Daming 1805

Chapter 471 Preliminary Plan
At the beginning of Zhu Jianfeng, the prince, Lu Yinpu and Wang Tingzhen, two important ministers of the Nine Ministers, had several rounds of disputes in the hall.

While expressing their respective current attitudes, they also presented the basic logic of this income tax reform.

Those who are qualified to directly participate in the discussion of this level of affairs have basically been present today.

Now you can seriously consider which angle you should participate in.

At this stage, Zong Bo Shen Fu, who is in charge of civilization and diplomacy, was the first to stand up and express his opinion:

"Report to Your Majesty, Chen Zongbo Shen Fu has something to say."

Zhu Jianyan nodded directly after hearing this, and at the same time stretched out his hand to signal Lu Yinpu and Wang Tingzhen to stop arguing.

After Shen Fu saluted Zhu Jianyan, he looked at Lu Yinpu and Wang Tingzhen:

"Zai Zuo and Situ, since the two of you have mentioned human ethics and morality, I, as Zong Bo, have something to say.

"His Majesty Emperor Shizu Guangwu has long asserted that morality is the goal of ideal education, and law is the bottom line of morality.

"Laws with mandatory and binding force should be the basic rules of the underpinning society.

"Ethics with higher requirements should be the direction of encouragement and education.

"Therefore, violating the law is punished, and morality is rewarded.

"Between the two, let nature take its course, neither reward nor punishment.

"Excessively high moral standards cannot be listed as laws, nor can laws as the bottom line be regarded as moral standards.

"That's why I believe that, regarding the issue of income tax, all regulations at the legal level should be treated equally.

"That is, you have to pay taxes on any form of asset income, including inheritance from your parents.

"However, for those who are truly high-minded, have dedicated themselves to the great Ming Dynasty, and have no major faults, after their children pay taxes normally, the imperial court can return a certain percentage of taxes as a reward.

"According to the amount of tax returned and the level of treatment of the personnel involved, the chief envoy, the Ministry of Rites or Zongbo in charge of civilization and education, or even His Majesty personally confirms and approves it, and then hand it over to the tax agency to implement the refund.

"In this way, it can not only prevent those with bad conduct from taking advantage of the court's care to evade taxes, but also truly promote civilization."

The advice given by Shen Fu is very ingenious, from ideas to plans are well-founded.

The seemingly frustrating method of "paying first and then returning" is actually very necessary in actual implementation.

If the payment can be directly exempted or reduced, then the relationship between the agency implementing the collection and the taxpayer will be complicated, and then it will be prone to various possible tricks.

In addition to the direct power rent-seeking and corruption issues, the more important thing is that the court cannot grasp the actual amount of assets.

At the same time, it also makes it difficult to control the growth of corruption, and it is also difficult to investigate after it occurs.

This kind of trouble can be avoided by handing in first and then returning, and at the same time transferring the right to return to another department.

Relevant agencies can be required to implement rigid and strict enforcement when expropriating, without giving them any room for compromise.

Fixed tax ratio and matching scheme, the amount of tax paid is directly related to the assets owned.

Not only can the amount of assets be confirmed intuitively, but also the chance of possible corruption can be reduced.

When corruption does occur, there will be a more convenient starting point when investigating.

Check the amount of assets and the tax amount, as long as it does not meet the ratio, there is a problem.

Finally, the actual meaning of tax rebates based on moral standards is equivalent to "the right to interpret belongs to the emperor."

It is of course up to the emperor who decides to return the money.

The highest level and the largest amount of return must be approved by the emperor himself.

In this way, the emperor has another means to control the rich and noble families.

Shen Fu himself was not worried at all, he and Zhu Jianyan, Zhu Jingyuan and his son had cooperated very well and had a good relationship over the years.

Shen Fu knew that even if his own descendants were of bad character, the two generations of Zhu Jianyan and Zhu Jingyuan would have a [-]% probability of returning the full inheritance tax to their descendants.

What will happen in the future can only be that the children and grandchildren have their own blessings.

At the same time, the highest level of decision-making power for tax rebates is definitely in the hands of the emperor.

But the actual review and enforcement responsibilities, as well as low-level decision-making power, are likely to be handed over to the Ministry of Rites.

After all, it depends on morality, and moral education happens to be under the control of the Ministry of Rites.

As Uncle Zong himself, he is the superior supervisor of the Ministry of Rites.

Shen Fu's suggestion now is also a fight for power between the Ministry of Rites and himself.

It can be said to accomplish several things in one fell swoop.

So when these words were spoken, the other staff at the scene suddenly became a little nervous.

Almost everyone felt that this was the solution the emperor wanted most.

Of course the Emperor Ming cared about money, but power was more important than money.

In the process of tax reform, the emperor would not refuse to give up some monetary benefits in exchange for a new form of power and further strengthen the emperor's control over the wealthy class.

Even if this part of the tax is fully collected and fully refunded, the imperial court will not keep it at all. The emperor of Ming Dynasty and the imperial court can also roughly grasp the real asset status of the corresponding wealthy families through this process of collection and return...

What's more, Lu Yinpu, as the chief financial officer, Situ instinctively felt that a full refund of the inheritance tax is the best solution, at least it should be refunded according to a fixed amount and a fixed ratio.

You can't think about the so-called moral standards, that thing has no standards at all...

The problem is that this plan itself is very reasonable and fully in line with Ming's cultural philosophy and ruling logic.

I have no way to object from this angle...

There was no way for the Ming court to say that "how much tax to return cannot be determined based on moral character."

After hearing Shen Fu's words, Zhu Jianyan suddenly felt his eyes light up:
"Mr. Shen is right, first determine the fairest legal bottom line, and then give appropriate rewards based on moral conduct.

"Very well, the method of collecting income tax on changes in the ownership of assets between relatives is formulated based on Mr. Shen's suggestion.

"This matter will be handed over to the Ministry of Rites, and Mr. Shen will personally supervise it. Mr. Lu will coordinate with the relevant financial departments. Mao Ju will urge the Ministry of Punishment to cooperate and come up with a proper plan as soon as possible."

Zong Bo Shen Fu, Situ Lu Yinpu, Sikou Zhu Maoju, and the ministers of the corresponding departments immediately came out to bow and salute:

"The minister obeys the order."

Zhu Jianyan's order not only confirmed the disposal plan for the estate tax to be paid first but then refunded.

It is also determined that relatives receive gift income tax and inheritance tax must be charged to this matter itself.

Most of the courtiers had roughly guessed the result after the detonation of the Gusu Qianzhuang incident, and knew that it was impossible to prevent the emperor from collecting this part of the income tax.

But they will not lie down directly, and they all try to avoid it with the mentality of treating a dead horse as a living horse doctor.

Now it is completely determined that this tax will be collected no matter what.

The key issue is the tax rate and threshold.

Zhu Jianyan and Zhu Zhongliang, as emperors who grew up in this world, are often "stingier" than Zhu Jingyuan.

Zhu Jingyuan's original plan was not to really collect inheritance tax.

It is just used as a "roof", as an air chip for negotiation and compromise.

But Zhu Jianyan is obviously ready to accept a little.

Of course, Zhu Jianyan, as the emperor, is of course also the leader of the traditional aristocratic class in the Ming Dynasty. He is not the British bourgeoisie in the early [-]th century, and it is impossible to increase the inheritance tax without limit.

Therefore, Zhu Jianyan's target inheritance tax collection ratio will not be too high.

But the specific amount, of course, needs to be discussed continuously, or it can be said to be drawn out.

The sooner this kind of thing is decided, the more "concessions" will be made, and the final tax rate will definitely be lower.

As the native emperor of this world, Zhu Jianyan is of course "stingy" by nature, so he will not rush to make a decision.

Instead, he intentionally procrastinated the matter.

After giving Shen Fu an order to ask the Ministry of Rites to formulate a return plan, he didn't say anything further.

The issue of levy points and tax rates was not raised at all.

If this issue is not discussed, it will obviously be collected according to the gift income tax rate among ordinary people.

It is obviously impossible for the ministers to just accept it.

So many ministers looked at Wang Tingzhen.

Because Wang Tingzhen and Lu Yinpu faced each other before and became a representative who opposed the collection of this part of the tax.

Now everyone naturally hopes that Wang Tingzhen will continue to take the lead in the charge.

But Wang Tingzhen was not in a hurry to speak this time.

Wang Tingzhen's idea is also very simple. When he was in line with Lu Yinpu before, the emperor did not show his attitude.

That was only the stage of disputes and discussions among courtiers.

Now the emperor has passed an order expressing his support for Lu Yinpu and Shen Fu.

I have to retreat a little bit.

If I jumped out immediately and continued to fight for a better tax rate, it would be considered as a direct confrontation with the will of the emperor.

Although everyone's goal is indeed to fight, it's not about me alone, and I can't always rush to the front.

The point is, the timing is not right now.

The emperor has appointed several people to be responsible for preparing the "plan", which must include the threshold and tax rate.

At the very least, I have to wait until this plan is made and the threshold and tax rate set by the other party are announced before discussing whether the data is appropriate.

The other party hasn't come up with a clear opinion, so I can't directly object without a goal.

Unless the personnel directly involved in the making of this plan take the initiative to ask the emperor how to arrange the tax rate before making the plan himself.

As the head of the government, I have no reason to intervene directly now.

The most suitable person to speak is Zhu Maoju, the chief criminal in charge of prisons.

Zhu Maoju is the clan of the royal family of Chu. According to his seniority, he is the elder brother of the emperor Zhu Jianyan, and his current title is the county king.

Zhu Maoju considered the current situation, and after some hesitation, he still chose to shut up.

In this dispute, the position of the clan is somewhat delicate.

The general collection of relative gift income tax and inheritance tax is of course detrimental to one's own interests.

However, this is also maintaining the rule of the Zhu Ming Dynasty.

The stable rule of the dynasty is the basis for these clans to maintain their status.

The Ming Dynasty is gone, and these high-ranking clans must not end well.

The current Ming Dynasty is indeed as stable as Mount Tai, and those businessmen who evaded taxes really made Zhu Maoju angry.

Therefore, the position of attacking this group of people must not waver in the slightest.

Even if I have an idea, I should talk to the emperor in private instead of asking openly at this time.

What's more, according to Shen Fu's opinion, whether to pay high income tax or not depends on the emperor's will.

The emperors after the ancestors have always maintained and taken care of the interests of the royal family.

If nothing else, the emperor should exempt all clans from this tax.

Correspondingly, the emperor must pass this tax to have a clearer grasp of the assets of the clan.

If you are not guilty, there is no need to argue with the emperor on this issue.

In addition, other ministers will definitely have opinions, so there is no need for me to stand up.

The other ministers and shopkeepers at the scene, after thinking about it for a while, also understood the situation at the scene.

With similar considerations as Wang Tingzhen, even if there is a problem, it should wait for Shen Fu and others to come up with a plan.

Thus, the discussion on income tax reform has come to an end for the time being.

Under the auspices of the emperor, the scene began to discuss and deal with other daily affairs.

At the same time, news of tax reform has spread across the country, from yesterday's newspaper to today's newspaper.

This reform, which obviously affects the interests of the vast majority of people, quickly became the hottest topic.

Yesterday, direct discussions were largely limited to top officials, and their immediate family and friends.

By this morning, the news had quickly spread to all aspects of Daming.

All walks of life throughout Daming started discussions during the busy breaks.

Some people even suspended the affairs in hand and gathered together to discuss.

The Gusu bank cooperated with businessmen to evade taxes through marriage, which opened the eyes of many scholars who were not involved in industry and commerce.

At the same time, the people involved in the Gusu Bank incident also became the targets of their reprimand.

In such an atmosphere, the main officials of the Jianghuai Province, of course, also knew the news.

At the same time, they also received orders from His Royal Highness Prince Dashi, the Jianghuai Chief Envoy and Governor of the South.

Call them again for a meeting this morning.

Most of Guan Yuanfang subconsciously thought that the issue of taxation must be discussed.

It is likely that the purpose is to urge the strict implementation of the imperial court’s order prohibiting marriage-related loans and investigating tax evasion.

Of course, everyone did not dare to be negligent, and they all rushed to the Wenhua Hall in the Forbidden City of Yingtian Mansion on time for a meeting.

After the meeting started, Zhu Jingyuan did insist on the orders of his grandfather and father first.

Officials in various departments are required to strictly implement it.

But the topic was quickly turned over, as if it was indeed just an order.

No additional special arrangements have been made for this matter.

Zhu Jingyuan quickly changed the subject:

"Okay, the task of the imperial court must be done well, and the reform of the New Deal on our side must also be accelerated.

"Speed ​​up the Jianghuai Province, and promote the implementation of new policies such as tickets, purchase restrictions, and simultaneous examination certificates in the southern region.

"Starting from this month, all officials in the Jianghuai area, all employees of the imperial consortium, and employees of government-run manufacturers will be issued general education certificates at the same time after completing the preliminary review.

"Strive to realize within three months the system of taking the general education examination certificate as the basic certificate.

"At the same time, the planning of the ticket system for royal and official houses and cars will be completed within this month, and trial operation will begin next month."

After the following officials finished listening, someone couldn't help asking:
"Your Highness, why did the imperial court arrange other affairs, and our affairs here have to be accelerated simultaneously. Shouldn't it be more secure to slow down a little?"

Zhu Jingyuan said very frankly:
"The reform of the income tax system will not be completed in a short time.

"It still takes a lot of time for the new law to be enacted, approved by the court, and finally implemented.

"As for the prohibition of marriage-related loans, it can basically be implemented with just one order, and follow-up regular inspections will do.

"The investigation of tax evasion is mainly the task of the dispatched agencies of the Central Government Office, and the task of our local counterparts is basically to cooperate and coordinate.

"The turmoil of public opinion on tax reform should be relatively large, and it may last for a long time.

"But no matter what, our local yamen has neither the opportunity nor the need to directly participate in it.

"We might as well take advantage of this time to advance our local as much as possible.

"If more people pay attention to the tax reform, the resistance to other reforms in our localities may be reduced.

"If our ticket and purchase restriction reforms attract the attention of wealthy businessmen in the south, it will also reduce the impact of the central court's tax reform.

"Then it will be able to participate in the tax reform of the central court."

What Zhu Jingyuan said was straightforward enough, and the officials at the scene quickly understood.

Local officials like themselves cannot interfere with the tax reform of the central government, and it is useless to think too much about it.

It is better to use the huge heat of tax reform to cover up the implementation of the ticket and purchase restriction system that would have had a huge impact.

(End of this chapter)