Tibet

Wei Jiansu hurriedly came to see the emperor. Today, during the political meeting, the emperor proposed the plan to upgrade county officials without consulting him in advance, which surprised Wei Jiansu.

Li Ye knew he was coming, so he smiled slightly and said, "Please sit down!"

He then said to Wei Gao: "Go and invite Zhang Xiangguo!"

Li Ye smiled at Wei Jiansu and said: "Although the upgrading of county officials was not discussed with the Prime Minister in advance, there is no need for the Prime Minister to be angry. In the end, it was not implemented! I just wanted to test everyone's tone, and I did not say that it would be implemented immediately. ”

Wei Jiansu nodded, "Your Majesty is right to have this idea. At that time, Wu Zetian also planned to upgrade the county officials, but soon there was news of fires in Dayun Temple from various places. She threw a trap and had to abandon the upgrade of county officials."

"It means that Wei Xiangguo agrees to the upgrade of county officials?"

Wei Jiansu said slowly: "Wei Chen only agrees with half of it. First-level officials can be promoted, but second-level officials cannot be moved. This can be regarded as taking care of the interests of local powerful people. We can't really wipe out their interests. What will happen?" It’s a big deal. In addition, Weichen still insists on piloting it in Guanzhong for a year. If it works, it will be promoted in various places.”

The first-level officials among the county officials refer to the two custodians and Xuezheng. The two custodians are in charge of the six caos. The six caos, Baotou and prison head belong to the second-level officials. Only the second-level officials and local powerful people have thousands of officials. Inextricably linked.

In fact, if you can win a first-level official, the imperial court will be considered a great victory.

Li Ye nodded, "Xiang Guo will write a detailed plan and I will think about it carefully!"

At this time, Zhang Li hurried over, bowed and saluted, "See your majesty!"

Li Ye stopped talking about the county officials. He took a memorial and said: "Here is the preliminary draft of the Ministry of Household's order on the abolition of slavery. I have read it carefully. Generally speaking, it is very good and has strong operability. But it only mentions slaves and does not mention low status. For example, it mentions the transformation of official slaves into civilians, but what about the teachers and musicians among the official slaves? If they are all converted into civilians, what will happen with the current low status? How to distinguish? There is also the issue of criminals. Many of the criminals who were exiled were exiled as slaves. How to deal with them is not mentioned in the draft. "

Low status mainly refers to people who have fallen into prostitution, such as prostitutes, pimps, dancers, singers, musicians, musicians, etc. Their social status is very low. When they grow old and lose their lust, they often marry businessmen or internalize it. Music girls end up They all married musicians,

Or become a concubine for a rich man, which is good luck.

Zhang Li was responsible for the abolition of slavery. He asked, "What does your Majesty want?"

Li Ye said slowly: "According to my wishes, we simply take this opportunity to completely abolish the lowly status, business status, military status and criminal status, and call them all civilians."

Zhang Li pondered for a moment and said: "But in fact, people have strong discrimination against prostitute women and think that they are inferior."

Li Ye shook his head and said: "Discrimination by the common people is a matter among the people, but the government cannot discriminate, and it cannot be discriminated according to the law. Zhang Xiangguo! On the shore of the land, are all the kings and ministers, they are all my people, how can my people still be my subjects?" Is there any distinction between who is noble and who is humble?”

Zhang Li blushed and said, "Wei Chen understands. Wei Chen didn't think clearly and confused the government's governance with the people's preferences."

Li Ye handed the draft to him, "After the revision is completed, we will discuss it in the political hall. If the political hall passes it, I will approve it!"

In fact, the current draft is only the first step in the abolition of slavery. First, the slave markets in various parts of the Tang Dynasty are to be abolished. Secondly, all official slaves in various places must be converted into civilians. Thirdly, all slaves under the age of sixteen must be converted into civilians. , over sixteen years old is the next step.

The abolition of slavery must be implemented step by step, but once it is promulgated, it must be implemented to the letter. If it is not implemented or violates the law, you will be punished with a hundred sticks and exiled for three thousand miles.

The Jian Yuan will send a large number of officials to patrol various places and accept reports from the people. Once a report is made, the internal guards will intervene. Once confirmed, the internal guards will arrest the person directly. If an official is involved, the supervisory censor will be notified.

It can be said that there are many links to ensure that the abolition of slavery is effectively implemented.

Li Ye gave the draft to Zhang Li, but did not ask them to step down. He changed the subject and said: "What do the two prime ministers think of the example Yan Shangshu gave today?"

Wei Jiansu secretly smiled bitterly in his heart. He knew that household tax reform was the law that the emperor was most concerned about, and anyone who dared to commit fraud would be severely punished.

The emperor did not express his position in the political hall, but he must have been furious in his heart and would never let this matter go.

Wei Jiansu sighed and said: "Your Highness, these common people do not understand the emperor's will and just want to take advantage. Although they made mistakes, I beg your Highness to spare their lives!"

Li Ye did not express his position immediately and asked Zhang Li, "Does Zhang Xiangguo think Yan Shangshu's description is true?"

Zhang Li said slowly: "Wei Chen is a low-level official and knows the situation at the lower level very well. It is normal for this kind of thing to happen. It would be strange if it does not happen. It is estimated that not only Hedong Road, but also the gentry and powerful people in almost all places are taking advantage of this loophole." ”

"There is actually no loophole here!"

Wei Jiansu was a little unhappy. He was responsible for drafting the tax reform and pushing it forward with all his strength. How could he leave such obvious loopholes in place?

"Weichen knows that the rule means that ordinary people with household registration in the county and owning a small amount of farmland outside the city, no more than twenty acres, can be exempted from the land tax if they have paid the household tax and live at the same time. Ordinary people in rural areas can be exempted from household tax if they have paid land tax.

The conditions are very clear. First, you must live in the county town, your household registration must also be in the county town, and you must own no more than 20 mu of land outside the city. With such clear conditions, how can those powerful landlords evade taxes?

This is not a problem of household tax, but a problem of favoritism and fraud. It is obviously not in compliance with the regulations, but the county forcibly determines that he meets the regulations. Even the strictest laws must be enforced by people. We did not realize the evil of human hearts at that time! "

Li Ye nodded, "Since the incident has happened, how does Wei Xiangguo think it should be compensated?"

Wei Jiansu said decisively: "Completely abolish the household tax, and you must not exempt some people from taxation and tax others. Once there is such a regulation, everyone will definitely try every means to evade taxes. In fact, the benefits of this tax exemption are far from making up for the losses caused by loopholes. I suggest not only completely abolishing the household tax, but also levying taxes on all farmland except official fields and military fields. For those who meet the preferential conditions, they can apply for the refund of the overpaid taxes after at least the approval of the provincial officials. "

Li Ye nodded slightly. Wei Jiansu's suggestion hit the nail on the head.

Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li took their leave. Li Ye paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. What Yan Zhenqing said deeply hurt him and angered him. Someone actually dared to take advantage of the household tax to evade the land tax, and it should be a common phenomenon. Even if the household tax is announced to be abolished, these people who abuse their power for personal gain and pervert the law must not be let off.

Li Ye did not want to touch these people who wanted to evade taxes for the time being. It was not that he could not deal with them, but that the household tax was not paid until the end of the year. Now they had not paid the tax, so it could not be called tax evasion.

But Li Ye must severely punish those officials who abused their power for personal gain and perverted the law, kill one to warn the rest, and directly dismiss them from their posts. The county magistrate who turned a blind eye should also be severely warned.

At this time, Li Chenghua, the commander-in-chief of the inner guards, hurried over, bowed and said, "Your Highness! "

Li Ye said slowly: "You can send the internal security team to Guanzhong Road, Guannei Road, Jiannan Road, Shannan West Road and East Road, as well as Henan Road, to investigate two things for me. First, whether there is private salt in the county; second, investigate those powerful landlords who live in the county and own hundreds or thousands of acres of land to see if they think they should pay household taxes? If they have to pay household taxes, why do they have to pay household taxes? Is the government's determination true? "

Li Chenghua hesitated and said: "I don't understand, isn't it a good thing to pay household taxes?"

Li Ye shook his head, "They are trying to evade the land tax. You can go back and see how the household tax is stipulated. It only takes one guan of money to pay the household tax, and one hundred guan of money to pay the land tax. Which one do you think he wants to pay?"

"I understand!"

Li Ye continued: "If it is blatantly calling a deer a horse, these powerful landlords should not be moved for the time being. You should hold the officials accountable. Who determined it? The county magistrate is required to explain the situation in writing to the Ministry of Households within one month. "

"Your Majesty, the county magistrate directly reported the situation in writing to the Ministry of Revenue. Isn't that overstepping the authority? It would be better to report the situation to the Internal Security Headquarters."

Li Ye nodded, "You are right, report the situation to the Internal Security Headquarters instead!"