Daming: I am the most powerful emperor grandson, please abdicate the throne

Chapter 23 Zhu Yuanzhang: This boy is like us!
  "Shouldn't their taxes be collected?"

Zhu Xuan asked innocently.

According to some inherent systems, those who have achieved meritorious status can be exempted from most corvee services, taxes, etc.

For example, the system started in the Ming Dynasty did not require officials to pay taxes. This would lead to many farmers, in order to pay less taxes, to sell or give their fields to officials, and finally rent them from officials. field.

The rent paid for doing so was much less than the taxes paid for owning land. Zhu Yuanzhang later felt that there was something wrong with this system, and it was only abolished a few years ago.

As for those wealthy and distinguished families, to use a popular term, they are landlords.

People in this group are richer than officials and merchants. Landowners are still inherited from generation to generation. After so many generations, they own countless land wealth.

But the taxes these people pay are similar to ordinary people.

As a result, later on, officials and gentry paid taxes together, and the taxes fell on these people.

"It should be collected!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

How could he not know that he could start from these people, but there was no feasible way, so he asked: "My dear grandson, do you have any ideas?"

"My grandson has thought of something, but I don't know if it's feasible."

"Whether it's feasible or not, my dear grandson, just say it. Even if you say it wrong, it doesn't matter!"

"We can not collect poll tax and determine the tax share according to the amount of land. The more land we have, the more we will collect. We will collect more from fertile land and less from poor land."

Zhu Xuan finally said these words and added: "Since everyone in the world is a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, whether they are officials or wealthy families, they should pay taxes. This way the Ming Dynasty will be rich."

After the farmers were spread into acres, coupled with the introduction of potatoes and other crops, the population in the Qing Dynasty increased rapidly. This is probably how the prosperous times of Kangxi and Qianlong came about.

However, Zhu Xuan did not give a detailed and complete explanation of how to do it. He just put forward a general and specific method. Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely be able to think about it divergently.

If everything was told in full, he, as a child, really didn't know how to explain why he knew so much.

However, this shocked Zhu Yuanzhang and his eyes lit up.

His good grandson, in a relatively childish and innocent tone, said things that even the Minister of the Ministry of Finance could not say. The most important thing is that he is still so young!
  This plan needs to be implemented. First of all, the unity of officials and gentry cannot be avoided. Secondly, if the landowners cannot bear such a huge tax, they will have to cede all the land they have annexed.

So to whom?

Of course those in hiding.

They may take the initiative to help registered households and transfer their fields to avoid huge taxes.

Not only the problem of land annexation was solved, but also the national finance was solved. Ming Dynasty was no longer poor and had a large source of fiscal revenue.

What Xiao Guaisun said may sound simple, but it can bring huge benefits.

Zhu Yuanzhang was so excited that he almost stood up, but he soon calmed down, shook his head and said: "If we follow Guaisun's method, those merchants and wealthy families will definitely resist, and it will definitely bring about turmoil. It will be very difficult!"

The merchants are okay and their appeal is not strong, but the landlords are deeply rooted and their heritage cannot be underestimated.

To carry out these reforms, reformers must have a strong hand and have absolute control over the military to suppress unrest at any time.

Zhu Yuanzhang happens to have both. Among the four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty, the Lan Yu case is probably gone now, but in the first three major cases, he killed people like crazy and made everyone tremble in the world.

If it had been Zhu Yunzhen, that loser, it wouldn't take long for the city of Jinling to be filled with joy and beat gongs and drums to welcome King Yan as the emperor. Maybe even without Zhu Di's offer of appeasement, tens of thousands of people would have surrendered.

"Then kill them. Kill a group of disobedient ones and replace them with a group of obedient ones." Zhu Xuan said this in a cute voice, which was a bit cruel.

After he finished speaking, he shook his head secretly, almost forgetting that he was still a child and had talked a bit too much.

What the hell!

Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked when he heard this, as if he saw his own shadow in Zhu Xuan.

"This boy is like us!" This is what he shouted in his heart.

The little darling grandson not only has political skills, but also has the ruthlessness of those in power, so he can say "then kill him."

Zhu Yuanzhang was so excited that he wanted to cry. This time there was really a successor. No matter Zhu Yunwen or Zhu Yunxi, they could not give him this feeling, which directly touched the most satisfying place in his heart.

Even Yan Guan, who was sitting aside and slowly sucking in powder, raised his head in surprise. He didn't expect that the little emperor grandson could say these words at such a young age.

In this way, the little emperor's grandson will be more favored by His Majesty.

Yan Guan was thinking.

"Grandpa, is your grandson right?" Zhu Xuan blinked his eyes and asked.

I acted a little too much today. I wonder if it will be counterproductive, right?

In Lao Zhu's eyes, he was a child prodigy.

As a child prodigy, his words are astonishing, that is the basic operation.

"That's right!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little excited, and there seemed to be light in his eyes.

The hope of Ming Dynasty lies in the little darling grandson.

After getting excited, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said: "Unknowingly, we talked too much, let's get some fans."

Fortunately, the shopkeeper didn't pay attention to this.

Otherwise, if you let him listen, it might scare him.

However, after taking two bites of the vermicelli, he felt it was bland again. His eyes fell on Zhu Xuan and asked: "My dear grandson, do you know why the price of salt has gone up due to the increase in salt?"

“Maybe there’s not much salt!”

Zhu Xuan pretended to think before saying this.

Not much salt?
  Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it and felt it made sense.

In his opinion, the method of making salt is very complicated. Once there are more people making salt, there will be no one to cultivate the fertile land. If there are fewer people, there will not be much salt.

Even if more people get the salt, if there is not enough salt, the price of salt will naturally increase.

The Kaizhong method has merits, but it also has disadvantages.

The salt import was exchanged for grain, grass and materials from the frontier, but the salt tax was lost. This is just one of them.

The salt merchants of the Ming Dynasty are still businessmen today.

But in the future, various powerful people will use their own methods to obtain salt and make a lot of profits, but the people will suffer the consequences.

The salt farmers who made salt had no way to farm. Without the salt tax, the imperial court was not very wealthy and had no money to support the salt farmers. At the end of the development of Kaizhongfa, these salt farmers had to allow these salt farmers to sell private salt for profit.

These private salts will disrupt the market and eventually lead to the collapse of Kaizhongfa.

The most serious result was that no one was responsible for the army's food and baggage. The court could no longer control the salt, and had to toss the army's food themselves, which was one of the reasons for the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.

The current shortcomings of Kaizhongfa are only reflected in the price of salt.

"My dear grandson, how do you think this problem should be solved?"

After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Xuan expectantly.

He firmly believed that his little darling grandson would definitely surprise him. After all, such surprises would happen not once or twice.

(End of this chapter)