Edict of prison, under the tree of the new crooked neck.

Last night it rained an autumn rain, which was dripping and annoying.

When the sky cleared, the ground was dry, and the leaves on the trees that had not been knocked off by the raindrops last night began to fall during the day.

Jiang Xinghuo's laziness has been visibly reduced.

He even did a set of radio gymnastics that he learned in school under the tree.

"The times are calling."

"One-two-three-four, two-two-three-four."

Jiang Xinghuo took care of himself and himself.

Since the autumn beheading, it has been like being cut by Qi Gen in the edict, and only a few leek seedlings are left.

The jailers were listlessly guarding the entrance to the courtyard where the prison was released.

There are several prison areas in the Imperial Prison, and the civilian prison in the opposite direction of Jiang Xinghuo is the one with a higher degree of danger, hmm. The criminals who were temporarily placed in the official prison had long been taken away by a wave in the rebellion.

Therefore, the lazy jailers are not destined to pay the same attention to all prison districts, especially Jiang Xinghuo is still an official prison here, and most of them are weak scholars.

"Mr. Jiang."

Zhu Gaoxu strode in.

Jiang Xinghuo insisted on finishing the last part of the exercise before turning back.

Zhu Gaoxu's side was followed by a middle-aged man with three long beards.

Really!

Jiang Xinghuo said secretly in his heart, it was really not what he expected.

Li Jinglong/The high-level officials of the Ming Empire have always maintained their attention to him, as if there has always been an invisible gaze watching him.

And Jiang Xinghuo just finished talking to the bearded man, this class will be a little difficult, so he called someone to come.

Zhu Gaoxu asked cautiously: "Mr. Jiang, after you told me yesterday, I thought about it left and right, and I always felt that it was really difficult to understand by myself, this Mr. Qiu was a member of the household department before he was imprisoned, so I invited him to come over and listen to it together, and you can also solve my doubts, do you think it's okay?" ”

And Xia Yuanji, who is known as "Mr. Qiu", also looked at Jiang Xinghuo nervously at this time.

In Xia Yuanji's imagination, Jiang Xinghuo should be a rather strict teacher, after all, it should not be possible to teach a demon king like Zhu Gaoxu if he is not majestic enough.

But Jiang Xinghuo looks very young, with delicate eyebrows and eyes, and a gentle temperament.

Although Xia Yuanji has a lot of experience, he has never seen a person so talented and learned, so young.

Xia Yuan Jixin said: "Sure enough, the strange men in the world are all demons!" He is worthy of His Majesty's determined immortals! ”

Jiang Xinghuo had a smile on his face: "Of course, since you have invited Mr. Qiu over, if you have any questions about the lecture at that time, I will communicate with Mr. Qiu." ”

Jiang Xinghuo stood beside Xia Yuanji and stretched out his hand to signal.

So the three of them together. Squatted under a tree.

The ground is wet, and it's not the kind of environment where you can hide in the shade of trees in the summer some time ago, so you can't lie down.

Xia Yuanji arched his hand: "I've seen Mr. Jiang." ”

Jiang Xinghuo smiled and saluted: "You're welcome." ”

On this occasion, Natsuhara Yoshiben wanted to respectfully call him Jiang Shi, but it was actually the first time they had met in theory, and it seemed that they were not familiar with it to this point.

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "I heard that Mr. Qiu used to be a member of the household department? ”

Xia Yuanji hurriedly replied, "Yes." ”

"Something to keep it secret."

Jiang Xinghuo glanced at the beard, the other party should have instructed.

"I know below, keep my mouth shut." Natsuhara Yoshishi swears.

Jiang Xinghuo said: "In this way, it is much easier to talk about. I'm not a fan of, start now? ”

Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly said, "You start talking." ”

The silver coin of Ba Si Pawen appeared from Jiang Xinghuo's hand again.

Li Jinglong's legacy. The items left behind seem to represent that he himself is listening to the lecture.

The silver coin was flicked into the air by Jiang Xinghuo, and then landed in the palm of his hand.

"In the last lesson, we were talking about money."

"And this lesson, it's going to talk about - taxes."

"Again, today's lesson is divided into two parts."

"The first part talks about the nature of taxation."

"The second part talks about the significance of taxation to the country."

In Jiang Xinghuo's hand, the silver coin spun endlessly, and he asked softly.

"I want to ask a question, how do you understand the meaning of the word 'tax'?"

——————

The secret room next door.

Last night's question was answered today.

When Jian Yi and Ru Yu followed Zhu Di and Dao Yan into the secret room, when they heard the sound coming from the wall, they felt a certain "shame" emotion at the same time.

The emperor took the lead in eavesdropping?

That's unseemly, isn't it?

Probably seeing the thoughts of the two scholars, Zhu Di simply asked: "How do the two Aiqing understand the meaning of taxation?" ”

The official secretary is the official of the Ming Dynasty, and he is the head of the six departments, and he is the highest status civil official in the Ming Dynasty in the actual sense.

This small problem is naturally impossible to reverse.

"The so-called tax is a long story." Jian Yi twisted his beard and took the lead in saying: "The earliest method of financial collection in the Xia Dynasty was 'tribute', that is, the vassals presented goods to the king. At that time, although vassals had to fulfill this obligation, the amount of tribute and the timing were uncertain, so the "tribute" was only the prototype of the "tax". ”

"Later, the Western Zhou Dynasty levied military materials called 'fu', and local products were called 'tax'. In the late Spring and Autumn period, taxes were levied uniformly on the basis of acres of land. Although 'fu' originally referred to military endowment, that is, military service and military supplies collected by the monarch from his vassals. But in fact, the revenues collected are often not limited to military contributions, but also include expenditures for other parts of the state. ”

"Later, the income collected by the state from passes, markets, mountains, forests, lakes, etc. was also called 'fu'. Therefore, 'endowment' no longer only refers to the military supplies collected by the state, but also has the meaning of 'tax'. ”

"Therefore, taxation is also the sum of 'endowment' and 'tax', that is, part of the output of the acres of land, passes, markets, mountains, forests, lakes, and so on paid by the people to the state. ”

Here is to say, the Ministry of Shangshu Jianyi said this, in fact, that the tax is equal to the field tax, customs duties, commercial tax, mountain forest and lake tax, which is also the main tax collected by the feudal dynasty.

Well, since the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the mountains, forests and lakes are also the country/emperor's, otherwise why would the heroes in the circle of Shuibo Liangshan be forced to rebel?

Isn't it because Song Huizong announced that fishing will also start to collect taxes according to the old rules.

This is actually the most intuitive understanding of taxation by traditional bureaucrats in the feudal era.

The taxes paid by the people to the court are called taxes, and as for what this tax is, it all depends on what is available in the local area.

Those who have land will grow grain and pay grain, pay tolls on traffic arteries, pay commercial taxes in prosperous commercial ports, and pay special products near mountains, forests and lakes.

Looking at the two Shangshu who were full of confidence in their answers, Zhu Di smiled.

"Why is Your Majesty laughing?" The official Shangshu Jian Yi said slowly, "If what the minister said is wrong, you might as well point it out." ”

At this time, Zhu Di actually wanted to say the second child's unbeaten "ah, yes, yes, yes".

But considering this, this seems to be a bit of a mockery.

I really didn't have much respect for the two important ministers of the country, so I held back.

Zhu Di took a deep breath, suppressed his smile, and said, "You guys will know later." ”

Dao Yan turned the rosary in his hand and said nothing.

looked at Dao Yan with the smiling emperor and the old god on his face.

Jian Yi and Ru Yu glanced at each other, looking dazed.

Aren't they right?

But they were originally full of confidence, but when they looked at the emperor who couldn't hide his smile with his mouth pursed, they began to shake again.

Is something wrong with the world?

With such a normal answer, why did the emperor make such a gesture of forcibly holding back ridicule?

Are they wrong?

Or is the world wrong?

Well, in short, His Majesty the Emperor can't be wrong.

——————

What the two non-professional Shangshu can say, Xia Yuanji naturally knows everything about it, and even goes further.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't count on this question, Xia Yuanji simply opened his mouth for a while, and it was about the same as what he said in the secret room next door.

In addition to what I just mentioned, just like the origin of various taxes, there is actually a origin."

Xia Yuanji is quite knowledgeable in the professional field.

"Naturally, there is no need to say much about the field tax, "Spring and Autumn" contains: In the fifteenth year of Lu Xuangong, Lu first implemented the initial tax per mu, which is the origin of the collection of field tax."

"As for the city (field) tax, it is much earlier, can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty, under the north wall of the Zhou Palace, the east and west are divided into three districts, respectively, the morning market, the afternoon market and the evening market tax to implement the 'five cloth' taxation system, one is the sub-distribution, that is, the house tax, the second is the general cloth, that is, the tooth tax (intermediary tax), the third is the cloth, that is, the land tax, the fourth is the quality cloth, refers to the tax levied on those who violate the contract documents, and the fifth is the fine cloth, that is, the fine. The market tax is uniformly managed by officials such as the city, the hired people, and the Quanfu, and is regularly handed over to the state treasury. ”

"Vehicle and vessel tax appeared a little later, in the sixth year of Yuanguang in the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who urgently needed to collect money, promulgated the regulations on the collection of vehicle and vessel tax, which was called 'counting commercial vehicles', and 'counting' was the basic unit of taxation, a calculation was 120 money, and the collection object was limited to the merchant ships and commercial vehicles carrying goods to the four years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and began to include non-commercial vehicles and ships in the scope of taxation. The decree stipulates that the tax on non-commercial vehicles is calculated for each vehicle, and the tax on commercial vehicles is doubled; The three elders (the township officials in charge of education) and the knights (cavalry trained by the counties) were exempted from the vehicle and vessel tax, and those who concealed or failed to report the information were punished, and those who reported it were rewarded. ”

In the end, Xia Yuanji, who fully demonstrated his professional level, made a final conclusion about Jiang Xinghuo's problem.

"Taxation is the valuable property that the state collects from the people through various means."

Jiang Xinghuo quietly listened to Mr. Qiu's story.

I have to admit that even in the feudal dynasty, the professional bureaucrats of the household department still have a very clear understanding of various related concepts, and they are quite familiar with the origin of the concepts.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Xia Yuanji and said nothing.

Because according to the experience summed up by Zhu Gaoxu throughout the lecture.

The best answer to Mr. Jiang's question is not to answer it.

Because what you answer is often extremely superficial in front of Mr. Jiang's answer.

Xia Yuanji saw that no one spoke, and he was also a little worried at this time, it should be, perhaps, he didn't answer wrong, right?

Jiang Xinghuo finally spoke.

"You're right, but I think you still don't understand the meaning of 'tax', and you still stay at a relatively shallow cognitive level, or in other words, your understanding of 'tax' is still a superficial concept."

As soon as these words came out, Xia Yuanji's desire for knowledge won greatly.

The two Shangshu in the secret room next door couldn't see Xia Yuanji's reaction, and they were quite skeptical.

"Ru Shangshu, do you think what I said is wrong?" Jian Yi looked at his companion.

Ru Yu shook his head and only said: "I don't think there's any problem, taxes are like this, Xia Shangshu, the god of wealth of the Ming Dynasty, didn't he answer the same way?" ”

Jian Yi frowned, on the surface, he said it to Ru Yu, but in fact he said it to the emperor.

"Then why does this person say that we don't understand the meaning of 'tax', and our answer is almost the same as Xia Shangshu's, which is a shallow cognition?"

Speaking of which, this respected heavenly official simply stopped pretending.

Jian Yi turned his head and said to Zhu Di: "Your Majesty, we really admire this person's talent, whether it is the peaceful cutting of the domain, the apportionment of the mu into the mu, the Ming national debt or even the fertilizer elixir, it is a good prescription for governing the country." ”

"But." Ru Yu took over, "If it is such an ordinary concept, we are not much different from Xia Shangshu's answer, and we have to say that Xia Shangshu, that is, what we said is not right, is this, a little too contemptuous of people?" ”

"Our ministers of state, although they are not as specialized in the art of helping the country and the people as Xia Shangshu, can they be regarded as knowing a little, right? This basic concept is that the officials in the household department understand, how to say that our cognition is shallow? ”

Ru Yu said simply: "The minister is indeed a little unconvinced, but the minister really wants to hear how this Mr. Jiang explains the meaning of 'tax'." ”

Jian Yi followed his head and said: "It's not that the ministers have this emotion for no reason, but these things have been passed down for thousands of years, and countless generations have been decided, so it doesn't matter if we are wrong. Could it be that people for thousands of years have a shallow understanding of 'taxation', a thing that ordinary people can't avoid in their lives? ”

"The minister thinks that there is absolutely no reason for this."

Zhu Di faced the doubts of the two ministers of state, but he still only smiled confidently.

Zhu Di's self-confidence was developed after witnessing countless people being slapped in the face by Jiang Xinghuo.

Sadly, in the same pit, there will always be people who come after you to jump into it.

"That's it, I'm afraid you won't believe what I say now."

Zhu Di tapped on the armrest of the chair and said, "Go on, listen."

Dao Yan stopped the rosary in his hand and chuckled.

"Didn't the two Shangshu find out that Xia Shangshu didn't question it?"

Hearing this, Jian Yi and Ru Yu were stunned.

Yes, why didn't Xia Yuanji have any doubts and resentment?

It stands to reason that in front of the head of the household department, people don't even understand the most basic economic concept of 'taxation'.

This is slapping him in the face of the God of Wealth!

It's really puzzling.

——————

Jiang Xinghuo said slowly.

"The meaning of taxation is that the state completes the collection of wealth from all people through the guarantee of law and violence, characterized by coercion and gratuitousness."

In other words, the primary distribution of wealth."

"In the era of feudal dynasties, due to the lack of a mechanism for the redistribution and third distribution of wealth that is beneficial to the people, it is essentially speaking."

"- Taxation, in fact, is the legitimate plundering of the wealth of the people!"

Hearing these words, Xia Yuanji couldn't help but fall into thought.

Natsuharayoshi's answer was that "taxes are valuable goods that the state collects from the people in various ways."

Compared with the two, in fact, the content of the first sentence is basically the same, but Jiang Xinghuo's definition is more accurate.

And the difference is the content that follows.

Xia Yuanji pondered the meaning of this sentence, "Taxation is the primary distribution of wealth, and because there is no redistribution and tertiary distribution mechanism, taxation is a legitimate plunder of the common people." ”

Xia Yuanji believes that the sentence that taxation is a legitimate plunder of the common people is a little ugly, but it is indeed true.

Natsuhara's concern is with three other new concepts.

What is an Initial Allocation?

What is Redistribution?

What is the 3rd Distribution?

Zhu Gaoxu had already asked for him.

"Mr. Jiang, what do you mean by 'the primary distribution, redistribution, and third distribution of wealth'?"

Jiang Xinghuo explained: "The primary distribution of wealth refers to the collection of taxes by the state, in other words, the distribution of the wealth of producers; The redistribution of wealth, also known as redistribution, refers to the use of tax revenues by the state to certain people who are not directly or unable to participate directly in production. That is, the expenditure incurred by obtaining income from the ordinary people who participated in the primary distribution, and unilaterally transferring a part of the state's fiscal revenue (tax) without compensation, such as the army and bureaucrats who do not directly participate in production, or the relief of widows and orphans who cannot participate in production, the reading and literacy of children, etc.; The third distribution of wealth is to encourage the wealthy to contribute more money and contribute to the country's disadvantaged groups through policies such as tax breaks. ”

"In fact, the above is the complete mechanism of taxation."

"In other words, the meaning of taxation is not just that the state collects money from the people and then spends it."

"It's about coercive policies and incentive policies, so that the money collected can really be used on those who need it. Only in this way can we truly collect taxes from the people and use them for the people. ”

Take it from the people, use it for the people!

Xia Yuanji was stunned at first, revealing a somewhat longing look, but then frowned.

Jiang Xinghuo's description of this tax mechanism is certainly beautiful, but Xia Yuanji clearly understands it.

- Can't do it!

In all dynasties, the land of the people has always been scraped, and oil and water have to be squeezed out of the stones.

It is possible to take it from the people and use it for the people. No way.

"Hey."

Xia Yuanji let out a long sigh, but shook his head slightly.

It is of course his wish to make the country's tax revenue truly used for the benefit of the people.

But now it seems that this wish is destined to be unrealizable.

Perhaps in the distant future, what Mr. Jiang said can be realized.

And the two Shangshu in the secret room next door.

Heard the phrase "take from the people, use it for the people".

It is also awe-inspiring.

Although, they still disagreed, Jiang Xinghuo said that their views were shallow.

But when Jiang Xinghuo said this easy-to-understand but profound sentence, how could officials who still had a conscience in their hearts not be touched?

"Well said." Jian Yi sighed, "It's a pity, but it's a castle in the air and can't be realized." ”

Ru Yu was also silent for a while.

Jiang Xinghuo said this, looking at this Mr. Qiu's reaction, he suddenly lost his smile and woke up.

"But I'm ridiculous, since it's a feudal dynasty, of course, it doesn't matter what is taken from the people for the people, it's just a matter of exhausting the land and fishing, and Weifu is self-dictatorated. However, there is another theory here. ”

"Mr. Jiang, come on."

Originally, Xia Yuanji, who was still a little nostalgic for "taking it from the people and doing it for the people", was a little nostalgic, and said seriously.

Jiang Xinghuo said: "That is, in fact, even if the tax cannot be used for the people, but it is taken from the people, there is an invisible limit." ”

"This is also why you have a shallow understanding of tax collection just now, that is, you can't understand the essence of taxation."

"Well, this involves the essence of taxation from the meaning of taxation."

Jiang Xinghuo didn't ask questions this time, but spoke eloquently.

"I want to tell you that the essence of taxation is actually a 'game'."

(End of chapter)