\u003c/ins\u003e
"How is the Ministry of Revenue going to pay it back?"
Zhang Xueyan proposed to embezzle the silver from Changying Treasury. Wei Guangde did not express his opinion, but asked about it.
"this"
Now, Zhang Xueyan hesitated.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty's finances already had a concept similar to the budget of later generations. The situation for the coming year was estimated by the amount of various taxes collected in previous years, and then the total revenue figure was obtained.
As for expenditures, it is similar. The expenses for officials' salaries, large and small projects, etc. are all planned in advance.
Now this money about the "ship" has actually come out.
Although the court may gain huge profits from this in the next few years, no one can say for sure.
So, until now it can only be counted as an expense.
The Ministry of Revenue will definitely receive a lot of silver in the next two months, but the uses of this silver have already been planned.
To be honest, it is difficult to squeeze out the money to pay it back in a short period of time.
"Not yet?"
Seeing Zhang Xueyan hesitating, Wei Guangde asked.
"Mr. Wei, the Ministry of Revenue's income this year has already been allocated. In the short term, we can only squeeze out this money by cutting other expenses."
Zhang Xueyan didn't lie and spoke frankly.
The Ministry of Revenue has no money.
Wei Guangde understood it all at once. If he didn't break the original budget this year, he would have to wait for half a year to pay back the money, and would have to make up the difference in next year's fiscal budget.
Suddenly, the word "national debt" flashed in Wei Guangde's mind.
Government bonds can be issued in a targeted or non-targeted manner. For example, the loan to the Changying Treasury of Taibusi Temple can be understood as a short-term government bond, or a targeted government bond, except that the interest has never been discussed.
This is because, even when Yan Song was the Prime Minister and borrowed money from the Changying Treasury, he mostly borrowed it for a very short period of time, usually no longer than two months.
If the amount exceeds the limit, it is often because the tax money is delayed in being escorted to the capital.
Of course, this money actually had other uses, but Yan Song postponed them according to priorities.
As for non-directional, it is naturally to discover bonds to the public.
However, with the example of Shen Wansan in the Ming Dynasty, it is somewhat difficult to issue it.
However, Wei Guangde does not think this is difficult, as he can contact the merchants to take over.
A matter of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver is really not a big deal and is not difficult.
However, relying solely on the court's credibility may not be enough.
Fortunately, the imperial court has official land, so if the national debt is issued, the official land can be used as collateral.
The imperial court actually has a lot of government land.
However, most of these government fields were not rented directly to the people, but leased to local gentry, who then sublet them.
In this way, the right to use the official fields was separated from the ownership.
In fact, many of the lands traded between gentry were transactions in which there was no ownership but only the right to use.
"Will the Ministry of Revenue accept a certain amount of interest?"
At this time, Wei Guangde suddenly asked the question.
"Interest?"
When Zhang Xueyan heard this, he repeated it in disbelief, and even Jiang Zhi on the side widened his eyes.
They obviously didn't expect Wei Guangde to ask this.
"From your looks, the Ministry of Revenue won't be able to pay back the money in a short period of time, and you will definitely have to pay interest over time.
It was reasonable for the Ministry of Revenue to sign a contract with the Changyingku of the Imperial Household Department, agree on a repayment time, and then pay a little interest.
If it is just a short-term loan and can be returned within two months, then naturally you don't need these.
The court will issue a written document, but can the Ministry of Revenue pay back the money within two months?"
Now that the Ming Dynasty court still has the Changying Treasury, there is naturally no need to borrow from the private sector.
Wei Guangde would not simply issue treasury bonds in order to make money from the court, and the interest on such bonds would not be too high. It would only be possible if the interest rate was halved in accordance with the court's regulations on private interest.
The most important thing is that this can be a start. By allowing the Ministry of Revenue to borrow silver from the Changying Treasury, the silver in the Changying Treasury will have value. It will no longer be a dead object and can earn silver.
The money still circulated within the court, but was moved from the Ministry of Revenue to the Changying Treasury.
By doing this, the backlash from both the government and the opposition will not be so strong.
No one profited from it.
Borrowing money and paying interest is actually acceptable to everyone.
"If the budget is not changed this year, we may have to wait until early next year to make up for it."
Zhang Xueyan lowered his head and thought for a moment before answering.
"That's right, at least half a year, right?"
Wei Guangde smiled and said, "Just give Changyingku one cent of the interest."
As for this matter, the loan of 300,000 taels of silver might take only half a year, and 330,000 taels of silver would have to be repaid to Changyingku. Wei Guangde believed that he had given the best solution.
Zhang Xueyan and Jiang Zhi did not question Wei Guangde's suggestion. They knew that if the Ministry of Revenue moved the silver to Changying Treasury, there would not be much opposition from the government and the public, and it was reasonable and logical.
However, Zhang Xueyan, even Jiang Zhi, and everyone in the cabinet will be criticized by both the government and the public.
Yes, the Ming Dynasty court had to rely on loans to survive. It must be that the Ministry of Revenue did not do a good job, the Ministry of Works wasted the people's money, and the cabinet was not good at managing the country.
"Lord Wei, to be honest, during the time I have been in the Ministry of Revenue, I have also gained a detailed understanding of the Ministry's revenue and expenditure.
If we continue with normal expenditures as in previous years, we are confident that the Ministry of Revenue will have a surplus.
Although the Prime Minister and you have tried every means to increase fiscal revenue, many of them are still in the early stages and will not see any money in the short term."
Hearing Zhang Xueyan say this, Wei Guangde nodded slightly.
This is the current situation of the Ming Dynasty court. Although Zhang Juzheng has introduced some reform measures, the most important tool for increasing revenue - surveying land - has just begun.
Wei Guangde thought of turning silver ingots and broken silver into silver coins for circulation, from which the court could obtain a certain amount of minting income, which would actually go into the Ministry of Revenue, but it would also make up for the previous deficit and allow the court to have a surplus.
However, along with this, Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde began to stir up trouble in Liaodong and the southwest.
These are all expensive projects, especially the navy, which costs even more.
Fortunately, there is the Ministry of Works to support us. After the Ministry of Works’ money has been spent, they will turn to the Ministry of Revenue, so there is still a little buffer.
But in the end, this money will still go to the Ministry of Revenue, as the Ministry of Works' income is limited after all.
Even if the levy is increased, local governments can only increase taxation, which goes against Zhang and Wei's idea of reducing taxes for the people, so the cabinet is likely to pass it.
Wei Guangde was not new to officialdom, so he naturally understood what Zhang Xueyan meant.
But he didn't respond, just nodded slightly.
Seeing that Wei Guangde did not respond, Zhang Xueyan could only continue, "If the Ministry of Revenue wants to have a surplus, it must find new sources of income."
Zhang Xueyan also took the risk and spoke directly what was on his mind.
Zhang Juzheng just wanted the Ministry of Revenue to have a surplus and fill the Taicang warehouse, but if he couldn't find a new way to make money, the way they were spending money, the treasury would not be able to save any money.
"Does the Ministry of Revenue have any solution?"
This time, Wei Guangde spoke very directly, but threw the problem to the Ministry of Revenue, asking them to find a solution, and the cabinet was only responsible for making the final decision.
Zhang Xueyan looked up at Wei Guangde, seemingly shocked by his shamelessness.
It's what you did. If there weren't expenses in Liaodong and Southwest, both places would have saved a lot of money.
But when asked about the solution, they threw the problem to the Ministry of Revenue.
Zhang Xueyan glanced at Wei Guangde, then lowered his head, but Wei Guangde was staring at him.
He felt that Zhang Xueyan might have some ideas, but just didn't want to bring them up himself.
Push him a little first, maybe he will say it himself.
Sure enough, after a long silence, Zhang Xueyan seemed to muster up the courage to speak: "I have heard from the Prime Minister that Wei Gelao has plans to collect commercial taxes on goods through the pawnshop."
Jiang Zhi, who was standing next to him, was hearing this for the first time and was a little surprised, but he just looked at Wei Guangde and saw him shaking his head, so he didn't say anything and just listened quietly, acting as a bystander.
\u003c/ins\u003e
"Indeed, local yamen now collect yamen taxes. I have also considered strengthening the implementation of this law and increasing commercial taxes for the court, with part of it being retained by the locals and part being paid to the court."
Wei Guangde spoke.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, due to the depreciation of Baochao, the Taxation Bureau was short of personnel and funds, and the Taxation Bureau in the Jiangnan region was therefore largely cut and merged. The task of collecting commercial taxes by the Taxation Bureau began to be handled by merchants who were familiar with the local business conditions, and the commercial tax collection business of merchants began from then on.
During the Jiajing period, local governments reformed the collection of commercial taxes, and commercial taxes began to be shared equally by "brokers" and "sedentary merchants" in the form of "door-to-door tax collection."
The form of commercial tax collection for dental merchants also changed to annual contractor tax, which was paid to the government in the form of "tax package silver" on a quarterly basis.
However, because the commercial tax rate was set extremely low in the early Ming Dynasty, very little commercial tax was allocated to each place, so it was not included in the taxation. Instead, it was used as local revenue, and the tax silver from the pawnshops was directly controlled by local governments.
But Wei Guangde knew that commercial taxes were actually the bulk of fiscal revenue.
The industry and commerce of the Ming Dynasty today are no longer comparable to those in the early Ming Dynasty.
If the trade link can be successfully passed, that is, if sufficient commercial taxes can be collected at the brokerage level, the financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty will definitely increase dramatically.
However, to adopt this policy, the original system must first be changed so that this part of the revenue flows to the court, rather than being obtained by the local governments as in the current system.
Before this, the imperial court could only obtain revenue from the customs, but that was more of a toll and could not actually be considered a commercial tax.
Wei Guangde had the impression of later generations that the income of tax departments in later generations generally came from taxes levied on multiple links including production, circulation and consumption.
However, that was a time when productivity had developed to a certain level and industry and commerce were unprecedentedly prosperous.
With the productivity in this era, Wei Guangde believes that it is difficult to replicate the original taxation model.
Even if it is raised, there will be a lot of opposition.
After all, the ancestral system has restrictions on commercial taxes, and they can only be changed little by little.
Wei Guangde has no intention of levying taxes on both the production and consumption links, but the circulation link seems to be the easiest one to operate.
All that needs to be done is to adjust the pawnshops, and there are precedents. For example, the lijin introduced by Hu Zongxian was actually a commercial tax levied in the commodity circulation link.
"What did you discuss with the Prime Minister at that time?"
Wei Guangde asked casually.
Obviously, after he discussed the matter with Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Juzheng also took it to heart and discussed it privately with officials from their faction.
Now, Wei Guangde just wants to know what their final outcome will be.
“At the time, I felt that this was a big deal, but it was difficult to implement due to the ancestral system.
However, after taking over the Ministry of Revenue, I realized that if I did not add new sources of income to the court, the Ministry of Revenue’s finances would always be limited by this, and enriching the national treasury would be illusory.”
Zhang Xueyan spoke solemnly.
Hearing this, Wei Guangde nodded slightly.
Obviously, Zhang Xueyan's attitude at the time was rather negative, as he believed that it went against ancestral rules and was therefore not feasible.
However, after learning about the financial situation of the Ming Dynasty court, his attitude changed. He believed that reforms should be carried out and the collection of commercial taxes should be increased to supplement the increasingly depleted finances.
"The tax collection and contracting business of dental merchants must be changed. The Ministry of Revenue is familiar with this business, especially the dental merchants, which was actually the original job of the Ministry of Revenue.
Minister Zhang, when you go back, you should discuss this idea with your subordinates.
Once the Ministry of Revenue has made its plan, it can write a memorial and report it.”
Wei Guangde was very cunning and pushed the matter to the Ministry of Revenue, and they also submitted a report.
“In fact, the Cabinet and the Censorate have long been concerned about the problem of collusion between officials and businessmen in the allocation of tax collection contracts to merchants.
It’s just that because this part of the income is local, we can only instruct the local prosecutor to intervene in the investigation, but the results have not been very good. "
In fact, Gao Gong had paid attention to the yahang and the tax silver they earned.
After all, cracking down on corrupt officials and rectifying the administration of officials were the measures that Gao Gong insisted on.
Gao Gong naturally noticed that local officials were making profits by contracting out power to dental dealers.
However, when these matters were delegated to the local provincial censorates, the results were not satisfactory.
The dental merchants would bribe the local government, and naturally they would not forget important government offices such as the Censorate.
Everyone made money, and the court didn't mention anyone specifically, so naturally there was no progress.
In fact, he only learned about this matter after returning to the court and reading the documents left over from the Gao Gong period. He also began to pay attention to the industry of dental merchants, and then discovered that it seemed possible to collect commercial taxes through the intermediary link of dental merchants.
Unfortunately, Zhang Juzheng was eager to distance himself from Gao Gong in those two years, so the matter was shelved.
After all, if the policy was carried out by force, everyone would still hate Zhang Juzheng, but Gao Gong would be the one who would benefit in the end.
During those two years, Zhang Juzheng used many strategies to overthrow Gao Gong, and this one was not the only one.
The cabinet didn’t say anything, but the six ministries can bring it up again.
It would be easy to include the tooth tax in the tax system and have it collected by the court to increase the revenue of the Ministry of Revenue.
"If this can be implemented this year, the money in the Changying Treasury will be available."
It was Zhang Xueyan who took over the conversation.
Through Zhang Xueyan's statement, Wei Guangde actually had some guesses, that is, Zhang Juzheng was inclined to collect the silver, and Zhang Xueyan had a negative attitude at the time.
Otherwise, if Zhang Juzheng opposed it, how could he mention this matter?
"The Ministry of Revenue should prepare first. The Prime Minister will be back next month. When the petition is submitted, our cabinet will discuss and give an answer.
However, when the Ministry of Revenue discusses this policy, it must be kept strictly confidential. I will ask the Royal Guards to also pay attention to this matter."
The incident was caused by the Lantern Festival in the Inner Court, but the responsibility cannot fall on the Inner Court and must be resolved in the Imperial Court.
Raising taxes is undoubtedly a way to solve fiscal problems.
"Alas, I am afraid that if the tax is increased, the court's expenses will also increase."
Zhang Xueyan sighed, not feeling the slightest bit of joy at the increase in fiscal revenue. (End of this chapter)
\u003c/ins\u003e
"How is the Ministry of Revenue going to pay it back?"
Zhang Xueyan proposed to embezzle the silver from Changying Treasury. Wei Guangde did not express his opinion, but asked about it.
"this"
Now, Zhang Xueyan hesitated.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty's finances already had a concept similar to the budget of later generations. The situation for the coming year was estimated by the amount of various taxes collected in previous years, and then the total revenue figure was obtained.
As for expenditures, it is similar. The expenses for officials' salaries, large and small projects, etc. are all planned in advance.
Now this money about the "ship" has actually come out.
Although the court may gain huge profits from this in the next few years, no one can say for sure.
So, until now it can only be counted as an expense.
The Ministry of Revenue will definitely receive a lot of silver in the next two months, but the uses of this silver have already been planned.
To be honest, it is difficult to squeeze out the money to pay it back in a short period of time.
"Not yet?"
Seeing Zhang Xueyan hesitating, Wei Guangde asked.
"Mr. Wei, the Ministry of Revenue's income this year has already been allocated. In the short term, we can only squeeze out this money by cutting other expenses."
Zhang Xueyan didn't lie and spoke frankly.
The Ministry of Revenue has no money.
Wei Guangde understood it all at once. If he didn't break the original budget this year, he would have to wait for half a year to pay back the money, and would have to make up the difference in next year's fiscal budget.
Suddenly, the word "national debt" flashed in Wei Guangde's mind.
Government bonds can be issued in a targeted or non-targeted manner. For example, the loan to the Changying Treasury of Taibusi Temple can be understood as a short-term government bond, or a targeted government bond, except that the interest has never been discussed.
This is because, even when Yan Song was the Prime Minister and borrowed money from the Changying Treasury, he mostly borrowed it for a very short period of time, usually no longer than two months.
If the amount exceeds the limit, it is often because the tax money is delayed in being escorted to the capital.
Of course, this money actually had other uses, but Yan Song postponed them according to priorities.
As for non-directional, it is naturally to discover bonds to the public.
However, with the example of Shen Wansan in the Ming Dynasty, it is somewhat difficult to issue it.
However, Wei Guangde does not think this is difficult, as he can contact the merchants to take over.
A matter of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver is really not a big deal and is not difficult.
However, relying solely on the court's credibility may not be enough.
Fortunately, the imperial court has official land, so if the national debt is issued, the official land can be used as collateral.
The imperial court actually has a lot of government land.
However, most of these government fields were not rented directly to the people, but leased to local gentry, who then sublet them.
In this way, the right to use the official fields was separated from the ownership.
In fact, many of the lands traded between gentry were transactions in which there was no ownership but only the right to use.
"Will the Ministry of Revenue accept a certain amount of interest?"
At this time, Wei Guangde suddenly asked the question.
"Interest?"
When Zhang Xueyan heard this, he repeated it in disbelief, and even Jiang Zhi on the side widened his eyes.
They obviously didn't expect Wei Guangde to ask this.
"From your looks, the Ministry of Revenue won't be able to pay back the money in a short period of time, and you will definitely have to pay interest over time.
It was reasonable for the Ministry of Revenue to sign a contract with the Changyingku of the Imperial Household Department, agree on a repayment time, and then pay a little interest.
If it is just a short-term loan and can be returned within two months, then naturally you don't need these.
The court will issue a written document, but can the Ministry of Revenue pay back the money within two months?"
Now that the Ming Dynasty court still has the Changying Treasury, there is naturally no need to borrow from the private sector.
Wei Guangde would not simply issue treasury bonds in order to make money from the court, and the interest on such bonds would not be too high. It would only be possible if the interest rate was halved in accordance with the court's regulations on private interest.
The most important thing is that this can be a start. By allowing the Ministry of Revenue to borrow silver from the Changying Treasury, the silver in the Changying Treasury will have value. It will no longer be a dead object and can earn silver.
The money still circulated within the court, but was moved from the Ministry of Revenue to the Changying Treasury.
By doing this, the backlash from both the government and the opposition will not be so strong.
No one profited from it.
Borrowing money and paying interest is actually acceptable to everyone.
"If the budget is not changed this year, we may have to wait until early next year to make up for it."
Zhang Xueyan lowered his head and thought for a moment before answering.
"That's right, at least half a year, right?"
Wei Guangde smiled and said, "Just give Changyingku one cent of the interest."
As for this matter, the loan of 300,000 taels of silver might take only half a year, and 330,000 taels of silver would have to be repaid to Changyingku. Wei Guangde believed that he had given the best solution.
Zhang Xueyan and Jiang Zhi did not question Wei Guangde's suggestion. They knew that if the Ministry of Revenue moved the silver to Changying Treasury, there would not be much opposition from the government and the public, and it was reasonable and logical.
However, Zhang Xueyan, even Jiang Zhi, and everyone in the cabinet will be criticized by both the government and the public.
Yes, the Ming Dynasty court had to rely on loans to survive. It must be that the Ministry of Revenue did not do a good job, the Ministry of Works wasted the people's money, and the cabinet was not good at managing the country.
"Lord Wei, to be honest, during the time I have been in the Ministry of Revenue, I have also gained a detailed understanding of the Ministry's revenue and expenditure.
If we continue with normal expenditures as in previous years, we are confident that the Ministry of Revenue will have a surplus.
Although the Prime Minister and you have tried every means to increase fiscal revenue, many of them are still in the early stages and will not see any money in the short term."
Hearing Zhang Xueyan say this, Wei Guangde nodded slightly.
This is the current situation of the Ming Dynasty court. Although Zhang Juzheng has introduced some reform measures, the most important tool for increasing revenue - surveying land - has just begun.
Wei Guangde thought of turning silver ingots and broken silver into silver coins for circulation, from which the court could obtain a certain amount of minting income, which would actually go into the Ministry of Revenue, but it would also make up for the previous deficit and allow the court to have a surplus.
However, along with this, Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde began to stir up trouble in Liaodong and the southwest.
These are all expensive projects, especially the navy, which costs even more.
Fortunately, there is the Ministry of Works to support us. After the Ministry of Works’ money has been spent, they will turn to the Ministry of Revenue, so there is still a little buffer.
But in the end, this money will still go to the Ministry of Revenue, as the Ministry of Works' income is limited after all.
Even if the levy is increased, local governments can only increase taxation, which goes against Zhang and Wei's idea of reducing taxes for the people, so the cabinet is likely to pass it.
Wei Guangde was not new to officialdom, so he naturally understood what Zhang Xueyan meant.
But he didn't respond, just nodded slightly.
Seeing that Wei Guangde did not respond, Zhang Xueyan could only continue, "If the Ministry of Revenue wants to have a surplus, it must find new sources of income."
Zhang Xueyan also took the risk and spoke directly what was on his mind.
Zhang Juzheng just wanted the Ministry of Revenue to have a surplus and fill the Taicang warehouse, but if he couldn't find a new way to make money, the way they were spending money, the treasury would not be able to save any money.
"Does the Ministry of Revenue have any solution?"
This time, Wei Guangde spoke very directly, but threw the problem to the Ministry of Revenue, asking them to find a solution, and the cabinet was only responsible for making the final decision.
Zhang Xueyan looked up at Wei Guangde, seemingly shocked by his shamelessness.
It's what you did. If there weren't expenses in Liaodong and Southwest, both places would have saved a lot of money.
But when asked about the solution, they threw the problem to the Ministry of Revenue.
Zhang Xueyan glanced at Wei Guangde, then lowered his head, but Wei Guangde was staring at him.
He felt that Zhang Xueyan might have some ideas, but just didn't want to bring them up himself.
Push him a little first, maybe he will say it himself.
Sure enough, after a long silence, Zhang Xueyan seemed to muster up the courage to speak: "I have heard from the Prime Minister that Wei Gelao has plans to collect commercial taxes on goods through the pawnshop."
Jiang Zhi, who was standing next to him, was hearing this for the first time and was a little surprised, but he just looked at Wei Guangde and saw him shaking his head, so he didn't say anything and just listened quietly, acting as a bystander.
\u003c/ins\u003e
"Indeed, local yamen now collect yamen taxes. I have also considered strengthening the implementation of this law and increasing commercial taxes for the court, with part of it being retained by the locals and part being paid to the court."
Wei Guangde spoke.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, due to the depreciation of Baochao, the Taxation Bureau was short of personnel and funds, and the Taxation Bureau in the Jiangnan region was therefore largely cut and merged. The task of collecting commercial taxes by the Taxation Bureau began to be handled by merchants who were familiar with the local business conditions, and the commercial tax collection business of merchants began from then on.
During the Jiajing period, local governments reformed the collection of commercial taxes, and commercial taxes began to be shared equally by "brokers" and "sedentary merchants" in the form of "door-to-door tax collection."
The form of commercial tax collection for dental merchants also changed to annual contractor tax, which was paid to the government in the form of "tax package silver" on a quarterly basis.
However, because the commercial tax rate was set extremely low in the early Ming Dynasty, very little commercial tax was allocated to each place, so it was not included in the taxation. Instead, it was used as local revenue, and the tax silver from the pawnshops was directly controlled by local governments.
But Wei Guangde knew that commercial taxes were actually the bulk of fiscal revenue.
The industry and commerce of the Ming Dynasty today are no longer comparable to those in the early Ming Dynasty.
If the trade link can be successfully passed, that is, if sufficient commercial taxes can be collected at the brokerage level, the financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty will definitely increase dramatically.
However, to adopt this policy, the original system must first be changed so that this part of the revenue flows to the court, rather than being obtained by the local governments as in the current system.
Before this, the imperial court could only obtain revenue from the customs, but that was more of a toll and could not actually be considered a commercial tax.
Wei Guangde had the impression of later generations that the income of tax departments in later generations generally came from taxes levied on multiple links including production, circulation and consumption.
However, that was a time when productivity had developed to a certain level and industry and commerce were unprecedentedly prosperous.
With the productivity in this era, Wei Guangde believes that it is difficult to replicate the original taxation model.
Even if it is raised, there will be a lot of opposition.
After all, the ancestral system has restrictions on commercial taxes, and they can only be changed little by little.
Wei Guangde has no intention of levying taxes on both the production and consumption links, but the circulation link seems to be the easiest one to operate.
All that needs to be done is to adjust the pawnshops, and there are precedents. For example, the lijin introduced by Hu Zongxian was actually a commercial tax levied in the commodity circulation link.
"What did you discuss with the Prime Minister at that time?"
Wei Guangde asked casually.
Obviously, after he discussed the matter with Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Juzheng also took it to heart and discussed it privately with officials from their faction.
Now, Wei Guangde just wants to know what their final outcome will be.
“At the time, I felt that this was a big deal, but it was difficult to implement due to the ancestral system.
However, after taking over the Ministry of Revenue, I realized that if I did not add new sources of income to the court, the Ministry of Revenue’s finances would always be limited by this, and enriching the national treasury would be illusory.”
Zhang Xueyan spoke solemnly.
Hearing this, Wei Guangde nodded slightly.
Obviously, Zhang Xueyan's attitude at the time was rather negative, as he believed that it went against ancestral rules and was therefore not feasible.
However, after learning about the financial situation of the Ming Dynasty court, his attitude changed. He believed that reforms should be carried out and the collection of commercial taxes should be increased to supplement the increasingly depleted finances.
"The tax collection and contracting business of dental merchants must be changed. The Ministry of Revenue is familiar with this business, especially the dental merchants, which was actually the original job of the Ministry of Revenue.
Minister Zhang, when you go back, you should discuss this idea with your subordinates.
Once the Ministry of Revenue has made its plan, it can write a memorial and report it.”
Wei Guangde was very cunning and pushed the matter to the Ministry of Revenue, and they also submitted a report.
“In fact, the Cabinet and the Censorate have long been concerned about the problem of collusion between officials and businessmen in the allocation of tax collection contracts to merchants.
It’s just that because this part of the income is local, we can only instruct the local prosecutor to intervene in the investigation, but the results have not been very good. "
In fact, Gao Gong had paid attention to the yahang and the tax silver they earned.
After all, cracking down on corrupt officials and rectifying the administration of officials were the measures that Gao Gong insisted on.
Gao Gong naturally noticed that local officials were making profits by contracting out power to dental dealers.
However, when these matters were delegated to the local provincial censorates, the results were not satisfactory.
The dental merchants would bribe the local government, and naturally they would not forget important government offices such as the Censorate.
Everyone made money, and the court didn't mention anyone specifically, so naturally there was no progress.
In fact, he only learned about this matter after returning to the court and reading the documents left over from the Gao Gong period. He also began to pay attention to the industry of dental merchants, and then discovered that it seemed possible to collect commercial taxes through the intermediary link of dental merchants.
Unfortunately, Zhang Juzheng was eager to distance himself from Gao Gong in those two years, so the matter was shelved.
After all, if the policy was carried out by force, everyone would still hate Zhang Juzheng, but Gao Gong would be the one who would benefit in the end.
During those two years, Zhang Juzheng used many strategies to overthrow Gao Gong, and this one was not the only one.
The cabinet didn’t say anything, but the six ministries can bring it up again.
It would be easy to include the tooth tax in the tax system and have it collected by the court to increase the revenue of the Ministry of Revenue.
"If this can be implemented this year, the money in the Changying Treasury will be available."
It was Zhang Xueyan who took over the conversation.
Through Zhang Xueyan's statement, Wei Guangde actually had some guesses, that is, Zhang Juzheng was inclined to collect the silver, and Zhang Xueyan had a negative attitude at the time.
Otherwise, if Zhang Juzheng opposed it, how could he mention this matter?
"The Ministry of Revenue should prepare first. The Prime Minister will be back next month. When the petition is submitted, our cabinet will discuss and give an answer.
However, when the Ministry of Revenue discusses this policy, it must be kept strictly confidential. I will ask the Royal Guards to also pay attention to this matter."
The incident was caused by the Lantern Festival in the Inner Court, but the responsibility cannot fall on the Inner Court and must be resolved in the Imperial Court.
Raising taxes is undoubtedly a way to solve fiscal problems.
"Alas, I am afraid that if the tax is increased, the court's expenses will also increase."
Zhang Xueyan sighed, not feeling the slightest bit of joy at the increase in fiscal revenue. (End of this chapter)
\u003c/ins\u003e
