A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 879: The tone is set for Jiangnan, reducing taxes and levies, and not arguing

Jiangnan, Runzhou

Runzhou is an important town in the south of the Yangtze River and also its economic center, with the same status as Yangzhou in the north of the Yangtze River.

However, because Yangzhou faces threats from the north, Runzhou is less aggressive and more delicate than Yangzhou.

Walking on the streets of Runzhou, there are not many people. It may be because it suffered from Liu Zhan's rebellion not long ago, so the streets are a little desolate.

A carriage slowly stopped at a house, and a nobleman got out of the carriage and stepped onto the stone road after the rain. It was Bai Xin who was heading south.

He was ordered by his father to go south to serve as the Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner of Jiangnan, and almost controlled the financial power of the entire Jiangnan region.

As he stepped off the carriage, a breeze blew across his face from the street, ruffling the fine hair at Bai Xin's temples, making it moist even in the wind.

"It is worthy of being called the Jiangnan Water Town, and its reputation is well-deserved."

Bai Xin has lived in Hebei for a long time. This is his first time to visit Jiangnan and he shows great curiosity about the scenery of Jiangnan.

When Bai Xin was admiring the street scenery of Runzhou that looked like a landscape painting, a man walked out of the house quickly, bowed to him and said:
"Sir, all the heads of families in Jiangnan and famous wealthy merchants have arrived."

Bai Xin nodded slightly, then opened his folding fan and strode into the courtyard.

Today is the day when he entertains the wealthy businessmen and famous families in Jiangnan.

Since it is necessary to collect taxes from Jiangnan, we have to deal with these local tyrants.

The hall was now full of guests. They were either wealthy sea merchants or patriarchs of powerful families.

"I have met the envoy."

Seeing Bai Xin enter, everyone stopped talking, stood up and bowed to him.

"Please take a seat, gentlemen."

Sitting in the main seat, Bai Xin looked around and was very satisfied to see that almost everyone was there.

"You are all the heads of families in various parts of Jiangnan, or you are big merchants who travel all over the world. 90% of Jiangnan's wealth is in your hands."

"The court has appointed me as the Jiangnan Duzhi Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner. I must perform my duties and see that all taxes from the court are collected. What do you think?"

Hearing Bai Xin's attitude of "I'm working for the emperor and getting paid", I couldn't help but feel a little angry.

However, they also knew that Bai Xin was not one of those eunuchs and was not easy to fool, and that the Bai family had considerable influence in the local area.

Although the Bai family has only been in the south of the Yangtze River for two or three hundred years, they are more than three hundred years later than the Xie, Wang, Huang and other families who had settled in the south of the Yangtze River long ago.

But the Bai family in Jiangnan had the help of the Bai family in the north, and they also had connections in the court, so as soon as they arrived in Jiangnan, they acted like a fierce dragon crossing the river.

They participated in various activities in Jiangnan in a domineering manner, and after a hundred years, they were regarded as the leading aristocratic family in Jiangnan.

In addition, there is the Su family in the south of the Yangtze River, which has been intermarried with the Bai family for generations. Although the Bai family's influence in the south of the Yangtze River is not as strong as that in the north of the Yangtze River, it should not be underestimated.

"As the Minister of Finance, you are naturally responsible for collecting taxes for Your Majesty. We are all citizens of the Tang Dynasty, and we must pay what we should pay. But what are the rules?"

A head of a powerful family who was present at the meeting first complimented them, and then talked about the topic that they were most concerned about.

In the past, those who were responsible for collecting taxes were all eunuchs, who were greedy and not only raised the taxes set by the court, but also forced them to pay privately, otherwise they would be given a hard time.

These eunuchs relied on the imperial power to create various pretexts and amass wealth in Jiangnan, creating a chaotic situation.

There are more than a hundred types of taxes. Even buying rice has rice tax, chopping firewood has firewood tax, and there is also fire consumption every year.

As a result, the lower-class people in the formerly prosperous Jiangnan region now live in poverty. If there had not been fewer disasters in Jiangnan, they would have been reduced to selling their children long ago.

"I am the Minister of Finance, and I must follow the laws of the court first. All taxes stipulated by the court, such as salt and iron taxes, liquor taxes, land taxes (summer taxes), additional taxes (autumn taxes), household taxes, and commercial taxes, must be paid."

"As for the original taxes, warehouse fees, packaging, and surcharges, I can exempt you from them." "I can promise you that as long as you pay taxes on time, I will bear all the other troubles from above."

Hearing that Bai Xin had actually exempted all the exorbitant taxes and levies except the regular taxes, these people finally had smiles on their faces.

Although the regular taxes were not small, accounting for almost 70% of their annual income, without the exploitation of officials, their lives were much better than before.

"However, I warn you that after I exempt you from various taxes, you must not do those tricks for me, such as increasing taxes on tenants or reducing commissions for employees. If I find out, I will punish you severely."

"Your Excellency is merciful."

Having achieved his goal, Bai Xin immediately left the banquet.

This time they sincerely saw Bai Xin off, and the smiles on their faces were much more sincere than before.

Just when everyone was about to disperse, Bai Qingfeng, the head of the Jiangning Bai family, who was also the leader of the Southern Sect and the head of the Mingyue Hall, who was sitting in the first seat, called them to a halt.

"Master Bai, the envoy has already left. Do you have any other instructions for us?"

Some people were worried. Could it be that Bai Xin was also a fraud who exempted them from miscellaneous taxes on the surface, but secretly asked them to pay for it all?
Alas, it is really difficult. Being the head of a family is difficult, and being the head of the Jiangnan family is even more difficult.

At this moment, they have already calculated in their minds how much money they should give.

"No, I called you to stop because I have something very rich to discuss with you."

Hearing Bai Qingfeng say this, these people couldn't help but feel strange. They looked at Su Zhaohe, the head of the Su family, who was sitting next to Bai Qingfeng. Seeing that he was sitting still, they also sat back in their original seats.

Although the Jiangnan Bai family's power is not overwhelming, it is just on the same level as everyone else, but they cannot withstand the Su family's ties with them.

The Bai family was the largest maritime merchant in Jiangnan, and the Su family was the largest cloth merchant in Jiangnan. The combination of the two, with the help of the Bai family in the north in official circles, almost monopolized Jiangnan's foreign trade.

"Have you heard of the name 'Gyeonggi United Trading Company'?" Bai Qingfeng slowly said a name.

"Gyeonggi United Merchants, Jingshang? Of course, the name of Guanshang has spread all over the world in the past two years. For some reason, all the merchants in Guanzhong have united and traded with foreign caravans under this name."

"Now in Runzhou, there is a Jingshang Guild established by Jingshang, which is responsible for the transactions between Jingshang and our Jiangnan families."

They are all senior executives of Jiangnan, so they naturally understand the popularity of Beijing businessmen in the past two years.

Under unified command and the unified Guanzhong market, they conquered cities and territories everywhere and seized a large amount of wealth.

"What do you think of Jingshang?"

"This is naturally a good thing. Acting in a unified manner can avoid being bullied by outsiders who lower prices. Any problems can be solved locally, which naturally avoids a lot of unnecessary losses."

At this time, Xie Liu, the head of the Xie family, opened his eyes wide, looked at Bai Qingfeng and said, "You want to learn Jingshang?"

"Why not?" Bai Qingfeng stood up and continued with a little excitement:

"Looking at all places in the world, only Jiangnan has the heaviest taxes. Hebei and Shandong even have almost no taxes. Why? Because the families in Jiangnan are scattered and leaderless, so anyone can bully them."

"It was the same in Guanzhong in the past, but now that Beijing merchants have appeared, there are officials in the court who are supported by Beijing merchants to speak for them, and there are governors in the local areas who are supported by Beijing merchants to protect their interests. Even the late emperor relied on their help."

"As a result, the capital can be exempted from taxes for one year, and the court will also help them to find financial resources. This is the power of unity."

"Look at us now. A bunch of eunuchs without balls have oppressed our families to the point of suffocation. They take whatever they want from us. The financial pressure of the entire world is now on us in Jiangnan."

"When Hebei was occupied by rebels, more taxes were levied on the south of the Yangtze River; when Guanzhong suffered a disaster, more taxes were levied on the south of the Yangtze River; when Shu was in turmoil, more taxes were levied on the south of the Yangtze River."

"Gentlemen, we have been collecting taxes from Jiangnan for 20 years. We can no longer add any more."

Bai Qingfeng's words made everyone silent, especially the families that occupied the most land, such as Chen, Qian, Gu, and Jiang, who were most deeply touched.

(End of this chapter)