Sign a Lu Fengxian at the beginning

Chapter 255 Limitations of the Times

The shortcomings within the Great Zhou Dynasty are slowly being eliminated.

Whether it is the changes to the land system or the reform of the tax system, they are all aimed at the long-standing chronic problems of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

These stubborn diseases are like cancerous tumors growing inside the Dazhou, poisoning the major nerves inside the Dazhou.

Only by completely eradicating this cancer can Da Zhou regain health and prosper.

Zhou Chen believes that as long as these shortcomings within the Great Zhou Dynasty are eliminated, the road after the Great Zhou Dynasty will be smooth.

However, Zhou Chen understood that eliminating these shortcomings within Dazhou could not be accomplished in a short time.

These shortcomings of Dazhou have been accumulated over decades, even hundreds of years.

It takes time to completely remove it and see results.

…

Jinluan Palace.

A new day starts in the morning.

Zhou Chen sat on the dragon throne.

Below, civil and military officials stood on both sides of the hall.

"When there is something going on, we will start, and when there is nothing going on, we will retreat."

The shrill voice of the house guard sounded.

Now, Cao Zhengchun cooperated with the patron king to leave Luoyang to collect private soldiers from wealthy families.

Cao Shaoqin also followed Xun Yu and left Luoyang to investigate the land stolen by wealthy families in various places.

Therefore, the only people who followed Zhou Chen to court were a few internal servants and factory guards.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

As soon as the inner chamber guard finished speaking, the household servant stood up and said.

"speak."

Zhou Chen glanced at the Minister of Household Affairs who stood up and uttered one word.

"Your Majesty, I feel that there is something wrong with canceling tariffs and encouraging business..."

The Minister of Tobe said very directly.

When the other civil and military officials heard this, their expressions changed.

Some officials were even a little frightened, thinking to themselves: What kind of wind did the Minister of Household have today? How brave is he to dare to question His Majesty's previous order so bluntly? Doesn't this mean he doesn't want to live?

You must know that canceling tariffs and encouraging business are, after all, orders personally issued by His Majesty.

Now, when the Minister of Household Affairs said these words, wasn't he questioning His Majesty's previous orders?

Zhou Chen raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard the words of the Minister of Household Affairs. He was a little surprised.

Ever since Zhou Chen cleaned up the court, it has been a long time since any minister dared to question his emperor's orders so bluntly.

"Your Majesty, tariffs are an important part of our tax revenue."

"Since His Majesty's decree to cancel tariffs, until now, in just a few days, the tax revenue of our Ministry of Household Affairs has dropped by more than half."

"The meager commercial tax cannot make up for the loss of the abolition of tariffs. If this continues, my tax revenue in Dazhou will probably drop to the extreme."

The Minister of Tobe said loudly.

After Xun Yu left Luoyang to investigate the land grabs by wealthy families from all over the world, the minister of the household department took charge of all affairs in the household department.

However, since the order to cancel tariffs was issued, the tax revenue calculated by the Ministry of Revenue these days has been more than half less than before.

This made the Minister of Hubu have to worry. If this continues, the tax revenue of the Hubu may not even be able to maintain the normal operation of the court.

You should know that land tax in Dazhou is collected once a year, but other taxes are not.

The daily operations of the imperial court were maintained by these taxes from other aspects.

If these taxes in other areas decrease, there will be problems in the operation of the court.

Therefore, the Minister of Household Affairs had to raise questions in today's morning meeting.

"Furthermore, canceling tariffs and encouraging business is tantamount to allowing business to develop. Once business develops and merchants make more money, the people of our Zhou Dynasty will inevitably abandon agriculture and engage in business. By then, our agriculture in the Zhou Dynasty will be abandoned.

The land will also face the problem of being abandoned..."

The Minister of Household Affairs spoke again.

"Your Majesty, the most fundamental foundation of our great Zhou Dynasty is agriculture and food."

"If there is no food, what will I eat and drink? No matter how prosperous the business is, it will be of no use."

"Your Majesty is also requested to reconsider and withdraw his intention to cancel the tariffs."

Having said this, the Minister of Tobe directly knelt on the ground.

The Minister of Household Affairs understood what Zhou Chen meant. He knew that Zhou Chen wanted to develop commerce by abolishing tariffs and encouraging business.

However, if there is no food, any development will be rootless.

Only when there is enough food in the treasury can Da Zhou be confident and stable.

Otherwise, if you don’t even have enough to eat, how can you talk about anything else?

What's more, in the opinion of the Minister of Household Affairs, if the Zhou Dynasty wants to promote business, the tariff should not be cancelled.

What is the purpose of promoting commerce? Isn’t it to increase tax revenue for the Zhou Dynasty?

If tariffs are abolished, what is the significance of promoting business in the Zhou Dynasty?

The words of the Minister of Household Affairs shocked all the civil and military officials in the hall.

All civil and military officials know that the Minister of Revenue is right. Customs duties are a very important tax in the Great Zhou Dynasty. As for other commercial taxes, they cannot collect any money at all.

Since ancient times, scholars, farmers, industry, and merchants have always been in the lowest status.

How much money can they have?

The real big taxpayers in Dazhou have always relied on the land and the common people...

I have never been a businessman.

No matter how prosperous the business is, no matter how many merchants there are, they can't compare with the tax revenue of the land people.

In fact, the establishment of business will increase the number of merchants, and will cause some farmers to abandon their land and become merchants, leaving the land abandoned, which is not worth the gain...

Moreover, some of the ministers vaguely felt that the emperor Zhou Chen only wanted to cancel tariffs and encourage business. In addition to developing commerce, he also wanted to improve the status of merchants.

When tariffs are eliminated, businessmen will naturally make more money. In this way, more people will engage in business and develop business...

The more merchants there are, the greater their influence will naturally be. At that time, the status of merchants will naturally increase.

However, what these ministers don't understand is what is the use of improving the status of businessmen?

"Your Majesty, what the Minister of Household Affairs said makes sense."

"Your Majesty has decreed to abolish tariffs and encourage business. As a minister, you should comply with it."

"Just the elimination of tariffs and the prosperity of commerce will not be of great benefit to me in Dazhou. On the contrary, it will reduce the tax revenue of my Dazhou and make the land deserted..."

"Your Majesty, I have also paid attention to some business situations in Luoyang these days. The elimination of tariffs has indeed reduced my tax revenue a lot in Dazhou, and the newly proposed commercial tax is not enough to make up for the previous tariffs..."

As the Minister of Revenue opened his mouth, one minister after another stood up and said.

Previously, under the influence of the emperor Zhou Chen, these officials did not dare to question the emperor's will even though they had some objections in their hearts.

After all, the emperor Zhou Chen's methods in the court during this period made all the ministers tremble in their hearts.

But now that the Minister of Household Affairs has taken the initiative, these ministers who have objections to this no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb, but stand up and express all the objections in their hearts.

Zhou Chen, who was sitting on the dragon chair, heard the words of the Minister of Revenue and glanced at the other ministers who stood up to speak. There was not much expression change on his face.

Although the Minister of Hubu questioned Zhou Chen's previous decree, the emperor Zhou Chen felt a little dissatisfied.

But Zhou Chen knew that the Minister of Hubu was also thinking about the Great Zhou Dynasty and was one of the few remaining loyal and good ministers in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"I abolished tariffs in order to increase the circulation of goods. As for the lost customs duties, they can be replenished from the newly formulated commercial taxes."

"You may not see the effect at the beginning, but I believe it won't take long before you all will see the effect."

Zhou Chen put his right hand on the armrest of the dragon chair and said slowly.

Can the newly proposed commercial tax be supplemented with customs tax?

The Minister of Household Affairs and these ministers all looked disbelieving.

If the newly proposed commercial tax can make up for the canceled customs tax, then the tax revenue calculated by the Ministry of Revenue will not drop by more than half these days.

Zhou Chen saw it in his eyes and didn't explain too much.

Because no matter how much Zhou Chen talked, it would be difficult for people like the Minister of Household Affairs and others to understand the benefits of prosperous business.

In fact, you can't blame them.

This is the limitation of the times.

Not only in the Zhou Dynasty, but also in all dynasties, the status of merchants has never been higher.

Even the wisest and most powerful emperors and wisest ministers are unaware of how much potential a businessman has...

But Zhou Chen knew that in his previous life, the status of merchants, the terrifying high status, and the prosperity of commerce were also indicators that could indirectly measure whether a country was strong or not.

Even some top chaebols can directly intervene in the change of political power and control the lifeblood of a country.

It can be seen that business is the most important and indispensable link for the prosperity of a country.

Of course, Zhou Chen couldn't explain it in detail to people like the Minister of Household Affairs.

Zhou Chen believes that Xun Yu, Xiao He and other outstanding figures may also have doubts about this in their hearts!

It's just that Xun Yu and Xiao He were both outstanding people signed by Zhou Chen, and they trusted Zhou Chen very much, so they didn't question his will.

In fact, this is indeed the case.

Neither Xiao He nor Xun Yu could see the prospects and potential of prosperous business.

It's just that they felt that the emperor Zhou Chen must have the emperor's intentions in doing this.

Therefore, Xiao He and the others did not question Zhou Chen's will. Instead, they tried their best to combine Zhou Chen's wishes with some of their suggestions to formulate a new commercial tax system.

"As for the people who will abandon farming and engage in business..."

Zhou Chen's brows furrowed and his eyes flickered.

Zhou Chen really didn't expect this.

If the minister of household affairs hadn't reminded him in a memorial today, Zhou Chen would never have thought of this.

If tariffs are lifted and business is encouraged, there is no doubt that business in the Great Zhou Dynasty will definitely usher in a booming development.

But in this way, just as the Minister of Household Affairs was worried, the merchants would make money and their status would be improved, and the peasants would see it and become jealous.

At that time, farmers and common people would try to abandon farming and engage in business.

If that were the case, a lot of land in the Great Zhou Dynasty might be abandoned, and there would also be problems with land taxation.

Therefore, effective restrictions must be made to prevent farmers from abandoning farming and engaging in business.

Otherwise, if all the farmers and common people go to work as merchants, who will cultivate the land in Dazhou?

The Minister of Hubu is right when he says that the foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty is food.

We cannot destroy the Great Wall just because we want to promote business and collect more commercial taxes...

Although it is important to develop business, land and food cannot be relaxed.

However, the degree of this needs to be strictly controlled.

Otherwise, you will lose the watermelon and pick up the sesame seeds.

Thinking of this, Zhou Chen glanced at the Minister of Hubu who was kneeling on the ground and said, "As for the people who will abandon farming and engage in business and waste the land, the Minister of Hubu will pass on my will."

"I accept the order."

The Minister of Hube bowed his head to the ground and said loudly.

"It is announced to the world that no matter who it is, anyone who fails to cultivate the fertile land registered in the survey within two years will have the fertile land taken back by the imperial court."

As soon as Zhou Chen finished speaking, the eyes of the Minister of Household Affairs and the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs lit up, and everything became clear.

If the fertile land is not cultivated within two years, it will belong to the imperial court.

In this way, after the establishment of business, people may abandon farming and engage in business, and the problem of land waste will be solved.

Once this decree came out, even if the people wanted to abandon farming and engage in business, they had to consider the consequences of the land being abandoned.

Otherwise, the land will be reverted to the imperial court.

You know, for most ordinary people, land is their fundamental family property.

They can abandon farming and engage in business and let their land be abandoned for a few years, but they will never completely abandon the land and let the court take it back.

Of course, there are certainly exceptions to everything.

If the land is really abandoned by the people, then after the land is taken back by the court, the court will distribute it to the people who need to cultivate it. In this way, the land will never have to worry about being abandoned from the beginning to the end.

The Minister of Household Affairs was very emotional at this moment.

For him, the problem of land being abandoned after the establishment of business was an unsolvable problem. Even if he tried his best, he could not come up with a way to get the best of both worlds.

Only then did Zhou Chen come to the court in the morning.

But who would have thought that in the eyes of the emperor, such a problem could be solved with just one decree.

This is imperial power!

It can easily solve things that one person or many people can never solve.

"I obey the decree."

The Minister of Household Affairs obeyed the chief's order.

Now that the problem of the possible abandonment of this land has been solved, regarding the issue of customs tax, the Minister of Household Affairs can only follow Zhou Chen's wishes and wait for some time to see.

If the result is still the same as it is now, then it won't be too late for him to take action.

After all, the current treasury of the Ministry of Household Affairs is very full, and there is no shortage of customs tax at this time.

"My beloved, please wake up!"

Zhou Chen glanced at the Minister of Household Affairs and said.

Although these veterans are not top-notch in talent, they are still very thoughtful in their thinking.

If it weren't for the Minister of Household Affairs' memorial today, Zhou Chen wouldn't have considered this.

It seems that in the future, we will have to listen more to the thoughts of these veterans.

Zhou Chen thought silently in his heart.

The Minister of Hube stood up and stepped aside.

Subsequently, several other ministers also stepped forward one after another, and after reporting some other matters, the morning court came to an end.

"Retreat from the court."

The morning court ended with the shrill voice of the chamberlain and factory guard.

Zhou Chen took the lead in getting up and leaving the Jinluan Palace.

(End of chapter)