The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 430 Preparing to go to sea
"In addition to reforming the craftsman system, commerce must also be developed."

"The court's current tax revenue mainly relies on agricultural tax and salt tax, followed by commercial tax, mining tax and other miscellaneous taxes."

This has been the case in all dynasties, with agricultural taxes and salt taxes accounting for the bulk and being almost the main source of income to maintain the normal operation of the dynasty.

"The best way is that the Ministry of Revenue will be responsible for collecting agricultural taxes and salt taxes, while the royal family will be responsible for collecting miscellaneous taxes!"

"All agricultural and salt taxes will be used to develop people's livelihood. We no longer need to bear the cost of supporting the royal family and vassal states, as well as various military expenses!"

"And these two items fall on the imperial family, who use commercial taxes to support the imperial family and vassal states and to bear military expenses!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhu Houzhao's eyes suddenly lit up.

He knew very well how terrible the commercial taxes in Ming Dynasty were now!
This is also thanks to the overseas trade that Tang Hao built and developed overseas, which increased commercial taxes by more than a thousand times, enough to rival agricultural taxes and salt taxes!

If it is really separated like this, then it is not unacceptable.

After all, with the horrific commercial taxes, supporting the royal family and vassal states is only a small problem, and it is more than enough to cover the court's military expenses!
Moreover, after such a split, it means that the army becomes the private armed forces of the royal family. No civil officials or gentry are allowed to interfere, and they have no reason to interfere.

After all, all military expenditures are borne by the royal family, which is equivalent to the royal family supporting these soldiers without spending a penny of the court's money. What reason do you have to interfere?
The only problem is that once a war is launched, the military expenditure will be an astronomical figure!

With today's commercial tax rates, can we really afford it?
Zhu Houzhao raised his own questions, and Tang Hao smiled confidently.

"Your Majesty, you underestimate the charm of industry and commerce!"

"This is just the overseas commercial tax, which is comparable to the agricultural tax and salt tax."

"When the entire Ming Dynasty enters the era of industrial and commercial development, commercial taxes will be more than a hundred times higher than the sum of agricultural taxes and salt taxes. That will be the real economic lifeline of the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Houzhao was dumbfounded.

More than a hundred times!
How can this be?

Agricultural and salt taxes,
This is the economic lifeline of dynasties.

The same was true of the Ming Dynasty, which successfully consolidated its rule by relying on agricultural and salt taxes.

Zhu Houzhao had a photographic memory. Having been the emperor for such a long time, he naturally understood the importance of agricultural tax and salt tax.

The imperial court's tax revenue mainly relied on agricultural taxes and salt taxes, which accounted for as much as 90% of the total tax revenue.

The remaining miscellaneous taxes brought less than 10% of the revenue to the court!
Of course, that was before Tang Hao developed his business overseas.

Today's overseas business situation is very good, which has also brought about high business taxes.

But even so, commercial taxes and other miscellaneous taxes only accounted for 30% of the total tax revenue, and the real bulk of the tax still came from agricultural taxes and salt taxes.

If it weren't for the agricultural tax and salt tax, Zhu Houzhao would have had no chance of achieving either civil or military success. I'm afraid that just one war would have caused the Ming Dynasty to fall apart!

But now, Tang Hao actually told him that commercial taxes in the future will be more than a hundred times higher than the sum of agricultural taxes and salt taxes!
How is this possible?
Zhu Houzhao looked at Tang Hao in disbelief, his scalp tingling with shock.

"Savage, you are exaggerating a bit!"

"I have lived for most of my life and have never heard that commercial taxes will one day exceed agricultural taxes!"

No wonder Zhu Houzhao couldn't accept it, it was really too outrageous.

The Central Plains dynasties have always implemented the basic national policy of "promoting agriculture and suppressing commerce", which determines that the court's tax revenue mainly relies on agricultural taxes, while the taxes brought by the salt and iron monopoly are second-rate. The combination of the two has become the main source of tax revenue for the court!

If commercial taxes want to exceed agricultural taxes, the only way is to change the national policy of "promoting agriculture and suppressing commerce", but how is this possible?
Even if commercial taxes could really bring huge profits and exceed agricultural taxes, Zhu Houzhao would never do so.

You know, food is the most important thing for people. If all the people go to do business and no one is willing to farm the land, where will the food come from?

Without enough food, people will not be able to eat enough and will go hungry!

If you dare to let the people go hungry, they will rise up and rebel against you, Zhu’s family!
Therefore, the basic national policy of "promoting agriculture and suppressing commerce" must not be changed. Food and land are the foundation and lifeblood of the dynasty!

"Savage, I have to remind you that no matter what you want to do, the principle of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce must not change!" "Although silver is important, it is far less important than food. Let the people have enough food, this is the top priority in the world!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Hao just smiled indifferently and spread his hands helplessly.

"Where did you think you were?"

“Did I say that we shouldn’t let the common people farm?”

"Reinforcing agriculture is indeed a national priority. I'm not stupid, so why would I change it?"

Zhu Houzhao nodded when he heard this, and his heart immediately settled down.

But Tang Hao immediately changed the subject, which made him nervous again.

"But it's wrong to suppress business. This can be changed."

"You have also seen that the development of overseas business has brought about a terrifying and astonishing commercial tax!"

"Have you ever thought that one day the imperial court will be able to support itself just by relying on commercial taxes and salt taxes, and will no longer need to collect agricultural taxes from the people?"

"By that time, the country's industry and commerce will have developed to a certain level, and the common people will not only not have to pay taxes for farming, but will also receive subsidies from the court. This will be a truly peaceful and prosperous era!"

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, his eyes widened and he felt that his brain was a little confused.

Agricultural tax will be abolished directly!

Not only did the people not have to pay taxes for farming, the court also provided subsidies!

How the hell is this possible?
Shocked!

Extremely shocking!
He simply couldn't accept Tang Hao's idea.

What kind of prosperous era would it be if common people did not have to pay taxes and received subsidies from the imperial court for farming?

"Okay, let's stop here for the agricultural tax!"

"I just want to tell you that the charm of industry and commerce is far beyond your imagination!"

"Let me give you a simple example. The imperial court has begun to build border customs. All people who go out to sea for trade must pay customs duties according to established standards. This is actually a kind of commercial tax. Has your majesty ever considered the profits from customs duties?"

"It's like there are countless miniature versions of Zheng He's fleet, which continuously bring profits to the Ming Dynasty. Although their fleet is far smaller than Zheng He's fleet, they are more numerous and frequent! Just relying on tariffs, the Ming Dynasty's commercial taxes will soon be enough to exceed agricultural taxes!"

Zhu Houzhao took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Zhu Houzhao was naturally well aware of the monstrous profits of maritime trade, otherwise he would not have resisted the pressure and sent Tang Hao to sea many times to develop overseas trade.

Zhu Houzhao initially did not quite understand Tang Hao's proposal to build a customs house. It was not until now that he finally understood the importance of the customs to the Ming Dynasty!
These are fucking golden chickens that lay golden eggs!
As long as the customs is built well in the early stage, the court does not have to do anything in the later stage and can just sit back and collect customs duties!
Moreover, this tariff is not a small amount. Just look at the former Song Dynasty, which relied on collecting commercial taxes and tariffs on maritime trade to resist foreign barbarians for a hundred years with a corner of the country. You can understand how terrifying this tariff is!
When the Ming Customs is officially put into operation, it will definitely not be a dream for commercial taxes to exceed agricultural taxes!

Will there really be a day when commercial taxes can completely replace agricultural taxes and salt taxes, and ordinary people will no longer have to pay taxes?

Unimaginable and incomprehensible!
But, it was definitely a real golden age!

“These are what you are going to do next!”

"Why?" Zhu Houzhao realized something was wrong.

"What about you? Where are you going? Are you planning to go out to sea again?"

Tang Hao's eyes were deep and his expression was firm.

"I'm going to sea to get ordinary high-yield food crops!"

"???"

(End of this chapter)