Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 639
Following the benevolence of King Yue's destruction of Yanzhou and the massacre of [-] recalcitrant soldiers in the city, the entire Shandong Province was declared to be recovered.

In the direction of Henan, Nanyang and Yingzhou are still in the hands of the Tartars.

However, Zhu Zhongyi, the son of the emperor, led Guidezhen to fight continuously, and cooperated with Zheng Zunqian and others to recover the Runing Mansion. After capturing Gwangju, the Tartars in Yingzhou were completely cut off and surrounded into a lone army.

In the west of Nanyang, along the line of Xiong'er Mountain, Funiu Mountain and Fangcheng Mountain, the Tartars barely held onto Nanyang.

Judging from the overall situation, although the Tartars are now guarding Xi'an and the Guanzhong Plain, Wu Sangui has kept the Wuguan Passage, connected to Nanyang, and guarded Huguang Jingxiang.

But after the Ming army captured Hanzhong, although Li Guohan Obai still defended Baocheng, he was already surrounded very uncomfortable.

Similarly, Yunyang and Jingzhou were also besieged. The two sides fought several times, and the Qing army was still unable to break through the siege, let alone reinforce the Xu and Ying battlefields. , and then made efforts on the eastern front to basically recover Henan and Shandong.

The few remaining fortresses can only be precarious.

The Ming army has already marched into Taihang, and successfully entered Hebei from Henan along the Taihang. First, they took the name, and then entered Zhending, and they were about to go to Baoding.

The city of Zhending has been captured, and the Tartars can only guard Taiyuan and Baoding hastily, with their heads ignoring their backs.

Especially in the two battles between Jinan and Yanzhou, nearly [-] people were beheaded and [-] people were captured.

The Tartars are no longer debilitated, but their spines have been broken.

There are more than [-] people in Luke Dehun in Yingzhou, and the entire army may be wiped out at any time.

At this point in the war, the Tartars are actually very pessimistic now, and many people are already shouting to withdraw outside the pass.But the problem now is that it is not easy for them to withdraw.

This year, the Shaotian Dynasty started the Chaoji system again.

Governors from all over the country inspected the prefects according to their divisions, and some garrison generals entered Beijing one after another, and many officials began to enter Beijing from the end of October.

The main purpose of the re-initiation of Chaoji is to strengthen the central government's control over the localities, especially after experiencing local out-of-control since the late Ming Dynasty, it is more and more necessary.

In fact, starting from the Han Dynasty, local officials regularly reported their work to the central government and called for advice.

Chaoji is not only coming to Beijing to meet the emperor, but also a kind of central audit and investigation. Therefore, every year, the prefects, sub-inspectors, and provincial governors, governors, and inspectors all return to Beijing Chaoji. , and their assistant second officer will act temporarily.

The guerrilla and senior officers of the garrisons in various places also entered the Beijing court collection.

The most important part of the court gathering is the assessment, which includes officials making reports to the central government at all levels, accepting assessment inquiries, recommending talents, participating in etiquette, and reporting on important issues of the local and military.

This is a face-to-face mechanism, which is more direct and clear than official documents.

Of course, the centralization system also made it easier for the imperial court to appoint, remove, dismiss and transfer officials, especially generals of the army. After they arrived, they would be dismissed on the spot without worrying about his disobedience and disobedience.

Now that the Ming Dynasty is revived, the world has not yet fully recovered, and various new policies have been implemented, but the central government does not have enough control over the localities. At this time, it can only rely on the local officials at all levels, but the sky is high and the emperor is far away.

Therefore, arranging them to enter the Beijing court every year and communicate face to face is not only convenient for information exchange, but also conducive to the improvement of the authority of the central government.

Of course, it is also convenient for the examination of officials.

Even some necessary local projects, as well as large military budgets, etc., also need them to declare and explain in person.

A large number of officials entered the court, and the various ministries in the capital were extremely busy.

Even Zhu Yihai now summons his courtiers every day, and sees dozens or even hundreds of people every day, and there are no empty seats in the waiting room of the internal and external affairs office.

Many officials can only comment in groups, and rarely have the opportunity to meet alone.

The court envoys had to be busy in the capital until the end of the New Year, or even after the Lantern Festival, before they began to bid farewell and return to the Yamen.

"This year, the main issues that the envoys should deal with are financial issues, such as shipping and storage, and taxation."

Prime Minister's Office.

The emperor came to the meeting, and the first assistant Song Zhifu reported to the emperor, and mentioned taxation and budget again.

"This year we started to implement the method of winter estimation and spring and autumn selection. We will estimate the financial expenditure in November and December. After planning the next year's expenditure, we will allocate funds in spring and autumn for adjustment.

Our local taxation, among them, the land, is estimated according to the winter. After the local collection, the local expenses will be saved first, and the rest will be shipped. If the actual use is insufficient, the spring and autumn will be supplemented and adjusted. But now Local officials generally reported that the winter estimated budget was too low, too much was shipped, too little was retained, local expenses were insufficient, hands and feet were trapped, and even local officials' salaries were delayed.

Some additional projects, such as water conservancy, disaster relief, embankment repair, city repair, etc., also have no money available.

It is hoped that the budget for the winter estimate can be increased and the retention ratio increased. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome to adjust the adjustment up and down even if the court is in spring and autumn. "

Zhu Yihai is very aware of the importance of finances, and has made some revisions and adjustments before. Now there is a system of winter assessment and spring and autumn transfers, but it is obviously still insufficient.

This is not surprising, any system is not always perfect.

"When I summoned the governor and other officials recently, I often heard them talk about this matter. I also thought about it for a long time and felt that the key to the problem is actually the ratio of shipment and retention.

Today's land shipment and retention ratio is about seventy-three. In addition, lijin, industrial and commercial tax, customs duty, salt, tea, tobacco and alcohol monopoly tax, mineral tax, etc., are still all turned over to the state treasury, and after the war, a lot of waste is waiting to be done. There are also many places where money is used, and it is indeed difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. "

In the past, the basic tax of the Ming system was very low, and there was no industrial and commercial tax, so even if the imperial court opened six to four, the imperial court transported six, and the local government kept four, but the result was that the imperial court was not enough, and the local area was not enough. Additional layers, fire consumption, the court will continue to levy additional, such as three rates and so on.

As a result, the burden on the people continued to increase, and in the end everything was messed up.

The public collected 1 million taels, but the actual people may have paid 5 million, and owed several million to the government account.

Now that the administration of officials has been rectified and tax rates and types adjusted, the situation has improved a lot. However, the local government has no finances, and every penny spent has to be transferred from above, which has inevitably caused great problems.

"Local fiscal expenditures are not small. We did winter estimates before, that is, we included regular expenses, such as local officials' salaries, food and silver, and office expenses. Water conservancy, or other emergencies, extra overruns, are not reserved, and can only be adjusted by spring and autumn, but not flexible enough and not timely enough. The local government has always had no money. Now the government is clear and the supervision is strict, and they dare not reach out to the people indiscriminately , but sooner or later something will happen." Zhu Yihai said straightforwardly.

"From my point of view, the local government still needs to have some finances, and they can't all go to the central government, otherwise they won't be able to do anything, and it will definitely harm the people.

Although it is good for large finances to be centrally dispatched, it is also convenient to handle major affairs, and it can strengthen the authority of the central government, but the restrictions are too strict, and problems will arise instead.

"In this way, I think the tax can be divided into two types: national tax and local tax. Land Dingyin now has 40 million taels a year, no matter whether it is the original color or the color, it is not a lot, and it can be directly reserved in proportion. There is no need to turn it in, just leave it in the local reserve.

As for the ratio, it was originally seven to three, and this ratio is indeed too low, so it is better to change it to four or six. "

"Your Majesty, four or six words are not too much."

"No, four in the central government and six in the local government. Of the six in the local government, three are reserved for the counties, and one is reserved for the provincial, prefectural, and sub-tourist yamen. This way, each yamen has a sum of money and food in their hands, and the work is more efficient. Of course, More money can be reserved for local governments, and local governments should be allowed to have their own finances, but corresponding supervision must be strengthened so that they cannot become a source of corruption.”

"The use of money must be budgeted first, and it must be audited after the year. Some major expenditure items must first be approved by the superiors and cannot be used indiscriminately."

The bulk of local expenditures are official salaries, salaries of subordinate staff, and office expenses, especially the salary of subordinate staff, which was not open and transparent in the past. The imperial court set too little and did not reserve it for the local government. In the past, it was all based on additional levies, or additional fire consumption, or other names, etc. For example, when raising horses in post stations, a horse used to be [-] shi grains a year, and later it was [-] or [-] shi grains a year. Do it for him.

Now Zhu Yihai took out this part of the expenditure and actually calculated it. The officials and subordinates were given real salaries to coordinate the expenses, but the office expenses were also a large part.

Zhu Yihai's government and school expenses and post station expenses are now directly allocated to the central government's budget, and are not borne by the local government.

Of course, there are many other projects such as building roads, laying bridges, repairing cities, water conservancy and disaster relief. These are not routine items, and there are also a lot of expenses such as helping the poor, helping orphans and widows, and local offices, public funds and talents.

"In addition to the four or six cents of land and silver, land and house transaction deed tax, livestock transaction tax, slaughter tax, carriage and horse tax, fishing tax, and mineral tax can all be divided into four or six cents, with [-]% retained in the local area and [-]% turned over to the state treasury.

The income from monopoly sales of salt, tea, tobacco, alcohol, ginseng and sugar belongs to the imperial court, and the output tax and license tax are still divided by the local government and the imperial court.

Customs duties and regular duties belong to the central treasury.

All product taxes are collected ad valorem at the place of origin, and are collected at different rates according to different categories, and all taxes are collected by the national treasury.

The goods tax is also levied ad valorem on the spot, according to the local wholesale price within half a year, and is collected according to the classified tax rate, and the tax is collected into the national treasury. "

The product tax and commodity tax mentioned by the emperor are two major types of industrial and commercial taxation. The commodity tax is a turnover tax. The tax is levied according to its turnover. The taxpayer is the person who produces and sells, and the actual taxpayer is the consumer. .

Output tax is a tax levied on production and processing.

There are not many types of taxes now. Although business tax is also collected, but because it is not easy to supervise the plan, it is mainly based on the valuation to set a level, and then levy the corresponding business tax. The relative tax rate is relatively low.

The imperial court also collects per cent donations, branch per cent and sit per cent, which are actually surcharges on turnover tariffs and business taxes. From the initial uniform value of [-] to [-], now there are basically different tax rates for different commodity categories.

The income of lijin is all paid into the emperor's military expenditure treasury, which is dedicated to the military expenditure of the imperial camp.

Other taxes, such as license fees, are required for all businesses to apply for a license, and the fees are paid according to different industries and sizes, including many license fees. Dental professionals engaged in intermediary industries need to obtain special dental licenses and pay fees.

Those who sell salt must obtain a license to sell salt, those who sell tobacco and alcohol must obtain a license to sell tobacco and alcohol, and those who sell general merchandise must obtain a license to sell general merchandise.

Those who run banks and pawn shops, for example, have to apply for professional licenses and pay special taxes. For example, pawnshops have to pay pawn taxes.

Commodities are mainly collected from product tax, commodity tax, and business tax. Here, there are also monopoly tax, resource tax, customs duty, likin, and license tax.

Others such as deed tax, vehicle and horse tax, slaughter tax, mineral tax, etc. have also been added a lot.

Originally all these tax revenues were turned over to the central government, but now Zhu Yihai proposes to share some tax types with the local government, and even plans to allocate some taxes as local exclusive taxes in the future to strengthen local finances.

"Other government-owned fields, mountains, forests and minerals are sold or leased out, and all of them are temporarily owned by the state."

"The Ministry of Household Affairs arranges people to make statistics. After increasing the land tax by [-]% to the local government and sharing the other parts of these taxes with the local government, can it meet the normal expenditure of the local government? It is best to have a little surplus. If it is not enough, you can add more Allocating some to them, of course, also requires a strict budget system, money, taxes and taxes are all the people's fat, every penny must be used where it should be used, and it must not be wasted."

The ministers were a little surprised that the emperor was so generous. Not only did he increase the local land tax by [-]%, but he also gave the local government a [-]% or [-]% share of many industrial and commercial taxes.

Although the salt, tea, tobacco, alcohol and sugar monopoly and monopoly tax, mineral tax, Changguan, Customs, and proceeds from the sale of land resources still belong to the central government, and lijin still belongs to the imperial camp, but this concession is still very surprising.

Increased retention and tax sharing at the local level may even double their fiscal revenue.

"Your Majesty, will you give too much, will you take it step by step, first pay the five or five cents according to the shipping and retention, and then temporarily return the rest to the household department, and the lijin to the imperial camp?
The official business belongs to the household department, and the Shaofu supervisor belongs to the internal treasury? "

"There is inequality between the rich and the poor in the locality. If there is a poor land with low income and insufficient expenditure, can it be supplemented by the surplus dispatch of the rich land?"

Ruan Dacheng made a suggestion.

Zhu Yihai shook his head and refused.

"Since we want to share, we should share more. Don't be picky and rich like a landlord. Our purpose is to invigorate the local economy and reduce the burden on the local people. Therefore, we should keep more points and not be stingy, otherwise this place will end up with no money. I will still find a way to transfer it to the people.

If I never add a gift, I can't keep my word.

As for the retention of the provinces and localities for adjustments, how can the localities be motivated in the future?Who is willing to transfer the money saved in their own yamen to other places?In this way, everyone will think of ways to use up the money, and even spend it suddenly at the end of the year. Is this my original intention?
In rich places, it is a good thing to have savings, and some can be used in proportion to reward officials, and even do more projects that are beneficial to people's livelihood.

You can also do some local government-run industries, making money with money.

If it is only about equalizing the rich and the poor, which place will actively do business? "

"Let's follow this plan first, and see how the specific situation is. Don't do it in a place where everyone is in deficit, and they are timid when they do things. How can this work?"

When the emperor said this, the ministers did not object.

In fact, everyone knows that the local people have always been burdened heavily. In fact, the main reason is that the local government has additional apportionments, and the main reason for the additional payment is that the central government has not reserved much food for the local governments.

This is like a high official salary does not necessarily prevent corruption, but if it is too low, then many people will be involved in corruption even if they cheat.

In other words, there are many thieves and thieves in troubled times, and this is the reason.

(End of this chapter)