Chapter 151: Self-reliance

Zhu Youzhu was really worried, and the appearance of this Buddha statue also made him have to be careful. Since the Han Dynasty, the Yellow Turban Rebellion began, and Zhang Jiao proclaimed himself the general of Tiangong, who swept the world with the surface of Taiping Dao, shaking the foundation of the Han dynasty for 400 years in one fell swoop. After that, there was the Ming Rebellion of Fang La in the Song Dynasty, as well as many White Lotus uprisings, and at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Sect and the White Lotus Sect were even more ignited with countless beacon fires, these bloody lessons, how could Zhu Youzhu ignore them?

Although it is said that today's level will not reach the level of the late Han Dynasty and the end of the Yuan Dynasty, this kind of thing must not be taken lightly. Now in Zhu Youzhang's heart, what he is thinking about is to find out these remnants of Mingjiao first under the condition of being as concealed as possible.

This matter is not only related to Mingjiao, but also related to King Ning, and it is naturally impossible to make a big fanfare, once it spreads, King Ning, Mingjiao people, etc., must be vigilant, so it is extremely important to keep secrets. The less people know about this, the better.

But on the other hand, Zhu Youzhu has a sense of powerlessness, he can't rely on Dongchang, Jinyiwei, and the cabinet, who else can use it?

Liu Chengfeng said that he wanted to tell Zhu Youzhu a happy event, but Zhu Youzhu couldn't be happy anyway, just calmed his face and nodded: "Say it." ”

Liu Chengfeng smiled quietly, and said unhurriedly: "The 100 households in Yanhuā Hutong have collected commercial taxes in recent months, and now they have accumulated 50,000 taels of silver. ”

"Fifty thousand ......" Zhu Youzhu couldn't help but take a deep breath and put aside the matter of the Ming Sect for the time being. And what does 50,000 taels of silver mean, of course Zhu Youzhu understands, this is a tax for a large county in the past year, and the place under the jurisdiction of 100 households is just a small land, but it only takes a few months to save 50,000 taels of silver.

At this time, the annual income of the Ming Dynasty is three million silver, of course, this does not include the payment of grain, the tax system of the Ming Dynasty is very strange, to the peasants, they levy grain, and then through the boat, transported into Beijing, to raise soldiers for disaster relief. In addition to these, there is only the monopoly of salt and iron and the filial piety of the eunuchs in various places, and it is very rare to detain three million layers of concealment.

Emperor Taizu also set a commercial tax of thirty taxes and one tax, that is, for goods worth thirty, chou take one-thirtieth to pay taxes, Zhu Yuanzhang did this, although he felt that the Yuan people were tyrannical, so he adopted a low tax method to maintain the operation of goods.

On the other hand, the main institution for collecting taxes in the Ming Dynasty is the banknote customs, the so-called banknote customs, in fact, are set up along the way to allow passing merchants to pay taxes. Originally, this method was not bad, after all, if a businessman wants to do business, he needs to flow, and he must pass the banknote customs, and he will not be able to evade taxes.

It's just that in the period of Emperor Wen, this so-called commercial tax has actually existed in name only, and merchants are not even willing to pay thirty taxes, the reason is in another system, that is, official tax reduction, there are three kinds of people who do not collect commercial tax, one is an official, followed by a eunuch, and finally a person, Xiucai, so the problem comes out, officials, eunuchs are just that, after all, there are not many such people, but in the Hongzhi Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's lifts and shows have hundreds of thousands, all over the world. Therefore, they not only promote the prosperity and development of the cultural and educational industry, but also show their skills in the field of private shipping. The shipowner also gave them a rich reward, if a Xiucai wants to enter Beijing, the news only needs to come out, and he will be invited by the local merchants immediately, after eating wine and eating, maybe he will invite the uncle to ******, and then give a few silver coins, the merchants do not have any requirements, that is, when you invite the old man to enter Beijing, take the brother's cargo ship or truck by the way, anyway, the huā fee along the way is naturally unlimited supply, and all they have to do is just take a picture when passing the checkpoint.

This is just a showman, if it is an official or a jinshi, not to mention, many commercial houses simply hang their own property in the name of this lord, give him some benefits on a monthly basis, and go out in the future, with this lord's name and tokens, you can be unimpeded.

The Ming Dynasty is the hardest hit by tax evasion, in the past, it was just that, and even if the so-called commercial tax of the Hongzhi Dynasty completely collapsed, for example, the previous year, the commercial tax collected by the imperial court was only more than 30,000 taels of silver.

However, the commercial tax collected by the hundred households is different, and the income collected by the hundred households is regarded as gray income, which should not be entered into the accounts of the imperial court, but Liu Chengfeng is very principled. This principle is that whoever dares to take Lao Tzu's money will fight with you. It's not my money, it's even if he gives birth to Huā Liu, and I firmly don't want to.

After thinking about it, Liu Chengfeng still felt that it was better to inform the emperor somewhat.

It's just that for Zhu Youjiao, it's really a bit unexpected, a hundred households collected 50,000 taels of silver, why wasn't Zhu Youzhu surprised?

Zhu Youzhu said: "Is the merchant already rich to such a point? He has lived in the palace for a long time, and his more understanding of the outside world is all kinds of data from the household department, so he asked such a question.

Liu Chengfeng was asked by Zhu Youzhang's words, and couldn't help but say: "If you don't have a surplus, how can you be a businessman?" His Majesty laughed. ”

Zhu Youzhu was silent for a while, and said: "The imperial court is unable to make ends meet every year, if the world is like this, wouldn't it be that the annual income can reach tens of millions ......of taels a year" He thought about it, and then laughed, this is just wishful thinking for him, not to mention that the jurisdiction of the hundred households in Yanhuā Hutong has a special xing, if Zhu Youzhu dares to do this, it will inevitably cause a bloody storm, who took the benefits of this commercial tax? In fact, you don't have to think about it, it must be an official or a scholar, if Zhu Youzhu wants to follow Liu Chengfeng's method, I am afraid that when the time comes, it will definitely attract the opposition of the people of the world, which is not fun.

Zhu Youzhu is not the kind of person who makes drastic moves, he adheres to the principle of governing a big country like cooking a small fresh, and this kind of large-scale reform is something he is never willing to touch.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhu Youzhu said to Liu Chengfeng: "This silver can't be moved...... he hesitated for a moment, and continued: "If it is blatantly sent to the treasury or the inner treasury, has Liu Aiqing ever thought that how many people will impeach you at that time?" ”

When Liu Chengfeng heard this, he was a little puzzled at first, but then he realized that he had made a mistake in his calculations. If you report this commercial tax into the accounts of the inner treasury or the national treasury, it will be a great rebellion for the civil and military personnel and scholars of the Manchu Dynasty. Others can't collect money, but you are a small hundred households but you have collected so much, which onion do you think you are, do you want to set an example? Do you want the whole world to follow your example? The officials of the court, which one does not have a few commercial houses under his name, and the filial piety that these commercial houses give them every year is not more than ten or two hundred taels, it can be said that the official salary of the Ming Dynasty is so low, they are all supported by this fame fee, and now they jump out by themselves, and when the time comes, they will inevitably become the target of the public, and they will move people's jobs, and people dare to fight with you.

Thinking of this, Liu Chengfeng couldn't help but sweat coldly, he claimed to be smart, but he didn't see through the key to this, if it weren't for Zhu Youzhang's prompt, it would really be a big mistake, and when the snowflakes flew into the palace, the cabinet would inevitably react.

You must know that even a cow like Zhang Juzheng has never touched this commercial tax when he implements reforms and changes, and the whip law he implements is just a change of name to collect agricultural tax.

Seeing that Liu Chengfeng was a little nervous, Zhu Youzhu couldn't help but laugh and said, "You don't have to be nervous, you have such loyalty, and you are willing to be honest with me, how can I embarrass you?" Therefore, this silver is temporarily sealed, and when I need it urgently, I will move it into the palace under other names. ”

Between the words, Zhu Youzhang's attitude towards Liu Chengfeng has been much better, and the whole person has become relaxed, you must know that the three scholars in the cabinet also never mention commercial taxes to Zhu Youzhang, not necessarily because they have a heart, but they don't want to touch this taboo, and Liu Chengfeng is a brocade cloth and a hundred households, and he has 50,000 commercial taxes in hand to be able to divert it for his own use, but in the face of so much wealth, he is not moved at all, which is the greatest loyalty to Zhu Youzhang.

is willing to do things, can do things, and is loyal, for the sake of the palace, such a person is indeed rare, at least for Zhu Youzhang.

Zhu Youzhu looked at Liu Chengfeng, and felt more and more that although this guy likes to make some clever moves, such as pulling Queen Zhang into the water and the like, he is still a good seedling.

"It's just that if it is constantly sealed, it is not the case, although it is only 50,000 taels now, but after a year, it will be 500,000, such a large amount of money, Wechen is afraid that someone will look at it and the ears will be hot, Wechen is only a hundred households after all, holding such a large amount of money, just like a child holding a gold ingot......

"I've got an idea." Zhu Youzhu interrupted Liu Chengfeng's words, his eyes couldn't help but light up, and said: "You don't have to put this account into the warehouse, but you don't have to seal it, I have a good way, then the matter of the remnants of the Ming Sect is still up to you to investigate, you just said that there is not enough manpower, then ask Xing to move these silver to investigate, recruit more capable people to practice well, you can scatter them all over the place, and explore around, although you are now in a humble position, but I have also heard of the four characters of wealth and gods, with this large amount of money, is it not enough for you to write?" ”

Listening to Zhu Youzhang's words, Liu Chengfeng's eyes couldn't help but wipe a trace of surprise.

The money was left, and the money was not left to Liu Chengfeng, but it was Liu Chengfeng who was in charge, and it was the emperor who ordered him to recruit people to investigate the bandits, which was tantamount to allowing Liu Chengfeng to justifiably set up his own si soldiers and set up his own household.

……