I'm the villain in the book

A cup of fragrant tea was gently placed back in front of him, with curls of hot air wafting out.

Wei Changtian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and just wanted to drink some tea to calm down his shock.

But before the edge of the cup touches the mouth...

"Pfft..."

With a slight movement from below, the golden skirt bloomed on the ground again.

Wei Changtian looked in astonishment at Ning Yuke who had already knelt down again, as well as the piles of complicated ornaments in her hair...

Chapter 395 On pretending to be forced, you still have to be the son of heaven

Owner? ? ?

With a shake of his hand, the teacup shook for a while, and Wei Changtian almost spilled the tea on Ning Yuke's head.

After crossing over, he has many identities. He is usually both a son and a grandson, an apprentice and a master, a husband and a brother...

But this is the first time for "Master"!

No, what did I do just now?

Why did Ning Yuke suddenly "let herself go"? ?

Wei Changtian held up the teacup dumbfounded, and didn't recover for a long time.

Fortunately, Ning Yuke kept her head down and didn't see his current appearance, otherwise the majesty of "Master" would be somewhat compromised.

"Cough, you..."

Quickly organized the words in his mind, Wei Changtian finally let out a dry cough after being silent for a long time, and was about to wake Ning Yuke up.

However, at this moment, a voice came from outside the house first.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Chen Zhong is asking to see you."

"..."

The shout was a bit sharp, and Wei Changtian could tell it was a little eunuch named "Xiao Panzi" who was serving Ning Yuke.

As for Chen Zhong in his mouth, he is the Minister of the Household Department of the "Shu Kingdom".

Wei Changtian is quite familiar with this Mr. Chen.

Previously, he was a typical neutral magistrate who worshiped the Shuzhou state judge. Later, he was terrified by his operation of "referring to a human head as a dog's head", so he boarded the "thief ship" of the Wei family in a daze.

There is one thing to say, although Chen Zhong's political stance is not very firm, but his ability is really good.

Otherwise, he wouldn't "jump six levels in a row" and sit in the current "first-rank official" position in one fell swoop from a small seventh-rank state judge.

"Owner......"

Slowly raising her head, Ning Yuke called softly, as if waiting for Wei Changtian's order.

And the latter was eager to come to someone to relieve his embarrassment right now, so he immediately replied:

"Hey, see you."

"Yes."

Ning Yuke nodded obediently when she heard the words, and then asked softly: "Master, can the servant get up?"

"..."

Wei Changtian instantly had a black line on his forehead: "Get up..."

"Thank you, master."

After getting permission, Ning Yuke slowly got up, and the blush on her face gradually faded.

She gently smoothed the wrinkles on her body due to kneeling for a long time, then turned her head to look at the closed palace door, her voice suddenly became cold and noble.

"Master Chen, please come in!"

......

"Master Chen, Your Majesty invites you to enter..."

Outside the hall, the voice of the little eunuch sounded faintly, and after a few breaths, the door of the hall was slowly pushed open.

"Squeak~"

"I have met Mr. Wei! I have met His Majesty!"

The white-haired Chen Zhong knelt down as soon as he entered the door, and was not surprised by Wei Changtian's presence at all. The little eunuch should have told him already.

"Master Chen."

Ning Yuke, who had already sat back on the chair, looked dignified, and stretched out her hand to help slightly: "Let's get flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Chen Zhong stood up slowly, glanced secretly at Wei Changtian who was silent, then bowed his head and cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the old minister has something to play."

"Speak." Ning Yuke nodded slightly.

"Yes......"

Chen Zhong didn't write any ink, and immediately raised his head and started talking.

The Ministry of Households is in charge of household registration and finance, and its functions are roughly equivalent to the combination of the modern Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.

As the Minister of the Household Department, Chen Zhong came to ask for instructions on Tian Fu.

The previous land tax system in Daning was "twenty taxes and one", that is, no matter how much the farmers harvested, they had to pay 5% of the tax and food to the court.

Reasonably speaking, this ratio is actually not high, and it is far from reaching the level of "exorbitant taxes".

However, all self-proclaimed kings will appropriately reduce the tax rate after the rebellion to show that they are more sympathetic to the people.

Ning Yuke was naturally the same, so Chen Zhong was asked to handle the matter on the first day of court.

After a few days of research on the latter, it finally came to a result.

"...Your Majesty, therefore, the old minister feels that it is just right to change the tax system to 25 taxes."

"I wonder what Your Majesty thinks?"

25 tax one, 4%, which is a percentage point lower than before, which also means that the national treasury will lose at least a few hundred thousand taels of silver every year.

A few 10 taels is not a big deal for Shuzhou, which is in a good financial situation, but it can make farmers feel real benefits, so this is indeed a more appropriate "tax reduction range".

"Well, this matter..."

Ning Yuke turned her head to look at Wei Changtian, seeing that the latter didn't respond, so she nodded and said:

"This palace thinks it's acceptable, so Master Lao Chen can arrange it as soon as possible before the autumn harvest."

"Yes, the old minister will order someone to do it."

Chen Zhonggong cupped his hands and flattered: "Your Majesty is so sympathetic to the people, I think the people will be more loyal, and His Majesty's kind deeds will be spread far and wide one day."

"..."

I have to say that the flattering of officials is of a high level.

Wei Changtian curled his lips, thinking that he couldn't say such a thing anyway.

However, he suddenly had other ideas about this "tax cut".

"Your Majesty, Lord Chen, I think the tax rate is still too high."

"Ok?"

Chen Zhong, who was about to say goodbye and leave, suddenly turned his head, hesitated for a moment and then asked in a low voice, "I don't know how suitable the young master thinks?"

"Is this..."

Wei Changtian rubbed his chin.

Although many countries in the previous life had already completely abolished the agricultural tax, and even gave certain subsidies to farmers who cultivated the land.

But I certainly can't completely copy the system of my previous life at present.

After all, agriculture is still the largest industry these days, while the manufacturing and service industries are still very small, and taxes are far from being able to support a country's finances.

Therefore, the land tax still has to be collected.

It's just that 4% is still too high, far from reaching the goal of attracting the population.

so......

"I think......"

After thinking for a while, Wei Changtian slowly gave the answer: "The other way around is just right."

"in turn?"

Chen Zhong was taken aback when he heard the words, he obviously didn't understand Wei Changtian's meaning: "Mr. Wei, you mean..."

"What I mean is, it's not too bad to use this reduction as the standard for land tax collection."

Wei Changtian paused for a moment, and spoke more bluntly.

"That is, one hundred taxes."

"What???"

For a moment, Chen Zhong's eyes widened suddenly, wondering if he had heard it wrong.

One hundred taxes?

Directly reduce the largest item of fiscal revenue by [-]%?

This, this is simply nonsense!

Of course, even though he thought so in his heart, Chen Zhong definitely didn't dare to say that in front of Wei Changtian.

"Wei, Mr. Wei, one hundred taxes... Throughout the past and present, no one has done this before!"

"Hahaha, so what if no one else does it? Let's just do it first."

After laughing twice, Wei Changtian stood up and patted Chen Zhong on the shoulder: "Master Chen, I know what you are worried about."

"But I'll do the math for you and you'll understand."

"Think about it, less than [-]% of the farmland in Shu is cultivated by people, and the remaining [-]% are abandoned as forests..."

"If we could..."

"..."

In the next quarter of an hour, Wei Changtian explained the series of benefits of "low tax rate" to Ning Yuke and Chen Zhongzai in detail.

One hundred taxes, once such a shocking land tax standard is introduced, it is bound to attract a large number of people to Shuzhou.

After these people came, they would naturally reclaim wasteland. By then, the total area of ​​cultivated land in Shuzhou would undoubtedly be much larger than it is now.

The tax rate is low, but the total amount of cultivated land is high.

If the two are offset, Shuzhou's fiscal revenue can return to normal levels in a few years.

But those extra population and arable land will be earned in vain.

Hmm... if it were simpler.

Wei Changtian actually wanted to use the sharp drop in fiscal revenue in recent years in exchange for the explosive development of Shuzhou.

"This......"

The reason is not complicated, so Ning Yuke and Chen Zhong quickly understood the key.

The two looked at each other quietly, and both saw a trace of shock and amazement in each other's eyes.

High EQ: This idea is really unconstrained and unconstrained.

Low EQ: This idea of ​​governing the country is almost like playing a house.

From one tax per [-] to one per hundred.

No one knows what the consequences of this decline will be, but it will definitely bring severe shocks to the entire Shuzhou.

Even if there are really so many benefits, it must go through rigorous and repeated research and demonstration.

How come Wei Changtian's mouth is as casual as deciding what to have for dinner today? ?