Outlaws of the Marsh

Chapter 355 Respect and Love (please subscribe!)

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Today's Seoul.

The outer city has a radius of more than [-] li, the moat is more than [-] zhang wide, and willows are planted inside and outside Hao, and the whitewashed walls prohibit people from coming and going.

The city gates are all open on the third floor of the urn, which is daunting.

Entering the city, set up a battle shed every hundred steps to set up a command guard, and set up secret sentries, so that you can see it toweringly.

The dental roads in the city are full of shades of willows of all kinds.

The traffic inside and outside the city is very convenient, the rivers inside and outside the city intersect, and the water transportation is busy.

The streets are prosperous and full of traffic. There are countless shops in hundreds of streets and alleys. Brothels, teahouses, incense shops, Goulan, pharmacies, boot shops, horse shops, wine shops, tile markets, you can say that everything is there. The business is booming, the business is prosperous, and the service is considerate , There are still many public facilities in this era that do not have public facilities, such as the large schools and large medical management that Li Yan specially explained to build, which is refreshing.

The Anton Protectorate's Mansion is even more magnificent, resplendent and resplendent, with towers and pavilions, flying dragon painting style, golden nails and rich gates, and strict guards.

All the yamen and government offices are nearby, and the warehouses of the Fangyuan are also gathered together, which is very convenient.

Along the way, not only Liang Hongyu was dazzled, but even Li Yan was amazed - the changes in Seoul are really too great!

In front of the Dadu Protectorate, from Wen Huanzhang down, hundreds of civil and military officials came to welcome Li Yan and watch his posture. If Li Yan hadn't explained in advance, they might welcome Li Yan to Incheon Port!
Liang Hongyu, who was behind Li Yan, came to Seoul for the first time, and also saw Li Yan's civil and military officials for the first time, so she couldn't help being a little curious, and secretly looked at these people.

After sizing it up for a while, Liang Hongyu was surprised to find that all of these people's eyes were filled with respect—respect from the bottom of their hearts.

And the object of their respect is obviously Li Yan.

"Why are officials so respected by them?" Liang Hongyu was puzzled!

It wasn't until a few days later that Liu Huiniang took the initiative to come to Liang Hongyu to chat about the family affairs, and Liang Hongyu didn't know the reason.

Li Yan abolished all tax systems in the Northern Song Dynasty, including the two taxes, at the beginning of the establishment of the Anton Protectorate.

At this time, the largest two taxes were changed by Li Yan to be paid only once a year—from the time the land was obtained (including the government’s distribution, and the land reclamation by oneself), in the first year, only the area of ​​the land it owned multiplied by [-] If Cheng averages grain production, in the second year, he will hand over the land area he owns multiplied by [-]% average grain production, and from the third year onwards, he will hand over the land area he owns multiplied by [-]% average grain production every year.

At the same time, Li Yan proposed value-added tax, consumption tax, business tax, corporate income tax, personal income tax, resource tax, urban land use tax, real estate tax, urban maintenance and construction tax, cultivated land occupation tax, land value-added tax, vehicle purchase tax, vehicle and ship tax, etc. Tax, stamp duty, deed tax, tobacco leaf tax, customs duty, ship tonnage tax, fixed asset investment direction adjustment tax and other nineteen kinds of taxes, and made detailed notes on these nineteen kinds of tax systems.

The tax system formulated by Li Yan is extremely flexible and ingenious in taxing turnover, income, resources, property, and behavior. Take stamp duty as an example, the scope of taxation It is extremely extensive, and people voluntarily hand it in, making everyone admire Li Yan's five bodies!
Not to mention, the tax system developed by Li Yan, while greatly reducing the burden on farmers and the poor, also doubled the tax revenue compared to before, and this is only received at the initial stage of development. In the foreseeable future, more will be collected.

The main subjects of taxation (wealthy businessmen) do not find it difficult to accept, and they are actively maintaining this tax system.

why?
Because Li Yan was different from previous rulers, he vigorously encouraged trade and lifted the heavy shackles that had been placed on merchants for thousands of years.

Previously, the status of merchants was very low.

There are generally four classes in society, namely, scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants.

Scholars such as bureaucrats, officials, juren, and scholars had the highest status, followed by farmers and landlords, then handicraftsmen, craftsmen, and finally merchants.

Businessmen are discriminated against.

To what extent does it discriminate?
Qin Shihuang "removed the poor from farming, and the rich from the head of Guizhou", which meant "advocating agriculture and eliminating industry and commerce, so that the people became rich."

When it came to Qin II, it was even more absurd: he banished nine types of people with the lowest political status to Lingnan, four of which were closely related to businessmen, namely: I am a businessman, I used to be a businessman, my grandparents were businessmen, and my parents were businessmen.In other words, once a businessman, three generations of descendants will be exiled.

After the Han Dynasty and before the Song Dynasty, the attitudes and routines of the rulers towards businessmen were mostly the same, and there were always a few words that could not be escaped: suppression, attack, discredit, and humiliation.There are various techniques, some of which are really unimaginable.For example, in the Jin Dynasty, the law stipulated that people who do business should wrap their foreheads with white towels and write their names on the white towels. The shoes on their feet must wear white shoes on one foot and black on the other. shoe.Fu Jian of the former Qin Dynasty ordered merchants not to wear gold and silver brocade, and those who violated it would be beheaded.The law of the Northern Wei Dynasty stipulated that merchants were never allowed to be officials.In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was also stipulated that merchants or their sons were not allowed to participate in scientific examinations.

(In the Han Dynasty, there was a saying of "donating officials", but in fact it was "buying officials". But most of the people who can buy officials are gentry and those who are farming and studying, and there are no businessmen.)
The Song Dynasty was slightly better, and the degree of discrimination against businessmen was much lower than before, but it does not mean that there was no discrimination.

In short, businessmen were discriminated against before, and there was no guarantee. Once the country was short of money, they began to use various reasons to copy their homes.

As for Li Yan, not only did he introduce many policies to encourage trade, but he also abolished all discrimination against businessmen—as long as businessmen pay the taxes stipulated by the government, they enjoy the rights enjoyed by ordinary citizens.

Li Yan's strong support for business has directly led to unprecedented prosperity in Seoul, and the prosperity is rapidly developing to Li Yan's other sites.

In addition, Li Yan is preparing to launch currency reforms and money banks to further promote business development.

In addition to reforming himself, Li Yan also allowed others to reform.

Li Yan is not like previous power holders, who either resolutely oppose the reform and fear it like a tiger, or resolutely support it, regardless of the consequences, or support it today and not support the change of the order tomorrow, let alone make it difficult. Instead, it is very creative. "Experimental field system" - that is, no matter what reform is, first divide a reform area for experimentation. If the experiment is successful, it will be vigorously implemented. If the experiment fails, first summarize the reasons for the failure, and then work together to find remedial measures. Once it is confirmed that this reform cannot be carried out or there are huge loopholes that cannot be filled, then decisively abandon it.

The "experimental land system" proposed by Li Yan proposed the most feasible and safest system for reform, allowing those reformers to have the opportunity to display their enthusiasm, and also allowing conservatives to control these reforms, so that the regime of Shuibo Liangshan will not Li Yan easily resolved the dispute between Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, which the Song Dynasty could not solve after decades of quarreling.

All in all, although Li Yan made few shots, every time he made a shot, people could see Li Yan's brilliance and unparalleled wisdom.

But although Li Yan is full of genius, he doesn't seize power. He grasps what should be grasped and let go without delay. He is extremely daring to employ people, so that most of the civil and military officials can realize their life value.

How can such Li Yan not be respected and loved by them?

……

(End of this chapter)