Chapter 66: Some cabinet members have actually known a whipping method for a long time! Early the next morning.
Zhu Yuanzhang and his son went directly to the cabinet to handle state affairs with Xia Yuanji and others.
Such a scene will not be seen in the cabinets of later generations.
After processing several memorials from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Households regarding the flooded farmland and people's houses when the Huaihe River burst its banks, Zhu Yuanzhang asked on a whim.
"My dear friends, if the imperial court wants to classify all taxes in the world into one tax collection and no longer collect grain and specific physical goods, what should be used to collect it?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang asked, Zhu Biao raised his head.
Xia Yuanji and others stood up from their offices.
The magistrate of Songjiang Prefecture from Songjiang is named Shen Liqian, also named Meng Li. Although he is only the deputy mayor of Songjiang Prefecture, he is an upright official with a good reputation and is not pedantic. At the age of 37 or eight, he is very energetic.
Moreover, Shen Liqian himself is from Songjiang.
In the officialdom of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, full-time magistrates were usually transferred from outside to prevent you from forming cliques in the local area; deputy magistrates were generally from the local or nearby magistrates, and they knew the local area better, and they complemented each other.
Shen Liqian had his own unique point of view on this issue and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, I have something to say."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Come here!"
"Your Majesty, if we can combine the land tax and the labor service into one, we can convert it into silver and hand it over."
Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were surprised when they heard what he said.
According to Chen Han, the one-whip method consolidated all taxes into one and handed over the money in silver. That was something that happened two hundred years later. How come someone is proposing it now?
Immediately interested: "Tell me why you have such an idea?"
Shen Liqian replied: "Your Majesty, I heard from Master Xia a few days ago that taxation in the world is in disarray, so I thought that I heard such remarks when I was a local official."
Zhu Yuanzhang groaned and thought to himself: It is estimated that the whipping method 200 years later did not appear out of nowhere. There must have been complaints from the people all over the world. There are always smart people who come up with such good methods, but the imperial court only adopted them.
Shen Liqian continued: "Weichen lives in Songjiang and has been an official in the southeast for more than ten years. He saw that many people complained because the things requisitioned by the government and the imperial court were too miscellaneous and every time they paid, it was extremely cumbersome. The people complained.
Can the government and the imperial court collect land taxes, laborers, etc. and hand them over in money?
All you need to do is calculate the land tax that should be paid, the amount of labor that should be paid, and calculate the total price to hand over.
This not only avoids the expense of civilians escorting physical goods during transportation, but also reduces officials' cheating and enriching their own pockets.
At that time, when the officials heard this method, they felt it was new, and thought in their hearts: If it can be done like this, it will be a good thing for the people, and it will also be a good thing for the government.
When local officials escort taxes to Beijing, they mainly recruit civilians to escort them. During the process, they have to worry about not only delaying time, but also worrying about damage during the escort, which will lead to criticism from superiors.
And if the silver can be folded and handed over, it will not only facilitate statistics, the silver is wear-resistant, and there is no need to worry about damage, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds? "
When this topic came up, even Zhu Yuanzhang and his son were surprised. It seemed that the people working below had actually seen that during the actual collection process of collecting taxes in kind, the government and the people had their own concerns.
The government is worried that the escort process will be delayed, or the person will be short-changed and easily punished by his superiors.
As for the common people, they paid so much tax, but they still had to pay for the food, drink and diarrhea of the civilians who escorted the tax payers. In fact, in a disguised form, this extra miscellaneous tax was deducted from the common people who paid the taxes.
The amount of such miscellaneous taxes is only up to the officials.
If he were greedy, the people would have to pay a few more kilograms of grain.
And if the exact amount of silver is being escorted, the officials can't just say out of thin air: Folks, you have to be considerate. It's not that we officials want more kilograms of silver from you, but it's really because the civilian husbands being escorted have to eat silver to satisfy their hunger. ! When it comes to escorting grain, the official dares to say this out of thin air. In fact, he just embezzled the extra grain.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard what Shen Liqian said, he understood in his heart that there are smart people in the world, but they just lack guidance.
A tax collection method like the one-whip method may not have been called this name in other eras, but it is impossible that no one thought of it.
But why can't it be done?It can only be said that in this process, there are many people with vested interests who are causing obstacles.
Therefore, this seemingly good policy was not implemented with state power until Zhang Juzheng of Wanli Dynasty saw that the entire country's tax system was in chaos to a certain extent.
This was done only when there was no other way out.
Zhu Yuanzhang and his son were both surprised and delighted at the same time. There were many smart people in Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang asked again: "Tell me, why must it be converted into silver for collection?"
Shen Liqian did not dare to answer this question easily.
Because if you say this, it is against the law.
As a co-prefect of the government, Shen Liqian knew that the people under his jurisdiction secretly used silver but did not stop him from reporting it. This was a dereliction of duty.
Shen Liqian raised his head and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao. The father and son were not livid and everything was normal, so he boldly said, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, in recent years, the value of treasure banknotes has been depreciating faster and faster. In addition, the southeast coast has originally been a commercial trade In developed countries, some big businessmen usually use silver as currency in private, and treasure banknotes are rarely used."
When these words came out, everyone in the cabinet, including Xia Yuanji and others, sweated.
Starting from the ninth year of Hongwu, the imperial court strictly prohibited gold and silver transactions, and only treasure banknotes could be used.
However, there are some traders on the southeast coast who openly violate the prohibition, which is a crime of beheading.
If Zhu Yuanzhang hadn't heard Chen Han say that treasure banknotes had devalued to the point of a piece of waste paper, and people were forced to choose silver, which has a longer value, as currency, he would have been extremely angry.
If possible, Jin Yiwei should be ordered to go directly to the southeast coast to investigate. If such a thing really happens, it will be another bloody storm.
But now he is unusually calm.
Instead, he said: "Go on."
When these words came out, Shen Liqian, Xia Yuanji and others were stunned.
However, seeing that His Majesty the Emperor was not furious, Shen Liqian's eyes showed a hint of joy.
Perhaps he had wanted to say this a long time ago, and it would be uncomfortable to hold it in his heart.
So he opened his mouth and said, "Your Majesty, over the past ten years, the value of treasure banknotes has been falling again and again. In the past, one treasure banknote could buy at least four stones of grain. Now, four treasure coins may not buy one stone of grain."
Silver, on the other hand, is becoming more and more valuable today.
One tael of silver can buy four and a half stones of grain on the southeast coast, or even more.
Although the common people and merchants were frightened by the severe punishment of the imperial law, they still used it secretly.
This is undoubtedly a serious drawback, and your Majesty must be aware of it. "
Now in Shen Liqian's eyes, silver indeed retains its value better than banknotes.
It would be better if people could have more silver in their hands.
Zhu Yuanzhang asked again at this time: "In your opinion, is it a good thing for the people to use silver? It would also be a good thing if the whole world used silver to replace treasure banknotes?"
Shen Liqian was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat. After all, the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes were issued by His Majesty the Emperor himself, and they are currently the only currency in name.
And what he is telling you now is undoubtedly a slap in the emperor's face. When the emperor is angry, millions of people will be killed...
Please read!
(End of this chapter)