At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 497: Lack of Indigenous People and Reshuffle
Zhou Bo's words aroused the interest of Wang Ling, Xiahou Ying, Guan Ying and others, who asked, "Can you explain it in more detail?"

If we only increase the luxury tax, although it will have some impact on them, it will not be significant. The impact will be greater on those merchants who love luxury goods.

Zhou Bo said: "Goods with several times the profit, such as various kinds of wine, tea, sugar, porcelain, etc., are all subject to luxury tax. The tax will be divided equally between the local government and the court to solve the problem of insufficient local finances. The industries of our Han Dynasty need to build more and more infrastructure such as tracks, docks, and highways. The court has difficulty planning so many projects and needs to delegate more infrastructure rights to the local governments. At the same time, I plan to reduce the land tax from 30% to 10% in ten years to increase farmers' income."

Wang Ling and others said happily: "If this is true, we will definitely support tax reform, and we will also ask the wise men to support tax reform."

This is definitely good news for the local Han officials. These people have been prefects for twenty years. They rested with the people in the first ten years and practiced inaction. There is nothing wrong with governing by doing nothing. There are not many local affairs. They just need to collect land taxes and create an industrial zone to get some taxes. If the industry does well, it will be a great political achievement.

But in the following ten years, the industry of the Han Dynasty became more and more prosperous, and more and more supporting infrastructure such as tracks, roads, docks, bridges, etc. were needed. The better the infrastructure, the more prosperous the industry, the more developed the business, and the higher the tax, forming a positive cycle, and eventually becoming a wealthy industrial county. This was the case with Chang'an, Chen County, Sanchuan County, Kuaiji County, Nanyang County, Handan County, and Linzi County of the Han Dynasty.

Counties with poor industrial development will face financial shortages and will be unable to carry out major infrastructure repairs. Without good infrastructure, industries cannot take root. At the same time, their wealth is siphoned away by industrial counties, resulting in a situation where the strong become stronger and the weak become weaker.

In order to change the situation, we need convenient transportation and good infrastructure, but each of these infrastructure projects is extremely expensive and is simply beyond the reach of local finances. Only a few wealthy counties can do this, and they can only report to the court, but the court's tax revenue is also limited. Although the court has done this to be fair and just, there is still a lot of dissatisfaction among the people below, who always feel that they have more needs.

At the same time, the Han Dynasty court was also in a great trouble. More than 50 counties applied for hundreds of projects, each of which was important and urgent. If they took longer to review and delayed a little, they would feel sorry for the millions of people. However, each project cost hundreds of millions of yuan, and even if the Han Dynasty court had a mountain of gold, it would not be enough to spend it. This has caused the most conflicts between the court and the local governments.

But now, if the new tax is split 50-50 between the local government and the imperial court as Zhou Bo said, the local finances will be much more abundant. Reducing the land tax is even better news for them. The county governors of the Han Dynasty all know that the lack of consumption power of the people is the main reason for the economic crisis. The imperial court reduced the land tax, and this wealth was equivalent to staying in the local area, which was extremely beneficial to the development of local industries.

Over the next ten days, Zhou Bo repeatedly met with the county governors who had submitted the proposal and talked to them about the tax reform. The 50-50 split of the luxury tax made these governors very satisfied, and they all supported Zhou Bo's tax reform.

Of course, there are satisfied wines and dissatisfied ones. Ying Bu complained in front of Ji Bu, Ji Xin, Lu Chen and other Han princes: "Is Zhou Bo targeting me? The luxury goods he collected are all specialties from a certain country. It seems that Zhou Bo is a subordinate of Ge Ying. Is he planning to deal with us before he even takes office?"

British sugarcane wine is a famous high-end wine in the Han Dynasty. A bottle costs ten thousand coins, which is more expensive than gold. The price has not dropped over the years. The profit of sugarcane wine is also very high, more than ten times. Every year, Ying Bu can make more than 100 million coins from selling sugarcane wine.

Tea also has higher profits. Tea has always been the foundation of Britain. Since Ying Bu just founded the country, he started to repair tea gardens when there were only a few acres of land. Now Britain has the largest tea production base in the entire Han Dynasty, with more than 100,000 acres of tea gardens alone. After the opening of the Han Dynasty's Maritime and Land Silk Road, tea has always been the most important product on the Silk Road, earning Ying Bu more than 300 million coins in profits every year.

There is also the bone china industry and the high-end silk industry. These are high-end luxury goods pursued by wealthy Han businessmen. Most of the British fiscal revenue is provided by these industries. These industries can be said to be the foundation of the United Kingdom, but now they are all subject to luxury tax, which obviously greatly affects the interests of Britain.

Ji Xin said helplessly: "Everyone is affected, not just you."

Ji Bu said: "The court is in financial difficulty now, so you should help the court now."

Ying Bu teased, "As expected of the man who took away the richest man in a certain Han Dynasty, you are arrogant. One year, your Menghuo earned billions from the imperial court, more than any of us, but this time, there is no kerosene in the luxury tax."

The fierce fire oil in the Western Regions was so profitable that Ying Bu became jealous. It took him more than ten years to increase Britain's fiscal revenue to the billion level, but Ji Bu did it in two years.

Ji Bu said calmly: "I came to Chang'an this time to buy 100 million pieces of cloth, which can be regarded as doing something for the court."

This made Ying Bu speechless. Britain's textile industry was not bad and it even exported silk. Naturally, it was impossible for them to do something like what Ji Bu did.

Lu Chen said: "It's not a big deal. If the court wants to collect taxes, then let the court collect them. We can just raise the price to make up for it. Anyway, the goods I sell are used by those wealthy merchants. They can pay 10,000 yuan to buy a bottle of sugarcane wine, so they don't mind adding a few thousand more. Just think of it as us helping the court to make it rich."

Chen Xiao teased, "You are known for your generosity. Every time you go to England, your brothers always return with a full load. You get angry when they pack less treasures. Why are you so stingy this time?"

There would also be exchange activities between the princes of the Han Dynasty, and the funds for the activities of the southern princes were basically provided by Ying Bu. As long as the southern princes came to Ying Bu, Ying Bu would not let them down.

Once, Mei Xuan's vassal states suffered from a typhoon and suffered heavy losses. Before the imperial court could provide emergency relief, Ying Bu immediately sent various materials worth hundreds of millions to Mei Xuan's vassal states. Therefore, the small vassal states in the south generally recognized Ying Bu as their boss and followed his lead.

Ying Bu could only take out a painting and spread it on the table. When a few people went up to take a look, they found that it was a city somewhat similar to Chang'an, but it was much smaller in scale and the river flowed in a different direction.

"Is this Ganjiang River? Is your city the capital of Britain?" Chen Xiao asked in surprise.

Ying Bu nodded and said, "I have donated some money over the years, and my capital is indeed a little small, so I plan to expand my capital in the same way as Chang'an. I will retire here in the future, so I can't be careless. I also want to learn from Your Majesty and build a city like Chang'an. The budget for this project may be several billion, and I don't even know if I have enough money. As a result, Zhou Bo plans to levy taxes. Do you think I will be angry?"

Lu Chen gave a thumbs up and said, "Among us brothers, you are the most ambitious. You even want to imitate Chang'an City. Why don't you just change the name of the capital to Nanjing?"

Ying Bu sighed and said, "Although my brothers and I each have our own vassal states, we have little influence on the Han Dynasty's government, so it is not a big deal to let the people of Pei County occupy the court."

After this incident, Ying Bu discovered that it was not a good thing to have too many old brothers as princes. They did not have much influence in the court, so even Zhou Bo, a junior, dared to attack them.

Lu Chen said: "People from Pei County are also part of the rebel army, and Chen Xiao, a native of Chen County, didn't say anything, so what can you, a native of Jiujiang, say?"

Chen Xiao sighed and said, "Who made us lose face? Although the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty is not our old brother, most of the Nine Ministers are occupied by our old brothers. But who made them cause such a big disaster? The hole was billions of years ago. If it was the First Emperor, Chang'an City would have been a river of blood. Now these old brothers can go to Nanyang to be princes. It is already a benevolence of Your Majesty. How can they have the face to occupy these positions?"

Ying Bu and the others were speechless. They didn't know much about the money house system, but they knew the seriousness of tens of billions. This was more than a year's fiscal revenue for the Han Dynasty. Someone had to take responsibility for such a big disaster.

Ji Bu asked Ji Xin, "Does the emperor also plan to transfer your fiefdom? If so, go ask my elder brother for money."

Ji Xin is really good to his elder brother Ji Bu. When Ji Bu established the vassal states, Ji Xin raised more than one billion yuan in the Han Dynasty. Now that Ji Bu is rich, he naturally wants to give back to his second brother.

Ji Xin said: "Your Majesty has this intention. This year's batch of old brothers who are relocated is just a pilot. The real large-scale relocation will probably have to wait for the two fleets that explore the world to return."

Ying Bu said: "Not really. Without us old brothers, how can Your Majesty suppress the Central Plains?"

Ji Xin smiled bitterly and said, "You thought it was still the founding period of the Han Dynasty. It has been 20 years since then. The nobles and landlords of the six countries have been purged by the emperor several times. There are no enemies in the Central Plains who resist the Han Dynasty. Now, my old brothers and I have become the new nobles of the Han Dynasty."

Ying Bu was stunned and asked, "You mean, His Majesty is going to deal with us old brothers?"

Ji Xin said: "Not really, otherwise this would be the best opportunity. His Majesty did not intend to use the tens of billions of deficits to deal with us. His Majesty is probably using more inducements to slowly migrate us out of the Han Dynasty."

But Ji Xin's words still made everyone feel heavy. Thinking back to the time in Yingchuan County, His Majesty proudly told them that he would share the world with them. How come they came to the opposite side of the court? On October 3, the 20th year of the Han calendar, Chang'an City, Beigong.

All fifty two thousand stone county governors of the entire Han Dynasty gathered together, and all the governors who were on good terms with each other gathered together to discuss the tax reform.

"Luxury goods tax sounds good, but how much tax can actually be collected? If it's only a few billion, it seems that even if each county gets a share, we won't get much," said Chai Wudao.

Guan Ying smiled and said, "But this is a good start. The new prime minister will delegate power to us. In the future, when we build tracks, we don't have to go through the tedious procedures of planning, reporting to the court, waiting for review, and field inspections. It takes one or two years to wait. We can do many small projects ourselves."

Chai Wu nodded and said, "This will greatly facilitate our work. We don't have to wait for the court for everything."

Deng frowned and said: "Even if power is delegated, it is useless without money."

At this time Xu Fan led Prime Minister Ye Teng, Acting Prime Minister Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, and ordered Zhang Cangqi and others to come in.

"See your Majesty!" All the prefects saluted Xu Fan.

Xu Fan said calmly: "No courtesy."

All the county guards sat down in their seats.

Prime Minister Ye Teng said: "This year's plan will start from now on, and Neishi County will step out."

The Internal Secretary ordered Li Shang to come out and hold up the account book.

This year, due to the impact of the economic crisis, obviously everyone's account books are not looking good. However, Xu Fan and the others had expected it and did not show any surprise. Only Ye Teng sighed. According to the original development speed, the tax revenue of the Han Dynasty court this year should have exceeded 400 billion yuan, an unprecedented figure, which would make their political achievements look better. But now that he looked at the account books, the taxes have generally dropped by 400% to 370%. Let alone breaking through billion yuan, even the original billion yuan cannot be maintained.

However, the food supply of the Han Dynasty has always surprised Ye Teng and his team. Even though it has been affected by the economic crisis, it has generally increased. Although it is not much, compared with the industry, it is already an excellent performance.

After reading it, Xu Fan said with satisfaction: "Everyone has done a good job this year. Even if a crisis broke out, it was handled properly, so that the economy of the Han Dynasty was not greatly affected. It can be said that all of you have made great contributions. The court and I have seen your contributions. The court has always been fair, rewarding those who have made contributions and punishing those who have made mistakes. This year, the court will announce your new appointments at the Sages Conference."

Now the fifty governors said excitedly: "We will definitely devote ourselves to the great Han Dynasty and live up to your majesty's trust in us."

They knew that the long-rumored reshuffle in the imperial court was really coming, and this time they had more opportunities, as there were at least ten positions above the rank of Nine Ministers waiting for them.

The twentieth year of the Han calendar, October 10th, Chang'an City.

The North Palace was already filled with wise men from various counties, prefects from various places, and princes from all directions. The princes, prefects, and wise men of the Han Dynasty were all discussing how big the changes in the court would be this time.

At this time, Ye Teng, as a representative of the Three Dukes of the Second Realm of the Han Dynasty, reported their achievements in the past ten years to all the sages, princes and county governors of the Han Dynasty.

During these ten years, the Han Dynasty reclaimed 5000 million mu of new land, added 367 miles of canals, and added 2 million mu of irrigated land. Taxes increased even more. Even affected by the economic crisis, the Han Dynasty's tax revenue this year is still 7 billion yuan, about three times that of ten years ago. During these ten years, the Han Dynasty built 3000 miles of tracks and 1900 miles of new asphalt roads, renovated Luoyang City, expanded more than ten large cities such as Chen County, Kuaiji County, Nanyang County, and Handan County, and the population increased by 6300 million. The registered population of the Han Dynasty now reached million.

Ye Teng was even more excited and said, "Nearly 20% of the people in the Han Dynasty have achieved a well-off life. As long as we continue to work hard, half of the people in the Han Dynasty will achieve a well-off life standard in the next ten years. Twenty years later, a well-off society will be realized. By then, we can move towards the dream of a harmonious society."

"Cheers!" Warm applause rang out again in the venue.

These numbers are the result of Ye Teng's ten years of hard work. The Han people are now richer than they were ten years ago. Everyone present can feel that a well-off life is waving at them. Their applause is not only for Ye Teng and other big men, but also for their expectations for the future.

Ying Bu sighed to Chen Xiao who was standing beside him, "I have been in the heyday of the Han Dynasty for a long time, but I have not felt how powerful the Han Dynasty is. Only when I saw these sets of data at the Sages' Conference did I feel the power of the Han Dynasty the most profoundly. Moreover, the Han Dynasty is becoming increasingly powerful. Compared with the imperial court, the achievements I have made in recent years are simply not worth mentioning."

Xu Fan stood up and said, "Prime Minister Xiao He worked hard for the court of our Han Dynasty. Although he died of illness, his merits cannot be ignored by the court. I confer the title of Duke of Zan Guo on Prime Minister Xiao He, and his title will be inherited by his eldest son Xiao Ce.

Prime Minister Ye Teng, Acting Prime Minister Cao Shen, and Imperial Censor Wu Guang have made outstanding contributions. I enfeoff Ye Teng as Lord Ye, with a fief of 5000 households, Acting Prime Minister Cao Shen with 4000 households, and Imperial Censor Wu Guang with an additional households. "

Ye Teng and the others bowed to Xu Fan and said, "We thank your majesty."

The emperor's speech drew continuous applause from the audience. Everyone present looked at Ye Teng and others with envy. The Han Dynasty had produced several more marquises.

After a while, Xu Fan stopped the applause and said, "The former tax inspector, the acting prime minister Zhou Bo, has made outstanding contributions and has repeatedly made pioneering moves. He can be the prime minister of the Han Dynasty."

Zhou Bo excitedly straightened his clothes and stepped out to salute the emperor, saying, "I bow to thank God for his grace."

He has been waiting for this day for ten years. Now it seems that the extra ten years of waiting are a good thing. He can rule the world as the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty instead of being Xiao He's deputy.

Xu Fan continued, "Li De, the Colonization Commander, has worked hard for the court for ten years and reclaimed 30 million mu of land in Jiangnan. His contribution to the development is not inferior to that of Taigong. He can be the fake prime minister of our Han Dynasty. Zhang Cang, the Advisor, has worked hard for the government of our Han Dynasty for many years and can be the fake prime minister. Wu Jun, the Imperial Court Judge, has captured tens of thousands of termites for our Han Dynasty over the years. His outstanding achievements can make him the Imperial Censor."

Li De, Zhang Cang and three other soldiers from the Wu army stepped out excitedly and said, "We bow down and thank God for His grace."

Zhou Bo, Li De, Zhang Cang and Wu Jun were the third generation leaders of the Han Dynasty.

All the wise governors applauded the four men, saying that their contributions were worthy of their current positions.

After the applause stopped, Xu Fan said, "Many meritorious officials of our Han Dynasty have also reached the age of retirement. The Minister of the Imperial Household Chen Chui, the Minister of the Imperial Household Chen Gang, the Military General Wu Sheng, the Military Supervisor Deng Zong, etc. have retired according to the court system. The court rewarded them for their hard work and enfeoffed the Minister of the Imperial Household Chen Chui, the Minister of the Imperial Household Chen Gang, the Military General Wu Sheng, and the Military Supervisor Deng Zong to establish a country in Southeast Asia."

The Minister of the Imperial Household Chen Chui, the Imperial Household Minister Chen Gang, the Military Assistant General Wu Sheng, and the Military Supervisor General Deng Zong bowed to Xu Fan and said, "Your Majesty, I bow to thank you."

(End of this chapter)