Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The property tax forcibly promoted by the emperor caused an uproar in the court.

However, the turmoil caused among the people was not as great as that in the court.

Because there are four types of property taxes, none of which have anything to do with ordinary people.

Only gift tax, which supplements inheritance tax, is relevant to ordinary people.

The emperor's regulations on the value of gifts subject to gift tax gave ordinary people a lot to talk about.

The value of gifts should not exceed ten taels, and driven by people who were troubled by the lack of gifts, this quickly became a new customary rule among the people.

If people used to worry about being looked down upon when they brought gifts worth several taels of silver, now they have a legitimate reason: they are exempt from gift tax.

Even some people have become more restrained in accepting gifts on the pretext of celebrating birthdays, because according to regulations, if the cumulative amount of gifts received or given exceeds 100 taels per year, gift tax must still be paid.

If you receive too many gifts and are reported for not paying taxes according to regulations, you may lose your citizenship and lose your right to vote and be elected.

According to news from the court, preparations for the Congress are in full swing.

Each prefecture and district has also set up a preparatory office.

For this purpose, the emperor also adjusted the prefectures and counties in Northern Zhili. The state level had become history in Northern Zhili, and all were changed into districts and counties.

This makes the people of Northern Zhili extremely proud.

Many people felt that it was because of their efforts that the emperor decided to speed up the preparations for the parliament.

As a result, more people visit the Zhuolu District Council.

Many people who are interested in running for councillors have consulted Zhuolu District councillors for relevant experience.

However, these people have no experience. Many of them were elected to parliament simply because they met the requirements.

Even the voters are confused and can't remember how they voted.

They would put their fingerprints on almost anyone nominated by the government.

Some people now don’t understand what parliament is.

Because of this, Zhu Youjian designated the current Zhuolu District Council as a provisional council, and would hold another election next year to appoint the formal members.

Many Zhuolu District councilors learned that the court planned to set the number of district and county councilors at 100.

Only the parliament at the provincial level can have two or three hundred members.

This makes many Zhuolu District councillors nervous because it means half of them cannot serve as councillors.

Even according to the requirement that members of parliament serve for six years and half of them are replaced every three years, only fifty formal members will be elected next year.

The other fifty members still hold temporary status.

This makes them very active in parliamentary meetings, striving to speak in parliament and get a chance to stay in office.

After all, the fifty provisional members were appointed by the government.

If they are noticed by the officials presiding over the parliament, they will have the opportunity to stay.

Some people even have ambitions to become councillors or members of parliament.

Because Liu Lishun was very successful in presiding over the last meeting, he now has an additional part-time job, that is, the chairman of the Zhuolu District Council:

Responsible for formulating rules of procedure and ensuring meeting order.

In the future, all Speakers will have to convene and preside over meetings in accordance with the rules of procedure, make decisions on meeting outcomes based on the rules of procedure, and exercise the powers granted by the rules of procedure.

Therefore, the responsibilities he shoulders are very important, which makes him pay more attention to the Zhuolu District Council.

This time, the purpose of his meeting was to review the property tax rate proposed by the emperor in the court, to let the members express their opinions and make a resolution.

It can be said that in the absence of other parliaments, the current Zhuolu District Council is performing the duties of Congress.

Although many Zhuolu District Councillors do not have this awareness, most outsiders see it this way and believe that they can represent public opinion.

The property tax and land and rent limit policies were formulated by the Zhuolu District Council. Naturally, they enthusiastically supported the property tax rate proposed by the emperor.

Many people didn't even expect that the emperor would have to discuss the decisions with them.

Even the members of parliament who had to pay taxes welcomed this with open arms, especially the eunuch Gao Shiming, who conveyed the emperor's greetings to them.

Some Zhuolu District Councillors were so excited that they even fainted.

This made Liu Lishun and others feel that the people of Zhuolu District could be relied upon.

It can be said that the current emperor is one of the emperors who respects public opinion the most.

It was almost just a formality, making it easy to accomplish things that were extremely difficult in the court.

Many reporters from newspapers were almost impatient to return to the capital to spread the news and inform all Chinese people about the determination of the property tax rate.

After the meeting, Gao Shiming left the officials of Zhuolu District and announced the decree:
"Your Majesty has decreed that all officials who participated in the reform of Zhuolu District and the preparation of the parliament will be awarded one year's merit."

"Wen Zhenmeng, Liu Lishun, Shi Kefa, Chen Renxi and others who presided over the affairs will be awarded another year of merit."

"Chief Officer Wen Zhenmeng and Speaker Liu Lishun will be awarded an additional year of merit."

"Wen Zhenmeng has completed his sixth-rank examination and has been promoted to fifth-rank academician, concurrently serving as the Tongzhi of Shuntian Prefecture, in charge of the Western Route Administrative Office."

"Liu Lishun has completed his sixth-rank probationary period and has been promoted to sixth-rank tutor. He also serves as the mayor of Zhuolu District and is in charge of the affairs of Zhuolu District."

Several imperial edicts were read out in succession, making all the officials in Zhuolu District very happy.

At a time when years of merit are still relatively difficult to obtain, they have generally obtained one year of merit, and some have even obtained two or three years of merit. How can they not be happy?

This years of merit opened up the ladder for clerks to become officials, and also gave officials the opportunity to be promoted to the fourth rank step by step.

What does it mean to be a fourth-rank official? They were not able to be a prefect before. But after the prefect's rank was lowered from the fourth rank to the fifth rank, they now have a chance.

Therefore, the officials of Zhuolu District are now more supportive of the emperor. They wish the emperor would have more ideas and let Zhuolu District try them out.

But this is impossible. After such great changes, Zhuolu District has entered a stable period.

Zhu Youjian needed Zhuolu District to serve as a model for other places to refer to for reform.

Therefore, he chose to transfer Wen Zhenmeng and let Liu Lishun, who performed better in the parliament, serve as the chief of Zhuolu District.

He also sent a capable official to the Government Affairs Office of Zhuolu District.

Gao Shiming pointed to an official he had brought with him and introduced him to the officials of Zhuolu District:

"This Ni Yuangong, Censor Ni, was a Jinshi in the second year of the Tianqi reign. He was magistrate of Qimen County in Shanxi Province and She County in Nanzhili Province, and has rich experience in governance."

"Also, when he was in She County, he suppressed the civil uprising caused by the Huangshan Prison. Because of his high level of governance, he was selected as the Censor of Guangxi Province."

"But you all know that His Majesty has stipulated that officials should be selected from the three judicial departments as much as possible."

"Therefore, Censor Ni was transferred from the Censorate to serve as the deputy district chief of Zhuolu District, responsible for presiding over the Government Affairs Office."

"Liu Hanlin can discuss more with Director Ni on government affairs in the future."

"The district heads and the director generals should discuss the affairs of Zhuolu District. They should hold district council meetings like the government council meetings, at least once a month."

This was the collective deliberative rule that Zhu Youjian continued to promote, modeled after democratic centralism, allowing the chief officials to gather together for meetings.

From now on, local affairs will no longer be decided by one person, but the main officials will gather together to discuss and make decisions.

The newly transferred deputy district chief, Ni Yuangong, was no ordinary man either. He was Ni Yuanlu's cousin and Shang Zhouzuo's relative, and had connections with both the Donglin Party and the Neutral Faction.

Moreover, he is from Shaoxing, Zhejiang, so he can be sent over when the system of Zhuolu District is promoted to the south in the future.

For Ni Yuangong, this transfer is also an opportunity.

Although the transfer from censor to deputy district chief was only a promotion of one level, it was incomparable to the previous censors who could be promoted to the fourth or fifth rank.

But Ni Yuangong was very happy because the events in Zhuolu District were attracting worldwide attention.

As long as he does a good job in this position, he will have opportunities for promotion in the future.

Moreover, as a county magistrate twice, he was familiar with handling government affairs, and could be of great help to Liu Lishun and Shi Kefa, two newly-appointed Jinshi.

The emperor's summons before his departure also made him ambitious and explore how to use parliament to protect the rights of merchants and avoid another "Huangshan Prison". (End of this chapter)