Bachelor

Chapter 202 A Whip

However, Sun Dan thought of a very serious matter.It's not that it can't be done, it's that it shouldn't be done in a hurry.

He said: "Your Majesty is still in a hurry, we have to wait until the political situation stabilizes."

"Well, that's the reason." The emperor seemed a little excited: "I'm a little worried, so the tax system should be rectified immediately, right?"

Sun Dan: "This can be implemented immediately, and the results can be seen immediately."

"Okay, tell me quickly, tell me quickly, I can't wait."

After talking so much just now, before I knew it, the sky had already darkened.

Yuxi Palace was originally empty, but Jiajing's body was dry and hot due to long-term consumption of elixirs, so he wore extremely thin clothes during the day, and the doors and windows of the abode were wide open.The cool breeze enters the room, which is cool.But when it got dark and the wind was strong, it made people feel a little cold.

Although it is the beginning of August and it is midsummer, Sun Dan still feels a little cold and can't help shivering.

Seeing that he was a little cold, Jiajing hurriedly shouted: "Come here, put my Daoist robe on Sun Qing."

Then two eunuchs rushed over and brought a Taoist robe.

Sun Dan looked at the robe and smiled wryly, but he still thanked him for putting it on.Although the Taoist priest's attire was somewhat nondescript, he didn't want to spoil Jiajing's wishes.Jiajing is a devout Taoist, not only is he dressed in Taoist attire, but he also wished that all the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty would wear the same clothes as him.It was because Xia Yan refused to wear Taoist robes and made sarcasm that he had a very unpleasant cooperation with Jiajing, which later caused his death.

Jiajing's robes are relatively loose, but because they are so new, they are uncomfortable to wear.This day is also strange, it is cold without thick clothes, but hot with clothes on.In just a moment, a layer of sweat broke out on Sun Dan's body.

Just as he was about to speak, an eunuch walked up to Jiajing: "Master, it's time to eat."

Jiajing suddenly realized that it was getting late: "Yes, yes, it's time to eat. I am also a person who is afraid of trouble, so I can eat whatever I want. There is no need to change the place. It is here. While eating, I will eat with Sun Qing at the same time. say."

When he said this, Sun Dan also felt a little hungry.

Jiajing's food is actually very simple, just a serving of fried beans, a serving of cold bean curd skin, a plate of fried bean sprouts, and a pot of bean soup.Sun Dan was a little surprised that the food was simpler than ordinary people's.

Recalling the records in the book, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty had more than 100 dishes for each meal, and this Jiajing Road is also simple.

Jiajing used chopsticks to pick up bean sprouts for Sun Dan, and said, "I'm usually a vegetarian. I didn't know that Sun Qing was coming, and I wasn't prepared."

Sun Dan hurriedly picked up his rice bowl and took it: "I also come from a poor family, so I don't care much about food and clothing."

It is really not a pleasant thing to eat with the emperor, especially the emperor also likes to be vegetarian.Sun Dan, who was used to eating meat, found it hard to swallow, so he just picked up the rice in the bowl with chopsticks, and swallowed it like medicine.

Emperor: "Sun Qing, tell me about your tax reform."

Just as Sun Dan was about to put down the bowl, the emperor waved his hand: "No, let's talk while eating."

Sun Dan could only say with a bitter face: "Actually, it's nothing important, just convert taxes and corvee into cash."

"I seem to have heard of this. It seems to be practiced in many places in Jiangnan and Shandong."

"Yes, the minister is originally from Shandong. When Emperor Wuzong used troops in the south of the Yangtze River, he was short of military expenses and collected cash."

"Okay, talk about it carefully."

Sun Dan: "In the past, taxes paid for food, and corvee gave labor. This proposal of the minister is to turn these two irrelevant things into silver, that is, into currency: tax, no grain, you pay the silver; Corvette, I don’t want your labor, you pay the money, and I will hire idle people to undertake the corvee. Therefore, all the silver taels are collected. This tax law is like two straw ropes turned into a whip, so I will give it In addition, I believe that while implementing this whip method, part of the population tax should also be transferred to the land. If you have more land, you should pay more land tax. Thereby gradually reducing personal taxation."

"A whip method, the name is good." The emperor still didn't understand: "If all the cash is collected, what is the difference from the collection in kind, and the total amount of taxes will not change, so why bother? After so many years, isn’t it disturbing the people with such a change now?”

Sun Dan smiled. After all, the emperor has only been in power for a few days, and he still doesn't understand the local ways.In fact, not to mention Jiajing, Sun Dan also read a lot of materials in modern times, and it took him a long time to figure it out.

He put down the bowl with a smile, wanting to take this opportunity to stop eating the unpalatable royal food: "Food tax is relatively simple. If you are a farmer, you can just pay the grain. If you have mountains and forests, you can pay for the wood. Really In exchange for cash, it has to be sold in advance. Affected by prices and the market, there is a possibility that low grain prices will hurt farmers in good years. However...in actual implementation, officials at all levels quickly discovered that there are loopholes that can be exploited to make money. There are too many: For example, if you hand over sweet potatoes, he can pick and choose, pick up one, and say that this one is small, so it is half, and that one has insect eyes, so it cannot be counted. If you hand over cotton, he can say that the quality of the cotton is not good, Half of it, you can only go home and drag it away.

This is still light, and the biggest trouble is corvee.Because the land tax and poll tax can still see things, the county magistrate can’t afford it, and corvee is hard to say. Repairing river embankments, working as errands for post stations, and repairing roads are all corvee.So who will judge whether you have completed the task? ——The county grandfather.

This is the so-called weasel watching the chicken. When he meets a good conscience, he can still record it truthfully. When he meets a dishonest one, he will get some benefits. ?I have the final say on this matter, if you say you didn't do it, you didn't do it, what can you do. "

Sun Dan was originally from a poor background, but now he comes into contact with superstructures and has a broad horizon.With a high-level theoretical foundation and local life experience, it can be said that both theory and practice come together.

He smiled, and Shi Potian said a word in shock: "Your Majesty, in Yichen's opinion, except for a small number of officials of the Ming Dynasty who have good morals, most of the court officials are still dishonest and untrustworthy." , Don't take advantage of loopholes, don't make money if you have money, this requirement is a bit high. There is a saying in Chen's hometown: If you have money, don't be a bastard.

Therefore, the old tax system was not beneficial to the imperial court, and it was all taken over by the local government. "

Jiajing's face suddenly turned pale, and he said in horror: "Is the government really broken to such an extent?"

Sun Dan did not answer whether or not, but said: "Without a corresponding system, good officials will also become bad officials. What His Majesty should do is not to criticize the officials' character and hold them accountable, but to eliminate the soil that may lead to corruption."

Official administration is an offending job, and Sun Dan didn't want to get involved, so he added soy sauce, changed the topic to another side, and said, "Your Majesty, actually there is another disadvantage of tax in kind."

"Sun Qing, tell me." Jiajing calmed down the anger in his chest, and finally calmed down.

Sun Dan: "The biggest problem with food tax is that the cost is too high. Because what is collected is all things, and there are many kinds of them, and it is inconvenient to call. For example, Jiangsu and Zhejiang collect a lot of food, which cannot be eaten in the capital. There is no shortage. I heard that there is a shortage of grain in the northwest, so let’s transport it there? After the calculation, the price of grain is not enough for the transportation fee. Then don’t bother, put it in the granary to feed the mice. I bought a lot of things, besides food, there are also various local products, Chinese medicinal materials, etc., but I don’t have much money, these things take up space in the capital, and the warehouse storage fee is a big expense every year.”

Jiajing slammed his job bowl on the table and said angrily, "Sun Qing didn't say anything, I really didn't know there were so many problems here. From my point of view, a large part of the national treasury is consumed in the transfer, storage and mobilization of materials." The above, such an obvious thing, why no one thought of changing it a few years ago. The officials under my command would rather let these things rot in the warehouse, and even use them to deduct the salaries of the officials, than think about reform. They are all a bunch of waste, the country spends so much salary to support them every year, but they refuse to share the worries of the emperor, what use is there for them."

The rice bowl shattered, and upon hearing the loud noise, the eunuchs hurried over to clean it up.

Jiajing stood up anxiously: "Don't eat, don't eat, I'm so angry. If you say a thousand words and ten thousand, it's still about the administration of officials. No wonder Yang Tinghe wants me to rectify the administration of officials and weed out redundant officials."

Sun Tam was eager to end the dinner quickly, and said: "Mr. Yang Ge's approach is a little more radical. I think that the inaction of officials has nothing to do with their moral character and talent. It is really a big problem with the current tax system."

At last the lights were turned on in the room, and it was shining brightly.

After taking the teacup and rinsing his mouth, the emperor said: "There is no rush to reform the tax system. If it is implemented too quickly, problems will arise." Although he is still a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, he has a deep mind and is a prudent king.

Sun Dan also felt that what the emperor said was right. After all, for the emperor, the most urgent task was to stabilize his position. As for the matter of reform, he had to wait for his position to be consolidated before talking about it: "What your majesty said is very true, but, although now If you don’t implement the new tax law, you can still do some investigation first, and you can make a correct judgment if you have more information at hand.” Although Zhang Juzheng later implemented the whipping method, the effect was excellent.But Sun Dan is just hearsay, and he has countless thoughts about how it will be implemented, so he dare not talk too much.

"Yes, it's better to investigate first." The emperor nodded: "Sun Qing, you can investigate in Shuntian Mansion for me. I will give you a privilege to check the archives of the Ministry of Households and Shuntian Mansion over the years. You look around, Draw up another charter and submit it to me." As he spoke, he went to the case, opened the drawer, took out a lot of things, and while tidying up, he said: "Originally, with Sun Qing's credit, I should give you one. Born. However, Sun Qing has lofty aspirations. If he wants to be my cabinet minister in the future, he should follow the right path to become an official. I give you this king's order card, and it is also convenient for you to read relevant documents."

PS: A new month has begun, Yishan is trying his best to compete for classified monthly tickets, please help.

Thank you!

(End of this chapter)