Chu Tang: Tell Li Er at the beginning that I am a time traveler

Chapter 545 Thesis
summer.

Ice cubes, electric fan, and watermelon.

Speaking of...

This watermelon was still strongly requested to be introduced, and then, after that, it was continuously improved, and it became what it is now.

While gnawing on a watermelon, Li Chong was writing his thesis - "On the Taxation of Ancient and Modern Dynasties".

If you want to say what to use, it can best prove that you also have reading.

There is no doubt that it is definitely writing a thesis.

and……

To write a good paper, the books that need to be read are not one or two, but at least dozens or hundreds of books.

therefore……

It can also be seen.

At this time, in Li Chong's room, all kinds of books were scattered all over the place.

It's a pity that I don't have a computer now, otherwise, I can enter all these books into the computer, and then I can directly find the keywords I need by pressing ctrl+F.

Now...

In order to make his thesis more fully supported, he could only flip through it page by page.

of course!

It's too slow if you do it by yourself.

therefore……

Li Chong also asked Xiao Xiao and Luo Weiyun to help.

Luo Weiyun is also the daughter of a county magistrate, so she must have been educated and literate.

This is not a problem.

Xiaoxiao, there are also teachers in the palace who specialize in teaching all kinds of reading and writing.

Naturally, it can certainly do the job.

After about half a month of hard work.

Although the length of the paper may not be very long.

It feels like the most, that is, four to five thousand words.

but……

In the previous dynasties and dynasties, the information about taxes and taxes that he could find was basically summarized by him in these four or five thousand words.

Then...

Naturally, it is necessary to compare it with the current taxation.

therefore……

Two days ago, Li Chong also asked his imperial grandfather for the tax data of the Tang Dynasty in the past ten years.

His royal grandfather also asked him what he wanted this for.

in fact……

From a rigorous point of view, he should have collected Datang's tax data for the past 200 years.

But the problem is...

200 years of data, not to mention whether he was bitten by insects or not, with the ability of a ten-year-old child, it is quite troublesome to process.

simply……

Li Chong also based on the principle of speed first, and only picked the ones from the last ten years.

After some comparisons, then, some conclusions were made correspondingly.

There are not only comparisons between ancient and modern times, but also comparisons over the past ten years.

Finished!

Li Chong also drew the vertical and horizontal coordinates, and added some charts to his thesis.

of course!

In fact...

The use of diagrams has become quite common in papers in scientific journals.

The advantage of charts is that you don’t need to look at the lines of text, you only need to look at the pictures to have a very intuitive understanding of the data.

The innovation of Li Zhong's paper may be that in the past, papers were generally used in scientific research.

Especially the quantitative analysis of this experiment.

Li Chong's thesis, on the other hand, is obviously more liberal arts and non-experimental.

After racking his brains for a few random conclusions, Li Chong managed to come up with a few conclusions. Finally, Li Chong was able to heave a sigh of relief.

"what!"

Finally stretched.

"It's finally finished!"

Done.

He lay down on the floor in a large font, with a relaxed and satisfied expression on his face.

Xiaoxiao and Luo Weiyun also looked over when they heard the words, and moved closer together.

Let's see what conclusions he comes to.

I saw Li Chong wrote - from the Zhou Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the taxes of these dynasties often had the characteristic of "living within their means".

To put it simply, there are only so many taxes in the world, and they basically rely on collecting taxes from the fields, and the output in the fields, even if there are good years, generally speaking, this way of taxation has a large income. The income is still relatively fixed.

If you want to increase this kind of tax, from the Zhou Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the most common way is to let the people continue to open up wasteland, or let the army garrison the land.

But even so...

The disadvantage of this kind of tax is also obvious, that is, relatively speaking, it is relatively fixed, and it is difficult to have too much growth. If there is a shortage of years, it will make the imperial court's finances stretched all of a sudden.

and so……

What can often be seen in the history books is that the emperor ordered the concubines in the harem to take the lead in starting to cut down on food and clothing.

Because this year's tax collection is not enough.

This is the taxation system used in previous dynasties.

And what about Datang today?

Not so.

Today's Datang, in addition to obtaining certain taxes from the fields, at the same time, can also obtain a large amount of tax supplements from customs duties and transportation taxes, which are actually commercial taxes.

and……

Judging from the data, the income from this kind of tax is vaguely equivalent to the tax in the field at this time, which is a significant improvement from the previous tax method of 'living within one's means'.

It's worth noting though...

In fact, like the Qi State in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, there was also a business tax, such as the salt tax, and even, in addition to the salt tax, the prime minister of the Qi State, Guan Zhong, also used to run a brothel.

Li Chong is here to call this a state-owned economy.

although……

It is indeed not very good for this country to run a brothel, but Guan Zhong made the Qi country stronger.

And it made Duke Huan of Qi the first overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period.

This is an indisputable fact.

of course!

I won’t talk much about Duke Huan of Qi here. What Li Chong wants to point out is that if a dynasty wants to maintain peace and stability, it must have a certain ability to resist risks, that is, in the tax system, it must have A certain amount of flexibility.

You can't really just collect taxes from the fields and watch the sky eat.

To know……

There will be a limit to the tax collected from the fields.

When this limit is exceeded, or the king or aristocrat is extravagant, artificially exceeds this limit and imposes taxes, so that the people can only sell the land, or even sell the land to pay taxes, and finally When it is so difficult to support itself, then the country may not be far from subjugation.

because……

At that time, there will always be a nobleman who will overthrow the old dynasty in the name of pleading for the people and doing justice for the sky.

And when he overthrew the old dynasty, he would enter a new cycle again.

This is why the dynasty is always bound to perish within a certain period of time.

At last……

Compare ancient and modern.

In ancient times, when the common people had no land, they could only become refugees. When the number increased, uprisings would break out and the dynasty would change.

Looking at today, even if the people have no land in their hands, they can still get food and clothing by working for others. This is where today is better than in ancient times.

And how can the common people be able to work?

Have a job?

Li Zhong thought...

Encouraging and developing business is undoubtedly the best way.

This not only brings taxes to the country, but also allows a dynasty to have a certain degree of flexibility in taxation. At the same time, it can also solve the food and clothing of a considerable number of people.

and……

By comparing the commercial tax revenue of Datang over the past ten years.

Li Chong can only say...

Commercial tax is a tax system with unlimited potential. You see, Datang's commercial tax is increasing at a rate of almost [-]% every year.

In the past ten years, the revenue of business tax has been at least double that of ten years ago.

and……

Li Chong felt that this growth would definitely continue to increase.

If we can take the tax from the field as the basis, and then consider continuously improving the commercial tax, then...

No matter what natural disasters or man-made disasters, Datang has enough ability, that is, money, to solve various problems.

of course!

The premise is...

As His Majesty, one must not be too extravagant.

otherwise……

If you are extravagant, no matter how good the tax system is, it will not be as fast as a prodigal.

(End of this chapter)