The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 696 Tax Reform
The next day.

The courtiers were still waiting for the court meeting to start outside the Meridian Gate, and Zhu Lin was already outside the Wenhua Hall, flipping through a thick booklet, which was the details of the officials' personal assets secretly investigated by Jin Yiwei during the land expropriation of Huangzhuang.

After that incident, Zheng Guangying appointed a Qianhu from Nanzhen to continue to collect information in this area. The current information is more detailed, and even many new scholars who have not been granted official positions have been checked.

Zhu Linmi had roughly read it last night, and now she was holding a bamboo pen, occasionally smiling and nodding.

"Yao Qisheng has 62 acres of land at home, but invested 500 taels of silver in the iron yard and glass factory in the stock exchange. He is a good 'seedling'."

He then drew a check mark in front of Yao Qisheng's name.

"Ma Lin, with 7000 acres of land, invested 2000 taels of silver in the shipyard... Li Tianchun, with [-] acres of land, has a cotton cloth workshop at home, with an annual income of [-] taels... Well, it's not bad."

Zhu Linmei also drew hooks for these people.

"Hey, Xinke Jinshi Qian Chengzhi?" He suddenly found an interesting person, and saw that Jin Yiwei's materials were impressively written: Selling a hundred acres of land and an old house from the seller, all the proceeds will be invested in wooden tracks and ocean-going caravans .

"The malleable talent!" Zhu Linmi decided immediately, "He is the one!"

Then he listed Huang Zongxi, Zeng Jian, Xu Erlu, Song Yingxing, Fang Yizhi, Li Guangchun and many other officers from the Dragon Guard Army and Polu Camp in the booklet.

What they have in common is that they have less land at home, but they invest heavily in stock trading workshops, or they have workshops under their own names.It can be regarded as the "pioneer" of the emerging bourgeoisie in Ming Dynasty.

These people have a strong ability to accept new ideas and have flexible minds, and the series of measures implemented by Zhu Linmi after taking power are also in their interests, and they are staunch supporters of Ming's industrialization.

Zhu Linmi intends to use them as a breakthrough point to implement the "tax reform" that has shaken the entire ruling and opposition parties.

Of course, there are many big landlords, such as Huang Jingfang, Lin Zunbin, He Kai and even Yang Tinglin, whose names were crossed by him.These people have hundreds of acres of land under their names, and the taxation of gentry will touch them the most. It is estimated that they will be strongly rebounded, but they have to prepare in advance.

When the drums sounded outside the hall, it was time for the court meeting. The courtiers stepped into the front of the Wenhua Hall in an orderly manner, knelt down and saluted.

The most urgent thing today is the imperial court's preparations for the Northern Expedition and the enlistment of civilian husbands, so Zhu Linmei will naturally talk about this first.

The courtiers agreed with this unanimously. After all, no one dared to mess around in the righteousness of regaining the territory. In addition, the emperor of the current dynasty has been invincible in recent years, and there is no reason not to support it.

In addition to the specific deployment of the Ministry of War, which needs to be discussed at the meeting of the Staff Division, other ministries still have a lot of work that needs to be coordinated.

Zhu Linmei first asked Yang Tinglin to publish the regulations agreed upon by those important ministers yesterday, such as the scope, requirements, regulations, purchase and transportation of grain and rice by the Ministry of Households.

Then he explained the plans he had made last night one by one, "The Propaganda Department, make every effort to publicize the great cause of the Northern Expedition in Nanzhi territory, mobilize the people to sign up with the local government, and participate in the transportation of grain, grass and supplies. Remember to emphasize all Those who perform hard labor can receive an additional one tael of silver per month."

Hong Si rushed out of the class and handed over his hands: "Minister, take the decree." But he was very surprised in his heart that the minzhuang was conscripted and the wages were returned!You know, corvee service in the Ming Dynasty was compulsory, and it usually lasted for three months, and you had to bring some rations with you.But this time the imperial court not only took care of food and clothing, but also paid an extra 40 taels of "wages"!
Zhu Linmi looked at Song Yingxing again, "Recently, the Ministry of Industry will cooperate with the Engineer Battalion of the Longwei Army to build a pontoon bridge on the river north of Dantu. In addition, sand, gravel, asphalt, and wood must be prepared in advance, so that the roads around Yangzhou will be repaired in the future. use."

"Sir, lead the order."

"Ministry of Rites, go to Macau, Manila and other places to contact the barbarians as soon as possible to discuss the purchase of grain and rice, and beware of insufficient food for disaster relief..."

"The Criminal Department..."

After all the arrangements were made, all the officials thought that today's court meeting would come to an end, but unexpectedly Zhu Linmei continued: "By the way, there is one more thing."

He raised his eyes and scanned the court hall, "Now is the critical period of the Northern Expedition, and a large number of people have been killed by Jian captives, and large sums of money are needed for wars and disaster relief, and this treasury is no longer able to make ends meet.

"I hope that all the ministers and workers will uphold the righteousness and do their best for the Ming Dynasty."

This is not asking everyone to donate money, right?The courtiers all thought the same, and no one said anything for a while.

Seeing this, Zhu Linmi smiled very kindly, "Ah, don't worry everyone, it's not that you are asked to donate money, there is no such rule."

All the ministers were about to breathe a sigh of relief, but they heard him say again: "However, everyone has owed the court taxes and money for a long time. Of course, the previous debts are forgotten, but it is not appropriate to continue like this in the future. After all, the country is also difficult."

Zhu Linmi checked the laws of the Ming Dynasty and the will of the emperors on taxation overnight, and found nothing that mentioned that the gentry could be completely exempted from taxes.

There are express regulations only that after a scholar obtains the honor, he does not need to pay grain for a certain amount of land under his name, and he still has to pay taxes as usual if the amount exceeds the amount.The quota is about [-] mu for Jinshi, [-] mu for Juren, and [-] mu for scholar.

The reason for the formation of the current situation all started when officials defaulted on tax payments during the Chongzhen Dynasty.

At that time, the country was in turmoil. At first, some officials inadvertently defaulted on the arrears, but the Ministry of Household Affairs was not easy to collect due to face.Then many people found out, oops, it turned out that they could still "operate" in this way, so why should they pay taxes honestly?
So some people began to default on their arrears maliciously, and the scope of the relationship became larger and larger, and the Ministry of Accounting was unable to collect it—too many people were offended, and even the Ministry of Accounting's own people had defaulted.

After a long time, tax arrears have become a common practice, and whoever pays taxes has become a fool in the eyes of everyone.In the end, the "laolai" behavior gradually developed into the privilege of the gentry and gradually became fixed.

From the beginning to the end, the imperial court has never clearly stipulated that no one can pay taxes at all except clan relatives!
That's why Zhu Linmi said as soon as she came up that "the tax arrears can no longer be paid in the future", but she didn't mention the amount of reduction or exemption for the time being.

There was a dead silence in the middle of the court.

After a while, the Criminal Division was the first to stand up in the matter, "righteous words" said: "Your Majesty, it has been a practice for many years for scholars not to pay food. This sudden change may destabilize all places..."

Immediately, several people echoed at the same time, "Your Majesty, this matter involves too much, and it is best to take it slowly."

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Household Affairs has not accepted this case for many years. If it is to be accepted, it may be difficult for a while..."

"Yes, it is time-consuming and labor-intensive to count the acres and re-measure. Right now, expelling captives is the most important thing, so it is not appropriate to go to war."

There were also people who said righteously: "The country is in trouble, and my ministers should be loyal. I am willing to donate 700 taels of silver to help the Northern Expedition!"

"Yes, I donated 500 taels too!"

"The lower official's family is poor, please donate 300 taels!"

Immediately, the voice of donating money in the court hall rang out, drowning out Zhu Linmi's proposal of "tax reform".

(End of this chapter)