My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 107 The Taxes Reached the Emperor
any left?

Ma Yu thought to herself, "That's too much."

"The power of the privileged class must be restricted, and no one should be granted tax exemptions."

“The nobles of the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties enjoyed tax exemption privileges, which facilitated their land annexation.”

“They don’t even need to actively annex the land. The self-cultivating farmers, who are overwhelmed by taxes, will voluntarily give up their land to them and become tenants themselves.”

Zhu Shuang interjected, asking, "Isn't it good to be a self-sufficient farmer? Why give your land to a nobleman?"

"As far as I know, tenants are required to give half of their produce to the landlord."

Ma Yu did not answer, but instead looked at Zhu Biao.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma naturally understood his plan and also turned their attention to Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao knew the test was coming, and after a moment of contemplation, he said:

"The taxes and levies are increasing, and the powerful and wealthy are passing on their taxes to the farmers."

"The taxes they actually pay may exceed the output of the land."

"By offering land to powerful people and becoming their tenants, one can gain their protection."

"Many powerful and wealthy people have tax exemption privileges, so this land will no longer be subject to land tax."

"They only need to hand over half of their output to the powerful and wealthy, and they can keep the other half for themselves."

"Moreover, with the help of the powerful and wealthy, they can also turn themselves into unregistered residents, so they don't even have to pay the head tax."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with satisfaction, "That's right, this is what you call offering up land as a form of surrender."

“Those who have tax-free privileges can sit at home and do nothing, while the people will voluntarily offer them land.”

"The powerful and wealthy are getting richer, while the country is getting poorer."

"If no disaster occurs, all is well, but if there is even the slightest storm, the country will collapse."

Then he looked at Ma Yu and praised her:

“You and I are on the same page. Our Great Ming will never grant anyone the privilege of tax exemption.”

Ma Yu said from the bottom of his heart, "Your Majesty is wise."

During the Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties, powerful and wealthy officials were exempt from taxes; during the Song dynasty, scholar-officials were exempt from taxes; and in some other peculiar dynasties, temples were also exempt from taxes.

In an effort to win over scholars, the Qing dynasty implemented a tax exemption policy for gentry.

The Ming Dynasty was unique in this respect, granting no tax exemption privileges to any group except for princes.

This is the ancestral law established by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Of course, he also granted privileges to scholars with official titles, exempting them from corvée labor.

However, this only exempts them from corvée labor; they still have to pay all the taxes due.

During the early and middle Ming Dynasty, or more precisely, until the Hongzhi era, the Ming Dynasty's land system did not collapse.

Even without a system of accounting officials, the imperial court was still able to maintain a financial surplus.

It can be said that it was outstanding in all dynasties.

However, this period of good fortune was short-lived, as the ascension of the famous and wise Emperor Xiaozong changed everything.

From the time of Zhu Yuanzhang to the reign of Emperor Xianzong of Ming, power was always in the hands of the emperor.

Even though the three major military camps were destroyed by Zhu Qizhen, the rebuilt Beijing Garrison was firmly in the hands of the emperor.

During the reign of Emperor Xianzong of Ming, the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries could only echo the emperor's words.

So much so that there is a folk saying: "Three Grand Secretaries are made of paper, and six Ministers are made of clay."

However, after Emperor Xiaozong ascended the throne, he heavily relied on civil officials and handed over all affairs to the cabinet, becoming merely a tool for stamping documents.

The sage ruler who ruled by doing nothing, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming was flattered to the point of ecstasy.

Not long after, this wise ruler did something unprecedented: he handed over military power to the cabinet.

Yes, you are not mistaken.

The emperor handed over military power to his ministers.

From then on, the Ming emperors completely lost their military power and contracted a disease that was easily soluble in water.

That wasn't all. In the seventeenth year of the Hongzhi reign, the wise and powerful Emperor Xiaozong actually decided to hand over the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the Grand Secretariat.

When Ma Yu saw this passage in the historical records, he was utterly shocked.

Is this something a feudal emperor would do?

Fortunately, he died before this matter could be settled.

Ma Yu was puzzled at the time. Hongzhi wasn't stupid, so why would he do something so foolish?

Only after carefully examining historical records did he realize that he had been misled by civil officials.

Just look at this statistic and you'll see how those people are fooling him.

In the first year of the Hongzhi reign, the country possessed more than four million hectares of land.

Then the amount of land reported by the Ministry of Revenue each year would increase by hundreds of thousands of hectares.

By the time Emperor Xiaozong of Ming died, the country's land holdings totaled over eight million hectares.

It's doubled!

Which emperor wouldn't be smug?
The ruler is a wise ruler, the ministers are virtuous ministers, and the court is full of upright officials.

My rule by doing nothing is truly a model of a wise ruler.

Compared to me, Emperor Wen of Han was nothing but a junior.

What's even more absurd is that after Emperor Xiaozong of Ming passed away and Emperor Wuzong of Ming, Zhu Houzhao, ascended the throne, the amount of land reported by the Ministry of Revenue had changed to more than four million hectares.

It was around the same time that Emperor Xiaozong ascended the throne.

This is truly putting on an act.

However, Zhu Houzhao, who had no military power, had no choice but to accept it reluctantly.

The attempt to support Liu Jin in his fight against the civil service group ultimately failed.

But here's the problem: the amount of land on the books determines the amount of tax payable.

The land value has doubled, so the taxes must also double.

Who will pay for this? The officials?

The burden can only be shifted onto the people.

The people were overwhelmed by heavy taxes and had no choice but to sell their land to survive.

The land system of the Ming Dynasty collapsed in just over a decade.

Countless large landowners emerged across the land, with the southeast being the most typical example.

For example, Xu Jie owned half of Songjiang Prefecture.

The so-called civil service group was also formed during this period.

All I can say is that these people all have to kowtow to Emperor Xiaozong of Ming.

If you ask how Ma Yu knew so much... well, it's because he read it in historical records.

As a Ming Dynasty hater, he definitely needs to understand the Ming Dynasty to know where to criticize.

Emperor Xiaozong of Ming is considered a wise ruler by many Ming Dynasty enthusiasts.

Ma Yu naturally needed to be taken seriously.

Then I realized that this was incredibly 'brilliant'.

He used these data quite a bit to slap the faces of those who praised Emperor Xiaozong of Ming.

The feeling was simply amazing.

In fact, the so-called Hongzhi Restoration should be the Chenghua Restoration.

After Emperor Xianzong ascended the throne, he firmly grasped the newly established Beijing Garrison and suppressed the bureaucratic group.

He also resolved the mess left by his father, Zhu Qizhen.

The border issues were also alleviated during his tenure.

But just as he solved these problems, he died.

Emperor Xiaozong of Ming could be said to have rested on his father's laurels, earning the title of "restoration emperor" without doing anything himself.

No, he did do something, he dug the foundation for his own house.

If Liu Shan were in his position, he wouldn't have done such a foolish thing.

If Zhao Gou had been in his position, it might not have been a restoration, but rather the arrival of a golden age.

It was precisely because of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming that Ma Yu was able to systematically understand the institutional changes of the Ming Dynasty.

From then on, he went from being a mindless hater to a "brained" hater.

However, it must be acknowledged that Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed inept at governing the country and created many bizarre systems.

However, we cannot completely dismiss him because of this.

As the saying goes, even a fool can have a stroke of genius. After more than 30 years of hard work, he still managed to produce quite a few good things.

For example, in the case we're discussing now, there's no tax exemption privilege for the powerful and wealthy.

As for the princes...

Thinking of this, Ma Yu solemnly said, "Your Majesty, no group should be exempt from taxation."

Zhu Yuanzhang was taken aback for a moment, then realized what he meant and frowned slightly as he said:

"You want princes and princesses to pay taxes too?"

Ma Yu laughed and said, "Not only princes and princesses, but even you have to pay taxes."

"What?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked incredulously, "You want us to pay taxes?"

Ma Yu affirmed, "Your imperial estates and other properties all have to pay taxes."

Empress Ma, fearing they would quarrel again, quickly said:

"Yu'er, don't be silly. His Majesty is the Son of Heaven. How can he pay taxes? Where is his dignity?"

But Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, seemingly lost in thought, and said:
"You want us to set an example and shut everyone up, is that it?"

Ma Yu said, "Every dynasty has its privileged groups, and the nobles and officials of the Ming Dynasty must have wanted such privileges as well."

"If the imperial court doesn't give it to them, they'll probably be dissatisfied."

"Moreover, if we really want to implement the policy of merging the poll tax into the land tax, it will inevitably be opposed by the gentry and landlord class."

"Now that you've taken the lead in paying taxes, if they dare to oppose us again, the imperial court can openly and legitimately deal with them."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "That's very true. We all pay taxes, so who dares to be different from us?"

"For the sake of the bigger picture, we really should pay this tax."

Ma Yu flattered, "Your Majesty is wise."

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at him and said, "Stop flattering me. We've already paid taxes, so you have to get the tax laws right for us."

"Otherwise, we won't let you off the hook."

Ma Yu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, the tax laws of the Ming Dynasty are definitely the most comprehensive of all dynasties."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a stern face, "I hope so."

I was actually very happy; this kid was finally willing to say something straightforward.

Empress Ma finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled:

"It is unprecedented for an emperor to pay taxes. Your Majesty has set a precedent and will surely be praised by the world."

Zhu Biao and Zhu Shuang nodded repeatedly.

This truly set a precedent and served as an example for the world, and deserves praise.

Zhu Yuanzhang would dismiss others' flattery as mere sycophancy and then reprimand them.

But these were people close to him, and he was very pleased with their praise.

I felt even more certain that I had done the right thing.

Ma Yu's encouragement for him to pay taxes was not merely to set an example, but rather stemmed from a larger plan.

"Doing this is actually to distinguish between public and private."

"To solve the impending climate and population crisis, the imperial court has no choice but to promote all industries."

"Some industries are so critical that they must be controlled by the imperial court."

"Some industries have low profit margins, so merchants are unwilling to touch them; only the imperial court can handle them."

"Establishing state-owned commercial banks to manage these industries in a unified manner became inevitable."

"Does the merchant guild belong to the royal family or the imperial court? Are they required to pay taxes?"

"If they don't pay taxes, won't they take advantage of their cost to engage in malicious competition and disrupt the normal business environment?" "If we let them develop unchecked, the consequences of the equalization and stabilization policy during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han should serve as a cautionary tale."

"These are all issues that need to be considered, and it would be best to take preventative measures in advance."

Before Zhu Yuanzhang could speak, Zhu Biao interrupted, saying to Ma Yu:
“You told me before that the Treatise on Salt and Iron is the most important economic work.”

"After that, I continued to study it. In order to better understand it, I also specifically learned about the various policies during the reigns of Emperors Wen, Jing, Wu, Zhao, and Xuan."

"The equalization of transport and price stabilization was indeed a good policy, but due to Emperor Wu of Han's greedy mentality, it eventually evolved into a harmful policy that monopolized the entire industry."

"The business environment was completely destroyed, the economy deteriorated day by day, and eventually all industries withered."

"The Ming Dynasty should take this as a warning and must never repeat the same mistake."

Ma Yu said, "During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, it was as if the referee himself was on the field and fighting the game, and in the end all the players were killed."

"But the referees, relying on their power to make decisions, are not proactive and only think about using their privileges to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs."

"Therefore, after the Ming Dynasty established state-owned commercial firms, it absolutely did not allow them to be both referees and players."

"We need to let them compete head-on with the market; only in this way can we stimulate their progress."

Zhu Biao said happily, "Yes, yes, that's right. We must let state-owned commercial banks participate in market competition."

Zhu Yuanzhang was somewhat troubled; these things were beyond his comprehension.

He could understand and comprehend the land tax reform and the commercial tax.

However, he didn't quite understand the part about the market economy that followed.

What constitutes normal tax payment, and what constitutes participation in market competition to stimulate vitality?

But he understood one thing: being both referee and player is not conducive to the country's economic development.

Therefore, he also raised questions about this point:
"That state-owned commercial bank you're talking about, since it's state-owned, it must enjoy special privileges."

"How can businessmen compete fairly with them?"

Ma Yu laughed and said, "State-owned commercial banks certainly enjoy special privileges; that's a fact that no one can deny."

"Moreover, some industries have long incubation periods, require large investments, and have very low returns."

"Ordinary businessmen are unwilling to get involved; only state-owned commercial banks can do it."

"Giving them some privileges is only right."

"But these privileges can only be implicit, not public; if they are made public, it would be illegal."

"We must at least ensure superficial fairness and justice, and prevent the basic market system from collapsing."

"As long as the system doesn't collapse and the overall environment isn't damaged, the economy won't have any major problems."

Then Zhu Biao and Ma Yu started discussing it back and forth, and even Zhu Shuang couldn't help but join in.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were even more confused. What were you talking about?
Shouldn't you consider my feelings?
However, glancing at Zhu Biao and Zhu Shuang, who were chatting enthusiastically with Ma Yu...

It's alright, as long as someone understands.

Let's just leave the economic aspect to Biao'er and focus our energy on military and governance.

And the second son, it seems a bit of a waste to send him to guard the frontier.

Forget it, I won't think about it too much. Let him work as the boss's assistant for now.

As for guarding the border, we'll talk about that later.

Upon thinking about it, he immediately felt incredibly relieved.

"Alright, alright, you can discuss economic issues privately. Let's continue with the tax issue."

Ma Yu and the other two then remembered that there were two other people nearby, so they quickly brought the topic back.

Zhu Biao and Zhu Shuang were unaware that in the short span of time, someone had already devised a plan to treat them like cattle and horses.

Ma Yu then added some new concepts.

For example, tiered taxation.

"Calculated on a household basis, the more land a household owns, the more taxes it pays, until the output of the land is insufficient to pay the taxes."

"This can, to some extent, curb land annexation."

At least large landowners like Xu Jie would be hard to find.

Zhu Yuanzhang questioned, "What if they put the land in someone else's name?"

Ma Yu said, "Then it depends on whether the emperor can control the army, and then conduct a land registration every once in a while."

"Land owned by whoever is registered under their name belongs to them."

Zhu Biao pressed further, "What if he pretends to separate households and gives the acquired land to his son?"

Ma Yu laughed and said, "Even close brothers need to keep clear accounts. It was fine when he was alive, but after he died, his sons started to settle their own affairs."

"I'm sure His Majesty understands this."

A touch of sadness appeared on Zhu Yuanzhang's face; he knew all too well.

There's also a sad story involved here.

When I was a child, there were two landlords in his village with the surname Liu. You could tell they were brothers just by looking at their surnames.

Zhu Yuanzhang's family worked as tenant farmers for Liu Er's family. After his parents passed away one after another, he wanted to ask Liu Er for a piece of wasteland to bury them.

Just got rejected.

Fortunately, Liu Da was a kind-hearted person and gave Zhu Yuanzhang a piece of land to bury his parents.

What was that older brother's name again?

Hmm, it seems to be Liu Jizu.

We haven't repaid such a great kindness yet.

Send someone to find him; he must be granted a marquisate as a reward.

I just hope that their family survived the war.

The Liu brothers are a typical example. They are brothers from the same village, and they actually have a very clear division of interests.

They cannot unite to annex other people's land.

It was even less likely that they would unite to oppose the imperial court.

So once the family splits up, that's it; once the family is separated, its strength is dispersed.

Zhu Biao suddenly realized and said, "This is equivalent to the Edict of Grace; once the family is divided, its power will be dispersed."

Ma Yu nodded and said, "That's one way to understand it."

"However, tiered taxation is very complicated and cannot be done with the current functions of government departments."

"We must expand the functions, and it would be best to set up a dedicated agency to manage this matter."

Empress Ma, who had been observing from the sidelines, interjected, "But establishing so many institutions would require a lot of money and supplies."

"Can the imperial court afford it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang replied, "It's not a problem if we don't fight."

Ma Yu said, "The so-called tiered taxation is actually only for land, and there is no need to establish a very large institution."

"The government can afford it."

"When the world is at peace and all industries are thriving, tax revenue will also increase."

"In fact, during the Tang Dynasty's heyday, commercial taxes already exceeded land taxes."

"The majority of the Song Dynasty's wealth came from commerce."

"Once the Ming Dynasty's various industries prosper, commercial taxes will continue to rise."

"At that time, the imperial court will expand the professional bureaucracy to manage the entire country, based on the actual situation."

"It all comes down to one step at a time; it can't be accomplished overnight."

"It will take thirty to fifty years just to build the framework."

Empress Ma then said with relief, "That's good. Remember, haste makes waste."

Zhu Yuanzhang, however, had a different feeling.

Thirty to fifty years?

In the past, he would have said, "What kind of thing takes so many years?"
Before we die, we must get everything sorted out and leave a complete country for our descendants.

But now?

Thirty or fifty years isn't too long. We can live for at least another twenty or thirty years, and then Biao'er can continue working.

Two generations have laid a solid foundation, which is enough.

Following Ma Yu's line of thought, the group continued their discussion and gradually built up the framework of the fiscal and tax system.

In the 21st century, this framework wouldn't even qualify as amateurish.

But in the Ming Dynasty, it was definitely the most advanced system of its time.

Moreover, this is really just a framework; the details need to be filled in by specialized officials.

Furthermore, it has reserved a lot of room for upgrades.

When the conditions are met in the future, the new legal provisions can be added directly, rather than modifying the entire law.

In the eyes of Zhu Yuanzhang and others, there was only one possibility.

That is, Ma Yu did indeed have a very advanced system in his mind.

Otherwise, this kind of foresight cannot be explained.

At the same time, they finally understood why Ma Yu had always said that his ideas were too advanced and therefore not suitable for this era.

Even if I explained it, they wouldn't understand.

Now it seems that it is indeed the case.

After chatting for a while, Ma Yu felt that she had said enough and needed to give them some time to digest what she had said.

So he excused himself, saying he was too tired.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to continue the conversation, he could only let Ma Yu leave because Ma Yu kept dozing off.

Zhu Biao personally pushed the cart, offering to take them part of the journey.

Zhu Yuanzhang burst into laughter as he watched them leave.

Empress Ma said, "Now you can rest assured."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "Our happiness is not just because of Ma Yu's policies, but more so because of Biao'er and Shuang'er."

"We couldn't understand a word of what the three of them were saying about economic development."

"But the two of them can understand it and can even discuss it with Ma Yu, so we have successors."

Empress Ma also said happily, "Yes, Biao'er and Shuang'er have changed so much in the past year."

"Looking back now, I can hardly believe it. All of this is thanks to Yu'er."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with an unnatural expression, "That's because our seed is good. Could he have taught two mediocre people?"

Empress Ma laughed and said, "Yes, yes, it's all thanks to you, the father."

"By the way, the third, fourth, and fifth brothers also wanted to learn from him before."

"Especially the fifth brother, he talks about this all the time."

"Do you think we should let them spend more time with Yu'er?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "I must say, Ma Yu is truly unparalleled in the field of economics."

"It won't hurt to let the third brother and the others learn from him."

"As for the fifth brother, let him go if he insists on learning. We're not going to break his legs."

Empress Ma knew he was extremely proud, so she thought it was already quite generous of him to say that and said:
"Alright, I'll have them go and study with Yu'er in a few days."

Zhu Yuanzhang reminded him, "Communicate with Song Lian beforehand to avoid the old man overthinking things."

At this point, he sighed and said, "I thought that once the world was unified, there would be fewer problems."

"I didn't expect there would be even more trouble."

"This is a sensitive time; we can't afford to let anything happen to Song Lian."

Empress Ma's expression also turned serious: "How do you plan to deal with the issue of corruption in finance and taxation?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned cold: "Kill them. We must stop this evil trend."

"Now is the time to lay the foundation. If the foundation is not laid well at the beginning, the house will not be solid."

Empress Ma's face showed reluctance, yet she knew he was speaking the truth:

"That's good. Hopefully, they'll learn their lesson after this experience."

Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly, "If once doesn't work, try twice. We'll teach them a lesson they won't forget."

(End of this chapter)