I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 950: Each of them is not easy to deal with
Zhu Yijun was not in a hurry to answer and pointed at Zhejiang Governor Ye Mengxiong.

"Mr. Longtan, you speak."

Ye Mengxiong replied: “Your Majesty, my colleagues.

The situation in Zhejiang is somewhat similar to that in Jiangsu, but also somewhat different. Northern Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu are both in the Taihu Lake Economic Zone.

Silk and cotton are their main products and also the main industries in the Taihu economic zone.

According to the annual statistical report of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration Office in the tenth year of Wanli, in the areas of Huzhou, Jiaxing, Hangzhou and Shaoxing in northern Zhejiang, 80% of the silk industry was privately owned, and 50% of the cotton cloth industry was privately owned. There were approximately 1,500 enterprises of all sizes.

I guess it's the same for Sunan too."

Li E, the governor of Jiangsu, replied: "Mr. Longtan is right.

In the three counties of Suzhou, Changzhou and Zhenjiang in southern Jiangsu, 70% of the silk industry is privately owned, and 40% of the cotton industry is privately owned. There are 1,200 large and small enterprises.”

Ye Mengxiong continued to nod: "These two industries, domestic sales and exports, account for up to 60% of Zhejiang's tax revenue each year. Domestic sales pay value-added tax, and local sales also pay business operation tax.

Exports are subject to value-added tax and export duties.

In Ningbo, eastern Zhejiang, everything revolves around export trade.

Commerce and transportation are very developed. More than 90% of Zhejiang's shipping companies are concentrated in Ningbo. At the same time, more than 70% of banks and insurance companies are also located in Ningbo, which facilitates the development of financial settlement and insurance business related to foreign trade and shipping.

In addition, counties near Ningbo have developed many industries related to shipping.

Ship repair industry, ship accessories industry, marine food industry, shipping packaging industry, terminal loading and unloading equipment industry, and the service industry that provides food, accommodation and entertainment for hundreds of thousands of sailors and maritime merchants.

In recent years, glass, porcelain, hardware and handicraft industries have emerged in Yuyao, Cixi, Dinghai and other counties. These small commodities, along with bulk goods such as silk and cotton cloth, were not only transported to various parts of the Ming Dynasty, but also transported to the South China Sea, Tianzhu and Dashi by sea vessels, and sold very well.
The price is not as high as bulk goods, but the quantity is considerable, and the annual profit is also considerable.

According to the statistics of the Taxation Bureau, the profit is no less than that of cotton cloth.

Most of these enterprises are private enterprises, which have emerged with the development of industry and commerce and the flourishing of free trade.

They took advantage of Ningbo's convenient sea transportation to purchase various raw materials, such as steel, machinery, quartz sand, precious wood, ivory, coral, and tortoise shells, from Luanzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Nanhai, and processed them for industrial use, selling half of them domestically and exporting the other half.

Ye Mengxiong listed the above situations one by one and then changed the subject.

"Private enterprises in Zhejiang account for 50% of export tariffs and more than 80% of industrial and commercial taxes.

We do not argue about tariffs because we know that the cabinet needs large sums of money for transfer payments to support other poor provinces, and Zhejiang is willing to help the court solve its problems.

We also know that without a navy, Zhejiang’s products would not be sold across the seven seas and four oceans.

Those tariffs can be considered as Zhejiang's return to the navy.

However, 80% of Zhejiang's industrial and commercial taxes are paid by private enterprises in Zhejiang. The money is taken from the people and used for the people. Shouldn't we in Zhejiang get the lion's share?
Why does the cabinet take the lion's share and only give us in Zhejiang such a small portion?

Your Majesty, I feel this is unfair to Zhejiang!"

After hearing Ye Mengxiong's last words, Zhu Yijun remained calm, but Zhang Siwei's heart skipped a beat.

The capable ministers whom the emperor trusts all have very unique personalities.

Ye Zhaonan actually dared to say in front of the emperor that the new fiscal and taxation reform plan was very unfair to Zhejiang.

Courageous!

Zhu Yijun nodded: "It is indeed unfair.

Zhejiang has made so many contributions and has already suffered losses in tariff distribution. We cannot allow it to continue to suffer losses in industrial and commercial taxes.

It is the greatest injustice to let hardworking people suffer losses again and again."

Zhu Yijun's words lifted the spirits of everyone present.

"I have said before that our goal of developing industry and commerce and improving productivity is to improve the living standards of the people and allow them to live a prosperous and happy life.

Many private enterprises in Zhejiang have created so much wealth that the imperial court cannot just take it all away through taxation.

From a national perspective, transfer payments and poverty alleviation are necessary.

But we cannot turn transfer payments into exploitation.

I understand what Lord Longtan means. Zhejiang's private enterprises have created so much tax wealth, more of which should be retained locally so that the Zhejiang Provincial Government can build bridges and roads, and build schools and hospitals for the people of the province, thus bringing greater welfare.

This request is very reasonable and I fully agree with it.”

Zhu Yijun pointed at Lin Zeyou, the governor of Huzhou, and said, "Governor Lin, what do you have to say about Huzhou?"

Lin Zeyou was an official from the Shaofujian, and was a former colleague of Pan Yinglong, Li Sanjiang, and Liu Yupu.

He replied: “In reply to the emperor, the situation in Luzhou is rather special.

More than 80% of the enterprises in Huzhou are group enterprises affiliated to the Shaofujian. Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, Shanghai Weaving Bureau, Shanghai Textile Bureau, China Merchants Steam Navigation Company and Ocean Shipping Bureau are known as the Six King Kongs of Huzhou. The taxes they pay account for 60% of the total tax revenue of Huzhou, all of which are withheld by the enterprises and deposited into the national treasury.

The remaining 80% of companies are large and small enterprises related to these six giants, providing them with supporting products.

These private enterprises, together with the banks, insurance companies and other shipping companies affiliated with the Shaofujian besides the Six Great Kings, contributed 40% of the tax revenue to Hujiang.

Your Majesty, our Hujiang is not a big place. It is the four counties of Qingpu, Huating, Jinshan, and Nanhui in Songjiang Prefecture and Shanghai. More than two-thirds of the people are employees of enterprises. Their food, accommodation, and transportation are basically contracted by the enterprises. There are schools for children to go to school, and there are employee hospitals for treatment.

What we need to do in Huzhou is to provide people’s livelihood services to the remaining one-third of the people.

Maintain public facilities such as roads, bridges, canals and dams, and coordinate to ensure orderly livelihood planning for various enterprises."

Zhu Yijun asked with great interest: "For example?"

“In reply to the emperor, for example, the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, which is responsible for dock operations and inland and offshore shipping, has docks in Wusong and the Songjiang River in downtown Shanghai, and it also wants to build a residential area for its employees nearby.

Then there is a possibility of conflict with the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau and the Ocean Shipping Bureau in Wusong and Baoshan, as all three may want to build residential areas on the same site.

At this time, the Huzhou government needs to step in to coordinate and ask them to stop fighting and just repair this area.

This large residential area was built to accommodate the employees of three enterprises. According to common sense, they would each build their own roads, water plants, schools and hospitals.

It's such a waste if everyone repairs their own thing.

The Huzhou government stepped in and joined the three companies to come to a consensus to repair the roads together, reduce the three water plants to one, and expand the scale fourfold.

The number of schools and hospitals has been reduced from three to two. It is not under the jurisdiction of your company. I am too lazy to argue. It is under the jurisdiction of the Huzhou Government. You can just transfer the relevant expenses to the Finance Bureau of the Huzhou Government. "

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Huzhou is a model of cooperation between government and enterprises."

Lin Zeyou quickly explained: "In reply to the emperor, Huzhou can be said to have been built by the Shaofujian alone. Its foundation is the enterprises of the Shaofujian. It is a flesh-and-blood relationship.

Most of the officials in the Huzhou Government Office were transferred from the Shaofu Supervisor, and they have close relationships. All enterprises can have a say, so naturally they can sit down and communicate and negotiate together."

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "I understand what Huiliang meant. Huzhou is backed by a group of large enterprises, all of which are wealthy and deeply involved in Huzhou's municipal construction.

I don’t care about the small amount of tax.”

Lin Zeyou smiled and replied: "Your Majesty is wise, this is the current situation in Huzhou that I am talking about. But I think this is very abnormal.

At the first month's meeting of the Advisory Bureau and the Court Council, the emperor repeatedly stressed that the Shaofujian and Taifu Temple should be reformed, and that the Shaofujian should gradually divest its administrative functions and be transformed into a commercial enterprise with investment as its main focus.

Taifu Temple should be transformed into a public enterprise asset management department, follow commercial civil law, and manage public assets through equity and other forms.
The core content is the strict separation of government and business, which cannot be confused anymore. Businesses do business, and the government does government business. Each performs its duties and assumes its responsibilities.

I believe that the situation in which the responsibilities of the government and enterprises in Shanghai are not clearly defined must change. How to change it? I think it should start with allocating more tax revenue and taking more responsibility for people's livelihood."

Zhang Siwei secretly admired that the officials of the Shaofujian department, regardless of their abilities and talents, their understanding of the emperor's intentions far exceeded that of traditional officials.

I have also participated in meetings of the Advisory Council and the Court Council, as have some of my old colleagues, but my understanding was not as profound as that of Pan Yinglong, Liu Yupu, Li Sanjiang, and Lin Zeyou, officials from the Shaofu Supervisor faction.

Judging from the emperor's expression, he seems to have struck upon the dragon's vein again.

Zhu Yijun nodded without commenting, and turned to Hu Zongpu and said, "Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huzhou have all spoken, it's your turn to speak, Anhui."

Hu Zongpu has no relationship with Hu Zongxian, nor is he from Jixi in southern Anhui. He is from the Hu family of Jishui in Luling County, Jiangxi Province, and is a descendant of Hu Zhongjian (Hu Quan) of the Song Dynasty.

Hu Zongpu smiled calmly: "Your Majesty, the three wealthy men have said that we in Anhui are suffering. The annual tax revenue is only so much, which is barely enough to support the expenses of officials and government officials in the province, as well as the annual municipal and people's livelihood expenses.

We don’t have tariffs in Anhui, so we are not eligible to share tariffs.

Industrial and commercial taxes are pitifully low, far lower than monopoly taxes.

Even if all of it were given to Anhui, we would not be able to accomplish anything. We would still need the help of the three wealthy men in the East.

In the past, transportation was inconvenient and many of Anhui’s resources were buried underground, so there was no way to talk about cooperation.

Your Majesty is wise. He routed the Jinpu section through Anhui, greatly improving Anhui's traffic conditions.

Now the railway runs directly from Suzhou and Fengyang to Pukou, connecting with the Yangtze River waterway and connecting with the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway in Jiangning City on the south bank across the river.

"One thing leads to another. Anhui's idea is very simple. Thanks to the three tycoons, we can take advantage of your economic development. First, we need to boost Anhui's economy and increase tax revenue. Then, we can negotiate with the cabinet on the proportion of distribution and take it."

Zhu Yijun laughed, "Guoyu's words were very balanced. He praised the three big bosses and showed me his attitude.

Although Anhui does not have much tax revenue now, it will increase in the future, so they hope to increase the proportion of monopoly tax and industrial and commercial tax. "

Hu Zongpu smiled awkwardly.

Zhu Yijun pointed at the ministers below him and said, "You are all very troublesome. You have been trying to tell me openly or secretly that you think the proportion of the preliminary draft of the fiscal and taxation reform is unreasonable.

But I can understand that you are all provincial governors, responsible for the well-being of millions of people. You must have money in your pockets, so you are not panicking.

When I left the capital, I told Zijian that the local officials would definitely bargain with me.

Originally, the Minister of Revenue, Ruguan Gong (Wang Guoguang), should have come to discuss this matter with you, but he was left in the capital by Zijian for other important matters.

Zhu Yijun pointed at Pan Yinglong and said, "Talk to Fengwu first and boldly state the proportion you hope for. Of course, also state your reasons.

Feng Wu has written them down one by one. I will consider them carefully and communicate with you again before leaving Southeast. After the distribution plan is finalized, I will return to Beijing to discuss it with Zijian and Ruguan Gong. "

"The minister obeys the order."

"I will now discuss with you the economic development strategy for the three southeastern provinces, one state, and one capital for the next ten years."

(End of this chapter)