Travel to the early Tang Dynasty and become a salted fish

Early the next morning, just after Chu Mo finished breakfast, Li Zhenying hurriedly walked in.

Seeing that Chu Mo was still looking carefree, Li Zhenying became angry and pointed at Chu Mo and growled:

"Chu Mo, with such a big thing happening outside, why do you still have the time to have breakfast here?"

Chu Mo glanced at Li Zhenying, picked up the tea cup at hand and took a sip and said, "What, is the sky falling, or is Li Laoer passing away?"

"you..."

Li Zhenying was so angry at Chu Mo that her chest was heaving up and down. If she hadn't wrapped her bra tightly before going out, I'm afraid it would be exposed now.

Taking a deep breath, Li Zhenying said: "Yesterday afternoon, the emperor posted an imperial list to inform the world that all registered merchants, no matter how big or small, whether they are currently doing business or not, must pay the business taxes within the previous ten years."

"If the amount paid before is accurate, forget it. If the amount is incorrect, you will have to pay double the amount of business tax owed."

Chu Mo raised his eyebrows, looked at Li Zhenying and said, "That's it? Is there anything else?"

Li Zhenying choked at Chu Mo's words and asked in surprise: "Isn't this enough? Don't you see the trick in it?"

Chu Mo curled his lips in dissatisfaction and said: "What can't you see? It's just that Li Er wants to cut a wave of leeks on the merchant. It has nothing to do with us."

"Why does it have nothing to do with us!"

Li Zhenying was so angry at Chu Mo's attitude that she almost jumped up and shouted dissatisfied:

"You don't know. Yesterday, I closed all the shops according to your wishes. However, as soon as they closed, people from the Ministry of Revenue came to collect taxes with the imperial guards."

"Although the shopkeeper told them that our shop had closed down and we were no longer planning to do business, they just used the imperial list to talk about it, saying that it was the emperor's will and they were just following orders."

"If they collect taxes according to the accounts, then I have nothing to say. However, after they checked the accounts, they said that all our previous taxes were unpaid. Not only did we have to make up for it, but we were also fined double. This is not clear. Are you going to rob?"

Seeing Li Zhenying's angry look, Chu Mo couldn't help but joked: "Oh Brother Li, after all, you are also the fourth son of Duke Wei, can't you deal with a few corrupt officials?"

Li Zhenying shook her head: "Don't worry about the princes and princes now. Even if it's the shops owned by relatives of the emperor and the emperor, they will still be ruthless."

"Moreover, the reason why we say we owe commercial taxes is because officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs want us to pay taxes according to the current tax amount."

"Think about it, the previous business tax was thirty tax per one, but now it has been changed to twenty tax per one. This means that all merchants have to pay back taxes and double the fine."

After hearing what Li Zhenying said, Chu Mo immediately stood up and cursed something ridiculous: "Isn't this just using the imperial edict of the previous dynasty to kill the current ministers."

Speaking of this, Chu Mo's eyes suddenly widened. Damn it, this looked like something that Chu Xin's little girl could do.

Thinking of Wan Shitong's warning and this series of operations, Chu Mo hurriedly asked: "Do you know who the official who executed this order is?"

Li Zhenying sighed and said: "This order was issued by His Majesty and executed by His Royal Highness. It is precisely because of His Highness that he will not give it to any family."

Chu Mo slapped the table and cursed: "Damn this idiot Li Chengqian, isn't he going to offend all the merchants in the world?"

Sighing, Chu Mo suddenly remembered something and said: "No, no, if this little girl Chu Xin really wants to support Li Chengqian, then she will definitely not let him do such a thing that destroys the Great Wall, then..."

Thinking of what was going to happen in the future, Chu Mo's pupils opened slightly. He could use a plank road to cross Chencang secretly.

Taking a deep breath, Chu Mo looked at Li Zhenying and asked, "How many merchants in Chang'an City have paid this commercial tax? And how many merchants are opposed to such a tax?"

Li Zhenying thought for a while and said, "I just asked. It seems that except for Chu's supermarket chain, the rest of the stores have not paid commercial tax. They all gathered at the door of the household to ask for an explanation."

"What about Five Surnames and Qi Wang? How do they want to solve it?"

"I don't know how they will solve the problem. I only know that many officials made excuses this morning, hoping that His Majesty would take back his order."

At this time, a large group of courtiers knelt down in the Tai Chi Hall, requesting Li Shimin to issue an order to recheck the commercial taxes. For previous years, they were still levied according to the tax collection method of thirty to one, and each merchant only needed to make up the tax.

As for this year, it can be levied according to the tax collection method of [-] to [-] tax.

Looking at the courtiers kneeling in a ball below, Li Shimin is really one head and two big.

It was Prince Li Chengqian who proposed the levy of commercial taxes to himself, and it was he who took the initiative to ask for the levy of commercial taxes.

But I never expected that this decree would be opposed by so many ministers on the first day it was issued.

Although he was very dissatisfied with Li Chengqian's work efficiency, Li Shimin hated it even more that these officials would speak for those merchants.

In his opinion, those merchants were just like Chu Mo, they were the worms of the Tang Dynasty. They did not engage in production and only relied on being well-informed to speculate.

What's even more hateful is that every time there is a major disaster, these moths will jump out and lie on the people of the Tang Dynasty, sucking the marrow of the Tang Dynasty.

If he hadn't kept a trace of reason in his heart, Li Shimin would have wanted to draw his sword and kill all these people in front of the palace.

"My dear friends, I already understand what you are reporting. Now is the time of a great disaster. You are not thinking about how to provide disaster relief, but you are only thinking about complaining about the despicable business of those merchants."

"Maybe in your eyes, my people are worse than these merchants!"

Listening to the noisy ministers below, Li Shimin couldn't help but finally exploded. He stood up from the dragon chair, pointed at the ministers below and scolded.

The officials below saw His Majesty the Emperor getting angry. Although they were frightened, they did not show any signs of compromise and continued to kneel on the ground and continue to admonish.

Seeing that things were about to reach a deadlock, a guard in golden armor suddenly rushed in from the door, holding a letter in his hand and shouting as he ran:

"Your Majesty, urgent report from the border!!"

When Li Shimin saw this, he was relieved but at the same time he couldn't help but feel worried.

Since the frost disaster, official roads in various places have been blocked and communications have been limited. This is the first time since the disaster that we have received emergency reports from the front.

Wang Dehai on the side stepped forward without Li Shimin's instructions, took the report presented by the guard, and then handed it to Li Shimin respectfully.