In the two tax laws, although the tax system that has been based on people since the Warring States period has been changed, "only assets are the case, not people-oriented". Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

It has "the cost of all hundred servitudes, the collection of a penny, the first measure of the number and give it to others, and measure it out to control it." There is no owner or guest in the household, and the residence is the book; Among the people, the rich and the poor are the poor. Whoever does not live in a place of residence and does business shall pay thirty-oneths of the tax in the county and county, and the place and the dweller shall be equal, so that there will be no profit. The tax of residents is levied in autumn and summer, and those who are inconvenient are correct. Its rent is miscellaneous and provincial, and the amount is not wasted, and the declaration is as old as the old style. The tax per mu of land shall be levied at the rate based on the number of cultivated fields in the 14th year of the Great Calendar. The summer tax does not exceed June, and the autumn tax does not exceed November. After the age of overage, there are households increased and taxes are reduced, and the people are scattered and uneven, advance and retreat from the chief, and the rule of Shangshu to support the president", so that the ancient tax system from the "tax people" to "tax people" in the direction of development.

At the same time, merchants were also included in the scope of taxation. However, there is only one sentence: "Those who do not live and do business will be taxed at thirty-one of the county taxes." There is no detailed division and regulation of what kind of tax items should be levied on merchants and how much they should be levied.

The ancient people did not have the consciousness of the commodity economy, and for the merchants, they only collected household taxes according to their accounts.

In other words, in fact, in ancient times, the ruling class, that is, the "shi" class, actually had a subconscious fear of the commodity economy. The instinctive fear of the feudal class of the bourgeoisie. The growth of the bourgeoisie will inevitably endanger the dominance of the feudal class.

This time, Xia Hongsheng is ready to write industry and commerce into the tax system, and at the same time, he is also ready to add some common commercial taxes to the tax law.

In the same way, the rights of businessmen have also taken this opportunity to be liberated to a degree that Li Shimin can accept.

"Your Majesty, a farmer family of five, there are no less than two servants, and those who can cultivate no more than 100 acres, and the harvest of 100 acres is no more than 100 stones. Spring ploughing, summer ploughing, autumn harvesting, winter hiding, cutting salaries, magistrates' offices, and servitude; Spring shall not shelter from wind and dust, summer shall not avoid heat, autumn shall not avoid rain, winter shall not shelter from cold and freezing, between four o'clock, there is no day off. and privately sent to usher, hanged to ask about the disease, and raised orphans and children in it. Diligence is so, and it is still plagued by floods and droughts, and the emergency government is tyrannical, and the endowment is not timely, and the order is changed at dusk. When those who have half a Jia are sold, those who do not take the interest of double the scale; So there are those who sell their fields and houses, and their children and grandchildren to pay off their debts. Xia Hongsheng said to Li Shimin: "Therefore, the peasants are poor, and the wealth base they can create is not much. On this small base, the imperial court has to collect taxes and the peasants have to live, but there are so many things, so it leads to the hardship of the peasants' lives, and the income of the imperial court is not much. ”

"Yes, I see the suffering of the people, so I reduce taxes, remeasure the land, divide the acres, and try to make the people live and work in peace and contentment." Li Shimin nodded and said.

Xia Hongsheng continued: "And what about the merchants? To put it mildly, the big ones accumulate and double the interest, and the small ones sit in the column to sell, their strange wins, travel to the city every day, take advantage of the urgency, and the sale will be doubled. Therefore, the men do not cultivate, the women do not weave, the clothes must be beautiful, and the food must be meat; Without the suffering of farmers, there is a lot of gain. Because of its wealth, the princes of transportation, the power of the officials, and the benefits of each other; Thousands of miles of travel, the crown and cover each other, take the strong strategy, and drag the silk. Those merchants, who hoarded goods in large quantities, received double the interest; Small ones set up shops, sold goods, and used special means to obtain profits. They went to the bazaar every day, and when the government was in dire need of goods, the prices of the goods they sold were exponentially inflated. Therefore, the men of the merchants' families do not have to plough the fields, and the women do not need to raise silkworms and weave cloth, but must wear beautiful clothes, and eat fine rice and meat; Without the toil of the farmer, he has a very good profit. Relying on his rich money, he handed over with the princes, his power surpassed that of the officials, and he relied on his assets to dump each other; They traveled from place to place, in a constant stream of chariots, in sturdy chariots, on strong horses, with silk shoes on their feet and silk garments. Your Majesty, does this sound like a hateful and annoying businessman? ”

"Not bad." Li Shimin frowned and said.

Therefore, since ancient times, because such merchants make people feel hateful and annoying, the kings of all dynasties will emphasize agriculture and suppress merchants, and will also belittle the status of merchants, such as the Qin Dynasty stipulates that merchants cannot wear silk clothes, and the Han Dynasty stipulates that merchants must confiscate their family wealth if they make false declarations...... In our dynasty, it was also stipulated that merchants could not enter the court as officials, and their children were not allowed to participate in the imperial examination, and so on. Xia Hongsheng smiled and said to Li Shimin: "But Your Majesty, what is the final result of using these rules to punish businessmen?" Yes, businessmen have a low status, they are despised by others, and they are looked down upon by the literati. But as far as the country is concerned, the imperial court ignores this group that can accumulate wealth the most, and spares this piece of fat, and for the merchants themselves, although they have been discriminated against, they have earned no less money. They lived better, and the merchants were always the richest part. In fact, the governance of businessmen should be like Dayu's water control, and it is better to be sparse! ”

"How?" Li Shimin was interested when he heard this, sat down again, and asked.

"Gradually loosen some of the restrictions on merchants, and the behavior of merchants is not to restrict their rights with other people, but to regulate and guide them through laws and taxes." Xia Hongsheng said in a deep voice.

"Liberalize the business limit?!" Li Shimin's eyes froze, his brows frowned, stared at Xia Hongsheng, and said word by word: "Are you joking with me?" ”

Xia Hongsheng shook his head: "Weichen is not joking. Open up the business limit, so that merchants have the same rights as ordinary people. Correspondingly, merchants were required to pay taxes to the imperial court. In this way, the merchant has more opportunities and is more profitable, and he will not object to paying taxes. At the same time, the imperial court also received a large amount of income, which could be used by the imperial court to invest in agriculture or other places, so that other industries also developed. The imperial court received income from merchants, which was used to feed other industries. Of course, the imperial court had to supervise the merchants' trading market to prevent individual merchants from forming a monopoly party, and there were many places to control commerce, and it would be very trivial to come out in detail. In addition, the imperial court could also guide merchants by regulating taxes. For example, if the imperial court wants to encourage maritime merchants, then reduce taxes on maritime merchants, or return taxes, reduce customs duties, so that merchants will actively participate in maritime merchants. From an objective standpoint, the imperial court formulated a law without contempt or deliberate oppression, stipulating how merchants could and could not do business. In this way, paying taxes to merchants will not harm their interests, but will bring them convenience. Naturally, they will take the initiative to pay taxes. (To be continued.) )