Old Zhu smiled and pointed at Little Zhu, naturally understanding Little Zhu's thoughts. It was true that they were giving 'work' to members of the imperial clan, but such work wasn't particularly sensitive, and it was difficult to gain real power. Most importantly, those positions were basically not hereditary.
“Speaking of which, Yin’er is just like us.” Zhu Yunying chuckled as he recounted a funny story. “When we were young, we didn’t hide our desire for power, and Yin’er enjoys it just as much. Grandfather has seen it too; he’s been even more enthusiastic about it than we have these past few days.”
"Even after he came back, he's still busy, dragging us around wanting to practice with him." Old Zhu said with a smile, "This little thing is becoming more and more aware of his noble status."
This is absolutely true; Little Zhu was truly aware of his special status. In the matter of being conferred the title of Prince, Little Zhu was even more enthusiastic and proactive than Old Zhu and Little Zhu.
For Zhu Yunying, bestowing titles of princes was simply something an emperor should do.
He was not only the emperor and father of the Ming Dynasty's people, but also the patriarch of the Zhu family. Governing the country and caring for the people were, of course, things an emperor should do. However, Zhu Yunying also needed to pay attention to the Zhu family's descendants, as they were also his family members.
However, Joo Yun-young knew very well that he still had a lot to do, and the end of the year was fast approaching. For Joo Yun-young, this was the time to get really busy, because it basically meant the autumn harvest was over.
Zhu Yunying was always very concerned about issues such as taxation. This was not just a simple matter of national finances, but mainly stemmed from Zhu Yunying's dissatisfaction with the Two-Tax System. He was now thinking about changing the tax system of the Ming Dynasty.
"Grandfather, although we are thinking of merging the poll tax into the land tax and unifying the poll tax," Zhu Yunying said earnestly to the old Zhu, "we have read the history books, and in all dynasties, the poll tax was basically the only one. This is not good. Many people who do not have land or have little land have a heavy burden on them."
Old Zhu nodded slightly. In fact, Old Zhu was also very clear about the taxation of the Ming Dynasty.
“That’s true. There are many things that annoy us these days,” Old Zhu said. “The Ding silver is a tax levied by the imperial court, but we also know that some local officials collect the Ding silver along with the four taxes such as Lijia and Junyao, and not only do they not hand it over, but most of it ends up in their own pockets. This annoys us.”
Zhu Yunying nodded and said, "That's what we're thinking too. From now on, we'll only focus on the land, not the people. We'll determine the amount of tax based on the amount of land. Those with more land will pay more, those with less land will pay less, and those with no land will pay nothing. This way, the burden on the poor will be lighter. It's just that those officials and gentry probably won't be happy to see this, since they have so much land."
Looking at Zhu Yunying, Zhu Yunying continued, "Now that our royal family holds great power, we can implement this policy. We set the rules at the beginning of our dynasty, so we are not afraid that anyone will dare to change them too drastically in the future. Most importantly, if we implement it, even if some people want to cause trouble, they will not dare to make too much of a fuss. Our descendants will not dare to say that they will have such power."
The reason for saying this is simply that the "equalization of land tax and poll tax" policy eliminated countless cash cows for officials. For landlords, wealthy landowners, and corrupt officials, this meant far fewer opportunities to amass wealth, which clearly infringed upon their interests.
Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunying and simply asked, "If you do this, our Yellow Register will be wasted."
Zhu Yuanzhang could still see many problems, because once the poll tax was incorporated into the land tax, those landless or land-poor peasants would be freed from the burden of corvée labor and would no longer be forcibly bound to the land. Moreover, since the tax was levied on land, the imperial court would inevitably relax its control over household registration, increasing the number of freely mobile laborers.
Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely strict with the household registration system, essentially forbidding ordinary people from moving around freely. For the people of the Ming Dynasty, the idea of free migration was practically a pipe dream.
Zhu Yunying couldn't help but laugh. Some of his policies seemed to conflict with those of the founding emperor, Zhu Yunying, which was probably a situation that made people feel both amused and exasperated.
Even with some conflicts, what needs to be changed still needs to be changed!
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