Shi Bufan's suggestion is actually to change the focus of taxation from taking it directly from the hands of the people to taking it indirectly. The pen & fun & pavilion www.biquge.info changed from collecting taxes directly from the hands of the people in the past to collecting them through a series of transactions and various commercial links, so that there may be more than taking them directly, and the people are more patient. It is a serious psychological imbalance to take it directly, and they do not gain anything after being taken away from it, so of course they are not happy. Indirectly taking away is buying goods, and then getting the goods yourself, and being taxed from them, but it is not so heartbroken, because it is not so heart-wrenching to get the same goods at the same time, so of course it is not so heart-wrenching. Moreover, taking it directly does not bring any benefits, and taking it indirectly will help promote business development and promote the development of productive forces, which is more important.

"Your Majesty, it's better to take it indirectly than to take it directly from the hands of the people. It is better to support commerce, collect taxes through commerce, and let people pay taxes while buying things. In this way, as long as we keep an eye on those merchants, the merchants are actually making the people pay taxes when they pay taxes. Because the price of each of their goods includes taxes. Of course, this can't be directly exploited too much, and I also have to consider the degree of exploitation. Different taxes are set for different goods, that is, my tariff is different. For luxury goods, which have all kinds of harm and no benefit, it is necessary to impose heavy taxes as much as possible, so as to curb luxury and restrict others from entering the luxury industry. For those people's livelihood, such as food and various daily necessities, taxes should be reduced as much as possible to ensure the survival needs of the people. Of course, it is also necessary to crack down on those who take advantage of the opportunity to monopolize the means of subsistence by driving up prices. ”

"So in fact, in the past, our business tax was too rough. It is completely charged according to the price of the product, which is very unreasonable. Ignoring their reasonable profit margins at all is raising the price of subsistence goods, consciously or unconsciously, and encouraging those merchants to engage in the lucrative luxury industry, and even more so to promote luxury goods. In the long run, once the people's subsistence materials were too abundant, and the merchants were unwilling to engage in the circulation and trading of such people's livelihood materials because of the disproportionate tax burden and profits, it was easy to cause the high price of grain and the high price of grain to hurt the people in some places, but the low price and cheap grain in some places hurt the peasants. ”

"Different tax rates for different goods are the means to make business develop reasonably. Moreover, those commercial taxes are adopted, and the taxes collected by each link at that time are definitely much more than those obtained directly from the people. ”

But Li Shimin still didn't believe it and asked: "How much commercial tax can I have in Datang at present?" It doesn't take up too much! ”

"Hehe, Your Majesty, you see that it just doesn't occupy too much proportion. But you haven't noticed that at present, the people of the Gyeonggi region of our Tang Dynasty have become more and more abundant. At present, there have been a lot of gains, are some officials taking the opportunity to suggest that the emperor directly take the opportunity to raise taxes? Shi Bufan asked.

Li Shimin's old face turned red, and in the end he could only say: "Indeed, it is true that the officials privately proposed to me to take the opportunity to raise taxes on the people in the Gyeonggi area. But I had already promised to recuperate, but I didn't expect them to get rich so quickly that they didn't need three years of recuperation. Originally, I made a decree to meet the tax within three years, but now the people of Gyeonggi have not only completely recovered in one year, but even have a better life than in the past. Therefore, some officials took the opportunity to suggest that taxes should be increased to replenish the national treasury. But after all, I promised to meet within three years, and I can't break my word and get fat, so it's not easy for me to make a direct order. ”

"Your Majesty! These fools really don't understand financial management! When you see someone else rich, you blush, and you want to take it directly? What is this system? As soon as the people had hopeful life, they had to take it away, not directly filling them with hope, and then giving them a stuffy stick again. This kind of pain is not something that ordinary people can bear. In doing so, it will be more terrible than in the past, and the people will be more resentful of the government. It gives people hope, but it makes people desperate again, which is more terrible than making them desperate directly! Shi Bufan hurriedly persuaded.

Li Shimin also said: "However, now that the imperial treasury is empty, this ......"

"Your Majesty, are you really interested in those people who have become rich, and you are unwilling to take more money?" Shi Bufan asked.

Li Shimin's old face turned red, and it was difficult to admit it directly, obviously Li Shimin's treasury was so empty that he could run mice, so he naturally felt a huge pressure. Now the people in the Gyeonggi area are much richer than in the past because of the extraordinary new production model, so some officials are red-eyed and plan to increase the pressure on fiscal revenue on these people. If it weren't for Li Shimin's previous promise to reduce taxes within three years, Li Shimin would not have been able to directly break his promise, so he didn't immediately order a tax increase. But looking at so much money, it would be a pity if you didn't get it.

"Your Majesty, if you go directly to collect it, it will naturally not work. You might as well consider collecting it from somewhere else, for example, when the people have money, what are they going to do? If you have money, you naturally want to build a house! To build a house, it is often necessary to hire someone who is in charge of civil construction. Recently, the imperial court has eliminated a group of people who are responsible for civil construction services, and they will be transformed into a construction team to build houses for the common people and undertake various civil affairs for the people. When they work for the people, they earn remuneration and benefits. And we can collect some labor tax in this regard, so that those construction teams will also automatically pass on this tax to the people. At most, the people feel that this fee is a little more expensive, and they don't feel as if their things have been taken away directly, and they are not so sensitive. ”

"In addition, we can raise some taxes on this sand and gravel material. Even if it is only an increase of 1 percent, it will not be able to hold up the large amount, and when the people in the Gyeonggi area need to build houses, a large amount of sand and gravel, even if it is only an increase of 1 percent, then the income of the imperial court in the end may not be less than what they get directly from the people. ”

"Also, for so many kinds of goods, we can indirectly set different tax rates for merchants, and these merchants will eventually pass on these products to the people through prices, so they are actually indirectly collecting taxes from the people."

Shi Bufan listed many commodities one by one, in fact, they can be taxed through the goods, and this indirect tax collection is much better than direct tax collection. This kind of indirectly collected tax burden will not be so sensitive to the people. Because they pay taxes when they consume, rather than taking them away. In this way, there is an extra link, and the people's psychology is enough to balance a lot, which is also an important knowledge of taxation. Of course, if you take the people directly, they will be very angry and sensitive, but if you take them indirectly, the people will not be very sensitive, and they will scold the profiteers, not the government.

Shi Bufan calculated the tax rates of those commodities for Li Shimin one by one, and then finally added them up and asked: "Your Majesty, do you see how many times the taxes collected are in the past?" ”

"These taxes are two or three times as high as in the past!" Li Shimin exclaimed, and then asked: "Won't the people have any sensitivity in this way?" ”

"Haha, Your Majesty, this is the real cleverness. This is also boiling frogs in warm water, and the imperial court in the past directly charged rent, which directly acted on ordinary people, and directly cut meat with a big knife, can they not be in pain? But now that this bloodletting is carried out through layers of tiny needles from various commodities, the people will not be so sensitive. Moreover, now that the people are getting richer day by day, they have more surplus food and money. In addition, my cooperatives have brought them together, reduced the cost of farm tools, and increased the selling price of surplus grain, which is equivalent to increasing their production and income. As for them, they will definitely live a better life after they have money, and they can eat meat without meat. If you don't have a variety of goods, you will take the opportunity to buy all kinds of goods. ”

"So we can cut meat with a knife, but they don't even know that they're actually paying their taxes."

In fact, this method is to replace the original rent adjustment through the consumption tax on goods, and the tax collected is actually several times the original rent adjustment. In ancient times, the rent adjustment was actually similar to the personal income tax of later generations, which was the most direct concern of the people and the most sensitive to the people. Many ordinary people are the first to pay attention to personal income tax, and any change in personal income tax will make people very sensitive. However, if we really look at the state revenue budget, we will find that personal income tax accounts for less than 5 percent of the state fiscal revenue. However, the vast majority of the people are staring at this personal tax, and seriously ignore the taxes paid directly and indirectly through other aspects. In fact, the tax burden paid through other aspects is many times higher than that of personal income tax, but it is ignored by most people.

Therefore, it is precisely because the personal income tax is the most direct and sensitive that the people will rebound the most. In ancient times, the rent adjustment was actually personal income tax, and the people were the most sensitive to the blessings taken directly from them, and what Shi Bufan had to do was to avoid this aspect. Collect taxes from the commercial tax room, so that the people are not too sensitive and do not resist the collection of taxes too much.

"Your Majesty, collecting taxes from commerce is much more acceptable to the people than if they were taken directly from them. Because the people have wealth and money, they naturally want to consume. They're not going to leave their money in the warehouse waiting for it to get moldy, and then we'll get more taxes. We only have a more reasonable division of different taxes for those businesses, so as to ensure the profits of various industries and ensure the reasonableness of various taxes, so that we can collect more taxes than several times as much as possible without touching the bottom line of the people and not directly harming the people. Therefore, the commercial tax will be more promising in the future than this agricultural tax. That's why I'd rather exempt the nobles from the taxes on agriculture and the population than from the taxes on commerce. A commercial tax is more acceptable than an agricultural tax, and has far greater potential than an agricultural tax. Shi Bufan explained.

Li Shimin looked at the fact that this commercial tax could be charged several times more, but the people would not rebound because of this, and felt that this commercial tax was really promising. If there are too many agricultural taxes, not only will they be scolded, but the people will not be able to accept them. In fact, the commercial tax has turned a large knife into a small knife, so that although the meat is cut several times more in the end, perhaps the people will not be so sensitive.

And although the final tax collection is much higher than in the past, at the same time, the living standards of the people have also improved a lot. Because of the adoption of a more rational mode of production, the direct and indirect income of the people has increased a lot, and it is possible to double the increase. So this also gives room for the development of industry and commerce. When agriculture is stable and agricultural output is steadily increased, then only in this way can the development of industry and commerce be stimulated. With the development of industry and commerce, the wealth of the people can be indirectly collected as taxes through this kind of industrial and commercial taxation, and the people will not be too sensitive.

"Awesome, this method is really powerful! I used to think that collecting taxes was just collecting them directly, but I didn't expect that there would be such a method, which is really powerful. No wonder you would rather let the nobles be exempted from the taxes on population and agriculture, but you should also give up this commercial tax. If the scholars were also exempted from commercial taxes in the future, it would be a huge loss to the imperial court. So you use this full agricultural tax that is destined not to be collected, and make them give up the tax on business, so that they will definitely have to pay taxes when they do business in the future. It seems that Xuan Ling and they have fallen for your trick. At that time, although they seemed to be exempt from population and agricultural taxes, they would definitely lose many times more in business than in agriculture. Li Shimin said.

Shi Bufan said again: "Your Majesty, the scholars can have such great prestige, except for their positions in the imperial court. The main thing is that they have great wealth, and they control the people through the ownership of the land, so that the people depend on them for survival, and their wealth occupies the vast majority. However, once commerce develops, the wealth of the scholar clan occupies only a small part of the wealth of the entire world, and when the commercial wealth occupies the mainstream of the world, the means of survival of the scholar clan will also be hit. Once diluted by the huge wealth of commerce, the wealth of the Nashi clan cannot occupy absolute influence, and their influence is not worth mentioning. ”

Li Shimin's eyes flashed again, obviously understanding something. By increasing the total wealth of society through the development of commerce, so that the wealth produced by the land of the scholars is far from keeping up with the wealth generated by other industrial and commercial industries, then the influence of the scholars can be diluted. (To be continued.) )