Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 425 Long Live the Emperor
"Everyone, I want to say something from the bottom of my heart. Not to mention the emperors of the Ming Dynasty over the past two hundred years, even since the First Emperor, there has been no emperor like this one who cares so much about us merchants and does not discriminate against us merchants? He gives us technology, status, and even makes laws specifically for us. If you don't support such an emperor, do you want to replace him with an emperor who specifically suppresses us merchants?"
Looking at the silent wealthy merchants, Cao Sanxi breathed a sigh of relief: "I have been a businessman myself, and not a big businessman like you who has a backer. I was a small trader with no background and had to do everything myself. Not only did I have to deal with officials at all levels, but I also had to face the ruffians in the society... When I was doing business, what I thought about most was when I could have a big backer. But what I really longed for was when there would be rules specifically for merchants, and everyone would act according to the rules!"
"... President Cao, what you just said is exactly what we all think. But... Hey, since you are so sincere, I will also speak from the bottom of my heart. Since I became the regent, especially after cleaning up the Yellow Book and raising the salaries of officials across the country, various taxes and extortions have been reduced. But what I am afraid of is that, firstly, after collecting the commercial tax, it is said that various donations and fees will be abolished, but in fact they are not abolished, which is equivalent to adding another amount to the existing donations and fees. Secondly, after collecting the commercial tax, because the commercial tax is all returned to the court, the local officials, especially those petty officials, who cannot collect the donations and fees, will treat us as a public official or even simply not do it! If this is the case, we might as well not pay the commercial tax and pay the donations and fees directly."
Cao Sanxi couldn't remember the name of this businessman - he was probably a medium-sized businessman with a relatively small business scale and a relatively weak background in the war fund. But there is no doubt that what he said was very appropriate: We are doing business, and we don't mind paying a part of our profits to the government. But we businessmen are pursuing equal exchange. We took out the money in the hope that the government can do things for us, or fulfill the necessary procedures. If the money is taken out and there is no effect, then who is willing to take out the money for nothing?
"This old man is absolutely right. We are doing business, so it doesn't matter who we pay to. But we are afraid that after paying the money, no one will do the work, and some people who haven't received the money will deliberately make things difficult for us!"
"Yes, President Cao, as you said, we all have people supporting us. We are all afraid, but what about those small vendors selling needles and thread?"
"Hehe, everyone." This time, there was no need to strike the gavel. Cao Sanxi just pressed his hand down and the order in the venue was quiet again: "Everyone, I want to ask you, has the emperor done too little for you in these years? Clean up the yellow book and let the refugees return to the fields. Has the social security improved a lot? More people have stable incomes. Has their consumption capacity increased? Have the heroes on the hills almost disappeared? This is the first. Second, although you have to pay tolls for building roads, you have made more money because the time the goods spend on the road has been greatly shortened. Third, defeat Siam and Japan and open up the Yingzhou and Nanyang markets for you. Fourth, open up technology. Fifth, sell logistics channels... Everyone, the emperor has done too much for you. Ask yourself, how much do you have to pay for asking the officials behind you to do things, and do such a big thing? Is it just a mere 100,000 taels of war funds?"
Looking at the silent merchants, Cao Sanxi raised the cup on the podium and took a big sip of water, then heaved a sigh of relief and said, "As for your concerns about the abolition of donations and the change to commercial taxes, you will eventually have to pay more fees, or the problem of officials being lazy and inactive, let me ask you a question first. After the establishment of the Central and Southern Governor's Office in Nanyang, the new five states had no donations at the beginning, only commercial taxes. This new overseas policy has been tried for more than a year. Tell me, have local officials privately collected various kinds of exorbitant fees in addition to commercial taxes ? How efficient are they in doing things?"
"President Cao, the officials of the five overseas states are generally very honest. Not to mention that officials at all levels take the initiative to take bribes, even if we take the initiative to bribe, the local officials at most take some wine and wine, and accept some local specialties, and dare not accept any money. As for the local authorities privately collecting various exorbitant fees, there is no such thing. But... the five overseas states are originally painting on a blank sheet of paper, and the two capitals and thirteen provinces of my Ming Dynasty, uh, to put it bluntly, the officials and clerks in various places are really used to taking bribes."
"Dong, Dong, Dong!" After the businessman stood up to speak, many wealthy merchants were moved and prepared to stand up to speak. Cao Sanxi quickly struck the gavel: "Everyone, what you have been worried about is what the emperor has been worried about. Therefore, the emperor will adopt a new law for the collection of commercial taxes. Simply put, in the future, when collecting commercial taxes, we will no longer simply collect entrance fees and tolls, and no longer pay various donations. The new commercial taxes will be divided into major taxes such as business tax, value-added tax, property tax, land use tax, stamp duty, and education surcharge, medical surcharge, and urban construction surcharge. The former major tax is national tax, which belongs to the court. The latter surcharge belongs to the provinces and prefectures, which are local taxes.
Ladies and gentlemen, the total amount of taxes collected by the court each year is only more than 20 million silver yuan, of which the salt tax accounts for 12 million yuan. The remaining commercial taxes plus highway tolls are less than 1.5 million yuan. Ask yourself, what is the minimum amount of commercial taxes in the country? Not to mention that your production efficiency will increase a hundredfold after you get the steam engine, even now, if the commercial taxes are paid in full, the commercial taxes alone should not be less than 30 million!
Ladies and gentlemen, the court and the emperor have done so much for you, but they only collected 1.5 million in commercial taxes. Is that reasonable ?
As for the problem you are worried about, I believe that smart colleagues have already woken up from the introduction of taxes above: commercial taxes are different from agricultural taxes. When we merchants do business to a certain extent, we are all literate, and we are far better than government officials in calculating accounts. Therefore, agricultural taxes should be simplified to prevent clerks from taking advantage of them. It is best to make the types of commercial taxes more detailed. With such clear structure, it will be difficult for corrupt officials and clerks to take advantage of them. Besides, with national and local taxes, local officials must treat us merchants well, otherwise we will not do business with them, and go to places where the chief officials are honest and incorruptible, so that they will not get a penny! At that time, in places where commercial taxes are getting less and less, people's livelihood will be in decline and the people will be dissatisfied. Moreover, the chief officials of these places will naturally be the focus of inspection by the Metropolitan Procuratorate!"
"Ahem, everyone, everyone, please listen to me for a few words." Xu Yuanzuo, who had remained silent since the meeting, was actually the first one to surrender and had deep ties with the royal family. After seeing that many businessmen were slowly persuaded by Cao Sanxi, he finally stood up.
"President Cao, we trust you and the emperor. Now that you have said this, as businessmen, we would be ungrateful if we do not support the emperor and the court. Let me make a suggestion. Next year, when the court issues a decree on collecting business taxes and abolishing various donations, we, as righteous businessmen and good citizens, will resolutely obey the court's decree. However, if various problems arise during the actual implementation process... President Cao, will we be allowed to speak at the War Fund shareholders' meeting?"
"Of course! The emperor said that the shareholders' meeting is held once a year. If shareholders cannot come in person, they can designate someone to attend. At the shareholders' meeting at the end of next year, if there are any problems in the fee-to-tax reform process, you are welcome to raise them. Moreover, it is not just your problems. Other businessmen who have not been able to join this war fund will be protected and supported by the court as long as they operate legally and pay taxes in full and on time!"
"Okay, we will trust the court this time. Next year, my Xu family will take the lead in stopping paying various donations and paying taxes instead."
"…Our Huang family will follow suit."
"I'll follow too."
"Hahaha, isn't that enough? Well, this meeting today is really taking too long. There are three things left to say, so I'll make it short."
"President Cao, please give us your instructions."
"First, I know that you bought salt mines a few years ago, and later bought shares in the war fund. Now you have to expand production and improve the treatment of employees. Moreover, many of the bosses have invested heavily in building plantations in Southeast Asia. Therefore, it can be imagined that the cash flow of the bosses is a problem. In this regard, the Ming Royal Bank is willing to provide low-interest loans to the shareholders, with an annual interest rate of 3%.
Secondly, the emperor has already thought that after you get the steam engine, you will definitely build factories and induce farmers in our Daming, especially farmers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, to change rice to mulberry. This, food security is a matter of life and death for the country, and it must be observed. So next year, our dynasty will introduce a new "Food Procurement Law". If you buy food from overseas and bring it into the country, the court will provide subsidies to varying degrees according to the different provinces where the goods are shipped. The specific method is still under discussion, but bosses, this business of transporting rice from Southeast Asia back to our Daming is definitely a big profit. You can prepare early!
Third, the emperor also said that after the large-scale promotion of steam engines, the use of coal will increase rapidly. At present, all coal mines in the country are government-run, which are extremely inefficient and full of . Therefore, starting from the second year of Tianqi, the court will also sell the mining rights of coal mines in various places to everyone! Everyone should adjust funds early and be prepared! "
"Hiss~" As they collectively took a deep breath, all the wealthy merchants jumped up from the bottom of their hearts and shouted in unison: "Long live the emperor~!"
