Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 963 Taxation
The establishment of Anmincang was presented in the emperor's heart, and naturally, it was discussed smoothly in the imperial meeting.

There are only five people in the miniature imperial meeting.

The emperor is in the middle, and each of the four people is lined up on both sides.

The cabinet at this time, after years of development in the Shaowu Dynasty, has truly become a decision-making department.

Eight ministries and nine ministers, as their subordinates, only have the right to execute.

In the past, the big imperial meeting where all six departments could participate in the meeting was naturally reduced a lot.

After all, according to the rules in China, small meetings are held for big things, and big meetings are held for small things.

In this way, the cabinet centralization system with the characteristics of Ming Dynasty was formed naturally.

Of course, due to the uncertain number of people in the cabinet, the division of power is not so rigid.

In other words, apart from the routine control of the Ministry of Finance by the chief minister of the cabinet, the other ministries rely on games and prestige to fight for themselves.

Of course, if there is the emperor's help, it will be very ordinary.

For example, the Ministry of Officials was originally presided over by Feng Xianzong, but all the content related to the Ministry of Punishment was drafted by him, determined in a cabinet meeting, and then approved by Emperor Zou.

However, if the emperor repeatedly proposed to stay or even reject his vote, it would naturally affect his control over the Ministry of Punishment.

Prestige, ability, and emperor's favor are indispensable, and the three are equally important.

Today, Yan Chongxin, the chief assistant of the cabinet, is in charge of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Ministry of Rites; his second assistant, Zhu Mou, is in charge of the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry.

Feng Xianzong was in charge of the Ministry of Officials.

Du Yinxi was in charge of the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of War.

In their respective departments, they naturally have the absolute right to speak, and when it comes to personnel matters, especially officials above the fifth rank, they naturally have to compromise with each other to handle it.

The list recommended by the cabinet requires at least three people.

If there is no satisfactory one, the emperor can also add candidates himself, which is his prerogative.

As for the military power, the Beijing camp, the frontier army, and the patrol camp are the emperor's voice, and the cabinet's right to make suggestions depends on the emperor's eyes.

In addition, as a supervisory department, Zhu Yixi has deeply learned from the fact that the supervision in the previous Ming Dynasty was out of control, and the censors lined up to take off their pants and beat the court staff.

The censor system in the Song Dynasty was good.

Therefore, all officials in the Metropolitan Procuratorate are appointed and dismissed by the emperor, and the cabinet must not intervene.

At the same time, the right to advise the emperor was all gathered in the hands of the Yushi of the left and right capitals, the censors of the left and right deputy capitals, and the censors of the left and right capitals.

The six of them can directly impeach the eight ministries of the cabinet, and at the same time be responsible for admonishing the emperor.

The remaining supervisory censors and others can only impeach officials below the second rank.

In this way, there will no longer be such annoyances as in the past that a small fish would dare to die and nitpick the emperor.

The Inspectorate supervises all officials and can monitor the cabinet very well.

So like Zhu Yuanzhang, who is too suspicious, pinches everything, or has his own opinion on everything, Zhu Yixi can't do it.

Appropriate decentralization is correct in a sense.

Now, with the end of the autumn harvest in August, the people in power in Ming Dynasty gathered together to discuss the autumn tax.

Although the autumn harvest cannot be returned to the national treasury until March of the next year, the autumn taxes in various places have already been recorded and sent to Beijing from thousands of miles away.

Yan Chongxin showed heartfelt joy on his face:

"Your Majesty, thanks to the great blessings of our ancestors, this autumn's tax has reached a new high. Converted into silver dollars, it has reached 4000 million. If you add the autumn and winter business taxes, it will not be difficult to break through 9000 million."

The agricultural tax is divided into two seasons, summer and autumn, while the commercial tax is naturally divided into four seasons, and is paid in March.

Including salt, iron, wine, tea, the four heavy tax groups, the same is true, saving manpower.

"9000 million—"

Zhu Yixi was deeply moved.

This has exceeded the taxes in the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, of course, this does not include the late Qing Dynasty.

It is very rare to see a dynasty like the Manchu Dynasty that became richer in the treasury as it subjugated the country.

And all this is due to the Englishman Hurd, who worked hard to establish a modern customs system for the Qing Dynasty. He worked hard for 40 years, was clean and not greedy, and the continuation of the Qing Dynasty depended on him.

"How much is the commercial tax? How much is the agricultural tax?"

When the emperor asked a question, Yan Chongxin naturally answered quickly, and all this had been firmly in his mind:

"Your Majesty, due to the third-class agricultural tax in the world, the highest is no more than three cents ([-] liters), it can be said that it is light and poor, and the people love it, and everyone praises the sage who came to the world..."

The so-called third-class agricultural tax actually happened in the early years of Shaowu.

Unlike the previous feudal dynasties, all land was fixed as upper, middle and lower third-class fields, and different levels were charged with different taxes.

For a feudal dynasty with few officials and many people, this is simply not a job that an individual can do.

Therefore, many gentry will bribe the yamen servants to change their upper fields into lower fields and pay less taxes.

However, in the Shaowu Dynasty, according to the division of provinces, all the land in each province was classified into the same class.

For example, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi and other affluent southern areas are first-class lands, and they pay [-] Wen per mu.

Shuntian Prefecture and Hebei Province are second-class, paying [-] Wen per mu.

Barren provinces such as Gansu, Shaanxi, and Yunnan are all considered third-class, with a tax of ten cents per mu.

It seems that such a tax is very low, but in fact, it is moderate, at least not up to the level of one-in-thirty taxes in the early Ming Dynasty.
Many people say that one tax per ten is appropriate, but they ignore the reality.

100 catties of rice, according to the current husking rate, the best is seven layers, that is to say, you can get 70 catties of rice.

And the worst, only [-]%.

Also count the cost of the stone mill.

Therefore, for ordinary people, 300 catties of grain per mu can be obtained at most 150 catties.

Thirty Wen, the market price can buy three buckets, that is, thirty catties.

However, the purchase price of the grain merchants has dropped by more than a notch, and they can only get [-] Wen for [-] catties.

Forty to one hundred and fifteen.

In conversion, it is between three taxes and one to four taxes and one.

It's already a heavy tax.

For those in Gansu and Shaanxi, one or two hundred catties per mu of land is not much, but they have to sell at least twenty or thirty catties of grain in exchange for it, which even reaches half of the net weight after shelling.

After paying taxes, the remaining grain is not enough to eat, so many people will exchange refined grains for coarse grains.

Many farmers have been busy for a whole year, and they can't eat rice once in the new year.

Also considering such a heavy tax, the emperor exempted the Ding tax, that is, the population tax, which promoted the population explosion.

The so-called apportionment of land into mu means that the land tax is allocated to the land. In other words, those with land pay more tax, and those without land do not pay land tax.

Now that Zhu Yixi is in place in one step, he will be directly exempted from the Ding tax.

And this so-called small tax should not have been collected long ago.

Because one of Zhang Juzheng's whipping methods is to classify all regular taxes and miscellaneous taxes as land taxes, including Ding taxes.

Later, the Ding tax was naturally levied again, and the increased land tax was not reduced at all.

"Okay, stop flattering and talk about business."

Only then did Yan Chongxin stop, and said, "The autumn tax is mostly in the south, so only fifteen provinces can collect it, with nearly 2000 million yuan."

"The business tax is getting higher, reaching 800 million, miscellaneous taxes 400 million (wine, salt, tea, iron), customs duties (canal) 300 million..."

"The remaining five million yuan will be handed over to the three governors' offices of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Luzon, and others."

The commercial tax is paid every March, 500 million this autumn, but it is very cold in autumn, so the commercial tax can be collected 5000 million a year ago.

The rest of this part, the main three parts:
The Ministry of Industry casts silver coins and copper coins for income.

The tributary of the vassal state.

mining tax.

Especially mining tax, with the large-scale application of coal, iron, lime, etc., the mining industry continues to develop, and taxation is naturally agile.

As the emperor, Jin Yiwei and Dongchang are the eyes and ears, and the secret box is the hidden thread, Zhu Yixi knows this well.

"In my humble opinion, Shaowu has increased by nearly 18 million in 500 compared to last year, and the total can reach 400 million.

The contribution of the three governor's mansions is one, and the other is miscellaneous taxes such as salt tax. "

"Business taxes are also increasing day by day."

Yan Chongxin's face was full of smiles.

The same is true for several people in the cabinet.

Because this kind of finance is really too rich.

The Beijing camp, frontier army, and patrol battalion, with a total of 70 million troops, cost no more than 3000 million yuan a year.

2000 million yuan to raise officials.

Adding some miscellaneous expenditures, such as repairing river embankments, the official road will cost tens of millions.

The annual surplus can reach 3000 million.

With the increase of population and commercial taxation, taxation is also increasing, and this surplus is also growing.

For more than ten years, even though the emperor used troops every year, thanks to the existence of the budget system, the income has always been greater than the expenditure.

Therefore, the silver deposits of the household department have exceeded 2 million silver dollars and 2000 million shi of grain.

It is enough for the court to spend more than three years.

Absolutely rich, could it be so.

As the emperor's internal money income, the customs has an annual income of more than 2000 million yuan.

If there is a wealth ranking in this world, Zhu Yixi can proudly say that he is the richest man in the world.

There are nearly [-] million silver coins lying in the money, and there are also a lot of antique jewelry.

"In my opinion, you have overlooked one factor, the vassal state."

Zhu Yixi shook his head, directly breaking their intoxication.

The elders in the pavilion were puzzled, but they did not dare to question, but looked at the emperor seriously.

"There are more than 500 million people in the state of Qin, and they have a lot of needs. They almost depend on Ming Dynasty, and the most important thing in the country is grain, which is cooked three times a year."

"King Qin Shangshu, Qin State can transport at least 500 million shi of grain to Beijing every year."

"At that time, even if the world is in turmoil, just like during the reign of Chongzhen, how can the imperial court have food problems?"

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhu Mou hurriedly put on a smile and acted like he had suddenly realized: "The close relations between the two countries will benefit Guangdong and Guangxi, and the business tax will inevitably increase greatly."

"Its benefits can be expected."

Yan Chongxin glanced at Zhu Mou angrily, this flattery should be his own words, how dare the second assistant offside?
He admired all over his face: "If a province is established in Annan, the imperial court suppresses and uses troops every year, and now it can be reaped without any effort. It can be seen that your majesty is so far-sighted to advocate the feudal vassal for the country!"

"Only the sages of Yao and Shun in ancient times can be compared."

Du Yinxi also sighed with emotion: "Now Qi has also discovered gold mines, and its coins are still used in our country. When the time comes to exchange gold for money, the court will also make a lot of money!"

The cabinet suddenly became a holy land of flattery, and the emperor was quite proud of it, so he should accept it.

After being the emperor for so many years, he has adapted.

Therefore, after a while, he said in a loud voice: "For the benefits of the vassal state, whether it is food or money, although the initial payment is more, for the court, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages."

"I've preached this truth thousands of times, but it's not as good as pocketing it."

"Your Majesty, since Qin has grain, why not let Hebei, Liaodong and other places collect money? It would be too troublesome to collect grain."

Feng Xianzong's eyes lit up, and he said softly: "After all, collecting food is too much trouble for the common people."

If the food needs to be of the highest quality, it has to be transported to the county seat by itself. In the end, the imperial court has to send someone to transport it to the capital. How can it be described as a trouble.

It is simply too much trouble.

"Food from the Qin Kingdom?"

Zhu Yixi chuckled lightly and said, "If we look forward to Qin every year, aren't we begging them?"

"Food is something that you mainly have to rely on yourself. Qin is just supplementing it."

At the end, it talked about the rewards for Anxi's soldiers.

After each war, rewards and logistics are the biggest costs.

However, if the Bukhara Khanate was taken down, the court would not gain much, and it would be a pure loss-making business to occupy the place for the Liao king.

After some calculations, even if the meritorious service is not counted, the court has a net loss of 80 silver dollars.

No matter how rich and powerful, Zhu Yixi couldn't help frowning.

"For my son, for my son, my own, my own..."

After calming down, the emperor said, "There are many fine horses in the Liao Kingdom, especially the legendary Dawan horse, which is quite handsome."

"Therefore, using it to improve horse breeds is of great benefit to our country."

"This battle is worth it."

The four members of the cabinet also agreed with their faces, and their thoughts were actually buried in their hearts.

……

After the flood in Kaifeng Prefecture was calmed down, the people had been opened to release food, and they began to prepare for the future after the relief.

At this time, the Yue Wang Mansion, Qi Wang Mansion, and Liao Wang Mansion in the capital sent capable officers to recruit immigrants.

The disaster victims are a burden to the imperial court, but to the Three Kingdoms, they are the best thing.

The three kings ruled the country, which is also an armed colonization.

And these disaster victims are the Chinese people in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and they are the foundation of trust.

The three kings fought in a mess in Beijing, but they already knew that the victory must belong to King Qi and King Yue, and King Liao was simply a foil.

There is no way, the state of Qi has been built, and the land and houses are ready-made, so there is a shortage of people to live in.

On the other hand, Yue Kingdom has only one small city on Ezo Island, but it is close enough to directly allocate land.

The Liao Kingdom has just been pacified, and it may be too chaotic. Who wants to migrate thousands of miles of land?
Moreover, when the Liao Kingdom was not yet peaceful, the imperial court did not allow him to recruit the common people.

In Kaifeng, Qi State directly opened up a hundred acres of land and the benefit of a house, which is even more tempting:

"The state of Qi is like Jiangnan, with two crops a year, don't be too happy, you won't be hungry at all."

In this way, Qi State recruited [-] people at one time, which was very rewarding.

Vietnam only accepted 3000 people.

The king of Liao only recruited three to five hundred young and strong men as guards of the palace, and planned to let them train in the Beijing camp as his arms.

"Master, is this true?"

"Is this still false? The old man said it himself, you can live a happy life when you go there."

On the dilapidated straw mat, Jiang Dakui, his mother-in-law, and three children were discussing while drinking the porridge in the bowl.

(End of this chapter)