I'm in the Red Mansion

In the end, the old faction prevailed.

Among aristocratic families, family background is the most important, and status is even more important.

The old faction will ultimately have greater power and responsibility.

The young and strong faction was very worried, but still insisted not to go against the court.

The old lady of the Li family sneered and said, "Do you think I am as brainless as you guys?"

"There are ways to resist taxation. A thousand-year-old family has survived until now. Do you think they are all idiots?"

"We have to do this kind of thing, but we can't do it ourselves."

"Of course, we have to find a scapegoat to test the court's resolve."

"We, the aristocratic families, have many ways to do things."

After hearing this, the young and strong group was convinced and quickly admitted their mistakes and complimented.

And then, the Li family began to operate secretly.

A noble family is like a towering tree, and there are countless people who depend on it for their livelihood.

Next, they immediately found three small families that were dependent on them and secretly signaled them to resist paying taxes.

The Li family themselves did not openly refuse to pay taxes.

He just used the excuse that the family was having difficulty running and needed to raise money to delay the matter.

The three small families affiliated with the Li family divided their forces into the Jiang, Shen and Han families.

Among them, the Jiang family is the most single, with a strong sense of weakness.

He insisted that the harvest was poor and the family had no money, so he refused to pay taxes.

The Shen family only paid 10% of the silver to pay taxes.

The Han family contributed 50%.

The Li family wanted to test the imperial court through these three things.

If the imperial court did not dare to touch the Jiang family, then they would have no chance of collecting a penny of tax from the Li family.

If the Jiang family was attacked, but the Shen family only paid 10% of the tax, then the Li family would just take out some silver to satisfy the court.

If the Shen family cannot pass the test, but the court can accept the Han family's 50% tax silver, the Li family will naturally follow suit.

If the court's measures are too tough, the Li family will naturally have more options.

Soon, the Li family saw the court's drastic measures.

The court urged the Jiang family three times, but the family refused to pay taxes, so the court directly dispatched local troops to execute the entire Jiang family and confiscate all their property.

As for taxes and silver, naturally not a penny is missing.

The entire Shen family was also arrested and imprisoned, their property was confiscated, and all the men in the main branch of the Shen family were exiled to Ningguta.

Women were sent to the Jiaofangsi.

The Chinese Jiaofangsi today is different from the Jiaofangsi in previous dynasties.

Since the Ming Dynasty, Jiaofangsi became the government's brothel and was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites.

For example, the wives of criminal officials and women captured in wars were basically sent to the Jiaofangsi.

In China, the members of the Jiaofangsi basically come from this source.

However, its functions have changed.

The Jiaofangsi no longer had the nature of a brothel, but became a place for labor reform.

For female prisoners who have no special skills, they are forced to learn weaving and other jobs to reform themselves through labor.

For female prisoners who have a special skill, they will be asked to rehearse operas.

As for the Han family, the government's methods are slightly different.

The government brought troops directly to the Han family's home, forced their way into the house, and seized a large amount of money from the family.

Then the government directly imposed a double fine and collected twice the tax from the Han family.

However, the Han family was safe and sound.

The experiences of these three families caused an uproar in the Guanlong area.

They had not expected the drastic measures taken by the imperial court.

This method of killing the chicken to scare the monkey also made them afraid.

Now, other gentry in Guanlong have all turned their attention to the Li family.

The Li family is the king of Guanlong.

Let’s talk about the Li family. After the Jiang, Shen and Han families suffered disasters one after another, they held a family meeting again.

Then on the second day, the direct descendants of the Li family came to visit without the imperial court.

He personally carried the tax silver to the government, and not only did they pay exactly the same amount of tax silver, they even had some extra, which was considered a loss.

However, the government did not collect a penny more and returned all the extra silver to the Li family.

The Guanlong Li family is a weather vane of Guanlong.

Even the Li family gave in and paid taxes obediently.

Other gentry families, both large and small, dared not resist even more.

As a result, other aristocratic families in the Guanlong area all paid taxes obediently.

And these gentry families were also watching coldly.

They found that the imperial court was very cruel to their gentry families.

Anyone who dares to teach less will have their property confiscated and their entire family destroyed.

At the very least, they would storm into your home and impose a double fine.

But he was much more tolerant towards the people.

There are some families who are having a hard time, and they are really poor families who cannot afford to pay their bills.

After verification, their taxes were directly reduced or exempted.

Therefore, after the implementation of the new policy, the reactions among the gentry and the people were completely different.

All the people shouted "Long live the emperor" and expressed their sincere gratitude to the emperor.

Even many ordinary people built shrines for Emperor Taizu in their homes.

Because this year, they paid at least half less agricultural tax than in previous years, and after paying it this time, they would have nothing left within a year.

Even forced labor was abolished.

The imperial court also promoted three new types of crops. In the future, they will be able to produce more and more grain every year, and their lives will become better and better.

And all of this was brought to them by Emperor Taizu. How could they not be grateful to Emperor Taizu?

The gentry families wished the emperor would die.

Since ancient times, the nobility has enjoyed various privileges. Why have they ever needed to pay taxes?

Now, they have to pay taxes like the peasants. How can these gentry families be willing to accept this?
They cursed in their hearts and felt that the court was so perverse that the country would be destroyed in a few years.

Of course, there are some people who are far-sighted.

They understand that the king is like water and the people are like a boat, and that water can carry the boat but can also capsize it.

Looking back at the dynasties throughout history, apart from foreign invasions, there were few things that actually overthrew the dynasty.

Most of the time, it happens when the lower class people can no longer make a living.

As long as those peasants at the bottom of society have something to eat and are not starving to death, they will never rebel.

Today, Emperor Taizu sacrifices the interests of the gentry and favors the common people.

I am afraid that his kingdom will become more and more stable.

Therefore, these truly knowledgeable people gave up the idea of ​​opposing the court.

In the Guanlong area, when most of the taxes had been collected, ten thousand troops suddenly withdrew from Longshan.

Before these 10,000 troops withdrew, no one knew where they came from.

When the Li family heard the news, everyone in the family broke out in cold sweats.

They naturally knew who these 10,000 troops were for.

Not surprisingly, it must be prepared for their Li family.

If the Li family really openly resists paying taxes, these ten thousand troops will rush out and directly destroy the Li family.

Fortunately, after testing the waters, they obediently paid the full amount of taxes and silver, and did not go against the imperial court! Otherwise, I am afraid that their Li family would be removed from the Guanlong area.

From now on, the Li family will have to keep a low profile.

Even for a thousand-year-old family, things are not always smooth sailing.

Over the past thousand years, the aristocratic family has experienced various hardships and also had its low points.

There have even been cases where an entire family was almost wiped out.

For example, during the Huang Chao Uprising in the Tang Dynasty, the rebels almost wiped out their roots.

But they still managed to survive because they were able to assess the situation and act accordingly.

……

The Guanlong Li family is just a small part of the entire China.

Generally speaking, tax collection in the Guanlong area was quite smooth.

However, in some regions and some forces, in the late Xia Dynasty, they truly became local tyrants.

They all lack respect for the Daxia royal family.

Now that China has been established, although they acknowledge China's ruling status, they are unwilling to cut their own flesh and blood to pay taxes.

In such a place, fierce conflicts naturally broke out.

In the end, the imperial court sent out a large army to directly wipe out these forces.

The court's decisiveness also frightened a large number of gentry.

Moreover, these gentry did not dare to have any bad intentions.

Because they found that the only people who hated the imperial court were the gentry.

The people's support for the imperial court was almost blind.

And if they wanted to revolt, overthrow the Chinese rule, and establish a new dynasty in which the scholar-officials and the emperor ruled the world together.

Although they did not expect those peasants to help them accomplish their goals, they would certainly not be able to accomplish anything if they could not lead them.

More importantly, they have no army...

Perhaps some gentry had some private armed forces, but these were totally insufficient to compete with the imperial army.

This can be seen from the conflict that broke out during the court's tax collection.

After some consideration, they finally had to give up.

In the end, this tax collection was successfully completed.

The final amount of tax silver collected was 52.3 million taels.

This number far exceeds that of the previous dynasty.

This was, of course, because all the gentry paid taxes together.

Although the proportion of tax revenue has been reduced, the base has been greatly increased, so the tax revenue will naturally increase as well.

After the tax money was collected, not only the three grand secretaries in the court breathed a sigh of relief.

Even other officials were very happy, especially those from the Ministry of Revenue.

It is easier to get things done if you have money, and nothing can be done without money.

Some of the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were former officials of Daxia.

Even those who were newly promoted had experienced the embarrassing situation of having no money in the treasury last year.

Now that they have money, they are more confident.

In China, the reform is not just about agricultural taxes.

It also includes salt tax and commercial tax.

Jia Cong directly nationalized the salt administration. The elimination of the eight major salt merchants in Jiangnan was originally planned for this purpose.

After salt is nationalized, the price of salt can be regulated.

There is no need to worry about someone making a fuss about salt.

The salt tax naturally also increased significantly.

China's commercial tax is levied at a rate of one tenth.

This ratio is still very high. For example, the commercial tax in the Ming Dynasty was about 15%.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the tax rate was 30%, and in the later period, it even reached an exaggerated rate of 60%.

But in those dynasties, paying taxes did not guarantee everything would be alright. If one did not have a backing, one would inevitably be exploited at every level.

And sometimes, you have to pay taxes multiple times.

In China, as long as you pay taxes in full, everything will be fine.

The imperial court will absolutely guarantee the safety of merchants and ensure that multiple tax payments will never occur.

Therefore, although China's commercial taxes are heavy, businessmen have almost no complaints and some even like the current business atmosphere very much.

Therefore, China's business is gradually beginning to recover.

And all the taxes added together are already close to a small target.

Of course, the unit of this small goal is not RMB, but silver.

And this is only because China had just been established and its business was just starting.

If China is fully developed and its business prospers, I am afraid that the commercial tax alone will be able to reach the level of a small goal.

Now that there is money in the national treasury, Jia Cong can put his fundraising plans into full play.

However, now that it is the end of the year, we can prepare in advance and just wait to implement it next year.

……

Because tax collection was going very smoothly and the treasury was full, Jia Cong was also very happy.

Therefore, Jia Cong decided to take the empress dowager and concubines to the Tangshan Palace to relax for a few days.

The Tangshan Palace (not the real Tangshan) was built in Tangshan outside the capital. It was specially built because there were hot springs on the mountain.

Of course, this palace was built during the Great Xia Dynasty.

Jia Cong has never been here since he ascended the throne.

Now that the national treasury has money, Jia Cong is not stingy and has already ordered people to renovate the Tangshan Palace.

Well, actually even last year, the treasury had no money.

However, Jia Cong's own treasury was still very wealthy.

But the treasury has no money and can do nothing.

It would be bad for Jia Cong to show off his personal treasury too much, right?
If the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were to take notice of him, his small treasury would be in danger.

Although he has been doing business over the years, he has accumulated a considerable fortune.

But when it comes to consumption at the national level, it is totally insufficient.

And now, there is money in the treasury.

As long as nothing serious happens, these taxes cannot be spent in a year, and they cannot be spent at all.

Therefore, Jia Cong was no longer afraid that the officials of the Ministry of Revenue would covet his small treasury.

Therefore, this time, Jia Cong boldly paid out of his own pocket and ordered people to renovate the Tangshan Palace.

All the concubines, princes and princesses were delighted when they heard that they would go to the Tangshan Palace in a few days.

Especially for concubines, their status is indeed respected.

But isn't this palace like a cage, imprisoning them in it?
The emperor often took the empress and several imperial concubines to the city for private tours.

But I have never taken them with me.

Now that they can visit Tangshan Palace, how can they not be happy?

I heard that the environment of Tangshan Palace is very beautiful, especially in late autumn.

The mountain is covered with maple leaves that look like fire, and there are waterfalls, pools, hot springs, etc. on the mountain.

Just thinking about it makes them extremely fascinated.

Not only them, but even their maids began to get excited.

At this time, far away at the border between Jiaozhi and Huaxia, a major event occurred. (End of this chapter)