Daming 1805

Chapter 477
On June 11, the [-]th year of Ankang in the Ming Dynasty, the special train of Emperor Zhu Jianyan of the Ming Dynasty arrived at Yingtianfu.

Prince Zhu Jingyuan, chief envoy of Jianghuai Province, led the main officials of Jianghuai Province to greet him at the special royal station.

After the simple ceremony, accompanied by Zhu Jingyuan, Zhu Jianyan entered the Forbidden City of Yingtianfu.

If the emperor came to Yingtian Mansion normally, then he would directly live in Qianqing Palace.

The Supreme Emperor Zhu Zhongliang was also here, and Zhu Jianyan also came with something to do, so he went directly to meet the Supreme Emperor.

After a brief salutation and greeting, Zhu Jianyan asked his attendants to put the materials he had brought on the table, then dismissed the other attendants, and the three of them started the internal meeting of the royal family.

Zhu Jianyan immediately complained to Zhu Zhongliang:
"Your heart is really big! You can really think of anything!"

After complaining a few words, Zhu Jianyan looked at his father again:

"You are always used to him, and you still want to do these big things, and you are always pushing the flames..."

Zhu Zhongliang blew on his beard:

"Aren't you very cooperative, the momentum has already been created.

"Rich households all over the world know that the emperor is going to build a new palace, which has raised the prices of construction workers and building materials.

"Don't talk about this, let me see what those people from the Ministry of Construction have designed..."

Zhu Zhongliang went directly to hold what Zhu Jianyan brought.

Zhu Jingyuan stayed silent with his smiling face, and his eyes were mainly on those things.

The grandpa and grandson discovered that the stack of documents on the top was the latest tax reform review draft.

It has basically been finalized. If the emperor has no other amendments, Zhu will approve and seal it, and let the Ministry of Punishment issue it, and it will take effect.

These two tax reforms are indeed more important than building a new palace.

The grandfather and grandson immediately took a copy and looked through it.

Zhu Jianyan was asked back by his father, and he didn't speak directly, holding a cup and drinking tea by himself.

Seeing the two flipping through the documents, Zhu Jianyan casually mentioned:

"Father, Jingyuan, you two should also take a look. If you have no objections, I will issue it."

Zhu Zhongliang read it roughly and said:

"If you want to ask my suggestion, it is to increase the investigation and punishment of tax evasion and tax evasion.

"Dongchang can take the lead and set up a special special service agency with executive powers to investigate and deal with tax evasion.

"In addition, the general basic tax-free zone is given on the basis of no crime and no tax evasion within a certain period of time.

"Then it should be retracted when similar things happen, not just not being found out at the time.

"For example, before a person inherits the family business, he has not been found to have evaded taxation and obtained tax-exempt status.

"But after that tax evasion was discovered, whether it was before or after the succession happened, the tax should be pursued.

"We can't let the parties develop a mentality that everything will be fine if they run away.

"The ten-year period should not only be before the inheritance, but also continue to be maintained after the inheritance.

"At least for ten years, there must be no new tax evasion, so as to be completely exempt from recovery.

“What I’m talking about here is when it actually happened.

"As long as it is tax evasion, it occurs within ten years before and after the time of inheritance.

"Whenever it is discovered, it must be recovered retrospectively.

"That means there is an unlimited period of recourse."

Zhu Jianyan nodded slowly as he listened:
"Father is very considerate, so I'll let them add it when I go back, Jing Yuan, do you have any opinions?"

Zhu Jingyuan also turned around for a while, and the things in his mind were slightly different from those of his father and grandfather.

What Zhu Jingyuan is concerned about is, first, the changes in the deliberation draft of the new tax system compared to the original plan.

The tax-free point has been moved down, and the tax-free conditions have been relaxed.

The second is the conditions for special relief.

Taking the highest grade above 500 million silver bills as an example, the default tax rate is 40.00%, which is very high.

However, according to the basic exemption conditions, if the party has no record of crime and tax evasion within ten years, he can directly reduce half of the exemption.

The tax rate has directly changed to 20.00%. This condition is very clear, and there is nothing to say.

On top of this, there are special exemption conditions.

After being reviewed by the chief envoy and the Ministry of Rites, according to the amount and proportion, it can be further reduced or returned with the approval of the Minister of Rites, Zong Bo, and the emperor.

There is no major problem with this setup itself.

But the conditions for review by the Ministry of Rites and the conditions for approval are very vague.

There is a lot of room for "humanization" in this.

To put it bluntly, it is easy to breed corruption.

At the same time, in the society of Ming Dynasty, the richer the family with more assets, the better the political connections.

The highest-ranking imperial clans can directly meet with the emperor to make a request.

In other words, the richer the family, the more they can use this "humanized" plan to reduce or exempt more taxes for themselves.

These people should all feel that they have the opportunity to completely avoid this last part of the tax.

This should be the reason why the current version of the tax law can be approved by court ministers, clans, and nobles.

This natural logic, combined with the previous adjustment to reduce the tax-free point, actually shifts the subject of taxation from the richest class down a certain distance.

From the heaviest in the richest class, it has been adjusted to the heaviest in the middle and upper classes.

The most wealthy groups have a high probability of being completely tax-free through contacts and relationships.

Traditional aristocrats and clans with a traditional multi-party layout basically have a network of relationships that fit their status.

On the contrary, the new type of merchant families, especially those "upstarts" who got rich quickly, may not be able to keep up with the rhythm.

Wealth far exceeds the threshold, and there are not enough contacts to complete further tax exemption applications.

They may be the actual main payers of estate tax and gift tax.

It is also a key group that triggers corruption.

If there is no existing relationship, then you have to spend money to establish a relationship with traditional bureaucrats.

This incident can be said to be very typical, showing the "tradition" of the traditional society of Ming Dynasty.

The main body of the ruling group in Ming Dynasty was composed of nobles and professional bureaucrats.

Therefore, the tax laws they formulated must be beneficial to themselves.

Their instinctive joint target is still an emerging pure business family.

Many of them can do business themselves, which is one of the starting points for them to target pure businessmen.

If implemented according to the current plan, this tax reform will have the opposite effect on the British inheritance tax and property tax.

That is the method used by the British bourgeois government to get money from the traditional aristocracy.

After thinking about it, Zhu Jingyuan put forward several ideas of his own:
"Father, my son thinks that we should focus on supervising the integrity of officials responsible for special tax exemption approval.

"Corruption is easy to occur here, and special personnel should be arranged to supervise it.

"At the same time, no matter what level the examiner is, as long as it is a special tax exemption approval, the most important thing is to be reviewed by the emperor.

"You must get permission from your father, Emperor Zhu, before you can go through the tax refund procedures.

"If the emperor doesn't approve, then he can't withdraw.

"At the same time, Emperor Father can ask Dongchang to set up a special agency to conduct a comprehensive investigation of tax evasion and criminal behavior for all families who have submitted additional tax refund applications.

"It's not so easy to get through the special tax refund application.

"Even basically impossible to pass."

Zhu Jianyan was taken aback for a moment, then nodded slowly:
"What Jingyuan said makes sense, the most important power of approval should indeed be held in the hands of the emperor.

"However, this is the tax law that I organize to handle. Of course, I want to approve some, after the strict review is completed.

"As for whether future generations are willing to approve according to my standards, then I can't control it..."

Zhu Zhongliang laughed directly when he heard this:
"Jian Yan, your kid has also learned badly..."

Zhu Jingyuan's idea was actually to hand over the heaviest approval for additional applications to the emperor.

At the same time, extremely strict review of additional tax rebates is used, and even rogue-style stays are not issued, so that the additional tax rebates exist in name only.

My father understands this purpose, but said that he will do it towards this goal, but he will not refuse to approve it completely.

At the same time, let the emperor behind him pretend not to like the new law established by his father.

So I don't want to implement it honestly, or even make a trip on purpose.

Let the extra tax allowance exist in name only.

This transformation process is very reasonable, as long as the subsequent emperor is a little tougher, it should be relatively smooth.

Only by directly cutting off the extra tax exemption can we use the rigid unified progressive tax rate to really get money from the richest class.

Of course, emerging pure industrial and commercial families also pay taxes.

After the extra tax rebates for special applications exist in name only, it will also reduce the possibility of them specifically engaging in corruption.

After Zhu Jingyuan thought it through, he smiled and bowed to his father:
"Father Emperor Shengming!"

Zhu Jianyan smiled and waved his hands:
"That's it for the new tax law. When I get back, I'll have someone write down the public proposals of Father Huang and Jingyuan.

"This matter should be over, and the next thing is the big projects you mentioned, Jing Yuan.

"Let's first take a look at the design proposals for the new palace and the office building of the new Central Government Office.

"The Ministry of Construction has come up with a lot of plans, and I am a little bit undecided on my side, and I am not completely satisfied.

"Father, Jingyuan, you two should also come to give advice..."

Zhu Zhongliang put down the documents of the new tax law and went to check the stack of design drawings below.

Zhu Jingyuan also squeezed to Grandpa's side, and the two of them looked at the various blueprints together.

Zhu Jianyan sat on the other side and gave the most basic introduction to the grandpa and grandson here.

Zhu Zhongliang and Zhu Jingyuan, the grandparents, were a little confused by the most radical design proposal when they first came up.

Zhu Zhongliang doubted his ears a bit:

"Second, what are you talking about? Start at 400 meters? How high is the old mountain in Jiangbei? It's only 400 meters, right?"

Zhu Jianyan was very satisfied seeing this reaction, he was so surprised at the beginning:

"Yes, the people from the Ministry of Construction said that they can ensure a height of 400 meters.

"We already have corresponding technical accumulation, and we also arranged for craftsmen to participate in the construction of new high-rise buildings in various countries in Thailand and the West.

"The biggest problem is that in order to build and effectively use such a tall building, the traditional palace layout must be changed.

"The most important question is whether it is acceptable to stack the functions of the Taimiao, Fengtian Hall, Wenhua Hall and other palaces one above the other.

"Regarding this issue, I would like to ask the Pope's opinion on..."

After all, Zhu Zhongliang is an old emperor who has experienced strong winds and waves, and he quickly digested the impact of the 400-meter-high building:

"If a 400-meter-high building is not used to live in people, it will not be used for daily office work.

"Just holding various ceremonies, and it is an official ceremony, without considering commercialization, it is really difficult to use it effectively.

"When 400 meters are stacked, the internal space is too large...

"Jing Yuan, what do you think?"

Zhu Jingyuan's surprise was not the same as Zhu Zhongliang's.

Zhu Zhongliang was amazed that a 400-meter-high building could be built, and Zhu Jingyuan was surprised that such a tall building could already be built.

Zhu Jingyuan had seen taller buildings in his previous life.

Speaking of which, the height of the Empire State Building, which was completed in 380, has soared to [-] meters.

If you think about it this way, there is actually no problem at all in building a 400-meter-tall building in Daming.

When the craftsman faced the emperor, in order to avoid that what he said could not be realized, he might say a conservative estimate.

Let them build a 500-meter building, and they should be able to build it.

Zhu Jingyuan slowed down faster than Zhu Zhongliang, and after listening to the conversation between Zhu Zhongliang and Zhu Jianyan, another question came into his mind.

My grandfather and father, who have experienced very practical education and training, are really a bit "stingy":

"My thought was, what is the concept of efficient use?

"The higher hall I want to build exists as a symbol of the empire's authority.

"If this purpose can be achieved, it should be regarded as an effective use.

"Grandpa, father, are you still planning to make money from this building?

"The current Fengtian Temple can be used several times a year, so it can't be said that it is not used effectively?
"Even, our family's several palaces and palaces all over the world are idle most of the time."

Upon hearing this, the father and two next to him immediately turned around.

Then I was a little speechless.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhu Zhongliang couldn't help but say:

"Even so, it's still a bit of a waste to put such a huge space...

"It is 400 meters high, but the interior needs to be wide enough, and there is also a platform with a larger area of ​​hundreds of meters. How much does it cost?
"The cost of building this building is probably enough to build an independent palace..."

Zhu Jianyan also nodded:

"I also feel that way……"

Zhu Jingyuan smiled and said:
"Then just don't make it so high, isn't our original plan 200 meters..."

As a result, Zhu Zhongliang immediately said again:

"That's too low...

"Since we can build a building of 400 meters, the Thai and Western people must be able to build a building of more than 200 meters, or even more than 300 meters.

"The tall buildings of the Taixi people will soon surpass our main hall."

Zhu Jingyuan immediately continued to persuade:
"The cathedrals of the Tessi are much taller than our halls...

"Taixi's intellectuals are reflecting on whether it is really worth spending so much money on building churches.

"If it is used to develop industry and commerce, or even directly used for agricultural development, is it more in line with his divine intention...

"In Western countries, over-built buildings are often pointed out as having low aesthetics.

"Multi-layers similar to Daming are the best artistic sense, and they are also the most comfortable to live in and use..."

Hearing these words, Zhu Zhongliang still seemed very entangled:
"Hold on... read the design draft first, see what the craftsmen have in mind, and then talk about it..."

So the three grandparents continued to turn over the design plan.

After looking through it roughly, Zhu Zhongliang was still hesitant, so he looked at Zhu Jingyuan:
"What do you think, Jing Yuan? Do you have any ideas?"

Zhu Jingyuan looked at his father, because he wanted to diverge from some of the ideas his father introduced before:

"I think it should be feasible in terms of direction to make the platform under the palace as large as possible, pour it with reinforced concrete and make it hollow.

"It would be too wasteful to pour concrete into a solid platform with an area of ​​several square kilometers and a height of hundreds of meters.

"Even if more than half of the space is left inside, it will not affect the firmness of the structure.

"But this internal space should not be used as the office building of the Central Government Office, it is really a bit like an underground palace.

"Having civil and military officials work in a place similar to an underground palace is mentally tortured.

"I think it should be used as a symbolic space to store some special items.

"For example, various types of soil and water, and specimens of staple food seeds and agricultural plants from around the world.

"And the most important tools and machinery, from rakes and spinning wheels to internal combustion engines and electric motors, and tractors and generators.

"Plus all typical means of transport, from horse-drawn carriages to bicycles to automobiles and airplanes, and typical ships from various eras.

"As well as various types of weapons and equipment, from swords, guns, swords and halberds to cannons and aircraft, and a model that can be used to put an atomic bomb in the future.

"In addition to various typical books from ancient times to the present, from a subset of classics and history to science and technology, including drawings of various important inventions.

"There are also various musical instruments, calligraphy and pictures, as well as daily necessities that are widely circulated among the people.

"In the future, there will be new and milestone new things and technologies, and they will also be stored and displayed in it.

"Overall similar to a museum, but not the most typical one.

"It is a symbolic display and preservation, and it is usually not open to the public.

"Only when certain ceremonies are held, certain groups of people are allowed to visit and worship.

"The symbolism of this design is that our civilization is built on these things.

"They are the roots and records of our clan and dynasty that continue to this day.

"Even, there can be another idea.

"Even if everything outside is destroyed, as long as there are still people who open this underground palace-like warehouse, we can rebuild our civilization according to the information inside."

Zhu Zhongliang and Zhu Jianyan, two generations of emperors, couldn't help but nodded slightly when they heard this.

Zhu Zhongliang's direct and clear support:

"That's good, this is actually another form of the Sajitan, a more modern design.

"Or in other words, according to the needs of the new era, the functions that should be added to the altar of society have been improved again.

"Placing the most important function of the Altar of Sheji under the main hall, there is no need to build tall buildings for the Altar of Altar.

"The place where the altar of the country should be planned should still be displayed mainly with soil and fields."

(End of this chapter)