It is said that Emperor Zhao did a lot of fancy things, but in essence they could be divided into only a few categories.
First of all, not only the stamp tax, but also the Northern Expedition national debt, the sea flag, and the commercialization of royal qualifications are essentially exchanging credibility for money. The only difference is that the first two are the credibility of the entire court, and the last is the royal family's own name. The sea flag is a little more complicated. It is probably more than that. It is the common credibility of the court and the royal family.
However, it must be admitted that the stamp tax was designed extremely cleverly, and the commercialization of royal qualifications and sea flags was also a clever extension with a successful example, so there should be very little resistance.
As for the Northern Expedition national debt, it was implied in the topic, and the Ministry of Revenue put this matter on the agenda from the very beginning.
It is worth mentioning that with so many credit products, the share of pure government bonds can be further reduced to ensure that it is within a safe share.
Secondly, there is the maritime trading company.
This thing is obviously the result of the institutionalization and stabilization of the large fleet created by Zhang Jun and Zhang Boying... As for the maritime trade plan, it has already alarmed the entire Tokyo city, and it seems to be a response to this.
According to Emperor Zhao's explanation, not only maritime merchants, but also cargo owners, not only Zhang Boying, but even the royal family, the provincial governors representing the imperial court, and some high-ranking officials and dignitaries can all use their own names to enter and become the boss.
Then everyone discussed it together, reduced the company's resistance, and shared the money.
Doing so is definitely groundbreaking and has great benefits... because it can reduce risks and avoid internal friction caused by internal processes. In the past, cargo owners and maritime merchants had to bear all kinds of risks independently, so they should be happy to do so.
Apart from other things, why did so many sea merchants and cargo owners respond to Zhang Boying's appearance that day? This in itself speaks for itself.
However, to put it bluntly, this thing is essentially competing with the people for profits, and forcibly snatching the profits that originally belonged to normal commodity trade among the people into the hands of the court, the royal family, and the powerful.
However, the idea of profiting from one source has always been the fundamental guiding ideology of the court's finances. Coupled with the overall situation of the Northern Expedition, there is nothing to say.
Next, there is no need to say more about lottery.
The imperial court did not allow ordinary people to gamble privately, but they used the Northern Expedition as an excuse to do something like this... How should I put it? It was a way to make a profit.
There is also the excess land tax, which should have come from his own proposal back then, which is an improved variant of the tax levied on the rich... After all, agriculture is still the most important thing these days, and compared to saying who is a rich household without any reason and forcing people to pay taxes, levying additional land tax on large households with land exceeding a certain amount is of course the most feasible method.
Because the land is right there, it is difficult to hide.
Of course, even so, there are still corrupt officials and powerful people who will tamper with the land acquisition and land supply.
It can only be said that this is the most moderate of the proposed tax increases that are currently flying around after the court gazette published a request for opinions.
Finally, there is the auction of royal private property... This is more like something that Emperor Zhao would do.
In short, all in all, Emperor Zhao really did his best, but how embarrassed are his ministers?
"Officials,"
Li Guang hesitated for a moment, but still spoke seriously. "I think the seal tax, the Northern Expedition national debt, the sea flag, the auction of royal qualifications... are all very clever designs, and I admire them very much. However, the sea trade company is competing with the people for profits, and lottery is gambling after all, which is against morality. There is also the auction of royal private property, which is inevitably against the royal dignity. The additional land tax levied according to the land property will be manipulated by some corrupt officials... I think that since we have the first four, we can slow down the rest and see how the results are before making plans."
It would be strange if the government agreed!
Facing Li Xiantai who interrupted his thoughts, Minister Lin remained expressionless and sneered in his heart.
"It would be strange if I agreed to Li Qing!" Zhao Jiu shook his head. "The country's Northern Expedition is something we must do with all our strength. How can we make any other plans? Li Qing, please stop talking about competing with the people for profit and what kind of decorum... In front of the millions of people in Lianghe, the idea of competing with the people for profit is too ridiculous; in front of the Jingkang Shame, the royal family and the court's decorum are worthless! Moreover, the company system and lottery are also progressive, not just as simple as competing with the people for profit and losing decorum. As for the additional land tax for those with more than 500 acres, Li Qing, don't forget that I came up with these things because I didn't want to forcibly impose the Zi tax (existing property tax), and I also wanted to curb mergers... Since you are interested in this, why don't you think of a way for me to prevent these big landlords from transferring the newly added land tax to the tenants."
Li Guang sighed slightly and said no more.
Although Lin Jingmo didn't say anything, he sighed slightly in his heart.
In fact, it was not only Li Guang, a professional opponent, who raised questions. Minister Lin had guessed the mentality of many people present... Zhang Jun, Zhang Shuxiang, should be a little frustrated and uneasy, because he always claimed to be the confidant of the emperor. This time, he was indeed the one who presided over the preparations for the Northern Expedition and got a lot of attention. However, when it came to the most important financial work, many excellent plans emerged that had nothing to do with him.
At this time, Mr. Zhang, who first flattered a few words and then remained silent for a while, must be wondering, who is coming up with so many good ideas for the emperor?
Was he really summoned by the imperial court newspaper? Are the imperial court newspapers really that useful?
How could so many useful solutions come out so quickly after just one question? And each one of them was more ingenious than the one designed by my party?
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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