What is the Xu family? In Lao Zhu's eyes, maybe it's not even a fart. But they dared to annex thousands of acres of land and hundreds of tenant farmers under their hands.

If they succeed in merging under the banner of Huangguan and getting tens of thousands of acres of land, it will not be difficult. And they don't have to pay taxes, they don't have to serve, and even their tenants don't have to pay taxes!

Are you kidding?

One Xu family can hack so much, if there are tens of millions of Xu families, the Ming Dynasty will not be eaten up by these ants?

There are by no means a few people who are more powerful than the Xu family, and these guys in front of them are like this!

Lao Tang knelt on the ground and said tremblingly: "There are only two hundred and seventy-five slaves in the old minister's family, if Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can send someone to check it, one more, the old minister is willing to ambush him!" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, and the others present were also quite surprised.

Tang He is the Duke of Xinguo, His Majesty's hair is small, and he is the best among the nobles, how can he have so few slaves?

"Your Majesty, the old minister only has 500 people given by His Majesty, and 200 of them were borrowed by the rebel minister Li Shanchang. Among the rest of the people, some have died of old age and illness one after another, and the ministers will never dare to deceive Your Majesty, please Your Majesty will be aware of it! ”

Lao Zhu stared at Tang He and bowed slightly.

is worthy of being my most trusted brother, and he didn't disappoint me!

Lao Zhu picked up the soup with his own hands, "You are also old, don't kneel and kneel at every turn." I'm going to blame you for this? ”

Tang He shook his head and said with emotion: "Your Majesty is very kind, the old minister can't be ungrateful, in addition to His Majesty's gift, the old minister took an extra penny, and chopped off this hand!" Your Majesty's kindness is like a mountain, and some of the eight lambs are not satisfied, and they deserve to kill them! ”

Lao Zhu laughed happily, don't say anything, Lao Tang still understands him.

Looking at the appearance of this pair of monarchs and ministers, Liu Chun secretly sighed, no wonder Tang He could survive to the end! This guy really has two strokes, at least in the matter of pleasing Zhu Yuanzhang, Liu Chun is afraid that he will not be able to catch up in his life.

Lao Zhu turned his gaze to Jiang Zhen again.

"What about you? How many servants are there in the house? ”

"Nope!"

"Oh? Really? ”

"The minister doesn't dare to bully the king, there is indeed no one, there is only the old mother and the wife of the chaff in the minister's family, they rely on sewing and washing to maintain the family!" Jiang Xuan replied simply.

Some people may think that Jiang Zheng is lying, but he is really not!

He is a well-known cool official, the so-called cool official, basically very incorruptible, if he was not upright, he would have been killed a long time ago, and he had no chance to become a cool official at all.

The previous commander Mao Xiang lost his life because he was careless and greedy for money, so that people grabbed the handle.

Jiang Zhen learned a lesson, he was never greedy or occupied, the Ming Dynasty's income was low, and the cost of the capital was large, but he was willing to let his mother weave cloth and his wife embroider in exchange for a meager income to fill the family, and he would never take a penny that he shouldn't take.

If you go to Jiang Xuan's house, you can understand one word...... Stripped bare!

Lao Zhu asked these two, in fact, he knew it in his heart, what he really cared about was Liu Chun!

"Stinky boy, your family has so much property, how many slaves do you bring? It's not really recruited! ”

Liu Chun smiled helplessly, "Your Majesty, can the minister say that he is the same as Lord Jiang, there is no one?" ”

Jiang Zhen laughed, you are like me, lie to the ghost!

"Liu Experience, do you know what the crime of bullying is?"

Liu Chun sneered, don't think that if you are my father's boss, the master will be afraid of you!

"I don't have any slaves, and I don't have a deed of sale!"

"Impossible!" Jiang Zhen said categorically: "There are thousands of people in the Daning Iron Smelting Factory, aren't they your servants?" ”

"Joke!" Liu Chun shook his head and said, "They are craftsmen of the iron-smelting factory, and there are also people who hold shares in the iron-smelting factory. Everyone pays the Ding tax according to the rules, Master Jiang, do you think they are slaves? ”

At this time, Zhu Biao, who had not spoken, finally spoke.

"Ahem...... That, Lone also has shares in the steel mill in his hand, so Lone is not Liu Chun's slave, right? ”

In a word, he almost sneered Jiang Xuan, where did he get the courage to argue with the prince, Liu Chun, this kid really won the favor of the prince, Jiang Zhen had nothing to do.

Lao Zhu groaned and looked at the three courtiers.

"Okay, even if you are both justified, you don't take advantage of me. Then I ask you, is there more or less a strong man like the Xu family? ”

The three of them looked at each other and said in unison: "Many!" A lot! ”

"And what can you do?"

Tang He thought for a while and said tentatively: "You can move Haoqiang to Fengyang!" ”

Jiang Zheng's proposition is relatively clean and neat.

"Kill! Whoever annexes a field, kill it! ”

These two methods are not new at all, and Lao Zhu has been using them all the time.

But the problem is that no matter how you kill or suppress it, there are always people who annex land, and it is getting worse, just like corrupt officials, you can't kill it cleanly!

Lao Zhu was very entangled and helpless, he took his hands, paced back and forth, irritable steps, irritable mood...... "Liu Chun!" Lao Zhu suddenly broke off, making Liu Chun tremble.

"Why don't you speak?"

Liu Chun hesitated, "I'm afraid that Your Majesty will be displeased, so don't ......."

"You don't give me garlic! You don't have enough time to make me angry? Today I invite you to come and sit down and talk. Whatever you say, say it all. ”

Liu Chun took a breath, "Your Majesty, if you let the ministers speak, you should comprehensively review the method of taxation." ”

After a pause, he found that Lao Zhu didn't seem to be angry, and Liu Chun became bolder.

"In all dynasties, two kinds of taxes were levied, one is the Dingkou tax, and the other is the land tax. At the beginning of the founding of the country, almost every family had land because of the practice of equal land, and it was easy to collect these two kinds of taxes at this time. But once the world is peaceful, the difference between the people appears. ”

"There are people like the Xu family, in the fish and meat township, bullying the good and amassing wealth. There are also people who are willing to sweat, can work, and have good luck, and gradually have accumulated. There are also people who are exempt from taxation and forced labor because they are talented, can study, and gain fame...... All in all, the situation is becoming more and more complicated, and the tax on people is generally levied, which is very unfair to the poor. On the other hand, because of the existence of exemptions, land annexation will inevitably be reduced. ”

"There is less tax revenue, but the state's expenditure is increasing day by day, and it cannot be reduced at all, and in the long run, the national treasury will inevitably be empty......

Liu Chun's summary can be called a whip to the bottom and to the point.

But the question is, what do you do?

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what we really need to do is to achieve fairness in taxation. There should only be one criterion for paying taxes, that is, the rich pay more taxes, and the poor pay less taxes, or even no taxes! ”

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, and several other people also pondered silently, reforming the tax law is easier said than done!

"Liu Chun, according to what you said, the Ding tax is going to be abolished?" Zhu Yuanzhang groaned: "What about the gap?" How to make up the shortfall? ”

"Your Majesty, in fact, it is very simple, starting with the commercial tax, in the opinion of the minister, you can use ten years to gradually abolish the tax on people, and at the same time, increase the commercial tax in batches. On the premise of ensuring the fullness of the national treasury, we will realize tax reform! ”

Liu Chun said loudly: "Your Majesty, although the whole world is not the king's land, the shore of the land is not the king's minister. Since he is a subject of His Majesty, he should pay taxes. But a person cannot create wealth out of thin air, he must own land, or work and sell in order to make money. The imperial court levied taxes on simple people, which could easily cause unfairness in taxes. The land has output, the land is paid, the work is earned, the income tax is paid, the transaction tax is collected. In a word, there is the flow of capital goods, and only then is the tax collected! In this way, the tax can be fair! ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that governing the country cannot simply hoe the strong, but also help the weak!"

Old Zhu pondered: "How do you say it? ”

"After the tax reform, like the Xu family, the tax will increase a lot, and after the treasury is full, some money will be taken out every year to help run schools in various places, so that more people will have the opportunity to study and gain knowledge. Many people are willing to become tenants and serve as slaves of others, in the final analysis, one is forced by life, and secondly, they are also shallow in their knowledge, only greedy for a moment to fill their stomachs, without the slightest thought, after losing their hukou and becoming slaves, they will be dominated by people for generations, and they will never be able to change their fate and live a good life. ”

Lao Zhu was thoughtful.

Indeed, the exemption from immunity and the annexation of land have been a disadvantage that has existed throughout the ages. The Ming Dynasty that he worked so hard to build, the entire fiscal and taxation system, after more than 20 years, inevitably had loopholes.

Now the person Zhu Yuanzhang hates the most is Li Shanchang who hangs outside the city!

Perhaps with a talent like Liu Chun by his side, when he formulated taxes, he would think more long-term and formulate more careful methods.

However, there is only one Li Shanchang who is troubled by private messages by his side! Peel him last, it's cheap!

Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth, hoping that Li Shanchang would come back to life and peel the skin again! Many things have been implemented for 20 years, and it is not easy to readjust. But fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang is a super diligent emperor, and he has the spirit of an old scalper, and he can't wait to finish the work of his children and grandchildren.

"Change, must change!"

Lao Zhu set the tone.

Liu Chun breathed a sigh of relief, but who knew that Lao Zhu's next sentence made him depressed again.

"But where to start, I haven't figured it out yet! Liu Chun, since you brought this matter up, then you can give me a note! ”

Struggle in the last years of Hongwu

Struggle in the last years of Hongwu