Originally, after attending the celebration banquet of the first flintlock pistol, Li Hongfei was about to return to Suzhou City, but because of the arrival of Song Yingxing, he stayed for three days again until the 10th day, and then returned to Suzhou by boat. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

"Wu Hao, what happened to these people in Suzhou City?" When Li Hongfei returned to Yamen, the first thing he did was to learn about the recent situation in Suzhou.

"Back to my lord, everything is normal in Suzhou City, but recently there are a lot of literati in Suzhou City, these people in the major restaurants, storytelling teahouses, openly criticized the adults, saying that at the beginning of the adult's tenure, they sent troops to forcibly occupy the industry of the major commercial houses, and also used the prestige of the yamen to meddle in private business, collusion between officials and businessmen, and compete with the people for profit, although these remarks have no practical basis, and the lower officials also organized the owners of several major government-run enterprises, came forward to refute the rumors, most of the people still believe in the yamen, but there are a lot of people in Suzhou, The economy also relies mostly on foreign businessmen, who do not know the real situation, and if this goes on for a long time, I am afraid that it will affect the economic development of Suzhou. Wu Hao was a little worried.

"What should come, will always come. Since those scholars like to spread rumors, let's use facts to speak and fight a war of public opinion, and this official is not afraid of these readers! Li Hongfei said coldly.

"What is public opinion warfare?" Wu Hao was puzzled.

"Public opinion is the will of the people, since ancient times, those who have won the hearts of the people have won the world, those literati have made this move, but they don't want to make us lose the hearts of the people, but they don't want to think about it, the largest number of people in the entire Ming Dynasty is not those who read, but the people at the bottom, as long as we can get the approval of the majority of the people, just a few literati, let them talk wildly, no one will believe them." Li Hongfei sneered.

"Yes....... Most of the common people are illiterate, how can they understand the painstaking efforts of the imperial court? Wu Hao was puzzled.

"It's very simple, benefits, if these ordinary people can get substantial benefits, they don't need us to explain anything at all, they will naturally stand on the side of the court." Li Hongfei said.

Wu Hao has always followed the businessman's set of profit-seeking, and he doesn't care much about winning the hearts of the people, to put it bluntly, it is the supremacy of interests, and he can do anything for the sake of interests, but he forgets that the people's will is the greatest interest.

Now after Li Hongfei's point, he seems to understand something: "What do you mean, the reform measures will be posted?" ”

"That's right, it's time for reform, otherwise the heat of the Holy Decree will dissipate, and who will remember me, the king of Suzhou!" Li Hongfei said with a smile: "Remember, let the civil officials in various places patiently explain the content of the reform to the people below, and the officials will send people to spot check. ”

The reform that has been brewing for a long time, how can it be that the Suzhou merchants can only be moved, and the landlord class is the biggest obstacle to the development of the Ming Dynasty.

In the past, Li Hongfei did not dare to touch the landlords, that was because the foundation was unstable, but now he has gained a firm foothold in Suzhou, and has won the support of some businessmen, and has capital in his hands, and confronts the landlords, as long as he does not touch the fundamental interests of the peasants, I believe that in the whole of Suzhou, no one can resist Li Hongfei.

The next day, a Suzhou reform document was quickly whipped and delivered to the county offices in Suzhou.

"In order to encourage Suzhou businessmen to buy real estate, from now on, all legal businessmen doing business in Suzhou should be exempted from all miscellaneous taxes in addition to the normal commercial tax." A literati, while reading the notice, explained to the people around him: "The harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes also include tolls, that is to say, our businessmen in Suzhou do business in Suzhou from now on, and they do not need to pay tolls!" ”

The ancient toll is simply a bottomless pit, which is in response to the sentence: I opened this mountain, I planted this tree, and if you want to pass from here, leave the road money.

When a stone of rice is purchased from the hands of the common people, the cost may only be two dollars of silver, but it can pass through the toll gates of various counties, and the cost of this stone of rice is estimated to rise to five dollars of silver.

This is still transportation within the province, if it is transported to other provinces, in the case of large-scale transportation, the cost of taking the waterway is still in a controllable range, if it is by land, two dollars of silver grain, across several provinces, and finally sold for three taels of silver, it is only to protect the capital.

This is also the fundamental reason why not many people die of starvation in provinces with smooth waterways, even if there is a drought and a bad harvest, while in inland provinces without rivers, there will be large-scale famine in the event of a drought.

Unless the local government organizes disaster relief and waives all tolls, the cost of transportation by land is too high, and even if it is transported, the people cannot afford to buy food.

Now Li Hongfei in Suzhou to implement the exemption of road tax, which is equivalent to indirectly reducing the cost of businessmen, once the cost of businessmen is reduced, prices will naturally be reduced, and the common people and businessmen can get benefits from it.

As for the imperial court, although there is no income from tolls, the merchants still have to pay commercial taxes in the end, as long as the business is developed and the purchasing power of the people increases, the commercial tax will naturally increase, even if it loses, it will not lose much.

What's more, Li Hongfei only said that he would exempt local businessmen from tolls, but did not say that he would exempt foreign businessmen from tolls, so that he would not only earn money from foreign businessmen, but also allow local businessmen to take advantage of their price advantages to compete with foreign businessmen, which is tantamount to a disguised local protection policy.

And the reason why Li Hongfei made this place protection policy, it was also a last resort, the Ming Dynasty had a strange regulation on the collection of commercial taxes, merchants everywhere paid taxes, all in the city where they lived.

That is to say, foreign businessmen, the money they earn in Suzhou, and the final tax, but it is handed over to the city where these merchants live, and it has nothing to do with Suzhou.

"This notice is so long, it can't be just that, what else does it say?" After some people figure out the first provision, they continue to ask about the next article.

Most of these ordinary people are ordinary peasants, and the commercial tax is not their concern at all, they are exempted from tolls, and at most they will go to the city to catch up with the market, and they no longer need to pay money, and some of these people will not be able to enter the city several times a year, which is not a big benefit.

"The second is about commerce, but all craftsmen and long-term workers who work in major workshops shall work eight hours a day, and overtime shall be counted as overtime, and the overtime pay shall be double the normal wage, and the minimum monthly salary of all workers in private workshops shall not be less than one or two silver, and the wages of workers shall not be owed without reason!"

This one is very straightforward, even if you haven't read a book, you can understand it after listening to it.

"What! At least one tael of silver a month, which ....... It's more than farming for the landlord! ”