Zhu Houzhao's eyes were almost on fire. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

The world is hard, and a Tatar mission carries several times more silver than its own treasury.

"Where's the money? Are they all greedy for you officials? Zhu Houzhao blurted out without even thinking about it.

In later generations, there were a few officials in court dramas who were not greedy, and some of them were able to move the treasury back to their own homes.

I can't help Zhu Houzhao not ask such a question.

"Zhao'er, nonsense!" Emperor Hongzhi was taken aback by Zhu Houzhao's words, wouldn't such a straightforward suspicion of the ministers of the humerus make them chill? Who else will do the work for you in the future?

"Several cabinet elders are capable ministers left by the previous emperor, and they are also promoted to the cabinet one by one by the emperor, and they have been thinking about the Ming Dynasty for so many years, how can you be slandered like this? Don't apologize yet! ”

Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Liu Daxia are not all the generals of later generations who have a big belly, and they are all thin.

Zhu Houzhao also knew that he had said the wrong thing, at least he had said the right thing to the wrong person, but he still had no intention of apologizing.

In his opinion, a group of officials have been busy for a year, and they can't earn a few taels of silver for the country.

"Your Highness, the minister is in charge of the household department, and the minister knows these things best." Li Dongyang opened his mouth and said.

"Take this year as an example, all the money and grain in the imperial court's taxes this year have been converted into silver, totaling 1,754,159 taels.

In the event of drought and flood disasters in Gansu, Shandong, and Shaanxi provinces this year, 4 million taels of silver were allocated for disaster relief.

It took about 3.5 million taels of silver to repair the river and control the Yellow River.

The local officials in the capital were worth 1.79 million taels.

There are also two or one million taels of silver to repair the Great Wall. The Nine Border Military Town spent military salaries, money, and grain, equivalent to 5.15 million taels of silver.

The construction of the palace in the palace cost two or one million taels of silver.

The military salary of the south to resist the Japanese was 500,000 taels. All in all, the surplus of the state treasury in the next year can be 500,000 taels, which is already the result of careful calculation.

Moreover, this year is still the five provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the south, and if it encounters a disaster year, it may not even have a surplus of 500,000 taels. ”

The ins and outs of this pen of money were said very clearly by Li Dongyang, and even Emperor Hongzhi nodded again and again, obviously to praise him as a cadre.

But Zhu Houzhao frowned, this situation is not right.

He suddenly remembered something, and remembered that he had seen an article in later life, which explained that the agricultural tax was high and the commercial tax was low, and all the money collected was in kind and there was no silver tael.

Sometimes the imperial court can't issue the officials' gifts, all of which are offset by those rice, flour, medicinal materials, etc., and sometimes there is even a strange phenomenon that officials receive salaries and materials in the morning and sell them along the street in the afternoon.

He asked, "How is the agricultural tax collected, and how is the commercial tax collected?" ”

Li Dongyang was stunned for a moment, these things were set by Taizu, and basically all the people in the Ming Dynasty knew about them.

But when the prince was young, he replied: "The agricultural tax formulated by the great grandfather is one out of ten, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Suzhou and Hangzhou and other places are two out of ten, and the commercial tax is one out of thirty." ”

Zhu Houzhao suddenly had an urge to scold his mother, the tax system in the Taizu period has been used by your group until now?

What I want to scold is, why are agricultural taxes so high! Why are business taxes so low!

Could it be that a peasant would be richer than a merchant?

Looking at a group of old men with goatees, Zhu Houzhao couldn't wait to pounce on them and pull off their beards.

"The tax order set by Taizu has been used by you until now? Commercial tax has always been one out of thirty? ”

Several ministers glanced at Zhu Houzhao strangely: "That is the rule set by the ancestors, how can it be changed at will?" It's disrespectful to change it a little when you have to. ”

Zhu Houzhao patted his head in frustration, he suddenly thought that Zhu Yuanzhang was a rule maniac who had even stipulated how to name his descendants.

A machine emperor who thinks that if he has a sound system, the kings of later generations can make the Ming Dynasty permanent if they strictly abide by it.

"When the world is different, things are different, and when things are different, don't you read Han Feizi's famous words after reading the book for so long?" Zhu Houzhao really wanted to do it.

Hundreds of years have passed, is the national situation of the Ming Dynasty still the same as the withering of the people's livelihood when Emperor Taizu was? Do you understand the spirit of keeping pace with the times?

"Raising commercial taxes and lowering agricultural taxes will certainly solve the financial problem!" Zhu Houzhao said categorically.

"No!" Several cabinet ministers said in unison: "The prince doesn't know, agricultural tax is the foundation of the country, commercial tax is just a small profit, reducing agricultural tax will definitely make my Ming Mansion treasury depleted, the prince must not have this idea of sacrificing the basics!" ”

Emperor Hongzhi also interjected at this time and said: "Zhao'er, you are still young and don't understand this, you have to listen carefully to the elders of the pavilion." ”

Hongzhi is actually quite happy to see such a scene, his son is too playful, and it is rare for him to care about people's livelihood like this.

It is better to let the scholars tell him about these things, so as to learn more about the affairs of the family and the country, so as not to make trouble when governing the world in the future.

When Liu Jian and others saw the emperor's approval, they continued to argue with Zhu Houzhao.

"During the Taizu period, the people's livelihood withered, and all kinds of waste were waiting to be rebuilt. Therefore, the fourteen women of the people must marry the sixteenth of the men, so that the population will be abundant, and the people will be relieved and recuperate, and the commercial tax will be drawn from one out of thirty, so that commerce will prosper.

For example, there are only one or two out of a thousand merchants among the people today, if the agricultural tax is lowered, the treasury will inevitably be empty, and raising the commercial tax will be contrary to Emperor Taizu's purpose of prospering commerce......"

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Zhu Houzhao.

"What is the purpose of Grandpa Tai to make commerce prosperous, not to collect taxes?

Now that a hundred or two hundred years have passed, the merchants have long been rich, so what are you waiting for without collecting heavy taxes?

The merchant is a pig, and the grandfather has fed them for hundreds of years with good food and drink just to let us unscrupulous descendants slaughter them! Why don't you understand? ”

Several old men were blindsided by Zhu Houzhao's words, and if they thought about it carefully, it was a bit of a truth, but after careful discussion, they still felt that it was wrong.

Liu Jian immediately said: "Li'er is so reasonable, but the imperial court has raised the commercial tax, and the merchants will inevitably reduce the cost of the farmers, and with the nature of the businessmen who are greedy for money and profit, it will be the farmers who will suffer at that time." ”

Zhu Houzhao was a little speechless.

"Then engage in foreign trade." In a hurry, all words jumped out.

"What is foreign trade?"

"It's about doing business with people from other countries!"

"Oh, this one is, but silk hasn't been so easy to walk in recent years.

Although we collect heavy taxes there, there are fewer and fewer caravans, and there are not many goods to be transported, which is a drop in the bucket. ”

Zhu Houzhao wanted to cover his face, do you have trains and long-distance heavy trucks, and rely on a few camels to count on land trade to make money, there is something wrong.

"Why don't you take the sea route, there is Fusang to the east, and there are still Xiyi people from time to time in the Ryukyu to the south, these people are poor and only have silver left!"

After Zhu Houzhao said these words, Liu Jian immediately shook his head: "Grandpa Tai has clearly decreed that the folk boards are not allowed to go to the sea, and those who violate them will not be forgiven!" ”

"Why is that?" Zhu Houzhao was a little crazy.

"There are often Japanese robbers in the south, and there are often private enemies who disturb our Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, which is the granary of the country!"

"......" Zhu Houzhao was speechless. Don't let this, that's not good, you deserve to die of poverty with the old rules!

You deserve to die!