Baidu otaku as Chongzhen

Chapter 127
"In that case, we can only increase taxes." I don't know who mentioned this sentence.

Increase taxes?Yang Reform is very afraid of this thing, for fear that more people will rebel if taxes are increased.

"There is a severe drought in the north, how to increase taxes? Isn't it forcing rebellion?"

"Then raise taxes in the south."

……

Yang Reform really wanted to pick up the disaster relief work, but this could not be settled with a few 10 taels of silver. It might be a bottomless pit of millions of taels of silver every year. To get out of that hole, you don't have to grit your teeth, make up your mind, and push through.

Then you can only increase taxes. I remember that taxes were raised several times in the late Ming Dynasty. It is said that it was the main reason for the demise of the late Ming Dynasty.However, Yang Reform, who has read many time-traveling novels, clearly remembers that the peasant rebellions in the late Ming Dynasty were mainly concentrated in the northern areas where disasters were severe. If only taxes in the south were raised, it might work.

"Then how about the tax situation in our court? Will the tax be heavy? Can the common people bear it?" Yang Reform asked these questions. There are many people who can answer this question, but not many people who answer it correctly .

"I would like to report to Your Majesty, the taxation in my dynasty is not heavy, and the Taizu decided to hide wealth for the people. Now that the catastrophe is coming, it is not too much to think about adding a little tax to rescue the emergency. As long as Your Majesty does not raise taxes in the disaster-stricken north, think about the problem." It shouldn't be that big."

"The tax is not heavy? The Qing family will explain to me the tax situation of our dynasty. How to increase the tax? Pay attention to the exception of the northern provinces." Regarding the tax issue of the Ming Dynasty, Yang Reform, a time-traveling nerd, is at a loss.Just ask on the spot.

"To report to Your Majesty, my land tax is only a few liters per mu. If Your Majesty increases the tax by one point, it will be about ten catties per mu. Thinking about it, it will not be a big problem. Of course, my Daming farmland is divided into grades, and the grain production in the north and the south is different. The tax rate is different, so there is a difference in taxation. In the Ming Dynasty, there were nearly one billion mu of land, and the tax increase per mu ranged from one cent to a few cents. The annual land tax was about 900 million taels. Of course, if your majesty In addition to the land tax in the north, and the land exempted from the royal family and gentry, etc., the actual income may be around 500 million taels of silver. As a disaster relief, it is enough."

The minister is probably from the Ministry of Household Affairs, and gave a brief introduction to the situation of the land tax in the Ming Dynasty.

Adding one point to the land tax in the south, there will be four or five million taels of silver. This seems to be okay!Yang reformed his heart, and kept telling himself not to raise taxes. He loosened it. If I remember correctly, the south has always been relatively stable in the late Ming Dynasty. Presumably, it is not too much to charge a little more money. The north, especially Several places in Shaanxi and Henan not only cannot collect taxes, but also have tax exemptions and disaster relief.

"As the Qing family said, it seems feasible to increase taxes in the south? Does the other Qing family have anything to say?" It seems that it is possible to get four to five million taels of silver without causing peasant uprisings. !Yang Reform couldn't bear the temptation of four or five million taels of silver.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that the tax increase is only one point on the surface, but in fact there are apportionments of various names and hidden levies that are accompanied by it. The actual amount collected may be several times that of Your Majesty's one point. It’s unbearable, Your Majesty, please think twice.”

A wake-up call sounded on Yang Reform's head, and Yang Reform was deafening!I just remembered that the officials will drift away, the officials will ask for cards, and the landlords will fight hard and fight small.The ideal is good, the wealth on paper is good, but the actual operation is not so beautiful.

Yang Reform secretly blamed himself for forgetting himself.This account really needs to be carefully calculated.

"Can that love minister give me a good idea? No tax increase, and money relief?" Yang Reform had no choice but to see if there was someone capable.

"Your Majesty, I beg your Majesty to send money to save the world."

"Pfft~~" Yang Reform took a sip of tea and sprayed it far away. Now there are people who stare at their inner money and ask themselves to send out their inner money to save the world. of it?This natural disaster is such a big hole, you let me bear it alone, you really want to kill me!
"My love, for the disaster relief, I will allocate internal money to help, but my internal money is not a mountain of gold and silver. This drought that has lasted for more than ten years, how long do you think my internal money can be distributed? This household You must know how much money I have received from you." Yang Reform really wanted to crush this guy to death.My own money is of great use. If you ask me to fill the bottomless pit like this, then I can’t do anything. Train the new army, navy, shipbuilding, support the frontier, and pay back the military. The money in the inner money is only turned around in the inner money, and then it goes out again. How much money do you think I have?The money in my inner pocket has reached the point where I have to sell it for usury. The poor thing can't be more pitiful, you still don't let me go.

"Master Sun, in your opinion, what should we do? Do you have any good ideas?" Yang Reform had to ask his master Sun Chengzong again.

Sun Chengzong had been contemplating for a long time, when the emperor asked, he said: "I would like to report to your Majesty, I think that it is feasible to increase the land tax, even if there is a night and a small shade to increase the land tax, and if there are more Yin levies, even if the collection reaches [-] per mu. Jin, the south can still support it. The fields in the south have a higher grain yield. You can collect one or two stones in the lower fields, and two or three stones in the upper fields. If people increase the punishment, presumably, it will not hurt the people too much."

Uh~~, Sun Chengzong also supports tax increases. This, Yang Reform is a bit surprised.

"Master Sun, isn't my court's land tax very heavy? There is also Xiao Xiaoyin, this will not be a problem?" Yang Reform is a little uncertain. In my impression, the textbooks say that the Ming Dynasty was extortionate. Lead to subjugation?But now even Sun Chengzong agrees to increase the land tax?
"Report to Your Majesty, I am not heavy on the land tax. Thirty tax is one, and the civil land is only three to five liters per mu, so how can it be heavy? One bucket is equal, and the land in the south generally has about two stones, how can it be considered heavy?" Sun Chengzong explained to Chongzhen.

Yang Reform is confused, the tax rates for private land and official land seem to be different!How many private fields are there, and how many official fields are there?Is it heavy to levy a bucket of tax on the property of two stones?It seems that I don't remember how much was collected in the 21st century, and I don't know how much was collected in other times.It seems like 5% is charged for one bucket of grain produced by two stones. If you add a few cents or one cent to the basis of one bucket, it will only look like one bucket and one liter. It seems that it is really not much. If you count two or three Double the "Yin Harvest" and "Apportionment", it is estimated that it can reach the appearance of a bucket of four or five liters, that is to say, it accounts for 7.5% of the grain production.Apparently, it's really okay.This is still charged according to the tax rate of official land, and it is lower if it is private land.

Now, it's Yang Reform's turn to struggle.Is this going to be taxed?Yang Reform was tempted. With an annual income of four to five million taels of silver, it was impossible for him not to be tempted.

"Which Qing's family has something to say?" Yang Reform asked again, wondering whether the land tax should be increased or not.

Everyone was silent for a while.

Xu Guangqi came out and said, "Your Majesty, I think it is feasible to increase the land tax in the south, as long as the amount is limited, it is not a big problem if you think about it. Didn't the divine man in your majesty's dream tell you that it is just the drought and famine in the north for several years? If this is the case, doesn’t it mean that the south is more peaceful? In that case, in fact, it only needs to transfer grain from the south to the north?”

this?South-to-North grain transfer?It seems that I have only heard of the South-to-North Water Diversion...

Yang Reform was still hesitating, so someone came out and played: "Your Majesty, I think that it is extremely difficult to transfer grain. If you transport a stone of grain, you will eat most of it on the way. It will be a large-scale disaster relief, and you will not be able to do it!"

There was an objection.

Xu Guangqi argued: "Your Majesty, how does the capital transfer millions of stones of grain from the south every year, and how does it work?"

The man was not to be outdone, and said: "Your Majesty, although the capital allocates millions of shi every year, it depends on the benefits of the canal, but the capacity of the canal has been exhausted, and the water is often dry, so it is necessary to add several million shi. I'm afraid..."

Xu Guanqi quickly replied: "Since river transportation is not possible, why doesn't your majesty use sea transportation? The sea transportation ships are larger, the transportation is more expensive, the transportation cost is also cheaper, and the consumption is less."

The person who was arguing with Xu Guangqi just now hesitated for a while, thought for a while, and said, "Your Majesty, the sea is rough and the boat is easy to capsize..."

Shipping grain?Yang Reform's heart brightened, it is indeed feasible.Sea transportation is much cheaper than river transportation, and the transportation volume is huge. As for sea transportation, the ship will capsize. Well, Yang Reform believes that sometimes trains will capsize, and planes will sometimes fall. If it is 100% safe, then what? Don't do anything.

"Well, what Master Xu said is reasonable. It seems that it is economically feasible to transport grain by sea. This has to be considered." Once the sea transport is launched, it is necessary to build sea ships. With sea ships, there will be a navy. It was a good thing to get, Yang Reform made up his mind that the food would have to go from the sea.

"I report to Your Majesty, it is impossible to change water transport to sea transport! Thinking about the canal, there are millions of people relying on this water transport to live. Once your Majesty changes to sea transport, how will these people who rely on water transport to survive?" A minister came out, It is said that we cannot engage in shipping, and if we engage in shipping, millions of people will be laid off. At that time, there will be more rebels.In fact, there are too many interests involved in this water transportation, and many people rely on the water transportation to make money. If the water transportation is cut off, how many people will lose their money!Cutting off people's wealth, such as killing parents, how can water transportation be changed to sea transportation?

Hearing this, Yang Reform felt a headache. This water transportation has already hijacked the lifeline of grain transportation in this country. If you want to change it, what do you do with the survival of millions of people?I can only watch it getting worse step by step until it completely collapses.

Xu Guangqi came out to share Yang Reform's worries, and said: "Your Majesty, it is not necessary to change water transportation to sea transportation, but the north will inevitably suffer from drought, not Shaanxi. The south-to-north grain transfer is a foregone conclusion, and the demand for grain in the north will definitely increase." The expansion, and the capacity of water transportation has reached its limit, so I think that part of the grain and disaster relief food can be transported by sea, but the original grain is still transported by river, so what is it to do with millions of water workers?"

Uh~~~Yang Reform felt that Xu Guangqi really had some tricks, so he immediately brushed up on this matter.

But obviously, Yang Reform was overjoyed too early. The minister stood up and said, "I would like to inform you, Your Majesty, the drought happened in Shaanxi, so what if the relief food has been transported to the capital? Is it going to be transported thousands of miles? To Shaanxi? "

Uh~~ This seems to be another problem!Yang Reform is in trouble again.Look at Xu Guangqi again.

Xu Guangqi said again: "Your Majesty, I just said that some of the disaster relief food will be transported by sea. If the north is hit by a disaster, the demand for food in the north will definitely increase. Since the water transport has reached its limit, then it must be transported by sea. Shaanxi disaster relief, but Passing through the canal, going up against the Yellow River, passing through Kaifeng, and arriving at Xi’an, although sailing above Kaifeng is becoming more and more difficult, but there is still a period of time every year when sailing is possible. As long as you hurry up to transport grain, it will be no problem if you think about one or two million shi. For others, you can consider land transportation." Xu Guangqi seems to be very familiar with these.He took care of Yang Reform's headache with ease.

"Good plan!" Yang Reform was very happy. This finally had some clues to deal with the famine in the late Ming Dynasty.

……

However, there are not a few people who come out to criticize.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, even if the relief food is transported by sea or by the Yellow River waterway, it will cost a lot of money! Your Majesty, this..." Here comes the problem.Although it can be transported by the Yellow River waterway, the transportation fee is also very expensive.The consumption of materials is even more terrifying.Of course, it is much better than land transportation.If it is completely by land, then the transfer of grain is even more terrifying. Transporting a stone of grain will cost [-] to [-]% of the labor on the road.It is impossible to relieve millions of people.

"I paid for this money." Yang Reform was very generous and generous, thinking that he could save tens of thousands of people, Yang Reform felt that if he took out some money, it would be fine, and if the money was gone, he could earn more.Thinking of the millions of people displaced and their sons eating each other, Yang Reform felt that he should do something for them when he crossed over.

"Your Majesty is wise, Your Majesty is merciful..." Seeing that the emperor paid out money to subsidize the freight, the ministers immediately praised the emperor for his kindness.

[Writing about the land tax issue, I feel dizzy. 】

(End of this chapter)