After rebirth, I became the white moonlight of the downcast son

Chapter 140: Reducing expenditure and increasing revenue

It is easy to reduce expenditures, but it is difficult to increase expenditures.

The seventh prince Chu Yuchen sighed when he saw that He Beiting stopped talking about increasing revenue and did not speak again for a long time. It is easy to reduce expenditure, but it is difficult to increase revenue. He knew that when he first came into contact with the administrative affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs, not only

He knew it, and so did all the officials in the Ministry of Revenue.

This was the fundamental reason why the state of the treasury had been difficult to change, but he thought that He Beiting could find a way. Even if it couldn't be solved in a short time, at least there was a way to slowly improve it bit by bit.

Has it really reached a point where it is too weak to be corrected?

"Huaiyuan, you..."

"Your Highness, please let me sort out my thoughts first."

The seventh prince was interrupted by He Beiting as soon as he opened his mouth. But instead of being angry, he felt a surge of joy in his heart. Organizing his thoughts meant that he had a solution.

Not to mention just waiting for him to sort out his thoughts for a short time, even letting him sit here motionless and wait for a few days or dozens of days, he would be happy.

Not long after, He Beiting, who had his eyes lowered in thought, raised his head.

"Your Highness, we can mainly focus on the following aspects. The first is salt. Official salt needs to pay heavy taxes. Coupled with layers of exploitation, the price is almost three times that of private salt. Not to mention the local people, they are ordinary people in the capital.

There are a few people who can afford official salt, but most of them buy private salt from vendors walking around the streets.

Needless to say, as for the salt shops on the streets in central Beijing, almost nine of the ten salt shops sell private salt. This is not to say that they are operating illegally, but that they can't afford official salt even though they have salt, so they can only buy it.

They use the official salt to buy private salt and sell it to the outside world, but the price is still the official salt price.

Needless to say, His Highness is well aware of the considerable profits involved.

Because of this, the official salt production is decreasing year by year, and the salt tax is also getting worse year by year. Your Highness is now in the Ministry of Household Affairs, has he compared the salt tax in previous years?"

The Seventh Prince nodded and said: "Yes, it is true that each year is worse than the previous year. The salt tax revenue for the whole year last year was the same as the tax revenue for the two quarters three years ago, and the tax revenue for one quarter five years ago was even higher than the tax revenue for the whole year last year."

It's even 10% more. The tax revenue in the first two quarters of this year is more than 30% lower than last year..."

The more he talked about it, the more frightened the Seventh Prince became. If we compare this year's salt tax revenue with the salt tax revenue five years ago, I am afraid it will reach 10% of what it was then.

If you don’t know, you will be shocked when you compare it. This number is too shocking. No wonder the national treasury is getting worse year by year, and the salt tax alone has shrunk by 90%...

Not to mention anything else, if the income from the salt tax alone can be restored to the level of five years ago, then the national treasury cannot be said to be full. At least it will be able to maintain expenses and not be so empty that it is necessary to eat a lot of food.

However, "salt is related to people's livelihood. If private salt is banned, people cannot afford official salt. If they don't eat it for a meal or a half, it will just lose some taste. But if they don't eat salt for many years, how can the people's health be improved?"

Can you resist it?

I'm afraid that by then, salt will be banned, but the people of Xuan Kingdom will be short of food and cotton due to their weak health and inability to farm. This will damage the country's foundation.

Moreover, the imperial court has banned illegal salt every year, but it has been banned repeatedly. Although there are reasons for official corruption, it may not necessarily be because the executive officials have considered the people's livelihood issues and deliberately released it.

Therefore, if your method is to ban private salt and emphasize official salt, thereby raising taxes to replenish the national treasury, I think this method will not work. The national treasury can be empty, but the people cannot be short of salt."

After hearing the seventh prince's words, He Beiting was very satisfied. As a former prince and most likely the future successor to the throne, if you don't consider the people's livelihood as the starting point when considering problems, you will definitely not become a good emperor.

Although he cannot be called a wise and wise king today, at least the national treasury has been empty for several years. He has never thought of increasing the taxes on the people. For this reason alone, he can be regarded as a qualified king.

emperor.

He Beiting looked at the seventh prince. Now he finally understood why the emperor had chosen the seventh prince as his successor early on. Not only because he was a direct descendant, but also because he put the people first in everything.

The people are the foundation of a country. Not caring about the people's livelihood is tantamount to destroying the foundation of the country. You may not see anything in the short term, but in the long run, it will definitely cause the foundation to collapse. If the foundation collapses, then the country will not be able to survive.

He Beiting bowed respectfully to the seventh prince, and then said: "If Your Highness had not been worried about this, I would never have said anything. Because what I am going to say next is not only related to the livelihood of the people, but will also touch the hearts of some officials.

Dark interests.

To implement it, His Highness not only needs to have the firm determination to break and then build again, but also needs to see the benefits and still stick to the original intention.

Therefore, once it is implemented, His Highness may not have any leisure time for a long time. Moreover, in the first few months or even six months and a year, it is very likely that he will only have a few hours of rest every day.

Well, you will also experience various potential dangers anytime and anywhere.

Your Highness, are you sure you are ready?"

Chu Yuchen:......

He Beiting regarded him as a three-year-old child? What could he do if he just took it a step further?

"Just tell me, as long as you don't compete with the people for profit, and don't affect the people's daily salt consumption, other problems are not a problem. The worst thing is that your highness eats and sleeps, never leaves his hand with his sword wherever he goes, and kills anyone who reaches out his hand."

He Beiting:......

Are you so determined?

"The common people's daily consumption of salt will definitely be affected. Your Highness, don't worry, listen to me carefully." He Beiting said: "My method is to set up a private salt department and collect private salt for official use."

Private salt for official use?

The seventh prince's eyes lit up, but then dimmed again, "Private salt comes from a wide range of sources, which is one of the reasons why it has been repeatedly banned over the years. It is also difficult to centralize and control it."

He Beiting said: "It's difficult, but it's not difficult either. The difficulty lies in the appointment of the official in charge. In addition to having a character that is not greedy for profit, he must also have the courage and ability to not be restricted by his relatives.

What is not difficult is that no matter they are large private salt owners or small workshops, they will not be resisted by them. Even salt residents who make a living by private salt can still continue to make a living. And they do not need to walk around the streets anymore.

The salt is sold by the spoonful in the alleys, and as long as the salt is obtained, it can be sold to the private salt industry by the whole load.

Although the profit is not as high as before, it can be done openly and openly, and they no longer need to be coerced by all parties. In fact, even if the price of private salt is slightly lower than what they sell on the street, it does not necessarily mean that their income will be less.

Big private salt owners are naturally protected by big officials who are corrupt, while small workshop owners also have small officials who open their eyes and close their hands and raise their hands. Even the salt people have officials responsible for prohibition to cover them up.

The benefits these people receive are enough to offset the losses from price cuts.

Since the salt owners and residents have legal status and will not lose too much, they will naturally support it. After all, if you can maintain your family's livelihood in an upright manner, who would want to be a rat in the shady ditch.

But these people whose interests have been touched are bound to make a fuss, not only in the court, but also as a stumbling block for salt owners and salt people, so that they have to continue to use money to buy conveniences.

Therefore, this is also one of the difficulties. We must vigorously put an end to this phenomenon. If one person is found, punish the other person, and severe punishments must be given as a warning.

Otherwise, even if a private salt department is established, private salt will continue to exist."

(End of chapter)