"Don't lose your honor in front of you!"

Looking at the stunned appearance of the ministers, Zhang Juzheng said in a deep voice.

The ministers in the Wenyuan Pavilion stood up and lined up on both sides in the order of peace, and the atmosphere in this room became calm, and they looked back to when the emperor first came in.

Anyone can see that Wanli's mood is already very low, and it has reached such a point, just now he even brought out the great god of the Queen Mother, do you want to continue to fight?

Fight, and the emperor stiffened no benefit, do not fight, if the emperor really issued an order, in Tianjin also implement the peace brand, then absolutely can't.

In the matter of commercial tax, Shanxi asked for merit for a subordinate county in the early Ming Dynasty, because the county collected more than the amount of commercial tax, and it increased greatly, but after the document of the merit was sent to Beijing, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, thought that this person was too capable of exploiting and sentenced him to exile to the northwest.

Since then, officials at all levels have had a rough judgment on how to deal with tax collection, and excessive taxes are harsh, and if they do not collect too much, they will be sympathetic to the people's feelings. Of course, the land endowment cannot be less, and in the eyes of Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born as a farmer, it is natural for the common people who cultivate the fields to pay the tax on the field endowment.

Before and after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were wars and turmoil, people's livelihood withered, local damage was extremely serious, and there was indeed no tax collection in industry and commerce.

By the time of the Hongzhi year, the people's livelihood had recovered, the economy was prosperous, and industry and commerce had developed greatly, but there was no difference between the policies upheld at that time and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

There was a local official in Hangzhou who collected taxes, and only set a table and a box at the door of the yamen, on which were placed pen, ink, paper, inkstone and an account book, and the box was a half-open wooden box.

The notice posted was to ask the merchants in Hangzhou to register their business in and out of the account book, and then throw the money into the box to pay taxes, and there was no one to guard the table and the box, all by personal consciousness, no one was a fool, this set of household goods was placed at the door of the yamen for three months, and a total of 700 yuan was collected.

This is a joke, but it has been praised by the contemporaries. It is believed that it can be compared with the deeds of Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty -- Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, let the death row prisoners go home to reunite with their families, and then the death row prisoners all returned on time within the agreed time limit, and Li Shimin granted amnesty to their deeds.

This matter of voluntarily paying taxes in front of the door is also considered to be the virtue of a gentleman not being greedy for money and not demanding of the people, and it has become a momentary good talk.

After Zhengde, Jiajing, and Longqing to the present, the collection of commercial taxes must be called a trip to exploit the people and loot the people's fat and cream, and on the contrary, it is a gentleman's move to make the people's livelihood happy.

The only commercial tax collection that still has some effect is the seven tax customs set up on the Grand Canal from Hangzhou to Beijing, and the ships must be inspected for goods when they pass the tax customs, and taxes are collected according to the value of the goods carried, but these seven tax customs are extremely serious for personal gain, not to mention that many goods are transported by tax-free and inspection-free ships, and nothing can be collected at all.

The commercial tax system is corrupt, it is virtually nonexistent, there are reasons in the early stage, but in the middle and late stages, but there are differences, and the south of the Ming Dynasty has an economic prosperity far beyond the north.

This economic prosperity also brought about an increase in the level of education, and the level of education provided by the rich peasants in the south of the Yangtze River to their children was often achieved by small and medium-sized landlords in the north.

The level of education determines the quality of the results of the imperial examination, which in turn determines the number of Jiangnan people in the officialdom.

A high-ranking official often means that his family is rich, and even if the family cannot be rich for a short time, he needs the support of connections and financial resources from his hometown.

In other words, the middle and upper class officials of the Ming Dynasty are often from the rich and noble class in the south of the Yangtze River, and the prosperity and wealth of this class are inseparable from industry and commerce.

Perhaps in the beginning, it was based on land for exploitation, but the real growth was after the prosperity of industry and commerce, and the wealthy families in Jiangnan may not be big landlords, but they are certainly big businessmen and big workshop owners.

They are inextricably linked to maritime trade, and they are also the main body of the tax base of commercial tax, so commercial tax is an untouchable bottom line for them.

The collection of commercial taxes is to the detriment of their vital interests, and anyone who tries to carry out this move is regarded as an enemy and will face pressure from the entire Jiangnan gentry class.

This class, their children continue to become high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the center of the Ming Dynasty, and constantly maintain this class, and this class relies on this maintenance to continue to expand, and then return again and again, becoming an untouchable interest group.

Whoever talks about collecting commercial taxes is an enemy of this class, and whoever is an enemy of the high-ranking officials and dignitaries from this class.

This is also the Ming Dynasty sent tax supervisors, mine supervisors, weaving and other internal supervisors to various places, for the inner treasury to collect money, civil officials around the country always go forward to fight one after another, you must know that these civil officials who dare to fight are not incorruptible, they usually say that the money they loot is not much less than these eunuchs, and some of the eunuchs looted into the treasury to spend in the public office, these civil officials loot is all into their private pockets.

But every time there is such a person who comes out to fight, regardless of the government or opposition in the whole world, public opinion must be biased towards this civil minister, what iron-clad and awe-inspiring comments have been added, why, is because this person has safeguarded the interests of the gentry class, why Zhang Juzheng, the head of the cabinet who has the power to the world, always talks about the fact that there is always a fixed amount of wealth in the world, but only clears the land, reforms the taxation and servitude of agriculture, and does not touch the industry and commerce, which are much richer, because he does not dare to be the enemy of this class.

The gentry is the official gentry, the meritorious do not need to pay taxes, the land has no money to collect, but the business tax can not be moved, otherwise it is the public enemy, generation after generation, industrial and commercial landlords, the Jiangnan gentry have become monsters and parasites that suck blood on the Ming Empire, the more prosperous they are, the more beneficial the Ming Dynasty gets, and even harmful.

What is the Ping An brand, from the perspective of Jingshi, in addition to the silver money charged by the Qinglou Gambling House, the money collected by those merchants can never be called exploitation, which can be said to be very reasonable.

In peacetime, the ruffians and errand servants go to harass and extort, and the shops will also lose money, and they will delay normal business, and the amount of money collected is not more than the loss of this extortion, and it is also fair to make people feel at ease to do business, which cannot be said to be a bad thing, and the big business pays more, and the small business pays less, which is also fair.

But this is determined according to the amount of money in and out of each family's business, and the sheriff sends officials to check the books of each family, and then collects money according to this amount.

What is this, it is said to be a safe brand, but in fact it is a commercial tax, and it has changed its name, which does not mean that everyone does not understand, and no one who can sit in this position is a fool who only reads the books of sages, and everyone understands the meaning.

Jingshi is at the foot of the Son of Heaven, and there are only a few hundred households in Jinyiwei who carry out this matter, and a general judgment in Shuntianfu, but behind this there is Zhang Cheng, the chief eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor, and even the shadow of the emperor.

It's just a Jingshi, after all, it's not Jiangnan fundamentally, maybe the Son of Heaven is fun for a while, and after this interest is over, everyone is slowly trying to repeal this decree.

But it's not enough for Wang Tong to do this in Beijing, he still has to do it in Tianjin, and what is even more hateful and hateful is that the Son of Heaven actually supports it and has to issue an order.

First in Beijing, and then in Tianjin, if one by one, wouldn't it be to be extended, if you don't fight for reason at this time, then it will be considered that the policy of collecting commercial taxes called Ping An brand is tacit, or even supportive, then it will be a monstrous disaster.

You may be able to see that what to do with the great foundation accumulated at home and the wealth and glory of the children and grandchildren behind you must fight and be stopped.

But how to open your mouth, the two of them kowtowed to retreat, and said such heavy words, the little emperor actually called in the guards to arrest people, although he didn't do it, but it was the first time that Wanli had such a big temper.

How to say, who said it, it was to stop it, but in order to prevent it from throwing his official position into it, it was too unworthy, and everyone in the room looked at each other.

The two Imperial Historians of the Metropolitan Procuratorate were still straightforward just now, but at this time they took two steps back, and they were no longer willing to speak out, and everyone's eyes exchanged for a while, and in the end they all focused on Zhang Juzheng.

"Your Majesty, the holy decree is the law, but everything in the world has a reason, the matter of the peace brand, from ancient times to the present, unheard of, let the Jinyi guard be responsible for this matter, which is more likely to cheat and favoritism, Your Majesty, can you tell the ministers, the truth of this peace brand, so that the ministers and others have a reason to do it, and can also convince those merchants who sign the signs?"

The people who heard this shouted in their hearts, that Wang Tong pouted the emperor to do this, just to welcome the Son of Heaven and loot money, what kind of reason can there be, it can't be justified in the court discussion, and it can't be justified, Zhang Ge Lao and Feng Gonggong can play the Empress Dowager, and even the peace brand of the Jingshi can be canceled.

"Mr. Zhang, ladies and gentlemen, the widow asks you, whose land is used for the shops in the world?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, the shore of the land, it is not the king's land, it is naturally Your Majesty's."

"Let me ask you again, who built the outer wall, and who gave the money?"

"It's the silver from the imperial court"

"Who sent soldiers and horses to patrol the streets to guard, who sent soldiers and horses to guard the Quartet and protect them to do business safely!?" "Naturally, it is Your Majesty, and naturally it is the Ming Dynasty."

"They can do business, they can be safe, all of them are I spending money to build the city wall and provide for the soldiers and horses, why can't I collect money from them, is it all for me to spend on the people, not for the people, for the people, for the people, is it wrong!??"

(To be continued)