"Li Xianggong, you have been in the third division for a long time, the importance of governing the country, the first thing is financial management, I came to you to talk about how to clear the financial taxes...... You just have to speak freely, and if you have anything to say, I will listen to you. ”

In order to reassure Li Gu, Chai Rong also specially instructed the living room next to him to let him retreat and not be allowed to record. The emperor tried his best to create a gentle atmosphere for conversation, but the more this happened, the more Li Gu felt a chill in his heart and a cold sweat broke out on his back.

The impeachment of him by those people is all in the palace, did His Majesty read it, or didn't see it, did he take it seriously, or did he use it to relieve his boredom?

Li Gu is very messy, he feels that His Majesty the Emperor in front of him is becoming more and more unfathomable and elusive, he is smiling at you, but in his smile, there is an indescribable weirdness, I don't know whether it is joy or sorrow...... Maybe this is the unpredictable power of the sky, right?

Li Gu couldn't understand the emperor's thoughts, but he didn't dare to be silent for too long, he cleared his throat, "Your Majesty, I have more than sixty percent of the current household income, which is Tian Fu, and the remaining three percent of five are salt and iron monopoly, as well as commercial taxes in Kaifeng and other places, and the old minister will start with Tian Fu first." ”

Chai Rong nodded happily, Li Gu sorted out his thoughts, and talked eloquently...... There are two kinds of cultivated land in the Great Zhou, one is private land and the other is official land.

Mintian refers to the private land of landlords and yeoman farmers, while official land refers to land owned by the state or the emperor. Guantian includes Tuntian, Yingtian, Vocational Field, Xuetian, Cangtian, Gongtian and so on.

Of the total cultivated land in the Great Zhou Dynasty, about one-tenth is official land and nine-tenths is private land.

Because of the different nature of the land, resulting in the difference of land endowment, the field endowment is generally divided into five types, one is the endowment of public land, that is, the rent levied on official fields such as Guanzhuang, Tuntian, Xuetian, etc. Official land is generally cultivated by peasants, and the state collects official rent, which accounts for about one-third of the harvest. In addition to the tenant rent, there is also a general land tax. Combined, the endowment of Guantian is about half.

The second is the endowment of private land, that is, the endowment of private land of the people. The Great Zhou Tianfu is generally tithe-based. The third is the endowment of the city, which is the house tax and land tax levied on urban residents. Fourth, the miscellaneous endowment, which is a native product levied from various places, is a harsh levy in addition to the positive endowment. The fifth is the endowment of Ding Kou, which is the money and rice levied on Ding Nan.

When Chai Rong heard this, he couldn't help coughing, interrupted Li Gu's words, and muttered: "Li Xianggong, the so-called taxes must be fair, and the burden of official land is much higher than that of private land. ”

Li Gu hurriedly said: "Your Majesty Shengming, there is indeed such a situation, but this practice has been followed for a long time, and it is customary, and it is not easy to change it......

"No!"

Chai Rong said sharply: "Since it is a maladministration, no matter how many years it lasts, it must be changed!" There's nothing about the old ways here! In this way, all official fields will be abolished! It is owned by the people who cultivate it, and it will be paid according to the people's land in the future. ”

What else could Li Gu say, he could only kneel on the ground and thank God for the people.

"Your Majesty is merciful, and in the future, all the people who cultivate in the public land will surely be grateful for the great virtue of the Son of Heaven and praise the Emperor of God."

Chai Rong's face was as usual, and he continued: "Li Xianggong, you just said that the imperial court still has to collect local products from all over the country, which is also a maladministration, so don't do it!" When the harem and the court need it, they will spend money to buy it, so as not to alarm the people. ”

Li Gu was stunned for a long time, and said: "Your Majesty, the people pay tribute to the imperial court, which is filial piety, and it is not easy to abolish it." Moreover, if it is to purchase local products, it will definitely cost countless amounts and increase the burden on the court. ”

"No!"

Chai Rong said sharply: "Li Xianggong, what do you mean is to let the people pay, so the court will not have to bear the burden, then I ask you, what is the burden of the people?" Isn't it still a burden on the imperial court? As long as the common people can get the benefits, it is the imperial court that gets the benefits, and the so-called local products must be exempted. ”

"Yes!" Li Gu couldn't bear the pressure of the Son of Heaven and nodded obediently.

Chai Rong seemed to be very satisfied, and smiled slightly, "Li Xianggong, let's talk about Ding Kou's endowment, I have also thought about this, it seems that there is something wrong, and it should be ......."

"Does Your Majesty want to be exempted too?"

Li Gu's face turned white with fright, and he asked in disbelief.

Chai Rong nodded, "I do have this idea, Li Xianggong, the people of the world, not everyone cultivates the land, everyone has land...... If you don't have land, how can you pay the ding tax? That's why I thought I should be exempted from Ding Fu! ”

"No! Absolutely not! ”

Li Gu trembled, if the previous abolition of official fields and the cessation of collecting local products can be regarded as reducing the burden of the people, and it is barely acceptable, then the abolition of Ding Fu is simply a collapse of the sky, and something big will happen!

Li Gu knelt on the ground again, and said to Chai Rong vertically: "Your Majesty loves the people, the old minister admires it, and wants to reduce the burden of the people, and the old minister also understands Your Majesty's hard work...... But everything is too much, now the income of the imperial court, sixty percent of five comes from the field endowment, and among the field endowment, sixty percent is the endowment of Dingkou, if Your Majesty is exempted, the imperial court's annual income will be reduced by nearly forty percent! ”

Li Gu is about to cry, he, the third envoy, is equivalent to a big housekeeper, who has cut forty percent of his expenses at once, can he sustain it?

The huge imperial court, the soldiers must be used everywhere, the officials must be raised, and there are so many things to do, which one can be separated from the money! Li Gu was full of grievances, like a little daughter-in-law, "Your Majesty, the ministers have the courage to speak, the people are more troublesome, you can't blindly connive, Ding Fu, Tian Fu, it is a rule of thousands of years, the imperial grain and national tax, it is justified, since it is the people of the Great Zhou, you have to pay money and grain, how can it be exempted?" The old minister thought that ordinary people would also understand the difficulties of the imperial court, and were willing to pay the Ding Fu, and asked His Majesty to know it! ”

"If Your Majesty insists on doing so, the old minister can only ask for the resignation of the three envoys, and ask Your Majesty to choose another capable person."

After speaking, he took off the black gauze hat, put it beside him, and then lay on the ground, throwing his body to the ground, which means that if you don't agree, I won't do it.

Want to resign?

A trace of displeasure flashed in Chai Rong's eyes, he really dismissed Li Gu directly, but Chai Rong knew that for the time being, this old man was still useful and needed to be kept!

When he's done the most important thing, it's never too late to kick it away!

"Hahaha, Li Xianggong, your words are loyal to the country, I can go without tea for a day, but I can't be without Li Xianggong for a day." Chai Rong said, bent down to pick up the black gauze hat, and put it on for Li Gu.

Li Xianggong trembled, the official uniform on his back was soaked, he was really afraid that Chai Rong would dismiss him with a word, this emperor, there is nothing that he can't do.

Unexpectedly, the emperor actually valued himself so much, which made Li Gu feel relieved again, as if he had regained his life, he was happy, he didn't have the words to thank him, but Chai Rong's next words pulled Li Gu from heaven to hell.

"Li Xianggong, you oppose the abolition of Ding Fu, the key is that you are worried about the reduction of taxes, if you don't need to reduce taxes, or even increase taxes, will Li Xianggong support this proposal?"

"Ahh

Li Gu opened his mouth wide, "Your Majesty, the old minister, the old minister really doesn't know, how can you increase your income if you don't levy Ding Fu?" ”

Chai Rong laughed, "Go and invite the champion Hou and let him talk to Li Xianggong!" ”

It's Ye Hua again!

Li Gu's heart kept falling, he felt as if he had fallen into a pit, an incomparably huge pit, full of murderous opportunities, the situation was not good!

After Ye Hua came, he first gave Chai Rong a salute, and then talked eloquently, without hiding anything.

"The so-called Ding Fu cannot be exempted, but it can be converted into property tax...... In other words, the more land you have, the more you pay, the higher your income, and the higher you pay. The minister felt that it should be operated in this way, and in the countryside, the Ding Fu was spread into the acres of land, which was called the land Ding Qian, and the Tian Fu was combined and collected. In the city, personal income tax is levied, whether it is work, business, or workshop, as long as the income reaches a certain level, you have to pay taxes! ”

Ye Hua looked at Li Gu with a smile, "Li Xianggong, just like you and me, officials like you and me also have to pay taxes, are you willing to do it?" ”

Li Gu was stupid, he didn't care about how much income tax he paid, after all, a country can still be hungry! What made him shudder was the money!

Ye Hua, Ye Hua, do you want to be right with the gentry of the world?

Li Gu's eyes widened with anger, but he soon found that he was angry early, because the more exciting was still to come!

"Your Majesty, the minister has one more suggestion." Ye Hua smiled and said: "My big Zhou Tianfu still follows the two tax laws, which are paid twice in summer and autumn, and the summer tax will be levied on June 1, and the tax amount will be calculated in money. The autumn tax will be levied on October 1 and will be measured in meters. At the beginning of the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the land was set according to the middle and lower levels, and the summer tax of one mu in Zhongtian was four cents and four cents, and the autumn rice was eight liters. One acre of summer tax money in the field is three cents, and the autumn rice is seven liters and four he. There are fixed varieties of field tax payments, such as summer tax is mainly levied on silk, which is used for military clothing and official clothing; The autumn tax is mainly levied on grain and grain, which is used for the needs of military food and civilian food; Therefore, the autumn tax is also known as autumn seedlings, indicating that the levy is autumn grain. Lee Sang-ko, am I right? ”

Li Gu nodded subconsciously, "That's right, the champion Hou Bowen has a strong memory, and the old man admires it." ”

"Huh." Ye Hua turned to Chai Rong and said, "Your Majesty, although there are prescribed varieties of taxation, the government can change the varieties of taxation according to the needs of the time, which is the so-called 'variation' method. According to the regulations, when changing varieties, they must be equal in weight, that is, in value, but in practice, conversion has become a means for the government to take advantage of price fluctuations to collect people's wealth. In addition, the government often uses the reason of 'making up for the shortage' to let the people export the requisitioned goods from one place to another, from near to far, which is the so-called 'branch transfer'. The cost of the transfer is entirely borne by the taxpayer. Those who do not want to move can pay money, which is called 'the price of the feet in the road'. The magistrates often exploited the people in the name of disbursement, and forced the people to pay the 'Daoli foot price' for the tax grain that could have been stored nearby, until the foot price was incorporated into the regular tax collection. In addition, there are various other additions, such as the head money which is a handling fee, the Yicang tax called grain storage and famine, and the agricultural tool money, cattle leather, tendon and horn tax that inherited from the previous dynasty, and so on...... In short, the officials are hollowing out their minds and exploiting the people. ”

"Therefore, the minister suggests that Your Majesty should issue an edict that all these fire consumption will be returned to the public, and no local government shall be allowed to collect it privately!" As soon as Ye Hua finished speaking, Li Gu's legs weakened, and he sat directly on the main hall in fright......