Yang Lin has not been in Taiwan for a long time, and she was a serious feminist before she crossed over, and because of this, she seemed incompatible with the so-called 'feminism' that did things in the name of women's rights.

As a member of Fengyi, she was a member of the Senate, so she was specially assigned to be in charge of economic affairs, and has been traveling between Brunei and Minli recently, and only recently arrived in Kaohsiung. Today's reception is also a temporary entrustment from Chang Kaishen, who mainly wants to talk to Shen Yourong about cooperation in Fujian and Liaodong. This can be regarded as a test in advance, and if you talk well, you can have in-depth exchanges in the afternoon, and if you don't talk well, you can deal with it in the afternoon.

"In our Great Song Dynasty, we rely on our ability to do things, but it has nothing to do with men and women, please don't be surprised." Her opening remarks are simple and straightforward, the young girl is only twenty-seven or eighteen, with short hair over the ears and melon seeds, and her small face is faintly self-contained, and the skirt that looks just over the knee in her heroic posture is not so obscene on the other side.

Shen Yourong and He Qiaoyuan glanced at each other when they heard this, but their expressions immediately returned to normal, they were not pedantic people who ate the ancients, and they could be regarded as following the customs.

Shen Yourong said: "Seeing what the nobles have done along the way, the old man is indeed admired. ”

He told the truth, he had been in officialdom for a long time, especially in the north, he had seen a lot of the dark side of Ming politics, and when he first arrived in Taiwan, he was full of peaceful scenes of river and sea Yan, and the army of the Australians made him even more impressed.

"It's all about doing something for me Huaxia, hasn't Master Shen always done this in the past."

Yang Lin didn't speak politely, but it touched Shen Yourong's heart. In the past, no matter where he was an official, he always adhered to his heart, neither sycophant nor bullying the small people, even if he was a foreign barbarian, he treated each other as equals, but made his image tall in front of outsiders. Because of this, it is more intimate to see what Australians are doing here, and the woman opposite him so much agrees with him, and he can't help but look high.

"I heard Akashi-kun say that your leaders want to wait with me, but I don't know what it is?"

"Actually, what I want to meet with Shen Junmen is Chang Jingluo, and I'm just incidental here." After speaking, she didn't forget to introduce herself, "In Xia Yang Lin, she is the stakeholder of the three divisions and regulations of the Political Affairs Hall in the Taiwan Road area. ”

She originally wanted to talk about the National Development and Reform Commission, but suddenly felt that it was easier for the other party to understand this official title, and in terms of authority, she was actually more like a local economic policy planner, which was also the reason why she was in charge of Kaohsiung Vientiane Mall. The Regulations Department of the Third Division is a new co-ordination and planning agency under the Dongfu, and it does have the nickname of the National Development and Reform Commission or the Planning Institute in private, and the direct person in charge is Ma Qianzhu. At the beginning, there was a long debate within the Senate in order to set up such an institution, and Feng Yi chose to stand on the side of the political hall and Ma Qianzhuo.

For the first time, Shen Yourong heard that a woman was learning to call herself a man, not in the Qinglou Theater, but also an Australian official, and listening to what he said, it seemed that he had a lot of power, and he inevitably looked at Yang Lin twice.

Aside from the short hair and slightly eye-catching clothes, the other party's bearing is indeed extraordinary, and under the gaze of the two men, Yang Lin smiled without any narrowness, which made the image of the strange woman deeper in Shen Yourong's heart.

"In fact, I should have seen it all the way from the military gate, and now the construction of my Great Song Dynasty on Taiwan Road is in the ascendant, and it is the time when manpower is in great need."

"That's true." Shen Yourong didn't deny it, but he didn't say anything, just continued to listen to the woman in front of him.

"But recently the migrant ship from Fujian has been seized by the Water Beacon and Coastal Defense Inspection Department, and now Taiwan Lu Zhaojian, you and I are both a Chinese family, the two sides of the strait are one family, why do you bother these small people who are begging for a living."

Shen Yourong was speechless for a while, those immigrants who crossed the sea were indeed for a livelihood, and they were obviously doing well in Taiwan, so they had just come this way, and Akashi Daoyou had already pointed out to him a few businesses opened up by Fujian immigrants, and most of the Han people working in Hong Kong spoke with accents from the Zhangquan area.

Fujian has many mountains and few lands, and many people have been doing business in the floating sea, but as long as they are okay, they always want to return to their hometowns to glorify their ancestors, but in the time before Taiwan in the future, Shen Yourong heard that the traitors from Dongfan seduced the coastal people to Xiaoju, and many of them even took away the ancestral tablets, which was enough to arouse the vigilance of the government.

From the bottom of his heart, this is indeed the truth, but he also understands that population is the foundation of the country, that is, the source of taxes and soldiers, and it is difficult for local officials to account for it if they are left alone, which is also the reason why Shang Fu (Shang Zhouzuo) has been estranged from the imperial court on this matter since he took office, and he is only acting on orders as a water standard general, and at that time he did not realize what the immigration to the east meant to the families of these people.

"The Fujian people can also save Shen for their hard work, but this is the law of the country, and I am afraid that it cannot be accommodated."

He said in his heart that he was on guard day and night, and there were tens of thousands of immigrants on the surface of Kaohsiung alone, not to mention several other port cities in the north. If immigration is released again, I am afraid that there will not be much population left in Fujian in a few years. At this time, he realized that he had unconsciously agreed with the governance of the Australians here, and felt that it was higher than that of Fujian.

"With all due respect, Shen said bluntly, it is already a taboo for the court to open a government and build a house here, and it is already a taboo for the court to privately grant famous weapons, and there is nothing you can do to help with immigration, so it is better for you to make another decision."

"Everything is discussed, in fact, the Fujian side can put forward some conditions, or we can also mention it." Yang Lin was full of confidence in her words, and she was not embarrassed by Shen Yourong's refusal, but instead raised Erlang's legs with a smile, which made Shen Yourong and He Qiaoyuan feel a little cramped.

"Conditions?" He Qiao asked puzzledly.

"Such as coastal defense, such as taxation......" Yang Lin immediately gave the answer.

When the imperial court governed the localities, the most important performance evaluations were nothing more than public security, taxation, and culture and education.

The selection of talents in the imperial examination can be touched by non-outsiders, but public security and taxation are very quantitative performance evaluations, whether there are bandits in the territory, whether the money and grain can be paid, are the most important indicators for the imperial court to inspect the pro-people officials, although the learned Confucianism said that the people are respected and loyal, but it is really to compete for the short and long in governance, and the court still relies on this almost Legalist standard to measure the gains and losses.

If you can guarantee these two things, then promotion is also the right thing to do, not to mention that Pan Daxi, the nearest red member of Qiongzhou Mansion, is like this. And for military attachés, the first one is more attractive. In the peaceful years, there were people who crossed the sea to Dongfan, just to kill a few natives as pirates, not to mention that a few years ago, when the Spaniards were still in Manila, they asked for the head of the 'pirates', but Shen Yourong was not moved by these.

"With the power of my Fujian water mark, the East China Sea is also peaceful, but as for taxes, it is not what should be placed."

If we can take care of Fujian's regular taxes and commercial taxes, even more than in previous years, so that the people will be less exploited and the local government will have more income, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds, I don't know what the military and He Xianggong think?"

He knew the temperament of the two, and in the past, he even offended the tax supervisor Gao Yu by helping the people speak for the tax 'burden', so it can be said that it is just right to find Shen and He in these two things. If the Senate can really give a condition that is acceptable to the Fujian side, both Shen Yourong and He Qiaoyuan seem to have a reason to help spread a few words.

In fact, the positive tax and commercial tax of the Ming Dynasty are not much, and the people are exploited or various changes and increases in the process of taxation, of course, there is one more Liao salary now, and a cadre will use the power to fill his own pockets in his hands, and what Yang Lin said is actually the benefit of such people. Collecting taxes has always been one of the means for the gentry to control local administration, and now it has long been a common thing.

Of course, the gentry tax package also still has to make money, and the extravagant officials will still cooperate, and the reduction and consumption of the tax should even be intensified, and even the use of the tax package to annex the land is also a common thing.

Therefore, Yang Lin's so-called more income in the local area can barely be believed, but the people have less exploitation but they have to be deeply suspicious.

Yang Lin didn't explain anymore, and directly handed a booklet to Shen Yourong.

'Covering Fujian's Commercial Tax Regulations'.

"What does that mean?" Although Shen Yourong asked such a question, he had already guessed the name on the cover, and the Australians obviously did not have a whim on the matter of tax package.

Yang Lin chuckled, "Wen is as he intended, if the positive tax is not good, we can start with commercial tax to test the waters." ”

The positive tax is also the field tax, Fujian is not only the coast, the Australians are not the local gentry of the Ming Dynasty, so it is difficult to believe the words of the land tax. However, the commercial tax is mostly from maritime trade, and this part is actually concentrated in Yuegang, and there are many private ports along the coast that are not accessible to the tax collectors of the government.

Shen Yourong listened and didn't speak, and Yang Lin continued: "The total commercial tax in Fujian this year will not exceed 30,000 taels. ”

This time Shen Yourong nodded, he had been in the sea for a long time, and naturally knew that last year's month, the year's ship money, boats, deed tax, and even bamboo and wood were all calculated, and it was only more than 26,000 taels, and this was almost all the commercial taxes of Fujian Province. According to the statistics of the Senate, in terms of commercial activity, Fujian is in the first gear with Nanzhi, Zhejiang and Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty and the 13 provinces of Beijing, but in terms of commercial taxes, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces can only be ranked last with Sichuan, and at most there is a Guizhou after it, and even Huguang and Yunnan are much inferior. Because the tax on the sea trade of the Ming Dynasty was not high, and the smuggling of the two provinces was flourishing, a large amount of silver actually did not receive from the officials, but fell into the hands of those local clans.

Later, the imperial court could not collect the silver, and the forced increase was all passed on to the inland peasants, which became a cause of the popular uprising. On the contrary, after the Manchu Qing Dynasty went south, the commercial taxes of Jiangnan and Fujian could be collected again, but at that time the Ming Dynasty was also dying.

Seeing that the foreshadowing was almost done, Yang Lin explained the plan and inventory of the Senate.

"If we take care of the commercial tax, we can pay Fujian 100,000 taels of silver every year."

[References]

1, "Daming Huidian"

2, "Records of Emperor Mingshen Zongxian"

3, "History of the Late Ming Dynasty" Fan Shuzhi

4, "Wanli Ye Ed" Shen Defu

5. "Examination of the Origin of Science in Fujian, Volume 75, Mr. Situ He Jingshan, Qiao Yuan"

6, "History of the Ming Dynasty • The Biography of Shen Yourong"

7, "History of the Ming Palace"

8, "Chronicles in the Middle" Liu Ruoyu

9. "Research on Folk Literature in the Ming Dynasty" Zhang Bo

10, "Records of Emperor Mingguang Zongzhen"

11, "Book of Min" He Qiaoyuan

12, "The Book of Diseases of the World Counties" Gu Yanwu

13, "East-West Foreign Examination" Zhang Xie

14, "Wanli Mine Tax Supervision Makes the Reasons Revisited" Lin Feng

15, "The Temple Stays in the Middle Song to Collect the Meeting" Dong Qichang

16, "The Scourge of Mining Tax in the Late Wanli Period" Zhou Yuankang

17. "The City Ship Tax in the Middle and Late Ming Dynasty"