Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 290 Great Ming Economic Conference
In the twinkling of an eye, it was the twelfth lunar month of the 18th year of Chongzhen, and the climate of the small ice still existed. The snowstorm swept across the entire city of Nanjing, and there was almost no intention of stopping. Even the Forbidden City was covered with white snow like a thick layer of cotton wool.

"It's another year of snow in Jinling, and I don't know how many Han people in the north will freeze to death at this time."

On this day, Zhu Youjian was sitting around the stove talking with Fan Jingwen, the chief assistant of the cabinet and the secretary of the household department, Qi Biaojia, the right servant of the household department, and Liu Wanchun, the left servant of the household department.

At the same time, Han Shoujing from the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty, Yang Mingshen and Wang Jiaqin were also present.

Liu Wanchun, the left servant of the household department, was directly promoted from the office of the Sichuan Qingli Department of the household department.

According to the historical rules of the Ministry of Households of the Ming Dynasty, the Nanzhili Mansion, the State, and the Weisuo were concurrently under the leadership of the Sichuan Qing Officials Department.

Today, the world's top taxes are commercial taxes and customs duties.

And Nanzhili is the richest district in the world, with the largest proportion of taxes.

According to the final statistics of this tax collection, Liu Wanchun contributed the most and is also the official who knows the household registration tax of Nanzhili best.

As a result, Zhu Youjian was directly promoted to the left servant of the household department.

According to the previous rules, the Zuo Shilang of the household department is a senior official of the third rank, and he needs to be pushed or discussed by the court.

However, Liu Wanchun was directly promoted from Hubu Langzhong to Hubu Youshilang, which obviously did not conform to the Ming Dynasty civil service rules, but Zhu Youjian now intends to break the rigid civil service rules, so he directly promoted Liu Wanchun to the position of minister.

After all, transferring officials from other departments or promoting officials to serve as the left servant of the household department will undoubtedly affect the administrative efficiency and quality of the household department.

Gossip less, when Zhu Youjian said this, Fan Jingwen, the chief assistant of the cabinet, naturally responded:
"Your Majesty's sympathy for the people of the world is really a blessing for the country, but now that you think about it, if your Majesty hadn't moved south, regrouped, and overcome the trend of the Hu people going south, I am afraid that the people in the south will also suffer from this snowstorm. Fortunately, now The imperial court also had money and food, and His Majesty even divided the vassal land and the unclaimed land of criminal officials. Almost all the refugees in the southern border also had a place to live. Silk mills and water conservancy projects make a living, so that people will not die of cold and starvation.”

"As the elder Ge said, although your majesty cares about the people of the world, you should also pay attention to your health. In the future, you will need your majesty's blessing to save the people of the Han family in the north."

After Liu Wanchun, the left servant of the household department, said, Zhu Youjian just smiled lightly.

As Fan Jingwen said, if the Duduo tribe and the Azige tribe hadn't been wiped out, the entire Guanzhong area would have fallen into a mess no matter whether it was north or south.

Fortunately, in the 18th year of Chongzhen, that is, the winter of [-] AD in the Western calendar, there has been no war for the time being.

Zhu Youjian's mood at this time is also much more relaxed than last year.

He no longer had to worry about whether Daming would be destroyed by the Qing Dynasty, at least he, the emperor, would no longer be in any danger.

No matter how heavy the wind and snow is, it will not affect the quality of life of the emperor.

Chinese New Year is coming soon, just like ordinary people would sum up how much money they earned last year.

At this time, Zhu Youjian called the officials of the household department to the Qianqing Palace to ask Daming's current financial situation in advance, and to issue his expectations for the household department and the central bank of Daming next year in advance.

Zhu Youjian yawned. Last night he played too hard with Queen Zhou, which made him feel a little sleep deprived. He had to let Chen Yuanyuan rub some on his temples to refresh himself. At the same time, he said to Fan Jingwen and others:
"As soon as the commercial tax was levied this year, it can be seen that the people of our Ming Dynasty are still very rich. Although agriculture is the foundation of our Ming Dynasty, business cannot be restrained. Now the world's population is increasing, and the territory has been reduced by half. A large number of people in the north have moved. In the south of the Yangtze River, coupled with the fact that the temperature is decreasing year by year, the agricultural output is not as good as before, so business should be vigorously promoted;

This can not only increase the tax next year, but also attract some landless people to work, which can be regarded as a method of substituting work for relief;

Liu Wanchun, the left servant of the household department, you have to think of ways to promote business as soon as possible, especially after the Daming Central Bank lends money, many people have money in their hands, you have to give these people a way to make money in business;

In my opinion, the wayfinding system can be abolished, and farmers’ markets and commercial markets can be established in various town centers, and some industries can be gradually opened up to allow private operations, such as some mining and some manufacturing industries, and certain political preferential treatment can be given to large taxpayers, etc.;

In addition, with regard to tariffs, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Zhangzhou Yuegang and other places should further open up and establish a number of special zones. class;
Moreover, in the future, the governors of Zhili in southern Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places, as well as the doctors of the household departments, will be selected from these officials, and these special zones will further reduce the government's restrictions on people's business;
Not only the people of the country but also the foreigners from other countries, we need to create areas to allow merchants passing through the countries to live and stay, provide trading venues, reduce the official review process, and let Daming open up a little more since the opening of Longwan!
Zero tariffs can be implemented for Western artillery, firearms, and navigation equipment that we urgently need, but we must strictly crack down on and ban the sale of drugs and other products that are harmful to the people. "

Liu Wanchun, the left servant of the Household Department, nodded and said yes, he understood His Majesty's deep meaning in doing this, and also knew that his task next year would be very heavy, and all of what His Majesty mentioned was to make next year's tax revenue climb to a new height again, He didn't dare to neglect, but he had to ask his own question:
"Your Majesty, will the Zheng family's wealth grow further if it is further switched on? This Zheng family is already the wealthiest family among the people. If it continues like this, I'm afraid it will become incomparably rich."

"It doesn't matter, the Zheng family has benefited, but the court and the people of the world will benefit even more. The bigger the customs are, the bigger the overseas market will be. At that time, there will be more merchants in the country, and the business scale will be bigger. , the domestic tax can also be raised;
A large number of tea, porcelain, silk and other things are not sold. How to make domestic merchants make money and how to make them pay more taxes? As long as the market is further opened, there will be more and more domestic merchants, and the money they can earn More and more, business tax revenue can increase;

Daming is still the center of the world, and the main income is commercial tax revenue. Half of the export tax and all import taxes are in our hands, plus part of the personal income tax. At that time, the main part of the new wealth will still flow into the court. For the national treasury, the increase in wealth of the Zheng family is not as fast as that of the imperial court. Only when the imperial court’s income from commercial taxes and customs duties increases can it further reduce or exempt agricultural taxes. In this year when the temperature drops, it will give farmers a chance to breathe;

After the promotion of business this year and next year, coupled with natural disasters, it will inevitably cause the price of agricultural products to rise, and the taxes of the people in various places will have to be further reduced to restrain the price of agricultural products from rising too fast, which will increase the cost of living of the people;

However, the income of farmers and common people will also increase, but the Ministry of Household Affairs has to order the chief ministers of all localities to issue policies to limit landlords’ rent increases. rent and cannot survive. "

(End of this chapter)