Han Shizu

Chapter 1826 Unified Land Tax
Glancing around at the group of people, Emperor Liu was playful: "You guys have explained the issue of the tax system clearly and clearly. Since you have a clear understanding, why have you never spoken to me before? I still need to take the initiative to ask questions. Is it right? Intentionally deceiving?"

"I don't dare to wait!" Emperor Liu said this, it was beyond what the ministers could bear, no matter what their state of mind was, they all hurriedly put on a look of panic.

Seeing this, Emperor Liu twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, with a strong sense of sarcasm: "Don't you dare? You've done everything, why don't you dare to talk about it now! You people are used to fooling me!"

"I dare not wait!" Now, including Liu Yang, everyone got up and knelt down neatly.

Seeing the kneeling scene, Emperor Liu put away his cynicism, waved his hand lightly, and said indifferently: "Get up, you don't need to make such a gesture!"

"I dare not wait!"

Everyone seemed to be turned into a repeater, and their voices became more orderly. Seeing this, Emperor Liu couldn't help but patted the table and said, "Get up!"

Long Wei was shaken, so he didn't dare to continue to "challenge" Emperor Liu, got up slowly, didn't dare to sit anymore, and stood respectfully.After pondering for a while, Emperor Liu glanced around and said, "You are all agile people. By now, I'm afraid you have more or less understood my intentions!"

This time, without waiting for them to say some hypocritical polite words, Emperor Liu said directly: "I have always thought about reforming the tax system. Before that, I felt that the time was not enough, and I also took into account all aspects to seek safety. But now, I feel that the time has come. , The ills of the two taxes are becoming more and more obvious, and the court cannot turn a blind eye to them. Since you prime ministers are well aware of the ills, let’s talk about how to get rid of the ills and reform!"

Emperor Liu expressed his thoughts directly, and the ministers were not too surprised. Everyone was expressionless, but the sense of doubt permeated the air in the imperial garden.

"Why don't you say it? Do you want me to name them one by one?" Seeing their silence, Emperor Liu said quietly.

Hearing this, Li Fang hesitated for a while, and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that a more comprehensive and in-depth investigation is needed regarding the shortcomings of the tax system, and after careful deliberation, we will come up with a perfect solution, and then proceed step by step, step by step. implement"

"Investigate, discuss, and then continue to procrastinate until it's anticlimactic, and it's over?" Emperor Liu immediately yelled back.

"Your Majesty, what I mean is that this matter is of great importance, and we should not act too hastily, but proceed with caution!" Li Fang carefully argued.

Emperor Liu stopped looking at Li Fang, and turned to Wang You: "Wang Qing, what do you mean?"

Wang You's old face was really not relaxed. After pondering for a moment, Fang said: "Your Majesty, Li Xianglao became a country, and what he said is justified. The change of the tax system is like a rock on Mount Tai. The relationship is so important that negligence cannot be ignored. It really needs a detailed investigation. Prepare."

Hearing what Wang You said, Emperor Liu looked at the others again: "You all hold this opinion?"

Wen Wen asked, although Emperor Liu's eyes were a bit piercing, but both Zhao Kuangyi and Lu Duan bit the bullet and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, please proceed with caution!"

"It's all the same." Seeing this, Emperor Liu murmured with a dark look on his forehead.

Looking at his prime ministers coldly, each one was personally selected and appointed by him, but at this moment, each of them was obviously respectful and cautious in their words, but it gave Emperor Liu a feeling of being confronted.

"Why doesn't the prince speak?" Looking away, Emperor Liu turned to Liu Yang.

Liu Yang naturally looked serious, and after thinking for a while, he replied: "I think that we can do a two-pronged approach, on the one hand, investigate and discuss to prepare for the tax system reform, and on the other hand, deal with and rectify the problems that have been exposed right now.

In my opinion, most of the ills mentioned by the ministers just now are caused by people. The lower officials and county officials ignore the people's sentiments and are perfunctory. Starting from this aspect, the strict tax system regulations and the punishment of those lazy officials should be able to reverse the atmosphere and resolve some contradictions ! "

Hearing Liu Yang's opinion, Emperor Liu smiled, and said meaningfully: "The crown prince means to punish people? I wanted to kill some corrupt officials who harmed the country, local tyrants and evil gentry who harmed the people, and you all opposed it. What you say will cause instability among the officials and the people, and turmoil in the hearts of the people. Why are you proposing to start with personnel affairs now?"

Seeing that Emperor Liu turned over old accounts again, Liu Yang remained serious, but he was inevitably a little embarrassed.Glancing at him, Emperor Liu said indifferently: "You are a good mix of mud! What you said is a feasible solution, but do you think this is what I want?"

Hearing the words and asking, Liu Yang couldn't help but fell silent, bowed and said, "Please show me, Your Majesty!"

"You're talking about improvement, not reform! Even I can see the result!" Emperor Liu's tone became harsh unconsciously: "It's just a temporary relief! What is certain is that it won't take long, after three to five years. , I am afraid that it will be repeated again and again, and those lazy officials you mentioned will make a comeback, and if some corrupt officials and corrupt officials are added to make troubles, the situation will be even worse, the problem will still remain, and the situation will not change at all!"

The word "reform" penetrated directly into everyone's ears, and everyone's expressions became more serious. The reason they dealt with Emperor Liu like this was because they were afraid that he would make a big change.

But now that this is the case, everyone knows that Emperor Liu has already made up his mind, and it is imperative to do so, and it is impossible to rely on persuasion alone.

It was still Liu Yang, and the acting prime ministers asked the doubts in their hearts: "I don't know how Your Majesty plans to change the system?"

This time, it was Emperor Liu's turn to think deeply. Of course, he had already had an idea. After some deliberation, Emperor Liu said calmly: "From my point of view, the principle of the two-tax system is correct. The court can rest assured. The government saves labor, divides the rich and the poor, and takes into account fairness.

However, a good policy also needs a good foundation. In the past, many good policies of the imperial court had problems in the process of implementation. There were some reasons for it, and the tax system was the same.

However, in my opinion, there is one of the most critical issues in the tax system. If it is not resolved, then the disadvantages of the tax system will never be resolved!The crux of it is how to judge the rich and the poor. In this regard, the imperial court cannot come up with a clear standard.

Regardless of the head of the Li people, how much property do those big merchants, big merchants, and powerful landlords, including you honorable officials, have, how can you check all of them?Since it is difficult to distinguish between the rich and the poor, isn't it just empty talk that the rich and the poor should pay taxes equally? "

Following Emperor Liu's explanation, the group of people also came to their senses, and they all expected what Emperor Liu would say next.Sure enough, after only a pause, Emperor Liu continued: "The disadvantages you mentioned before are not enough. This is the flaw of the imperial tax system itself! To cure a disease, we need to find the cause, and we must start from the root cause!
What I mean is that the imperial court should find a tax standard that can be clearly defined. The most important property of the people in the world is land.Gold and silver can be buried in the ground, and money and silk can be hidden in the warehouse, but this land, only the government has the heart, can't hide it!

Therefore, the biggest change in the tax system should be the re-establishment of the basis for tax calculation. Regardless of honors, officials, businessmen, and civilians, their taxes should be calculated according to the wealth and size of the land they own, and the household tax will be completely abolished! "

After Emperor Liu finished speaking his thoughts, the air became quiet.Seeing their frowns, Emperor Liu smiled lightly: "What do you think, let's talk about it!"

Hearing this, he raised his brows, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, is this too much of a move, I'm afraid."

Hearing his hesitant tone, Emperor Liu immediately turned his face, and said: "What are you afraid of! Are you afraid of trouble? Previously, taxes depended on land, households, etc., and property. Now they are all subject to land tax, which saves time and effort, and can also ease the burden. Isn’t it a big progress to eliminate contradictions and eliminate public grievances?”

"Still! There's something indescribable in this!" Emperor Liu looked at Zhao Kuangyi with a gloomy gaze, which immediately made his hairs stand on end.

Of course there is trouble, and the biggest trouble probably comes from the big man's huge vested interest group.Under the two-tax system, the main taxpayers of Dahan are undoubtedly ordinary farmers at the bottom of society.

The nobles, bureaucrats, and landlords who hold a large amount of production materials actually only bear a small part of it. This is the result of Emperor Liu's intentional balance.Now, Emperor Liu is eager to try, wanting to touch the cheese of these powerful and landlords, to use knives on them, and to bleed them. One can imagine what kind of waves will be caused.

It can be said that although the official administration movement that was launched last year and is still going on today has made a lot of noise, it has not touched the root cause. Compared with it, this relatively inconspicuous tax reform, especially according to Emperor Liu's reform, The impact was more profound, and the resistance was greater. Judging from the reaction of Zhao Kuangyi, a minister, Emperor Liu knew it well.

(End of this chapter)