Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Unparalleled National Scholar!"

In the secret room, Zhu Di patted his chair and stood up.

Jian Yi and Ru Ru could only remain silent at this time.

Jiang Xinghuo is a true wise man!

This is a complete crushing from the thinking level.

Let them be convinced.

Originally, they thought Jiang Xinghuo was going to allocate part of the old taxes to the local area as local taxes.

This will of course reduce central tax revenue and at the same time intensify local centrifugal forces.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Xinghuo’s idea is that the winner takes all!

I am the winner, I want all of these 100 silver coins!

As for the remaining two players, I will find the 101st silver coin for you, and you can go and play with it.

However, it should be noted that this 101st silver coin is not just a silver coin, but the front and back of the silver coin.

Regardless of family separation, household registration tax must be paid to the local government every year.

When you divide your family, you need to pay a high one-time percentage of just division tax.

What? Do you think the local government will collude with the gentry and not collect these taxes?

wrong!

In the past, the reason why local officials colluded with the gentry was because the object of their joint game was the imperial court!

The court is taking money from their hands!

Their positions are consistent, so they will join forces to deal with the court!

But now, the imperial court left a new silver coin to the place.

This new silver coin needs a place to get it from the gentry!

And this is a fundamental conflict of interest!

If we don’t take this silver coin from the hands of the gentry, what will happen to local fiscal expenditures? How to pay so many officials?

As for whether this money will eventually be passed on to the poor.

Jian Yi and Ru Ru think no!

Because Jiang Xinghuo eliminated this possibility through system design, and more importantly, if the central and local two-level tax system of the late Tang Dynasty were followed, there would definitely be no lack of central supervision!

——————

"I finally understand the underlying reason why Mr. Jiang used the late Tang Dynasty as an example."

Xia Yuanji, opposite, also thought of this at the same time.

Looking at the confused Zhu Gaoxu, Xia Yuanji explained.

"The central government's demand for reform at the fiscal and taxation system level was mainly to consolidate the centralization of power in the Tang Dynasty and weaken local taxation powers. This demand is reflected in the central government's dominant position in the two tax laws and the use of 'budget quotas'. Management 'regulates and manages local revenue and expenditure budgets."

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu didn't understand, Xia Yuanji explained carefully.

"From the perspective of budget revenue and expenditure, the two-tax-three-thirds rule only stipulates the three-level fiscal allocation method. The specific quota standard is determined by the special envoys sent by the central government and local officials to determine the revenue based on expenditure. 'In principle, the total quota of the two tax budget revenue, as well as the budget revenue and expenditure quota of the government, the state, and the state are determined."

"In addition to quota management, the central government of the Tang Dynasty also established a corresponding system to supervise budgetary expenditures at the envoy level and state level. There is a censor supervision system for budgetary expenditures at the envoy level. If there are any unauthorized expenditures that violate the budget, they will be punished. The supervisory censor can impeach the imperial court; for state-level budgetary expenditures, there is a dual system of censorship and supervision (affiliated to the Ministry of Punishment and an audit department) to supervise the state-level budgetary expenditure process, and also conduct annual audits on state-level budgetary expenditures. The accounts are audited at the end of the year.”

"In this way, the Tang court's central government imposed restrictions on both the 'revenue' and 'expense' lines of local finance. Needless to say, the Tang court's central government adopted budget revenue and expenditure quotas in the process of determining quotas, especially the supply quotas. The main purpose of controlling and controlling local budget revenue and expenditure is to use relevant systems to audit and supervise local budget revenues and expenditures. This is mainly to achieve the purpose of limiting local financial power and thereby showing their dominant position. It is indeed effective if the central government of the Tang Dynasty can control These places are not the areas where the feudal lords are separated."

After Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he understood.

To put it bluntly, how to budget, inspect and manage the two-level structure of central taxation and local taxation.

In fact, those capable officials in the late Tang Dynasty had already given the method!

All the Ming Dynasty needed to do was to create two new taxes: the "progressive household registration tax" and the "family notarization tax." This was equivalent to digging out a piece of meat and bone from the body of the gentry and throwing it on the ground for local officials to chew on.

As for whether the two will fight?

It's better to fight, otherwise how can the central power play the role of referee check and balance?

If the localities are harmonious and cooperate to fight against the central government, is that okay?

As for whether the gentry will rise up in rebellion because of this?

Stop making trouble, everyone has a great cause, but it is far from that point. In which dynasties and generations of rebellions, are they not the only ones who rise up because they can no longer survive?

"So, if we really want to change it, Ming Dynasty just needs to copy it?"

"That's the way it is."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded.

"The first point is the tax game between the central and local governments. This is the solution."

“Next, let’s talk about the second point, which is the tax game between the central government and the gentry.”

"Unlike the progressive household registration tax and the notary tax on family division, there is no trickery in the tax game between the central government and the gentry."

After listening, Xia Yuanji suddenly spoke.

"Can this article really be implemented?"

——————

"The peaks and ridges are like clusters, the waves are like raging, the mountains and rivers are inside and outside the Tongguan Road. Looking at the Western Capital, I feel hesitant and sad about where the Qin and Han Dynasties traveled. Thousands of palaces and palaces have been made of earth. When they prosper, the people suffer; when they die, the people suffer!"

Jian Yi sighed meaningfully.

However, his advice only went so far, and he did not dare to say any more.

Zhu Dina didn't know yet that the heavenly official was trying to persuade him not to touch the gentry.

Otherwise, the gentry will most likely pass on the taxes that the court wants to impose on them through grassroots operations to the people.

At that time, the court will do bad things with good intentions, which will increase the burden on the people.

But making money is a big priority for Zhu Di!

"Yongle Dadian", moving the capital to Beijing, and digging the Grand Canal, which one does not require money?

Originally, Zhu Di's method of making money was no different from that of previous kings, who only suffered from the suffering of the people.

But Zhu Di now knows that there is a way to make money without having to suffer the people.

Therefore, Zhu Di became confident.

In the past, it was difficult for Zhu Di to refute the ulterior motives of civil servants with confidence.

At this time, Zhu Di touched his palms.

"good!"

"Jian Shangshu said it well!"

"In prosperity, the people suffer; in death, the people suffer!" Zhu Di said with a smile, "So I feel that Jiang Xinghuo can definitely come up with a way to avoid the suffering of the people and collect more taxes for the court. It seems that Minister Jian also means the same! "

Zhu Di just pretended not to understand.

Jian Yi's complexion changed.

It is the tradition of civil servants to habitually advise the king.

Anyway, the emperor couldn't say anything by using the people as an excuse.

That's how it is originally. If the emperor wants to do things, he has to spend money. If he wants to spend money, he has to collect taxes. To collect taxes, he can only collect agricultural taxes, which will only make the people suffer.

Don’t even think about taking money from the gentry!

In the end, he became the emperor and failed the people.

This logical chain of civil servants has lasted for thousands of years.

But listening to Zhu Di's words, and thinking about Jiang Xinghuo's previous sentence that "gentlemen and gentry all receive food from one body", Jian Yi couldn't help but shudder.

The iron-blooded king who is accustomed to being infamy, and the prisoners who are not afraid of death and have many evil ideas.

The law of "suffering for the common people" is probably going to be broken in the Yongle dynasty.

And Zhu Di took him with him again, both inside and outside his words.

The scene where Xia Yuanji was hit as a target by hundreds of officials last time was still vivid in Jian Yi's mind, and he didn't want to be hit as a target too.

But now it seems that I can't escape.

The Secretary of the Ministry of War, Zhong Zhong Bo Rujun, buried his head low at this time and did not say a word.

Ru Ru, who had walked through the turbulent waves of the Hongwu Dynasty, did not want to get involved in this kind of thing that would be torn to pieces.

Ru Yu secretly thought: "If you can't see me, you can't see me."

"Uncle Loyalty, tell me, our Ming Dynasty's taxation, according to the 'stock game', isn't the court's performance not good enough? Are the gentry taking too much, but they are greedy and want the court to collapse?"

Zhu Diyan smiled at Yan Yan, but the meaning behind his words made Ru Ruo break into a cold sweat.

"I dare not lie."

"What can you say? Do you think Jiang Xinghuo, the two ministers, can come up with a plan to resolve the tax conflict between the state and the gentry?"

Seeing that the emperor was still staring at him, Ru Yu could only say reluctantly in the end.

"I feel that the method proposed by Mr. Jiang is a bit too ideal."

Jian Yi also said: "Your Majesty, the country and the gentry have been suffering from the tax system's stubborn problems for thousands of years. Moreover, the matter of running a country cannot be achieved by just talking. No matter how good the proposal is, it will not work until the end. In the hands of petty officials, everything will look bad."

Can Jiang Xinghuo come up with solutions to the stubborn problems in the tax system?

The two ministers believe it is possible.

After all, there are so many examples before. Not to mention anything else, just "sharing the labor into the mu" has already solved a thousand-year-old problem.

You said Jiang Xinghuo couldn't come up with a solution to the tax system, but they really didn't believe it.

It should be one of them, or the most important one, that the gentry and the gentry should receive food from one body.

But the problem is that the method is the method and the implementation is the implementation.

Why can the system of working from a farm to a farm be promoted in Jiangnan?

There are two reasons.

First, Zhu Di really dared to kill people, and then Zhou Jin's rebellion led to a mass murder in Jiangnan.

Photographed by Zhu Di's butcher knife, the gentry could only recognize it by pinching their noses.

Secondly, in essence, although it touched the interests of the gentry, it was not unacceptable under high pressure.

Because the share of the labor service into the acres did not affect the gentry's own exemption from the service of the corvee, it was just that only the gentry was exempted from the service in the past, but now everyone is exempted from the service. Although this will affect the tenant farmers under the gentry's name, the fields and the output of the fields are still In your own hands.

The corvee added to the farm tax by the tenants was treated as paying a little more tax. Faced with Zhu Di's butcher's knife, he endured it.

But the tax system for the gentry was more different.

As Jiang Xinghuo said, the reform of the tax system involves two levels. The first is the Ming Dynasty court and the Thirteenth Chief Envoy and all counties in the world. The second one is the Ming Dynasty court and all the landowners and gentry in the world.

The first one was solved by the 101st silver coin.

Second, collect taxes, especially taxes on the rich.

Throughout all the dynasties, no one has been able to achieve it.

The reason is also very simple. Jian Yi just said that no matter how good the starting point is, in the hands of the grassroots officials below, it will be distorted, or even completely different from the policy itself.

This is because the difficulty of reforming the tax system does not lie in the tax system plan itself.

But lies.

——The imperial power does not go to the countryside!

It is precisely because they are well aware of this that Jian Yi and Ru Ru, two important ministers of the country, believe that Jiang Xinghuo may be able to propose a solution.

But solving the problem cannot be done!

This matter of imperial power going to the countryside has not been possible for thousands of years. Why do you, Jiang Xinghuo, do it?

Can you do it just by moving your mouth?

Any normal person coming here would make the same judgment, which is absolutely normal.

"Your Majesty." Rujun added: "And there is another problem. I would venture to advise you not to be too optimistic."

"The reform movement presided over by Wang Anshi in the Song Dynasty, including the Green Shoots Law, is a more vivid example."

"Originally, it was to help the people who were in need of help, but in the end, for the sake of political performance, officials maliciously imposed apportionments, which instead increased the burden on the people."

Zhu Di said thoughtfully: "I understand what the two ministers mean."

"It's just two points."

"Finding a solution has not been solved for thousands of years. You think Mr. Jiang can't solve it, or that what he proposed may not be feasible."

"And the imperial power cannot reach the countryside, so the tax conflict between the central government and the gentry is out of the question. The central government relies on local officials and gentry to collect taxes. How can it touch the gentry?"

"Do you mean these two things?"

Jian Yi and Ru Yu nodded repeatedly, which was obviously what they meant.

At this time, Dao Yan, who had not spoken for a long time, said in a calm voice.

"Listen, since Mr. Jiang dares to speak, there must be a way, and this method will definitely be implemented."

Jian Yi and Ru Yu looked at each other, somewhat incomprehensible, where did Master Dao Yan's blind confidence in Jiang Xinghuo come from.

Who gave Jiang Xinghuo the courage to do something that even Wang Anshi couldn't do?

It must be known that Wang Anshi's reform, with Wang Anshi's talent as prime minister, consumed his efforts one after another, and in the end, didn't it end in the end of the political cessation while the individual was still alive?

Therefore, Jian Yi and Ru Ru didn't think Jiang Xinghuo could do it.

Because the difficulties here are really too great, bigger than the sky!

The imperial power does not go to the countryside. This has been the case for thousands of years!