Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 537 Wealth Distribution Mechanism (Special thanks to book friend Youhai Fengwu for 3 monthly tickets!)

When all the ministers in the Chuigong Hall heard this, only Ding Wei, Li Hang and others who were proficient in finance quickly understood the profound meaning of Chai Zongxun's five strategies, while the rest of the ministers only had a vague understanding.

However, seeing that three of the five policies were economic policies and the other two, "anti-monopoly" and "inheritance tax", were only aimed at the wealthy class in the private sector and did not involve the bureaucracy, all the ministers felt happy and therefore strongly supported it.

Chai Zongxun saw the expressions of the ministers and thought:
"Since I have abolished the lifelong and hereditary system of bureaucracy, why not give you some financial benefits?

As long as there is sufficient mobility among social classes, and government power is held by talented people in turn, and with the supervision of the Bureau of Local Worthies, my Great Zhou will surely prosper.

However, if your descendants are not ambitious, their family traditions are not progressive, they cannot pass the imperial examinations, and cannot become officials, then they will be treated the same as the common people. "

Ding Wei left the class and said:
"Your Majesty is wise! You are truly the most skilled emperor in finance and economics in the history of China!

With these five policies, we can ensure that the current soaring prices will gradually fall back steadily, and as people's income increases significantly, the balance of people's livelihood can also be maintained.

Under the leadership of Your Majesty, we have vigorously promoted industry and commerce and ruled the country according to law, which has led to the current relaxed and free business environment. The "three taxes and one inheritance tax" is levied on private tycoons and wealthy people, which benefits the country and the people! "

Kou Zhun came out of the class and said:
"Your Majesty has increased the minimum monthly salary for employees. This is truly a benevolent policy that loves the people!

The implementation of the five policies will surely greatly promote the rapid development of the national economy.”

These five policies were thus finalized and implemented in all state capitals across the country.

Kou Zhun continued:

“Your Majesty, this is my second suggestion. Now that Angkor has just been incorporated into our territory, in order to consolidate the rule of our Great Zhou, we should follow the old example and move 30 million people from the interior to suppress it.

Angkor is adjacent to Annan, with similar climates and rice harvests three times a year, making it a natural granary. There are many kinds of fruits.

However, the population here is only 12 million, and the business is backward, and almost all of them are farmers who make a living by farming.

The amount of land available for Han immigrants should be less than 30 mu per household, so it is not easy to mobilize people from the interior to immigrate there."

The chief military officer Hu Yanzan came out and said:

“Your Majesty, I was ordered to recapture Annan and killed all the local tyrants who dared to resist, which led to the subsequent peace and stability.

Now that Angkor has just been taken, there are quite a few people who are dissatisfied with the rule of our Great Zhou. The court might as well find some excuses to clean up the people of Angkor and make room for the development of our Han immigrants. "

Although Hu Yanzan's method was a bit cruel, it was quick and effective.

Chai Zongxun pondered for a moment and said:
"Now the people of Angkor have not shown any intention of rebelling. If the imperial court were to induce them to rebel and then massacre them, it would be unjust.

Our Han people are hardworking, intelligent and trustworthy. No matter where they go, they can become the wealthy class in the local area.

I intend to move two million Han people from the interior to Angkor this time, and guarantee to give each immigrant household fifty mu of land and a reward of twenty taels of silver.

Merchants from all over the country were encouraged to go to Angkor to do business and open workshops, and half of their taxes were exempted for three years.

The new policy was quickly promoted throughout the country.

Due to the rising prices in the past year or so, the people in many states of the Great Zhou Dynasty were somewhat panicked, and many people began to stock up on durable large items such as wood, horses, clothes, etc. At this moment, when they heard that the imperial edict had again significantly increased the minimum monthly salary for employees, the people could not help but be extremely happy.

People from all over the country were talking about it.

"Your Majesty is truly the Eternal Saint!
It seems that the rising prices in the past two years have reached your Majesty's ears. Your Majesty cares about our people and has issued an order to increase the minimum monthly salary of employees! "

"Your Majesty has not only issued an order to increase the minimum monthly salary for employees, but also increased the tax exemption to 8 taels per month. Although prices have risen a lot, our lives as ordinary people have become much easier.

I just don’t know what the “anti-monopoly law” and “inheritance tax” in the imperial edict are for?”

“That has nothing to do with us ordinary people!

Just think about it, how powerful must one be to be able to manipulate the prices of goods? I don't think there is a single business or workshop like this in our state capital.

The inheritance tax cannot be collected from ordinary people like us. Think about it, when will you be able to earn a fortune of ten thousand taels of silver? Only then will you be eligible to pay the inheritance tax!"

"That's right! If one of my descendants can become a big businessman and earn tens of thousands of dollars, then he can pay the "inheritance tax" and it will also bring honor to the family!"

For workshop owners and business owners, who account for nearly 10% of the population of Da Zhou, although they have to pay a lot more costs to increase the monthly salary of their workers, their commodity profits have also increased significantly with the rise in prices.

This time, the emperor issued an edict to increase the minimum monthly salary of employees, but it only required these employers to allocate a portion of their increased profits to pay the workers monthly salaries. Under the strict law enforcement of the government, they were also happy to increase the workers' wages.

As for the super-rich families, who accounted for about 2% of the nation's population and had a fortune of more than 10,000 taels of silver, although they all felt pained that they would have to pay an inheritance tax of up to one-third of the income tax on the inheritance passed down to their children and grandchildren, they could do nothing about it.

After several cases occurred in the Great Zhou Dynasty where people concealed their inheritance and had their wealth confiscated by the government, wealthy people from all over the country honestly declared their inheritance tax.

After all, as long as you can run your business legally and pay the inheritance tax to the court, you can earn it back within a few years.

These rich people can still tell the difference between having a full meal every day and having a full meal every day.

After the inheritance tax was levied, more than 6 million taels of silver were collected in just three months, and the annual tax revenue was about million taels of silver.

Chai Zongxun's new policies optimized the wealth distribution pattern of the Great Zhou society, transferring a large portion of gold and silver from being mostly in the hands of the powerful and wealthy to the hands of the people and the national treasury.

This also makes the consumption power of the people the dominant force in determining prices, and there will not be a huge gap between the rich and the poor, or a situation where a small group of wealthy people cause prices to be inflated.

Just a few months after the new policy was implemented, the rising price trend was quickly stabilized.

Seeing the effectiveness of the new policy, Chai Zongxun issued an order to increase the salaries of all the royal navy and army soldiers:
The monthly salary of soldiers increased from 5 taels to 6 taels, and the monthly salary of soldiers in the Longxiang Guard, Wude Division, and Imperial Guards increased from taels to taels.

After more than three months of recruitment, more than 300,000 Han immigrants from large inland states with a population of 2 million boarded Royal Navy warships in Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Jiujiang and other places and set off for Angkor.

Hearing that the imperial court would give tax incentives to workshops and businesses set up in Angkor, more than 100,000 merchants went to Angkor to do business, which greatly boosted the local economic development.

On August 7, the 43rd year of Kaixi, the front-line memorial from Crown Prince Chai Jiyu was sent back to the Bianjing Imperial Palace.

Chai Jiyu led a large army and divided it into two routes. One route was with the Sixth Corps of the Longxiang Army to attack the large city of Muro in the eastern part of Kievan Rus. The other route was with the Fourth and Eighth Corps of the Longxiang Army to attack the capital of Kievan Rus, Kiev. On May 2, the 43rd year of Kaixi, the troops besieged the city of Kiev, and the attack had been going on for three months.

(End of this chapter)