When Zhu Houjin asked this question, Yang Yiqing's mind buzzed. He didn't know how to answer.
Although Da Ming's business was very developed and the economic conditions were very good, Da Ming's taxes were very low, pitifully low.
This had been going on since Taizu had set the group training for the thin tax burden.
This was a fact that no one could change. Could it be that His Majesty had the idea of increasing taxes because there was no silver in the national treasury?!
Thinking of this, Yang Yiqing and Xie Qian broke out in cold sweat.
The two of them couldn't care less and bluntly advised,"Your Majesty, raising the people with thin taxes is the group training set by Emperor Taizu! You must not increase taxes!"
"Yes, Your Majesty! The people of Ming worked very hard, they were extremely hardworking all year round and did not have a day of rest.”
"But after paying taxes on a year's harvest, the remaining food can barely make ends meet. If they were to encounter any more natural or man-made disasters, the farmers would have to flee and beg.”
Xie Qian also hurriedly stood up and advised.
"Who said I'm going to increase taxes?" Zhu Houjin said coldly.”
Yang Yiqing was stunned and asked,"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"”
Zhu Houjin did not reply. He took out a secret letter from the West Hall and threw it in front of Yang Yiqing."Read it to me!"
This secret letter was handwritten by Yu Huatian, the supervisor of the West Factory. It was personally delivered to Zhu Houzhi by Ma Jinliang, the big partner of the West Factory.
When Zhu Houjin ordered Yu Huatian to go to Xindu and Fenyi to confiscate the property, he had instructed him to record the land and tax situation of each place.
Zhu Houyi was very clear that the Ming Dynasty's treasury had no silver. The corrupt officials were wantonly greedy for money. On the other hand, the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue was not high.
As for why it wasn't high, it was all thanks to the Ming Dynasty's unreasonable tax policy.
First, the Ming Dynasty did not collect commercial taxes, only agricultural taxes!
Second, those who had a high rank in the Ming Dynasty would be exempted from taxes!
It was precisely because of these two reasons that Shen Wansan in the early Ming Dynasty, as well as the current Wan Sanqian and other merchants, had accumulated tens of thousands of wealth by doing business, and they did not even pay a single tax!
Moreover, because people with a high rank and above paid different taxes, many landowners and small farmers attached their land to people with high ranks to avoid taxes!
These two methods caused a large amount of tax money to be unable to be collected, causing the Darming Dynasty to only collect 5.1 million dans of grain in a year!
After Yang Yiqing received the secret letter, he opened it in confusion and read,
"Xindu County, Liu Erwa, seven Ding, three Mu of land, three stones per mu, three stones of tax.”
"Xindu County, Li Pangwa, four Ding, two Mu of land, four stones per mu, two stones tax.”
"Xindu County, Chen Yimao, five Ding, seven Mu of land, three stones per mu, seven stones tax.”
"Xindu County, Yang Tingping, 452 Ding, 1,362 Mu of land, five stones per mu, tax exemption!”
When Yang Yiqing read this, he finally realized that something was wrong.
The things that he had deliberately ignored in the past had appeared in front of him.
Especially when these tax-free big families and other small families appeared on the same secret letter, they realized how shocking the contrast was.
"Your Majesty…"
Yang Yiqing's mouth was dry and he wanted to explain, but he was mercilessly interrupted by Zhu Houxin.
"Yang Yiqing! Continue reading!"
Yang Yiqing trembled and could only continue reading.
"Fenyi Prefecture, Zhao Xinming, two Ding, three Mu of land, two stones per mu, three stones tax.”
"Fenyi Prefecture, Yu Deze, four Ding, ten Mu of land, three stones per mu, ten stones of tax.”
"Fenyi Prefecture, Fan Gaofei, six Ding, seven Mu of land, four stones per mu, seven stones tax.”
"Fenyi Prefecture, Yan Yue, 1,372 Ding, 17,439 Mu of land, four stones per mu, tax exemption!”
After Yang Yiqing finished reading the last sentence, he let out a long sigh of relief.
The number on it was shocking.
The poor only had a dozen or so stones of grain a year, but they had to hand over half of it to the government.
As for Yang Tinghe's younger brother, Yang Tingping, and Yan Song's younger brother, Yan Yue, and the others, because they had the title of a High Scholar, they had thousands of acres of land and an annual income of tens of thousands of kilograms of grain. However, they did not have to pay any taxes…
No wonder His Majesty was so angry today, these were all Great Ming's silver!
"How about it? Tell me your thoughts.”
Zhu Houjin took a sip of tea and looked at the six Pavilion Elders in front of him expressionlessly.
Yang Yiqing's back was drenched in cold sweat. He couldn't tell how many times his back had been dry and wet today.
Yang Yiqing's face was filled with bitterness because his family also had a few hundred acres of land, and he did not have to pay taxes.
The other cabinet elders, such as Xie Qian and Xu Jie, had similar situations at home.
Wasn't letting them deal with it like cutting off their flesh?
Moreover, he was not only cutting off his flesh, but also cutting off the flesh of all the officials in the world.
That official of Da Ming's did not have dozens or hundreds of acres of land. If this touched their interests, then it would be going against the officials of the world!
He, Yang Yiqing, could give up his family's harvest of a few hundred acres of land, but would the other officials be willing?
Yang Yiqing was in a difficult position. At this moment, Zhang Ju Zheng, who had been quiet all this while, suddenly took a step forward and stood in front of Zhu Houjin.
"Your Majesty, I have a method that can increase Great Ming's tax by several times!”
"Oh? Please tell me, Minister Zhang. What is the method?”
A hint of a smile flashed across Zhu Houjin's eyes.
"Your Majesty, this is a whip technique!”
Zhang Juzheng stood in front of Zhu Houjin and said in a clear voice!
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