I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 87 This is a notification, not a discussion

In Kyoto, at the house of a traveling girl in Hana Street, the wealthy businessman Mitsui Hachiemon summoned Ono Zensuke, Yamatoya Sobei and other businessmen.

Mitsui Hachiroemon was filled with indignation and said: "For more than 200 years since Kami-kun founded the shogunate, the shogunate has not collected commercial taxes from us. This time the court wants to collect taxes, which is against the rules!"

Ono Zensuke sighed and said: "Who knows if this tax collection is an excuse? I don't know how much it will be collected. Why should the court take away our hard-earned money?"

Yamatoya Shohei said with a worried face: "The person in charge of taxation is Yagyu Battosai, the director of the Shinsengumi. He has charged us management fees before. If he is in charge of business tax, he will definitely charge it."

"That's all our money!" Mitsui Hachiemon said angrily, "We have worked hard to open up financial channels and earn a small profit, but he actually wants to rob us of our money. It's really hateful!"

Yamatoya Sobei advised: "But what can we do if we don't give money? I'm afraid that by then the business will not be able to continue."

Ono Zensuke said distressedly: "Where is the shogunate? Will those shogunate officials just ignore it?"

Mitsui Hachiroemon made up his mind and said: "No matter what, we have to make the court give up the idea of ​​collecting taxes. Whether it is bribing the shogunate officials or the court ministers, we have to stop this."

According to Mitsui Hachiroemon, spending a sum of money now to prevent the court from collecting commercial taxes can avoid annual losses.

There are many businessmen such as Mitsui Hachiroemon who are not willing to give in. Businessmen such as Konoikeya Zenemon in Osaka and Sumitomo Kichizaemon are also trying their best to solve business tax issues.

Konoikeya Zen'emon and Sumitomo Kichizaemon went to Okubo Toshimichi of the Satsuma Domain to discuss: "Okubo-sama, collecting business taxes is something that has been unheard of for hundreds of years. If we collect money from humble people like us, we will give The court brings misfortune.”

Okubo Toshimichi naturally did not believe the nonsense of these wealthy businessmen. He shook his head and said: "This is the decision of the imperial court, and we can't stop it."

Sumitomo Kichizaemon said anxiously: "Did the shogunate and Lord Shimazu just let Yagyu Battousai do whatever he wanted?"

Okubo Toshimichi frowned and said: "Yagyu-sama has the support of the emperor, which is not something you can evaluate!"

Zenemon smiled and said, "Okubo-sama, please calm down and give me some guidance. I don't know what Yagyu-sama likes. I want to pay a visit to Yagyu-sama."

Okubo Toshimichi shook his head and said: "I don't know about this, but I can serve as an intermediary and introduce you to Lord Yagyu."

"That's really troublesome Okubo-sama!"

……

In Kyoto, in the Military Guards Mansion, Yagyu was discussing the amount of tax with a young man.

Yagyu said: "I plan to break down the business tax. The first one is business tax. Those who open stores charge 5.00% to 20.00% according to the quota.

One is value-added tax. This tax is a commercial tax charged based on the difference between the cost of the goods and the sales price. The amount ranges from 5.00% to [-]%.

In addition, additional taxes are specified for some best-selling commodities such as wine and silk fabrics, ranging from 30.00% to [-]%.

High-priced items are subject to a luxury tax.

There is also the individual income tax for the townspeople, which is provided to those townspeople who do not have land and get paid by participating in handicrafts. Those small vendors are also included. However, this personal income tax has a limit, that is, the townspeople whose income can only provide food and clothing are not included. , that is to say, there is a threshold, and residents of the town below this threshold are not taxed. "

Shibusawa Eiichi recorded what Yagyu said about the tax system. He was a little puzzled and said: "Mr. Yagyu, since you follow the example of Western countries in reforming the tax system, why don't you set up a bank?"

Yagyu prefers Eiichi Shibusawa, who is known as the "Father of Japanese Enterprises", "King of Japanese Finance", "Leader of Japan's Modern Economy", "Father of Japanese Capitalism", "Leader of Modern Japanese Business" With titles such as "Father", he is a rare financial talent.

To complete the transformation, Yagyu cannot do without the help of financial talents.

The emergence of Shibusawa Eiichi just filled a big vacancy in Yagyu.

Shibusawa Eiichi came from a peasant family, and his family also ran a business. However, because he was not a samurai, his social status was low and he was often blackmailed and insulted by the lord's agents who came to collect donations.

This left a deep impression on Shibusawa Eiichi in his youth, which not only gave him a strong desire to become a samurai in order to enjoy equal treatment as others, but also gave him a strong rebellious and innovative spirit.

Coinciding with the rise of the trend of respecting the king and fighting the foreigners, Shibusawa Eiichi and his fellow villagers joined the wave of respecting the king and fighting the foreigners. However, after the August [-]th coup and the decline of the foreigners, Shibusawa Eiichi left Edo and came to Kyoto.

Yagyu came to power by virtue of the August [-]th coup and his participation in the conference. While searching for the ronin of the anti-barbarian faction in Kyoto, he discovered Shibusawa Eiichi and recruited him.

Yagyu explained: "The current imperial court is still in name only. The land and people in this world are in the hands of the shogunate and various feudal lords. If the imperial court wants to establish a national bank, it first needs a unified country.

The innovations I am making now are just to enhance the strength of the imperial court, and then take back power from the shogunate and vassal states bit by bit. However, we can wait until the factory is built and the imperial court has a stable income, then we can try to establish a bank. Laying the foundation for a national bank. "

Shibusawa Eiichi has been exposed to some Western financial knowledge, and now various Western works have flowed into Japan.

Shibusawa Eiichi can now read Western works without any problems.

Shibusawa Eiichi still had many questions about the commercial tax proposed by Yagyu, and he and Yagyu continued to discuss the details of the commercial tax.

……

After Okubo Toshimichi accepted the request of Zenemon Konoike and Kichizaemon Sumitomo, he immediately found his boss Komatsu to discuss with him.

The current Satsuma Domain has become so powerful through in-depth cooperation with the British that even Hitotsubashi Yoshiki and others have to consider the Satsuma Domain when dealing with Choshu.Therefore, the Satsuma clan has always been dissatisfied with Yagyu standing over them and dictating.

Okubo Toshimichi told Komatsu Daito about the merchants' dissatisfaction with the tax collection and said: "Yagyu Battosai has not communicated with these wealthy merchants until now. This is our opportunity."

Komatsu, who was wearing a sword, shook his head and said: "The power of the merchants is too weak. Even if they have control of the money and can control the goods on the market, who is Yagyu Battousai? How can he be a merchant who can even be bullied by the shogunate? Executioner Battosai's rival?

Once these merchants cause trouble, Battousai will not hesitate to pick up the butcher's knife and make these merchants surrender. Even if these merchants cause trouble in a short time, they will soon be replaced by new merchants. The merchants are unreliable, so we still don't want to fight with them. Yagyu clashes head-on.

Yagyu helped the court gain the power to collect taxes. Even if it was just commercial tax, the shogunate would definitely be dissatisfied if they wanted to come. Wait for the shogunate to take action. No matter how weak the shogunate is, it still has more than 200 years of heritage. They will not just watch the court ignore the shogunate. "

Okubo Toshimichi put away his petty thoughts and immediately visited Yagyu and explained his purpose.

Yagyu thought to himself: How could the Satsuma clan be so kind?
However, Yagyu did not refuse Okubo Toshimichi's request. He decided to chat with several representatives of wealthy businessmen.

For Yagyu, these wealthy businessmen are not scary, especially businessmen in the financial industry like Konochiya. Although the world says that Konochi is angry and the princes of the world are shocked, it is very scary, but these big names will not conflict with Yagyu over debts, maybe They would be relieved if Yagyu killed Konochiya.

For the sake of Okubo Toshimichi, Yagyu summoned big businessmen from Kyoto and Osaka at the Flower Street Tour Girl's House. Basically, all businessmen with a wealth of more than 1 taels of silver came forward to participate in the banquet.

In the hall of the house, Yagyu sat at the top, and several wealthy businessmen such as Konoike Zenemon, Sumitomo Kichizaemon, Mitsui Hachiemon and other wealthy businessmen sat near Yagyu.

The group accompanied the smiling faces and boasted about Yagyu's achievements.

After boasting a few words about Yagyu's leadership in founding the country, Konoike Zenemon asked: "Mr. Yagyu, the shogunate has always mentioned this matter of business tax, and we businessmen have never paid it to the shogunate. Now the court wants to collect taxes, isn’t it against the rules?”

Yagyu held the wine glass and placed it heavily on the table. He squinted at Zenemon Konoike and said, "Are you the one who has the final say on the rules? You just drank too much and your mind is not clear?"

Konoike Zenemon was frightened by Yagyuichi, and he was so frightened that he trembled all over, and apologized: "The villain drank too much, drank too much."

Yagyu snorted coldly and looked at several other wealthy businessmen and said: "I don't care what the rules of the shogunate are. The rules of the court are the rules now. You businessmen can earn much more money than those farmers who dig food in the fields.

Just say that you, Hongchiwu, earn as much as 50 taels of silver a year by selling silk, controlling rice prices, and taking loans.

Besides, Mitsui, Sumitomo and your family make no less money than the shogunate every year, right?You make so much money and spend so much money on food and clothing that your social atmosphere has deteriorated.

Besides, you can make so much money because you are protected by the state, so you can do business safely.

It costs money for the state to ensure your safety. How much money can those farmers provide?You have made so much money, do you have any problem with using some to contribute to the country? "

Mitsui Hachiemon said dissatisfied: "But this is similar to robbery, otherwise we are forced to pay."

Yagyu slapped Mitsui Hachiroemon to the ground with a backhand, and cursed: "You bastard, how dare you slander the imperial court? If there is no country to protect you, I will make you disappear tonight. Don't think that one of the Mitsui family is missing. The world will be in chaos, and I can support a merchant to replace you at any time.

Listen up, you guys, there are many people who like money, but you are not willing to do it. There are people who do it, and the imperial court is not the shogunate. "

Konoike Zenemon quickly apologized: "Yagyu-sama, calm down, calm down, we will pay the business tax, we will definitely pay it!"

Only then did Yagyu put away his anger and said with a straight face: "Collecting taxes is cutting off your flesh. I know you are dissatisfied, but I am helping you. Although the shogunate does not collect commercial taxes, it still looks down on you. Those shogunate officials bully you at will. you.

But now that you are paying taxes for the country, it is different. The court's move has improved your status and become the cornerstone of the country like the farmers.

In the future, as long as you pay taxes in time, the court will ensure your business environment and improve your status, no longer inferior to others. "

When Zenemon Konoike and others heard this, they felt a little undecided. In the past, they needed to bribe officials to do business. The amount of the bribe was not certain. If someone was too greedy, accepting money and not doing things would only result in losing everything. In short, everything depends on the situation. The official's mood.

Yagyu's side has clearly stated that it is much more stable than bribery.

Konoike Zenemon asked: "I wonder how much business tax Yagyu-sama plans to collect?"

Yagyu then showed a smile and said: "We are still discussing the details, but this commercial tax will roughly account for between [-]% and [-]% of your trade volume."

"Two to three percent, that's a bit much..."

"If you pay so much tax, you will have to eat chaffy vegetables in the future..."

"Can it be less..."

When the businessmen in the room heard the approximate tax rate given by Yagyu, their faces suddenly fell. Everyone immediately whispered and complained.

Konoike Zenemon was also twitching with distress. He bit the bullet and begged, "Yagyu-sama, it's hard to do business now. Isn't the tax rate too high?"

Yagyu said with a tough look: "Is this too much? Compared with farmers' tax rates, I am already very tolerant. I am just informing you, not discussing with you.

Paying taxes is your obligation as a member of the country. If anyone dares to evade taxes and is caught by me, he will only have his family confiscated and his family exterminated. "

Liu Sheng clapped his hands, stood up and left immediately.

(End of this chapter)