Tibet.

Chapter 1331: Enraging the Emperor

Wei Jiansu hurried to see the emperor. He was surprised that the emperor had proposed a plan to promote county officials during the meeting in the government hall today without discussing it with him in advance.

Li Ye knew he was coming, so he smiled and said, "Please sit down!"

He then said to Wei Gao, "Go and invite Prime Minister Zhang as well!"

Li Ye smiled at Wei Jiansu and said, "Although the promotion of county officials was not discussed with the prime minister in advance, the prime minister does not need to be angry. In the end, it was not implemented! I just wanted to test everyone's attitude and did not say that it would be implemented immediately."

Wei Jiansu nodded, "Your Majesty is right to have this idea. Wu Zetian also planned to promote county officials, but soon news of fires in Dayun Temples in various places came. She was afraid of the consequences and had to give up the promotion of county officials."

"Does this mean that Prime Minister Wei agrees to the promotion of county officials?"

Wei Jiansu said slowly, "I only agree with half of it. The first-level officials can be promoted, but the second-level officials cannot be moved. This can be regarded as taking into account the interests of local tyrants. We cannot really take advantage of their interests to the end, otherwise it will cause a big disaster. In addition, I still insist on piloting it in Guanzhong for a year. If it works, it will be promoted everywhere."

The first-level officials among the county officials refer to the two bailiffs and the schoolmaster. The two bailiffs are in charge of the six departments, while the six departments, the head of the police force and the head of the prison are the second-level officials. The second-level officials have close ties with the local tyrants.

In fact, if the court could capture a first-level official, it would be a great victory.

Li Ye nodded, "Prime Minister, please write a detailed plan and I will consider it carefully!"

At this time, Zhang Li hurried over and bowed, "Your Majesty!"

Li Ye stopped talking about the county officials. He took out a memorial and said, "Here is the preliminary draft of the Ministry of Revenue's order to abolish slavery. I have read it carefully. Overall, it is very good and has strong operability. However, it only mentions slaves, not slaves. For example, it mentions that official slaves will be converted into civilians, but what about the music masters and musicians among the official slaves? If they are all converted into civilians, how can they be distinguished from the existing slaves? There is also the issue of criminals. Many exiled criminals were exiled because they were not official slaves. How should they be dealt with? It is not mentioned in the draft."

The term "lowly class" mainly refers to people who have fallen into prostitution, such as prostitutes, pimps, dancers, singers, musicians, etc. They have a very low social status and often marry businessmen or are sold to other families when they are old and ugly. In the end, the musicians usually marry musicians.

Or becoming a concubine of a rich man, that would be considered good luck.

Zhang Li was in charge of the abolition of slavery. He asked, "What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Li Ye said slowly: "According to my opinion, we should take this opportunity to completely abolish the status of slaves, merchants, soldiers and criminals, and call them all civilians."

Zhang Li hesitated for a moment and said, "But in fact, people have strong discrimination against prostitutes and think they are lowly."

Li Ye shook his head and said, "It is a matter of the people if the common people discriminate, but the government cannot discriminate, and the law cannot discriminate. Prime Minister Zhang! All the people in the land are my subjects. Is there any distinction between noble and lowly among my subjects?"

Zhang Li blushed and said, "I understand now. I didn't think it through and confused the government's governance with the people's preferences."

Li Ye handed the draft to him and said, "After the revision, the Political Affairs Hall will discuss it again. If the Political Affairs Hall approves it, I will approve it!"

In fact, the draft that has been put forward now is only the first step in the abolition order. The first is to abolish the slave markets in various parts of the Tang Dynasty. Secondly, all official slaves in various places will be converted into civilians. Thirdly, all slaves under the age of sixteen will be converted into civilians. Those over sixteen will be the next step.

The abolition order must be implemented step by step, but once it is issued, it must be implemented without any deviation. Failure to implement it or sly violation will result in punishment, 100 strokes of the cane and exile 3,000 miles away.

The Censorate would send a large number of officials to inspect various places and accept letters of reports from the people. Once a report was made, the Internal Guard would intervene. Once confirmed, the Internal Guard would arrest the person directly. If an official was involved, the Censor would be notified.

It can be said that each link is closely linked to ensure that the abolition order is effectively implemented.

Li Ye gave the draft to Zhang Li, but did not let them leave. He changed the subject and asked, "What do you two prime ministers think of the example given by Minister Yan today?"

Wei Jiansu smiled bitterly in his heart. He knew that the household tax reform was the decree that the emperor was most concerned about, and anyone who dared to falsify it would be severely punished. The emperor did not express his opinion in the government hall, but he must have been furious in his heart and would never let this matter go.

Wei Jiansu sighed and said, "Your Highness, these common people do not understand the will of the emperor, they just want to take advantage. Although they made mistakes, I beg Your Highness to spare their lives!"

Li Ye did not immediately express his opinion, and asked Zhang Li again, "Does Prime Minister Zhang think that Minister Yan's description is true?"

Zhang Li said slowly, "I was born as a low-level official, and I know the situation at the lower levels very well. It is normal for such a thing to happen. It would be strange if it didn't happen. I guess it's not just in Hedong Road, but the gentry and powerful people in almost all places are taking advantage of this loophole."

“There’s actually no loophole here!”

Wei Jiansu was a little unhappy. He was responsible for drafting and promoting the tax reform. How could he leave such an obvious loophole?

"I know that rule. It means that ordinary people who have their household registration in the county and own a small amount of farmland outside the city, not exceeding 20 mu, can be exempted from the farmland tax if they have already paid the household tax. At the same time, ordinary people living in rural areas can be exempted from the household tax if they have already paid the farmland tax.

The conditions are very clear. First, you must live in the county town, your household registration must be in the county town, and the land you own outside the city cannot exceed 20 acres. With such clear requirements, how can those powerful landlords evade taxes?

This is not a household tax issue, but a problem of favoritism and corruption. It is clear that he does not meet the requirements, but the county forcibly determined that he meets the requirements. No matter how strict the law is, it still needs people to enforce it. We did not realize the evil of human nature at the time!"

Li Ye nodded. "Now that it has happened, how do you think Prime Minister Wei can make up for it?"

Wei Jiansu said decisively: "Completely abolish the household tax. We must not exempt some people from tax and tax others. Once such a regulation is in place, everyone will definitely try every means to evade taxes. In fact, the benefits of tax exemption are far from making up for the losses caused by loopholes. I suggest not only completely abolishing the household tax, but also levying taxes on all farmland except official and military farmland. For those who meet the preferential conditions, they can apply for a refund of the overpaid taxes after approval by at least a provincial official."

Li Ye nodded slightly, Wei Jiansu's suggestion hit the nail on the head.

Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li took their leave. Li Ye paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. What Yan Zhenqing said hurt him deeply and angered him. There were actually people who dared to take advantage of the loophole in the household tax to evade the land tax, and this should be a common phenomenon. Even if the household tax was announced to be abolished, these people who abused their power for personal gain and bent the law must not be let off.

Li Ye does not want to deal with those who want to evade taxes for the time being. It is not that he cannot deal with them, but the household tax is not due until the end of the year. Now they have not paid the tax, so it cannot be called tax evasion.

However, Li Ye would definitely severely punish those officials who were partial and bent the law, make an example of them and directly dismiss them from their posts. County magistrates who turned a blind eye would also be severely warned.

At this time, Li Chenghua, the commander of the inner guards, came hurriedly, bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Highness!"

Li Ye said slowly: "You can send the internal security team to Guanzhong Road, Guannei Road, Jiannan Road, Shannan West Road and East Road, as well as Henan Road, to investigate two things for me. First, whether there is private salt in the county; second, investigate those powerful landlords who live in the county and own hundreds or thousands of acres of land to see if they think they should pay household taxes? If they do, why do they have to pay household taxes? Is the government's determination true?"

Li Chenghua hesitated and said, "I don't understand. Isn't it a good thing to pay the household tax?"

Li Ye shook his head. "They are trying to evade the land tax. You can go back and look at the household tax regulations. The household tax only costs one string of money, while the land tax costs one hundred strings of money. Which one do you think he wants to pay?"

"Wei Chen understands!"

Li Ye continued, "If they are blatantly calling a horse a zebra, these powerful landlords should not be touched for the time being. You should hold the officials accountable. Who made the determination? The county magistrate must submit a written explanation to the Ministry of Revenue within one month."

"Your Majesty, isn't it overstepping one's authority for the county magistrate to explain the situation directly to the Ministry of Revenue in writing? It would be better to explain the situation to the Internal Security Headquarters."

Li Ye nodded, "You are right, let's explain the situation to the Internal Security Headquarters instead!"

(End of this chapter)