, without the need for repeated smelting to cause silver loss."

"If all the southern provinces change to silver, I am confident that the loss can be reduced to less than half."

When Zhu Youjian heard that the loss of the Ministry of Revenue Bank was so high, he immediately frowned and said:
"Half is still too high. It needs to be reduced to less than 2%. And the funds must be fully allocated, with transportation losses listed separately."

"Your Ministry of Finance Bank should learn from Shuntian Bank and work hard to reduce losses."

"If the loss is still so high in the future, it would be better to transfer the silver and money to the inner court."

Dong Yingju's face flushed when he heard this, and he was so angry that he almost quit his job. He had put in so much effort and punished so many petty officials to reduce the loss of the Ministry of Revenue Bank to less than 50%.

Unexpectedly, the emperor was still not satisfied and thought that the operating costs of the Ministry of Revenue Bank were too high.

A lot of the money collected by the Ministry of Revenue Bank in various places was silver, while silver dollars and subsidiary currency notes were popular in the operating area of ​​the Shuntian Bank. Can the two be compared?
But Zhu Youjian didn't care about that. He only saw that Shuntian Bank had low losses, so he said to Dong Yingju:

"I have given the Ministry of Revenue a task, which is to reduce the loss to 2%."

"If the loss is lower than this, the savings can be divided 50-50 and used to give bonuses to officials and employees of the Ministry of Revenue and Bank, up to a maximum of 1,000 yuan, and the rest can be used as welfare for everyone."

“Those who have made outstanding contributions or outperformed their peers can also be awarded seniority awards.”

As soon as the bonus and seniority award were announced, Dong Yingju's anger immediately subsided.

Because it means that officials of the Ministry of Revenue and the Bank can legally receive cash rewards. Officials can also get promoted to officials through seniority.

He believed that the officials of the Ministry of Revenue Bank would work harder to reduce losses and get bonuses and seniority awards.

Then Zhu Youjian said to the officials of the Sino-Agricultural Temple:
"The same is true for grain transportation. Scholar Han estimated that the loss is 20%. I think it can be reduced."

"From now on, any figure above 20% will be deemed unqualified and will be subject to investigation and punishment."

"15% to 20% is fair or good, depending on the average loss and abnormal loss."

"If it's below 15%, it's considered good, and we'll give out bonuses like the Ministry of Finance Bank does."

"You should strive to reduce the average loss to less than 15%, and give standards based on the distance."

"With 30 million dan of tax grain, if we estimate that half is converted into silver and the other half is converted into grain, how much can be transported to the capital?"

Soon someone estimated that it was 2745 million shi.

Moreover, the loss will be reduced when the court allocates funds, and the actual usable amount will reach 2490 million shi, which is close to Han Yu's previous estimate that 4000 million shi can be actually used out of the 2560 million shi shipped.

(End of this chapter)