(Thank you for the support of the truth of the decadence and the passing of history, thank you!) ）

In the Kaiyuan Palace, Yi Feng said to the secretary and supervisor Wei Zheng, "Regarding the tax reform, why hasn't the political hall come to a conclusion yet?"

Wei Zheng said to the emperor a little helplessly, "This matter was first handed over to the Ministry of Internal History for discussion according to the system, and then submitted to the Ministry of Menxia for consideration, but the Ministry of Menxia refused to sign and sign Tong Guò three times in a row, and sent it back, and now the matter is stuck in Menxia Province." ”

Yi Feng felt that he had lifted a stone and shot himself in the foot, when the Sui Dynasty opened the country, the system of three provinces and six ministries was determined, and after that, Shangshu Province gradually became weighted, and everything was always done, after Yi Feng ascended the throne, it was specially adjusted, and the responsibilities of the internal history and the two provinces under the door were increased, so that the three provinces regained the situation of decision-making in the province of internal history, deliberation in the province of menxia, and implementation of Shangshu. But now, the provincial governor of the province has accepted Li Gang, and openly refuted his edict by using this system to justify it, or three times in a row. According to the system of the new dynasty, although the emperor is the Son of Heaven, it is not completely the holy will alone, all major events in the imperial court, must first go through the internal history of the province of discussion, by the five internal history of the province to write the discussion, signed by each other, called the five flowers of the judgment, and then submitted to the Inner History of the Lang and the Inner History of the Lingxiu policy, and finally sent to the Menxia Province, to Nayan and the Yellow Gate of the Lang review, and finally rejected or amended and reported to the political hall, the political hall by the prime minister on duty and the rest of the ministers to review and discuss before reporting to the Son of Heaven. Layer by layer, step by step, the discussion review and approval. Although a political hall has been added to the three provinces, the responsibilities of the three provinces have not changed. The role of the political hall is more to manage the government on behalf of the Son of Heaven, after all, the emperor's energy is limited, and it is impossible for the court to deal with everything in one person. Therefore, the three provinces reported to the government hall for approval and then submitted to the emperor, and the matter submitted to the report basically had a relatively mature disposal opinion. The emperor can easily figure things out and give the final decision on whether to agree or not according to his heart. The Emperor has the final veto on the approval of the government hall. However, the emperor's opinion is not immediately a holy edict, and it has to be discussed and drafted in the internal history, and the subordinates deliberate, and finally if it is passed to the Shangshu Province for execution, the edict will be issued, and the edict will finally have the signatures of the governors of the three provinces and the prime ministers of the political affairs hall. Only when these signatures agree to pass guò can they be regarded as edicts with real effect, otherwise they can only be regarded as the emperor's decree. The court and officials could refuse to carry it out.

When Yi Feng did this set, it was also for the long-term healthy development of the court, but now it has immediately become an obstacle to his hands and feet.

"Summoning Nayan into the palace." Yi Nei ordered the chamberlain to summon Li Gang into the palace.

As usual, Li Gang dressed meticulously, so that even the most discerning celebrant could not find the slightest rudeness.

"It's time for dinner, Mr. will accompany me to lunch first." Yi Feng was a little helpless about this old man, Li Gang, who had been the teacher of the Emperor Taishang and the two emperors before and after, was notoriously stubborn, and was even called a little rigid by the courtiers.

"His Majesty summoned the ministers. There must be something important to talk about, so let's talk about it first. ”

"Today's lunch is very rich, braised beef, stewed wild duck. There is also a dish of grilled snake meat, and there is also a new ale brewed in the palace, which is served on ice. The taste is extremely good, and you will regret missing it. Yi Feng said with a smile.

"Let's talk about things first. This week, the old minister is on duty for political affairs, and there are still many things waiting for the ministers to deal with in the province. ”

Yi Feng shook his head. This Li Gang is like this, and he doesn't even give half of the emperor's face.

"That's right, the secretary and supervisor Wei Zheng told me that Mr. had rejected my tax reform edict three times in a row, which is a bit inappropriate. Before, I also talked with Mr. and other deacons here, and discussed that the tax system has reached the point where it must be changed, and the tax reform is very urgent, and they are all burning their brows, why is the edict rejected when it reaches the province of Menxia, or three times? ”

Lao Chen also knew that the country's finances were difficult, and if there was no reform, the imperial court would simply not be able to supply hundreds of thousands of troops, let alone support the military's war. However, some aspects of His Majesty's new tax law are unreasonable, and since His Majesty has let the old minister take the post of accepting words, and the province is deeply responsible for reviewing and refutating it, then the old minister can't be a vegetarian meal, and he obviously sees the unreasonable place, but he turns a blind eye. If you just need one person to sign it, then whoever you want to do it is. Before His Majesty transferred the old minister, the old minister had to do his duty. ”

"What is unreasonable about the new tax system?" Yi Feng was not surprised that Li Gang answered so unceremoniously and truthfully.

Li Gang said, "His Majesty's tax reform plan has also been carefully studied, and the foundation of the country's current rent and tax adjustment system is the uniform land system. His Majesty's vision is like a torch, and he has already seen that with the stability of the world and the increase of population, it will not be many years before the world will be equalized, and then the rent and tax adjustment system of the imperial court and the government and military system will also become rootless, and it will be difficult to last for a long time. Reform is being proposed now, and that's a good thing. The new two tax laws, the imperial court can collect nearly 30 million yuan of taxes a year, which is three times the original, and these extra taxes are mostly the fields in the hands of those noble and powerful landlord officials, plus a large number of hidden fields cleared out before, the state wealth has tripled all of a sudden, which is a great good thing, and the ministers raised their hands in agreement. As for the industrial and commercial tax, Lao Chen is not very clear, but since His Majesty Xià has tried it in Huaihuang with considerable results, it may work. However, it is difficult for the minister to agree with the imperial court monopoly of His Majesty, especially this salt monopoly, which is not officially taxed now, is included in the imperial court monopoly, and the salt tax is as much as 10 million a year, and the people may have to spend ten cents or more to buy a pound of salt, and the money for a family to buy salt a year is equivalent to two taxes on dozens of acres of land, isn't this a tyranny? Does His Majesty want to make the people of the world unable to even afford salt? ”

"The account is not calculated like this, the new tax system, as you can see, will reduce the burden of the people a lot, and there will be no longer any need to serve, and the imperial court levies this salt tax, which is actually a supplement to the tax. If you do the math, you will see that the people are finally lighter than they were in the past. Although salt is a necessity, it can not be consumed much, ten catties a year is enough for one person, and ten catties are only 100 yuan. And if the people work for the court for a few days every year, they will definitely get more than 100 yuan. Besides, ten pennies a pound of salt is just a calculation. In fact, the price of salt is not fixed. There will be different grades of salt, and there will be salt that is higher than ten cents. There will definitely be less than ten cents of salt, and ordinary people can buy cheaper salt, and this expenditure will naturally be reduced accordingly. In short, under the new tax system, the taxes borne by the people will definitely be lighter than in the past, and they will be much lighter. Exempted from all kinds of miscellaneous taxes, free labor, and two taxes per mu, have you ever thought about how much the people will benefit from this? In many places in Henan, Hedong, Hebei. There are many people and little land, as early as ten years ago, there was no land to grant, many families have six or seven people, and there are three or four men, but the family's land is still the 100 acres of land granted by their father in the early years. There are only 100 acres of land, but the rent adjustment is calculated according to Ding, you know, if the rent adjustment of each Ding is roughly combined, it is equivalent to 3,000 yuan per year, which is originally a tax of 100 acres of land. Each mu is equivalent to about 30 yuan. Thirty dollars per acre of land is actually not much. In the northern region, the yield per mu can basically reach one stone to one and a half stone or even two stones, while the fertile land in the south. There are two or three stones or even five or six stones per mu, so the tax of 30 yuan per mu is roughly equivalent to 10% of the output in the north. In the south, it is not even 10% of the output. But if there are four men in a family. There are only 100 acres of land, but you have to pay four rents. Then their family has to pay a tax of 12,000 yuan for this 100 acres of land, and an average of 120 yuan per mu of land, and if one mu of land has two stones of grain, which is converted into 400 yuan, it is equivalent to at least 30% of the tax. What's more, the most important thing is to serve for free, although it is only 20 days of service every year, but 20 days is only a regular service, and the time on the road is not counted, and you have to bring your own dry food and bedding, and in fact, the service time is often overdue every year. The common people are not afraid of rent, but they are most afraid of servitude, and when they encounter such a big project, sometimes they even have to be hundreds of miles away from home. Now that the imperial court is exempted from military service, the exempt money is also included in the acres of land, if the imperial court requisitions them to work, then not only must they be paid, but also have to take care of their food and accommodation, and they have to take care of the people on the way back and forth. ”

"The minister knows that His Majesty's two tax laws have indeed benefited the ordinary people of the world. But this is not the reason why His Majesty can use the salt monopoly to levy heavy taxes, and the minister resolutely opposes the salt monopoly and levies heavy taxes. ”

Yi Feng sighed, "Sir, Mencius once said that you can't have both fish and bear's paws. Naturally, I also know that the salt monopoly is not a good policy, but the state needs money to supply the army, to support the officials, and to support expenditure. I have also weighed it for a long time and considered it a lot, but it is really difficult to have a perfect solution. I asked myself, the implementation of my new tax system is not only difficult to increase revenue to meet the expenses of the imperial court, but also greatly reduce the burden of the people, this is already a rare and good way. Although there are some flaws, no one is perfect, and the imperial court tax system cannot be perfect, but as long as this flaw is within the controllable range, then it is still acceptable. ”

"Can't you delete the salt monopoly?"

"Without this article, there will be 10 million yuan of tax revenue a year, and this 10 million is equivalent to the military expenditure of hundreds of prefectures and towns in the border and southern ya. Yi Feng said, "Now is the critical time for the imperial court, Goguryeo in the east and the Turks in the north have not yet been able to conquer them, and solve these two henchmen, and the current imperial court wants to maintain this situation, and the expenses are indeed a bit large." But believe me, this is only a temporary situation, the imperial court vigorously supports commerce, and trade with neighboring countries, I believe that it will not be long before the imperial court can receive more taxes from commerce, and at that time, the imperial court will have more income, and even the imperial court will solve the external troubles, and then the military expenditure will be reduced, and it is natural to consider stopping the salt monopoly. ”

"Sir, for the long-term peace and stability of the Great Sui, the monarchs and the people should all contribute together, can you understand?"

Li Gang was silent for a moment, and finally bowed to Yi Feng, "The minister understands His Majesty's painstaking efforts, and he will sign the edict of Tong Guò Majesty when he returns." However, the minister asked His Majesty to bear in mind the words of today, and one day in the future, he would be able to abolish the salt monopoly and impose heavy taxes. The people of the Great Sui can unite as one and make contributions and sacrifices for the sake of the Great Sui, but they cannot be fooled. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize a boat. (To be continued......)