Li Xin secretly wondered what good things he had done to make this always kind Sun Butang so eloquent. He opened the "Communiqué" that Sun Ji had fallen, but saw that the article signed by Huang Zongxi was conspicuous. The title is "Three Questions to Nanjing Ministry of Industry!" The spearhead was actually directed at Xiong Mingyu.

Since Xiong Mingyu was knocked out by Li Xin with the Zhen Shu case, he changed his previous position and fully fell to the Three Guards, and what he valued was that this person did have some ability to do things, and this was also a scarce official in the Three Guards. Although this person's personal morality is not good, he always needs someone to do errands, as long as the errand is done well, Li Xin will also open his eyes and close his eyes.

Looking further, Li Xin was taken aback, it turned out that Xiong Mingyu issued a decree in the name of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing, because the war in the south of the Yangtze River was still frequent, and he had to give preferential treatment to the soldiers and give them wine and meat, but the government treasury was overstretched, so he had to collect the "window tax" in Nanzhili in March to make up for the shortfall. The words are righteous, but no matter how you touch them, they don't taste right. And it was this "window tax" that made Huang Zongxi criticize him verbally and make Sun Ji shine. He was also secretly frightened, this Xiong Mingyu's courage can be described as Baotian, if it is a peaceful situation, if he does not invite the imperial court to raise taxes privately, Li Xin read it carefully, and then he figured out what the name of this window tax is, isn't this the real estate tax of later generations? It's just that the standard of taxation is a bit more extensive and violent, and those who own real estate are charged based on the number of windows. What's more, there is a supplementary clause in the decree, which will be levied annually according to these standards from now on. It is precisely this annual levy that makes Nanjing Shilin, who owns a large number of real estate, feel unbearable, and it is not surprising that Huang Zongxi personally took charge of the criticism in the name of Mr. Nanlei.

Seeing the end, Li Xin couldn't help laughing, Xiong Mingyu tirelessly took the trouble to collect the reasonable argument of "window tax" in the decree, which is a bit of a sense that there is no silver three hundred taels here, and it is really difficult to be embarrassed by this. If he hadn't known the details of Xiong someone, he would have wondered if this guy had crossed over, worthy of the idiom of coincidental name.

The silent smile made Sun Ji furious!

"Can you still laugh? As soon as this decree of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing came out, you and I lost the hearts of the people in Nanjing! How can this kind of self-consciousness be the work of your Li Xin? The more Sun Ji spoke, the more excited he became, and in the end, he didn't even breathe, and coughed violently.

Li Xin hurriedly came over to help Sun Jian pat his back to calm him down, but Sun Jian didn't appreciate it, and shook off Li Xin's hand, obviously angry. After a while, he gasped evenly, and then said in a bitter tone: "Since ancient times, how many of them have come to a good end? You Li Xinxi is a prince, and you don't want to seek well-being for the people, but you only want to make money and squeeze oil from your parents. Sun Ji is already confused, and he doesn't understand whether you are for the safety of the world, or for the selfishness of your family and surname? If it's the latter, if you don't get lost, you and I will go our separate ways from this day forward! ”

These words stunned Li Xin for a long time, and even Gao Shiming next to him sighed twice.

"Although our family is lonely and unheard, but we have also heard of similar names, during the Tang Dynasty Dezong, the feudal towns were divided, the imperial court was incompetent, and the treasury was empty under the years of war, so Dezong collected taxes from those who had houses in Chang'an in the name of "shelf tax". As a result, the Chang'an garrison mutinied, and Dezong was finally forced to cancel this "shelf tax". Otherwise, there was no more use of such a name to collect taxes. ”

Even Gao Shiming, a gelding, actually complained about himself, and even brought out the allusion of Dezong in the Tang Dynasty as a negative example. Li Xinlian claimed that he was wronged, Xiong Mingyu engaged in the "window tax", and he really did not know about it, if this matter was true, he would negotiate with Xiong Mingyu to cancel the "window tax".

Li Xinlian swore a gambling curse, and Sun Jiao was suspicious of the letter, and his tone softened.

"It's better if it's not you! Sun Ji really didn't want the affairs of the fish and meat people to come from the hands of the marquis. ”

Li Xin secretly wondered, even if he really came up with this "window tax", it would be half a catty and eight taels compared to the "three salaries" made by the saint today, and he wouldn't see you Sun Ji say a word. At this time, Gao Shiming snatched the newspaper over, glanced up and down a few times, and then clapped his hands.

"Xiong Shangshu is really wonderful!" The 'window tax' is levied on the number of windows, and once it is levied, the rich people in the deep houses will suffer! "This trick is really powerful, whether rich or poor, it is called a bloody one.

Gao Shiming suddenly slapped his head when he said this, and said with a smile: "There is!" In fact, there are still big loopholes in this name, and all the windows of his house are built to death, so that those soap servants can collect a bird tax! ”

Sun Jie, who had been holding his face, was amused by Gao Shiming's gag, but it was also fleeting, and then sighed: "Of course, the poor family is just a poor family, and they have built dead windows and don't see the light of day all year round." And what about the rich squires? And will you be willing to be stabbed? ”

One sentence made Li Xin wake up like a dream, and he immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He came from later generations, and he did not understand the state of mind of people who valued the land industry and penetrated into the bone marrow. But when it comes to the specific situation, the original meaning of this "window tax" is that the richer the richer, the more ruthless the tax will be, but aren't the contemporary scholars exactly the rich class? The poor people and the elite who control a lot of social resources hate themselves, how can the Three Guards still gain a foothold in Nanjing? Is it solved by force? He wasn't that naïve and didn't want to.

As a result, Li Xin also lost the nature of touring the mountains and rivers, said goodbye to Gao Shiming and returned to Nanjing, and went to the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing to find Xiong Mingyu, but was told by the official of the ministry that Xiong Shangshu went to Yuanbaoshan Iron Works. Li Xin went out of Jubaomen in the south of the city non-stop and went straight to the Yuanbaoshan Iron Factory.

Xiong Mingyu was indeed in the iron factory, and by his side was the deputy general Heisenberg. Heisenberg looked attentive, but Xiong Mingyu found the Marquis of Zhen, and hurriedly walked a few steps forward to salute.

Li Xin waved his hand to signal that he didn't need to be polite, and went straight to the point to ask about the "window tax" to be levied by the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing. After Xiong Ming heard this, he was quite proud and glanced at Heisenberg behind him.

"Xia Guan heard General Hai talk about the tax collection project of Mule Equestria, and felt that it could be moved over to implement it, which could just solve the urgent need at the moment."

"Heisenberg?" Li Xin was stunned for a moment, and said in his heart, why did this matter still be involved in Heisenberg? Xiong Mingyu didn't pay attention to the clouds in Li Xin's eyes, and nodded again and again: "It's General Hai, in fact, many tax items in the Mule Equestrian Kingdom are not available to our Da Ming." For example, there are popes in the West, and even the emperors of the mule kingdom have to be obedient. I heard from General Hai that there was an emperor in Mule Equestria who challenged the authority of the Pope, and the Pope called on the Western princes to crusade against him, calling ...... That's right, it's called an excommunication. forced the emperor of the mule country to cross the mountains and mountains to bear the guilt! ”

Xiong Ming was confused about what Li Xin said, and he didn't know what he wanted to say.

The Pope is roughly equivalent to Zhou Tianzi, and specially issued a thing called "indulgence", the guilty can pay a fine to redeem it, and there will be no sin in the future, in the words of Westerners, that is, the spirit and body are liberated together, and they can go to heaven after death. ”

Xiong Mingyu praised him, "This is much better than selling an official beard, buying sins and leading people to goodness is really a matter of killing two birds with one stone." It's a pity that my Da Ming can't stand this indulgence! ”

Only then did Li Xin understand that Xiong Mingyu was greatly impressed by the various names of excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes that had been in the Middle Ages in the West. Indulgences? Li Xin secretly sneered, how can this kind of name not work in China? More than 100 years later, an emperor who claimed to be a perfect old man invented a "guilty silver", where officials who committed crimes could pay fines to atone for their crimes, and officials who did not commit crimes could find some innocuous excuses to apologize and openly bribe the emperor.

"The 'window tax' must be abolished immediately, and must not be collected! Western tax collection of those methods do not apply to my Ming Dynasty, with only the backfire, orange born in Huainan for orange, born in Huaibei is orange. Aren't you afraid that Nanjing Shilin will scold your ancestors? ”

Xiong Mingyu immediately smiled with a shy face: "The lower officials are not afraid of gossip, and they are only dedicated to running errands for the town captive!" ”

In front of this guy, Li Xin couldn't get up even if he wanted to be strict, and suddenly smiled and said: "You're not afraid of gossip, I'm still afraid, the Three Guards are not short of this money, and it is important to open up sources and reduce expenditures, but it can't be open source from the people." ”

Li Xin didn't get angry, but explained the stakes and disadvantages, Xiong Mingyu immediately understood, his sycophant slapped down the leg of the town captive, so he had to say: "It's the lower official who is not thoughtful......"

"Speaking of open source, there is indeed an important thing to do, if this matter is successful, then the 'window tax' is like a cloud compared to it!"

Hearing Li Xin say this, Xiong Mingyu swept away his frustration, and immediately realized that the Marquis of Zhenyu had a new plan, and he wanted to see what the Marquis of Zhenyu had to do faster than collecting taxes and money.

"But please command, the lower officials should do their best and do their best!"

Li Xin waved his hand and smiled: "This matter is not difficult, it is easy for Xiong Shangshu!" ”

"Please speak clearly!" Li Xin sold the guanzi, which made Xiong Mingyu feel strange, and it was easy to talk about this matter with himself, isn't it? He suddenly realized something, and his heart couldn't help but sink.

Li Xin stared at Xiong Mingyu's eyes, and said word by word: "Zhejiang City!" ”

Sure enough, as Xiong Mingyu expected, when he heard the five words of Zhejiang City Bosi coming out of the mouth of the marquis of Zhenyu, he sighed secretly, it seemed that it was time for him to make a break with his old friends. But what was implied in his sigh was not regret, but an incredulity and joy at the opportunity to come.

You must know that in the eyes of the courtiers, Zhejiang Bosi is a yamen who deals with trouble, but in the eyes of people like Xiong Mingyu who are familiar with the inside story, it is a cornucopia that can make money. If you can hold the Zhejiang City Bosi in your hands, it will be a cornucopia of silver.