back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 19 Special Economic Zones (Signed and updated)
Lu Chengqi nodded in satisfaction, and said: "Shoufu is right, this matter really shouldn't be rushed, it's because I was careless." What he said was just to give Xu Chongguang face.The cabinet was newly established and its prestige had not yet been established. Lu Chengqi had high hopes for the cabinet he founded, so he naturally wanted to save face, so he went down the steps.

Lu Chengqi continued: "The reform of the tax system is an important matter for the country and must be carefully considered. I have an idea. How about setting up a special zone in the capital?"

Lin Zhenzhong was the new Minister of the Household Department, and asked quickly: "May I ask Your Majesty, what kind of thing is the special zone?"

"The special zone, as the name suggests, is different from other places. I want to promote the tax system reform first in the capital, and it is limited to Chang'an City and Jingzhao Mansion. What do you think?"

Xu Chongguang said: "This move is feasible." After he said so, naturally no one objected.Lu Chengqi was actually very worried, after all, what he did was aimed at the feudal landlord class.The tax reform is only the first step. The next step is to disintegrate the landlord class and the small peasant economy and release the land.He didn't dare to say that, after all, this dynasty was still a feudal society with a land-based small-scale peasant economy.The power of this class is really too great, so big that Lu Chengqi dare not reveal his inner thoughts a little bit, he can only slowly, step by step, erode its foundation, and finally completely overthrow it.

Lu Chengqi said: "If commerce develops, tax revenue will naturally increase. And those peasant households who have no land can come to Jingzhao Mansion to find a living. In the past, this kind of thing was looked down upon by the world. If the imperial court guides it, it will definitely change a lot. In this way As a result, a large number of redundant manpower can be absorbed, and the possibility of rebellion is also reduced. I think there are many benefits to developing commercial taxation. The cabinet needs to come up with a plan. I will see it tomorrow, and the Ministry of Households will also do its best to help. Slack."

Xu Chongguang and other twelve ministers all agreed. Lin Zhenzhong had just taken office, so he naturally wanted to light the three fires, so he also agreed.If other ministers were changed, they might try their best to oppose it.There are also shops in their home. If they pay taxes, wouldn't they kill them?But this cabinet minister was promoted by Lu Chengqi from the local area, and he didn't have any family business, so he held back all his strength to live up to the emperor's entrustment.After waiting for a while, Lu Chengqi couldn't guarantee that they would still be so pure and flawless, so he couldn't wait to announce the tax reform plan.Secondly, Lu Chengqi has more than the plan of the special economic zone in his mind, he also has the next step, which is the reform of education.

It takes ten years to grow trees, but a hundred years to grow people.Whether a country is strong or not depends on thousands of talented people.A country without innovation and talent will surely disappear in the long river of history.If Lu Chengqi wanted to inject innovative genes into the Chinese nation, he naturally had to start with the most basic education.

After the educational reform, there will be military reform.Lu Chengqi has not thought of a good reform plan for the time being, but it is an indisputable fact that the military has been relaxed. Corruption in the military is by no means less than that of officials.It's just that after the rectification movement, Lu Chengqi restrained himself a bit.No matter how powerful the Supervisory Division was, he would not dare to touch the army easily. If it caused a mutiny, it would be counterproductive.

And all of this is based on the premise of having money. Without money, all ideas are just fantasy.What can be done with a treasury of just 500 million yuan?Even building a dam requires two years of fiscal revenue, which makes Lu Chengqi very powerless, which is why he is so interested in tax reform.

To be honest, the agricultural tax in the Dashun Dynasty was too heavy, as much as 120% was taken out of [-]%, and this did not include the rent paid by some tenants to the landlord.Lu Chengqi had read the secret report of the supervisory department, the tenants in the Songjiang Mansion area needed to hand over [-]% of their harvest a year, but only [-]% got it.The grain in an acre of land is only [-] catties, and if [-] catties are handed over at once, the remaining [-] catties can only feed a family of three for four months. This is still an extreme economy.As for poultry, duck and fish, that is the kind of food only in dreams.

Lu Chengqi was very angry, but also very helpless.The Chinese nation is the most industrious nation in the world. If there is a little hope for life, they will live a good life, rest at sunset and work at sunrise.Three meals a day, hard work.

It is not that the Chinese nation lacks creativity, but that the times have imprisoned their innovative ability.A person who can't even eat enough to eat, will think about inventions?Certainly not.And if Lu Chengqi wants to release the creativity of the nation, he must first let them have enough food and clothing, and after living a worry-free life, create a soil for innovation for them, so that more great inventions can come out.

Gunpowder, papermaking, printing, and the compass, these four great inventions, Lu Chengqi will definitely not let go, and at the same time, he looks forward to more great inventions...

For a moment, Lu Chengqi's thoughts drifted far, far away...

The next day, Lu Chengqi received the special economic zone plan jointly formulated by the cabinet and the Ministry of Household Affairs, and immediately announced it to the world. It was like a drop of water was sprinkled into boiling oil, and the entire territory of Dashun was boiling. Even ordinary people are talking about special economic zones.

The imperial decree clearly stated that the Jingzhao Mansion will immediately levy a commercial tax at a rate of one out of thirty.And brothels, restaurants, teahouses.For high-income places such as Goulan tile shop, the rate is [-] in [-].

At the same time, Jingzhao Mansion established a new department called the Ministry of Commerce, which was composed of officials from the household department and yamen servants.It is specially responsible for the collection of commercial taxes. If anyone dares to evade taxes, he will be revoked from business qualifications, and he will be exiled in severe cases.Those unscrupulous businessmen still wanted to take advantage of the loopholes, but found that Lu Chengqi had blocked all the loopholes.However, Chang'an City was the wealthy area of ​​the Dashun Dynasty, the place with the most prosperous economy, and he couldn't give up, so he had to acquiesce to this fact and dared not resist.

Lu Chengqi didn't think it was enough, so he directly wrote this rule into Da Shun Law, and then sat and waited for the money to be collected.The commercial tax is collected once a month, which is much faster than the agricultural tax.After all, there are a lot of business taxes, and if they are collected once a year, some people might take advantage of the loopholes.

The Jingzhao government levied commercial tax, which also improved the status of merchants.Lu Chengqi clearly stated in the imperial decree: "Pay taxes on time for three years, and you will be qualified for the scientific examination." Just this sentence made businessmen all over the world go crazy.Some businessmen are wealthy but have no status.In front of some officials, he didn't even dare to take a breath.Now that I can finally feel proud, how can I not be crazy?

You must know that what a businessman lacks is not money, but status.If they have status, they will recognize Da Shun Dynasty. This is something that Lu Chengqi knows, but the ministers in the court don't know why. Even Xu Chongguang objected, but these objections were suppressed by Lu Chengqi.

And the advantage of this trick is that all the businessmen from all over the world gather in Jingzhao Mansion, Lu Chengqi has a premonition that Chang'an City, which is not in vain compared to Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty and Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty, will once again reappear in prosperity!This is not the self-deceiving prosperity of the Qing Dynasty, but the real prosperity of China!
(End of this chapter)