Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 120
Not to mention that these officials in the Taxation Department are in their first year of office and do not dare to make any small moves. Even if they dare to make small moves, it is difficult to do so under the surveillance of Jin Yiwei, not to mention the patrols they send out. The inspection team conducts random and covert visits across the country. Officials everywhere know about this. If you don’t believe it, they still dare to take a penny of tax money.

It was precisely because he was full of confidence in the new tax law that Zhu Tianqi found it difficult to think of what Xu Guangqi meant by "taking advantage of loopholes."

Xu Guangqi immediately explained: "The officials of the imperial court no longer dare to engage in malpractice for personal gain, corruption and perversion of the law, but the local gentry and wealthy families can still make a fortune by taking advantage of the imperial court's tax collection.

Nowadays, the imperial court no longer levies physical goods such as grain and crops, but uniformly collects silver. So when people pay taxes, they must first sell the harvested grain and crops into silver before they can pay taxes, because the imperial court levies taxes within a time limit, and some The gentry and wealthy families took advantage of this opportunity to rob the people, lowered prices, and forced the people to sell grain and crops at low prices.

In order to collect enough tax money, the common people often had to sell grain to these gentry and wealthy families at low prices due to pressure. Often the court only collected tax money equivalent to [-]% of the grain, but the people had to sell at least [-] to [-]% of the grain to these gentry. Only the wealthy families could collect enough, and then when the remaining grain was not enough, when they went to these gentry and wealthy families to buy grain, the price of grain was so high that the common people could not afford it! "

After listening to Xu Guangqi's words, Zhu Tianqi's brows were tightly knit together. It's not like he had never heard of such a thing before, but now that Xu Guangqi said it in detail, he still hated it. After all, When the people are forced to live no longer, they will start their own rebellion!

The government's good policies continue to be issued, but they will eventually lead to different forms of suffering and oppression on the people. Zhu Tianqi also knows that he is not capable of saving the common people and the people from the fire and water, so that the people of the world can live a good life, but he also These gentry and wealthy families must not be allowed to take advantage of the opportunity of the court to collect taxes, but let the court and the new tax law take the blame!
Zhu Tianqi pondered for a moment, and finally slapped the table and said: "Rather than letting these scum collect the people's grain, why not collect it ourselves? Simply open a court grain collection office next to the tax department's office to make it easier for the people to use grain. Exchange for silver!”

After hearing Zhu Tianqi's words, Xu Guangqi couldn't help but be stunned. The imperial court spent its own money to buy the people's grain, and then asked the people to pay taxes with money. Is that any different from asking the people to pay taxes directly with grain?It saves the hassle to hand in the food directly. Is it meaningful to go through it all over again?
But Xu Guangqi immediately came to his senses, and he suddenly realized that doing this was meaningful, and it also meant a lot!
First of all, the court's collection of grain prevented the people from being exploited and oppressed by the local gentry and wealthy families. This ensured the reputation of the new tax law among the people. The people could clearly feel that the tax pressure from the court was greatly reduced when they paid taxes this year, which gave new tax incentives to the new people. The tax law has made a good start. In the future, even if the court no longer collects grain and the gentry and wealthy families are singled out to lower prices and exploit the people, the people will not complain about the court.

Secondly, although this back and forth was very troublesome, it ensured the reform of the court's tax collection method. Since the new tax law has stipulated that there must be a unified cash collector, it must be a cash collector. Even if the court spends some effort to collect the people's grain first After the acquisition, the people are required to pay taxes and money. This is of great significance in changing the people's tax concept and promoting the new tax law.

And the last point is that the imperial court is indeed short of food. Instead of traveling all the way to Annan to purchase it, it is better to make good use of the domestic food. Therefore, it is beneficial to the country and the people for the imperial court to purchase the people's food at a fair price.

Having figured this out, Xu Guangqi immediately felt admiration for Zhu Tianqi, and saluted sincerely: "The emperor is wise!"

Zhu Tianqi felt a little strange when he faced Xu Guangqi's admiring gaze. In fact, he didn't think that much. He just happened to be short of food and couldn't bear to see the people being exploited and oppressed by the gentry and wealthy families in these places, so he simply Those who planned to collect grain directly, but could not break the rules they had just set in the new tax law, had no choice but to stay away.

But if you want to do this, there are troubles, and this trouble is "silver". Not only Zhu Tianqi thought of this, but Xu Guangqi also immediately thought of it.

Xu Guangqi said: "Your Majesty, based on last year's tax estimates, the imperial court collected a total of more than 500 million taels of grain and rice. If converted into silver taels, it would be more than 2000 million taels at least. It is difficult for the imperial court to raise such a sum in a short period of time. That's a lot of money!" Zhu Tianqi is also in trouble. He currently has less than 500 million taels of cash in hand. The 2000 million taels Xu Guangqi said is a conservative estimate. According to the current food price, I'm afraid it would be good if the money in my hand can equal half of it.

Zhu Tianqi had no choice but to ask: "How much money is there in the treasury now?"

Xu Guangqi replied: "There are only 200 million taels left, and we still dare not move the money at will!"

Zhu Tianqi took a deep breath, thought about it carefully, and then said: "Xu Aiqing, I remember that the collection time of summer tax and autumn tax should be very long?"

Xu Guangqi replied: "Yes, because the maturity time of grain and crops in different places is slightly different, the time given by the court is quite broad. Summer taxes are usually paid before August every year, and autumn taxes should not be paid later than the following year." February!"

Zhu Tianqi nodded. This time interval was longer than he thought. In this way, even if he couldn't come up with so much money at once, he should still be able to switch. Zhu Tianqi immediately said: "In this case, let's start with Let's use a sum of money from my internal funds to do this. Anyway, it's just a few rounds. As long as the tax money received is sent back in time, even if I can't come up with so much money, It should be enough!”

When Xu Guangqi heard this, he immediately understood what Zhu Tianqi meant, and couldn't help but nodded. He was also very touched that Zhu Tianqi was willing to contribute money from his own funds. He immediately bowed deeply and said: "The emperor cares about the people, and he is truly a wise king through the ages! "

After saying this, Xu Guangqi said with some worry: "Now the problem of money has been solved, but there is still one problem to be solved, and this matter is not easy to talk about!"

Zhu Tianqi said: "Xu Aiqing, if you have anything to say, please say it directly. There is no need to be secretive!"

Xu Guangqi hesitated for a moment and then said: "I am worried that the other ministers will not agree to the money provided by the court to purchase food for the people in various places, and I am afraid that most officials in the court will also oppose this matter! "

(End of this chapter)