As Jiang Shuwan walked, she talked to Eunuch Su.
She brought up this topic to steer the conversation toward the old emperor's lack of money.
Sure enough, Eunuch Su fell for the trick.
"That's true. Who can blame the court for being short of money? His Majesty caused a huge famine during the war in the north. These noble ladies, on the other hand, have spare money to lend out at high interest rates. But don't worry, young mistress, the old Marquis is favored by the Emperor. His Majesty will certainly not blame the Marquis's family for this."
"That's good. But to be honest, I'm pretty useless. After all, the glass business is only thriving thanks to His Majesty. Otherwise, if others saw us making a fortune every day, they would definitely cause us trouble."
"His Majesty has been very supportive of the glass business, which has benefited the entire Donglai Street. For example, the shopkeepers are very efficient in collecting rent every month, without any delays. And this is my own business."
"I am deeply grateful for Your Majesty's great kindness, which I cannot repay. My heart is filled with unease!"
Seeing Jiang Shuwan pounding her chest and saying these words of remorse, Eunuch Su was deeply moved. "I never expected that a woman like you would have such a heart to serve the country. In fact, in this old servant's opinion, you are a woman who is just as capable as any man. Your role in His Majesty's life is no less important than that of the officials in the court."
As he spoke, Eunuch Su glanced at the two hundred thousand taels of silver being held by the young eunuch.
He thought for a moment and felt that it wasn't a secret that couldn't be told, so he whispered, "To be honest, young mistress, the heavens haven't been cooperating these past few years. The harvests haven't been very good, and we haven't been able to collect taxes from many fields."
"There's another war this year, and His Majesty is very worried. Recently, His Majesty has ordered the palace to cut expenses. The Empress and Consort Gao's monthly allowances have been reduced again and again. It's only because your family's young master's wife came up with a way to make ice that the ladies in the palace can't afford ice."
Are they really that poor?
No wonder the old emperor kept raising taxes even though the economy was bad.
Jiang Shuwan looked surprised. "I didn't expect that even the ladies are living in such poverty. I must be even more worried. To be honest, I am able to live in such a respectable state thanks to His Majesty's magnanimity. After all, the current commercial tax is only one-thirtieth of the total tax. Such a low tax rate could actually be raised."
"..."
Add a commercial tax?
Eunuch Su stumbled and swayed as he boarded the carriage.
Jiang Shuwan stood there until he left before getting into her carriage.
Qingxing hurriedly asked, "Miss, why are you suddenly adding tariffs? We're in business; isn't this just throwing money out of our own pockets?"
Brother Nai nodded in agreement, "Not only that, but it will probably offend other merchants as well. This move is a thankless task."
Jiang Shuwan smiled slightly, "Do you still remember the beggars we met on our way here? They used to be commoners with land and fields. If they hadn't been separated from their wives and children and were starving to death, why would they have broken the curfew just for a bite to eat?"
"This world ultimately belongs to all the people."
"No matter when or where, we can all have a good life only when the overall environment is peaceful."
"You've all seen the people who came to seek refuge in the manor. This is only the end of summer. If taxes are really increased, I'm afraid even more people will be displaced by autumn and winter."
"If there are starving people for miles around, would you still be able to eat meat?"
Jiang Shuwan's words immediately silenced Qingxing and Brother Nai.
Both Qingxing and Naige were so poor that they sold themselves into slavery.
Born into a world of poverty, they naturally have a deeper understanding of poverty and, compared to those born into a life of luxury, understand how important food is to them.
If it were truly as Jiang Shuwan described, with countless people starving to death, they really wouldn't be able to eat meat.
Seeing that they had changed their attitude, Jiang Shuwan smiled slightly.
The previous dynasty rebelled because the people couldn't afford to eat, and the people were suffering so much that the Li imperial family was able to seize the throne.
In the previous life, the old emperor's tax increase did not cause a large-scale popular uprising, but there were still many cases of poor people robbing grain throughout the Great Jing Dynasty, resulting in more than a thousand deaths and injuries across the country.
Behind these thousand people are their wives and daughters, whose lives have been made even more difficult by their deaths and injuries.
Land taxes must not be increased under any circumstances.
In her previous life, even though she was in charge of the small area of the Earl's mansion, she still encountered people robbing her grain.
This time, she was in charge of the Marquis's residence, which had more properties than the Earl's residence.
She has a large private business and many estates. When starving people come to her door, does she want to face the same dilemma as in her previous life?
The starving people looted for food, and then her people, in order to protect her property, injured the starving people and broke one of their legs.
She didn't want to experience that again.
Besides, she now owns four food streets, various properties, rental income from Donglai Street, and the glass workshop business.
She has so much wealth that she could never spend it all in ten lifetimes.
For her, money was just a number on a balance sheet.
In the era of imperial power, wealth was like a rootless floating object; only power could guarantee one's future.
and.
Pei Yanzhi is getting closer and closer to Liu Yunyan. Who knows, Liu Yunyan might enter the family one day. Pei Yanzhi seems sober now, but who knows, as time goes on, he might be influenced by her pillow talk.
Then she...
The Great Leader was right after all: might makes right.
Now that she had gotten in touch with the old emperor, she naturally wanted to take advantage of the situation to gain more benefits in order to protect herself and her family.
After all, these past two years have been anything but peaceful, especially next year, which will be a time of rampant killing, with high-ranking officials of the court lining up to lose their heads.
In the previous life, the Earl's Mansion was perfectly fine. After all, the Earl's Mansion only had a tiny bit of power, and the eldest son and the crown prince were too lazy to bother with it.
But this life is different. In this life, the old lady is not dead, the old marquis holds the imperial guards, and Pei Yanzhi is going to take the imperial examination again.
Good boy.
If she were Empress Gao, in order to get the Imperial Guards, she would have to start with Pei Yan if not with the old Marquis.
She's also a sitting duck...
You only have one life, so you have to plan ahead.
When you do the math, exchanging money for rights is an incredibly worthwhile deal.
As for what other merchants think?
She really couldn't control that, since the 30% tax rate was inherently illogical.
In addition, these merchants secretly gave bribes to some officials, and some even did not pay taxes.
She never evaded taxes when she ran her company before.
Let's start by reforming the tax rates in Dajing.
With a plan in mind, Jiang Shuwan settled comfortably in the carriage.
If we can get the commercial tax system implemented through her, thus relieving the old emperor's predicament, at least a title is guaranteed.
Pei Yanzhi hadn't even inherited the title yet, but she already had one. She'd inadvertently risen above the minor powerful ministers, hahaha...
“But, Miss, will Eunuch Su tell His Majesty what you said today? Eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in politics. It’s very risky for him to say these things.”
"He will tell."
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