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Chapter 69 Comparison of Finance and Taxation between Song and Ming Dynasties

Sure enough, after a while, there was a cough, and Wu Wei, the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue, stepped out of the queue and loudly played: "Last night, the prison of the Ministry of Punishments was flooded, and the prisoners escaped, causing turmoil in the capital. I sincerely request your Majesty to severely punish the relevant persons. Follow the rules and discipline!"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Qiao Yunsheng, the Minister of Punishment. It can be seen that this is a counterattack.

In the original history, Qiao Yunsheng was imprisoned because of this incident, and then sent to the frontier, where he died on the way.

This matter is aimed at the Minister of Punishment, and it is considered a major case. All the civil and military officials looked at the emperor again, wondering how they would react. Judging from the previous killing of Luo and Yuan, Qiao Yunsheng is probably in trouble this time.

Unexpectedly, Hu Guang was not as good as they wanted. They only heard him say: "There are many doubts about this matter. I have ordered Dongchang to investigate."

In fact, it was not because of how much Hu Guang loved Qiao Yunsheng, but because the Ministry of Punishment prison case involved Gao Yingyuan and others, and even more so the Yongchang bank account.

The Yongchang bank is not only an industry of Shanxi merchants, but also has many connections behind it. Hu Guang is also interested in the prototype of this bank and is considering nationalizing the bank. This will have a very big impact on the Ming Dynasty's finances. benefit.

Therefore, before a series of things were determined, Hu Guang temporarily decided to hold on to this matter.

After he came to a conclusion, he glanced at the civil and military officials below and asked loudly: "I am most concerned about how to replenish the national treasury. Does anyone else have a good idea? Isn't the only way to send more troops?"

The emperor had no excuse and said something urgent, so he brought the topic back simply and straightforwardly, but the ministers had nothing to say.

Many of them began to wink again, or send secret signals to their accomplices while shaking their heads, and most of them wanted to mention the matter of chief assistant again.

At this moment, there was a cough, and a person walked out from the front row of civil servants, bowed and played: "I have my own notes!"

When Hu Guang heard the voice and saw that it was Wen Tiren, he thought to himself, why did you just stand up now and do something to give me a reason to promote you?

But when he saw Wen Tiren's tired face and red eyes, he suddenly remembered that he probably didn't get much rest last night and was worrying about Gao Yingyuan's affairs. He couldn't help but stop complaining and his voice became softer and no longer He was so cold to other ministers: "If Wen Qing has anything to do, just report it!"

The civil and military officials were basically human beings. When they heard the emperor's voice, they knew that the emperor had a good impression of Wen Tiren, and they couldn't help but be surprised.

Wen Tiren bowed in response, and then played loudly: "I read history and came across something, and was very surprised by it. I now present it to Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, everyone was surprised. Isn't Wen Tiren talking about fiscal and taxation policies? How come he got involved in reading history?

Hu Guang was also a little curious, but he was sure that Wen Tiren would not take his topic far away, so he was patient enough and nodded for Wen Tiren to continue.

Just listen to Wen Tiren playing loudly: "The "Song History Food and Huo Zhi" records: In the second year of Zhiping, the internal and external income was 116,138,450. In this year, the road accumulation was 162,000. Ninety-two thousand and ninety-three, and the capital was not prepared."

"In addition, Zeng Gong and Zengzi of the Song Dynasty said: The annual income of the world is more than 100 million, Huangyou and Zhiping are both more than 100 million, and the annual expenses are also more than 100 million. Since ancient times, the wealth of the country has never been as rich as this."

At this point, Wen Tiren bowed to the emperor and explained: "Although the income of the Song Dynasty was mixed, and it was added up by two pieces of stone, the income of the imperial court was far greater than that of our dynasty."

Just before, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Household Affairs, had said that the imperial court's annual income was less than 4 million taels. Therefore, Wen Tiren's statement immediately caused a sensation.

"Pap!" The sound of the whip sounded again, and finally the commotion of the civil and military officials was quieted down.

Wen Tiren was ready to risk his life at this time, and heard him say again: "The territory and population of our dynasty are much larger than those of the previous Song Dynasty. Logically speaking, the cost of salt, tea, and wine should also be far greater than that of the Song Dynasty. But... …”

When he said this, he turned to look at the civil and military officials on both sides, and continued loudly: "In the former Song Dynasty, the income from salt, tea, and wine reached 47.52 million taels. But in our dynasty, haha, the salt tax was only about 2.5 million taels. The tax on tea is even less, only more than 100,000 taels, including 17 taels in Yunnan and about 6 taels in Zhejiang. As for wine, there is no tax at all..."

Suddenly, the civil and military officials were in a panic again. According to etiquette, before going out to perform the performance, they must cough in advance. However, some civil servants could not wait to cough and rushed out one after another.

"I want to impeach the thief Wen Tiren, which is in vain for Gu Zuzhi..."

"I also want to be impeached. I don't know that tyranny is as fierce as a tiger. Wen thieves are going to..."

"..."

It was so noisy that almost everyone could only listen to the beginning.

Wen Tiren was not afraid and just looked at these colleagues coldly. In fact, he knew very well that by saying this, he would definitely offend his colleagues.

How can others not know these things? However, no one else dared to say this. Just now, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, denied all aspects of taxation as soon as he opened his mouth, saying that this was not good, that was not good, and in the end he only decided to send more people.

If it had been before, Wen Tiren wouldn't have dared to poke this hornet's nest. But it was different now. Ever since he joined that inexplicable chat group, he knew that he had one more trump card than his colleagues.

The most important thing is that Hu Guang gave him a high degree of trust and was ready to reuse him. Moreover, at the beginning of today's major court meeting, the emperor even explained the consequences of the court's lack of money in many aspects, showing his firm determination to fill the treasury so that the court can do more for the people.

Wen Tiren had been standing there silently without speaking, just looking for an opportunity to make a splash. When others are not in line with the emperor's wishes, he can naturally achieve his goal by saying these words in public.

At this time, he was determined to seize this golden opportunity. As Hu Guang said to him before, we can rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty together and leave a name in history.

As he expected, even if a group of ministers rose up to attack him, the emperor always stood by him. After the quiet whip sounded again, and the scene finally became quieter, Hu Guang stood up and said loudly: "We have been at the meeting all morning, but what Wen Qing said touched my heart. Others. Everyone, please learn from Wen Qing, do your errands carefully and do more practical things. This is the right thing to do! Pass the message!"

Having said this, Hu Guang was very satisfied and immediately announced loudly: "Zhu Wen Tiren is the young master and the crown prince's grand master. The scholar of the Ministry of Rites, Jianjidian, and the bachelor of Jianjidian, join the cabinet to assist the government. He is the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty."

Having said this, Hu Guang looked at the shocked expressions on the faces of many officials below, sneered in his heart, and issued an even more shocking decree: "In addition, all the vacancies for ministers in the cabinet will be recommended by Wen Qing. If I can work with one heart and one mind to manage the finances of the imperial court, work for the officials, and benefit the people of the Ming Dynasty, I will definitely do it!"

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