Wanli Xinming

Chapter 370 Tax Reform
Zhang Siwei left the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and the Zhengshi Hall was also off-duty.Because he was a little frightened today, he decided not to work overtime and went straight home from Miyagi to rest.

The prime minister of the cabinet has his own badge, and the luxurious carriage is surrounded by more than 30 knights to protect him.

Since the meeting of Saihanba broke through the barriers, the Han and Mongolian ethnic groups, which were already highly complementary in economy, experienced an explosive integration and development.With the prosperity brought by the Great Reform, horses from the Mongolian grasslands have spread all over the world in recent years.

The jockey clubs established by the Zhou king and other clans pushed the horse trade to a height unimaginable by the emperors of all dynasties.The horses eliminated from the racetrack are flocked by the nobles and merchants in the north.As a direct consequence, breeding good horse breeds and long-distance trafficking of steeds has become a lucrative business.

Of course, the fiery demand was transmitted to the grasslands - from Tianshan to Nenkerqin, the horse kings in the wild horse herds were captured in large numbers by herdsmen, and their own horse dealers from the capital spent a lot of money on them.

The power of role models is infinite. A horse can make a herdsman family or even a small tribe achieve a leap in class. This temptation is hard to resist.

Therefore, after ten years of Wanli, a large number of horses were transported to the mainland by thousands of miles.Some horse dealers have even crossed the Gobi Desert to search for the "sweat-blooded horse" that Emperor Wu of the Han would rather get to start a war—that is, the golden horse of Akhel.

Zhang Siwei even heard that the Jingshi Jockey Club had formed a caravan, ready to go back to the Silk Road and go to Persia and Ottoman to search for more valuable Alebhor horses.

As the Prime Minister, Zhang Siwei naturally cannot be so shallow that he thinks that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty launched the war just for a few horses.But from the actual effect, the current emperor instructed the clan to form a jockey club, which solved the thousand-year-old problem of horse administration in the Central Plains - the typical four or two thousand jins, this method can only be restrained.

Returning to the beautiful Xiangfu, Zhang Siwei took a shower, convened his own staff, and held a small meeting in the study to study the tasks assigned by the emperor in the Hall of Mental Cultivation today.

It has been a full year since Zhang Juzheng passed away from illness last year, and Zhang Siwei took over as prime minister.As his position stabilized, more talents were recommended by various parties, giving Zhang Siwei many choices.In the past six months, in addition to Jiang Chunxi, the former staff member, several more have been added one after another, and the staff team has a rough scale.

Zhang Siwei briefly explained what happened in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and all the staff were in a mess.Shen Xianwu, an adviser from Zhang Siwei's hometown, asked, "Does your Majesty intend to restore 'Jun Tian'?"

The so-called "equalized land" refers to the land ownership system implemented from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the middle of the Tang Dynasty - the land is owned by the state, and farmers have to 'grant land' to cultivate and weave. As rent, and out of labor.The land-equalization system is also the economic basis of the "fubing system".

After the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, Prime Minister Yang Yan introduced the "Two Taxes Law" to replace the "Rent and Moderate Moderation" in response to the unstoppable annexation of land by nobles and big landlords, and the large number of farmers fleeing.

In the successive dynasties after the Two Tax Laws, land annexation has become an unsolvable problem.In the eyes of Confucian disciples, Yang Yan, who introduced the two-tax law to dismantle the land-equalization system, was more guilty than Shang Yang.Shang Yang's dismantling of the "well-field system" was not a small crime for the rotten Confucians of "I follow Zhou".However, Yang Yan admitted that the land is privately owned and encouraged mergers, which is the reason for the chaos and cycle. His sins can only be described as "innumerable".

Zhang Siwei shook his head and said, "That's not what the emperor meant." He stood up and explained in detail, "I started thinking about it too, asking the emperor, 'Where did the land come from'. Because the premise of equalizing fields must be the aftermath of the chaos and the abandonment of a large amount of land. Only the court has enough land to grant land."

"How can there be so much land in the world today? Even if the land in the Northeast and Burma is used for granting land, it is not enough-"

"But the emperor took a different approach and used a policy to let landlords and self-cultivators voluntarily give up land to solve this problem."

"Let's talk about the homesteaders first. In today's world, homesteaders with a family of three or five have more than seven or eight out of ten with a land area of ​​more than five acres. In these years, the imperial court has been very effective in cracking down on tyrannical powers and suppressing mergers."

"The emperor's intention is to use tax-free methods to let peasants come out with 'grain fields'. The court plans to issue a decree to exchange taxes for land. For example, if a family of three pays three acres of land, they will be exempted from paying six acres of land for life!"

Like Zhang Siwei in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, all the staff were in a daze.Shen Xianwu scratched his fingers and said: "Taking Puzhou as an example, the average price per mu of land is 18 taels for three acres of land, a total of 40 taels - based on the 40-year tax exemption for a family of three, the tax for six acres of land is about half taels of silver a year. 20 taels of silver for [-] years, only two taels of price difference, who will do this business?! Isn’t it good to keep the land to pass on to the family?”

Zhang Siwei shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Because the emperor wants to pilot it in Shanxi, I have already calculated this account in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, but the emperor's big article has something else to say."

"One, the account is not calculated in this way. The emperor's meaning is that from the time of birth, regardless of gender, all land will be granted - although your family of three has three acres of land, but there are many children born, the land will be granted. If there are too many, this land is considered free for you to grow; secondly, the imperial court will implement 'dividing into the acre' on the basis of the current whip law. In the future, the dingkou tax and labor service will all be folded into the field, and the land tax will be higher in the future. Now, the tax-free six mu has an account to calculate; Article [-], the King of Zhongxing County measured the world in the sixth year of Wanli, and introduced the whipping method in the eighth year of Wanli. In these years, the court has received tax rebates according to their treatment. Not only does this privilege not exist—”

Before Zhang Siwei could finish speaking, the study had already exploded.Jiang Chunxi was twisting his beard and pulled off a lock with all his strength.He got up and shouted, "Your Majesty, is he trying to poke out the roots of the imperial examination?"

Seeing the chaos in the study, Zhang Siwei turned his head and instructed the servant girl to warm up two cotton towels.Then he sat on the chair and smiled bitterly: "It can't be said that way, now all provinces have established universities, and university graduates are required to issue degrees. The emperor means that in the selection of officials in a few years, those with degrees can be exempted from the talent test. Participate directly in the imperial examinations - in this way, the scope of tax rebates is too large, and this preferential treatment can no longer be given."

Jiang Chunxi shivered again when he heard the words, and tears rolled down his face: "This is not only to break the roots of the imperial examination, but also to break the origin of the Dao line! The study of examining objects replaces the Five Classics and Four Books, and the study of economics replaces self-cultivation and governing the country!"

Zhang Siwei heard the words, his face was gloomy and uncertain, and then he stared at Jiang Chunxi with stern eyes and shouted: "Chunxi is careful! The emperor has a word, 'Cheng Zhu can solve Confucius and Mencius, but others can't?' The so-called Taoist theory, But the family has seen each other since the Southern Song Dynasty. When there was no Zhu Xi, wouldn't Wenjing, Zhenguan, Kaiyuan, Song Renzong, etc. still flourish in the prosperous world?! 'The truth is finally proved in practice' - this is also the emperor's original words."

Jiang Chunxi couldn't help being a little stunned when he saw Zhang Siwei's stern expression.He bowed and sat down silently, his eyes dull, as if out of focus.

Another aide, Wang Zhiheng, didn't lose his mind. He cupped his hands and said, "Master Xiang, not only did you say that you didn't have this preferential treatment - you haven't finished speaking yet."

Zhang Siwei did not speak with a stern face. He first took a hot cotton towel from the maid and wiped his face vigorously.Immediately he sent her out to solve the mystery and said: "The emperor wants to implement 'progressive tax'. If the tenants are gone, the price of land will be as cheap as land. At that time, the court will have enough to buy land and grant the land—this is a way to deal with the landlords.”

When everyone in the study heard the words, their faces were ashen.Wang Zhiheng heard the words and asked: "According to this reform, it is really boring to keep the land."

Zhang Siwei nodded and said: "The emperor is counting on the world's big account. Now there are 8000 acres of arable land in the whole country. If the average of men, women, old and children is equal, the per capita is more than six acres - not to mention that there are [-]% of the people in the land. Work in the city. If the landlord sells a large amount of land, the problem of annexation will be solved.”

He sighed and continued: "The emperor said, 'The reform edict has long been clear. From the sixth year of Wanli onwards, there is no distinction between craftsmen, military households, merchants, and kitchen households, and all people choose their own careers independently, but these years have been due to inertia, although I changed my nationality, but I still do what I used to do.”

"Nowadays, it is necessary to use the land reform to stir people's hearts, so that those who want the land can get the land, and those who want to enter the city can directly enter the city - not only to solve the contradiction between people and the land, but also to solve the problem of insufficient industrial and commercial labor, and at the same time to encourage population growth.'"

Zhang Siwei's staff listened, and their hearts were shaken.This is such a great article!Zhang Siwei said the emperor's words on the left and the emperor's meaning on the right, causing everyone in the study to fall into a burst of brainstorming.Zhang Siwei took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, smiled incomprehensibly, and continued: "The ration field method has another advantage - the emperor is distressed that the world is marrying a daughter too early. Grow up into an old girl, otherwise there will be no one willing to marry out."

Jiang Chunxi had come to his senses at this moment, and he asked: "If everything goes well, as the emperor intended, two-thirds of the land will be exempted from taxation in the future! What about the imperial finances and expenses?"

Zhang Siwei heard the words, his face muscles twitched, and he replied in a hoarse voice: "The stalls enter the mu, and after the officials and gentry pay the taxes together, the remaining one-third of the land will be able to pay half of the current land tax. The rest, Naturally, it must come from the industry and commerce. The emperor will double the current [-] taxes—eight taxes and one!”

　This chapter has been changed for two days, and I have read many papers.But I still feel a little taken for granted when I write it out, and I should be able to attract others.If you have any good ideas for land reform, you can discuss it. I can rewrite this chapter plus the previous chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)