A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 818 Prince Regent

East Palace.

Xiande Hall.

Li Shimin once held his enthronement ceremony in this palace. After taking the throne, he listened to politics in this palace for several years until Li Yuan moved out of Taiji Palace.

Today, Crown Prince Cheng Qian officially supervises the regency in the Xiande Hall.

The prince specially summoned Wu Huaiyu to appear in court.

"At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the three divisions of Yitong, the crown prince Taibao, the general of Shangzhuguo, the Jiazhen army and the right guard general, the bachelor of Chongxian hall and the history of the country, were given the title of Zhenguan Yuancong as a meritorious official, and 1,300 households were actually granted the title. , Lingnan Road Observation deposed the Ambassador and Economic Envoy, the Du Tuan Lian Envoy, the Annan Protector, and the Duke of Jin went to the palace..."

Granting praises and worshiping is not famous, and entering the court is not popular.

Wu Huaiyu wears a purple robe and jade belt with a goldfish, and wears a three-beam beam to enter the palace.

Your Majesty,

Crown Prince Cheng Qian was also dressed very grandly today. He wore a three-beam crown for a long trip. The hat was decorated with gold and cicadas. The crown was also decorated with nine jade beads, with pearls of green and black. The hairband was decorated with tassels of green feathers and rhinoceros horn. The guide, wearing a scarlet robe lined with crimson gauze and a robe lined with white gauze.

The collar, sleeve ends, placket, and collar edge are all in plain black.

There are also square heart-shaped collars and white fake belts.

He also wears a leather belt, a jade pendant, a jade sword, and a ribbon.

Because I haven't been crowned yet, I wear a single bun.

Cheng Qian sitting in the hall was very different from usual, full of majesty.

In front of the Crown Prince were the five left-behind auxiliary ministers appointed by the Emperor.

The left servant shot Wei Guogong Fang Xuanling, the right servant shot Dai Duke Li Jing, the servants of Julu County Duke Wei Zheng, the prince and grand master Zhao Guogong Changsun Wuji, as well as the minister of Zhongshu and the prince You Shuzi, the admonishing doctor, and the Gaotang County Duke Ma Zhou.

Under these five big guys,

The officials were divided into two classes, basically one class for the courtiers who stayed behind, and one class for the east palace officials.

"Give the teacher a seat."

Cheng Qian was very different today, and his speech was a little different, but his respect for Wu Huaiyu had not changed. As soon as he came in, the prince asked him to sit down without courtesy.

The emperor had already gone to Jiucheng Palace in Qizhou. Before leaving, Cheng Qian once again requested that Wu Huaiyu could stay to assist him in supervising the country. However, the emperor said that everything had been arranged and Wu Huaiyu went to Lingnan to guard the southern border for the Tang Dynasty.

This is an established arrangement and will not change.

Today is his first day in charge of the country, and it is also the day when Wu Huaiyu comes to bid farewell to his Majesty.

Although he was reluctant to let go, Cheng Qian couldn't do anything to keep him.

Since the teacher was in Chang'an, Cheng Qian felt confident and would not panic when he was in doubt. He would just go to the teacher. If the teacher was not around, he would not be able to find anyone to discuss anything.

Wu Huaiyu went to the palace to give his majestic speech, but Cheng Qian still expressed his reluctance in front of hundreds of officials.

After the meeting,

Huaiyu drank tea with the five left-behind ministers.

Changsun Wuji was the happiest. He did not expect that he would become the left-behind auxiliary minister. Although he still only held the title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi and Prince Taishi, after all, he became the auxiliary minister when the emperor was not in Beijing. Political elder.

"Huaiyu, I have to thank you for recommending me in front of His Majesty and the Crown Prince," Changsun Wuji thanked him with tea instead of wine.

"Gong Changsun is the uncle of the state and the prince's biological uncle. His Highness has been ordered to stay in charge of the country. Of course you, the biological uncle, have to help." Huaiyu said with a smile.

I don’t know how long this time I will be serving as the governor of the country, but it is obvious that this is a test from the emperor to the prince, and he must perform well. Changsun Wuji is the prince’s uncle, and he has been sitting on the bench for so long. Wu Huaiyu recommended him If he stays behind to help, he will definitely work hard.

Among the five remaining ministers, of course Fang Xuanling is the main one. He is the emperor's most trusted confidant and the prime minister.

As for Li Jing, he is a big shot in the military. With him around, no military commander would dare to mess around.

As for Wei Zheng, the servant, the emperor sometimes didn't buy it, he was loyal and selfless, so it was appropriate for him to keep an eye on the court, the other ministers, and even the prince.

Ma Zhou was the lowest-qualified among the five ministers and the only one who had never been prime minister. However, he was also a confidant of the emperor and worked part-time as an official in the East Palace.

While drinking tea, Wu Huaiyu made some requests politely.

"Lingnan fully implements the two-tax law. I hope the imperial court can agree to formally implement the three-part fiscal and taxation system in Lingnan, with one share going to the national treasury, one share to the envoys, and one share to the state.

It is held twice a year, divided into spring and autumn. "

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard, "Lingnan will fully implement two taxes, so it is inevitable that the tax will be divided into three parts. However, the three-point local taxation that was tried before was only the two main taxes of local tax and household tax. The remaining salt, tea, wine, and sugar are sold exclusively. As well as mining lessons, market shipping tariffs, and income from purchases and government operations are not included.

What does the Duke of Jin plan? "

Wu Huaiyu, who has long been in charge of Lingnan, now has sufficient personnel power, supervisory power and even military power, including financial power.

When the tax adjustment system was implemented before, Lingnan was not able to truly grasp it. The local prefectures and counties in Lingnan paid tribute, but it was just a symbolic meaning. The court failed to truly collect taxes in Lingnan.

Even just controlling a few cities such as Guangjiaogui.

In the past two years, the imperial court has been conducting strategic planning in Lingnan. It has sent troops to conquer, stationed troops, sent officials south, even immigrated, built cities, opened customs, etc.

Lingnan is slowly coming under the actual control of the imperial court, and everything must be on the right track.

The current implementation of two taxes is also the focus of Wu Huaiyu's next work in Lingnan. Taxes must be collected, but after the taxes are collected, how to distribute them is also key.

The imperial court will definitely want to take more.

But Wu Huaiyu also needed finance and taxation in the local area. Whether it was to garrison and raise troops, to conquer rebellions, to support officials in Lingnan, or even to build schools, farm fields, open businesses, etc., a lot of money was needed. These cannot be expected to be funded by the central government.

Wu Huaiyu had to make money by himself in Lingnan.

Organize households and people, collect household taxes, inventory the fields, cultivate grain fields, and collect local taxes.

Even the monopoly tax on salt, tea, wine, and sugar, the mining tax on minerals, and even the pearl tax on pearl fishing, as well as customs duties, industrial and commercial taxes, etc.,

We must all become formalized, and at the same time we must enrich our finances.

Wu Huaiyu had also reached a preliminary agreement with the emperor before, that is, the official tax of the two taxes was three points, one point was given to the national treasury, one point was transferred to Wu Huaiyu, the observer, and the other part was retained for state and county expenses.

Of course, this is only the official tax.

As for other industrial and commercial taxes, monopoly taxes, even customs duties, mining taxes, etc., Li Shimin did not say anything. Fang Xuanling hoped that all these taxes would be paid to the national treasury.

Wu Huaiyu didn't want to,

How much is the official tax, especially in a place like Lingnan?

The bulk of it must be other miscellaneous items, whether it is industrial and commercial taxes, customs duties, monopoly sales, or mining courses, as well as various purchases and government income, these are actually a large amount.

It is difficult to develop in Lingnan without money.

Raising soldiers requires money, fighting wars requires money, and raising officials also requires money.

Not to mention building cities, repairing forts, building post stations and trade routes, etc.

"I look at all taxes, whether they are the two taxes, industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes, or monopoly, mining taxes, customs duties, etc., they are all divided into three parts, one point is paid to the government, one point is retained by the envoy, and one point is retained in the state. This way It also facilitates unification.”

Fang Xuanling refused.

If the three-cent tax rate remains the same in the future, then the central government will only get one-third of all taxes, while the local governments will get two-thirds. How will the court do anything in the future?

"Two-thirds of the regular taxes can be reserved for local governments, but for industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes, monopoly, etc., I don't think the local governments should divide them any more. The court has more places to spend money." Fang Xuanling did not give in.

Then,

Wu Huaiyu, the chief official of Lingnan Province, was bargaining with the five left-behind ministers who were supervising the prince.

After a long discussion, neither one was willing to give in.

Finally, we had to invite Prince Chengqian to host the ceremony.

After listening to Wu Huaiyu's explanation, Cheng Qian said, "I feel that what the teacher said is quite reasonable. In the past, Lingnan only had sporadic local tribute, and the imperial court basically received no tax revenue from Lingnan, and the small amount of income was still used in Lingnan.

Now the teacher is conducting military operations in Lingnan, and has promised that the 68,000 garrison troops, 24,000 government troops, as well as the state soldiers, county and township soldiers, etc. in Lingnan will not need the court to bear military expenses and other expenses.

Moreover, the officials in the six prefectures and ninety-six states in Lingnan are also responsible for their salaries and expenses. The teacher’s promise is extremely rare.

In this way, the two taxes can still provide one-third, so why is the court dissatisfied? "

Cheng Qian said boldly, "When Yi Gu comes to see it, I agree to the teacher's promise. Whether it is the two taxes, the industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes, or other special sales, customs duties, mining taxes, etc., they will all be treated as the two taxes and the three taxes." The court will only take the one share offered as an offering."

"Your Highness, this is putting the cart before the horse. Wherever the place takes two-thirds, the imperial court only gets one-third." Fang Xuanling smiled bitterly.

The prince said, "The situation in Lingnan is special after all. There is still a war there. Besides, in the past, the court could not get a few taxes from Lingnan. Now the Duke of Jin is guarding Lingnan. According to his plan, from now on, one-third You can also get a lot, and there will be more and more,”

It was hard for Fang Xuanling to refute Cheng Qian's preference for Wu Huaiyu. After all, the court did not get a few cents from Lingnan in the past.

Wei Zheng also joined in the bargaining at this time. He proposed, "Miscellaneous industrial and commercial items can be divided into three parts. But the monopoly of salt, tea, sugar and wine should be divided between the imperial court and Lingnan.

As for the customs duties on commercial ships, as well as purchases and sales, as well as the revenue from government workshops, these should all be under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. "

Wu Huaiyu didn't fight too much either.

"The income from customs duties belongs to the imperial court, but the revenue from official workshops, including the income from purchases, should first be taxed as normal. The tax part is the same as the industrial and commercial tax, which is still three points, and one point for the payment.

The after-tax income from official workshops and purchases can be completely returned to the Shaofu and other court officials. "

Everyone bargains,

In the end, an agreement was reached. Wu Huaiyu requested that everything be written down in black and white. Finally, the prince of the supervising country drafted the text and sealed it and issued it. Finally, it was reported to the emperor of Jiucheng Palace, who issued a formal edict.

I am not afraid that this matter will not happen again.

Wu Huaiyu's attitude was very serious.

This is a matter of financial power. If Lingnan wants to develop in the future, money is indispensable. We cannot expect the court to allocate funds and can only rely on local governments. Therefore, how to allocate finance and taxes is very important.

When Wu Huaiyu got the official document, which was handwritten by Ma Zhou, signed by five ministers, and signed and sealed by the crown prince, he smiled with satisfaction.

Even though Lingnan is located in a wilderness, in Wu Huaiyu's eyes it is a hot land, with gold and silver flowing everywhere, and many opportunities to make money. Not only can private individuals make a lot of money, but the public and government can also make a lot of money.

In addition to tax collection, there are also official operations.

This official camp not only has the handicraft workshops of the Shaofu and other subordinates, but Lingnan itself can also set up its own official workshops, mines, and even merchant fleets, etc.

If you have money, you can strengthen the equipment and improve the salaries of the officers and soldiers in Lingnan, increase the benefits for the officials, and recruit more immigrants from the Central Plains for resettlement.

He couldn't expect the court to give him money, but as long as he could provide policies and free up Lingnan to work, it would be enough for him to stay with the money.

Fang Xuanling saw Wu Huaiyu smiling brightly while holding the official document, and said helplessly, "I think the court agreed too happily and easily. The court has suffered a huge loss."

(End of this chapter)