Ming Dynasty: A hundred-year-old immortal cultivator, Zhu Yuanzhang’s biological father

Zhong Xu nodded: "Yes, the emperor is the most important, he can make whatever he wants. But the Firearms Bureau has been busy making firearms these days, I'm afraid they have made at least ten thousand firearms."

Ru Taisu laughed and said, "Nonsense! With the efficiency of the Firearms Bureau, it would be amazing if they could produce a thousand firearms."

Zhong Xu said "oh" and asked Ru Taisu, "Sir, how come it suddenly came out that the emperor's grandson is not dead?"

"What kind of evil wind is this? If His Majesty knows about this, won't he be furious?"

Ru Taisu smiled and glanced at Zhong Xu nonchalantly: "Who knows?"

Obviously, Ru Taisu also kept his mouth shut and did not say anything nonsense.

Zhong Xu continued, "Speaking of which, Zhu Xionghuan has been dead for such a long time. Sir, do you think someone is using this incident to disrupt the government?"

Ru Taisu smiled and said, "It shouldn't be possible. There is no way that the people in the palace don't know about this trend outside the palace. Since the old man didn't take any action, it already explains everything."

Zhong Xu was stunned for a moment, as if he understood something, and his heart suddenly shook.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is a third-rank official. As an official with real power, they can deduce more information from almost any word in official circles.

Minister Ru said that the old man did not take action, which means that the old man knew about it. In other words, could this rumor have originated from the palace?
The old man was so protective of his children that even if someone had a hundred heads, they would not dare to joke with the descendants of the Zhu family. The fact that the old man condoned this matter meant that he condoned it...hiss!

It seems that this is not groundless!

In the evening, the rays of light gently fell on the ground, reflecting a bright red.

Zhu Xiongying was worrying about the talent in the Ministry of Revenue. He sat in front of the desk in the study with his hands on his chin, looking a little absent-minded.

Not knowing what he was thinking about, he took the brush off his mouth, raised his sleeves, and gently wrote something on the rice paper.

The door was pushed open gently.

"Grandson, what are you writing?"

Zhu Xiongying looked back at Zhu Yuanzhang and motioned for him to come over.

"Master, please take a look."

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little curious, so he walked to the desk, pulled a stool and sat down.

"Progressive tax rate? What is that?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "It is an additional commercial tax."

Zhu Yuanzhang was somewhat puzzled: "Commercial taxes are commercial taxes, what does progressive tax mean?"

Zhu Xiongying explained: "Within the big framework of business, we try to achieve tax fairness as much as possible."

"For example, the old man and I are both businessmen."

"The old man runs a small business and only earns 120 taels a month. If I levy the business tax at 1/30, does the old man have to pay 4 silver taels in tax?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Then what?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "For example, if I earn 12,000 taels a month, and the tax is collected at 1/30, does that mean I only have to pay 400 taels?"

"For a merchant with an income of over ten thousand taels of silver, is it too little to pay only four hundred taels of tax?"

"In this way, the poor will become poorer and the rich will become richer. The country's tax structure is unfair because if it treats everyone equally, it will favor the rich."

Zhu Yuanzhang smacked his lips and said, "That makes sense. Then what?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "The progressive tax rate is to divide them into different categories. For example, when the income is higher than 10,000 taels, the tax rate will not be 1 in 30, but 1 in 10. In this way, an income of 10,000 taels will need to pay 1,000 taels..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment. After Zhu Xiongying finished speaking, he finally understood the implication of Zhu Xiongying's words.

"That makes sense. This way, it can ease the conflicts among the merchant class... Uh!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned again: "Good boy! You have fooled me! In this way, you have not only stabilized the Jiaozhi merchant class, but also stabilized the peasant class!"

“Before developing the commercial class, heavy taxes on commerce were levied to allow the peasant class to see balance, and also to allow the merchant class to see balance within itself.”

"Collecting business taxes based on income levels... Great! High, really high!"

"You are really smart, kid. Your brain is more flexible than mine!"

Zhu Yuanzhang only now realized what Zhu Xiongying's purpose was.

He didn't think much of it at first, but now when he thinks back on it, he can't help but praise it.

After a moment of silence, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "But how do you control the income of merchants? You can't ask them to report the truth, right?"

Merchants are driven by profit, and Zhu Yuanzhang has always distrusted merchants. It is unrealistic to expect these profit-seeking people to report their income truthfully and to establish a tax bureau based on the truthful income reports.

Zhu Xiongying was also thinking about this.

In fact, he has greatly simplified the tax structure of Jiaozhi. According to the taxation system of later generations, taxes need to be paid based on the net profit after deducting costs from revenue.

But Zhu Xiongying was afraid that the tax structure was too complicated and difficult to collect, so he cut it altogether and levied the tax directly based on income.

The taxation process is a process of continuous improvement. As long as the financial team is established, there will be people who will continue to discover tax loopholes and improve them.

In any case, the fact that the concept of progressive tax rates was proposed for the first time in this era was already epoch-making enough.

Otherwise, Zhu Yuanzhang would not be so surprised.

Zhu Xiongying scratched his head and said, "I was thinking about this as well. In fact, the best way is to legislate."

"Unfortunately, this involves the Ministry of Justice, and this kind of taxation still needs to be improved by the Ministry of Revenue... Oh, there are too many constraints!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Xiongying silently and was extremely shocked.

What can stop this kid's development now is not other problems, but power!
In other words, this kid needs something to support all his vision and strategy, and that thing... is imperial power!
Only by standing at the pinnacle of power can he better mobilize the cooperation of the six ministries.

"Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Revenue... OK!"

"Don't worry about this, I'll tell you when I get back."

Zhu Xiongying was delighted: "Thank you very much, old man!"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "You are probably waiting for me to say this, right? I have said so much to you just to make this point."

"Humph! Was it you who planned the matter of Lan Yu pushing for the opening of the sea during the court meeting today?"

Zhu Xiongying scratched his head: "Duke Liang submitted a petition?"

Zhu Yuanzhang hummed and said, "Didn't you want Zheng He to push for the opening of the sea? Why did the Ministry of War take advantage of it in the end?"

Zhu Xiongying didn't care, "It was intentional."

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Zhu Xiongying blankly: "Let's just say it! Why did Lan Yu compromise so easily? Is this the situation you want to see?"

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "Well, the people sent by the Ministry of War will probably fail soon. That will be the time to truly open the sea."

"The Ministry of War failed? How is that possible? Are you kidding me?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said meaningfully. Zhu Xiongying smiled and said, "Well... Anyway, life on the sea is not as simple as the old man and the Ministry of War think. It is difficult for people without absolute faith to support life on the sea."

While the grandparents were talking, there were sudden sounds of quick footsteps outside.

Jiang Lin came in with the document that should have the expedited seal, walked to Zhu Yuanzhang's side, and whispered, "A letter from the Left Censor-in-Chief."

In an instant, Zhu Yuanzhang's ordinariness like a kind old man faded away, and he quickly turned into an iron-blooded and murderous emperor with eyes as sharp as a knife.

"Show us!"

"Ha!" Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and sneered.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?" Zhu Xiongying asked.

"The Left Censor-in-Chief has brought news from the southeast!" Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and laughed, saying to Zhu Xiongying, "You really got it right!"

"Grandson! Grandpa taught you how to deal with officials, but he didn't teach you how to massacre Ming officials with blood! Today, Grandpa will teach you how to massacre the southeast with blood!"

A cold and domineering tone suddenly came out of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth, and his voice was filled with infinite anger!
Zhu Yuanzhang's face was gloomy, and Zhu Xiongying thought to himself: I'm afraid someone is going to be in trouble again!

Jiang Li retreated voluntarily, sweating profusely.

He knew that the next period of time would be the time for this grandfather and grandson.

How many officials and businessmen in the southeast will die depends entirely on the decision of this pair of grandfather and grandson.

A single word from this old man and this young man can decide the life and death of millions of people!

After Jiang Yu left, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Xiongying and handed the memorial from Zuodu Yushi Bao Zhao to Zhu Xiongying after weighing it coldly.

"Grandson, take a look."

Zhu Xiongying hummed, took the document from Bao Zhao, and flipped through it carefully. In an instant, Zhu Xiongying's eyes widened.

Every word written above is shocking!
"Investigation revealed that the Lin family of Jiaxing County secretly colluded with the Japanese, hid the Japanese, and leaked military secrets, leading to the defeat of the Ming army."

"It was found that the chief clerk of Jiaxing County colluded with the Lin family to smuggle Ming porcelain, tea, and silk overseas, making a total profit of more than 370,000 taels of silver."

"Investigate and investigate. The magistrate of Haiyan sold the secrets of the Japanese army's deployment to the Japanese pirates. In addition, the casualties of the villagers in Haiyan villages were not caused by the Japanese pirates. They were actually staged and performed by the county government..."

By the time Zhu Xiongying finished reading it, his face had turned pale.

"brute!"

Zhu Xiongying's face was a little angry. "Is the Haiyan County Government looking for death? Aren't they afraid?"

Originally, it was thought that the casualties among the people in Haiyan village were caused by the Japanese invaders, but who could have imagined that it was actually a play directed by the local county government, and the ones who actually killed and injured the villagers were not the Japanese invaders, but their own people!

This is absolutely heartbreaking!
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered: "If I'm afraid of them, I won't do it!"

"We are so far away, they think the emperor can't see the southeast!"

"We are greedy for 80 cents and we have to skin and feed them straw, but there are still many people who only care about food and not beatings."

Zhu Yuanzhang took a look and said, "Grandson, there are things that we emperors cannot control, things that we cannot see. The Ming Dynasty is too big, and it is not easy to stir up trouble."

"The more we crack down on corruption, the more we cannot stop the terrible thing called human nature!"

Zhu Xiongying really wanted to say that his grandfather paid too low a salary to Ming Dynasty officials. Given the disparity between their power and income, corruption was a normal phenomenon, and it would be truly abnormal not to engage in corruption.

For example, if an official watched tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of taels of silver passing by all day long, while his annual salary was only seventy taels, how could he not be tempted?
Small greed leads to big greed, and big greed leads to enormous greed. People’s desire for wealth and power will only grow, not be extinguished.

So over time, corruption became prevalent.

This is understandable, at least Zhu Xiongying can understand it.

But what Zhu Xiongying could not understand was that this group of heartbroken, crazy people, worse than pigs and dogs, actually pretended to be Japanese slaves and turned their butcher knives against their own comrades and the people under their jurisdiction!

This person is simply a beast and a scum!
After a pause, Zhu Yuanzhang asked sternly, "How should we deal with this?!"

Zhu Xiongying gritted his teeth: "Kill!"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked again: "How to kill?"

Zhu Xiongying said coldly: "The Jiaxing Lin family merchants will be handed over to the Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Commissioner. After the evidence is found, they will be slaughtered for the crime of colluding with the Japanese and harming the country!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded secretly.

Little guy, your methods of killing people are getting better and better!
"Destroying the entire family is not enough, we should exterminate all nine clans!"

Zhu Yuanzhang added!
The punishment Zhu Yuanzhang imposed on businessmen must have been the most severe!

Zhu Xiongying did not have the slightest sympathy at this time, and continued: "As for the county magistrates and officials of Haiyan and Jiaxing counties, they will be taken back to Yingtian by the Metropolitan Procuratorate and tried by the three judicial departments. Those who should be killed will be killed, and those who should be exterminated will be exterminated!"

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and shook his head slowly.

Zhu Xiongying thought for a moment and said, "Grandpa, what's wrong?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "This is not the way to kill officials."

"How much power do the two county magistrates have? No one is protecting them, how dare they be so arrogant?"

"It's not okay to kill officials like this."

Zhu Xiongying was stunned for a moment, and seemed to think that what the old man said made some sense.

How dare the two county magistrates be so bold?

What's more, the power structure in Zhejiang is complicated and there may be someone supporting them from behind.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "In this case, don't take them to Yingtian first, arrest them and send them to the Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Office. As long as they are alive, people will be uneasy."

"Bao Zhao is in Zhejiang, and he can implicate more and more people. Just wait and see, Dasun, we can catch more and more big fish by following these two lines!"

As he spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang slowly raised his head and said with some worry: "What we are afraid of is that most of the government in Zhejiang is probably rotten. If that is the case, there needs to be a limit to killing officials."

Zhu Xiongying asked in confusion: "Do we have to let them continue to do whatever they want?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "Before the transfer of power is confirmed and there are not enough people to take over the government system in Zhejiang, we can't cut it off with one stroke."

"We still need them to do things in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and we need them to govern Zhejiang, so we can't let the government system there be paralyzed."

"So there are some people that cannot be dealt with, but the accounts must be remembered! After the power transfer is completed, we can settle the accounts later!"

He looked at Zhu Xiongying and said earnestly, "Grandson, do you understand? This is the principle of killing officials. Some people can be killed, some people must be killed immediately, and some people must be killed later!"

Zhu Xiongying seemed to understand, but not quite. He really couldn't imagine that there were so many tricks involved in killing an official.

But soon, Zhu Xiongying figured it out.

The imperial court could only produce more than one hundred Jinshi every three years, but there were too many vacancies in the Ming Dynasty. These new Jinshi could not be transferred to other places as officials immediately and needed to be trained.

It is not easy to cultivate talents in the imperial court, and it is even more difficult to cultivate officials for the frontier governors and the local confidential government offices. (End of this chapter)