Melting snow drips down the eaves from time to time, even if you are in the house, you can hear the crisp and pleasant sound of water droplets, there is always a burst of hearty laughter occasionally in this study, this laughter will always make Huang Baijia look at his father who is smiling very happily, it seems that in his memory, he has never seen his father laugh so happily.

"Maybe it's because this is the world of the Ming Dynasty!"

Huang Baijia obviously didn't understand Huang Zongxi's thoughts, the reason why he rushed to Qinghe immediately after receiving Zhu Zhiyu's letter was not just because the two were old friends and both served King Lu, but because Zhu Zhiyu mentioned some Jiangbei things in the letter aroused his interest, and even after coming to Jiangbei, he had specially checked in the counties along the way. Then I found that this Jiangbei is now completely different from Jiangnan.

After some talking, Huang Zongxi took out a silver coin and said with a smile.

"In fact, the contemptible people are more interested in this silver coin, after the implementation of silver coins in Jiangbei, and in this way, millions of people in Jiangbei have benefited immensely!"

When he first came into contact with this kind of silver coin, Huang Zongxi did not know why he introduced the silver coin at first, but later during his visit to Jiangbei, he learned that the greatest use of this beautifully made silver coin was that there was no need to pay additional fire when paying taxes.

"Silver Coin Issuance ......"

Looking at the silver dollar in Huang Zongxi's hand, it was not made of a hydraulic forging hammer, it was extruded by a screw extruder, which was different from the manpower screw extruder used in European countries, and was made of water power in Jiangbei, and compared with the hydraulic forging hammer, the silver coin extruded by the screw extruder was more exquisite.

"It is for the rated weight and fineness, so that it can be preferential and convenient for the merchants, and when he recovers tomorrow, he can implement this law in the world, and when the time comes, the people of the world can benefit from the silver coin, and the burden of the people can naturally be reduced by about 20%.

Of course, Zhu Mingzhong did not say anything about the "seigniorage", nor did he talk about the future silver dollar coupons, but only talked about how the people would profit from it.

"Such a great good!"

In Huang Zongxi's praise, Zhu Mingzhong continued,

However, this is only one to reduce the burden of the people, and now the government office has begun to formulate a roster, ready to re-implement the "one whip law"! ”

Re-implement the "One Whip Law"!

Looking at Zhu Mingzhong in surprise, Huang Zongxi hurriedly objected.

"Don't forget about this!"

Seeing that the scripture seemed to be slightly puzzled, he hurriedly explained:

"There are two taxes outside the mouth, the strength is different, and there is a silver difference...... A whip ,...... It is the silver power two differences merged into the two taxes also. Not long, and the people who are in the middle of the year are still in trouble, and then they are safe. It is said: 'One whip, two taxes, miscellaneous labor, the difference in the number of years.' ’…… Therefore, the benefit of the whip is less for a while, and the harm for future generations is greater. ”

Speaking out first against the re-implementation of the "One Whip Law", Huang Zongxi continued.

The tax system in the history books of Guanzhi has "three evils": "there is the harm of accumulation and no return", that is, every time the tax system is reformed, it will lead to further aggravation of taxation; "The tax is not the harm of the outcome", the land is levied with silver, and the silver is not from the field, and the people increase their burden because of the depreciation of silver; "The harm of unequal land" refers to the taxation of land according to one standard regardless of the degree of fertility of the land, resulting in an uneven burden. ”

When Huang Zongxi put forward the idea of "there is no harm of accumulation", Zhu Mingzhong only nodded slightly, he is no stranger to "Huang Zongxi's law", and his main point of view is that the tax reform in the past dynasties, every time the reform is carried out, the tax will be increased once, and each time it is heavier; The peasants grow grain but have to wait for the products they produce to be sold and pay taxes in money, and they are exploited by the merchants in the middle; Taxes are levied uniformly regardless of whether the land is good or bad.

Even in the 21st century, tax reform has not yet come out of the cycle of "Huang Zongxi's law". What's more, it is now, and Zhu Mingzhong's own idea of re-"one whip law" is re-established.

“…… If the Jingluo intends to redefine the Jiangbei tax, the standard of taxation should be "the following shall be the rule"; Second, the expropriation of land "must be declared by the soil, those who produce a hundred grains will be given a hundred grains, those who produce mulberry and hemp will be given cloth and silk, and even the sundries will be given to what they produce", what is produced and what is paid, and it is not forced to be consistent; Third, re-measure the land and calculate the ...... per mu according to the quality of the soil."

As soon as Huang Zongxi's words fell, Zhu Zhiyu over there immediately objected.

"Lizhou was surprised, if what is produced and what is paid, then how can the government have money to use to pay for it? Is it all fed with hundreds of grains and mulberry hemp? ”

After directly pointing out the shortcomings in the other party's suggestion, Zhu Zhiyu said again.

"It is only natural that the tax on land should be taxed to eliminate the uneven tax burden caused by the difference in the quality of the land. But it is absolutely impossible to pay in kind! ”

"But now the land is levied with silver, the silver is not from the field, the people are burdened by the discount of silver, the price of grain is manipulated by profiteers, and the profiteers have long been angry.

Facing Huang Zongxi's suggestion, Zhu Mingzhong shook his head with a smile and said.

If this law is implemented, the annual loss of the government in kind may not be less than hundreds of thousands, and the officials must levy additional taxes in order to make up for the loss, just as the grain will be levied two to four percent or even fifty percent of the grain in addition to each stone of grain, and the loss will be made up for by the expenditure, so how can the burden on the people be reduced?"

Although he knew that Huang Zongxi's suggestion was for the sake of the people, Zhu Mingzhong knew that due to the relationship of the times, his suggestion was not so much for the sake of the people, but rather a retrogression of the times.

Zhu Mingzhong's reminder made Huang Zongxi immediately think of the additional grain levied in the Cao Grain Collection, and he, who was still ready to argue with Zhu Zhiyu, suddenly fell dumb.

"However, as Lizhou said before, this silver money is not from the land, and the people must sell grain in exchange for silver, but the price of grain is manipulated by profiteers, so that profiteers will lower the price of grain, and it will inevitably harm the peasants.

"Is there a way to fix this?"

Huang Zongxi asked urgently, and Zhu Zhiyu also looked at him, not knowing what way he had to solve this problem that had not been solved for a hundred years.

"The solution to the problem is simple!"

Under the gaze of everyone, he took a sip of tea first, and then Zhu Mingzhong said.

"It's to set a protective price!"

"Protection price?"

"What is a protection price?"

Huang Zongxi and Zhu Zhiyu asked puzzled.

"The protective price is the grain price set by the government, and the fixed grain price must not be lower than this price!"

This is the simplest method for later generations, and it is also an effective method, although he does not know much about this policy, but Zhu Mingzhong is no stranger to the basic principle.

"The establishment of the minimum purchase price for grain is to protect the interests of the people and to use the power of the government to regulate and control grain prices, so as to avoid repeating the mistake of being cheap and hurting the peasants."

"Minimum purchase price?"

Huang Zongxi's brows furrowed slightly, and then he asked rhetorically.

"How can this merchant obey because of the government's price?"

Compared with Huang Zongxi's doubts, Zhu Zhiyu looked at Zhu Mingzhong with a smile, he knew this student very well, and he always had many wonderful ideas in his mind.

"It doesn't matter if the merchant comes with money, as long as the government takes the money, it will be purchased at the lowest purchase price, as long as the government bids for the purchase, the merchant naturally cannot buy it at a price lower than the government! With the government's pricing, the people will naturally not sell grain to grain merchants at a low price! ”

This is the simplest truth, listening to him say this, Huang Zongxi, Zhu Zhiyu and others first thought for a moment, and then showed some joy on their faces, if so, those grain merchants naturally could not lower the price of grain, and the people would naturally not suffer from the cheap silver and grain.

"But what is the use of the grain purchased by the government? What is the difference between the government's purchase and the people's payment of grain tax credits? ”

Huang Baijia, who was sitting on the side, asked puzzled.

"Naturally, there is a difference! If the government sets the purchase price, at most only need to purchase 1 to 2 percent of the grain, can stabilize the price of grain, the people as a whole still pay taxes in silver, and even if the field is levied silver, the government also needs to purchase grain to enrich the grain depot, and in the past, the grain in the grain depots in each prefecture and county was purchased by grain merchants, rather than making grain merchants profit from it, if the government buys it itself, of course, I am afraid that the government needs to expand the granary. Although there is an expense for setting up a granary, if it is a disaster year, the government can directly release grain, and in normal times, it can also sell the grain in the granary to stabilize the price of grain in the city......"

Drawing on some ideas from later generations, Zhu Mingzhong continued after explaining how to stabilize grain prices and avoid the situation of silver and grain being cheap.

"As for the shortcomings of a whip law, there is still room for improvement, and compared with the current many harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the re-implementation of a whip law can reduce the burden on the people to the greatest extent."

"That'...... If this is the case, how can the government solve the problem? ”

Huang Zongxi looked at the strategy in puzzlement, if the "One Whip Law" was used to abolish harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, it would be the government that would lose the most.

"The government office has calculated that if a whip law is repeated, plus the loss of tax revenue in Jiangbei will not be more than one million taels! That is, forty percent of the tax! ”

Looking at Huang Zongxi, Zhu Mingzhong bluntly pointed out the losses of Jiangbei after the implementation of a whip law. The Manchu Qing Dynasty's exorbitant taxes were too heavy, and it was a burden for the common people.

"But, it's worth it!"

After saying this sentence in an affirmative tone, Zhu Mingzhong continued.

"Solving the government's use is by no means the only way to increase taxes! I think that since the beginning of the Apocalypse, our dynasty has fallen into a dire situation, and at that time, the officials only knew that the tax would be raised, but most of the officials talked about morality, but they did not have the ability to actually benefit the people, and finally completely defeated our dynasty. Today, Zhu intends to implement the new law, and he has to do the opposite! Not only will it not add a tax increase to solve the problem, but on the contrary, it will reduce taxes in a big way! ”