Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 56 Reform Program
Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan immediately accepted the order to thank them. Zhu Tianqi raised his hand to signal them to stand up, and then said: "The two dear friends have been busy for more than a month, and now it seems that they have reached the end of the year. Logically speaking, I should I’ll give you a few days off, but the slaves in Liaodong won’t give us a holiday, so we can only work hard!”

Sun Chengzong immediately raised his hand to salute, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I don't think it's hard for you. Although Yuan Yuan (named by Yuan Chonghuan) and I are in the capital, our hearts have already flown to Liaodong. Besides, the Jian slaves make us unable to An Ning, can we let them have a good year?"

Yuan Chonghuan also smiled, saluted and said: "I'm afraid that Huang Taiji, the leader of the slave clan, will not be able to sleep even if he hears the news that Sun Shangshu is once again supervising Ji Liao!"

Zhu Tianqi couldn't help but smile after hearing this and said: "Governor Yuan, you don't have to be humble. Then Huang Taiji is also afraid of you. If I heard that you two teachers and students arrived in Liaodong together, let alone sleep. He will have nightmares even when he sleeps!"

After saying this, the three of them couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Then Zhu Tianqi asked Wang Yuanbao to get two imperial orders, gave them to Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan, told them how to use them, and once again told them that when they go to Liaodong, they must focus on training troops and reassuring the people, strengthening the Ningjin defense line, and not rushing to attack. , waiting for the opportunity.

Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan's strategy to deal with Hou Jin was to use defense as offense, so they naturally agreed. However, Yuan Chonghuan was still thinking about what the emperor said before, "annihilate the Jiannu slaves within two years." He always felt that The emperor didn't say this casually, he must have left some trump card to deal with Jiannu.

However, the emperor also said before that it was not time to tell him yet, so he naturally did not dare to ask rashly. He could only hide this question in his heart first, and when the time was right, the emperor would naturally reveal the answer to the mystery.

The two of them then returned home to pack their luggage and prepare to set off. Five days later, Zhu Tianqi personally went out of the palace to practice for the two of them, and sent them to the Desheng Gate. All civil and military officials from the capital were present.

After seeing off Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan, Zhu Tianqi should start working on the tax and labor reform. Now that it is the end of the year, it is best to finalize the reform plan before the year, and then directly start implementing the new tax and labor policy next year.

After Zhu Tianqi returned to the palace, he directly found Xu Guangqi, and then pushed several large thick books on the table to him, "Xu Shangshu, these are some tax policies of other countries that I found. You can take them." Go and take a look, it should be helpful to you in formulating the new tax policy of our Ming Dynasty."

Xu Guangqi picked up these books and looked at the covers one by one. Then he saw the name of the country he saw on the globe before. He couldn't help but wonder where the emperor found these books. Are they the same as the previous ones? Like that globe, it was donated by missionaries from a small country in Thailand?
Of course, Zhu Tianqi bought these books from the Krypton Store. They are some modern tax law books. After all, the modern tax system is still very complete and reasonable. With these examples as a reference, Xu Guangqi formulated the new tax policy of Ming Dynasty. , can also be easier.

Zhu Tianqi first expressed his thoughts, "The new tax policy, first of all, is to abolish corvee, merge corvee and poll tax into taxes, and levy them according to the number of acres of fields. The second is to design the tax threshold. The point and stepped tax model will help protect low-income people and allow high-income people to pay more taxes. It will also help balance the gap between the rich and the poor in the country!

The second is the industrial and commercial tax. Nowadays, a large part of the land in our Ming Dynasty has been controlled by rich businessmen and gentry. The common people don’t have much land in their hands. We can’t always focus on the land for the country’s taxation. Transfer it to the industrial and commercial tax.

Nowadays, there are many wealthy businessmen in the Jiangnan area. The tax money paid by any wealthy businessman is equivalent to the tax on many acres of land. Of course, for the collection of industrial and commercial taxes, the thresholds and steps must also be designed. Some low-income small businesses Merchants should be exempted from taxes appropriately, and for wealthy businessmen with higher incomes, the tax collection ratio should naturally be increased!
There are also the huge profit industries such as salt, iron, mining, tea, wine, etc. In the past, in order to increase income, the imperial court always wanted to keep these things in its hands and prohibited private ownership. However, in the face of huge profits, even harsh laws can Often it doesn't work.

Not only was the smuggling of salt and iron repeatedly prohibited, but even because of the corruption of officials in the salt affairs department, the quality of official salt was poor and the price was high, and the common people rushed to buy private salt. The income is also not as good as before. It is better to open up the private sector of salt and iron to mobilize the enthusiasm of the people. In the end, the tax money received by the court must be very considerable.

Of course, although the court wants to open up the private sector of salt and iron, operating salt and iron requires a license from the court and must be supervised by the court. The court must also formulate corresponding taxation policies, including mining, tea, wine and other industries. The same is true .

Finally, regarding the lifting of the maritime ban and the rectification of the shipping department, one of the books I just gave you is dedicated to managing foreign trade. You can refer to it. Our Ming Dynasty still has to do business with foreigners, and we must also do business with foreigners. Our customs and tariff policies have been set up.

Nowadays, the import and export trade in Fuzhou and Guangzhou is very frequent. I heard that there is a Zheng Group in Fujian. It can earn tens of millions of taels of silver a year just from maritime trade, which is higher than the income of the entire Ming Dynasty. It is so profitable. Shouldn't the imperial court start the business? "

Xu Guangqi listened and secretly memorized Zhu Tianqi's words. He thought that the emperor just wanted to adjust the court's tax policy, but he didn't expect that the emperor had so many plans. He suddenly felt the pressure doubled. He didn't know what to face when reforming taxes. What kind of resistance is there? The emperor actually plans to open up the private sector of salt, iron, and maritime trade. Xu Guangqiguang already feels a headache just thinking about the reactions of the ministers in the DPRK and China!
Zhu Tianqi took a sip of water and saw that Xu Guangqi's face didn't look good. Naturally, he could imagine that the matters he had just raised made Xu Guangqi feel unprecedented pressure. After all, all of them were big problems.

Why doesn't Zhu Tianqi have a headache?But these reforms must be done, otherwise it would be impossible for Da Ming Dynasty to become rich and powerful just relying on land rent and land tax. He had no choice but to comfort him: "Xu Aiqing, you don't have to worry. These are difficult tasks. We can't expect to accomplish them overnight. We can only do it slowly one by one, you can rest assured to formulate a reform plan, and leave the rest to me!"

(End of this chapter)