Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 299 Veteran's Subsidy

According to Gao Ming's thinking, no matter what it is, you either don't do it, and if you want to do it, you have to do it well.

He didn't want to be the Tiance Admiral before, but now that he has become one, he naturally has to take it seriously, so after he came down to court, Gao Ming didn't go back to the East Palace, but went straight to the Imperial Study.

Li Shimin seemed to have known that he was coming a long time ago, and asked the maid to make tea and wait for him. Seeing him coming in, he smiled and nodded towards him.

"Gao Ming is here, sit down!"

"Hey!"

Gao Ming was not too polite, he agreed and sat down, then picked up the teacup and drank it "gudu gudu". Seeing how he drank it, Li Shimin shook his head helplessly.

"Gao Ming, are you here this time to tell me about re-establishing the Tiance Army?"

"Tiance Army?"

Hearing Li Shimin's words, Gao Ming was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly reacted, and then shook his head towards Li Shimin

"It's not the Tiance Army, I already have a hundred cavalry guards, I don't need the Tiance Army, and not only the Tiance Army, I don't plan to use all the official positions in the Tiance Mansion except for the position of Tiance Admiral. "

"why?"

"trouble!"

"..."

Hearing Gao Ming's answer, Li Shimin immediately showed helplessness.

"I knew you would say that, well, since you didn't come to talk about Tiance Mansion, then why did you come to me?"

"For the old pawn!"

"Old pawn?"

Seeing Li Shimin's surprised expression, Gao Ming nodded with a smile.

"Yes, they are old soldiers. From the Tang Dynasty uprising against the Sui Dynasty to the defeat of Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, who ruled the country, how many soldiers shrouded their bodies in horse leather and died in battle. The dead are gone, but we can't treat them badly."

Li Shimin liked Gao Ming's use of "insurgent" to describe him as a rebel, so he was in a good mood at the moment. After hearing Gao Ming's words, he immediately nodded with a smile.

"Well, that's a good point, so what are you going to do?"

"Make up for them!"

Having said that, Gao Ming slowly put away his smile, showing a serious face.

"From the beginning of the army in Taiyuan to the soldiers who participated in the battle against Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, each of them was given a veteran subsidy of 150 Wen per month. If they were disabled in the war, an additional [-] Wen was given every month. to protect their lives."

Today's prices in Datang have basically stabilized, especially after Gao Ming established the Datang Royal Commercial Alliance, with their regulation, the prices of daily necessities such as food and cloth have dropped.

Now in Chang'an and Jingzhao Mansion, the price of a bucket of grain is only 150 Wen. For an average family of three, if you are more frugal, [-] Wen a month is enough to live.

These geniuses have been specially investigated, so he thinks that 150 to [-] Wen a month for these veterans is a completely acceptable figure.

But Li Shimin frowned after hearing his words.

"My Li family raised troops from Taiyuan and recruited tens of thousands of soldiers. When Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande were defeated, the number of troops was nearly 20. If everyone had to pay so much money, it would cost about [-] guan a year. Isn't that A small sum."

The implication of Li Shimin's words was that he was unwilling to give it, Gao Ming also heard it, so he immediately laughed.

"It's okay. From now on, I will use 30 yuan from Jinzhou's finances every year to give war subsidies to these veterans in the name of Tiance Mansion. And this is the first step. In the future, those who have participated in the extermination of Turks will also get it." The subsidy, but it will be less.”

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Li Shimin's eyes lit up immediately.

"I understand what you mean. Once these old soldiers get the money, then when I attack Goguryeo in the future, the soldiers will definitely be more brave. Well, this method is really good. It can boost morale with 30 guan, although it is a bit wasteful , but if you can destroy Goguryeo, it will be worth it!"

"Uh……"

Li Shimin has always been a very purposeful person, he prefers to think about problems from a utilitarian point of view, after hearing what he said, Gao Ming suddenly couldn't laugh or cry.

"You said this is indeed a benefit, but I don't plan to give it for only one year. I plan to use this war subsidy as a permanent military benefit. If I want to be strong forever, I have to treat soldiers better."

"Ok?"

Hearing Gao Ming said that he would keep giving the money, Li Shimin frowned immediately.

"Give it every year? Where did you get the money? Don't forget that you still owe me 100 million guan!"

"..."

Seeing Li Shimin's expression of "I am a creditor", Gao Ming immediately sighed helplessly.

"Hey... Don't worry, I haven't moved any money from the Tang Royal Club. Jinzhou's finances are enough to cover the expenses. I owe you the 100 million guan. I will give it to you on the Mid-Autumn Festival before the end of the year. "

"Oh?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Li Shimin blinked his eyes curiously.

"Don't you say that Jinzhou has completely exempted farmers from taxes? Where did the money come from?"

"Business tax!"

"Business tax?"

Seeing Li Shimin's surprised look, Gao Ming couldn't help but nodded with a smile.

"Yes, it is commercial tax. Jinzhou is located in the middle of Taiyuan, Luoyang and Jingzhaofu. The commercial location is very good. As long as the shops are opened in Jinzhou, the tax is paid every month according to their transaction volume. I remember the last time The month seems to have collected 18 guan, and this month should be more."

Hearing the number Gao Ming said, Li Shimin gasped again.

"hiss……"

18 guan a month, more than 200 million guan a year, this is almost Datang's fiscal revenue last year, so Li Shimin was also shocked.

"There are so many business taxes?"

Seeing Li Shimin's surprised look, Gao Ming smiled and nodded again.

"Transaction tax is just one type of business tax. In addition to this, there is also personal income tax. For example, officials and businessmen in Jinzhou have to pay personal income tax every month according to their income."

Speaking of this, Gao Ming saw Li Shimin frowned again, and he immediately explained to Li Shimin.

"For example, Li Goudan, as the governor of Jinzhou, his monthly salary is five guan, while Jinzhou's personal income tax starts at three guan, and he has to pay [-] guan for every [-] guan. There is no money, so Li Goudan has to pay personal income tax of [-] Wen every month."

Hearing Gao Ming's explanation, Li Shimin immediately understood, and he nodded immediately.

"I understand, but the money shouldn't be much, right?"

"Yes, Jinzhou currently collects less than [-] guan in personal income tax a month, which is only half of the transaction tax, and I'm afraid there won't be much increase for a long time, it can only be considered a small amount of money."

"Uh……"

As soon as Gao Ming's words fell, Li Shimin was obviously stunned again.

At first, Li Shimin thought that there was not much personal income tax, but Gao Ming made him dumbfounded as soon as he opened his mouth.

Less than [-] guan?Small money?

This is nearly 100 guan, a year is 10 million guan, enough for him to build a cavalry regiment of [-] people, is this still a small amount of money?

Li Shimin did some calculations. The two taxes that Gao Ming talked about just now have a financial income of 300 million yuan a year. That is to say, the annual income of a small place like Jinzhou has exceeded the national treasury income of the entire Tang Dynasty. .

As the saying goes, there is no harm if there is no comparison. Seeing that Gao Ming has made Jinju prosperous, among other things, the tax revenue alone can be 300 million yuan a year. Compared with him, the Ministry of Households can only collect more than 200 million yuan a year. The tax is simply a waste.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin was immediately full of resentment towards the officials of the household department.

"Gao Ming, in a few days I will send some officials from the Ministry of Households to Jinzhou, and you will have someone teach these gangs how to collect taxes."

"Uh……"

Gao Ming was a little dumbfounded when he heard Li Shimin say that the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs were poor people, but he couldn't explain it to Li Shimin, so he could only nod in agreement.

"Row!"

Seeing that Gao Ming agreed so happily, Li Shimin's face also improved a little.

"Well, since Jinzhou can indeed afford these old soldiers, then do as you say, and I will give you an imperial decree."

As he spoke, Li Shimin swiped his pen, and wrote down an imperial decree with a "shua, shua, shua", and handed it to Gao Ming.

"Here, I will leave this matter to you, and you can figure it out when the time comes."

"Hey, good!"

Gao Ming smiled and took the imperial decree, without opening it, he put it in his arms.

Seeing Gao Ming's action, Li Shimin immediately smiled and shook his head.

"You... By the way, if you come across someone who drinks the blood of soldiers, you don't need to ask me for instructions, just kill him directly."

What Li Shimin said about "drinking soldiers' blood" actually refers to those who deduct soldiers' salaries. In Li Shimin's view, since Gao Ming's subsidy is given every year, there must be people who make up their minds about it, so he Gao Ming was given a privilege in advance.

After Gao Ming heard Li Shimin's words, a smile appeared on his face.

"Don't worry, I have [-] cavalry guards under my command. I will let them be responsible for the money, and there will be no deduction of military salary."

"Ah That's good!"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Li Shimin nodded immediately, then picked up the teacup in front of him, and brought it to his mouth to take a sip.

Seeing Li Shimin's action, Gao Ming immediately understood that he was chasing someone away, so he stood up immediately.

"Old man, those household officials sent to Jinzhou to study tax collection, you can just give me the list after you decide, and I'll go back if I have nothing to do."

"Well, let's go!"

Hearing Li Shimin's words, Gao Ming bowed to him, then turned and left. When he walked to the door, he suddenly heard Li Shimin's voice behind him.

"Gao Ming, it will be Xiumu in a few days. Your rugby league should be set on this day. Then I will let all the civil and military officials go there."

"Ok?"

Hearing Li Shimin's sudden words, Gao Ming was stunned for a moment, but he reacted quickly, and a bright smile appeared on his face.

"Okay, what you say counts!"

After finishing speaking, he gave Li Shimin a thumbs up, and then turned and left.

Seeing Gao Ming's back, Li Shimin also showed a smile on his face.

"This kid..."

(End of this chapter)