"This shopkeeper, how can you seem to be a shrewd person, but you only know one and not the other. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info" Li Xiao glanced at the businessman and deliberately said in a dissatisfied tone.

"My lord, I wish to hear more about it."

"Li is not talented, and he also knows the truth that someone does the murder business, and no one does the loss-making business. The shopkeeper you open a shop in my Chifeng Fort, although my business tax is slightly heavier than in other places, but I Chifeng Fort has two preferential conditions, but this shopkeeper you can't buy it with money elsewhere. Li Xiao was a pass, but his face was full of smiles.

The businessman's eyes widened, and he couldn't tell whether he was yearning or doubting as he looked at Li Xiao. A group of businessmen next to him also started to discuss.

Li Xiao looked at the way they talked to each other, but he was sneering in his heart.

Li Xiao remembered that in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the commercial tax was one out of thirty, and those who passed it were judged as violating the order, and the tax rate was so low that it reached an astonishing level. Moreover, in the tenth year of Wanli, there are provisions that the three tax exemption deeds are paved, and the purchase price is less than 40 taels and the pawn price, all of which are exempt from tax. If the purchase price is more than 40 taels, every tael of taxable silver will be 15 cents!

Due to the very light burden of merchants in the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the collusion between officials and businessmen, and the money paid by merchants to train scholars to enter the official career as their own spokesperson for the DPRK and China, it finally led to the rise of merchant power at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and they were very arrogant. There are also such as the Qiao family, the Chang family, the Cao family, the Hou family, the Qu family, the Kang family, the Fan family, and the Kong family in Shanxi, these eight big businessmen, regardless of the danger of the country, colluded with the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the Mongols, sold precious grain, iron, cloth, medicinal materials and other war materials to finance the enemy, and even sold the confidential information of the Ming Dynasty to the Tartars, which is really hateful.

The Ming Dynasty, which was surrounded by merchant forces, did not levy taxes on these wealthy businessmen when the country was in danger, but only vigorously squeezed the poor people who were struggling on the death line, and eventually caused the people to be displaced everywhere, thousands of miles away, providing an endless source of rebels for Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong and other rebels in Shaanxi.

Thinking of this, Li Xiao sighed in his heart.

As a time-traveler who is familiar with history, Li Xiao must of course prevent such things from happening in the future, so he must make strong control over these businessmen, and let them become tools for his own development and growth, rather than letting them turn against customers, and finally make himself fall into passivity and coercion.

I am in charge of my territory, and to strengthen the management of merchants, let's start with a strict registration system and the collection of commercial taxes.

At this time, the businessmen talked much quieter, and the businessmen's eyes were looking at Li Xiao, waiting for him to speak next.

Li Xiao's eyes looked into the distance, and he said lightly: "Back then, Emperor Yongle had a holy decree, which was aimed at your merchants, and the shopkeeper must have known it?" ”

The merchant's face suddenly turned gray, and he whispered, "What did your lord say about the holy decree of Cheng Zu to buy things from merchants? ”

"Exactly. If this official is not mistaken, Cheng Zu's original words in the holy decree back then were that every time the military family opened a shop in the market to do business, the government asked for some materials, why did he refuse to comprador it? Your ministry is a clerk, and Tianfu knows: If there is a comprador in the future, but if you open a shop house, regardless of the military and civilians, etc., you will be a comprador in one, and if you dare to violate it, you will not be spared. Li Xiao calmly finished saying this, and turned his eyes to see the businessman's expression.

Li Xiao saw that the businessman's face instantly became gray and embarrassed. He knew that the holy decree of becoming an ancestor that Li Xiao said was actually a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of ordinary businessmen like him, and he didn't know when it would fall and cut off his own head.

In the Ming Dynasty, the most feared thing for ordinary merchants was to be the head of the line, the so-called head of the line is recorded in the official case, the yamen sent people to "assist" the head of the line, and the head of the line was responsible for the purchase of the goods that should be provided by each family and all kinds of errand service, but basically the end of the errand service, the merchant was also insolvent by the government's various exploitation and oppression, and the family was ruined.

Chengzu's evil decree became the biggest reason for the officials of the Ming Dynasty to be bold and naked to bully merchants.

To put it mildly, if an ordinary merchant with no background becomes a leader, the best way is to flee with his family as soon as possible!

It was not until Zhu Yujian, the Longwu Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, that the emperor really realized the cruelty of the government's oppression and exploitation of ordinary merchants.

The short-lived emperor once sighed: "The households in Fuzhou County are really evil governments that harm the people." If the official has a little conscience, he still buys it at the official price, which is five or six times higher than the market price; Those who have no conscience will be sent as if they were direct tickets. Xu officials are fateful, and there are many treacherous holes. I have known this disadvantage for a long time, and it is advisable to carry out eternal reform. ”

It's just that by this time, the Ming Dynasty had fallen near, and Emperor Longwu's conscience found that there was no practical meaning for the merchants.

Therefore, for ordinary merchants, although they usually have the advantage of low commercial taxes can make them live a very nourishing life and make a lot of money, these merchants understand that in fact, their fate is like dancing on the tip of a knife, and their property can be seized by the government at any time, and they can be exploited by officials.

In these years, in addition to the giant businessmen like the Eight Great Families in Shanxi, or the officials and businessmen in the Jiangnan area, the fate of these ordinary small and medium-sized merchants is also very sad, and they don't know when they will die at the hands of the government.

After Li Xiao finished speaking, there was another exchange of words.

A merchant boldly asked, "Master Li, do you mean that there will be no merchant in your land?" ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, this official can guarantee that in my Chifeng Castle, there will never be such a shameless thing as letting merchants be the leader! Moreover, the official will never allow the appearance of officials wantonly embezzling merchants' goods, let alone bullying merchants and the like. Therefore, as long as the shops do business in Chifeng Castle formally, pay taxes honestly, and abide by the law and regulations, then you only need to think about doing business well and making money well, and you don't need to worry about anything else. I have a good business environment in Chifeng Castle, and I Li Xiao can definitely guarantee that this is also a discount that your shopkeeper Cai can't buy with money in other places. Li Xiao looked directly into his expectant eyes and said word by word.

There was another whisper below.

Li Xiao saw that in the eyes of every businessman, there was no bright color.

Doing business is most afraid of the infringement of public power, and the most afraid of public security and the chaos of the market environment, which every merchant knows. Li Xiao's promise was like reassuring them.

Li Xiao knew that these merchants had basically been moved by him, so he wanted to strike while the iron was hot.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in business, earning money is the foundation of doing business. In my opinion, no matter how good your goods are, the people must have money to buy them. Therefore, the second advantage that this official said is the purchasing power of the people of my Chifeng Fort. I dare assure you that the people of this fort are much richer than the destitute people of the rest of the city. And, in a year or two at most, I will let the people under my rule have more money and wealth, so that they will have more financial resources to buy goods. When the time comes, the shopkeeper's shops are selling vigorously, and when the day is making money, you will understand that what the official said today should be true. Li Xiao saw everyone's thoughts fluttering, and immediately said this with a smile.

After everyone listened to Li Xiao's words, although some people were a little hesitant on their faces, most of the businessmen still expressed their agreement.

After the two sides negotiated, the businessmen then said goodbye and left, Li Xiao looked at their departing backs, but his face was very serious.

It seems that under his own rule, some relevant institutions should start to prepare for the establishment as soon as possible.

In Li Xiao's view, the most urgent thing is to set up a commercial department and a civil affairs department.

The Department of Commerce is in charge of all kinds of commercial shops opened in Chifengbao, including the registration, audit, supervision, tax collection and other matters of the shops.

The Department of Civil Affairs is responsible for the registration and inspection of household registration and waist plates of family members and people in the fort, the reporting of births and deaths, the handling of disputes and cases between the people in the fort, and the maintenance of public order and the improvement of the streets.

The first thing to start is to register the current population of Chifeng Fort and issue waist cards, which is a work that needs to be started urgently.

Li Xiao called Wu Liang over and said to him: "Mr. Wu, these **** have thought about it repeatedly, and I feel that in my Chifeng Fort, it is necessary to set up a civil affairs department to quickly establish a household registration system in order to effectively manage the people in the office." ”

"Your Excellency, it should be to strengthen the management of the residents in the fort, right?"

"Exactly, you go and prepare the record book first, and after the population count is completed, you will register the people of the whole fort, and you need to have a household registration book, and every adult citizen has a waist card certificate." Li Xiao said seriously.

Wu nodded and said, "Lord Li's move is really necessary. In the future, the population of Chifeng Fort will increase, and it will be even more difficult to manage, if you don't prepare in advance, it will be difficult to deal with it. ”

"That's what I mean, in this way, this household registration book and waist card certificate are designed and made by Wu Liang. After the implementation of the system, all the people and sergeants of Chifeng Fort need to be registered and wear waist cards. In this way, it is possible to effectively manage the people, guard against meticulous work, and arrange various tasks very conveniently. Li Xiao said solemnly.

"I will obey the orders of my lord."

Three days later, a sample of the household registration book and the waist card designed by Wu Liang were delivered to Li Xiao.

Li Xiao looked at it, the household registration book is made of sturdy kraft paper, about six kai in size, and it is divided into several pages, each page indicating the name, man and woman, age, place of origin, address and other information of the family members, so that they can be filled in at that time.

The waist card designed by Wu Liang is more detailed. A one-inch square smooth and delicate cedar waist tag, the front is engraved with the wearer's name, place of origin, and number.

On the back is the three characters of Chifeng Fort written in the line book, and a line of regular script small characters next to it: "All adult people of Chifeng Fort need to wear this card for inspection." If you lose it, you need to go to the Civil Affairs Department to get it for a replacement as soon as possible. ”

Li Xiao nodded and smiled: "Wu Liang, your design is very much in line with the intention of this official, please start customizing and implementing it immediately." ”