Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 936 Power and Responsibility
Household Department.

Shangshu Hall.

"Grand Tutor, if you really want to compile a tax law on your own, it will probably attract a lot of attention in the court, and even cause private discussion." The Left Vice Minister Nan Juyi said to Bi Ziyan after a long silence.

"The key is that this tax law will be the only standard for taxation in the future. I am a little worried that some people will hinder it after knowing this."

"This concern is not without reason."

Right Assistant Minister Li Zongyan frowned slightly and said in a low voice: "What's more, under such a political situation, if the Ministry of Revenue takes the lead in doing this, it will definitely cause a stir."

The Ming Dynasty's laws did not address the issue of taxation. Indeed, since the Ming Dynasty was passed down to the present day, too many things have happened and too many things have been changed because of taxation.

But Nan Juyi and Li Zongyan figured out some ideas from what their own Shangshu said, well, or to be more precise, it was the will of the emperor.

Corresponding laws and regulations have been revised. From now on, there will be no ancestral system, no old rules and regulations, and everything will be based on tax laws.

This tax law cannot be revised once and for all. It needs to be supplemented and deleted over a certain period of time according to the current situation of the country.

Is this easy?

not simple!
The central government officials know the character of the current emperor very well. They have all experienced it. The emperor never follows the rules, but the key point is that before he does many things, you can't guess what he is doing.

If such a tax law really comes into being, there will inevitably be a lot of problems in taxation in the future of the Ming Dynasty.

It was this thought that made Nan Juyi and Li Zongyan think of the southeast. Is there really no way to stabilize the southeast, which is in such chaos now?
Not necessarily.

But the result was that even though many things happened in the southeast, including mutinies, civil unrest, natural disasters and other events, the emperor remained not at all panicked.

This is the most terrible.

"What? From what you said, you don't dare to let the Ministry of Revenue take on this task?" On the other hand, Bi Ziyan looked calm as he looked at the two of them.

Nan Juyi and Li Zongyan remained silent.

It's not that they don't dare, but they don't want to take it over so quickly. At least before the tax reform clearly stated by the Ministry of Revenue takes effect in more places, the Ministry of Revenue cannot do these things.

"Since I have accepted this task, I must make it clear as soon as possible." Seeing that the two of them remained silent, Bi Ziyan said with a firm look in his eyes.

"You know better than me what the Ministry of Revenue has done in the past and what happened during that time. You are working in the Ministry of Revenue, so have you never thought about one thing?"

"Why is it that the imperial court collects taxes, but some of the taxes that should go into the national treasury end up not going into the treasury? In fact, under various pretexts, the collection is gradually reduced, delayed, or even stopped?"

Nan Juyi and Li Zongyan sighed in their hearts. How could they not know this? Taxes are collected from the people and used for the people. Only by doing this can the court function and the world be stable.

But in reality, there are too many people who do not want their interests to be infringed upon. If you collect too much tax, wouldn't that mean they would lose their interests?
You can obviously pass the burden on to others, so why should you take it directly from them?

When this kind of thinking becomes prevalent, there will be big problems.

Everyone knows that the strong will always be strong.

Those who should be taxed more use various means to avoid it, so the tax will be passed on to the lower classes. But what can the lower classes do when their burden is increased?
Either sell the land or sell yourself.

Or wander around.

This also brought more serious harm to the Ming Dynasty.

As the number of self-cultivating farmers under the Ming Dynasty continued to decline over time, the tax sources that were beneficial to the court continued to decrease.

Once too many emergencies occur during this process and the treasury is unable to meet various expenses, the hole becomes bigger and bigger, and the contradiction will be further intensified.

"Why did the emperor appoint the Ministry of Revenue to compile tax laws? What he thought and what he wanted was just like what you thought in your hearts." Bi Ziyan lifted his sleeves and said in a sonorous voice.

“That means we need to define responsibilities!!”

"If this tax law can be finalized one day earlier, it means that the court will no longer have to go back and forth on certain matters, especially taxation."

"Other things may be negotiable, but taxes are not. We must not reduce the taxes that should be collected, and we must not take any less taxes that should not be collected!"

"The tax law must be clarified as soon as possible. Apart from other things, the endless stream of exorbitant taxes and levies in various places, those private tax silvers that have not entered the national treasury will definitely be suppressed!!"

In fact, when Bi Ziyan came back from Xiyuan, he thought of many things through this incident. He suddenly realized that there were many profound meanings behind the emperor's asking the Ministry of Revenue to revise the tax law.

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This is closely related to the special general offices established previously, especially the General Office of Taxation and Police.

In the past, the imperial court's taxation was passed down one level at a time. When it came to the local level, the people responsible for taxation could not be officials, but the clerks below. The taxation system of the Ming Dynasty was chaotic, at least it was not as clear-cut as in the early Ming Dynasty.

This also made Bi Ziyan think of something.

Will the General Administration of Taxation be the main body for collecting taxes in various places in the future?
After all, the General Administration of Taxation Police is composed of disabled and retired soldiers from all over the country. Even though they are missing limbs, they are ruthless and are not afraid of any threats or resistance.

It’s just that Bi Ziyan misunderstood.

According to Zhu Youxiao's real idea, in the future, matters involving taxation will be handled by gradually clarifying the tax system. This tax system not only includes the General Administration of Taxation Police, but also includes other things.

As for how the tax system should be established in various places, the scale and system should be determined according to the wealth of the people. We cannot say that most of the taxes collected are used to feed the people.

Wouldn't that be the same as now?

It's just a change of form.

What Zhu Youxiao wanted to achieve was to take money from the people and use it for the people in terms of taxation. No matter what the court encountered in the future, it would not increase any levies.

Local taxes must be levied, and overseas taxes must be levied.

Zhu Youxiao wanted to use two systems to meet the huge operational needs so that the Ming Dynasty could continue to move forward, rather than just focusing on the local grassroots.

"Since you all have concerns about this matter, I will be responsible for it myself." Originally, Bi Ziyan wanted to ask Nan Juyi to be in charge of this matter, but after seeing the reactions of the two, Bi Ziyan felt that it would be best for him to handle this matter personally. Although he had a lot to do, if this matter could be done well, it would be beneficial to the country and the people, so what did it matter if he suffered a little bit of hardship and fatigue?

Nan Juyi and Li Zongyan had mixed feelings when they heard this. They knew that once this matter became known, it would definitely cause a big response, but they also knew that some things could not be ignored! !
(End of this chapter)