Chapter 1839: Strike (Part 3)
Seeing the confused looks on the faces of the teenagers, the prince couldn't help but shook his head, thinking that they were young after all and still had very wild ideas.
The first thing that came to Manbao’s mind was, is it possible that the idea they had racked their brains for a month was of no use?
Not to mention her, even Bai Shan was deeply shocked, her eyes almost red. "So the method of prohibiting officials' immediate family members from doing business within their jurisdiction is no longer applicable?"
The prince raised his eyebrows upon hearing this and asked, "Who came up with this idea?"
Bai Shan said aggrievedly, "The three of us just figured it out randomly."
Seeing how frustrated they were, the prince couldn't help but ask with a smile, "It took a lot of effort, didn't it?"
Bai Shan didn't want to show weakness, so he said, "It's not very difficult."
Seeing his insincere tone, the Crown Prince smiled and said, "This method sounds good and may be somewhat effective. However, aren't you officials yourselves? I remember your family has quite a bit of property, right?"
Why are you so desperate to come up with such a way to embarrass yourself?
Bai Shan said as a matter of course: "Because this is best for the people and the court."
The prince raised an eyebrow and looked at him. After a moment, he turned to look at Zhou Man and suddenly laughed and said, "I remember now. Minister Zhuang is your teacher?"
The three of them nodded together.
The prince smiled and said, "You and your teacher are a bit similar."
The three of them were delighted when they saw the prince's smiling face, and waited excitedly for his comments.
Bai Shanxiang: Is it wisdom?
Manbao thought: It must be wisdom, right?
Bai Erlang listed all the people in his mind: who was beautiful and kind, who was smart and wise...
The prince thought to himself: How naive.
However, he didn't say it out loud. Instead, he nodded to the three of them and asked, "Besides this method, what other solutions have you come up with?"
Bai Shan spoke on behalf of the three people, "It would be best to stipulate that relatives within three generations can be exempted, and the limit for the wife's family can be relaxed to two generations. In addition, the Ministry of Revenue should also strictly assess taxes to reduce tax evasion and tax avoidance. This will at least curb the behavior of some officials engaging in commerce."
The prince asked, "How do we determine this?"
He looked at Liu Huan, who was sitting next to him, and asked with a smile, "Are you counting on the Minister of Revenue? Ask Liu Huan if his grandfather would offend the entire court for a few taxes."
Bai Shan said: "It's not necessary to offend all the civil and military officials in the court, for someone like Lord Wei..."
"Wei Zhi is a special case," the Crown Prince interrupted him directly. "Among all the civil and military officials in the court, apart from Wei Zhi who actually rents out his own shop and collects rent, who else really lives on rent and salary?"
"You've been in and out of many noble houses, right?"
Manbao Baishan and Bai Erlang nodded together.
"Have you ever seen a family like the Wei family?"
The three of them were speechless.
Not to mention the Duke's Mansion, besides the Yang and Shu families, there is also the Yin or Huo family, which are also marquis' mansions like Wei Zhi.
The Yang family is still a big family, and the Wei family and the Yin family cannot compare with it, but in terms of family background, the Wei family and the Yin family should be similar.
"Wei Zhi lives in a small three-story house, and his wife and daughter have to cook. What other mansion is like his?" The prince looked at Chang Yu and said, "Your marriage with Wei Yu is about to be finalized. You should know all this, right?"
Changyu lowered his head.
Of course she knew it, and it was precisely because of this that she planned to live in the princess's mansion in the future. She could not rely on her husband's family to cover the expenses of the princess's mansion, and had to maintain it herself, so she thought about making some money-making investments.
But her little plan actually led to this meeting. That was not a big deal, but she even attracted the Crown Prince, who then ate the steamed meat that she had been longing for for a long time.
Changyu savored the piece of meat he had just eaten, feeling unsatisfied and wanting to eat more.
The prince had no idea what she was thinking. Seeing her lower her head, he assumed she was unhappy with the marriage, so he simply stopped prodding her. Instead, he turned to Bai Shan and said, "Even if the Ministry of Revenue is willing, it's powerless. Many things can't be taken too seriously. For example, if a resident merchant brings a bushel of pearls into the city, he'll be taxed 10%, while a non-resident merchant will be taxed 30%. "
Seeing that they were listening intently, the prince gave them a sly smile and asked, "What if one of my retainers brought pearls into the city, claiming they were a gift to me, not something to be bought or sold? How would your city gate officials and the Ministry of Revenue handle this?"
Not only Manbao and Baishan Baijilang, but even Mingda and Princess Changyu opened their mouths wide.
Only the knowledgeable Yin Huo and Liu Huan looked indifferent, thinking that this was common sense.
Manbao swallowed his saliva and asked in disbelief: "You can still do this?"
The prince said, "Of course, not only my followers would do that, but also the officials and the wealthy families themselves, their relatives and servants would do the same."
Since they are their own things and luggage, how can the city gate officials and the Ministry of Revenue collect taxes?
Even the most picky person can't keep staring at other people's things.
Most of the valuables would be transported back to the house, and then the owners would slowly look for opportunities to sell them, or give them away, or barter them with others. The Ministry of Revenue had no control over these things.
Manbao was stunned. A distant memory from her childhood had accidentally been brought back to her. "I remember now. When Second Sister Fu left Luojiang County with County Magistrate Fu, she brought a lot of local specialties with her. I think someone mentioned that County Magistrate Fu couldn't return to Beijing empty-handed, so he planned to bring some local specialties with him. Even if he couldn't give them away, he could still sell them to earn some money for his journey."
The prince nodded, but in his heart he felt that the county magistrate surnamed Fu was too petty, as he was only thinking about making money for the journey.
Bai Shan murmured, "No wonder after we handed in our homework, the teacher only said that we had good intentions, but we weren't thorough enough or reasonable enough, and asked us to think about it more..."
The prince smiled and said, "Then you should continue to think about it."
But he felt it was difficult to make any improvements. After all, who doesn't like money?
Bai Shan also said: "Profits are the most moving thing in people's hearts. There is a book that says that profits can arouse people's greed. As long as the profits are great enough, they will not only trample on morality, but also on the law, even if it means sacrificing their lives."
Manbao said weakly: "I dare not, I am afraid of death."
No matter how much money you have, you still have to live to spend it. Manbao turned around and said to Bai Shan, "Don't be corrupt in the future. I don't want my house to be raided. In fact, as long as I have enough money to spend, it's fine."
Bai Shan nodded and said, "Don't worry, unless you are wrongly accused, I will not let you be confiscated with me."
Everyone: ...
Taizi Ya felt a pang of sadness, and he didn't bother to pay attention to their innocent words and thoughts. He stood up and said, "Let's play until dark and then go home. You are still so young, don't think too much about these things."
After saying that, he turned and left.
Everyone quickly stood up and bowed to see him off. After the prince disappeared, everyone turned around to look at the two empty bowls on the table. Manbao sighed.
Changyu sighed even louder than hers. She had only eaten one piece, just one piece!
The prince went straight back to have dinner with the princess.
The Crown Princess was indeed waiting for the Crown Prince. It was dinner time, and since the Crown Prince had returned and hadn't asked her to eat first, she naturally had to wait for him.
When she saw him, the Crown Princess asked with a smile, "Your Highness, why did you want to eat steamed meat today?"
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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