…

At this time, the second assistant to the cabinet, Gao Hongtu, a scholar of Wenhuadian University, also stood up:

"The country is in dire straits and the people are scarce, and the world is in urgent need of recuperation and recuperation, just as Shou Kui said. However, I believe that your Majesty should not only reassure the common people, but also the officials and scholars."

"If Your Majesty did not believe Gao Hongtu and Yang Sichang's slander, and Lu Xiangsheng died at the hands of Jian Nu, the rogue rebellion might not reappear again. Of course, if Your Majesty was not eager to pacify the captives and let Yuan Chonghuan kill Governor Mao, maybe Jian Nu would not easily enter

If plunder is eliminated, the world may still be able to achieve great order;

It's a pity that Your Majesty uses inhumane methods, is eager for success, and is unpredictable in kindness and power, so that the people of the world don't know how to repay Your Majesty, and Your Majesty doesn't know how to trust the people of the world. As a result, the monarchs and ministers have been separated for a long time, and the world's orthodoxy has been lost.

Therefore, in the opinion of the minister, since your majesty is temporarily visiting Nanjing today, you should be careful not to be impatient, not to kill ministers out of personal anger, not to listen to partial beliefs, and to make rewards and punishments clear. You should not just expect hundreds of officials, nor should you just

Seeking credit for oneself, when the monarch and his ministers are in harmony, work together to overcome difficulties, the case of Qian Qianyi's rebellion must not be ignored, nor should it be expanded wantonly, causing hundreds of officials to panic and have no intention of doing politics.

Your Majesty is the wise king of the world, and you will work hard to govern. The emperor will never let you down. As long as your Majesty is independent and trusts his ministers, why worry that our Ming Dynasty will not have people like Yue Fei and Han Shizhong!"

Gao Hongtu's intention was to appease the bureaucrats and gentry, and he naturally understood this.

At this time, Li Banghua, the grand scholar of Wuying Palace, also stood up: "The general meaning of what the two elders said before is that one is to appease the people's hearts, and the other is to calm the hearts of the officials, both of which are the top priorities at the moment;

But what I want to ask the two ministers is, since the taxes of the people need to be reduced and reduced, and the privileges of the officials need to be maintained, who should support the hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers in the Ming Dynasty?

Although Wu Sangui, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, etc. were all treacherous ministers and traitors without a king and a country, the officers and soldiers under their command tortured the people more than the thieves. The reason for this result, in my opinion, has something to do with the fact that the Ming Dynasty's army has always been short of pay. The lack of pay for the officers and soldiers only

They could collect grain, but the court had no money to allocate, so naturally it could not control the officers and soldiers with military discipline, so that the soldiers mutinied at every turn and the officers and soldiers became bandits.

Therefore, Wei Chen believes that the most urgent task is to figure out how to use the world's wealth to support the country's soldiers, so that the officers and soldiers will not have the desire to fight to the death, and the people will not have any love for the army;

Nowadays, most of the wealth in the world is concentrated in the hands of the officials, gentry, wealthy merchants and wealthy businessmen. Your Majesty may be able to appease them as Mr. Gao Ge said, but these officials, gentry, wealthy merchants and wealthy merchants who take advantage of the world should also pay taxes to support the imperial court.

The duty of an elite soldier!"

Li Banghua's question made the officials present not sure how to answer. Although they all knew the truth, they were unwilling to face the problem.

"At the beginning of the dynasty, the world was based on agriculture, so agricultural taxes were used to help the world. But now, the government and businessmen are integrated, and all the land has gone into the hands of the officials and gentry, and the officials and gentry do not pay taxes and gifts, so they only make more and more money.

The poorer and weaker the common people are, the more and more wealthy the officials and gentry are.

The wealth of the Ming Dynasty is so uneven, how can we not make the people rebel against the officialdom? Although I am also a member of the sluts who take advantage of the people and are harmful to the court, in order to make the country rich and have millions of elite soldiers to support, I am willing to ask your majesty

Put an end to the bad policy of officials and gentry not paying their dues over the years!

In order to carry out the policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing commerce, heavy taxes should be imposed on commerce and trade, so that people's livelihood can be recuperated."

Dongge University Scholar Ma Shiying stood up first and expressed his opinion.

The six ministries in charge of the government, officials from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Hanlin Academy, and other officials, as well as officials from the Department of Science and Education, all couldn't help but want to speak.

Wu Sheng, a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, said:

"Your Majesty, Weichen followed the prince to Hangzhou by sea this time and found that merchant ships gathered in Ningbo. Zheng Zhilong's treasure ships were numerous. Weichen once visited incognito and learned that the Zheng family's sea trade made a profit of tens of millions of taels at a time, and Ningbo, which cooperated with it,

The annual profits of tea merchants, porcelain merchants and silk merchants in Hangzhou, Quanzhou and other places are no less than one million taels!

However, although in our Ming Dynasty, there have been merchants and merchants trading on the sea since the Longwan switch, but the silver earned by weaving companies was only one hundred thousand, and all the profits of the world depended on the sea. In the past, the Southern Song Dynasty supported the people for a hundred years, but in our Ming Dynasty,

The sea area far exceeds that of the Southern Song Dynasty, so why not return the benefits of the four seas to the imperial court? This can explain the problem mentioned by Mr. Li Ge about who will support the millions of elite soldiers in the Ming Dynasty."

At this time, Zhang Shenyan, a scholar of Dongge University, also stood up: "Just now, all the elders in the cabinet have said that the world's decline is all caused by the officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants. I apologize that I don't agree with it. The reason why the people in the south are still there and there is no great chaos.

, all because the officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants support the people for the imperial court. If your majesty accepts the world's business to benefit the imperial court, you will definitely compete with the southern scholars and people for profit;

According to Wei Chen, instead of striving for the benefit of the world, it is better for the imperial court to work with the people of the world to make profits together. The reason why the profit of the Shihai Lisi is not as good as that of the maritime merchants is because the ministers are greedy and do not understand the rules. Your Majesty should replace the eunuchs who guard each place.

, it is beneficial to select civil servants to supervise the internal government, and the household department to manage the court's trade. In this way, the court and the people can be equally wealthy, and it can raise millions of elite soldiers without betraying the people's hearts."

Chongzhen listened quietly to the arguments of the officials, and Lin Yan did not interrupt, happy to watch the excitement.

The debate lasted all morning, and finally a consensus was reached with Chongzhen's consent and Ruoyouruowu's strength.

"Taxes are basically levied on three aspects: land, business, and personal income. How to levy personal income is drafted by Lu Zhenfei, a cabinet scholar. As for whether new taxes will be added in the future, the Ministry of Household Affairs can submit a memorial to me.

declare.

As for how the imperial court makes profits, that is, how to increase the imperial court's income, raise soldiers and support you and me, who don't care about farming, and my Zhu family relatives, in my opinion, we must first distinguish which are the imperial court's properties and which are

Industries that can be operated by private individuals.

Although there is no royal land in the world, I also admit that every citizen of the Ming Dynasty can have his own private property. This private property includes his own land, houses and even property.

However, mines and salt are given by God, and I am the Son of Heaven. These are my private property. People are not allowed to mine and sell them privately. From now on, if anyone is found to be mining privately, regardless of whether they are officials, gentry or civilians, they will be confiscated.

I know your thoughts. You are unwilling to spit out the good things you have swallowed. You may even boycott my tax supervisors and mine supervisors, you may incite the people to boycott my tax collection and mines, and you may even scold me for being greedy for money. I am not afraid of your scolding.

And I won’t send a tax inspector or mine inspector this time.

From now on, tax collection will not be separated between the ministers and the household department. Everything will be collected exclusively by the officials of the household department. The specific reform of the household department and the distribution of supplies from the treasury and the internal government will be discussed later!

Then there is sea trade, which includes not only sea trade, but also transactions with outside the customs and trade within the Ming Dynasty. I accept Zhang Shenyan’s suggestion that both government and private businesses can exist.
Chapter completed!