Daming 1805

Chapter 470 The Logic of Taxation
On the morning of March 11th, [-], Wenhua Hall in the Forbidden City, the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

The number of people who came to participate in the morning court today has tripled.

After the establishment of Jiuqing and the Great Domain Reform, the number of personnel in the early court of the central court of the Ming Dynasty was reduced again.

The officials who usually participated in the early court were basically the ministers of Jiuqing and a few academicians.

Only under certain special circumstances would the Minister of the department in charge of certain specific matters, or the Minister of Military Aircraft be called.

In today's early court, apart from the Jiuqing and the Grand Scholars who usually participated, a bunch of ministers were also called.

In addition to these people, the main persons in charge of the royal consortium and the official consortium also came.

Then there are members of the royal family, and representatives of the main nobles in Beijing.

Representatives of the nobility are to some extent representatives of the military.

The bachelor on duty announced the start of the morning court, and Zhu Jianfeng, the representative of the Ming royal family, stood up directly:

"Your Majesty, brother, and brother Jian Feng think that His Majesty Emperor Guangwu's modification of Emperor Taizu Gao's ancestral precepts and the establishment of a new system of downgrading and enfeoffing kings and nobles have already played a role in taxation.

"Let's call it the title tax.

"The descendants who pass the assessment can inherit the title of their parents without being downgraded, which means that they have achieved results through hard work, and they have completed the title tax that should be paid by downgrading.

"At the same time, the title itself is the most important asset owned by the kings and nobles.

"Therefore, I believe that the royal families of the Ming Dynasty and all nobles with titles should not pay any additional taxes when inheriting titles and assets from their parents."

At this point, Zhu Jianfeng bowed his hands to the emperor again, meaning that that's all he wanted to express for the time being.

This requirement is also very simple. The demotion is the knighthood tax. After paying the knighthood tax, there should be no inheritance tax in the first place.

There is no income tax on gifts between immediate family members.

Therefore, the range of interest targets he defended was very clear, namely the royal clan of Ming Dynasty and all the nobles.

The conditions requested are also very cautious, only the inheritance tax is rejected, and the others are ignored.

He made a gesture of not wanting to get involved.

After Zhu Jianyan heard this, there was no expression on his face, and he seemed to ask very casually:
"Ninth Brother, is this the opinion of the Clan Academy?"

Zhu Jianfeng really wanted to say "yes" directly, but unfortunately he couldn't say that now.

The Clan House after the Renwu Dynasty was not the Clan Mansion before the Renwu Dynasty, but a new institution established by Emperor Shizu.

All the princes who have completed the reserve education and passed the complete governance training will be named princes.

Except for one of them who was established as the emperor, the others will enter the clan house after the new emperor succeeds to the throne.

Collateral princes who are able to inherit the kingship have also completed the same education and training, and will also join the Clan Academy.

Therefore, all the members of the Clan Academy are Prince Daming.

Except for the current emperor's prince, all other princes of Ming Dynasty are also members of the Clan Academy.

The dean of the patriarchal courtyard is concurrently held by the Supreme Emperor.

The Clan House has the right to question the policies and orders of the imperial court and ask the corresponding executive agencies to give explanations.

Its nature is similar to the supervisory board of later generations of companies, or the early upper houses of Western countries.

Zhu Jianfeng is the current vice president of the Clan Academy.

This revision of the tax law was directly proposed by the Supreme Emperor, the president of the Clan Academy, so Zhu Jianfeng could not take the lead in opposing it.

At the very least, it cannot be opposed in the name of the entire clan.

So Zhu Jianfeng thought for a moment and responded directly:

"Father is far away in the south of the Yangtze River, so this is not what the Clan Academy meant.

"But this is the common opinion of all the princes of the Ancestral House who are currently on duty."

Zhu Jianyan nodded slightly:
"Brother, I understand..."

After saying this, Zhu Jianyan looked at Situ, Lu Yinpu, who was in charge of the world's finances.

Lu Yinpu is very embarrassed now.

Lu Yinpu's status in the Ming court is very special, he is of course the emperor's man first.

But he is also a member of the Dashi Prince family.

According to the rules set by the emperor Shizu, the ministers who had served beside the prince who had practiced administration would not be transferred from the local area to the central ministries until the emperor selected a successor from among all the princes.

But Zhu Jingyuan is a special case.

During Zhu Jingyuan's administrative training, in addition to the traditional positions, he also had a "governor".

And the scope of this governor is very large.

So far, except for the northern part of the Ming Dynasty, they have all been "governor" by him.

If only officials in the scope of Governor Zhu Jingyuan's experience cannot be promoted to the central court, then there will be no one in the court.

Therefore, the subordinate officials of Governor Zhu Jingyuan are naturally not restricted by the convention.

Lu Yinpu served as the chief envoy of Beimozhou.

The local area was not only directly supervised by North Zhu Jingyuan, but it was even the area closest to the Great Food Kingdom.

Therefore, Lu Yinpu, together with similar officials, was regarded as a member of such a circle as the Prince of Dashi.

However, Lu Yinpu knew very well that Prince Dashi had supervised too many places, and he had not established any direct political relationship with Prince Dashi at all.

Only those subordinates who have worked directly beside Prince Dashi as before can be regarded as Prince Dashi's people.

These people also follow the traditional rules, and they have not yet been promoted to the various departments of the Central Government Office.

In fact, I am just a courtier of the current emperor, and I was very lucky to catch up with the courtiers of Jiuqing and Dayu Reform.

Therefore, he was able to be promoted to the official position of Jiuqing with a real job before retirement.

In theory, I have to unconditionally support the emperor's decision.

But whether it is inheritance tax or immediate family gift tax, it will harm the interests of one's own family.

If he still has a choice now, Lu Yinpu does not want to express his views on this issue.

But his current position is Situ, in charge of finance including taxation.

Others can be silent, but you can't be silent anyway.

As a professional bureaucrat who has reached the high position of Jiuqing, Lu Yinpu quickly made his final decision even in such an extremely entangled situation.

I must stand on the emperor's side.

This is a choice that must be made, and those losses are also losses that must be endured.

Otherwise, there would be no future for myself and my family.

Not only will the current emperor not reuse himself and his descendants, but neither will future emperors.

The senior bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty in this era have already understood that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty is a very independent individual politically, and at the same time, it is also a system that will support each other and inherit ideas.

If I refuse to cooperate with the current emperor on the issue of governance and the government affairs that I am responsible for, the successor emperor will not treat himself and his family well.

If you take the initiative to cooperate, you should get appropriate compensation afterwards.

What I can pursue now is to find ways to show my role, so that I can get the best possible compensation afterwards.

Lu Yinpu took a deep breath, stood up and said loudly:
"Your Majesty, I believe that the demotion of the titles of the kings and nobles, and the taxation itself are two things that I don't want to have to do with.

"The title corresponds to the honor conferred by His Majesty, and it is a proof of making important contributions to Ming Dynasty.

"In order to prevent future generations from sitting on the mountain, and more importantly, to prevent unworthy descendants from humiliating the prestige of their ancestors, the descendants of Xijue are required to pass the comprehensive assessment set by the imperial court.

"The difficulty of the corresponding comprehensive assessment of being a knight is far from reaching the level of raising the title by one level.

"Gift asset income tax is aimed at the transfer of existing asset ownership.

"The logic of collecting income tax on gifted assets is the recognition and protection of His Majesty the Ming Emperor and the Ming court, so that asset owners can gift and obtain assets legally and safely.

"So knighthoods are knighthoods, estates are estates, and taxes are taxes.

"Regardless of whether he has a title or not, no matter whether he was downgraded when the title was inherited, when the assets he owns are transferred, the approval of His Majesty and the court is required.

"Unwillingness to pay this part of the tax means that the corresponding assets are not recognized by His Majesty and the court.

"Of course there is no protection of any kind!
"Therefore, as the Situ of the Ming Dynasty, I believe that any form of asset ownership transfer should be taxed.

"Tax rates should be progressive, with the larger the asset, the higher the tax rate.

"The threshold can be set at one hundred silver notes, and the threshold tax rate can be set at 5.00%.

"The tax rate for the part exceeding 50.00 silver bills should be [-]%."

When Lu Yinpu's words came out, the eyes of most of the people present widened.

Even the emperor himself was a little surprised.

Zhu Jianyan knew that as long as Lu Yinpu's mind was not fainted, he knew that he had to cooperate with him at this time.

I just didn't expect him to do it so simply and thoroughly.

This thoroughness does not mean that he has overdone it, or that he opened his mouth like a lion.

In many cases, the lion's big mouth is actually opposition, and it is opposition in the name of support.

Lu Yinpu's suggestion is, to some extent, within a reasonably reasonable range, raising the standard as high as possible.

One hundred silver notes is equivalent to 1 yuan in later generations, and ten thousand silver notes is equivalent to one million.

The income tax is capped at a maximum of 50.00%, which is also a typical operation for later generations.

If Lu Yinpu wants to object in the name of approval, he should support not setting a threshold.

As long as there is a gift of silver bills, taxes must be paid, and the highest tax rate is pulled to more than [-]%.

That would be purely to cause trouble.

Of course, including inheritance in this way, paying a maximum income tax of [-]% is unacceptable to everyone.

Most people at the scene turned their attention to Zhu Jianfeng.

This Lu Yinpu is against your Majesty, you should stand up and refute immediately, right?
It is obviously harmful to the interests of a prince like you that the imperial court collects inheritance tax and income tax on gifts received by immediate family members.

But although Zhu Jianfeng frowned and kept a straight face, he didn't speak.

Zhu Jianfeng's thoughts are also very simple. His father, the Supreme Emperor, and the emperor's elder brother must both really want to collect this tax.

The request directly made by the emperor, as well as the plan proposed by Lu Yinpu now, are all sky-high asking prices.

But at the same time, the rich and noble classes of the entire Ming Dynasty would definitely oppose paying this tax.

They will certainly not accept the present proposal and will certainly seek to keep the standard as low as possible.

The two sides will definitely have to drag for a while, and finally compromise and come up with a plan that both parties can barely accept.

As the close prince, as the son of the Supreme Emperor and the younger brother of the emperor, his current status is very sensitive.

If I stand with the courtiers below, I am likely to be targeted by the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor.

The point is, even if I am targeted by the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor, it is impossible for ordinary courtiers to accept me.

There is no way for a close prince like himself to fully integrate into the group of courtiers.

This is why Zhu Jianfeng was the first to stand up at the beginning.

To be the first to stand up is to make a request as a member of the clan, instead of going along with the courtiers below.

Although Lu Yinpu is against himself now, the key is to express the emperor's intentions.

If you oppose Lu Yinpu yourself, you are opposing the emperor.

I can directly fight for the interests of the emperor, and I can oppose the emperor's orders on other occasions.

But now you must not stand in the group of courtiers.

So after Zhu Jianfeng talked about his attitude at the beginning, he changed to the mentality of watching a movie later.

You don't want me to be your gun anymore.

The scene was deadlocked for a while in such a strange atmosphere.

After continuous observation and discussions with those around him in a low voice, the other courtiers gradually realized that Zhu Jianfeng, the prince, would not stand up and speak out.

Therefore, Wang Tingzhen, the magistrate of the Ming Dynasty, who had been at odds with Lu Yinpu since a few years ago, stood up:
"Your Majesty, this guy Lu Yinpu is just talking nonsense, without considering the actual situation at all.

"If a family business that earns ten thousand silver bills is handed over to the imperial court when it is passed on to the children and grandchildren, who is willing to work hard to earn money?

"I think that, no matter what, inheriting the family business of the ancestors should not pay taxes."

Lu Yinpu also sprayed back without hesitation:
"Your Majesty, it is Wang Tingzhen who is talking nonsense, and has set two sets of standards when treating others and herself.

"When talking about limiting the working hours of workers, he said that people cannot be prevented from earning more wealth through labor.

"When discussing the issue of inheriting the family business now, he also supports the children of wealthy families to live on the inheritance of their grandparents.

"Such a person who is inconsistent with his appearance should not stay in my court of the Ming Dynasty, and he is not qualified to be an important minister of the Nine Ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

"I believe that children from rich and noble families should also not want to inherit from their ancestors, but should also fight for themselves.

"The wealthy family of Daming also became a wealthy family in my Daming world.

"Their wealth can only be preserved and used with the approval of the Ming Emperor and the court.

"They should hand over part of their assets to the Ming court to maintain the operation of the Ming court and to help the people in those impoverished areas.

"If they want to leave all their assets to their children and grandchildren without paying taxes.

"There is no need for His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty and the imperial court to recognize this asset.

"That's why I now suggest that anyone who refuses to pay income tax or evades tax within the Ming Dynasty should be punished directly by confiscation of all assets.

"Including Wang Tingzhen's family, if his son wants to get an inheritance when he dies, but refuses to pay taxes, all his family property should be confiscated!"

This time Lu Yinpu's words were a bit deliberately exaggerated.

Tax evasion means that the assets are not recognized by the court, and the corresponding punishment is to directly search the house.

But this time the target of his spraying was not the emperor's inquiry, but was used against Wang Tingzhen.

It is an exaggerated statement to explain that Wang Tingzhen's reasons are simply untenable.

According to the taxation logic established by His Majesty the Emperor Shizu, what Lu Yinpu said is indeed more reasonable.

Personal assets must be recognized by the emperor and the court before they can be protected.

The condition for protection is to take part of it as tax and hand it over to the imperial court.

Every change of asset ownership must be approved by the court, so that this transaction can be protected and recognized.

Therefore, all transactions and all changes in property rights should theoretically be taxed.

It's just that the tax on inheritance and gifts received by immediate family members was blocked by the main officials with Ming's ethics.

The wall established by ethics and morality has been poked a big hole by the Gusu Qianzhuang incident.

Then there is no way to prevent the court from collecting taxes in this regard.

So purely based on this logic, there is no way for everyone to continue to oppose the payment of this tax.

If they are facing ordinary people, or even people of the same level, they can still make trouble for no reason. Logically, they can't argue, and they can't do anything about themselves if they refuse to admit others.

But it doesn't work when facing the emperor. Whoever makes trouble for no reason should not be an official.

Most of the people at the scene became distressed when they heard this.

In twos and threes, they discussed in low voices with the people around them how this matter should end up.

Wang Tingzhen took a few deep breaths, and instead of confronting Lu Yinpu, she turned directly to the emperor and said:

"Your Majesty, the purpose of amending the law this time is to plug the existing tax loopholes.

"The businessman's tax evasion method discovered this time involves tax-free gifts between multiple people with different relationships.

"Gift between father and son, gift between husband and wife, and reverse gift between father and daughter.

"We can avoid this by simply cutting off one of the parts.

"Gifts between father and son cannot be avoided, but gifts between husband and wife can be avoided, and reverse gifts between father and daughter can also be avoided.

"It is meaningless to distinguish the ownership of property between married men and women.

"Women who are already married cannot transfer their husband's assets to their father.

"We only need to prohibit fathers from transferring assets directly to their daughters-in-law and married women from transferring assets to their parents to avoid this tax loophole.

"We don't need to tax all asset ownership changes between relatives."

If you can't argue logically, you can only go back and find a solution.

It's just that this method is really not very reasonable.

Lu Yinpu was already on the emperor's side anyway, and asked directly again without hesitation:

"The ownership of assets between husband and wife is meaningless? What about divorce?
"Didn't you find out that the Supreme Emperor has discovered that some businessmen transfer assets through marriage and divorce?

"For many people, the righteousness of human ethics and morality no longer exists.

"As long as there is a way to avoid taxation, they will find a way to exploit it, and now they will find a new one if there is no way.

"The real cure is taxation.

"Taxing any form of change in asset ownership closes any loopholes that might exist.

"The point is, morality and ethics no longer exist, so why should there be tax exemptions?"

Lu Yinpu is still grasping the basics. The gift of assets between relatives is tax-free. The starting point is traditional morality and ethics.

These people no longer take traditional morals and ethics seriously, so why should they be exempted from taxes?
(End of this chapter)