A lucky wife born again from a farm family

In the Mingwei Hall, Mr. Pei Ge was a little anxious: "Your Majesty, the taxes in the past two years have been heavy enough. The anti-war tax was only increased a few months ago, and now we have to increase the taxes on shops in various places. I am afraid that there will be complaints from various places. It’s better to think twice before acting on this matter.”

This was what Emperor Jingyuan was waiting for. He looked at Pei Ge and asked, "What good idea can I use to replenish the national treasury? Should I copy a few more nobles, or should you, a wealthy family, donate a few more gold and silver?"

This question was so murderous that Pei Ge's legs went weak. After forcing himself to calm down, he said: "Your Majesty, the Shen and Sun families brought all the people from Da Chu to present silver to the court a few months ago. I'm afraid that I will do so again." That’s it.”

boom!

Emperor Jingyuan was so angry that he smacked the table and pointed at Pei Ge angrily: "After that? Wait until the bandits come and slaughter your entire clan before you scream too much?!"

Then he pointed at the various elders in the hall and said: "I tell you, now that the war has begun, gold and silver must be used to support this war of resistance. If we can't resist, everyone will die, no one will." If you want to be on your own, I won’t allow anyone to have second thoughts at this time!”

These words are very serious, almost saying that they want to rebel if they don't give money.

Thump, thump, thump!

Everyone in the hall, including Ming Cong, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I have no doubts about your Majesty and Da Chu!"

Oh, there is absolutely no difference of heart?

It's strange that Emperor Jingyuan would believe it.

The imperial grandfather had said back then that he should be wary of aristocratic families and kill them whenever he had the chance.

It was also Da Chu who needed ministers to govern the country, otherwise he really wanted to kill all the wealthy families.

Pei Ge Lao shook his body and glanced at Ying Ge Lao secretly...Old thief, your grandson-in-law is the emperor's confidant. Please speak up and object quickly. Even if the emperor is furious, he will not hurt you too harshly for the sake of your grandson-in-law's face.

Elder Yingge understood, but he didn't want to say anything in his heart.

Ming Cong had told him a long time ago that if the war between Da Chu and Da Rong continued, the treasury would be even more empty. If the treasury was without silver, the emperor would definitely raise his sword to ask for money from the nobles of the great families. The family must give or die.

However, he is from a noble family, so he cannot say anything without speaking for the noble family. But just as he was about to speak, the Minister of Rites first said: "Your Majesty, I thought that at this time, I would increase taxes on shops in various places and take money from rich households. It is more sensible and right than raising taxes on small farmers, I agree."

Ouyang Zhang!

Several pavilion elders and ministers secretly resented in their hearts, where is this Ouyang Zhang from? Don't you know that Emperor Jingyuan wanted to cut the flesh of his wealthy family with this move?

But Ouyang Zhang ignored them at all and continued to say to Emperor Jingyuan: "But shops in various places also need to be operated. Some shops are opened by ordinary people. A small shop has to support dozens of families, so this shop tax It is not advisable to collect too much. And it should be collected at most once every three years, otherwise it may cause long-term disasters during the Great Zhou Dynasty."

During the Zhou Dynasty, when there was no silver in the court, they liked to search for money from merchants. The most serious incident was when the court directly sent people to the merchants' homes to open treasury and seize the silver. The result was a big mess, and the wealthy businessmen in Changzhou and Linzhou It's the other way around.

He used gold and silver to buy troops and subsidize generals from various places, so that those generals had money to stand on their own feet. In the end, half of the country in the Zhou Dynasty was divided. The Great Zhou Dynasty was severely weakened, and after surviving for decades, it was eventually replaced by the previous dynasty.

Because of this lesson, the previous dynasties rarely collected taxes from shops. However, Emperor Jingwu had seen the suffering of the people and knew that small business was not easy. After the establishment of Dachu, he did not collect taxes from shops, but only ransacked homes to seize wealth from wealthy families.

But now that Da Chu is in danger, he can only reach out to shops everywhere... The farmers really can't scrape out any money, and if they scrape again, something will happen.

Lord Shangshufang of the Ministry of Revenue also said: "Your Majesty, I agree with this policy. However, what Lord Ouyang said is true. How and how much taxes are collected from shops in various places must be carefully considered in order to avoid trouble."

Mr. Ying Ge glanced at Mr. Fang and finally said: "I also agree."

Lord Fang all agreed, but if they objected again, they would be in trouble.

Mr. Shangguan Ge was not stupid. He stood up and said, "I second my opinion."

After hearing this, Emperor Jingyuan was greatly delighted. Half of his body sank into the couch and chair, and he looked at Pei Ge and said, "Mr. Pei Ge, since everyone has agreed, can you tell me what the appropriate tax rate should be for shops in various places? "

this?

Pei Ge always wanted to die. Didn't he hand him the knife on purpose and let him cut the family's flesh?

But he knew Emperor Jing Yuan's temper. If he didn't stab the powerful family now, Emperor Jing Yuan would not let him go.

After thinking twice, Pei Ge Lao said: "Your Majesty, I think it is best to collect 10% of the tax every three years."

"If you collect 10% of the tax for three years, you feel sorry for those shops!" Emperor Jingyuan was unhappy.

But Ouyang Zhang thought: "Your Majesty, I think it is appropriate to collect shop tax every three years, and this is the first time to collect it. Stability is the priority."

Ming Cong also said: "Your Majesty, Master Ouyang is absolutely right. You must seek stability first. If the treasury is insufficient, you can add more money."

But if someone makes trouble from the beginning, then the matter of collecting taxes from shops will not be able to continue.

After hearing this, Mr. Pei Ge smiled inwardly.

Oh, he is not an idiot. He expected that other adults would agree, so he said that he would charge 10% of the tax for three years.

"What do you think, Mr. Fang? With this method, can the money be enough to fight against the enemy?" Emperor Jingyuan still trusted Mr. Fang and asked.

Master Fang was not ambiguous, he directly asked for pen, ink, paper and inkstone, made some rough calculations, and replied to Emperor Jingyuan a quarter of an hour later: "Your Majesty, if the soldiers can withstand the attack of the soldiers and thieves, defend Long'an Mansion, and there are no big ones in Chu." Natural disasters, these shop taxes are enough to support the war against the Japanese this year and next."

Added another sentence: "The south is rich and has many shops."

This is the reason why Emperor Jingyuan placed Master Fang in the position of Minister of Household Affairs. Master Fang is still very useful for making money and saving money.

"Very good!" Emperor Jingyuan was very happy and put his mind at ease. As long as he had enough money, he could raise troops, let the soldiers fight against the army, and even step into the army and destroy the entire army.

but……

Ouyang Zhang said: "Your Majesty, when various places collect shop taxes, they should send supervisory censors to accompany them to prevent tax collectors and local officials from doing public evil and harming the people everywhere."

Ouyang Zhang was talking about common people, not the shops whose owners were wealthy families.

He added: "We must check the store's accounts for the last year before we can collect taxes according to the store's income, so as to prevent someone from underreporting the accounts and wanting to pay less tax; while someone falsely accuses other people's stores of making too much money and deliberately harms others. shop."

Emperor Jingyuan nodded upon hearing this: "What Ai Qing said is true, so let's do it."

Emperor Jingyuan discussed with the ministers until it was completely dark before settling on the matter of collecting 10% of the tax from shops in various places. He asked Zhongshu Sheren to write an imperial edict and rush it 800 miles to the various governments for promulgation.

Along with the imperial decree, there are also prescriptions for insect attractants.

Emperor Jingyuan said: "Pesticides have appeared in the capital, and there must be hidden patients in various places. The prescriptions for insect attractants must be sent to various places as soon as possible, and medicines must be stepped up."