Wei Zheng snorted for a moment and muttered, "I don't know about these situations—"

"Huh!" Li Mu interrupted Wei Zheng's words and said, "I don't know? Why don't you know? Because I don't care, I don't know! The royal way, the benevolent way, in the eyes of the public, is the way in the books of the sages, not the way in reality. I don't know about these things, but I care, and I can investigate. Don't dare to deceive the princes, these things are all asked from the people by Changsun Chong with a few of his classmates, personally visiting the villages near Chang'an City! If you want to know, you can ask at any time, but you don't have that time, you are all people who do big things, and I have to let my students do this little thing! ”

"According to the old examples, the law of the poll tax is: the new ones are added, and the dead are expelled. However, every time there is a compilation and review, in order to increase the name of the account, regardless of the suffering of the people, he will ask for an overflow in the forehead, and those who should be deleted will not be deleted, and those who should not be increased will be increased, and even if the person is dead and refuses to be expelled, and the newborn is obliged to register, the extra poll tax will be evenly distributed on the people. There are also treacherous people who bribe the priests and conceal their household registration, which also makes them fall on the poor peasants. All kinds of vices, too many to write! ”

"It is better for the people to plant the land than not to plant, because the land is not enough to pay taxes, and the subsistence is still insufficient, and in the good years, the rich people have more income, and the poor people get very little, and in a bad year, they have no land industry, the strong are displaced, and the old and weak die in the ravines! If the shepherds of the people love the good and take less, the people will become more and more abundant. If the extortion is endless, how can the small people live? ”

Wei Zheng was speechless, although he did not investigate the situation in depth what Li Mu said, he also knew that since Li Mu could say it, there must be detailed evidence, and it was definitely not groundless. Thinking of these things, he didn't know anything, Wei Zheng felt ashamed, and he didn't want to argue with Li Mu anymore.

Li Shimin sighed and said, "What Li Mu said is very reasonable, deafening, I must reflect on it." Datang's current situation has reached the point where it has to be changed. Li Mu, since you said that there is a way, let's say the way, everyone brainstorms, check and fill in the gaps, and be sure to improve the lives of the people. ”

"Your Majesty, the minister has enumerated all the evils of the poll tax to express one thing. Your Majesty, the poll tax is troublesome to count and has countless drawbacks, so it's time to abolish it! ”

"Pick-up, cancel?" Li Shimin's eyes widened, and he said in his heart, why am I still moving stones and smashing my feet! Before he could speak, Tang Jian, the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Li Mu's cheap stepfather, stood up and shouted: "It can't be canceled, it must not be canceled!" ”

Li Mu looked at Tang Jian, Tang Jian did not evade, and said: "Li Mu, do you know that the poll tax is an important tax of the imperial court, accounting for at least thirty to forty percent, millions of yuan, such a large sum of money, if it is exempted, the imperial court will not be able to continue, this is not a joke!" ”

Li Mu Zhengse said: "The abolition of the poll tax will not reduce the total number of taxes, but will increase because of the accuracy of the statistics!" ”

Li Shimin was puzzled: "What does this mean?" ”

"Your Majesty, there are many difficulties in the statistics of poll tax, but there are no concerns about the statistics of fields. Because the field is there, it is not moving. The number of fields in a certain place can be precise. The drawbacks of the poll tax just mentioned seem to be unsolvable, but if we change our thinking, change the tax on people to the tax on land collection, and spread the land into acres, all problems will be solved! ”

"Spread into acres?" Everyone chewed on these four words, Wei Zheng seemed to have an understanding, but he couldn't make it clear, and asked, "What does it mean exactly?" ”

"To put it simply, it is to apportionment the poll tax to the fields. Suppose there are 100 people, 100 acres of land, and each acre of land bears the poll tax of one person, and if the 100 acres of land is cultivated by one person, then he will have to bear the tax of 100 heads. It is fair that those who bear more taxes will cultivate more fields, and those who have less fields will also have fewer taxes. ”

"Wait!" Wei Zheng suddenly thought of a joint and interrupted Li Mudao: "There are loopholes in this policy, and it seems reasonable to divide the land into acres, but the population is increasing and decreasing year by year, how to determine the tax?" ”

"That's what I thought of too." Li Mu faced Li Shimin and said, "So in order to ensure that this article can be implemented, and in order to let the people pay lightly, I ask Your Majesty to set up another rule." Based on the five-year population of Zhenguan, we will breed people in the future and never add endowment! No matter how large the population is, it will not increase taxes, so that the burden on the people will be reduced! ”

"Never!" Li Shimin was taken aback, what will happen every year is unpredictable, and no one can be sure how much money will be spent every year. This promise of never giving it is a double-edged sword, it can win fame, but it is also a shackle, if you can't do it, no matter how big your reputation will be ruined!

Li Shimin is not an indecisive person, but in the face of such a big thing, he must also think carefully and act carefully, he muttered: "I have to think about it, I have to think about it." ”

"Your Majesty is worried that if you never increase the tax, the court tax will not be enough to spend?"

"Exactly, I don't want to burden the people, but what the future holds, no one can be sure, if there is a war, if there is no endowment, how can the court continue?"

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, the minister promises that Your Majesty will never increase the tax, and the taxes you will get will definitely be more!"

The eldest grandson Wuji listened to it for a long time, but he really couldn't understand it, and said: "Li Mu, if you don't add money, where will the money come from?" ”

"Business tax!" Li Mu said with a smile: "Didn't you forget that there is still a tax?" The commercial tax is the only tax that can be stacked in quantity, but there is no burden on the people. Because the generation of commercial tax lies in transactions. One transaction, one tax, and the more transactions that occur, the more taxes there are. ”

Tang Jian was puzzled: "What does it matter if this root is never endowed? ”

"It doesn't matter!" Li Mu said with great difficulty: "The princes think, the court asks for less taxes, and the people have more money in their hands." When the people have more money in their hands, what will they do? Spend it, of course! When they don't have money, they wear linen, and when they have money, they want to wear ayara. What do you want Ayaro? Naturally, I bought it! Buy! The imperial court will be able to collect taxes! ”

"And for the vendors, they're actually willing to pay taxes, why? Because if they produce goods, no one will buy them, and they will be worthless. They can only make money if they sell it. The more taxes they pay, the more they earn, and the more the court collects! ”

Everyone looked at each other, and they all saw the incomprehension in each other's eyes.

Li Mu sighed and said, "So the reason why you don't have me to make money is now understood?" Money, you can't save it, you have to spend it, it's money! I took out a hundred and bought sheep, and the sheep dealer made money, and the sheep seller bought sheep in the hands of the shepherd, and the shepherd also made money, and the shepherd got money to buy rice, and the rice seller made money...... It's the same hundred, how many people have been fed! But if this money is piled up in the treasury, the sheep dealers, sheep shepherds, and rice sellers have nothing to earn, such a simple truth, why don't the princes understand it! ”