Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 246: Warehousing in One Place
"Bang bang~" knocking on the table twice, Zhu Youdong said: "Everyone, the population census found so many hidden households and refugees who are not registered. On the one hand, it shows that some of the gentry in my Ming Dynasty are really outrageous and are simply unscrupulous in encroaching on the country's people. On the other hand, my Ming Dynasty's tax system is too chaotic. On the surface, the land tax is not much, and the corvée is only once every ten years. However, it can't withstand various continuous additional levies and temporary levies... As a result, the people would rather become hidden households and refugees, and abandon their household registration and flee."
When Zhu Youdong said the first sentence, most of the officials present had strange expressions on their faces: Who can sit here without a hidden household? He must be unhappy to be scolded by the grandson.
However, they also knew that the Crown Prince was generally lenient in his actions: only investigating but not punishing? No matter who you are, no matter how many hidden households your family has, as long as you cooperate with the investigation, you will not be punished. This made everyone feel painful, but they really couldn't bring themselves to risk everything to rebel.
In fact, everyone knows that compared with the household registration check, the establishment of a bank has a greater impact.
The interest rate for private lending in the Ming Dynasty is about 10% to 20%, and compound interest is popular. After the establishment of the bank, the loan interest rate is only 6% to 9%, and there is no compound interest. This has dealt a heavy blow to private lending in the Ming Dynasty: at this moment, the bank has only six branches, but as long as the bank begins to enter the profit stage, it will sooner or later quickly spread to the two capitals and thirteen provinces... By then, I am afraid that all kinds of money houses will find it difficult to continue, right?
The damage to the business of money houses is only one aspect. The more troublesome thing is that issuing low-interest loans to people who lack funds will greatly release the vitality of the middle and lower classes. Once these guys get their production on track, they will first have to compete with various businesses controlled by local gentry!
Then, add the bank's unified warehouse system...
Therefore, the census of the crown prince was nothing. Those who could sit in this position had a bit of a global perspective in their minds: it was of course unpleasant to find out the hidden households, but with so many refugees in the country, it would not take long for the country to fall! Although as a gentry class, the fall of the country would be nothing more than a new emperor. But what if your family was attacked and destroyed during the change of dynasties?
Therefore, even though everyone is smiling at Cao Sanxi who is sitting at the bottom of the conference table, he is actually the one they are most wary of.
Putting aside the first reason mentioned by Zhu Youdong, the second reason made many ministers feel relieved: Your Highness, you finally admitted that the country collects too much tax!
"Everyone, please pay attention. The land tax and business tax in the imperial court are actually very low." As a time traveler, starting as the crown prince is good, but it also has a lot of troubles: he cannot start from scratch to build a team that is completely like-minded and highly compatible with his ambitions and ideals. He can only slowly transform the existing things.
Take the people in this room for example. It can be said that except for a few people like Cao Sanxi and Xu Guangqi, there is no one with whom he is completely close: not even Old Wen.
Therefore, some things cannot be said directly and can only be said in a roundabout way.
"The main reason why the people of the country find taxes unbearable is that the country has imposed too many temporary levies. The levies are too many, and ordinary people cannot tell the difference. The clerks below can take advantage of the situation to manipulate the levies. Even some county offices, prefectural offices, and even provincial governments can take advantage of the tax chaos and impose levies on their own in the name of the court. So."
After taking a deep breath, Zhu Youdong said: "So, the problem of national taxation is not that the tax rate is too high, but that there are too many additional taxes and the tax types are complicated. The main task of the Ministry of Revenue this year is, first, to continue to promote the use of silver coins. Remember, starting next year, pure silver and gold will no longer be used as currency.
Second, we need to count the taxes currently levied by government offices at all levels across the country, and see which taxes need to be retained. Which taxes were originally temporarily levied, but have been levied for decades or even hundreds of years. We need to sort them out one by one, and then the Ministry of Revenue will give its opinion on whether to retain, cancel, or merge. I need to see this before September this year at the latest."
"I obey your command."
"Okay, that's all for the bank and the Ministry of Revenue for now. Ministry of Industry?"
"Your Highness, everyone, the Ministry of Works had three main tasks last year. The first was the regulation of the Huanghuai River, which has been completed. I can assure your Highness that there will be no major problems with the Huanghuai River within 30 years.
The second is the cleaning of the craftsmen's register, which has also been completed. At present, the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty can still directly control a total of 130,000 craftsmen, and the total number of craftsmen and their families is 687,300.
The third is the implementation of the Wulegongming system. This work has already begun, but it has encountered considerable resistance, mainly because in addition to the craftsmen directly under the Ministry of Industry, there are also many craftsmen in the Imperial Palace. And these craftsmen are managed by the Internal Affairs Supervisor. "
"Hmm?" Zhu Youdong glanced around the meeting room and asked, "Is Wei Zhongxian here?"
"Your Highness, I am here."
"What do you think of what Minister Xu said?"
"My Lord, according to the rules I set last year, the Internal Affairs Bureau has restored the authority of the former eunuch Sanbao, and is responsible for the inspection, supervision and personnel adjustment of all eunuchs in the entire palace. Before the above authority is restored, the craftsmen of the entire palace are nominally under the charge of the Internal Affairs Bureau, but in fact they are divided into 24 government offices. Since the Ministry of Works sent the new system, I have implemented it among the craftsmen directly under the Internal Affairs Bureau, but the craftsmen under other departments have indeed not implemented it. For this, I have nothing to say and am willing to be punished."
"There is no rush to punish them. Today, I will make it clear in front of the three most powerful departments of the Imperial Household, namely, the Imperial Horse Bureau and the Imperial Household Bureau. The system of Wulegongming must be implemented unswervingly. For the eunuchs in the various government offices below, I have only one thing to say: if they don't change their minds, I will replace them!"
"I will obey your orders!"
"Hmph!" Zhu Youdong sat down unhappily. He also felt a headache: the labor registration required not only the craftsmen who did the work, but also the civil servants and eunuchs who supervised the work had to put their names on it - this would cost everyone's lives.
The situation in the outer court was relatively better: the craftsmen were concentrated in the Ministry of Works, and as long as Xu Guangqi pushed hard, the results would be significant. But in the inner court, there were craftsmen in all 24 government offices, so what did you want Wei Zhongxian to do?
Yes, they are house slaves, but they can still assassinate their masters. However, no matter how dangerous it is, this system must be implemented. At worst, they can just eat arsenic as candy.
"Minister Xu, what is the main task of the Ministry of Industry this year?"
"The main task of the Ministry of Works this year is to rebuild the canal system in Guanzhong. Your Highness, everyone, in recent years, the drought in the north has been getting worse year by year, and the disaster in Shaanxi has become more and more serious. When I was communicating with the Grand Tutor privately, I also learned that in this census, Shaanxi has the highest proportion of refugees. Therefore, for the long-term stability of the country, the canal system in Shaanxi must be restored as soon as possible. Otherwise, even if Huguang tea is basically exported and Shaanxi's tea-horse trade is restored, there will be no water in the fields, whether it is grain or tea, it cannot be grown."
"Minister Xu, this is a good plan, so let's do it. If the money in the Jieshen Treasury is not enough, I will subsidize part of it."
"Yes, thank you, Your Highness. Your Highness, speaking of Jieshen Storehouse, now that all the materials in the warehouses have been transferred to the bank for safekeeping, the Ministry of Industry only has accounts but no physical objects. Therefore, the land occupied by more than 20 Jieshen Storehouses across the country, about 70,000 mu, can be turned into arable land. I have reported this to Lord Li, and Lord Li also agreed. However, the warehouse management personnel under my Jieshen Storehouse include 70 officials, 750 clerks, and nearly 10,000 laborers. How will these people be resettled?"
"Everyone, what Minister Xu just said about returning the treasury to the farmland is very good, and I fully support it. Please ask Lord Li to coordinate with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works to handle this matter as soon as possible. As for the placement of these people, the officials will first see if the various government offices have people, and if there are people, they will be selected and replaced. If there are still not enough people, then these people will be handed over to the bank for training to see if they can work in the new branch. As for the corvée, cancel them all and let them all go home. In the future, all this part of corvée will be abolished."
"I obey your command. But Your Highness, many of these conscripts have served for many years and their families no longer have any land. What will happen to these people when they return?"
Hey~~ The layoff problem of state officials must be properly solved, otherwise it will be no fun to force out a Li Zicheng. With a long sigh, Zhu Youdong said: "Try to let them return to their hometowns. If it is really impossible, the bank will find a way to solve it."
