I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 283 Industrial and commercial tax, I have settled
In fact, there are many reasons for the low tax burden of Ming Dynasty.

In the early years, Zhu Yuanzhang's rule of not competing with the people for profit, and lightly paying less tax was just one of the reasons for the low taxation.

At this time, in Daming, as the most important industrial and commercial tax, the two items of salt and iron were basically not in the hands of the imperial court.

Iron is a good thing to say, ordinary people can't participate in it, and the imperial court more or less has some official iron mines.

Even if all taxes are collected, at best it is only one or two million taels, which is not a start.

But salt was the most important business tax in all dynasties.

Daming stopped talking.

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the salt tax revenue was more than 700 million taels, and the population gradually exploded in the late Qing Dynasty, reaching more than 2000 million taels in the Guangxu period.

By the end of the Xuantong period of the Qing Dynasty, it was rare to reach an astonishing 4000 million taels.

Of course, some people may say that the taxes in the Qing Dynasty were high, and a large amount of silver flowed in in the late Ming Dynasty.

Many reasons, such as priceless rises, led to the Qing Dynasty having such high taxes.

Although the level of human industry increased at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the population exploded, many data cannot be compared with this time.

However, during the Qianlong period, the total population was several million less than that of Daming at this time.

However, during the Qianlong period, only one corrupt official, He Shen, had his home ransacked for more than 8000 million taels of silver.

What does this mean? It means that people are really rich.

And what did Daming do at this time.

In the early years of Hongwu, in order to conquer the remnants of Mongolia, Zhu Yuanzhang raised food.

The right to produce and sell salt was handed over to the rich merchants in the Jianghuai area, and the salt was exchanged for food to support the nine borders.

Although taxes are also collected, no matter how much tax is compared with the Song Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, it doesn't even count as a gap between the teeth.

According to statistics, at the peak of the Song Dynasty, the population was about 6000 million, which was about the same as that of Daming at this time.

Based on the calculation that an adult consumes five kilograms of salt a year, the annual salt production is about [-] million catties.

Equivalent to salt quotations, it is about 200 million to 300 million quotations.

Based on the calculation of six guan or six taels per quotation, the actual salt tax should be 300 million taels.

But how much salt tax was received at this time, the highest in the entire Ming Dynasty was only about 200 million taels.

You must know that the salt in the Ming Dynasty was notoriously expensive, about three hundred Wen per catty, but it was only twenty Wen in the Qing Dynasty, and only fifty Wen in the Song Dynasty.

According to common sense, the price of salt is so expensive, whether it is the salt merchants or the imperial court, the tax should be higher than that of the Qing and Ming dynasties.

But the strange thing is the strange thing, not only did Daming not even get the original [-] million that he deserved.

Even the 100 taels that are generally thrown to the imperial court as alms, may not be collected in full every year.

If there was a difference of one or two million taels, Li Tian would find it troublesome, so he would just turn a blind eye and get over it.

But they didn't even want to pay the salt tax of one fourteenth.

Who the hell is he bullying? Is the emperor who bullied Daming an honest man?

This is only the salt tax, and the other iron classes, mulberry classes, tea classes, etc., all added together are not even 50 taels.

For a majestic empire, the most powerful, most advanced and most populous country in the world, to have an income of only about 200 million taels a year, it is simply a joke.

If Zhu Gaochi in the past was framed by the rules set by his father and grandfather, he would have tolerated it, but Li Tian couldn't bear it.

At this time, his wings are not full-fledged, and he doesn't have the strength to fight against the officials and businessmen who are colluding with the whole world.

But doing business by yourself and earning some pocket money, you have to be judged by others.

You earn a lot of money, and you are very chic every day. I only get this little money every year now, and I yell that this is not good, that is not good.

Do you really think that I was made of mud, and dare not attack you bastards?

Of course, Yang Shiqi and others didn't object to Li Tian's doing this or that when they came up, but just reminded him a little bit, so as not to be caught by the censors.

No matter how angry Li Tian was, he couldn't vent it on them.

I saw that they didn't speak for a long time.

Li Tian snorted coldly and continued,
"People all over the world say that the land tax is the foundation of the world, but the land tax in the country's dynasty is one-twelfth, no matter it is compared with any dynasty, it is not high.

But even so, there are no fewer people in the world who are hungry. "

At this point he paused for a moment, then snapped,

"Is it necessary for me to pay them taxes so that they don't go hungry? Does it mean that if I don't collect a cent of their land tax, no one in the world will starve to death!"

Seeing Li Tian getting angry, Yang Shiqi and others quickly knelt down on the ground, but dared not say anything.

Li Tian let out a long sigh,
"Farmers only have that little income throughout the year. Even if I really exempt them from all taxes, if there is a disaster year or something, many people will starve to death."

"But there are some people who can eat well and sleep well no matter what age they are in. I don't need to tell you, you should know who they are!"

"The business tax of Guochao is only [-] yuan, but it feeds a large group of white-eyed wolf vampires!
May I ask what contribution they have made to the court and the country, and why they enjoy these things! "

"People who are useless to the country, why should I tolerate them?"

I heard that Li Tian actually led the conversation to business tax.

Yang Shiqi and the others finally had something to say.

"Your Majesty, the ministers also support the collection of business taxes, but the time has not yet come..."

In fact, Yang Shiqi didn't need to say it, Li Tian also knew that this time was indeed not the right time.

But what can we do? If we don’t carry out tax reform, can’t we teach those people a lesson in another way?

And this lesson is to grab business.

Just like what Li Tian is doing now, open workshops, train workers, and train real taxpayers.

Aren't you making a lot of money with salt in your hands? Then I will open up another salt farm to squeeze your market and make it impossible for you to survive.

However, Li Tiancai has already made people jealous just by creating a soap workshop. If he really does this, he doesn't know what troubles will arise.

However, Li Tian has already made up his mind at this time, and in the future, he will collect commercial tax for tax reform.

If you can't teach these people a lesson, no matter how many cards you have in your hand, they should still make trouble.

Only if you have more resources than them in your hands, can their resistance be resolved invisibly.

"You all get up, I'm just angry for a while, and I'm just complaining!"

Yang Shiqi and the others look at me and I look at yours, but they really don't understand what Li Tian wants to do.

Yang Rong wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, and continued to persuade,

"Your Majesty, the ministers are not against you opening a workshop, but want your Majesty to change your method, that's all."

(End of this chapter)