Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 151: The iron-faced and selfless brat! All the royal relatives will be imprisoned!

The same scenes are played out at different tax collection points.

At the same time, in the residences of royal relatives, dukes and high-ranking officials in Jinling City, many people were furious.

"What? My business has to pay taxes?"

"This is outrageous. Which tax collector is so bold? Take my name card and go to the competent official immediately."

"Collecting taxes from my family? Is the Yingtian prefect crazy?"

"Commercial tax is under the jurisdiction of the Taxation Department? Who is the chief official of the Taxation Department?"

……

In front of the newly established Ming Dynasty Taxation Commissioner, sedan chairs and horse-drawn carriages came one after another.

Upon seeing this, Jinyiwei commander Jiang Li hurried over to greet them.

These people were either royal relatives or families of noble officials. Even he, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, could not afford to offend them easily.

Of course, they cannot offend him, but that is only superficial courtesy. It is impossible to ask Jiang Li to help them with things.

Fortunately, everyone knows His Majesty's rules and the special status of the Jinyiwei, so no one will make things difficult for him as the commander.

Except for Zhu Yunhuan, who is now the crown prince, even princes cannot command the Jinyiwei.

No one dared to force the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

But if you can't order the Jinyiwei around, you can ask the Commissioner of Taxation for help.

Everyone knew that the Jinyiwei were only temporarily transferred to assist the Commissioner of Taxation in handling the case.

The real supervisor of the Taxation Bureau was Zhu Gaoxu, the son of Prince of Yan Zhu Di.

Since the tax collectors no longer discriminated against merchants and collected taxes equally, many merchants and the nobles behind them became anxious.

Everyone is trying to find a solution.

The first thing that comes to mind, of course, is to start with the tax collectors of the Tax Commissioner.

After all, no matter how powerful the tax commissioner is, the specific work still has to be carried out by the grassroots tax collectors.

Wouldn't things be easy if we could just bribe the tax collectors?
But they soon discovered that this simply didn't work.

The tax commissioner was newly established, and the criteria for selecting tax collectors were very strict. It can be said that all of them were impartial and just.

This is different from Zhu Yuanzhang who was very strict in paying salaries to officials.

The treatment that Zhu Yunhuan gave to tax collectors was still very generous.

At least there will be no problem in ensuring the family has enough food and clothing.

In Zhu Yunhuan's view, if he wanted tax collectors to work hard and conscientiously, he had to provide them with relatively good compensation.

As the famous saying goes, who would work hard for a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan?
But Zhu Yunhuan was also very clear that high salaries could add work pressure to them and make them work hard.

It is impossible to maintain integrity by providing reliable high salaries, so that they will not engage in corruption or accept bribes on their own initiative.

Because human desires are endless and have no limit.

It can only be constrained by the system.

After all, tax collectors are real people. Even if most of them are impartial, it is impossible for all of them to be impervious to any attack.

But the Taxation Department not only has tax collectors at fixed points, but also a large number of inspectors.

For example, you bribe the tax collector at the city gate, but after entering the city, the tax inspector comes and asks for the tax invoice, and you cannot produce it, which means you have not paid the tax.

Not only do you have to pay the original taxes, you also have to pay a penalty.

Tax collectors on duty at the city gates will also be held accountable.

The patrolling tax collectors were not fixed personnel.

But it is different every day, and the range will be adjusted every day.

The merchants didn't know who would come here for inspection today.

Naturally, it is impossible to buy it off in advance.

What's more, the inspection will not be just once, but several times.

Even if I get lucky this time, what about next time? And the next time?

As for forging invoices from the Tax Commissioner, there is no need to even think about it.

First of all, the consequence of forging invoices is beheading and property confiscation, which is much more serious than tax evasion.

Secondly, the invoices issued by the Taxation Commissioner use anti-counterfeiting measures that are only available on new banknotes, and they cannot be forged outside.

Not to mention, invoices are different from treasure notes. There is only one copy of a treasure note, so it can be forged and used.

There are two copies of the invoice, which are archived at the tax bureau and can be compared.

If the invoice presented does not match the files kept by the Tax Commissioner, or the Tax Commissioner simply has no record of tax payment, then there is no need to think about it, it must be fake.

The tax collectors received blank invoices from the tax commissioner, which had corresponding numbers and quantities... These were also recorded and archived for reference.

Tax collectors were not allowed to receive an extra invoice, and losing it was a serious crime.

Even if an outsider gets a blank invoice, it will be useless.

Although you can fill out the invoice yourself, it is impossible to put a copy of the completed invoice into the tax department for filing.

In this way, when the tax commissioner checks the tax payment situation, he will inevitably find that there is something false.

In addition, a clear standard was established for how tax collectors assessed the value of goods.

If the valuation is too high, the merchant can appeal.

The tax invoice is the basis for the appeal.

The number above can clearly identify which tax collector did it, so that the tax collector can be held accountable.

On the contrary, if the valuation is too low and problems are found during inspection, accountability will still be pursued.

Of course, there is not no room for maneuver here.

After all, the value of goods itself cannot be estimated with 100% accuracy. Errors within a reasonable range are bound to exist and are allowed.

However, compared with the previous chaos, it is thousands of times better.

Another function of invoice archiving is that the collected commercial taxes do not go to the Taxation Bureau, but go directly into the treasury of the Ming Bank.

You have to pay to the state treasury the exact amount of tax written on the invoice, not a penny less.

The salaries of the taxation staff, and even the bonuses for the New Year and other festivals, had to be paid from the state treasury in the form of separate official documents.

The separation of income and expenditure completely eliminates the possibility of tax collectors embezzling after collecting taxes.

With this whole system in place, it becomes impossible to bribe tax collectors and avoid paying taxes.

Because even the tax collectors themselves could not do it.

Since this road was blocked, the wealthy and powerful people in Jinling City all rushed to the Taxation Commissioner's Office.

Ordinary tax collectors may not be able to do it, but the chief official of the tax bureau can always do it.

"My family is just a small business, how can the tax commissioner do this?" "Yes, it's fine to collect taxes from ordinary merchants, but my Li family is a royal family after all. Even for the sake of your majesty's face, you can't collect taxes from my family, right?"

"To lose the support of the people for a little bit of tax revenue is to lose the big picture for the small. If this causes instability in the government, the tax commissioner will be held responsible."

"What crime should the tax commissioner be punished for allowing the tax collectors to act arbitrarily?"

"The tax commissioner must give me an explanation today!"

"Yes! You must give an explanation."

……

A group of royal relatives were discussing the matter in the lobby of the Taxation Department, and they were very angry.

Although many businessmen who evaded taxes had been killed before, many of them were their subordinates.

But those people, if they die, they die. We can just arrange for a new batch later.

But the money collected from commercial taxes is actually their own money!
How can the lives of a group of slaves below be compared with one's own silver!

Jiang Li tried to smooth things over by saying, "The Imperial Guards are only assisting the Taxation Department in handling cases. They don't know anything else. If you have any questions, you can talk to the Taxation Department's supervisor."

With just one sentence, he completely shirked his responsibility.

Although the Jinyiwei are not afraid of anyone, there is no need to offend these royal relatives for no reason.

"What's the noise about?"

Suddenly, a loud and childish shout rang out.

Zhu Gaoxu walked in majestically in official uniform.

"The tax collectors collect taxes according to the law. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Why, who among you doesn't want to pay taxes? Want to evade taxes?"

"Tell me carefully, I will take him away."

Everyone suddenly fell silent.

Instead, they all looked at Zhu Gaoxu.

"Hey, isn't this my uncle?"

Zhu Gaoxu shouted in surprise.

The "uncle" he was referring to was Princess Anqing's husband, Prince Consort Ouyang Lun.

“Isn’t this Uncle Wang?”

“Isn’t this Uncle Li?”

……

Zhu Gaoxi's expression changed instantly and he greeted everyone enthusiastically.

Those who came today are all royal relatives, otherwise they would not dare to come.

He knew at least half of them.

Of course, we were just acquaintances and had met once or twice.

To say that we are familiar with each other is still far from the truth.

After all, Zhu Gaoxu grew up in Peking and did not live in Nanjing for a long time.

Even if they are relatives, I am not familiar with them.

What's more, the people who came today are all elders, and it is impossible for them to have any interaction with each other on weekdays.

After the greetings, a middle-aged scholar stepped forward and said with a playful smile: "Young prince, paying taxes according to the law is a matter of course, but my family is also a royal family after all, and is different from ordinary people."

As he spoke, he took out an extremely exquisite wooden box from his arms and gently opened it.

A soft and dazzling light emanates from inside.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't take his eyes off it.

"Young prince, this is a night-shining pearl. Do you like it?" the middle-aged scholar said with a smile.

"I like it!" Zhu Gaoxu stared at the night pearl and nodded slightly.

"As long as the young prince gives the order, the Wang family's business will no longer have to pay commercial taxes, and this night-shining pearl will belong to the young prince."

The middle-aged scholar was all smiles.

Relatives are relatives, and gifts should still be given.

This is basic human wisdom.

Teenagers will definitely like things like night-shining pearls.

Seeing this, others also took out gifts.

"My young prince, this is a top-grade precious soft smoke..."

"My young prince, this is a coral lion..."

"My young prince, this is a precious sword. It can cut iron like mud and cut hair like a blade..."

Everyone rushed forward.

For a moment, Zhu Gaoxu was dazzled.

He grew up in the palace and saw many treasures.

But even if it was a royal palace, those treasures couldn't be played with at will by a naughty kid like him.

With the naughty boy's amazing destructive power, no matter what kind of treasure it is, it will be destroyed in his hands in no time.

But the more adults forbade him to play, the more he wanted to play. All children are like this, and Zhu Gaoxu is no exception.

At this moment, when I saw the treasures that I couldn’t play with on weekdays, I was suddenly moved.

"It's a good thing, but..." He suddenly came to his senses: "Okay, are you trying to bribe me?"

Zhu Gaoxu was angry.

Who do you take me for?

Corrupt officials?
Damn it!

As a half-grown naughty child, Zhu Gaoxu could climb up the roof to remove tiles, hold a sword and shout "Kill, kill, kill", and applaud when he saw the executioner carrying out an execution.

But you can't insult the "justice" in a child's heart!
I, Zhu Gaoxu, am the impartial and just "Zhu Qingtian", how could I be a corrupt official?
You think you can bribe me with just a few treasures?
I swear I will never coexist with you people!
What relatives? Am I very familiar with you?
Even if you are familiar with each other, it won’t work. The judges on the stage don’t care about family affection.

I have to be businesslike today.

"Someone come!" the naughty kid shouted, "Where are the Jinyiwei?"

Zhu Gaoxu pointed at the people below and said: "They are trying to bribe the court officials. This is a heinous crime. Arrest them all and put them all in jail."

……

(End of this chapter)