Of course, Xu Jin also had to obey the emperor's wishes and began to discuss serious matters, so he took the initiative to say: "Your Majesty, the minister also seconded the proposal, and now it is better to discuss the business first, and the minister thinks that the decline in tariff growth is not due to the rampant smuggling trade, but because the court taxes are heavy, the profit margin of merchants is reduced, and the enthusiasm for going to sea is not high!" ”

Although Xu Jin and other representatives of the merchant class were not interested in discussing tariffs and smuggling, if the emperor wanted to discuss this matter, they could only put forward their own opinions, so the problem can be boiled down to one point, that is, the tax is too high, and the point is that the commercial tax is too high!

It's another business tax cut!

Zhu Houzhao found that many civil officials headed by Xu Jin, in addition to attacking the courtiers and engaging in internal political struggles, when talking about the official affairs of the imperial court, they all changed their ways to reduce or reduce commercial taxes.

The gap between the rich and the poor of the people in the east and the west is too large, and the commercial tax should be reduced or reduced!

Spain has repeatedly disturbed the people of the Ming Dynasty and wants to reduce or exempt commercial taxes!

The contradiction between Tusi and the people of Han has intensified, and it is necessary to reduce or exempt commercial taxes!

Nowadays, the decline in tariff growth is still due to the increase in commercial taxes, and commercial taxes must be reduced!

Zhu Houzhao had to admit that Xu Jin, these civil officials, did not have any clear and detailed propositions at this time, and the most consistent proposition was to reduce taxes, and there was no sense of establishing a group, nor did they want to completely control the purpose of ruling power, let alone a clear goal.

This is different from his own Zhongjun Society, which has everything except that it has no goal to rebel.

Turning back to the words, Zhu Houzhao knew that the civil officials from the merchant class wanted the imperial court to reduce taxes.

However, Zhu Houzhao knew that this tax could not be reduced.

Because Daming has been exempted from servitude under heaven, and has also reduced agricultural taxes a lot, and even outside the Guanwai, considering the impact of the climate of the Xiaoice River on agriculture in the north, not only did not collect agricultural taxes but also gave subsidies to some peasant households.

Therefore, if the Ming Dynasty wanted to maintain the financial abundance of the central court, continue to increase investment in infrastructure, maintain a strong army, and invest in scientific research, it could only rely on the tax income from commercial trade.

And in fact, the commercial tax of the Ming Dynasty is not heavy, but it is only a little more than the previous ratio of thirty taxes.

However, for the gentry of the empire, who had been transformed from landlords to capitalists, they were accustomed to paying a large amount of taxes to the imperial court every year, accustomed to low agricultural taxes and even to avoid taxes at will.

But every year these gentry pay a lot, but they also earn a lot.

So, to say that these gentry are not selfish, it must be all false.

But they are always playing the image of selflessness, justice and integrity in the court, and a large group of children of bureaucratic families who are also well-born compete to echo them.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao sometimes has to admit that sometimes the more the class that benefits the court, the more unwilling to pay for the court, this is called getting cheap and selling well.

The words turned back, at this time, as soon as Xu Jin's words fell, Shang Shucong Lan of the Audit Office stood up: "Your Majesty, the minister believes that the decline in the increase in tariffs is not caused by the heavy tax, because the commercial tax implemented by the Ming Dynasty is not heavy, and the Audit Office has clear statistics, and the commercial banks that go to sea, even if they operate the worst, can make a profit of four or five times, and the taxes paid will not make them reluctant to go to sea to do business at all;

Therefore, the minister believes that the decline in the increase in tariffs is caused by rampant smuggling, which also confirms the phenomenon of Jinyiwei playing that pirates have bred and increased greatly in the sea recently! ”

Zhang Kui also stood up: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what he said is biased, even if it is caused by rampant smuggling, it is also caused by the excessive commercial taxes of the imperial court, so that the merchants are forced to be thieves." ”

"Tariff revenue is related to the income of the Ming treasury, and now the commercial tax is not high, if it is reduced again, it will only make the treasury money and grain poor, money and grain imbalance, and the merchants avoid taxes and smuggle for theft, the root cause is not the heavy tax, it is really selfish, or relying on the support of local forces, ignoring the royal law, so the ministers think that it should be cracked down! With the law of the country! To protect the revenue of the national treasury! ”

Zhu Zailei, the secretary of the household department, also stood up, and he also learned a lot about the rampant smuggling now, and knew that there were many coastal gentry who acted as a protective umbrella for some smuggling pirates.

But now, some civil officials in the court are still insisting on covering up the phenomenon of smuggling becoming more and more rampant, which makes him a little unbearable, and he is busy taking over.

"Father! According to the emperor's brother, the sons and daughters think it is inappropriate, and the government must not use tyranny to govern the country, and the merchants smuggle as thieves, and should not be cracked down, otherwise it may cause a popular uprising, so the sons and daughters believe that the decline in tariff increases is inevitable, and the court should take advantage of the trend, rather than taking the benefits of the merchants and the people, it is better to open source."

The second prince, Zhu Zaiwei, also stood up at this time and said, he knew that his imperial brother Zhu Zailei's political views would definitely not be liked by most of the civil officials and gentry, so he echoed the inner thoughts of most of these civil officials and gentry in order to gain the support of these people.

Xu Jin and the others were very unhappy when they saw Zhu Zailei's request to crack down on smuggling at the beginning, after all, they were all smugglers in the south, and if they really wanted to crack down, how could they live.

And the words of the second prince made them very satisfied, and it was undoubtedly beneficial for them not to crack down on smuggling with tyranny.

Min Xian, the right attendant of the IRS, also stood up and echoed:

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what the second prince said is very true, rather than taking the benefits of the merchants and prohibiting smuggling, so as to provoke the people to revolt, it is better to benefit the people and open up the source, after all, the merchants are also the children of His Majesty, and now there are more and more workers, and the income is also increasing, but they only enjoy the insurance benefits provided by the court and the commercial houses, and pay a small amount of taxes;

Therefore, the minister believes that these workers should also bear a certain amount of taxes, that is, the personal income tax should be raised, such as the levy of overtime tax, in order to curb the phenomenon of the common people competing for processing, which is also for the sake of their health, otherwise these people will work hard for a long time, which may cause the physical fitness of the imperial people to decline, and also make the family disharmonious! ”

Zhu Houzhao wants to laugh very much, now the workers of the Ming Dynasty are implementing the eight-hour work system, so the Ming Dynasty requires the factory owner to work overtime outside the eight hours, if the workers need to work overtime, they need to give the workers higher working treatment, and the basic principle of the remuneration of the workers of the Ming Dynasty is to do more and get more, because the workers' remuneration system of the Ming Dynasty originally came from the imperial court from Zhu Houzhao's principle of remuneration according to the amount rather than the day.

Therefore, most workers now work overtime desperately in order to earn more.

The factory owners are also happy to do this, they naturally want the workers to work overtime, but they are not willing to let the workers get too much benefit, so that some people demand an overtime tax to curb workers from working overtime, with the aim of making workers healthier.

It's just that Zhu Houzhao didn't expect that in today's court, there are really civil officials who propose to levy overtime tax.

"Protecting the interests of workers and farmers is the basic principle of Zhongjun Society, what are you doing, collecting overtime tax, you can figure it out!"

Xia Yan couldn't help but reprimand loudly, and then said to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, migrant workers are people who have no land or even no houses in the towns, they can't get a stable place in life, and they can't have a tomb to return to their roots in death, and they can rely on their own hard work to have no worries about food and clothing. ”

"The common people's homes are full of food and clothing, and the country should be governed by luxury and frugality, why ask for a beautiful house, the son of the common people is literate and read, it is already a blessing of heaven, why invite famous teachers to enter famous schools to seek talents, if everything is comparable to the rich, how can you be happy! Therefore, the minister believes that if the overtime tax is levied, it will not affect the income of the common people, but can promote the thrift of the common people! ”

Xu Jin refuted Xia Yan at this time, he was very unaccustomed to Xia Yan's theory of putting workers and farmers first, but he was not good at refuting it directly, after all, this is already a public opinion in the world, and he can only use the so-called virtue of advocating thrift as the theoretical basis for expressing his own opinions.

Zhu Houzhao didn't expect that discussing a tariff and smuggling matter would be discussed to the point of whether overtime tax should be levied, and he couldn't help but say for a while:

"That's it! I already know the remarks of your Aiqing, this is an internal matter, and naturally it should be decided by the cabinet, Xia Aiqing, your cabinet will sort out and synthesize the remarks of all Aiqing in the court today, and then organize them into a final resolution, which will be inherited from me. ”

After speaking, Zhu Houzhao ordered to retreat from the court.

And that's the end of it?

Min Xian, Zhang Kui and the others couldn't help but slander in shock, thinking that they were about to argue a few more words and say a few words about the reasons why the court should be re-negotiable, why didn't His Majesty want to listen to it.

But now, in addition to understanding the opinions of the ministers below, Zhu Houzhao does not mean to make decisions personally, but still lets the cabinet act as his own decision-making power in internal affairs.

Thereupon.

Min Xian and Zhang Kui had no choice but to look at Xu Jin: "Elder Xu Ge, please also uphold justice for the businessmen and people of the world!" ”

Xu Jin nodded, he didn't need them to say, he also knew.

Xia Yan and Yan Song had already gone to the cabinet to be on duty at this time, and on the way, Xia Yan couldn't help but say to Yan Song: "Yan Gong, you should understand that you started by benefiting farmers all over the world, and in the Ming Dynasty, this farmer and craftsman are indistinguishable in many times, they are farmers when they return to their hometowns, and they are craftsmen when they enter the city. ”

"Xia Guan understands, please rest assured Yuan Fu, Xia Guan will show you after the preparation is ready", Yan Song said.

When the cabinet secretary saw Xia Yan and Yan Song coming, he saluted respectfully, but Xia Yan didn't pay attention to Ni Yuanlin, because he knew that Ni Yuanlin had always obeyed Xu Jin's orders, and Yan Song smiled.

Ni Yuanlin already knew about the front hall, so he hurriedly took the initiative to come over and asked Xia Yan: "Qi Yuanfu, today's court discussion, how should the lower officials prepare?" ”

Xia Yan still ignored it.

Ni Yuanlin was bitter that Xu Jin didn't come, so he had to look at Yan Song.

Yan Song waited for a long time before he said, "You rest, let Su Qing come." ”

So, Gao Gong, the secretary of the cabinet, hurriedly walked over: "Please ask the elder to command." ”

Xu Jin also came over at this time, seeing that Ni Yuanlin was as if nothing happened, and knew that Ni Yuanlin must have been left out in the cold, he also felt a little empathy in his heart, he could guess that even if he was the second assistant of the cabinet, but now among the three cabinet ministers, after Xia Yan formed an alliance with Yan Song, his second assistant to the cabinet was also useless, and he couldn't fight for the interests of the businessmen.

Ni Yuanlin is also dissatisfied, originally as the secretary of the cabinet, he should be very powerful, after all, he works in the center of the empire, but now he not only has no chance of promotion because of his father's fall, but also because he and Xu Jin are close and are rejected by the first assistant and the third assistant.

Seeing Xu Jin being left aside as a second assistant, he couldn't help but complain, and after saluting Xu Jin:

"Second assistant, the lower officials really don't understand, since they are all cabinet ministers, why don't you discuss the resolution, not to mention that you are still the second assistant, and that Gao Gong has only been in the cabinet for a few days, so let him draft the decision! This official is really aggrieved! ”

Xu Jin ignored Ni Yuanlin and directly entered his duty room, he knew that Ni Yuanlin was dissatisfied with Xia Yan, but he was actually not only dissatisfied with Xia Yan, but dissatisfied with the emperor.

He knew that Xia Yan could always be so proud, and it had nothing to do with the emperor's support for him.

Of course, Xu Jin didn't dare to have the idea and motive of killing the monarch, but he knew that the real reason why the emperor could keep playing with his civil officials was not because there were lackeys like Xia Yan, but because the emperor had been using the institution of Xichang to monitor his civil officials.

"Your Majesty must be asked to revoke the West Factory! Even if the West Factory cannot be revoked, the people of the West Factory must not dare to be so presumptuous! ”

Xu Jin thought so.

Therefore, he no longer insisted on reducing or reducing commercial taxes, but wrote an article about the pros and cons of the West Factory, and he did not directly say that the West Factory should not have it, but analyzed the pros and cons, and he believed that the civil officials would understand what they meant, and increase the publicity of the disadvantages of the West Factory.

Xu Jin doesn't talk about Xia Yan, but talks about Xichang, which is undoubtedly a good way to fight back.

Because, whether it is the East Factory or the West Factory today, people from all walks of life, whether they are ministers or military generals, are quite dissatisfied with this, both because the West Factory is in charge of the reason for the discrimination of the ministers and eunuchs, and because they are unwilling to be monitored at all times.

Therefore, many people began to talk about Xichang because of this, began to disclose various shortcomings of Xichang, and even directly denounced the crimes of Gao Zhong of Xichang, and directly demanded that His Majesty the Emperor should ban Xichang.

Zhu Houzhao naturally will not obey the wishes of these people, the West Factory is now one of his means of monitoring the people, if there is no West Factory, he is undoubtedly missing a pair of eyes in the deep palace, so Zhu Houzhao will naturally not follow the people's request to ban the West Factory.

Xu Jin also knew that the emperor would not ban the West Factory, but he would still secretly deceive people to continue to attack the West Factory, with only one purpose, to make the people in charge of the West Factory feel afraid.

Gao Zhong, the commander of Xichang, was indeed very annoyed, and he was annoyed that there were more and more negative comments about him, as if he was a thief of the country.

But in fact, he hasn't arrested a few people, and it's actually Dongchang and Jinyiwei who have been arresting people.

Gao Zhong knew that someone was behind the trick, but he was indeed worried that after a long time, His Majesty would really believe these rumors, or have to deal with himself because of public opinion.