"The southeast commercial port, Hangzhou and Suzhou of the two Zhejiang roads, and Jinling of the Jiangnan Road, are still under the iron hooves of the Liao, and the Huainan Road Yangzhou has suffered from the war 'chaos', and now the sores have not recovered, in the hands of our dynasty, such as Guangzhou on Guangnan Road, Jiangling on Jinghu North Road, and Mingzhou on the two Zhejiang roads, the two commercial taxes have been borrowed to Jingkang for 24 years. In addition, the Jiangling Sailor issued salt indiscriminately, and the price of salt on the market plummeted," Chen Mingche hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice, "Lord Chen, should you consider the proposal of tax package proposed by Jiangling salt merchants?" ”

"Tax again?" Chen Dong frowned and said, "Did they make an appointment?" ”

Last month, more than a dozen merchants in Mingzhou could not bear the heavy taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and jointly proposed a tax package, asking the imperial court to set a total amount according to the amount of taxes paid in Mingzhou over the years, and the chamber of commerce would pay it to the imperial court. In exchange for 'handing', the imperial court officials were not allowed to 'force' merchants to 'pay' taxes when they entered Mingzhou City, nor were they allowed to add new commercial taxes in addition to them.

Mingzhou was one of the most important commercial ports in the Great Song Dynasty. Compared with other states and counties, Minnesota has a special feature. It hangs alone on the Liangzhejiang Road, and most of the surrounding prefectures and counties are occupied by the Liao army. After Ezhou advocated righteousness and "respected the Son of Heaven and did not serve the 'chaos' order", the people of Mingzhou organized a volunteer army, respected "Zhao Ke" as the Son of Heaven, and expelled Cai Jing's 'protégé' students. After the victory in Shuzhou, the momentum of the Liao soldiers in the southeast declined, and the envoy of the three divisions of Ezhou sent officials to Mingzhou to collect taxes, but the result was strongly resisted by the Mingzhou gentry and big merchants. System.

Because Zhizhou Lu Rongzhun and Zhou Xue both stood on the side of the merchants, the transfer of the salt and iron division of the imperial court made Tian Shumei's position in Mingzhou extremely embarrassing, and he had to discuss with the merchants of Mingzhou and proposed this tax system. On the surface, the imperial court did not suffer a loss, and the tax package system also reduced the trouble of transshipment envoys. But in fact, in the past six months, many large merchants on the Liangzhejiang Road have moved here, and many merchant ships have also transferred from Hangzhou and Jinling to Mingzhou port. Compared with the surrounding prefectures and counties that were plundered by Liao soldiers, the relatively stable Mingzhou not only did not decline, but the market showed a kind of wartime prosperity, if the tax was levied according to the amount of taxes paid in previous years, the overall burden of Mingzhou merchants was greatly reduced.

"It's obviously collusion." Wu Zilong shook his head, took out a copy from the newly arrived stack of musicals, and handed it to Chen Dongdao, "After the Lord Hou finished singing the play of 'Zun Kong Fuli', he wrote a book to try out the tax package system on Jingdong Road, rest with the people, and then implement the world." Some state and county schools are now extremely enthusiastic about this matter. I heard that the concerts of Guangzhou State School and Fuzhou State School are also on the way. ”

"Hou Huanyin is also involved, he really doesn't care about the overall situation!" Cao Liangshi snorted and said coldly, "Jingdong Road has no danger to defend, the Liao soldiers have been frustrated in the south, and they will inevitably go all out to manage the north. ”

With the increasing burden of taxes and the lack of livelihood of the people, the rebound of rich businessmen and tycoons has become more and more 'fierce'. This package tax system seems simple, but in fact, the objects of tax collection by the imperial court have changed from isolated merchants and ordinary people to a whole state and county. Therefore, the three divisions of the household department, who know that it is powerful, will never agree to this proposal. But this undercurrent has been brewing for a long time, and now at the critical juncture of the Northern Expedition, the imperial court is in need of a large amount of money and food, but it is really difficult to resist. For example, in particularly unruly places such as Mingzhou, it is even more openly declared that because the tax has been borrowed for ten years, if the imperial court does not allow the tax system, then Mingzhou will no longer pay taxes such as bank, housing and business taxes, and the total amount of economic system for more than ten years.

"It's ridiculous," Chen Mingche shook his head and said, "When Cai Li's 'traitor' party was in power, Mingzhou had already borrowed taxes from Jingkang for 20 years, and we only borrowed taxes for three years, and they actually wanted to count the previous ten years on our heads." He rubbed his hands, looked at the blue sky outside, and frowned, "Midsummer has passed, and autumn and winter are coming." There are hundreds of new fire gun camps, and 500,000 guns are needed, as well as corresponding clothing, armor, food and grass, which can be dragged on for a while. It's just that preparing more than 500,000 sets of autumn clothes and winter jackets is an urgent matter. The warehouse of the Department of Household Affairs has been empty for the past few months, and there is not a single thing left. The autumn clothes and winter jackets of the Northern Expedition armies have to pay silver money to order at the latest this month, and this matter cannot be delayed, otherwise, will it be impossible for the soldiers to wear single clothes to fight with the Liao thieves in the ice and snow? He clenched his fists and said to Chen Dong, "You must borrow another year of taxes, even if you mobilize soldiers and horses to collect them, you have to collect the silver money and cloth first." ”

"Although it was borrowed by Cai Li's 'traitor' party, it is also in the name of the imperial court," Wu Zilong glanced at Chen Mingche and said coldly, "This is related to the righteousness of the name, and it is not ridiculous at all." There was a slight hint of contempt in his mouth.

Chen Mingche advocated "attaching equal importance to righteousness and benefit", and Wu Zilong was quite disdainful. Wu Zilong advocates "a gentleman's shame and profit", thinking that "paying equal attention to righteousness and profit" seems to be the best of both worlds, but in fact, it is the way of Yang Zhu Mozhai in the world, which can corrupt people's hearts the most. The two had exchanged dozens of letters to refute each other, and the articles were widely copied by their respective 'protégés', which was a prosperous era in Shilin. If it weren't for the fact that Chen Mingche was the most proficient in the affairs of Qian Gu Duzhi in the clear stream of the Society, and he needed to go out of the mountains to spend the difficult times together, Wu Zilong would never disdain to be an official with him. The grievances between these two people are well known to Chen Dong, Cao Liangshi, Zhao Xingde and other colleagues in the Science Society.

"The commercial tax can no longer be borrowed, and if the land is borrowed again for the autumn tax, the people will be 'forced' to rebel. However, where did the money and food for the Northern Expedition come from? Brother Wu, you only know how to reach out to the household department to ask for money and food, but you can know that it is difficult for a clever 'woman' to cook without rice," Chen Mingche said stupidly, "If this continues, I will invite myself to be a prisoner, and I will share the joys and sorrows with Brother Zhao Yuan!" ”

After he spread things out, he folded his hands and looked helpless. Everyone laughed at the matter of asking for the prison army. Although Zhao Xingde took the initiative to ask the imperial court to send someone to supervise the army, Zhao Xingde was not an ordinary martial artist, his reputation was too high, and the prison army could not talk about "using literature to protect the military". Many ministers were reluctant to do a thankless position, and later, Chen Dong pushed the boat along the way, and only agreed to establish a military protection system on the grounds that there was no doubt about employing people, and did not send supervisors to Zhenguo and Baoyi for the time being. Although some people criticize Zhao Xingde's proposal as a 'bed' and a house, which has aggravated the evil disease of redundant officials and redundant soldiers in this dynasty, it is related to the official positions of many people, and no one seriously obstructs this matter. Envoys were set up at various levels in the army, and the official positions were doubled out of thin air, and everyone was happy, and the matter was successfully resolved, but the burden of money and food on the household department was heavier.

"Hou Huanyin is used to acting and buying people's hearts, so you really have to be careful." Cao Liangshi said with a calm face, "If you urge the tax to be paid, the state and county volunteer battalions may not be obedient, if you forcibly urge 'force', it is more likely to 'provoke' the people to revolt, and give Hou Huanyin and these villains a handle, and the state and county will learn to sacrifice wine and criticize it again, and even impeach the prime minister, it will be worth the loss." ”

Cao Liangshi expressed his attitude and opposed the use of troops to forcibly levy taxes. Wu Zilong nodded slightly, Chen Mingche glanced at Cao Liangshi, sighed, and didn't speak. If the use of forced conscription causes public resentment to boil, or even 'provokes' a popular uprising, all the discussion and criticism will be concentrated on the military department and Cao Liangshi. Since he doesn't want to come out and carry this black cauldron, he naturally can't make it difficult for others.

"The Northern Expedition has reached a critical juncture, and I have sent envoys to urge the two generals of Yue and Han to send troops to attack the Liao army together with Zhao Yuanzhi and Cao Di to restore the Central Plains." Chen Dong took a deep breath, "You guys think of a way, no matter what, you must ensure the food and clothing of the troops of the Northern Expedition." ”

Whether it is forced to levy troops or the state and county chambers of commerce to package taxes, there are great drawbacks to the imperial court. When several ministers considered the benefits, the room fell into silence, and after a long time, Chen Mingche sighed and said: "This is not good, that is not good, then it is better to agree to Jiangling tax package." He paused, and then said, "Just don't do it, and don't do it." Now that the prohibitions are abolished, instead of letting the Jiangling Sailor lead to such an indiscriminate distribution of salt, it is better to make a high amount of salt, wine, tea, and ironware, which are monopolized by the imperial court, and then sell them to the Jiangling Chamber of Commerce, and the silver money collected can be equivalent to at least two years of commercial taxes. ”

"Will the Jiangling Sailor agree?" Cao Liangshi asked. After the great 'chaos' in the world, if the Jiangling Navy Division and the imperial court were about to leave, the Liao soldiers attacked Ezhou and did not see them send troops to help, but they used the name of the imperial court to send a large number of salt leads, so that the well salt in the Xia State and Shu continued to be exported to the southeast.

"You let them fight on both sides." Chen Mingche pursed his lips, "The Jiangling Chamber of Commerce has a lot to do with the Xia Kingdom, and it is not a fuel-efficient lamp. Besides, those warriors of the Jiangling Navy Division have no way of cultivating at all, and they are reckless in their reckless behavior with salt and tea, which is simply a tyrannical thing. He glanced at Wu Zilong and said, "Burning eyebrows and hairs, and considering the present, I agree to the proposal of tax packages in these commercial ports, and borrow another year's taxes first, so that the merchants can bid for the right to monopolize salt and iron, which is also wishful thinking." In this way, it can not only alleviate the use of the imperial court, but also block the criticism of Hou Huanyin and the state and county students. When the situation in the Northern Expedition stabilized, he quickly asked Yue, Han, and Zhao Zhu generals to recruit displaced people on the spot. Other large fields that are uncultivated can also be bought by local wealthy households, which is very fair, and the tension of the imperial court can also be greatly alleviated. ”

"The household department is just afraid that it will be inappropriate." Wu Zilong said in a deep voice.

"Or Brother Wu will come up with a solution?" Chen Mingche spread his hands.

Wu Zilong frowned slightly, and didn't look at him. He is in charge of the Ministry of Rites, and he is in charge of the state and county schools, and the schools around the country are in charge of wine and students. It can be said that most of the pressure on the government and the opposition is here in the Ministry of Rites. This tax matter is the easiest thing to provoke, Wu Zilong really doesn't want to get involved too much, wading into this troubled water.

Seeing that Wu Zilong was a little embarrassed, Chen Dong coughed lightly and attracted everyone's attention. His face was solemn and he sighed. In the past, he contacted tens of thousands of local scholars and citizens to write letters against the imperial court's accumulation of wealth, and he acted so freely. Now, they have to try to collect money to ensure that the armies of the Northern Expedition continue to deliver food, grass and clothing. The righteousness is in front, and its own reputation is ruined, but it can only be put aside.

"In that case," Chen Dong said coldly, "I will draw up a recital by the household department, and it is necessary to ensure that the food and salary of the troops of the Northern Expedition are endless." ”

Dawn of the Empire:

Chapter 100 Turning the Night of the Night-15: