Diqin Designer

Chapter 382 The Heavy Tax
Li Nian had explained to them the difference between money and coins before, so they could naturally understand what Li Nian said. As long as there were enough materials, a large number of coins could be made with some time, but a large number of money could not be made.

If currency is equivalent to money, countries can simply run their printing presses day and night and print money like crazy. Wouldn't every country become rich?

Li Nian continued, "The taxes collected from farming are unlikely to support the future development of Daqin. The taxes collected from farming each year are good enough to cover Daqin's daily expenses. If we want to have a lot of surplus to do other things, we have to increase taxes, but that will have serious consequences."

When many dynasties were short of money, a common practice was to increase the burden on the people, especially the farmers. If the people were to suffer more, there would surely be more money to be made out of them. With so many people in the world, there was definitely more money to be made out of them!

Then, the people could not bear it anymore and would rather become refugees than go back to farming and bear those taxes that were difficult to pay. After that, the number of refugees increased sharply, the world was in chaos, and the dynasty collapsed.

The First Emperor and others knew clearly what the consequences would be if the tax on agriculture was increased. Li Nian did not say much and continued, "The only way is to find another source of tax revenue and add a wider and broader source of tax revenue to the court!"

Wang Wan heard this and asked, "My Lord, do you want to give up the land tax?"

Li Nian shook his head and said, "Of course not! 'Agriculture is the foundation of a country', not only because everyone needs food, but agriculture can produce grain, so that people have food to eat, and agriculture can provide a stable tax revenue for the country. Before a country develops to a certain level, land tax will serve as the most stable source of a country's finances and taxes. How can it be easily abandoned?"

There is something in what this kid said. He said that we should not give up easily, but he did not say that we should not give up.

The First Emperor asked: "Has any country abolished the land tax in later generations?"

Li Nian nodded: "In later generations, many countries abolished agricultural taxes because the fiscal revenue from agricultural taxes was insignificant compared to the revenue from other channels. Moreover, it is not easy for farmers to farm, and the food they grow is not expensive. If they are still taxed, will they still be willing to farm?"

Wang Jian pondered Li Nian's words and asked, "The price of grain is not high. Does that mean that in the future, grain is extremely abundant and everyone can eat their fill?"

Li Nian said: "It is indeed sufficient, but not everyone can eat their fill. Even in China, we have only had enough food for a few years. This is all thanks to a great Chinese sage in agriculture!"

"As for why there is enough food but not everyone can eat their fill, it is because food production is uneven between countries. Some countries produce more food, while others produce less. Countries that produce more food will not give their food to countries that produce less food for free."

"So naturally in the future, there will be some people who have plenty of food but waste rice and meat every meal, while others who are poorly clothed and hungry and can hardly find even a grain of rice. These situations can exist simultaneously in the same world, and there is no contradiction!"

After answering Wang Jian's question, Li Nian continued, "In later generations, many countries obtained income through the export of industrial products and the sale of resources. The income from these far exceeded agricultural taxes, so they would naturally abolish them."

"Moreover, with the development of science and technology in later generations, farming no longer requires so many people to produce sufficient harvests, and the price of grain is not high. In later generations, the money a farmer can earn from farming in a year may not be as much as a worker's salary in a few months in a factory, which leads to many people not wanting to farm."

"If we continue to collect agricultural taxes, the benefits to the country will be so small, and the people will complain. It is better to abolish it, which can also reduce the burden on farmers."

The First Emperor raised another question: "If so many people don't want to farm, what can they do? Can they become workers and work in factories?"

Li Nian said: "That's right. Industrial manufacturing needs a lot of workers. If the income from farming at home is not as good as working in a factory, people will choose not to farm but to work. This is also the only way for a country to achieve industrialization, to get people from the fields to the factories. If a country wants to develop its industry, it must have enough workers. Daqin will be like this in the future!"

Li Nian did not talk about the price to be paid for industrializing from an agricultural country to an industrial country. Daqin is the number one superpower of this era. As long as it is handled properly, the price can be paid by other countries.

After listening to Li Nian's words, Qin Shi Huang and others felt that something was not right. How could they let so many people stop farming and go to work in a factory?
If one day the grain output suddenly becomes insufficient, the entire country will be in big trouble. We must ensure that there are enough people to farm. The Qin Dynasty cannot allow this to happen.

Even if we follow this kid's advice and let Daqin take the path of industrialization, we cannot neglect agriculture and heavy industry, and they must be given equal importance.

Li Nian didn't know what Qin Shi Huang and others were thinking, and he wouldn't feel anything even if he knew. Instead, he would think that this was in line with the thinking of people of that era.

Unlike later generations, some people have never experienced a food crisis or gone hungry, and have gradually become unaware of the importance of agriculture. They even think that farmers do not contribute much. What's so difficult about farming? Who can't do it?

Feng Jie asked, "My lord, do you want to collect more taxes on merchants? But can this method really be implemented in Daqin? Daqin is not the future world you came from!"

The intention was to remind Li Nian that the situation in later generations was different from that in the Qin Dynasty, and what could be done in later generations might not be possible in the Qin Dynasty.

Facing the question raised by Feng Jie, Li Nian smiled and said, "Li knows! Your Majesty and the others may not know that the Song Dynasty was able to prosper economically because of its flourishing commerce, from which it gained a lot of benefits. Although the Qin Dynasty was a thousand years earlier than the Song Dynasty, it may not be impossible to do the same as the Song Dynasty, and the Qin Dynasty still has Li today!"

Hearing Li Nian's last sentence, the First Emperor and others couldn't help but smile, but they also recognized Li Nian's confident statement: If the cowardly Song could accomplish it, why couldn't the Qin Dynasty? What's more, there was Li Nian.

The First Emperor smiled and said, "That makes sense. If the Song Dynasty could do it, why can't my Great Qin? Even if the Great Qin Dynasty was a thousand years earlier than the Song Dynasty, the situation would be different. So what? Li Nian was also a thousand years later than the Song Dynasty, so he is neither too early nor too late."

Li Nian said seriously: "The taxation of the Qin Dynasty must be reformed, not only to obtain sufficient income for the court, but also as I just said, to use taxation as a means to regulate the economic activities of other countries and the country."

"Allowing trade to flow freely and economic activities to proceed at will is a very dangerous thing for the country. The economy of Daqin will change as Daqin develops. If we do not reform the tax system, it will not only be detrimental to the development of Daqin, but will even hinder the development of Daqin!"

"Taxation is not only a way to increase revenue for the court, but also an important means for the court to control the country. For example, some places are rich and prosperous, while some places are poor and backward, and the development of the two places is uneven."

"If this situation is allowed to develop, the rich areas will become richer and the poor areas will become poorer. This is a very bad situation for a country." Without Li Nian's explanation, Wang Wan said thoughtfully, "So, taxation is a means to balance the development between rich areas and poor areas? Rich areas have to pay more taxes because they are richer, while poor areas have to pay less. The taxes collected from rich areas can be used to develop poor areas."

After hearing this, others immediately understood that taxation can even be used between countries and between people.

If the Qin Empire operates properly, it can use taxation to restrict other countries, making the Qin Empire stronger and other countries weaker, or use this to balance the development of several countries. For example, it can impose relatively less taxes on a country that is friendly to the Qin Empire, allowing it to develop rapidly, and raise taxes on a country that has a grudge against the Qin Empire, making it difficult to sell its goods, thereby slowing its development.

As for the relationship between people, those with higher incomes have to pay more taxes, while those with lower incomes pay less, so that the gap between the rich and the poor will not be so great.

After Wang Wan's words, Qin Shi Huang and others opened their minds and quickly came up with a lot of ideas. After so many years of governing the country, they knew the importance of taxes to the country, but they didn't know that there could be so many ways to play with it.

Li Nian nodded again: "Just as the Prime Minister said, taxes can be used to regulate the imbalance of development between regions. Not only domestically, but also abroad, it can be used to reap the benefits of other countries."

"But to do this, there are prerequisites: First, the military strength of the Qin Dynasty is strong enough; second, the manufacturing capacity of the Qin Dynasty is ahead of the country to be harvested. If the military strength is not enough, what if the harvested country is unwilling to be harvested and wants to resist?"

"As for the second condition, it means that the goods manufactured by Daqin have deeply influenced the countries to be harvested, and it is difficult for them to abandon Daqin's goods. However, their influence on Daqin is not deep, and they do not export much goods to Daqin."

"In this way, Daqin can harvest this country by raising tariffs. In short, they will pay a higher price for Daqin's goods, but Daqin does not need their goods. Daqin sells them more expensively, but Daqin buys things from them at a very low price..."

Under this unequal trade situation, Daqin would reap a large amount of that country's output, and its domestic wealth would flow into Daqin.

Hiss, what a ruthless move! If used well, Daqin can be said to be sucking blood from other countries and making them work hard to produce wealth. Daqin does not have to do too much and can reap the output of other countries by using this move.

Even Daqin did not have to make any effort to produce the products itself. It only had to export the products it harvested from various countries to Daqin, pass them around in Daqin, paint Daqin patterns on them, and sign their name. In an instant, ordinary goods from various countries could be turned into hot-selling Daqin products, and then they could be sold back to other countries.

This means that Daqin has to pay for everything, and can enjoy all kinds of things produced by other countries just by lying down. Perhaps the most laborious thing is to mint Daqin coins and use a lot of Qin banknotes to buy things in other countries.

At this moment, a flash of inspiration came to the minds of Qin Shihuang and his companions, and they finally understood why Li Nian had emphasized several times: Daqin must retain an independent and complete production and manufacturing system!
It turns out that the real reason is this: when the Qin Dynasty develops to the point where it can conquer all countries and even the whole world, it will most likely indulge in the comfort brought by such a harvest and abandon its own manufacturing and production capabilities.

If one day, the Qin Dynasty can no longer conquer other countries, it may collapse at an alarming speed and fall from its prosperity.

The more Wang Wan thought about it, the more he felt that this situation would happen. There must be a country in the future that has fallen into this predicament. It was simply unbelievable and beyond what he had ever known:
The method of reaping the benefits of taxes from other countries is already quite novel, but this method of reaping benefits can actually create a crisis for the reapers.

Although this method is beneficial to the country, it must be carefully controlled. It is a double-edged sword. The sharp blade must be pointed toward the enemy and not let it cut oneself.

Li Nian said: "This method harvests the wealth of other countries for one's own use, but I think this method should not be used too much, otherwise the country will indulge in it and stop making progress. Instead, it will be caught up by the latecomers and fall into trouble."

The First Emperor and the others nodded. Wang Jian said, "Confucianism says 'One is born in sorrow and dies in comfort' and 'If there is no law at home and no enemies outside, the country will always perish'. This policy will make the Qin Dynasty fall into comfort and gradually decline in it."

Feng Quji also said: "Therefore, this method can be used, but it cannot be used frequently. It also needs to be used as a warning to the younger generations of the Qin Dynasty so that they will not forget the crisis."

Feng Jie said: "I knew in the past that taxes were heavy, but I never thought it would be worse than I thought. Now, after listening to your words, I have learned more than I have in decades. Taxes can be used as a tool to plan for the country!"

In response to Feng Jie's praise, Li Nian shook his head and said, "I am just taking advantage of the future. It may be new to you, but to me, it is already a historical fact."

Feng Jie smiled and said, "However, you are able to organize it and explain it to us so that we can understand it. This is not something that ordinary people can do."

Regarding Li Nian's claim that he was just an ordinary person in the future, the First Emperor and others thought that Li Nian was just being modest, because this guy knew astronomy, geography, mathematics, and the study of things. He was familiar with the ways to strengthen the country and the methods of governing the country...

Just talking about history, there are at least dozens of history books for two thousand years, but this kid can tell the story of every dynasty, not only about the history of China, but also about the history of foreign countries.

Even if people in later generations study history, but it is taught in such detail, can students really learn and remember it in such detail?

But this kid wrote it down in detail, and history was only a part of the later content he memorized and learned. There was much more content than history. Is this something that ordinary people can do?
This kid could almost always answer any question. The breadth and amount of knowledge he had learned was simply astonishing. Even if later generations were more developed and advanced than the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang and others did not think that everyone in later generations could be as outrageous as this kid.

The First Emperor and others concluded that Li Nian was definitely not as he said, but was just an ordinary civilian in later generations.

He should have been a learned man, but it is possible that in later generations, before he had the chance to display his outstanding qualities, he came to Daqin and his talent was discovered in Daqin.

Little did people know that Li Nian was not really a genius. He just got a magic weapon after traveling to the Qin Dynasty, which made him seem not like a normal human being. But Li Nian couldn't explain this problem.

(End of this chapter)