Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 308 Liquor Tax Collection
In the Palace of the Emperor, when Zhu Youjian had decided to abolish the customs duty and city entry tax, none of the officials dared to stand up to oppose it.

Perhaps they would indicate to Zhu Youxiao that this was inappropriate in the memorial after the event, but in front of Zhu Youjian, they knew very well that it was useless to object.

What they didn't expect was that Zhu Youjian would not only ban this item of finance and taxation, but also do another thing.

"From today onwards, merchants who sell liquor all over the world need to obtain a liquor sales license from the Imperial Store, and a three-liter liquor tax will be charged per catty of liquor."

"Folk people need to receive distiller's yeast before they can make wine. Distiller's yeast costs one penny per catty. Those who do not have distiller's yeast and make alcohol that exceeds ten catties will be fined a hundred pennies per catty."

"If there are neighbors who report, they will be rewarded with half of the fine, and if there are those who knowingly do not report, they will be fined half of the fine."

"Merchants who smuggle fifty catties of wine into the city and sell it to the city for more than one hundred catties shall be executed."

"Anyone who buys more than ten catties of wine from the common people will be exiled and searched!"

Zhu Youjian established a strict wine policy, and glanced at all the officials.

"No! Your Highness is competing with the people for profit!"

"Your Highness, my government is more lenient than the people. If there is a wine tax, wouldn't it be as greedy as Zhao Song?"

"Your Highness, absolutely impossible..."

"Your Highness..."

As he expected, when he announced that he would start to collect alcohol tax in an orderly manner, the officials were stunned for a moment, and then they began to go to the shuffle, shouting for help.

Alcohol is a common drink in life, and two glasses are required for parties and drinks.

It seems that drinking alcohol is commonplace throughout the ages, but it is not the case.

Since ancient times, when there was a disaster in the imperial court and the grain harvest failed, the ruler would order a ban on alcohol. Even if you were a landlord, you could not make alcohol without permission, otherwise you would face severe punishment.

In ancient times, the productive forces were backward, and the people worked hard for a year, but they didn't get much food. Drinking alcohol would not only lead to addiction, but also bring about extravagance in the society, wasting a lot of food.

In order to maintain social stability, the ruler will formulate wine policies that adapt to social development.

In the history of thousands of years, there have been three kinds of liquor administrations, namely, alcohol prohibition, taxation of liquor, and discussion of liquor (monopoly).

Productivity is not high, but in the pre-Qin period with a warm climate, not only the folks banned alcohol, even officials were ordered not to drink alcohol at certain times.

King Wen of Zhou formulated the most stringent alcohol prohibition policy after summing up the lessons of Yin Shang's abstaining from alcohol to rejuvenate the country and indulge in alcohol to subdue the country.

That is to say, in "Shangshu·Zhoushu·Jiugao": "Wen Wanggao taught the boy that there is justice, there is something, and there is no Yijiu... Do not lose it when you drink in groups, and return it to Zhou and kill it."

It means that King Wen of Zhou warned officials not to make mistakes by drinking, and if they found someone gathering to drink, they would be killed.

The alcohol prohibition policy of the Zhou Dynasty led the alcohol culture to the right track and provided a factual basis for future generations to prohibit alcohol.

Even in the spring and autumn period when the climate is warm, alcohol can only be drunk during palace banquets, sacrifices to heaven and earth, and rewards to ministers.

Until the Han Dynasty, the long-term war made people's livelihood miserable. In order to save food, Xiao He formulated a policy of strictly prohibiting gatherings to drink alcohol, but it has changed from beheading to fines.

The first emperor who really tasted the benefits of the wine tax was Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, because he was the one who pioneered the sale of wine (monopoly).

When the country's financial pressure became greater, Sang Hongyang suggested that the country implement a monopoly system for salt, iron, and wine.

However, Sang Hongyang's wine-discussing policy will bring about the disadvantages of a bloated organization.

In the period of Emperor Zhaodi of the Han Dynasty, the wine administration in the Western Han Dynasty changed from monopoly to taxation.

The folks can make and buy wine, and pay a certain tax to the state according to the regulations, that is, 4 yuan per liter of tax.

Later, in the Western Han Dynasty, there was even a phenomenon that today there is a bucket of fine wine, and the direct money is 44, and the tax rate on wine has reached [-]%.

It became an important tax in the Han Dynasty and even in the past dynasties. Even though there was no wine tax in the early Tang Dynasty, the wine tax could not be levied in the middle and late period after the Anshi Rebellion.

In the second year of Emperor Zong Guangde of the Tang Dynasty, the government registered wine households across the country, and they had to pay the wine tax every month before they could sell wine. The standard was that wine households near Chang'an paid 50 cents per liter, and the wine tax was about [-]%.

The wine tax is [-] million guan every year, accounting for one-sixth of the annual fiscal revenue.

With the example of the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty naturally had a very strong control over the brewing industry, including two aspects:
First, open a large number of government-run wineries, from production to sales, and monopolize the monopoly of wine.

Second, inherit the system of "jiquor koji monopoly" since the Five Dynasties, allowing private winemakers to make wine, but they must buy distiller's koji from the government, and impose heavy taxes at the same time.Anyway, if winemakers want to make wine, they must use koji, and according to the quantity of koji purchased, the production of wine can be inferred, and the taxation is also "targeted", so it is basically impossible for winemakers to evade taxes.

In order to control the winemaking industry from the source, the early Song Dynasty enacted a strict "banning order", which stipulated: "Anyone who makes 15 catties of smuggled koji and smuggles 3 buckets of wine into the city will be executed. Those who sell smuggled koji will be punished according to the amount of smuggled koji." halve the punishment."

The wine tax in the Song Dynasty reached the peak in ancient times, and the wine revenue in the Song Dynasty was directly used for military expenditures, so it was an important source of support for border military expenditures.

The wine tax in the Song Dynasty has always occupied a relatively high proportion of fiscal revenue since the founding of the country. In the last year of Tianxi, it exceeded 1000 million guan, accounting for 16% of fiscal revenue.

Even though the Southern Song Dynasty lost most of the territory in the north, the wine tax during the Song Gaozong period was still 1300 million yuan, accounting for 24% of the fiscal revenue.

However, due to the Ming Dynasty, except for the short-lived implementation of taxation on wine sales in official stores during the Hongwu period, the wine tax at other times was basically assigned to the local government, and was combined with other business taxes such as boat tax, fishing tax, and vinegar.

Therefore, there is no record of the total amount and tax rate of the wine tax in the Ming Dynasty, and the tax rate of the wine tax is the lowest in history.

The tax rate of wine yeast tax in Ming Dynasty was 2%, which was very low.

For example, in the 13th year of orthodoxy, Gao An, the prefect of Hangzhou, said: "Since the beginning of the Republic of China, the government has collected 106 banknotes for wine and vinegar. After a long time, there are new wine and vinegar shops in the middle of the country, and there is no tax."

The general meaning is that since the founding of the People's Republic of Hangzhou, the wine and vinegar tax levied has not changed, and the newly opened wine and vinegar shops have not collected wine tax.

Paper money in the Ming Dynasty continued to depreciate from the Hongwu period to the Zhengtong period. Only 100 guan notes can buy 1 shimi, and 10 guan notes are equivalent to 1000 shimi, which is about 400 guan copper coins.

That is to say, the wine and vinegar tax levied by a big city like Hangzhou is only 400 guan every year, while Changzhou Prefecture in the Southern Song Dynasty collected more than 37 guan of wine tax every year.

When the population of the Ming Dynasty was larger than that of the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty could collect [-] million wine taxes, while the Ming Dynasty wine tax was around [-] taels for a long time.

Despite the differences in times and exchange rates, based on the wine tax established during the Hongwu period, the wine tax of the Ming Dynasty should also be able to collect hundreds of thousands of taels a year.

The current situation is that private merchants have ignored the words of the government and do not pay taxes at all, and the common people have followed suit.

Zhu Youjian is short of money, very short!

At present, the effects of the two divisions of salt and tea have come out, so the liquor tax, which is the main financial driver, will also be put on the table.

"There is no room for debate about the wine tax. From now on, the Ministry of Households will set up a wine department to supervise local officials and merchants in all provinces."

Faced with the radical dismissal of the officials, Zhu Youjian continued to order without seeing it, because he knew very well that the wine tax was actually a tax on the rich.

Compared with the salt and iron monopoly, the wine tax is a tax on non-essential goods, which is equivalent to a special consumption tax levied on the rich. It is an important supplement to the imperial tax system and has little impact on the lives of ordinary people.

If the monopoly of salt is "taxed by the people", then the monopoly of wine is "taxed by the people".

Liquor tax is like wool, which will be cut when the finances need it.

The Song Dynasty implemented a military recruitment system, supporting [-] or [-] troops all year round, and the financial pressure was huge, so the policy of distributing wine was always implemented, and the tax collection system was also very complete.

When the Han and Tang dynasties were under financial pressure, they would also come up with a wine tax policy to cut the wool of the rich.

The emperor of the Ming Dynasty didn't see this clearly, and always stared at the peasants' tax, so they forced out Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

In a word, as long as the emperor is really determined to collect taxes, the wine tax can often pay a lot of money.

What's more, Zhu Youjian did not set a high alcohol tax. He just increased the tax on the policy left over from the Hongwu period, and increased the original alcohol tax from about 2% to about 15%.

The officials cried because they belonged to the gentry, belonged to the landlord class, and were representatives of the gentry and landlords.

The wine tax is naturally a heavy tax for the group of them who love romance, drinking and composing poetry.

But what about this?

It is better to cry as a family than all the way, and it is better for officials to cry than common people.

Under the catastrophe, there are only a few people who will use grain to make wine, and Zhu Youjian will use a kind of wine to compensate them for these few people.

The sweet potato fields in Shanxi, Northern Zhili and other provinces are running out of places to use them. It is not difficult to use sweet potatoes to make wine and sell them to the common people at a low price.

Sweet Potato Burn is not so bad for the common people, but it is this group of officials who like to recite poems and fight against each other, those extravagant gentry and wealthy businessmen can't drink it.

If you can’t drink it, if you want to drink better, then take out the money.

After handing over the money, the court will naturally give them the freedom to drink. After all, Zhu Youjian is not a devil.

"Your Highness is so powerful, isn't he afraid of the mouths of the common people?!"

Among the hundreds of officials, one person suddenly stood up, but Zhu Youjian laughed out loud when he heard the sound.

His smile made all the officials a little scared, and they all closed their mouths, and at the same time they took a step back in a subtle way.

"Youyou's Mouth..."

Zhu Youjian leaned on the chair and murmured these four words, but all officials could hear them clearly in a quiet situation.

"Is this Yoyo's mouth a merchant or a commoner?" Zhu Youjian looked at the official who stood up, and the official also looked away.

Facing his dodge, Zhu Youjian looked at the other people, and many people also dodged their eyes.

Looking at them, Zhu Youjian couldn't help shaking his head and said:

"Standing on this Huangji Hall, when did you take the time to see the lives of the common people?"

"Ordinary people, most of them make wine privately and drink it by themselves. It costs one penny per catty. What impact can thirty pennies a year have?"

"On the contrary, the local tyrants, gentry, and your group of hundreds of officials hid fine wine in rows, and when they saw so-called great scholars, they took it out and drank it without any scruples."

"As officials of the imperial court, did the imperial court treat you badly? No?"

"The money given to Zhengdan every year, the tax at home, the reduction of corvee, and the food and drink expenses in the yamen, travel and accommodation, which one is not the imperial court supporting you?"

"Oh...hate the low salary?" Zhu Youjian stood up, turned his head to ask the officials, and seemed to be talking to himself.

"Is the salary low?" Zhu Youjian asked again. At this time, Gu Bingqian could only bite the bullet and stepped forward, holding the wat board and saying: "Not low..."

"Hey... I think it's a bit low." Zhu Youjian stood on the high platform with his arms folded, looking down at all the officials.

"It's just that the salary is low and can be raised. The Ming Dynasty has not raised the salary for more than two hundred years, so it won't matter if you raise it."

"I don't know. In recent years, you have been jealous of the high salaries of the governor's mansion of the five armies. How about it? How about triple the salary of all officials from today?"

"I'm waiting for death..."

Yao Zongwen and the others in the crowd sensed that something was wrong, and they all knelt down and sang to confess their sins, while the rest of the officials followed suit.

All the tense officials knelt down, but Zhu Youjian changed from being kind and frivolous, and angrily said:
"I don't even think about how much money some of you have been greedy for, do you think you don't know?"

"What does the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" say? How much money will be executed for greedy ink? How much is it for skinning and filling grass?"

"Want to raise your salary? Yes... How can the court increase if you are not rich? Could it be possible to cut off the salaries of the soldiers and send the salary to you?"

"The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine has a saying, if you don't cure the disease, you can cure the disease, and if you don't cure the disorder, you can treat it without chaos."

"In recent years, if Your Majesty and Gu have not reformed the tax law and increased taxes, would you have been able to get the salary in your hands?"

"Or, you don't look down on the imperial court's salaries, but rely on the "pens" of local officials and merchants to live?!"

"Your Highness calm down..."

It was the first time that Zhu Youjian said Runbiyin on the court, and all the officials fell to the ground one after another, just because they reacted, Zhu Youjian just went through the process with them instead of really asking them.

It is strange that the person who jumps out actively does not get beaten...

"I think this "Law of the Ming Dynasty" should be revised. From today onwards, if there are any private collectors who receive moistening pens, their families will be exiled to Dongshan Mansion, and the three clans will be disrupted and moved outside the pass!"

Zhu Youjian scolded lightly, and put his hands on the chair, and all the officials rushed to say:

"Your Highness can't..."

"His Royal Highness calm down, we are also thinking of the common people..."

"The wine tax is collected for the national treasury, presumably the common people also understand the difficulties of the imperial court."

"It is reasonable to collect wine tax. In the past, merchants evaded taxes due to the lack of manpower in the court. Now that the wine department is established, merchants will naturally pay taxes honestly..."

Baiguan is like this, the softer you talk to them, the less scary he will think you are, so he dares to ask you.

Whenever you turn your face, they will take a step back.

If they are still killed after turning their faces, they will retreat to the same place, and even turn around to help you sanction the merchants.

There are always a small number of powerful ministers. It is not that the Ming Dynasty did not exist, but that group of people were either suppressed by Zhu Youjian or buried in the ground.

"For the matter of the wine department, the Ministry of Finance has come up with a charter, and Enke will be opened again in October. This time, all the students of Enke will join the wine department."

"At the end of next year, I want to see a reasonable memorial from the wine department, and I no longer want to see the wine tax of the Ming Dynasty, which is only a few tens of thousands of taels of silver."

Zhu Youjian looked at Bi Ziyan, and Bi Ziyan bowed in response.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian also said to Wang An, who was bowing his head next to him: "On the first day of the new year, the money given this year is still distributed, but you are an official, think carefully about who are the common people, and for whom are you doing things. "

"Jinyiwei, West Factory, East Factory..."

"If you don't talk about what you do, it doesn't mean you don't know."

"What you are doing is what you are silently agreeing to, not what you are hiding well."

"If you don't give it to me, you can't take it away, you can't do it!"

After finishing speaking, Zhu Youjian stepped down from the high platform and walked out of the Huangji Hall, and when the Minister of Honglu Temple saw this, he also hurriedly rang the bell and said:

"Scattered towards..."

"Long live Emperor Apocalypse... Long live... Long live..."

The melodious singing of salutes came out in the Huangji Hall, and there were also singing salutes in the square in front of the Huangji Hall.

Zhu Youjian ignored all the officials, and after getting on the elephant, the elephant drove towards the Qianqing Palace, but on the elephant, Zhu Youjian frowned, closed his eyes and didn't know what he was thinking.

It wasn't until Xiangren arrived at the gate of Qianqing Palace that Jingjun opened the gate, and Zhu Youjian opened his eyes and walked down.

He went straight into the gate of Qianqing Palace, crossed the long palace road, and smelled the smell of meat from a long distance away.

When he walked into the Qianqing Palace, he saw Zhu Youxiao who was hosting a banquet in the Qianqing Palace.

There are four tables on the left and right in the palace, three of which are already full, all of which are Zhu Youxiao's concubines.

Zhu Youxiao, Zhang Yan, Fan Shi and others were also sitting on the main seat, as well as Ke Shi, Zhu Ciran, Zhu Shu'e, Zhu Ciyun, and Zhu Cijiong who was a monk in his infancy.

Twenty-three years old, three sons and one daughter, Zhu Youjian had to sigh that his brother really knew how to play...

"Brother is here? Sit down, sit down!" Seeing Zhu Youjian coming, Zhu Youxiao hurriedly got up to greet him, not looking a little tired.

Zhu Youjian was arranged to sit down by him, but after sitting down, he said:
"Does my brother know about the affairs of the outer court?"

"Of course I know, but today is a family banquet, and we don't talk about state affairs." Zhu Youxiao's expression was slightly stagnant, but he quickly adjusted.

Obviously, he doesn't want to talk about state affairs, or he doesn't have much opinion on Zhu Youjian's policies.

To sum up what Zhu Youjian is doing today is nothing more than attacking Annan, reducing the burden on the people, and increasing the alcohol tax on the gentry class.

These three things, as long as one thing can be done well, it is enough for the emperor to be boasted in all dynasties.

Zhu Youxiao has political means, but political means does not mean a strong political stand.

In the final analysis, even if Zhu Youxiao wants to deprive them of their benefits, even if they are members of the eunuch party, they will bite Zhu Youxiao back, but Zhu Youjian has no such concerns.

Does the Qi royal party dare to bite Zhu Youjian back?dare not...

They used to wander around the fringe of the parties, even a little transparent without the party.

All the power is what Zhu Youjian supported them, and they have it.

Compared with Zhu Youxiao who can only control the life and death of Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tigan, Zhu Youjian controls Qi Wangdang's control of whoever wants to live and whoever wants to die.

This kind of control is beyond Zhu Youxiao's ability...

"Come and eat dumplings."

Suddenly, Zhu Youxiao picked up a dumpling and put it in Zhu Youjian's bowl, and Zhu Youjian also picked up the dumpling and took a bite.

But eating dumplings in front of more than a dozen sister-in-laws really made Zhu Youjian, who had not been very close to women for many years, a little embarrassed.

After biting down on a dumpling, he didn't get any money, which made Zhu Youjian a little disappointed.

But Zhang Yan's words quickly brought him back to reality:

"Uncle Wu is also seventeen years old. I think it's time to choose a concubine. Do you have any requirements?"

Apparently, Zhang Yan wanted Zhu Youjian to settle down sooner, perhaps because of a sister-in-law's care for her uncle...

However, Zhu Youjian was keenly aware that Zhang Yan's thoughts might not be that simple.

If he personally settles down and has a child, then from the mentality of a normal person, the rest of his life will of course start to struggle for the safety of his heirs.

Zhu Youjian's struggle as a vassal king is nothing more than going to find a vassal place and establishing a mature vassal place.

Zhang Yan was worried about her own existence, threatening Zhu Ciran's safety...

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian glanced vaguely at Zhu Ciran who was looking at him in a daze, but didn't say anything.

Zhang Yan is not only a queen, but also a mother.

Whether as a wife or a mother, it is normal for her to have some worries for her husband and children, and she cannot affect her relationship with her brother.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian also felt that it seemed good to have a family.

After sweeping Jianlu and regaining the three declarations and six comforts, he will have to be busy with the internal affairs, and will stay in the capital for a long time.

These few things, maybe a few years.

A few years later, when the child needs to start school, he can take it with him.

At that time, it is impossible to say how many talents and generals Daming will produce in more than [-] years.

It is not surprising that Zhu Youjian has such thoughts. He has been a human being for two lives. Although he is still seventeen years old physically, he is almost forty in his heart.

So he raised his head and wanted to respond to what kind of woman Zhang Yan probably liked, but at this moment Zhu Youxiao said with a smile:

"Although it's a family banquet, my brother's affairs will be decided by my brother. You don't have to worry about Baozhu..."

Although Zhu Youxiao was speaking with a smile, the meaning in the words was a bit of reprimand.

Obviously, Zhu Youxiao didn't want Zhang Yan to embarrass his younger brother, and while such behavior made Zhu Youjian feel warm, he also said with a smile:

"As the vassal king of Ming Dynasty, the concubine is naturally selected according to the ancestral system. This is nothing, and besides, I have reached my age."

Although Zhu Youjian said so, Zhang Yan didn't pick up the words after being reprimanded by Zhu Youxiao.

She knows that Zhu Youxiao doesn't like fanning the flames, so it's better to just shut up at this time.

Besides, judging from Zhu Youjian's attitude, Zhu Youjian really didn't have that much thought.

As long as Zhu Youjian didn't have the intention to threaten Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Ciran, Zhang Yan wouldn't be so worried.

"Okay, let's wait until after the crown to talk about my brother's marriage."

Zhu Youxiao picked up a few more dumplings for Zhu Youjian, obviously not wanting to discuss this topic.

Just looking at the few dumplings in the bowl, Zhu Youjian looked at Zhu Youxiao speechlessly:

"Can't you just give me another dish? Don't always put dumplings..."

　I don't get off work until five o'clock, so the code is a bit late
　　
　
(End of this chapter)