Li Zicheng felt that Wang Jia was reasonable at first, if there is not enough tax, it is indeed difficult for the country to operate normally, but if you think about it carefully, it is not right, in this era, the country's expenditures are not fixed, they are often determined according to personal preferences, and the arbitrariness is larger, for example, the emperor's wedding, you can spend a million taels, who will pay for these silver? Should it be collected through taxation?

These truths, this kind of thinking is still the whole world, the people of the whole country as their own people, they can take as much as they want, there is no rationality and legitimacy!

He glanced at Liu Kui, Wang Gui, and Zuo Gua, reminding them that this was not only to Wang Jia, but also to you, "Even if the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion is regarded as a state, this principle of taxation is wrong, and I ask you, how much is the normal expenditure of a country in a year?" ”

"This ...... The grass people really don't know ......."

"Not only do you not know, but even the household secretary of the imperial court doesn't know," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Wang Jia just said that the liao salary, subsidy salary, and training salary were all forcibly taxed by the Ming court in the case of making ends meet, and this part of the tax is needed by the imperial court. ”

"If it weren't for this money, the imperial court would have perished sooner or later......"

"How much of this money is really spent in the right place?"

"With this money, the imperial court may usher in a turnaround...... No, with the Mandate of Heaven Army, there will definitely be no turnaround for the imperial court......"

……

"Let's assume that all this money is used to suppress bandits," Li Zicheng waved his hand and said: "The people themselves don't have much money left, and the sudden tax increase by the imperial court will accelerate the bankruptcy of the people and force them to embark on the road of rebellion. ”

Wang Jia got up suddenly, shook his body, and said, "The Governor of the Metropolis, the grass people...... The grass people know that they are wrong......"

"This is not a reasonable tax, but a sign of the demise of a dynasty," Li Zicheng raised his hand, let Wang Jia sit down, and said: "There is no right or wrong, today is a discussion, not a conviction, if you have any ideas, just put them forward!" ”

"Thank you Dadu Governor," Wang Jia sat down and said carefully: "What does the Dadu Governor think is the basis for taxation?" ”

"What? Didn't I tell you earlier? Li Zicheng picked up the tea cup and smiled mysteriously.

"Ah......" The four of them were all stunned, and after a while, Liu Kui suddenly said: "The grass people understand, the people, based on the actual income of the people, the high income of the people, the tax rate is high, and the income of the people is low, so it is necessary to pay less taxes, no matter what, let the people leave enough rations!" ”

"That's pretty much what it means," Li Zicheng stretched out his thumb to Liu Kui, and he was also happy in his heart, the territory of the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion has finally cultivated talents who are different from the imperial court's ideological understanding, "However, there is one thing I want to correct, the tax rate is a relatively stable scale, which cannot be easily changed, and the people's income is even higher, and the tax rate must not be easily changed." ”

He told the students that in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the current situation of the Mandate of Heaven, the people were relatively poor, and the appropriate light tax could be cultivated to recuperate and recuperate, so that the people could return to the normal level as soon as possible, and then the normal tax rate should be determined according to the normal year, and it should not be easily changed in the future because of the increase in the income of the people.

He also cited the example of the Han Dynasty, in the early Han Dynasty, in the face of the threat of the Xiongnu, and the shame of the "Siege of Baideng" of Han Gaozu, but the imperial court did not choose to start a full-scale war with the Xiongnu, why?

No money!

Can we increase taxes on the people?

No, in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, after a series of battles, the people were not much better than now, if the imperial court forcibly increased taxes, it could only accelerate the demise of the dynasty, and without waiting for the Xiongnu, the people would overthrow the imperial court, Great Qin, Great Sui were short-lived, and this is the reason!

Han Gaozu chose to make temporary peace with the Xiongnu in a friendly way, although it was a shame, but for the country, it was the best way, and when the Western Han Dynasty accumulated enough money, it quickly gained the initiative against the Xiongnu......

"Metropolitan Governor, there is something unclear about the grass people," Li Jia's courage gradually grew, and his speech became sharper, "Based on the output of the people, can the normal operation of the country be guaranteed?" ”

"No guarantees!" Li Zicheng said: "Or take the early years of the Western Han Dynasty as an example, have you heard of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, being extravagant? In his harem, are there thousands of palace maids and tens of thousands of eunuchs? Why not? Poor, can't afford to raise, in order to save money, he is not much better than ordinary officials, like Qin Shi Huang Yingzheng, who concentrated the palace maids of the six countries in Xianyang, or Tang Xuanzong Li Longji, the situation that there are 40,000 palace maids in the harem, should not appear when the dynasty rises, otherwise, the dynasty will inevitably be short-lived......"

“……”

Li Zicheng said: "Back in this dynasty, in order to exterminate the rogues, the imperial court levied taxes with all kinds of blatant purposes, and the result was that there were more and more rogues, which accelerated its own demise......"

Li Jia heard that the Ming Dynasty was going to perish sooner or later, and he was secretly shocked in his heart, according to the analysis of the Metropolitan Governor, if the imperial court perished, once the Metropolitan Governor became the emperor, wouldn't these people be all ministers of the dragon? But he was still a little uneasy, so he said: "According to the Metropolitan Governor, can there be a way to solve the current situation in the imperial court?" ”

"Yes," Li Zicheng glanced at Wang Jia and said, "But the adults in the imperial court can't solve it, and Emperor Chongzhen can't solve it!" ”

Wang Jia wanted to ask again, but the governor didn't say anything, it was obviously a major military secret, so he stopped.

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Back to the original question, since you understand the basis of taxation, you should understand why the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion taxes the people lightly!" ”

Wang Jia nodded vigorously, "Because the people of Xining and Longyou are very poor!" ”

"Yes, after bandits and soldiers, the people in these places can't even eat their bellies, so how can they have surplus food to pay taxes? Over the years, the people have just solved the belly problem, if the tax is raised, the people will return to extreme poverty, once natural disasters and man-made disasters, you say, can the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion still be stable? ”

"However, without enough tax revenue, how can the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion stay afloat? And the soldiers' salaries......"

"You don't have to worry, I have my own source for the officials' salaries, soldiers' salaries, and money for building bridges and roads and schools," Li Zicheng said: "If there is no source, even if you wait for death, you can't raise taxes on the people for the time being!" ”

If you use the way of war, plunder money and wealth from the outside world, it is a way to quickly accumulate wealth, but unfortunately, now around the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion, except for the Ming Dynasty, there is no suitable object, and the nomads have always been unable to store money and food, and they are basically destitute......

Li Zicheng exempted the four of them from losing interest in the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion, and clearly told them that the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion was not short of money, otherwise, it would be possible to delay the construction of roads and run schools in order to save expenses.

After chatting with these four people all morning, Li Zicheng was generally satisfied, and accompanied them to lunch, which made the four of them very flattered.

He had the deepest impression of Wang Jia, but Wang Jia's temperament was too rigid and had no creativity, so when the four of them established Lanzhou Political Science and Law High School, Liu Kui was the dean, Wang Jia was the vice president, majoring in law, Wang Gui and Zuo Gua, both of whom were teachers.

Li Zicheng gave Liu Kui half a year to prepare, and strived to start school in July, and he went to find a group of teachers. Lanzhou High School of Political Science and Law is different from the High School of Science and Technology, which is not a full-time school for the time being, and is mainly for officials from all over the country to be trained in turn, so that they can ideologically be in tune with the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Office.

The officials to be trained are not necessarily the chiefs of the prefectures and counties, but can also be young reserve forces.

On the twelfth day of the first month, Li Zicheng waited for Mao Ting, the proprietor of Xining Shunfeng Commercial Bank, in Lanzhou, to be precise, Mao Ting was not the proprietor of Xining Shunfeng Commercial Bank, but the shopkeeper, and Li Zicheng was the proprietor behind the scenes.

Li Zicheng did not summon him at the Dadu Governor's Mansion, but asked Mao Ting to wait for him directly in the southwest of the new city.

The snow on the roof had not yet completely melted, and it was a patch of gray-red tiles, blue bricks, and remnants of snow that God had dotted in between...... If it falls under the painter's pen, it must be full of artistic conception!

On Xining Avenue, it is clean and smooth, in front of a two-story attic with blue bricks and glazed tiles, Li Zicheng pointed with his hand, "Lord Mao, look at it, how is this house?" ”

"Grand Duke, is this really our house?" Mao Ting combed his hair that was blown away by the cold wind with his hands, and his eyes suddenly brightened.

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Of course, this is designed according to the requirements of the shop, you go up and see, is there anything that needs to be changed, or do you want to add some facilities?" ”

"This is not in a hurry, even if it is to be changed, it will not take long," Mao Ting was a little impatient, "Metropolitan Governor, to open Shunfeng Commercial Bank to Lanzhou, I am afraid that there will not be enough manpower......"

"If there is not enough manpower, I can recall, and I will re-invest a batch of silver," Li Zicheng said: "The key is the goods, is there a sales market for the products produced by various factories in Xining?" ”

"Back to Dadudu, the market will not be too big, and I tried to sell it locally last year, and I barely managed to keep my capital," Mao Ting suddenly said with a bitter face: "There are too few rich businessmen in Xining, and the real rich businessman's family can get these goods without going through Shunfeng Trading House......"

Li Zicheng immediately understood that the luxury goods produced by the Xining factory were basically sold by the Mu and Jin firms at that time, and they may have a small amount of inventory in their hands, or they may have obtained some goods at ex-factory prices through the relationship of acquaintances, and Shunfeng firm has no obvious advantage.

"Mao Ting, in Lanzhou City, there are no these novel goods for the time being, and the merchants are not familiar with those manufacturers in Xining, you can try to open the shops in Lanzhou and see the effect."

"The Grand Governor, if the profit is high, sooner or later, Mu and Jin will follow......

Li Zicheng is not worried about competition, the three companies compete for profits, they must reduce each other's prices, which is the most beneficial to the people, and the profits of Shunfeng Commercial Bank will decline, but from the perspective of the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Office, it is still necessary to protect the interests of the people.

There is so much money in the hands of the people, the price of goods is reduced, and the people can buy more goods with the same money, and there is more room for choice, and the more goods sold, the more profit the manufacturer will be.

Moreover, the factory is his, and he can cut off the supply of goods to Muhammad and Kim at any time......

Thinking of this, Li Zicheng smiled faintly and said: "Don't worry too much about this, the Mu family and the Jin family also want profits, and they don't have the strength to fight!" ”

Mao Ting thought for a while and said, "Governor Dadu, the grass people suggest that the shops in Lanzhou cannot exclusively sell these luxury goods for the time being, and they must also sell ordinary goods!" ”

"That's a good idea, business matters, it's still up to you."

"Thank you for your trust," Mao Ting bowed and said, "The shops in Lanzhou will be up and running as soon as possible......

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "I'll give you 20,000 yuan, is it enough?" ”

"It's enough, it's not enough to use 20,000 yuan at all," Mao Ting said: "The shops in Xining have only made a profit of more than 2,000 yuan this year, and now they have to invest in the ......."

"Shunfeng Commercial Bank is now in the expansion stage, the investment is normal, the extra money, put it here for you first, and then go to Chengdu to see ...... when the matter in Lanzhou is decided."

"Chengdu?" Mao Ting was shocked and said hurriedly: "The Metropolitan Governor is saying that he will expand Shunfeng Commercial Bank to Chengdu?" I heard that Chengdu's wealth is no less than that of Jiangnan......"

"Compared with Jiangnan, Chengdu is probably still insufficient, but the wealth of Shu is definitely not comparable to Xining and Lanzhou," Li Zicheng said: "Later, you will go to Chengdu to see in person, if Chengdu's commercial banks can be opened, I will continue to invest money!" ”

"Yes, Grand Duke!" Mao Ting was overjoyed, he was originally unwilling in the family, but he didn't expect to follow the governor of the capital and become the nominal proprietor of Shunfeng Commercial Bank, although the silver money was not his own, but after the money in his hands, it was no less than Mao Xiang.

With silver, his status in the family will also rise!

Mao Ting suppressed the excitement in his heart and whispered, "Governor, what about the names of these firms?" ”

Li Zicheng already had an idea in his heart, but he wanted to teach Mao Ting, so he smiled and said: "You were born as a merchant, what do you think?" ”

"According to the grass people, they all use 'Shunfeng Commercial Bank', and the place names Lanzhou, Chengdu, etc. are crowned in front, and the big 'Shunfeng Commercial Bank' is ......"

"This is a good idea, so that the 'Shunfeng Commercial Bank' is a golden sign in the whole country," Li Zicheng's heart is also full of expectations, but he doesn't know if this goal can be achieved, "However, each commercial bank must remain independent, and can cooperate and help each other, but must not lend each other!" ”

He is going to set up a business group, with Mao Ting as the proprietor of the group, and the various commercial banks under the group are operating independently, and there is no accounting exchange between them, in case a certain commercial bank loses money, it will not affect the entire group too much.

You can't put all your eggs in one basket!

The group can expand with the pace of the Mandate of Heaven, and the various commercial houses under the group are expanding their shop outlets, expanding to the county seat and even the town.