thought that these nobles would oppose it wildly, so Yang Mu specially convened a late dynasty to release a special signal to the outside world.

But, unexpectedly, when he raised the subject, none of the ministers objected.

All the courtiers exchanged glances with each other, were silent, and finally looked at the reactions of Fan Hongji and Wang Ying.

Seeing that several heads of the family did not speak, they did not dare to express any objections.

Obviously, His Majesty the Emperor is determined to restrict the phenomenon of private slavery in major families.

The family that has just been trained once, where do they dare to object?

"Well, Zhongqing understands the righteousness and is very relieved. Now that we have agreed to this policy, let's discuss how much slave tax should be levied. ”

Fan Hongji, the right prime minister, stood up and said, "The minister thinks that the slave tax should not be too little, nor too much, and should be slightly increased on the basis of today's slave tax." ”

As soon as these words came out, they immediately attracted a lot of rolling eyes, and saying it was equivalent to not saying it.

Yang Mu asked, "Aiqing thinks how much should it be increased?" ”

"This ......" Fan Hongji hesitated slightly, and then said: "The minister thinks that three becomes the best." ”

Sancheng......

Suddenly, the surrounding courtiers also nodded, this tax was still within their acceptable range.

"Sancheng?" Yang Mu suddenly smiled: "The Qing family is inevitably too stingy, raising the thirty percent slave tax is not painful for the other families...... I thought it would be better to triple it. ”

Thrice!

As soon as Yang Mu's words were finished, all the officials in the hall were shocked.

The current slave tax in Cangguo is one tael of silver, that is, each slave needs to pay one tael of silver a year in slave tax, and families with titles do not need to pay.

If the exemption of the title family is abolished, and the tax is levied three times, it means that the annual cost of use for each slave is three taels of silver......

Three or two!

You must know that most of the young and strong slaves in the family are used to cultivate the fields in the family, even if they are desperately squeezed, the value created by each slave in a year is at most ten taels of silver, if you pay three taels of silver slave tax every year, plus food, clothing, food and shelter, how much can be left in a year?

Five taels of silver at most!

This also includes the family's land, which is also the main source of income for the family.

In this way, it is equivalent to the annual income of the family will shrink by half!

"Your Majesty, no! A slave levies a tax of three taels of silver, won't it cut off everyone's way of life! ”

"Even ordinary landlord families are all supporting a group of slaves to farm, so the landlord may have no choice but to sell the slaves, or even more oppression, which will drive the slaves to a dead end!"

"There are too many slave taxes, and I am afraid that before the annual tax is levied, a group of old and weak slaves will be killed by their masters."

The ministers discussed a lot, pointing out the disadvantages of raising taxes and fees, in fact, everyone still dared not say one thing, that is, since the implementation of the three major decrees, the common people who sold themselves into slavery have become very few, and it is difficult to replenish slaves, which will increase taxes and fees, which is tantamount to adding insult to injury for these wealthy nobles.

"What you love to think, I have already thought about it for you. Instead of buying slaves to farm, it is better to lease the land to ordinary people to cultivate, so that it is not much different from raising slaves to cultivate the land. Yang Mu said.

"This ...... Or ......"

The officials can't tell if they have suffering, who doesn't have slaves at home? If there are fewer slaves due to additional taxes and fees, the family's fields will not be cultivated, and the losses will be too great for the future, and may even lead to the decline of a family!

Renting the land to ordinary people for cultivation can reduce costs, but it is also a palliative rather than a cure.

"At the same time as the tax increases, I wanted to introduce a new decree that would allow slaves to redeem themselves and gain their freedom."

Ransom?

Can slaves be ransomed? The officials listened attentively.

In the past, there were cases of slaves who had made meritorious contributions and gained freedom, but there were very few cases where slaves redeemed themselves.

The reason is simple: the slaves themselves, including all their property, belong to their masters, and they simply cannot redeem themselves with money.

Moreover, even if the slave's family wanted to redeem them, there was nothing the master could do if he did not want to.

Who wants to let slaves be redeemed at a time when slaves are in short supply?

"There are five classes of slaves, which were established when the lord system was introduced, and the rules are to be raised every three years, starting with the sale of one's body into slavery. A one-star slave costs five times the price to redeem one, and a two-star slave costs four times the price...... By analogy, a five-star slave is an ordinary price, and the slave is allowed to redeem himself at this price, and the master cannot stop it. ”

"In addition, if the master kills a slave, according to the law, he is also fined twice as much as he kills a one-star slave, and five times the fine for killing a five-star slave."

"As for how to calculate the price of the slaves themselves, depending on the specific situation, the government will introduce a set of measurement standards."

"Slaves can join the army, or participate in government assignments to earn money."

"Everyone, what do you think?"

After Yang Mu finished finishing the whole set of ideas, all the ministers were stunned.

His Majesty the Emperor said these ...... It seems to be deliberately suppressing the powerful, right?

If slaves can redeem themselves, can join the army, and kill them and pay fines, then the major families, in addition to the necessary slaves, who wants to raise more slaves?

Everyone understands a truth, the emperor is not afraid of harming the interests of the family, because even if these fields are not controlled by the family, they can still be handed over to the people.

If there are no slaves in the family, it is like a tiger whose teeth have been knocked out, and it is no longer necessary to continue the glory of the family from generation to generation, but to find a way to enter the official career, and only by relying on the official position can the family maintain its prominence.

On the surface, there is no difference, but if you think about it carefully, there is actually a big difference.

Relying on the family to be an official and relying on being an official to continue the glory of the family are two completely different concepts.

For example, in the past, the heads of the six major families have always occupied the highest positions, and the heads of the major families are not relying on their talents, but whether the family behind them is strong, and the members of the family are the same.

Therefore, the families don't care so much about the court, as long as they run the family well, they will naturally improve their status.

After the slave tax system and the reform of the system, it was tantamount to taking wages from the bottom of the kettle, and the foundation of each family was disintegrated, and only by gaining status in the court could the prosperity of the family be maintained.

The distinction between priority and subordination is completely reversed.

The officials were very helpless, although they were reluctant in their hearts, but no one dared to speak more, after all, since Yang Mu took office, he has always been an iron-blooded hand, and the decisions made at the court meeting have all been realized without exception, and there has never been the slightest change, but those obstacles that are trying to block have been removed one by one.

The only thing you can do is accept.

Immediately, Kong Shangxian and a small number of non-big family members stood up and supported this decision.

And Yang Mu also took advantage of the situation, no longer asked the opinions of those clan officials, and instructed the celebrant to prepare a holy decree and let the Ministry of Rites announce the decree.

Eventually, a court meeting ended sloppily amid the concerns of various officials.