……

……

Emperor Deqing was well aware of the sensitivity and complexity of the issue of commercial taxation.

The current state of commercial taxation in the Ming Dynasty was full of drawbacks, but everyone, with the exception of the imperial court, reaped a great deal of benefits from these drawbacks: after the local yamen set up private tax collection stations, they could obtain additional funds for their activities; Most of the court officials secretly invested in the smuggling ship, and they could get a large amount of dividends every year; The officials at the lowest level also got a lot of gray income through this, and their lives were quite nourishing; Even the common people have benefited from the rampant smuggling caused by the malpractice of commercial taxation, after all, the price of smuggled goods is much lower......

In this way, no one is willing to change the status quo of commercial taxation, even if everyone knows that the turnover of money and grain in the imperial court has always been difficult, and the rectification of commercial taxation is the best solution, but no one is willing to try to change.

For the vast majority of people, "loyalty to the monarch and patriotism" is certainly a precious virtue, but its premise is that their own interests are not lost.

Therefore, everyone who wants to change the status quo of commercial taxation will cause countless hostilities and fierce backlash.

Because of this, although Emperor Deqing also upheld a supportive attitude towards the rectification of commercial taxes, Emperor Deqing did not show his true thoughts at the beginning, but repeatedly forced Zhao Junchen to express his opinion.

Even if this is to transfer the grievances of the officials to Zhao Junchen, it is also to test the reaction and bottom line of the officials through Zhao Junchen's performance. Of course, it would have been better if, in addition to expressing his opinions, Zhao Junchen could effectively explain the necessity and feasibility of the commercial tax rectification, so that those officials who held an opposing position would have nothing to say.

So, at the right time. Emperor Deqing was also willing to secretly cooperate with Zhao Junchen and help Zhao Junchen express his views.

So, after Zhao Junchen explained the meaning of "pilot", before the officials could refute it, Emperor Deqing spoke again: "This proposal is not bad, but where are you going to conduct the pilot?" The method you think of. What is it exactly? ”

Regarding Emperor Deqing's inquiry, Zhao Junchen had been preparing for a long time, and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, the pilot target of the minister is not a certain place, but a ship!" ”

"Boat line?" Emperor Deqing was slightly stunned and asked rhetorically.

Zhao Junchen nodded, and then further explained: "The minister's plan is that the imperial court will first select a ship company as a pilot target. And give this shipping company the privilege of tax exemption, so that this shipping company is free from the trouble of local taxes for a period of time, as compensation for the loss of commercial taxes of the imperial court, and in return for the tax exemption privilege, this shipping company needs to pay a part of the income dividends to the imperial court every year...... In this way, as long as the shipping company can make a profit, then the commercial tax of the imperial court can be fully guaranteed, but the way of collecting the commercial tax has changed slightly. ”

After a pause, Zhao Junchen said again: "If it is according to the minister's assumption." The advantages of such a plan are threefold: First, after the ship company receives preferential policies from the imperial court. There is no need to use tax evasion and smuggling to make profits, and once it is promoted, it can also suppress the smuggling activities of the people to the greatest extent, the commercial tax revenue of the imperial court can also be guaranteed, and the plan to rectify the commercial tax can also receive concrete results; Second, the shipping company avoided the local taxes. The low cost of transportation can ensure that the price of private prices will not fluctuate too much, and it can also bypass the obstruction of the local yamen, which can ensure the stability of the situation between the government and the opposition; Third, during the pilot period. Comparing the commercial taxes paid by this shipping company in previous years and the reactions of all walks of life in the government and the opposition, the imperial court can also specifically assess the feasibility of this plan. ”

In this way, Zhao Junchen told the plan he had conceived for many days.

Zhao Junchen's proposal can be described as whimsical, and even a little bizarre and absurd, so after hearing Zhao Junchen's description, the officials were a little unable to react, and they only felt that Zhao Junchen's proposal was really deviant, but because of this, the officials didn't know how to refute it.

Taking advantage of the surprise of the officials, Zhao Junchen did not remain silent, but explained in detail, such as the purpose and significance of this plan, such as the operation model and dividend ratio of this shipping company, and the monitoring methods of the imperial court to this shipping company, and the advantages of this plan and the places that need attention, etc., etc.

After Zhao Junchen explained his idea in detail, nearly half an hour had passed.

In order to convince the Deqing Emperor and the hundred officials, Zhao Junchen had almost no reservations about his idea of rectifying the commercial tax.

But it's only "almost", in fact, Zhao Junchen concealed a very important point, that is, the scale of this pilot ship! In Zhao Junchen's plan, the scale of this shipping company will be extremely huge, not only dozens of powerful shipping companies will be merged into one place, but also the ships, funds, and manpower of those smuggling shipping companies that the imperial court will confiscate in the future will also be invested in this shipping company, that is to say, once this shipping company is established, coupled with the preferential policies of the imperial court, it will soon form a monopoly situation, and it will soon be able to completely monopolize the shipping business of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River waterway.

Of course, Zhao Junchen will not elaborate on these situations, otherwise he will frighten the officials.

In addition, Zhao Junchen's concealment can also paralyze the hundred officials, so that the hundred officials cannot correctly recognize the threat of this plan, and minimize the opposition voice.

On the other hand, when Zhao Junchen explained all his thoughts in detail, when the officials finally reacted, they found that although Zhao Junchen's plan was a little absurd, Zhao Junchen did consider it in a comprehensive and detailed manner, and the officials found that in addition to reprimanding Zhao Junchen's method for being absurd, they couldn't find the flaws and deficiencies of such a method in a short period of time!

As a result, there was a brief silence in the Imperial Palace, and within about a cup of tea, whether it was Emperor Deqing, Zhou Shangjing, Shen Changmao, Zhu Heyu, or Baiguan, they all did not speak, but silently digested the information that Zhao Junchen said.

After all, Zhao Junchen's idea is too novel, and it will take a while for everyone to accept it.

Then, after careful consideration, many officials found that Zhao Junchen's plan was indeed feasible, and if it was changed according to Zhao Junchen's plan, then the court's commercial tax revenue could not only increase significantly, but also ensure the stability of the government and the opposition to the greatest extent - but only one thing did not change, that is, the interests of the officials would be violated, but this reason could not be clearly stated, let alone come up with opposition to Zhao Junchen's plan.

Fortunately, because of Zhao Junchen's misleading and concealment, all officials thought that Zhao Junchen's plan was not large in scale at the beginning, and it was just "selecting a shipping company" for piloting.

Even, after discovering this, many officials moved slightly, thinking that they had found a way to sabotage Zhao Junchen's plan - as long as the ship company suffered losses during the pilot period, then the ship company would not be able to pay dividends for the imperial court, and the court's commercial tax revenue would not only not increase, but would also decrease, which meant that Zhao Junchen's plan failed, so Zhao Junchen's idea could not be promoted......

In just an instant, many officials have secretly decided that if Zhao Junchen's idea is not approved by the imperial court, it will be fine, but if the imperial court adopts Zhao Junchen's pilot proposal, then they will immediately unite to secretly stumble on Zhao Junchen's pilot ship!

Then, the eyes of the officials focused on Shen Changmao, the first assistant of the cabinet.

Because Shen Changmao clearly opposes the rectification of commercial taxes, many officials regard him as a spokesperson for interests, so all officials hope that Shen Changmao can take the first step to express his attitude!

Under the attention of everyone, Shen Changmao first pondered for a moment, and then slowly walked out of the ranks.

……

PS: I encountered something, the update was late, I'm really sorry.

Well, the second update today.

…… (To be continued.) )