Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Yang Sichang's words were agreed by Zhu Youjian.

Compared to 4.8 million, 6 million is only an increase of 1.2 million.

Since the Liaodong troops would need to spend so much money if they didn't move, it would be better to spend another 1.2 million and let them take the initiative to attack.

Otherwise, if the Jianlu attacked, the cost would be much more than this.

In order to prevent the Jianlu from mobilizing troops to attack the capital via the grassland, the Ming Dynasty must send troops next year to contain them in the northeast.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian said to Bi Ziyan and others:
"Next year's military deployment was decided by me and the other ministers."

"What the Ministry of Revenue needs is to provide military funds, not to argue with the Privy Council over whether to go to war."

Whether to fight or not, how to fight, these military matters are under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council.

The Ministry of Revenue interfered with the decision-making of the Privy Council on the grounds that it could not provide military funds. In Zhu Youjian's view, this was indeed an overstepping of authority.

After being reminded by the emperor, Bi Ziyan quickly understood this.

After the establishment of the Privy Council, they were in charge of military affairs.

Other officials in the court had no say.

So he could only plead guilty and explain to the emperor:
"Although I shouldn't have stopped the war in Liaodong, the Ministry of Revenue really can't provide the six million that the Privy Council needs."

"This year, we can collect about 3.9 million Liao tribute, which is still not enough to meet the needs of Liaodong."

"The Ministry of Revenue still owes the Ministry of Works one million taels of silver for the mausoleum construction fee, and can't come up with more money."

When Zhu Youjian heard that Liao's salary was in arrears this year, he frowned and asked:

"Isn't the Liao army's salary 5.2 million?"

"Why did we only collect 3.9 million?"

"Where is the gap of 1.3 million?"

Bi Ziyan heard this and replied:

"Your Majesty has exempted the entire province of Shaanxi from taxation, which is about one-tenth less."

"Shanxi and Shuntian Prefecture also suffered from drought and reduced some taxes."

"Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province encountered heavy rain and tsunamis, which washed away countless crops, destroyed tens of thousands of houses, and killed and injured tens of thousands of residents. Taxes also need to be reduced."

"Because of the arrears in collection, some places cannot pay this year's Liaoshi and can only postpone it until next year."

The Ming Dynasty suffered many disasters during the first year of Chongzhen. Not only did the north suffer from severe drought, but the south also suffered from floods.

The taxes in these fertile lands were not much lower than those in Shaanxi Province. After the tax reduction, Liao's military pay was reduced by more than one million.

What Zhu Youjian needs to worry about now is not next year's military expenditure, but when this year's Liao salary can be fully paid out.

Otherwise, let alone fighting next year, the Guanning Army, which cannot get their pay, is likely to mutiny.

This left him with no choice but to resolve this issue first and then deal with next year's military expenditure.

When the ministers heard that there was a shortfall in Liao's salary this year, they began to discuss the matter.

The solution they finally came up with was to ask Emperor Zhu Youjian to take silver from the treasury to distribute military pay to Liaodong.

Zhu Youjian was furious when he heard this and refused without hesitation:
"This year, all the gold and silver used to supply the imperial treasury were used for immigration. We can only use auctions and donations to maintain the expenses of the imperial court."

"The inner treasury really can't come up with the money, the outer court has to find a way on its own."

Not to mention that the money from the treasury could not fill the gap, even if it could, Zhu Youjian would not be able to do so.

Otherwise, officials would become even more lax in collecting Liao tribute, and when they were short of money, they would ask the emperor to take money from the treasury.

Zhu Youjian could never fill such a bottomless pit.

So he asked the officials of the Ministry of Revenue to solve the problem themselves.

After hearing what the emperor said, the ministers felt it was not appropriate to let the emperor continue to take money from the treasury.

Compared with the previous emperors, the current emperor was not greedy for money. He was very frugal in spending in the palace, not only did he not build large-scale buildings, he even donated part of the Qinghua Garden confiscated from Wuqinghou to the Normal School.

Even the palace's largest source of income, gold and silver, was used to support immigrants from Shaanxi.

Zhu Youjian had previously asked the empress to lead the concubines in making clothes. In the eyes of many officials, this was because the inner court was short of gold and silver, and the expenses were very tight. So much so that even the emperor had to wear clothes that had been washed before, and the empress and concubines had to do needlework.

In addition, the inner court had to support institutions such as the Jinyiwei, so it could only auction off the collections in the inner treasury to supplement money for the palace.

Faced with such an emperor, if they still forced him to take money from the treasury, the people of the world would know about it and would not stand on their side.

The officials could only think of other ways. Yang Sichang, who once worked in the Ministry of Revenue, said:
"I think we can increase the Liao tribute by another 3 cents from the current 9 cents."

"The Liao tribute that can be collected in this way can reach nearly 7 million taels."

"Even if Shaanxi and other places need relief due to disasters, we can still collect about 6 million taels to meet next year's needs."

This proposal was supported by many ministers.

Even the Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan agreed to levy an additional three cents when there was no other way to solve the shortfall.

However, Zhu Youjian knew the harm of raising taxes on ordinary farmers. After years of disasters, the financial resources of the people were exhausted. Many people were struggling on the line between life and death. Raising taxes on them would force them to rebel.

So he said without hesitation:

"It is not feasible to levy additional Liao taxes, and my goal is to cancel the Liao taxes to reduce the burden on the people."

"There are so many disturbances in various places now. If we continue to increase the tax, more people who can't survive will rebel."

"This is absolutely not a feasible strategy. You gentlemen, please do not mention it again."

He severely reprimanded Yang Sichang, believing that his method of increasing taxes would bring disaster to the country and the people.

Even though the imperial court only levied an additional three cents, when it came time to collect the money at the lower levels, the officials might increase it to three cents.

In the absence of any confidence in the integrity of Ming officials, Zhu Youjian's approach was not to change, so as to prevent illegal officials from using this as an excuse to arbitrarily increase taxes.

After rejecting the plan to increase the tax, Zhu Youjian turned his attention to the salt tax and said to his ministers:

"At the beginning of the country, the policy of opening up China was implemented, which was to use the income from the salt industry to supplement the expenses of the nine borders."

"Later, the Kaizhong Method was changed by Ye Qi to allow silver to be used instead of rice."

"It was effective in the first few years, allowing Taicang to accumulate more than one million silver coins."

"After that, it got worse and worse, to the point where the salt tax revenue was only a few hundred thousand taels."

"I previously asked the Ministry of Revenue to set up the Salt Administration to rectify the salt industry. How effective is it now? How much salt tax can be collected?"

Bi Ziyan personally requested the emperor to keep the Salt Administration as an institution within the Ministry of Revenue, and it was not assigned to the Taifu Temple, which was responsible for collecting taxes.

However, the Salt Administration General Office under his command has not been very effective. Now he just barely manages the salt administration agencies in various places and lets them know that there is such a superior department. So after hearing the emperor's question, Bi Ziyan did not answer for a while. Huang Chenghao, the official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, said:
"During the Wanli period, the Imperial Salt Inspector Long Yuqi and the Lianghuai Salt Administration Official Yuan Shizhen established a law that greatly increased the salt tax and was convenient for both officials and civilians."

"Hou Long died unexpectedly, and Yuan Shizhen was impeached and dismissed. I request that he be reinstated to preside over the Salt Administration and implement the law in various places."

Zhu Youjian did not understand what the Gangfa was, so he inquired carefully and then asked:
"If the Gang Law is implemented, how much salt tax can be collected?"

Huang Chenghao thought about Yuan Shizhen's memorial and said:
"Yuan Shizhen managed the salt administration in Lianghuai for four years, and the amount of salt deposited into the Taicang warehouse was 2,863,642 taels, and the amount of salt deposited into the border warehouse was 1,563,624 taels."

"Salt merchants helped Liao with over 230,000 taels of silver, and the national treasury kept over 110,000 taels of interest."

"A total of more than 458 taels, an average of more than 1.1 million taels per year."

"I think that if he is in charge of the salt administration, the number should be no less than this."

Zhu Youjian was puzzled and asked:
"If it's so effective, why didn't we implement it earlier?"

"The Lianghuai region alone can collect more than one million taels. If the Ming Dynasty implements this policy nationwide, can we collect five or six million taels to pay the Liao army?"

Huang Chenghao didn't answer, and Bi Ziyan blushed a little, because he knew that this matter was his responsibility.

Yuan Shizhen collected so much salt tax using the Gang Law that many officials envied him, and he was impeached and removed from office.

As the Minister of Revenue, Bi Ziyan did not dare to reinstate him at will.

Now that the emperor was dissatisfied with the Salt Administration under his control, he could only say:
"Lianghuai is an important place for salt administration. I request that Yuan Shizhen be reinstated and the Lianghuai Salt Administration be re-established."

Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement and said:
"Since Yuan Shizhen has done a good job in Lianghuai, let him be reinstated as the Minister of Salt Law."

"From now on, the salt tax collected in Lianghuai will be directly sent to the Ministry of Revenue."

"Can the annual salt tax of more than one million taels make up for the shortfall in military spending?"

Bi Ziyan calculated and responded:
"If there is no major disaster outside of Shaanxi next year, the Liao tribute that can be collected is estimated to be around 4.5 million."

"Adding the salt tax revenue from Lianghuai, the difference between the military expenditure of 6 million taels and the total expenditure is about 500,000 taels."

"I request that the Gang Law be implemented in Liangzhe, Fujian, Shandong, Changlu and other places as well."

Seeing that they could not stop Yuan Shizhen's restoration, they became his supporters and planned to assign more officials to implement the Gang Law together.

However, Zhu Youjian did not trust other people, otherwise the Gangfa would not have disappeared without a trace after Yuan Shizhen was impeached.

After considering it, he ordered:

"Give Yuan Shizhen the title of Nanjing Ministry of Revenue Assistant Minister, and make him responsible for the salt administration in the southeast."

"According to the Gangfa he had previously implemented in Lianghuai, he collected salt taxes in the south."

"As for Shandong, Changlu and other places in the north, another set of measures will be implemented."

After making this decision, Zhu Youjian referred to the salt monopoly method of later generations and continued:

"I intend to establish a salt industry group under the Salt Administration and set up branch companies for production and sales."

"The branches sold can be invested by nobles, hereditary officials and wealthy people who pay taxes according to the law, and obtain corresponding franchise rights."

“The branch responsible for production should explore and improve the salt drying method, reduce production costs, and sell salt in large quantities without quantity restrictions.”

“Add the salt tax directly to the salt and collect the salt tax at the source.”

This measure surprised the ministers, and then made them excited.

Because the emperor's approach was obviously to share the benefits with nobles, hereditary officials and local wealthy people.

They can now participate in the salt industry, which was previously controlled by salt merchants.

Moreover, if this approach is successful, the entire Ming Dynasty's salt industry will be controlled by the Salt Industry Group established by the General Administration of Salt Administration and its subordinate companies.

The imperial court's control over the salt industry will increase infinitely, and the role that salt merchants can play will be minimal.

The officials of the Ministry of Revenue naturally supported this, because the collection of salt tax was independent of the Taifu Temple, which was responsible for taxation, and was the largest source of tax revenue that the Ministry of Revenue could directly control.

The stronger the control the General Administration of Salt has over the salt industry, the more lucrative the position of the General Administration of Salt becomes.

The officials of the Privy Council were also very happy because the emperor explicitly mentioned that the salt tax would be used as a source of military expenditure.

In addition, cracking down on private salt sales requires the cooperation of salt collectors, and the Privy Council also has a certain influence on the collection of salt taxes.

Not to mention the nobles and hereditary officials, who all belong to the military system. If the Privy Council cannot protect their interests, these people will definitely be dissatisfied.

Therefore, Yuan Keli and other Privy Councilors all strongly supported this matter.

With the unanimous support of all the ministers, the establishment of the Ming Salt Industry Group was approved, and the Changlu Salt Field was incorporated. Next year, a salt monopoly will be tried in northern Zhili.

Some officials even expressed different opinions on the implementation of the Gang Law in the southeast, believing that there was no need to implement the Gang Law and that it could be directly monopolized in the future.

However, Zhu Youjian had to ensure that he could collect salt tax for military expenses next year. He also realized that the court's control over the southeast was not that strong, so he decided to continue to implement the Gangfa in Lianghuai and other places and use the salt tax collected next year for military expenses.

In addition to the salt tax, another task that Zhu Youjian gave to the Ministry of Revenue was to promote the performance evaluation system.

Previously, Bi Ziyan had proposed linking officials' performance appraisals with the amount of tax revenue. Zhu Youjian urged him to implement it in various places, demote officials who were not good at tax collection this year, and urge officials to collect taxes.

At the same time, he asked the Taifu Temple to summarize the experience of implementing the tax-sharing system in Shuntian Prefecture, and to hold a special meeting to discuss it after a period of time in order to further improve the tax-sharing system in preparation for its implementation in northern Zhili.

There is also the Ministry of Revenue Bank, which is responsible for currency minting. The minting and issuance of silver dollars was listed as a top priority by Zhu Youjian.

He also paid special attention to the work of Sinong Temple such as collecting land taxes and promoting improved varieties.

Especially in terms of land tax, Zhu Youjian planned to make reforms:

"In the past, the land tax was higher on government-owned land and slightly lower on private land."

"In the future, the amount of official land will be limited. Those without titles or hereditary official status can only rent and cultivate 100 to 200 mu of official land per household."

"The excess must be forcibly distributed to others. If there is tax evasion, there must be certain penalties and stricter restrictions."

"Progressive tax rates should be implemented for private land, and corresponding property taxes should be levied on super-property owners who own more than a certain amount of land."

"This is what Mr. Qian has called for many times. Now that military spending is tight, the court should try to implement it."

The high officials in the court all knew about the super property owners proposed by Qian Qianyi. They even knew that Qian Qianyi proposed to levy taxes on super property owners in his "On Permanent Property".

When this argument was first proposed, it was opposed by many people. The Datong Newspaper founded by Qian Qianyi also had many debates on this point.

Because there are only a few super-property owners in the world, and they are far less numerous than ordinary property owners, the voices calling for taxing the super-property owners are naturally louder.

Although the court ministers paid attention to these academic matters, they did not think they would be implemented.

Because most of the so-called super wealthy are or were once high-ranking officials in the court.

No one expected that the emperor actually intended to implement the taxation of super-property owners. (End of this chapter)