And after Shi Bufan collected this luxury tax in Chang'an, he was immediately shocked by all kinds of bureaucrats and aristocrats in Chang'an. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Info They were all very angry because the luxury tax was clearly aimed at them. These luxuries would not be affordable to the common people except the bureaucracy and aristocracy. Whether or not this tax is collected, ordinary people can't afford it. So this luxury is definitely coming for them, so can they not be annoyed? Shi Bufan did this, it was simply cutting meat! For these bureaucratic aristocrats, there are actually such strange practices. Some of them would rather spend a lot of money to make a woman popular, but they are not willing to pay an extra penny in taxes. They would rather waste money than pay a tax that is only a tenth or even a percent of the money. That's why it's so weird. They would rather be extravagant and wasteful than use the money to help the poor.

Therefore, at that time, the heavy tax on their luxury goods was imposed, and they immediately couldn't stand it. They all began to scold Shi Bufan, and then obviously didn't care about their face.

"Your Majesty, it is unreasonable for people like Shi Bufan to collect heavy taxes on us. As court officials, we are not exempt from taxes, so how can we still collect heavy taxes? Our money is not blown by the wind, how can we get it out of thin air? Someone immediately started scolding.

Shi Bufan also replied politely: "Your money is not blown by the wind, so the people's money is also blown by the wind?" “

"We are working for the emperor and working hard to get it!"

"But the people also work hard to farm in exchange!"

"Where are the things we do that the people can compare?"

"So you have a high contribution and a high natural income. The people's contribution is small, so the people's income is low! The money given to you by the imperial court is already worthy of your contribution. But the income of the people has to pay taxes, so why don't you? ”

……

Shi Bufan went toe-to-toe with them, obviously to implement this new tax system. However, those bureaucrats and aristocrats are obviously unwilling, and of course they are not willing to pay taxes like this. What's more, they have to pay heavy taxes, which makes them unwilling. However, in terms of debate, they are obviously not Shi Bufan's opponents, and they can refute Shi Bufan's words. This made them all very depressed, and it was obvious that they could not directly refute it in terms of taxation.

However, at this time, Fang Xuanling said: "Your Majesty, don't I remember that the scholars and officials don't have to pay taxes?" ”

Fang Xuanling's words immediately reminded everyone that officials and scholars in ancient times did not have to pay taxes. In ancient times, all the land and income under the name of officials were actually not subject to taxes, which was the prerogative of ancient officials. However, it was later expanded even to the fact that the nobles did not have to pay taxes, and the nobles did not even have to pay taxes. The land under the name of the scholar clan does not have to pay taxes, which is also one of the privileges of ancient officials and scholars, a very important economic privilege. In order to escape the huge taxes of the state, some ordinary people even adopted the method of "donation" of their land to those bureaucrats in order to obtain the privilege of exemption from taxes.

At that time, the common people were only responsible for continuing the farming, and the tenants collected by the bureaucrats were less than the taxes of the state, that is, they were earned. And those gentry and bureaucrats could take advantage of the opportunity to acquire land, so that the land could be further annexed. On the contrary, the imperial court will further reduce the tax source by reducing the number of yeoman farmers. But those nobles gained more wealth out of thin air, so this was completely enriching their own pockets.

In fact, the ancient land annexation was largely caused by this economic privilege. As long as this economic disparity exists, it will inevitably lead to land annexation and wealth annexation. The economic privilege of tax exemption is actually the biggest reason for the reduction of tax revenue caused by land annexation, not the reduction of tax revenue due to land annexation. It is mainly the concentration of those lands in the tax-exempt class, which is the result of the collapse of the country's tax revenues.

Therefore, Fang Xuanling sacrificed the privilege of tax exemption for this scholar clan and bureaucracy at this time, which was also an important big killer, so that they could obtain the privilege of tax exemption.

"That's right! The minister is right, the bureaucrats and the nobles are tax-exempt, so naturally they can't be collected! "Yes! Why do we charge such a heavy tax? "That's right, it's tax-free!" "Yes, you can't collect taxes!" ……

Many of the bureaucrats of the noble clan present, including even some low-income officials, also stood on the level of tax exemption at this moment. At this moment, those who are not from the Shi clan or from the poor family belong to the class of "tax exemption", so at this moment they belong to the same "interest group", and they naturally have to stand on the opposite side of the extraordinary times.

In fact, this means that interest groups are relative, and they may be opposite interest groups in one matter, but they belong to the same interest group in another matter. In fact, this kind of interest group is only a relative statement, and there is no layer of immutability. In terms of tax exemption and tax collection, all the bureaucrats of the imperial court were the same interest group, and naturally they had to oppose Shi Bufan's practice of collecting heavy taxes.

Shi Bufan thought for a moment, and then finally asked: "Regarding the privilege of tax exemption for the nobles and bureaucrats, I think I still remember." As for the privilege of bureaucratic tax exemption, it has had its origins very early, and I don't need to say that everyone knows this, and I have no idea of denying it. However, as for the origin of the tax exemption of the scholar clan, I remember that it originated from the custom system of the official Zhan Tianyin during the period of Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, when the official recognition of the scholar clan and the officials of the corresponding grade were exempted from taxation. ”

"In the Southern Dynasties of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there were no corresponding provisions on the exemption of taxes for the scholars. The Northern Dynasties officially recognized the rank of scholars by law, while the Southern Dynasties did not legally recognize the scholars. As for the former Sui Dynasty, there was no corresponding legal provision on the Shi clan, which officially recognized the existence of the Shi clan. And when it comes to my Datang, it seems that it only stipulates that officials below the fifth grade are exempted from their own rent, and officials above the fifth grade can be exempted from the rent of the whole family. As for the other so-called scholars, they are not explicitly granted the privilege of tax exemption! ”

Shi Bufan said this, which immediately embarrassed everyone. Because Shi Bufan's words come and go, in fact, they mean the same thing, that is, the Tang Dynasty does not have a clear law to recognize the existence of the "scholar clan" class. Therefore, the so-called "scholars" were not a legal class in the Tang Dynasty, and there was no corresponding adequate legal protection. The real scholars are protected by the law, that is, the Jin Dynasty and the Northern Wei Dynasty, since the fall of the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, in fact, the scholars have long been legally recognized. Even after the Southern Dynasty and the Liu and Song dynasties, the scholars were only a conventional class, and there was no corresponding adequate legal protection.

In the Tang Dynasty, in fact, the scholar clan was just an existence that everyone agreed on, and in fact, there was no such privileged class in legal theory. It is just a convention, and there is no corresponding legal protection. As for tax exemption, in fact, it is only that the Tang Dynasty stipulated that officials below the fifth rank are exempted from their own rent, and officials above the fifth grade can be exempted from the rent of the whole family. Of course, this actually means that those who are in the imperial court establishment officials, and those who are not in the court establishment officials, are not in the status of exemption from taxation.

So in the Tang Dynasty, the scholar clan was actually just a conventional identity. Of course, they have more economic advantages, but also cultural advantages, and even have an incomparably large network of marriages in various networks, so that they can prosper and lose both.

And they have always taken advantage of the so-called conventional tradition since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, thinking that they are scholars, and naturally no one collects taxes.

However, they seriously ignored that the legal recognition of the status of the scholars was actually only the Northern Wei Dynasty. Even if it was the Jin Dynasty, in fact, it only recognized that only officials of a certain grade could be exempt from taxes and occupy the fields and so on. Therefore, the class of "scholars" is just a convention, not a real legal recognition. Since the fall of the Northern Wei Dynasty, there is actually no dynasty that legally recognizes the existence of the scholars. Even after the Southern Dynasty and the Liu Song Dynasty, those scholars only relied on their huge advantages in the officialdom to become scholars. Coupled with their cultural propaganda and other means, this society officially recognized the existence of this scholar clan.

However, their so-called privileges are not protected and recognized by the corresponding law, and they are just a class that everyone agrees on. As for the Tang Dynasty, in fact, the law only stipulates the corresponding power of officials to exempt from rent and adjustment, and does not specifically stipulate that the nobles can be exempted from taxes. Even if all the officials in the imperial court are exempt from taxes, compared with the huge class of scholars, in fact, the officials in the imperial court are just a drop in the bucket. They fancy the tax exemption of the nobles, and the tax exemption of officials is not really an accessory.

Fang Xuanling's face was dark, and he actually came to such an oolong this time. Fang Xuanling was born in the scholar clan, and he subconsciously thought that the scholar clan was exempt from tax and did not have to pay taxes since he was a child. However, he was grossly negligent, and the tax exemption of these nobles was actually only a conventional rule, not a legal rule written into the law. In other words, Fang Xuanling, the scholars of the world, don't really attach importance to the law, and they really have no reverence for the law. They have no reverence for the law, and naturally they seriously ignore the legal guarantee. But now it has been pointed out by Shi Bufan so directly, since the fall of the so-called Shi clan in the Northern Wei Dynasty, no dynasty has written the so-called privileges of the Shi clan into the law, and has not written the legitimacy of the Shi clan into the law. In this way, their so-called privileges are not protected by law, but are just conventional.

Regarding the tax exemption of scholars, in fact, there is no basis in the law after the Northern Wei Dynasty. The reason why the scholars can be exempt from tax is just that everyone subconsciously thinks so, and almost all of those officials are from the scholar family, so naturally they will not be stupid to collect their own taxes for the imperial court!

Soon, those scholars in the court began to exchange heads, but they did not directly start to criticize Shi Bufan. Those officials of the Shi clan also didn't notice that their so-called Shi clan tax exemption actually made such a big oolong. Originally, if no one picked it out, I am afraid that those scholars with serious habitual thinking would not be able to notice this. But now that they are really singled out by Shi Bufan, they feel embarrassed. Their status as a scholar is not protected by the corresponding legal system, and there is no way to rely on it, which makes them feel as if they are not at ease.

"Hahahaha, this is extraordinary, it's really amazing! These two sentences made them irrefutable. If he hadn't said these words, even I wouldn't have thought of it for a while! This habit and convention that has been handed down for hundreds of years has actually made us all subconsciously ignore that the scholars have not been effectively recognized in the law! Li Shimin thought in his heart.

Shi Bufan's words made those scholars feel as disgusting as if they had eaten stool, they had always subconsciously thought so, but suddenly one day Shi Bufan used their so-called lack of corresponding legitimacy as an excuse to attack, they still seemed to be really unable to refute it!

The existence of the scholar clan is actually not worth mentioning. This clan is just a conventional class, not a group of people who are protected by the law. For example, people in certain identities in later generations can enjoy a lot of privileges, such as the privilege of giving priority to children to enter the enterprise, and the so-called various hidden privileges. For example, children are in top shifts, priority is given to recruits, and so on. In fact, these are the customary privileges of a certain class, although everyone does this, even people outside the circle know about it. However, these so-called privileges cannot be relied upon and are not guaranteed by law.

If no one is held accountable, then everyone continues to operate according to this so-called underlying rule. Once a latent rule has been in operation for hundreds of years, it can make people subconsciously ignore that they are not protected by law. The same is true of these gentry, who are exempt from tax "diving. The rules have been running for hundreds of years, so that the whole society has begun to subconsciously put the "subconscious". "Rules" are reasonable rules, without realizing that the so-called rules are not protected by law. Those nobles were not in awe of the law, and naturally ignored their embarrassing position in the law.

Therefore, at that time, they were suddenly embarrassed when they picked it out like this.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say!" Fang Xuanling soon came out again. (To be continued.) )