The Heavens: Starting from Traveling through Song Qingshu

Chapter 77 Meeting
Song Xuan's words determined the life and death of more than a dozen officials.

What surprised Zhu Yuanzhang was that in the entire hall, no one, whether civil or military, spoke to the decision of the general.

Not to mention objecting, no one came out to persuade them.

You must know that when Guo Zixing was under his command, even if Guo Zixing, the commander-in-chief, wanted to kill people, other officials and generals would inevitably speak out and make big troubles into small things.

This is the first time he has seen a situation like Song Xuan's absolute authority.

After deciding the life and death of more than a dozen officials, Song Xuan said calmly: "As for their family property, they will be directly confiscated and put into the treasury, and their family members will be demoted to slavery and sent to open up wasteland!"

Old Six nodded repeatedly.

Li Shanchang was even more ashamed and said: "It's the humble officials who are not strict in governing, and let the lord down!"

Song Xuan waved his hand, "When the stall is big, there will always be some moths, which is normal, just catch them and clean them up.

The administration of officials has been a big problem since ancient times. This is not something that can be solved overnight. Mr. Li does not need to blame himself. "

As he said that, he looked at Liu Bowen and said, "Mr. Liu, is the taxation in Zhejiang going well?"

Liu Bowen said with a smile: "Where the firearms of the tax department stand, no matter how stingy a businessman will be, he will only pay taxes honestly, so don't worry, my lord!"

"By the way, my lord, there are a lot of good things from the big families in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. During the tax collection period, I searched for some ointments for removing scars from the people, and I asked some soldiers to try them. The effect is very good. After using it a few times , the scars are barely visible."

Song Xuan said with satisfaction: "Mr. has a heart!"

Seeing this, Li Shanchang couldn't help feeling a little annoyed.

During this period of time, I was busy with government affairs, but I forgot about it. This is the favor of the future queen, and it fell into Liu Bowen's hands for no reason. It's a pity!
"By the way, I have something to discuss."

As he said that, Song Xuan took a stack of folders from a table on one side, and said: "These memorials are all from the Shangshu requesting the abolition of commercial taxes.

What do you think about saying that businessmen are not easy, and saying that they are competing for profits with the people? "

Li Shanchang was a little hesitant. As the lord's territory became bigger and bigger, many officials in the Ministry of the Interior came from the gentry class. He was naturally not surprised that those people proposed to abolish the commercial tax.

After all, among these gentry classes, who doesn't have a huge industry?

And the business tax set by the lord is one out of five according to the amount of revenue, which is not to say that the tax is not heavy.

Although he is the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he still needs to consider the wishes of his subordinates. Even if he wants to object, he is not good to be the first to speak.

Song Xuan's eyes swept over him, and he had a more accurate understanding of Li Shanchang's temperament.

This person's ability to handle government affairs is good, but he still lacks courage in doing things.

On the contrary, Liu Bowen, although he was born in a noble family, he was merciless in attacking those so-called gentry class, and he dared to speak out at critical moments.

"My lord, I believe that those who propose to abolish the commercial tax are either stupid or bad! You all know how rich the merchants in the south of the Yangtze River are.

Our Jinling regime can raise hundreds of thousands of soldiers, build firearms and forge warships, and even receive refugees to reclaim wasteland, and there is still a lot of money and food. The main source of it is commercial taxes!
The common people are struggling to farm the land with only a few dollars. Those who say that they want to abolish the commercial tax and increase the agricultural tax, one counts as one, and they should all be killed! "

Song Xuan smiled and said: "Mr. Liu, what you said offended all those businessmen and gentry to death!"

Liu Bowen didn't care and said, "As long as it's beneficial to the people, what's wrong with offending them?"

Song Xuan hummed, looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with a thoughtful expression on his face, and said, "General Zhu, what do you think?"

This general Zhu made Zhu Yuanzhang's heart skip a beat. He knew that the real test had begun.

If the answer is good, the positions of generals of their brothers can be regarded as settled.

"Marshal, I'm a warrior, and I don't know the principles of governing the country. I don't know how much I will charge if I don't collect taxes from merchants.

I was born as a farmer, and my parents, brothers and sisters all starved to death, so I had no choice but to become a monk.Later, there was nothing to eat in the temple, so he had no choice but to go out to beg, and by chance, he joined the rebel army.

We are a few brothers who have no great prospects. Our biggest wish since we were young is to have a big pancake for every meal and never be hungry.

For those of us warriors from peasant backgrounds, we really don’t care whether to collect commercial taxes or not. What we care about is how much tax farmers have to pay for a year of labor, and whether the food at home can support the family after paying the tax.

In our eyes, as long as we don't starve to death, we will be prosperous.

If you still have enough money to buy clothes for your family and buy a book for your children on the premise that you are full, then it is really a treat only for the people of the kingdom of heaven! "

Speaking of this, his voice even choked up, "I saw on the way here that the government is in charge of food, housing and housing to encourage land reclamation, and even distribute the land.

If back then, our family could meet a good official like you, Marshal, how great would it be?
As long as there is a way to survive, who is willing to take the risk of punishing the nine clans to rebel! "

What he said didn't have much profound truth, but what he said was very sincere. After hearing this, the civil and military officials in the hall were silent for a while.

Some of them came from grass roots, and some came from noble families, but to be honest, as long as anyone who can read and learn, even if the family is poor, they will definitely not be so difficult that they will starve to death.

There is almost no one who can really empathize with farmers like Zhu Yuanzhang!
Even if it was the lord Song Xuan who raised his troops to fight for the world, his biggest motivation was only to restore the glory of the Han family, and he didn't want this great river and mountain to fall into the hands of the Tartars.

After a long while, Song Xuan smiled and said: "Very good, this commander's mansion really needs an official who understands the suffering of the people and speaks from the perspective of farmers."

When he said this, Zhu Yuanzhang was a little embarrassed and smiled awkwardly.

At this moment, he felt a little annoyed.

Damn, I accidentally said too much. Does this young Marshal Song think that we have the ability to govern the country and want us to be civil servants?

Our old Zhu is really not that material!

"Okay, the business tax issue is here for the time being. Those who propose to abolish the business tax will be dismissed immediately! Those who propose to cut the business tax will be fined for half a year to see the effect.

Mr. Liu, write down these lists and see which families they come from. The taxes of these families will be increased by [-]% in the coming year! "

Liu Bowen immediately got up and took orders.

Song Xuan looked around and said: "I'm easy to talk, and I don't want to kill too much under normal circumstances, but the premise is that a person must have self-knowledge.

This time they came to test, I don't want to kill people, and next time, let Tsing Yi Wei come to talk to them!
When Mr. Liu collects taxes, he can clearly tell them this sentence! "

(End of this chapter)