The Emperor of Red Mansions: Many Children, Many Blessings, Opening Draft

"Some people had to sell their fertile land to pay taxes, and were forced to separate from their wives and children, sell their children, and even end up homeless and their families broken up."

"But the taxes collected by the court did not even amount to 30 million taels of silver!

Even the millions of troops of our Great Wu were in arrears of military pay, and military supplies were difficult. Even if there were supplies, they were inferior.

My Minister of Revenue, can you explain to me how this happened?"

Li Chenghan sneered, and then began to talk and question the Minister of Revenue.

Hearing Li Chenghan's words, the Minister of Revenue and even the ministers and nobles changed their faces suddenly!

None of them thought that the new emperor would ask such a fatal question on the first day of his accession to the throne.

And when the emperor asked this question, everyone present knew without thinking that the emperor wanted to rectify the administration of officials.

Except for Jia She and Jia Zhen, everyone present knew more or less why the taxes in Wu State had been increasing, but the taxes collected were getting less and less.

Because there are three fundamental reasons.

One of the biggest reasons is that Wu State is now suffering from serious land annexation.

You should know that in Wu State, officials do not have to pay land tax.

This has led to officials and dignitaries constantly embezzling land. Many people with many lands will try to transfer their land to dignitaries to avoid land tax.

The consequence of this is that the only people who pay land tax are the people who guard the pitiful land.

But the problem is not just that. Many people cannot even guard their pitiful land and are robbed or forced to sell it at a low price.

As a result, fewer and fewer people paid the land tax, and the reduction of the court's taxes would constantly increase the taxes of the people.

This also led to the fact that after a busy year, the people could not even afford to eat and wear themselves, and most of their income had to be paid to the court in taxes.

This also led to many people not even planting the land, either taking their families to escape famine or selling the land at a low price.

This also led to the food becoming more expensive, the court's taxes becoming less and less, and the price of land becoming cheaper and cheaper.

The second one was the population tax.

Because the people could not afford the heavy taxes, many people would not report to the local government after they had children, and when the government came to investigate, they would let them hide, or directly sell them to powerful or wealthy families as slaves.

Many powerful and wealthy families openly reported to the government how many people they raised in their homes.

In private, they used two to three times this number to avoid the poll tax.

Take Rongguo Mansion for example. The team that served Jia Baoyu alone, from the head maid, the second-class maid, the night watchman, the servant, the laundryman, the cleaner, the water boiler, the bird feeder, the small kitchen, etc., was no less than fifty people.

Moreover, these fifty people have work every day.

In fact, the number of servants in Rongguo Mansion is as many as nearly a thousand.

Many respectable servants, not to mention that they all wear gold and silver, even their rooms have several servants to serve them.

But how many people did Rongguo Mansion report to the government? Three hundred!

How many families in the world are like Rongguo Mansion?

In addition to the suffering of the people and the slowdown in population growth, the population tax is also collected less and less like the land tax.

The second is the exploitation of officials when collecting taxes.

But this is not just that. For example, the rampant salt merchants and the collusion between officials and merchants have led to a decrease in salt taxes.

The collusion between officials and merchants has made the taxes paid by merchants so pitiful that they can be ignored.

So with all these things, it would be strange if the tax revenue of Dawu could be high.

Anyway, the current situation in the Great Wu is that the rich are getting richer and richer, and more and more extravagant.

The poor are getting poorer.

"Your Majesty, it should be caused by the many natural disasters and foreign invasions in the Great Wu over the years!"

The Minister of Revenue wiped the cold sweat from his head and answered Li Chenghan.

"There were no natural disasters and foreign invasions during the reign of Emperor Taizu?"

Li Chenghan raised his eyes and asked the Minister of Revenue.

"This..."

"There were not as many natural disasters and foreign invasions during the reign of Emperor Taizu as there are today, so this may have caused the current situation!"

The Minister of Revenue was about to cry!

"It can't be that much less! The tax revenue of our Great Wu is not more than 20 million taels a year!

After the tax revenue is increased, it will be 100 million (100 million) 20 million taels less every year!

With such a shortage, could it be that there is no good land in Great Wu, and there are natural disasters and foreign invasions all over the country?"

Li Chenghan didn't buy this explanation.

If the tax revenue of Great Wu was not much less, he would not have raised this issue when he first ascended the throne, and would not have kept pursuing it.

Now, he knows how poor the country is.

But he knows even more how hard the people suffer.

So even if the country has no money, he will relieve the burden and oppression on the people as soon as he ascends the throne.

So that the people can be stable, and the people can start anew and restore the people's strength.

As for the fact that the people live a good life, but the country has no money.

This point is also easy to solve!

Hasn't the late emperor seized so much money when he was young? He left so many corrupt officials and the country's parasites unchecked. Is he going to make the people suffer again?

"This..."

The Minister of Revenue really didn't know how to answer.

Li Chenghan knew so much, and he hadn't prepared in advance.

Now that he could answer Li Chenghan's questions one after another, it was good enough for him to answer a few questions.

"The Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple!

What do you three judicial officials want to report to me about this matter?

The country loses so much money every year, and it has been losing money for so many years. Don't tell me you don't know!"

Seeing that the Minister of Revenue was silent, Li Chenghan immediately asked the Three Law Departments.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue has always been in charge of this matter, so..."

Faced with Li Chenghan's inquiry, the officials of the Three Law Departments felt nervous, and the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate explained to Li Chenghan hesitantly.

But halfway through the explanation, he couldn't continue.

"Heh!"

"So what?"

Li Chenghan sneered and asked the Left Censor-in-Chief.

Hearing Li Chenghan's words, Su Qin, who was sitting on his right, looked at Li Chenghan sideways.

"So...so the Censorate doesn't know much about this matter! ”

The Left Censor-in-Chief felt a lump in his throat when he was questioned by Li Chenghan.

But he still answered Li Chenghan truthfully.

“Good, good one for not knowing!”

“Tell me, what does your Censorate do?”

Li Chenghan was so angry that he laughed, and questioned the Left Censor-in-Chief while suppressing his anger.

“Your Majesty, it is to inspect all officials, evaluate officials, supervise government affairs, participate in judicial trials, and make suggestions.”

The Left Censor-in-Chief could not hold back the pressure in his heart.

He knelt down to Li Chenghan and answered truthfully.