In Zhu Jingyuan's view, the Ordnance Department and the Ministry of Industry will be busy in the next few years, and there is no need to burden them for the time being.

The craftsmen led by Zhu Jingyuan and Li Rui stayed at the test site for another day and went through all the existing engineering projects.

Tell them all the ideas that might work, ask them to write them down, and go back and try to see if they work.

As Daming's cutting-edge research on science and technology becomes more and more in-depth, Zhu Jingyuan can directly provide fewer and fewer reference opinions.

When the aircraft was invented, Zhu Jingyuan could directly provide design ideas and even draw general drawings.

Most of today's projects can only provide direction and reference suggestions.

But direction and recommendations are still important......

The mainstream scientific and technological research direction of the Ming Dynasty will not make major mistakes in the next few decades, which can accept a large amount of resources.

Two days later, Zhu Jingyuan sent off the craftsmen of the Ordnance Department led by Li Rui and returned to the Forbidden City by himself.

After a little rest for a day, Zhu Jingyuan resumed his original work.

In the past two days, the secretaries arranged by Zhu Jingyuan began to come back one after another.

However, the first person to come back was not the nearest local investigator in Yingtianfu, but the person in charge of Suzhou Prefecture.

Zheng Xingyang, who was born in the collateral family of the Yanping County family, now found Zhu Jingyuan in a little hurry.

First of all, I handed over a report I wrote, and at the same time briefly explained:

"Your Highness, the students' investigation in Suzhou is not completely over.

"But in recent days, the investigation has yielded very important results, and I feel the need to report back to you as soon as possible.

"Recently, there was a wedding in Suzhou that everyone knows.

The woman's parents' name is Liu Yudong, a native of Suzhou, and the family has a civilian aircraft engine factory.

The man's parents' name is Wang Baoqing, a native of Songjiang Prefecture, and the family has a small civilian flying machine factory.

"Both families themselves are very well-known in the local area.

"There are members of the family who work as errands in the local yamen, and there are also clansmen who are officials in the imperial court, and the highest official titles are the prefect of the fourth grade.

"The two factories and commercial houses are also among the top manufacturers in the two places, and they are both new factories in emerging industries in the past decade, which can indeed be regarded as a good match.

"But it is precisely because the two industries are already quite competitive in their respective industries, and the competitiveness of both parties will be further enhanced after the combination of the two of them.

"The officials of the two families will definitely assist each other in the future, and if the two complementary factories are put together, the scale of their industry will be large to a certain extent.

At the same time, the local people also told the students that Wang Baoqing took out a dowry of 10,000 gold bills, and if nothing else, Liu Yudong might also give a dowry of similar value......

"And, according to the surveys in the past few days, similar situations are not uncommon in the local area.

"The students think that the imperial court should come forward to make some necessary adjustments."

Zhu Jingyuan flipped through Zheng Xingyang's report, and his expression was quite solemn.

This matter is the marriage of two local families.

They are not really famous families for the time being, after all, neither of the two families has a title yet, and the highest member of the family is a fourth-rank official, and they are all local prefects.

The family's industry is still related to the aviation industry, which means that it is only more than ten years old at most.

They are all a new generation of businessmen who have seized the opportunity in the new round of industrial revolution.

In recent years, there should be many similar businessmen all over the Ming Dynasty.

Perhaps in the eyes of the traditional aristocracy, the traditional bureaucratic families, the traditional merchants and the landlords, these people can only be regarded as nouveau riche.

However, they must already have quite "strength" in local private capital.

Local clans and family officials, as well as local yamen officials, also seized the opportunity of the aviation industry.

Especially the dowry and dowry of 10,000 gold bills, which gave Zhu Jingyuan a different taste.

10,000 gold banknotes, equivalent to 50 million yuan in his previous life.

50 million bride price, what is this concept?

In the previous life, the largest share of the bride price circulating on the Internet seemed to be only one or two million.

Although I don't know what the bride price of a truly rich family I haven't seen in my previous life will be, but now the 10,000 gold bills in this world as a bride price have reached a terrifying level.

Zhu Jingyuan himself, as the prince of the Ming Dynasty, is only 2,000 gold bills per year.

At the beginning, his grandfather, Zhu Zhongliang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty at the time, supported his investment in the aviation industry, but he only gave 10,000 gold bills.

The 10,000 gold bills made his father, the prince, a step to be happy, which was equivalent to his five years of money at that time.

At the same time, according to the regulations of the Daming Sect, the Prince of Daming married his wife and married the princess of the main wife, and the gold ingot was only one hundred taels, that is, one hundred gold bills.

It is equivalent to 500,000 yuan in later generations, and this is the royal prince of the world's great empire.

This is also the result of Emperor Shizu doubling the dowry in the later period.

Before the Chongzhen Dynasty, the prince's "legal" dowry was only 50 taels of gold, equivalent to 250,000 yuan in later generations.

Of course, the process of marrying a wife for the Prince of Daming was quite cumbersome, and the gold ingots were only part of the total dowry.

When other gifts given directly to the woman's family are added, the value of the bride price usually does not double.

This is also the rule left by Emperor Sejo.

This is only the amount of the dowry from the imperial court, and the prince himself can take out much more money than this.

However, the tradition of the feudal dynasty is to emphasize etiquette and law, and money cannot be encroached upon.

At the same time, the bride price of the two families in this report is certainly not just cash.

Something else could be worth more.

The prince married his wife with 100 gold bills, but this civil wedding directly took out 10,000 gold bills?

A hundred times the prince's dowry?

Zhu Jingyuan quickly finished the report in his hand, and then asked Zheng Xingyang directly:

"You think they're laundering money? Or is it to complete a transaction through a dowry and dowry to avoid taxes? ”

Zheng Xingyang immediately nodded and said:

"Students are not completely sure, because there is no direct evidence yet, and it can only be said that it is very likely.

"The students suggested that someone should be followed up immediately, and the locals said that similar situations were very common......

Zhu Jingyuan put down Zheng Xingyang's report and turned his face to look at Lin Zexu beside him:

"Mr. Lin, I'm personally not sure, in our civil law of the Ming Dynasty, has there been any provision that the dowry used to marry a wife should be taxed?"

Lin Zexu was also a little confused by this question:

"This ...... Students have the impression that there are no special regulations related to dowry.

"In the actual enforcement of the law, there is no one to collect the taxes on the dowry and dowry.

"According to the law on gifts and inheritance, property given directly to children by parents is not subject to tax.

"Under normal circumstances, the bride price and dowry would eventually go to the newlyweds.

"It is equivalent to the parents of both parties, each of whom takes out a sum of money and assets for the use of their children's families.

This provides the most basic conditions for the future life of the newlyweds.

"If the law is strictly followed, there are obvious loopholes in this.

"The dowry was actually given to the woman's family by the man's family before the marriage, when the children of the parties were not married.

"Gifts between two people who are not related to the immediate family are theoretically taxable.

"It's just that in the past, there were very few huge dowries and dowries.

"Traditional officials and tax collectors instinctively believe that taxes should not be collected at other people's weddings......

"So there should be no actual execution.

"Now industry and commerce are developing rapidly, and private capital is expanding rapidly.

"Coupled with the rapid expansion of the merchant community, all kinds of traditional rules are constantly being broken.

"It cannot be ruled out that there will be new businessmen who deliberately take advantage of traditional practices.

"The use of dowries and dowries to launder money or tax evasion is indeed not unguarded......

Zhu Jingyuan frowned and thought.

This is a typical example of the rapid development of society, and new situations are constantly emerging in the daily life of society.

What was once a tradition is beginning to be challenged by a new situation.

Zhu Jingyuan couldn't make up his mind for a while, what role the imperial court should play in this process.

When Zhu Jingyuan was thinking, Zheng Xingyang next to him listened to Lin Zexu's explanation, and also added:

In fact, according to the students' survey, the local tax officials in Suzhou actually considered collecting this dowry and dowry tax in the past.

"But before it was officially implemented, it was met with collective resistance from the locals.

"Including merchants and nobles and many officials, as long as they are figures with heads and faces, they do not want the imperial court to collect this tax.

"After all, everyone's children have to get married, and if the dowry is taxed, then sooner or later they will have to pay this tax.

At the same time, the locals also adjusted the method of delivery of dowry and dowry.

"They started having the newlyweds register their marriages and then deliver the bride price to the wedding site on the day of the wedding.

"After the wedding, the other belongings are kept directly by the newlyweds, and the cash is sent directly to the bank for deposit.

"There is no tax on the property that parents give to their sons and daughters-in-law.

"This circumvents the loophole created by the gift of assets between families that are not legally related before marriage.

"The idea of local tax officials collecting dowry taxes is also gone."

Lin Zexu was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously said:

"Then there is the question, if both of the newlyweds are big businessmen, will they still work in their own family property after marriage?

"Is it true that the large amount of cash and possessions in their dowry and dowry are all used for the life of the newlyweds?

"If the newlyweds don't spend a lot of cash on their families, and they don't invest in new factories and firms in their own name, where does that money end up?

"If the money and assets are ultimately used to operate the original property of both married families, then they are evading taxes or even laundering money......

Zheng Xingyang listened to Lin Zexu's analysis, and also had a feeling of sudden enlightenment:

"Although it cannot be ruled out that the two families who got married were indeed wealthy and did take a lot of money to give to the newlyweds for life and investment, the possibility of tax evasion through this process is too high.

"It's just...... Most businessmen have only a few children, and they will not have such an opportunity once in many years, which may be the reason why the relevant officials did not take the dowry seriously in the end......

The memories of later generations in Zhu Jingyuan's mind helped him put forward a more "advanced" idea:

"Have you ever heard that a local businessman has ever transferred assets by getting married?

"Are there any merchants who are alive and whose children are repeatedly married and divorced?"

Zheng Xingyang was stunned again:

"Like...... It seems that there is indeed a ......."

Then he said with some resentment:

"I just heard the locals talk about it, and the people who said it at the time, as well as myself, just instinctively felt that there was something wrong with the character of these nouveau riche merchants......

"Now that His Royal Highness and Mr. Lin have reminded me of this, I now realize that they may be evading taxes by getting married!

"So Your Highness, let's start a strict investigation!

"No matter how clean they are on the tax issue, they can't escape the charge of trespass anyway."

Zhu Jing touched his beard, which was already an inch long:

"The crime of trespassing is still not needed if you can.

"It really has to be strict, and now the rich businessmen in the whole country are basically convicted......

"The current development of industry and commerce is too fast, and Daming is much richer than it was more than a hundred years ago.

"The high specifications of hundreds of years ago can only be regarded as ordinary now.

"Let's talk about the house, the specifications of the main hall of the Forbidden City, put it at the current level of construction, it is really not worth mentioning.

"The use of trespass charges now will cause great panic among the people, and it is easy to startle the snake.

"It is still necessary to find a way to collect enough evidence and use the common law to punish the crime as a matter of course.

"The wedding of the Wang and Liu families has passed? Or is it preparing? ”

Zheng Xingyang immediately continued to introduce what he knew:

"In the final preparations, the date of the wedding is currently set for the 18th.

"Whether they will evade taxes by getting married or not, but as a new wealthy family, both of them are really wealthy.

"The marriage is the children of both parties, and the wedding will definitely be very luxurious, and it will take a long time to prepare."

Zhu Jingyuan nodded:

"Now that the film industry has also developed well, have they, the wealthy families of the people, considered hiring professionals to shoot movies and record them when they have important events?"

Zheng Xingyang thought back:

"I haven't heard of it yet, the current movies are mainly used in official education and the propaganda of court events, and there are still very few private applications in the private sector......

Zhu Jingyuan shook his head slightly:

"It's not enough, it's impossible to quickly popularize it for purely official use, and it still has to go to the people.

"Mr. Lin, you go and arrange to contact the film company of the royal family foundation.

"They borrowed people to set up a non-governmental film company in the private sector to promote the business of documenting major events in films.

"I don't think this kind of nouveau riche family should refuse to record the marriage process.

"They were completely videotaped of their marriage, including sound and video.

"Those dowries and dowries of theirs, such large sums, such nouveau riche families must want to show off.

"Ask deliberately and let them tell them how much money is in total and what they are going to do with it.

"The process of delivering the money to the deposit is recorded.

"At the same time, I went to the bank to track the follow-up funds of their deposit account.

"That's right, and the people who supervise the bank at the same time.

"I think that since they put the money in the bank, then whether there is an unreasonable transfer, the bank personnel should be clear.

"But the bank did not give a reminder or advice to the tax authorities.

"Either the money is really just a start-up fund for the newlyweds' families.

"Either the bankers are used to it.

"Either that's dereliction of duty ......"

(End of chapter)