I

  Chapter 608 605【Annual income 25 million taels】

   In spring, sacrifice to heaven and earth, and encourage farming and mulberry.

  However, the weather was not good, and when the farmers planted rice seedlings, there was only a light rain in Jinling Mansion. The same is true for Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Hunan. This year's spring drought is certain, and it is slightly better than last year.

  In another time and space, this should be the fourth year of Shunzhi.

  During the Shunzhi period, there were many disasters. According to historical records: floods and droughts, earthquakes, winter thunder and spring snow, meteorite rain and soil.

   In this regard, following the advice of civil officials, Emperor Shunzhi repeatedly issued edicts of sinning himself.

   Before the Lantern Festival was over, the first batch of immigrants this year, with a total population of 80,000, moved from several provinces in the south to the north.

  Under the propaganda of the imperial court, the weather in the north has been smooth in recent years. Moreover, the tax exemption for the first year of immigration, and the tax cut in half for the next three years, all of these make the relatively poor people feel excited, and more and more people spontaneously sign up to migrate to the north.

   "Lu Ting posted a notice!"

  In the city of Nanjing, a passer-by yelled, and the nearby people rushed to check.

  A scholar shook his head and said, "Since March 1st, the Maqun Racecourse has been open to the common people. Those who want to learn riding skills or enjoy riding horses can come to the racecourse to pay money and enter, and the fee will be charged according to the hour..."

  The common people are surprised that it is the royal racecourse, and they can play by paying money.

  Zhu Yuanzhang built many horse farms in Zijin Mountain, especially the area around Ma Qun was the largest, and by the end of Ming Dynasty, it had been occupied as arable land.

  Now, the farmers near Maqun have been collectively relocated to Hebei, and the Maqun racecourse has been completely restored. In the racecourse, a school ground for the imperial guards was set up, and the imperial guards went out of the city in turn to practice.

  Usually, one-fifth of the racecourse is open to the public, and you can enter to play after paying the ticket. If you pay more, you can rent horses, or even hire a jockey to teach riding skills. Of course, the hiring fee is definitely not cheap. Only when the emperor came to the racecourse, the venue was cleared and closed three days in advance.

  The large forests to the west of the racecourse are all designated as royal hunting grounds, which are open to the public for half a month every autumn, and they also have to pay money to go hunting.

  The large mountain forest to the west of the hunting ground is the Meiling Palace and Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, all of which have been transformed into royal gardens for members of the royal family to go to the mountains to escape the summer heat.

   Chaohui.

  Zhao Han smiled and said to the ministers: "But you are slandering me and building a large building?"

   "I don't dare!" The officials quickly denied it.

Zhao Han said: "In the years of natural disasters, it is necessary to use work as relief. At first, in the city of Nanjing, the official building (official dormitory) and the righteous building (economical housing) were built, so that a large number of jobless people got jobs. Waiting for the official building and the righteous building After the building was completed, the Forbidden City was repaired, and at the same time, immigrants continued to move north, so that there were no more unemployed people in Nanjing. Natural disasters have continued in recent years, and the water conservancy around Nanjing has almost been repaired through work-for-work relief.”

Zhao Han glanced at the group of officials: "According to the theory of the relationship between heaven and man, it is due to my lack of virtue. I will not issue this edict of sin. I consider myself a virtuous king. Maybe God still wants to test me. , There is another spring drought this year. The horse farm has already been built, and after the spring plowing, a hunting ground and gardens will be built in Zijin Mountain. This is also a substitute for work, and it will provide more livelihoods for nearby farmers. The hunting grounds and gardens are enough to build for several years. Rest assured , all the money comes out of the house, and the money from the treasury will not be used.”

   "Your Majesty is wise!" the ministers shouted.

  In fact, many people are complaining, saying that the emperor’s internal funds paid for it, but this year the royal family’s expenses have risen again.

   This number has reached the royal expenditure of the Hongzhi Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty.

  Zhao Han said with a smile: "Fei Chun, tell me, what was the national treasury revenue last year?"

  The previous year's revenue can only be counted at the end of February of the following year.

  Fei Chun got up immediately, cupped his hands and said: "Last year, the national treasury's annual revenue, excluding local taxes, was more than 25.57 million taels of silver."

  As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the hall. The Ming Dynasty had never been so rich before.

  Local taxation, mainly agricultural tax and industrial and commercial tax, can keep 40% at the provincial, prefectural, and county levels, and turn over the remaining 60% to the central government. However, 20% of the revenue from special taxes such as tariffs, salt tax, tea tax, and tobacco tax goes to the local government, and the rest is handed over to the central government, from which the royal family budget is also taken.

   Excluding local retention, the central government can still collect more than 25 million taels of tax, mainly due to the rapid growth of industrial and commercial taxes and tariffs.

   Moreover, the northern and southwestern provinces are still in the state of land tax reduction and exemption. The rest of the provinces don't squeeze the people hard, otherwise they can collect more. When the whole country returns to life in the future, the annual income will definitely exceed 30 million taels.

   You must know that in another time and space, the annual income of the Manchu Qing Dynasty had exceeded 20 million taels during the Shunzhi period, and it was around 30 million taels during the Kangxi, Yong, and Qian Dynasties.

  The Qing Dynasty was able to collect so many taxes, it was purely disregarding the life and death of the people. Do you believe that the Qing Dynasty is still collecting three rates?

  When the Manchu Qing Dynasty first entered the customs, they pretended to be exempted from the three salary increases. With the fierce resistance in the south, the military expenditure of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties was insufficient, so Liao's payment was re-levied, but the name was changed from "Liao's payment" to "Nine Percent Silver".

  Although the training rate has been said to be exempt, until the early years of Kangxi, many places continued to collect it. In the last years of Shunzhi alone, the additional salary levied every year reached more than 5 million taels of silver.

  Nearly 90% of the 20 million yuan income of the Shunzhi Dynasty came from farmers' grain taxes and additional taxes.

   Only 60% of Zhao Han’s annual income of 25 million taels comes from agricultural tax. After all, many provinces are still in the period of grain tax reduction and exemption, and local officials can't collect more if they want to.

   "Today's court meeting, why not discuss business." Zhao Han said.

Song Yingxing took the lead in saying: "Your Majesty, agriculture is the foundation and business is the end. This is an eternal principle. It is all because businessmen seek profit. The more money they gather, the more they can control the market, and the wealth of ordinary people is exploited by them. Therefore, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce must be made a national policy, and merchants must not be allowed to run rampant in the world."

  When the ministers heard the words, they all said yes.

Song Yingxing also said: "However, the world cannot be without business. A strong business does not necessarily mean a strong country, and a weak business necessarily leads to a weak country. In the Ming Dynasty, the decline of commerce began in the Wanli period. They even imposed taxes for no reason and detained the family members of the merchants. The merchants were exploited by this, and many of their families were destroyed. As a result, the circulation of goods was inconvenient, and the prices in the cities increased day by day. In the end, it was the people who suffered.”

  During the Ming Dynasty, business reached its peak during the Wanli period, and began to decline in the middle and late Wanli years.

   On the one hand, the import of silver from America has decreased, and on the other hand, merchants are not treated as human beings. From the emperor to the magistrates, and then to the military generals and bandits, they asked businessmen for money when they had no money. The business of Ming Dynasty was far inferior to that of Jiajing.

  At the same time, the big businessman colludes with the powerful, and can pass on the loss to the small people, and even get richer by paying back the money. As for small and medium businessmen, there are countless bankrupts.

Wu Yingji has been promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He went on to say: "What Song Diange said is absolutely true. Without agriculture, there is no stability, without work, there is no prosperity, and without business, there is no wealth. Xunzi divided the people of the world into four categories: scholars, farmers, businessmen, and farmers. Farmers do their best. Tian, ​​Jia Yicha exhausted his wealth, and hundreds of craftsmen used skillful equipment, if this can be achieved, the country will last forever, the country will be rich and the people will be strong.”

Qian Qianyi popped up suddenly: "This is the debate between righteousness and benefit. Master said, wealth and honor are what people want. Poverty and lowliness are what people hate. Everyone pursues wealth and honor. Among all kinds of businesses, only business can do it." To get rich. If everyone goes into business, who will cultivate the land? Therefore, we must emphasize agriculture and suppress business. As far as businessmen are concerned, they should seek profits with righteousness and not seek ill-gotten gains. After gaining profits, businessmen should also gain Donate to the public, so that both righteousness and benefit can be obtained.”

   Except for what Song Yingxing said is a little more reliable, the rest are very correct nonsense!

  Zhao Han asked: "What Dr. Qian said is to use benevolence, righteousness and morality to restrain businessmen?"

   "Yes." Qian Qianyi replied.

   "How many merchants in the world are benevolent merchants?" Zhao Han asked with a smile.

  Qian Qianyi said: "The more merchants lack benevolence and righteousness, the more the imperial court should educate them."

   Zhao Han said: "What do Mr. Pang and Mr. Li think?"

  Pang Chun said: "Don't let it go, and don't change it overnight. Set rules for businessmen. It is best for them to abide by them. If they don't abide by them, they will be severely punished!"

  Li Banghua said: "Suppress big merchants and treat small merchants kindly."

"it is good!"

  Zhao Han suddenly laughed, very satisfied with the speeches of Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua.

   You don’t need to talk about big reasons, just say how to do it.

  Zhao Han let the officials continue to speak, and everyone followed this meaning down, and the results became more and more unnutritious.

Zhao Han concluded: "Listen to what Zhuqing said just now to suppress business, that is, merchants are not allowed to wear silk, and merchants are not allowed to live in mansions. What's the use of this? Luxurious clothes and beautiful houses are what everyone wants. The government of the court must not violate human nature. It’s like controlling water, don’t blindly block it. Managing business is like controlling water. You should follow the example of Dayu, and remember that blocking is worse than sparse. If businessmen want to wear luxurious clothes, let them wear them; if businessmen want to live in beautiful houses, let them live. If it gets bigger and bigger, then the river should be dredged and the merchants should be guided to follow the court’s instructions.”

"It's wrong to hoard and disturb the market. It's wrong to merge and buy land. It's still wrong to keep beautiful servants and servants. These are river embankments, and the water of merchant's desire cannot flow over. This flood has to be Opening up the sea is the only way to attract the outside world. We weave so much cloth every year and burn so much porcelain every year, and they have to be sold by merchants. Not only domestically, but also overseas. In this way, the more prosperous the business, the better the industry. If it is prosperous, the people will have more livelihoods.”

   "Beware of changing rice to mulberry and rice to cotton. The mulberry and cotton fields in the south of the Yangtze River cannot continue to expand. How to restrain them? More taxes are imposed on mulberry and cotton fields. Farmers know what is more profitable to grow, so naturally they will follow the rules..."

   Zhao Han talked a lot about how to restrain and guide business, and all the officials in the court knew that it was impossible to be like before.

   Haven’t you seen commercial taxes and tariffs increasing year by year?

  With so much white money going into the treasury, whoever dares to suppress merchants blindly, the emperor and cabinet ministers will definitely jump up.

  The court meeting dispersed, and Zhao Han went back to work.

   Soon I saw Li Banghua's memorial, the content is very simple: control the number of troops and reduce the navy.

  Including the cavalry division, the Datong Army has a total of 17 divisions. Counting the navy, navy and coastal guards of important ports, the regular army of the Datong New Dynasty was 200,000.

   This may not seem like much, but the military expenditure is huge, because the military ration has not increased, but the military salary has been rising. The most ordinary soldiers get a certain amount of military rations per month (including food and lodging), one tael per month, and free clothes in summer and autumn. Starting from non-commissioned officers, military pay has been rising.

  There are also inspection division troops in various places, similar to the armed police, which add up to nearly 100,000 people, especially the three southwestern provinces with the largest number.

  There are also a large number of police forces in major cities across the country, which are also regarded as the army by Li Banghua. At least, the police guarding the gates and walls can certainly be regarded as an army.

   Therefore, Li Banghua suggested that the military should not be expanded any further, and that it would be best to abolish one or two troops.

  The Datong navy should cut it even more. There is no big enemy in the country, so raising so many inland sailors is a mess?

   Zhao Han thought about it carefully and decided to temporarily abolish half of the navy. As for the Armed Police Force of the Inspection Department, it will be abolished as appropriate depending on the local security situation.

  The laid-off soldiers immigrated to the north with their wives and children. It must be easy to resettle, and each veteran can be divided into two acres of good land more than ordinary immigrants.

  (end of this chapter)