Xiao Che's spirited words, "I will support my own merchants and compete with them for business," echoed in the empty imperial study, demonstrating that this young emperor had found the key to breaking the deadlock from Lin Wanwan's theory of "macroeconomic control."
At this moment, he was filled with excitement, just like a martial artist who had found a peerless sword manual, eager to rush out and fight the evil dragon that had been entrenched for many years for three hundred rounds.
However, seeing his eager expression, Lin Wanwan did not immediately agree. Instead, her smile faded and her expression became serious again.
She gently shook her head, her voice clear and cold yet incredibly distinct, and said, "Your Majesty, supporting our own merchants to 'increase revenue' is certainly important. But that only solves half the problem. Before we fill the pool with water, we must first plug the bigger hole at the bottom."
"A hole?" Xiao Che's excitement was interrupted. He frowned slightly and looked at her in confusion. "What hole?"
Lin Wanwan didn't speak, but simply pointed to the mountain of account books from the Ministry of Revenue.
Her gaze was calm and profound, as if it could penetrate those yellowed pages and reveal the enormous, bleeding wound hidden behind them on the body of the empire.
“Your Majesty, we have just solved the problem of ‘monopoly’, but there is another, even more fatal, loophole hidden in the books—our Great Liang’s tax system is rotten to the core.”
These words shocked Xiao Che even more than the previous "macroeconomic control".
Taxes are the cornerstone of a nation, the lifeblood that sustains the entire empire. Lin Wanwan actually said that the very foundation of this lifeblood has rotted?
"What do you mean?" Xiao Che's expression instantly became extremely serious. He knew that Wanwan never spoke empty words.
Lin Wanwan walked to the pile of account books. This time, she didn't touch the records of the salt and iron monopoly. Instead, she pulled out a few of the most basic yellow registers about the land and population of various prefectures and the corresponding tax records.
She spread out several booklets in front of Xiao Che and began to dissect the deepest flaws of this vast empire in a calm voice.
"Your Majesty, please take a look. Our dynasty's tax system, inherited from the previous dynasty, is mainly divided into two parts: the poll tax and the land tax. It seems simple and clear, but in reality, it is full of problems."
Her finger touched the rows of densely packed names on the yellow book.
"The poll tax is levied per capita. For every additional member in a household, an additional tax must be paid. What a heavy burden this is for ordinary people, especially for farming families with many children! In good times, they can barely manage, but in years of disaster, they are forced to sell their children, their families are destroyed, and death can occur in an instant. If people cannot survive, they will become refugees, or even rise up in rebellion. How can Your Majesty's empire remain stable?"
Xiao Che's face darkened. He was well aware of the drawbacks of poll taxes; throughout history, there were numerous instances of popular uprisings caused by poll taxes.
Lin Wanwan didn't pause; her finger moved back to the field record.
"Furthermore, regarding land tax, it is only right to pay taxes based on the amount of land owned. However, the land tax in our dynasty is simply too heavy! So heavy that many self-cultivating farmers, after a year of hard work, cannot even make ends meet after paying taxes. To survive, they are forced to sell their land and become tenant farmers under the patronage of gentry and powerful figures who enjoy tax exemptions or reductions. As a result, the country's tax base is constantly being eroded, while the land in the hands of the powerful and wealthy is increasing, the gap between rich and poor is widening, and the foundation of the nation is being shaken inch by inch!"
Her words, like a sharp scalpel, precisely sliced open the festering wound beneath the empire's magnificent robes, causing Xiao Che's heart to ache in waves.
Looking at those cold numbers, he seemed to see the faces of countless people struggling and groaning under oppressive rule.
“And what’s most unfair is,” Lin Wanwan’s voice suddenly turned cold, “that while poor people have to pay more taxes for having an extra child, or be heavily taxed for cultivating an extra acre of wasteland, the real powerful and wealthy people of our Great Liang have countless ways to ‘legally’ evade taxes!”
She sneered, her tone full of sarcasm: "They register their land under the names of their clansmen with official titles, thus exempting them from taxes; they use complex commercial contracts to convert huge commercial profits into part of their land holdings, paying only a very low agricultural tax; and what's more, the salt and iron merchants controlled by the Regent's faction pay only a drop in the ocean compared to their staggering profits! Is this fair?"
“If a country’s tax system fails to ‘take from the surplus and give to the deficiency’ and instead ‘robs the poor to enrich the rich,’ then that country is not far from disintegration.”
Lin Wanwan's last words struck Xiao Che's heart like a heavy hammer, turning his face instantly deathly pale.
Yes, it's fair!
As an emperor, he claimed to be working for the well-being of all people, but the tax system under his rule was driving the poor to their deaths while allowing the rich to get richer!
The imperial study was deathly silent, with only the occasional sound of wind coming from outside the window, which made it seem particularly desolate.
Xiao Che looked at Lin Wanwan, his eyes filled with pain and struggle: "Then... in your opinion, what should be done?"
He knew that the tax system, which had been in place for over a thousand years, was backed by a complex web of vested interests that were a hundred or even a thousand times more intricate than the salt and iron monopolies. To try to shake it would be tantamount to making an enemy of the entire gentry class.
Meeting his heavy gaze, Lin Wanwan slowly uttered four words. Those four words would become the cornerstone of a great transformation that would sweep across the entire Liang Dynasty in the years to come.
"Integrated grain collection".
"One-stop grain transport?" Xiao Che repeated this brand-new concept.
“Yes,” Lin Wanwan said decisively. “Abolish all the complicated and chaotic poll tax, land tax, and other exorbitant taxes, and unify the tax system. There is only one core principle—regardless of status, whether royalty or commoners, as long as one owns land and assets on this land, one must pay taxes to the state in the same proportion!”
This concept is simple and direct, yet it is full of disruptive power!
It completely shattered the tax privileges based on "status" that had existed for thousands of years, and established an unprecedented fair tax system based on "assets"!
Xiao Che was utterly shocked by this audacious idea.
But Lin Wanwan's "economics lesson" was not over yet. She knew that simply being fair was not enough; she had to point out a broad road to true prosperity for this emperor.
"Your Majesty, having resolved the issue of fairness, we must now address the issue of efficiency," she continued. "Our dynasty has historically prioritized agriculture over commerce, considering it a lowly skill. This is a grave mistake! Agriculture can ensure national stability, but it is commerce that truly makes a nation prosperous and powerful!"
"In the future, the bulk of the national tax revenue should no longer come from the meager land tax levied on our peasant brothers, but from the 'commercial tax' collected from thriving commercial activities! We should not only refrain from suppressing commerce, but also vigorously support it, establish reasonable tax rates, and encourage trade. Only when the commerce of the entire empire flows like a pool of living water can we obtain a continuous and inexhaustible source of wealth!"
From the fair concept of "collecting taxes as one" to the idea of "mercantilism" for national prosperity, Lin Wan-wan used her knowledge and vision that were ahead of her time to depict for Xiao Che a picture of what a country should look like, one that he had never imagined.
It was an ideal country where farmers lived in peace and contentment, merchants traded goods far and wide, the national taxation was fair and efficient, the national treasury was full, and all people were prosperous.
After listening, Xiao Che remained silent for a long time.
His tall figure sat on the dragon throne, yet it seemed to bear an immense weight. He looked at Lin Wanwan before him, her exquisite face radiating the brilliance of wisdom and ideals—so dazzling, yet so…awe-inspiring.
He knew that every word she uttered was heavier than Mount Tai.
Everything she said was right; every sentence hit the nail on the head, and every word pointed to the future.
But he also knew how terrifying the obstacles he would face in order to achieve all this.
"Macroeconomic regulation" aims to break down the interest groups that the regent has cultivated for many years.
The "unified tax payment" policy was intended to challenge the deeply entrenched privileges of the gentry class throughout the empire.
Mercantilism aims to challenge the traditional concept of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce" that has existed for thousands of years.
Any one of these reforms would be enough to cause a huge uproar in the court. And yet, she wanted to accomplish all three in one fell swoop!
This is not a reform, it is a war! A war against the entire old world, a war without gunpowder but extremely brutal!
He looked at her, his eyes filled with an unprecedentedly complex mix of emotions: shock, admiration, worry, and even a deep tenderness that he himself was unaware of.
After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded, each word sounding incredibly heavy:
"Wanwan, do you know how difficult it was to achieve all of this?"
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