Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 162 Tax Sharing, Expansion, Salary Increase, Pig Farming

Everyone thought that the emperor was going to do something drastic.

However, what the emperor said after he opened his mouth puzzled them.

"You have come up with these solutions, which shows that you have taken my task seriously. However, this matter involves a lot of people. As the elders said, we have to proceed slowly. As long as there are no problems with taxes and grain transport in Jiangnan, and the court and the people have a rest, the financial problems can be gradually alleviated."

It sounds like it should be raised high and lowered gently.

Let everyone see that there are so many methods, but why don’t you use them?

Zhu Changluo looked at them and said, "In a county, there are only a few officials, and the officials are all supported by the show cards, and are supported by the donations and tributes from the local wealthy families. If the local officials' mentality is changed first, these things will be easier to do in the future. Otherwise, what difference will it make?"

Thinking that this time, "nine out of ten" local officials trying the case would also submit a petition to plead guilty, the court officials all lowered their heads.

The most difficult emperor to serve is the one who knows local practices like the back of his hand.

But Your Majesty has been living deep in the palace, how could he know so much?

There is a traitor among us!

Zhu Changluo looked at them and said, "Let's think of a solution from here. First, think about how the local government can make enough money to cover the salaries, government expenses, and rewards for diligence and integrity. How much should be sent to the two capitals over the years, and how much should be kept. What should be borne by the court and what should be borne by the local government? Let's sort this out."

Chen Qi couldn't help but look at him: What do you mean?
"I still care about the officials and officials of the country. The local areas need to be governed well. The officials and clerks we have now are not enough, and their salaries are indeed too low. We should think about the showdown and sort out the financial problems in the local areas first. The court should solve the financial problems in the local areas first, and support them instead of letting them be supported by the local big families, so that there will be no more so-called blackmail of the officials."

Tian Le could not help but look at the emperor deeply, feeling that his skills in financial matters were beyond his imagination.

Since most of the Ming Dynasty's income is now deposited in local areas, it is better to raise the issue of the court's financial planning and the local financial planning.

At present, the amounts that should be paid to the court are still roughly the same, and the local fiscal revenue is linked to the interests of local officials themselves, and is no longer gray income, so their enthusiasm will be different, and they don’t have to worry too much about being threatened by local clans with "private transactions".

It is naturally extremely difficult for officials and gentry to pay taxes together, and there is no rush to change the exemptions now. However, as long as local officials can actively collect the land tax and population tax that should not be exempted according to the law, it will be a very considerable income.

As for whether it was kept in the local area or received by the court, did it matter to the emperor? All of it was spent in Ming Dynasty.

On the contrary, if you give it first and if there is no improvement in the future, it will be justified to take it back.

Zhu Changluo looked at Shen Yikuan and the others and said, "There is no need to present this matter separately. The Cabinet should discuss it with the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Censorate and come up with a strategy. This matter is complicated, and we can come up with a plan within this year."

The people who were called out received their orders and went out to work, feeling both happy and worried.

Zhu Changluo was very calm.

As for the tax-sharing system, it is actually still a tax-sharing system now.

However, the money left in the local accounts has a clear destination, and there is very little left. Most of the money that supports their daily operations is gray income, most of which is private employment of local officials.

It was a fantasy for the Ming Dynasty to rely on just tens of thousands of people to govern the local area securely.

Since they have no official position and do not receive imperial food, they will naturally tend to protect the local financial sponsors who respect them.

The court's financial difficulties were an illusion, and this illusion was exposed this time, but the court was not in a hurry to bring all the local wealth to the central government.

But if this money is made available in the name of expanding staff, increasing local retention and improving their welfare benefits, then it will first activate the enthusiasm and vitality of the local areas.

When the important officials at the central government become jealous of the huge wealth in the local areas, there will be less resistance to pushing forward the next round of tax reforms.

And the "small treasury" and various dirty things accumulated by the local area during this period of wild growth can also be considered as... raising pigs?
Yes, the tax-sharing system can certainly stimulate local enthusiasm, but under the current governance methods and technical conditions, if it is not done well, it can easily lead to local separatism.

Therefore, Zhu Changluo had to train his troops first. The reorganization of the Beijing camp was almost complete, and it was originally planned to be inspected this month.

The news from the court spread like wildfire. After the Jiangnan case in the first year of Taichang, a deeper reform than the transformation of Zhayangzong into a merchant began to brew.

For the vast Ming Dynasty, the specific conditions in different places vary greatly.

Therefore, it does take a considerable amount of time to sort out and discuss which revenues should be paid to the court, which expenditures should be borne by the court, and under what names the local governments should retain more.

In fact, it is a large-scale editorial review.

In the past, in addition to the land tax, local governments would also form a variety of tax rules that often varied from place to place for various annual affairs, official affairs, miscellaneous affairs and local needs. Local tax collection was carried out in accordance with these tax rules.

The core of the previous system was to compile and review these regulations to make tax collection more transparent and efficient.

However, it was difficult to truly implement it in the past because the opacity of the rules and the room for operation provided opportunities for local officials to manipulate the rules.

Now the guiding ideology has changed: the emperor obviously does not covet local income, but is prepared to take it and use it locally.

Salaries can be improved, staffing can be increased, public expenses can be included, and there is no need to worry about "breaking the law".

Why not?
Before the news reached Jiangnan, Shu Baiqing, the magistrate of Changxing County in Huzhou Prefecture, was still preparing his "gift" for the emperor's wedding.

"Do you want to exchange this for silver?" His wife hugged a box tightly, "This is all the dowry for Luer!"

Shu Boqing was in a bad mood and patted the round table in the bedroom: "Women's opinions! I was stripped of my title and sent to prison. You all should go to the Jiaofangsi, or should you spend money first to avoid disaster?"

"…If being an official is like this, it's better not to be an official!"

His wife said something, put the box on the table, turned her back and cried.

"Don't want to be an official? If you don't want to be an official, you have so many people praising you and serving you for so many years?" Shu Baiqing was also quite depressed. "What can I do if my luck is bad?"

He was even more worried about the future.

How else can one make amends? This year, something like this happened. The Nanjing garrison commander, Nanjing's minister of finance, imperial commissioner Li Tingji, and Yingtian governor all took turns to come and pacify the situation, which proved to be very difficult.

From now on, we can't dare to owe any debts, but will the other officials and gentry really cooperate?
Now that the two families that had been investigated had their titles stripped, what would be the appropriate degree of sentencing according to the law?
Shu Baiqing opened the box and looked at the jewelry inside, feeling bitter.

You can't say that all the gifts you received were your own greed. There are so many people to support in the county government, and when the superiors come to inspect and the nobles pass by, how can you not spend money?
But can Your Majesty believe me if I say that I only left behind some "stolen silver"?
In September, the south of the Yangtze River is gradually feeling the autumn mood. For some families, this autumn mood is even more bleak.

Although the turmoil has subsided, and although other members of the hundreds of guilty families have been spared the death penalty by "divine grace", an unpredictable fate still awaits them.

When Meng Xikong arrived in Leping, he faced more severe problems than those in other counties, because Jiangxi was the first province to be ordered by the imperial envoy to conduct a thorough investigation of the Great Merchants.

There are many big merchants in Leping. The Cheng family was able to expand their business so much, of course, they also had many business partners from the same hometown.

However, the main branch and branches of the Cheng family in Leping that are not engaged in business have a large population.

They were inherently hostile towards this new official from Shanxi.

"Your Excellency... it's almost time for the autumn harvest." The Leping County Magistrate piled up problems in front of him as soon as they met. "I heard that there are new gold and silver orders this year. We in Jiangxi go to Nanjing to bid for them and then distribute them. If we can get more gold and silver orders, we in Leping can save a lot of trouble. Your Excellency, do you have any familiar teachers or old friends in the provincial government? We should go and do these things."

"The province has its own arrangements." Meng Xikong looked at him, "I'm going to run errands to the provincial government, and you'll take care of the autumn grain?"

Could it be that he is trying to find out whether his connections are strong and whether he has many friends?
"Oh, these small matters have precedents. The county magistrate has arranged them. I and the household department will inform the grain chiefs." The county magistrate looked at him seriously. "How much can the new order be? Only the county magistrate can come forward to deal with these matters! Besides, nothing can make the county magistrate more willing to return to the heart than this matter! Four stone of gold and silver is converted into one ounce, and the silver consumption is only 10%; the original grain consumption is 20% of the rice. Doesn't the county magistrate understand this account?"

(End of this chapter)