"What are the specific methods?"
“It’s very simple.”
Zhao Jun said, "For example, we could increase the amount of taxes and levies we collect from the public, abolish a large number of taxes and levies, such as the transfer fee, the foot fee, the exchange fee, and the head fee. We should also try to reduce the agricultural tax rate and increase the tax rate for large landowners and the wealthy class."
"In that case, wouldn't the imperial court have to pay a lot less taxes?"
Shengdu frowned.
"It's just a reduction in the agricultural tax rate. Do you know how much the Southern Song tax rate was?"
Zhao Jun asked back.
Everyone shook their heads. In the past, most people asked about the Northern Song Dynasty and less about the Southern Song Dynasty, so they had never heard him talk about it in detail.
"It's higher than that of the Northern Song Dynasty, generally exceeding 100 million guan."
Zhao Jun raised a finger and said, "The Southern Song Dynasty only had half of its territory and had lost a large area of land north of Huainan and Sichuan Prefecture, but its tax revenue was still higher than that of the Northern Song Dynasty. In fact, it is obvious that there is a problem."
Yan Shu was surprised and asked, "Why is this happening?"
“Because of the commercial tax.”
Zhao Jun explained, "After the Southern Song dynasty retreated to the south, it vigorously developed trade to alleviate financial pressures. Through the Maritime Silk Road and Yunnan's ancient Tea-Horse Road, goods were exported to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, and even Europe. Even during the standoff with the Jin dynasty, the market remained open, allowing for mutual trade and mutual benefit. This led to an economy even more vibrant than that of the Northern Song dynasty, with commercial taxes reaching as high as 80%."
"Can you collect 80 million strings of cash just from commercial taxes?"
Everyone was shocked.
"more than."
Zhao Jun said: "The Southern Song Dynasty's annual fiscal revenue peaked at 160 million guan (approximately 160 million guan), and commercial taxes peaked at 85%. This shows that industrial and commercial taxes had essentially replaced agricultural taxes and became the mainstay of taxation in the Southern Song Dynasty."
"Do you mean that the Song Dynasty should focus on developing commerce?"
Lu Yijian asked.
In fact, the Northern Song Dynasty also vigorously developed industry and commerce, but it did not develop it with the whole country's strength like the Southern Song Dynasty.
After all, the traditional idea in ancient times was to emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce. Therefore, during the Northern Song Dynasty, a balance was maintained between agricultural taxes and commercial taxes. It was not until the late Northern Song Dynasty that commercial taxes completely surpassed agricultural taxes, reaching 60%-70%.
"It's not full force, but there is a degree of tension."
Zhao Jun said, "We should focus on large enterprises and let go of small ones, promote them flexibly, and actively expand overseas to increase import and export quotas. I believe that the Song Dynasty's external commerce can develop in four directions."
"Which four?"
"The first is from Guangzhou to Central Asia and Southeast Asia, the second is from Qingtang to Central Asia, the third is from Zhejiang and Shandong to Guangzhou, Japan and Korea, and the fourth is from Chengdu to Dali and Southeast Asia."
Zhao Jun pointed out: "These two land Silk Roads and two maritime Silk Roads would surely bring a steady stream of tax revenue to the Song Dynasty. Especially with the influx of Japanese silver, the Song Dynasty's cash shortage would be alleviated, and the extra copper could be used to manufacture artillery and strengthen its military capabilities."
He continued, "In addition, expanding foreign trade will stimulate economic growth domestically, reduce agricultural taxes, develop commerce, and definitely increase tax revenue. It will also promote industrial development, which is a good thing for the lower-class people of the Song Dynasty."
"Hmm"
Everyone nodded slightly, it sounded good.
Yan Shu asked, "I remember you said that the Yongzheng Reforms also included the equalization of land tax and levies. Why wasn't that implemented?"
"Because the time is not right yet and productivity has not reached the standard, allocating taxes to each acre is self-destructive."
Zhao Jun looked around at everyone and said, "The suggestions I've made are basically things that can be accomplished in the Song Dynasty. These things might not be possible in the Ming Dynasty, but they should be achievable in the Song Dynasty. As for the rest of the things that cannot be accomplished, we can only talk about them later."
He was referring to the policy of returning the remaining expenditures to the public, abolishing a large number of exorbitant taxes, reducing the agricultural tax rate, and raising the tax rate for large landowners and the wealthy class.
Although these policies did not work in the Ming Dynasty, it was different in the Song Dynasty.
The heavy taxes and levies imposed by the Song Dynasty not only forced the peasants to rebel, but also forced a large number of landlords to rebel.
It’s not that these landlords wanted to rebel, but the Song Dynasty’s taxation didn’t matter who you were. Even if the family members of officials were doing business, they had to pay taxes, which was comparable to the IRS in the United States in later generations.
What about Juren, Jinshi and officials who are exempt from tax?
Does not exist.
Those were all things that the Ming Dynasty scholars and officials did to deceive the Ming Dynasty emperor.
In our great Song Dynasty, there are only three things that cannot be escaped: one is performing labor service, two is death, and three is paying taxes.
The wealthy class could avoid corvée labor by spending money, but they could not avoid paying taxes by spending money. That was why the Song Dynasty was so wealthy. It was a typical case of squeezing the land to fatten the imperial court, which then spent the money on redundant activities to survive.
Therefore, the reforms proposed by Zhao Jun were completely feasible in the Song Dynasty.
That is, to reduce the burden on farmers by abolishing a large number of exorbitant taxes and levies, and then expand trade abroad, and continue to exploit large landowners and particularly wealthy people to make up for the reduction in tax revenue brought about by the abolition of exorbitant taxes and levies at the bottom.
As for the distribution of land tax and so on.
It's a bit difficult.
The policy is definitely a good policy, but once it is implemented, the population will inevitably experience explosive growth.
Whether people admit it or not, the population of the Qing Dynasty reached 400 million. The equalization of land tax only played a driving role. The real decisive role was the introduction of high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes, which were able to feed such a large population.
Otherwise, in the case of severe food shortage, if the head tax is no longer levied on the land, it will inevitably lead to insufficient productivity and an increased population, making famine very likely to occur.
Therefore, it is not appropriate to distribute the tax based on the amount of land used, at least for now.
In addition to these more common policies, Zhao Jun also made some adjustments and policies that he researched himself.
From agriculture to economy to local institutional reform, he has his own ideas.
There are just too many things to mention, so for now I will just talk about some strategies that are easier to understand, relatively conservative, less radical, and easier to implement in the feudal society of the Song Dynasty.
(End of this chapter)
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