Seeing that Wan Bang agreed, Mu Feibai went on to say the reason for mentioning this matter.

"Nowadays, the imperial court's policy towards merchants is much more lenient, and it is really enlightened, because the family is doing business, and it can be said that he has a deep understanding of this. However, according to my long-term travel and investigation, although the new decree benefits the people, it is only a superficial taste, and there are very few decrees that can actually support commercial development, and many of them are just stipulating taxes related to it, just take the last time I went to Danzhou City to do business, I don't know if it excludes foreign merchants, and actually requires my shop to pay more than twice the tax of local merchants. ”

Mu Feibai spoke eloquently, his tone was not dull, and Wanbang could listen to it.

"Although it's not that I can't afford this tax, it's just a big blow to my idea of going to Danzhou, not to mention the cost of various checkpoint taxes along the way, which is really unbearable. It can be seen that it is not easy to do business, and many of the families I know rarely go to other places to do business, and they always lack interest when they mention it. Although trade was beneficial, the high cost deterred many people, which was comparable to the effect of suppressing commercial circulation. ”

Wanbang is stationed in the northwest all the year round, although there is also a few industries at home, but there is little contact, this is really the first time I have heard of it.

Seeing that Mu Feibai stopped and didn't continue, Wan Bang urged instead, "What about the conditions that the son wants to say?"

Mu Feibai nodded and said, "It's just a few words." First, I hope that the imperial court can give the allied merchants an appropriate reduction in taxes, I know that commercial taxes are the main source of taxes, and it is naturally impossible to exempt them, and we are not greedy, we just need to make appropriate adjustments and reduce them. ”

"How's that for a lowering method?"

"The taxes and fees of normal commodities, the imperial court has promulgated a detailed tax law, and the listed terms are publicized, and on the basis of the corresponding, the tax standard of the allied merchants can be appropriately raised. ”

Seeing that Wanbang did not refute it, Mu Feibai continued to speak.

"Second, reduce the tax collection on major transportation routes and foreign trade checkpoints. The cost of doing business and paying taxes does not need to be adjusted, but this card tax can be really profitable. It is essential to encourage trade from other places, and it is necessary to issue a pass order to the allied merchants, and the merchants who hold this order can pay less or no tax if they go to other places to do business. ”

"The pass, what is this...... Wan Bang Mo held the paperweight, and he had some considerations, "If this pass is really issued, many merchants will see that it is profitable and cheat, but the gains will outweigh the losses." ”

Mu Feibai was not in a hurry when he saw him questioning, but calmly replied: "Of course, the pass issued needs to be strictly managed, how much is issued, and who is it issued to, all need to be recorded in the file, and it is best to follow the management of the army, each pass has a specific number, as well as the punishment regulations for counterfeiters, to prevent merchants fishing in troubled waters." ”

Wan Bang thought for a moment, nodded and motioned for Mu Feibai to continue.

"Third, the imperial court encouraged the people to do business, and many times they would choose to open factories, rather than cooperate with allied merchants to set up factories together. Merchants contribute, is still in the name of the imperial court to set up a factory, by the merchant and the imperial court jointly managed, the imperial court does not have to allocate funds from the treasury, reduce expenditure, just to provide merchants with an opportunity to cooperate, and so on the factory profits, and then distribution, the imperial court in the early stage of the reduction of investment but can also make money, for businessmen, with the imperial court, it is easier to recruit labor, for the output of goods, because it is the imperial court opened, for the people is tantamount to the best protection, why worry about no market. ”

"This method is agreed, regardless of the supply in the army, the treasury is unstable, the early investment in the factory is huge, and in the event of war, the various expenditures are like flowing water, which is equivalent to making matters worse. ”

Mu Feibai nodded, "On the last condition, the imperial court grants the title of Imperial Merchant to the allied merchants. ”

Wan Bang was very suspicious, "What is the meaning of this move? The division of world levels has always been clearly defined, and it is absolutely impossible to buy and sell official titles by money, and it is not appropriate to breed many disasters and corruption from this throughout the ages." ”

Mu Feibai explained unhurriedly: "The general's doubts are understandable, but what I mean by conferring titles does not refer to buying and selling official positions, the general also mentioned just now, the division of world levels, the balance of money and power, and the power is often in a crushing position, many scholars and doctors often look down on businessmen, and even the status of pawn traders is not even comparable to that of folk technicians. ”

Few martial arts families will participate in the officialdom, and people who practice martial arts look down on the twists and turns in the officialdom, but if the business family can get the title of the imperial businessman, and want to expand the scale of business, it is equivalent to directly opening a shortcut.

Wan Bang pondered for a while before replying: "Mu Gongzi is really extraordinary, his words are exquisite, and his experience is really rich! The conditions you said have been written down by Ben Shuai, and when Ben Shuai finishes it and writes and advises, it is all up to the saint to decide." ”

"Thank you, General. ”

What Mu Feibai said is true, every sentence has a basis, but the way he speaks is easy for people to substitute, explains the crux of the problem, and puts forward the conditions he wants to exchange, full of persuasion, easy to accept.

Since he came to negotiate the conditions, he naturally had to fight for Shuhua.

Wan Bang responded, Mu Feibai estimated this matter, and he was about six or seven percent sure.

(P.S. I'll add a little more.) The first: In ancient China, the common people were divided into four people, namely the upper nine streams of the three religions and nine streams, namely emperors, sages, hermits, children, immortals, literati, warriors, farmers, industrialists, and merchants. Scholars are "scholars" and those who dream of engaging in politics, and they are the first in the land; merchants are merchants, and the hawkers who come and go from small to young people, and merchants who have reached the richest country all belong to this category. Most of the "scholars" were large families that had been officials for generations, and they often had a large amount of land and hired tenants, and the wealthy scholars often allocated funds to build schools for the children of the clan to study, and then to gain fame and add land. But there are also declining scholars, with pitiful land and even no food and clothing. However, what is surprising is that no matter how the "scholars" decline, such people can still be arrogant in front of wealthy businessmen. This is the identity gap between "scholars" and "merchants" in ancient society. Many people know that "businessmen can't be officials", but how strict the actual situation is, the degree is definitely beyond the understanding. The decree that specific merchants could not be officials was in the Tang Dynasty, but before that, the society generally despised this "cheap industry". There is a very typical example, Fan Li, also known as Tao Zhu Gong, Shang Sheng, helped the Yue King Gou Jian to fight the world, and after the success, he retreated bravely, free from Gou Jian's suspicion, and began to do business, legend has it that he and Xi Shi became a "fairy couple" together. But the reality is a little skinny, because of business, Fan Li has not been evaluated by history equivalent to his merits, and his merits have almost been erased from history. At the beginning of the Qin and Han dynasties, there were clear regulations that merchants were not allowed to wear "silk", and that all wealthy businessmen and tycoons who had declared their property untrue must be confiscated. In the Han Dynasty, there was a saying of "donating officials", which was actually "buying/official", but most of the people who could buy here were those of the scholar clan. In such an environment, businessmen have almost no status, and there is no guarantee of wealth, once the feudal country is short of money, they will begin to use various reasons to copy a wave of homes. Because of this, ancient merchants often bought land aggressively after acquiring a lot of wealth and began to settle for the status quo. This is also an important reason why the bourgeoisie in ancient China failed to develop. In many dynasties, although there were regulations that merchants could not change their careers, it was still easy for merchants to fake their names and surnames in an era when household registration was chaotic and there were often displaced people. Of course, it was not without reason that merchants were suppressed in ancient times, especially in the Ming and Song dynasties, how many iron tools fell to the nomads because of the merchants' heavy profits, and at that time, it was difficult for merchants to manage and collect taxes, and the merchants wantonly annexed land and may cause an increase in displaced people, and the situation was unstable. Of course, in the article, the relationship between scholars and merchants is not so antagonistic, but only to give some explanations for Mu Feibai's fourth condition.

Second: on the taxation of merchants. The commercial tax began in the Western Zhou Dynasty and was initially levied in the city, which was related to the use of land and weights and measures in the city, and had nothing to do with the tax on the transaction of goods. In the Spring and Autumn Period, all vassal states levied commercial taxes, but in addition to the occupation of land and registration of registers, the municipal tax was levied according to a certain proportion of the transaction value of goods, which has become the main part. At the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period, tariffs appeared in countries with more developed commerce, and they were more commonly implemented in the late Spring and Autumn Period. The normal rate of customs and municipal taxes is 2%, but it is often increased, and customs duties are more often levied. During the Warring States period, commercial taxes were levied as before, but the Qin State exempted foreign merchants from customs duties as a sign of solicitation and in exchange for the support of merchants from various countries for the cause of unification. The prosperity of commerce in the Song Dynasty has surpassed that of the Tang Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty attaches great importance to the collection and management of taxes in the process of commodity circulation, and the main tax levied in the process of commodity circulation is commercial tax. In the first year of Song Taizu's Jianlong (960 AD), he specially formulated the commercial tax law: the "Commercial Tax Regulations", which required more than 1,830 institutions responsible for collecting commercial taxes across the country - commercial taxation, to "unveil (promulgate) the famous items of the regular taxes in the tariff on the edition, and place them on the walls of the official offices to make them comply." That is, each commercial tax officer is required to open a tax publicity column and publish the name of the taxable goods, so as to urge the businessmen to pay taxes in accordance with the regulations. Commercial tax gradually became an important source of fiscal revenue at that time, with the highest annual income reaching more than 2,200 yuan. Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, vigorously encouraged the development of industry and commerce, simplified the commercial tax system, and stipulated a policy of 1/30 of the commercial tax rate, and the exemption of goods not sold in the market and the goods produced by the people for their own use. He asked the tax collection departments in various localities to make these tax policies known to the businessmen and people of the whole country. During the Yongle period of Ming Chengzu (1403~1424), the scope of tax reduction and exemption was further expanded. The local taxation departments must display the names of the taxable goods at the entrance of the official office, and all goods that are not marked for taxation are exempt from tax, so that the broad masses of the people can really get benefits. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the tax system was further strict, and during the Qianlong period, it was required that the tariffs and tax rates of the customs (the tax collection authorities set up on the main domestic water and land routes and commodity distribution centers) must be engraved on the wooden list (plaque), placed on the provincial customs arteries, and announced to the public. This not only prompted the merchants to pay taxes according to the regulations, but also prevented the tax collectors from raising taxes without permission. The above is the general development process of commercial tax and transaction tax, which has a long history in ancient Chinese history.

Related to the content of the text but not conflicting, supplementary content is not counted in the number of words, if there are mistakes, please correct, thank you!)