Cultivating Immortality, Starts with Green Plum

Chapter 37 There are exactly two

"Tingtian Palace" in the imperial capital of Wu State.

Except for Emperor Wu, all the officials were standing quietly in their seats.

From time to time, the officials looked at the tall man standing in the front.

The man closed his eyes, holding a tablet in his hand, and stood motionless, like a pine tree standing in the court.

Xiao Mochen, now a very popular figure, is also a person feared and besieged by many officials.

"Your Majesty, to—"

Following the eunuch's hoarse voice, Emperor Wu, wearing a dragon robe, walked out.

"Your Majesty, we are here to see you," all the officials shouted in unison, bowing.

Officials of the Wu State never knelt to worship the emperor, at most they just bowed.

"My dear ministers, please stand up." Emperor Wu stretched out his hand and stroked them lightly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." All the officials stood up.

"My dear ministers, do you have anything to report?" Emperor Wu asked with a smile. He looked friendly, but in fact, no one really thought that Emperor Wu was easy to talk to.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report." Xiao Mochen walked forward, his voice echoing throughout the court.

"My dear Lord Xiao." Emperor Wu looked at Xiao Mochi, his gentle expression concealing a hint of heaviness.

"Your Majesty, I request a change in the law." Xiao Mochen's straightforward words shocked most officials.

Everyone looked at Xiao Mochen, and then at the prime minister standing in the front.

Emperor Wu also glanced at the Prime Minister, and his smiling face instantly turned serious: "My dear Xiao, do you know what you are going to say?"

"I know."

Xiao Mochen took a deep breath.

"The two-tax system implemented by the Wu Dynasty did increase fiscal revenue in the early days, and also alleviated the burden on the people to a certain extent.

But now, the Two Tax Law has completely changed.

The greedy officials extorted money by making up various excuses beyond the two tax quotas, such as "inter-tax" and "tax on removing strangers", and the people suffered terribly.

In addition, many officials levied heavy taxes on top of regular taxes in order to get promoted.

The heavy and exorbitant taxes have plunged the people into a miserable situation where life is worse than death.

If this continues for a long time without modification, the consequences will be disastrous!"

"It's ridiculous! It's precisely because of the Two-Tax System that our Wu Dynasty has been able to become so powerful. How come it has become so unbearable under the leadership of the Minister of the Central Secretariat?" An official stood up.

Soon, another official stood up:
“The Two Tax Law does have certain drawbacks, but let me ask, what tax law is perfect?

All rent, labor service, and miscellaneous levies and taxes were abolished.

The two taxes were levied in money according to household status and in millet according to the acreage of land. The acreage tax was based on the number of cultivated fields in the Wu Dynasty during the 100 years and was levied evenly.

For merchants who do not have a fixed residence, the prefecture or county where they live will collect a tax of one-thirtieth of their income.

Are these useless?"

"Your Majesty! The rules of our ancestors cannot be abolished."

One by one, the officials stood up and fought back against Xiao Mochi.

Xiao Mochen seemed not to hear anything and remained calm as water.

"Silence." Following the Emperor Wu's shout, all officials shut up and lowered their heads.

Emperor Wu looked at Xiao Mochi and said, "My dear Xiao, you said you want to change the law. Do you have any way to change it?"

Xiao Mochi raised his head: "I have some ideas.

First, taxes and labor services were combined and levied together. The land tax, corvee and other miscellaneous taxes of each state and county were merged into one, and a unified silver tax was collected and paid based on the mu of land.

Forced labor was abolished and replaced by government-hired labor. Farmers only had to hand in silver. Tax collection items were simplified. The summer tax, autumn grain, lijia, equal labor service, miscellaneous labor, and additional tribute collected from various states and counties in the past were all converted into silver and combined into one total.

The collection and transportation of taxes and labor service was changed from private collection and payment to government collection and payment.

The main purpose of this law is to simplify the tax system, facilitate tax collection, and make it difficult for local officials to cheat, thereby increasing fiscal revenue.

After hearing what Xiao Mochen said, many people could no longer sit still and their faces turned pale.

This Xiao Mochi has never been quiet since he entered the court two years ago.

Either it is military reform or it is the reduction of power.

Before, Xiao Mochen had said, "No matter one's background, anyone can take part in the imperial examination."

Did he forget the palace coup that happened 150 years ago? !

Now, Xiao Mochen also wants to propose reforms to the tax law.

What Xiao Mochen did was undoubtedly an infringement of their interests.

Who doesn’t have thousands or tens of thousands of acres of land under their control, both openly and secretly?
If this tax law is implemented, how much tax will I have to pay?

Sure enough, after Xiao Mochen finished speaking, officials stood up one after another to criticize Xiao Mochen.

However, Xiao Mochen is not without supporters.

Soon after entering the officialdom, a group of younger officials began to fight back.

For a moment, the court was in chaos, and many people had rolled up their sleeves and were ready to get to work.

The military officers in the court were amused by what they saw.

In the past, they always had to fight with the civil servants.

As a result, the civil servants are now starting to fight among themselves.

Ever since Xiao Mochen entered the imperial court, he has had a lot of fun in the past two years.

But then again, watching a show is just watching a show.

This Xiao Mochi is really a man.

As expected of a scholar who graduated from Bailu Academy, he is different from those bookworms in the court.

That's right. Too young and lacking in experience.

Just as the quarrel was getting more and more intense, Emperor Wu looked at the Prime Minister again.

But the prime minister still said nothing and looked dazed.

"Alright, alright, stop arguing." Emperor Wu retracted his gaze and waved his hands, seemingly in a state of headache. "Lord Xiao, what you said is of great importance. I need to think about it carefully. Let's put this matter aside for now and discuss it later. Please write a specific set of rules first."

"Yes." Xiao Mochen nodded.

"."Many officials looked embarrassed and thought to themselves that this was bad.

It is estimated that His Majesty has already known about Xiao Mochen's reform, but he asked him to bring it up today to test the reaction of himself and others.

"If there is anything else, please report it to me." Emperor Wu continued.

The officials' subsequent speeches were no different from usual, except that the Minister of Rites stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Qi State delegation will arrive in Wu State in a month, and it is time to decide on the candidates for Wu State's diplomatic delegation."

"Indeed." Emperor Wu thought for a moment, "Then let Xiao Aiqing be in charge of this matter. Xiao Aiqing, go and select the people. The matter of welcoming the Qi State delegation is left to you."

"Yes." Xiao Mochen replied with his head lowered.

All the officials hesitated to speak and wanted to refute, but they found that they really could not refute this time.

He is a scholar from Bailu Academy, I am really not qualified
"Your Majesty." Xiao Mochi thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Qi will bring two young children with outstanding literary talent. We, Wu, must also wait for the same level of status. I think we need to bring two young friends with us as well."

"Oh?" Emperor Wu smiled and said, "My dear, do you have a candidate?"

Xiao Mochi nodded and said, "There are exactly two."

(End of this chapter)