SWDnovel Chapter 60 The White Lotus Cult again?!
Chapter 60 The White Lotus Cult again?!
After Li Dongyang left, Zhou Jing said to Zhu Houzhao with mixed feelings of joy and worry, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue has both good news and bad news."
"Which one would Your Majesty like to hear first?"
Zhu Houzhao said calmly, "There is no good news or bad news in front of me; they are all matters that I need to deal with."
"Speak quickly."
"Yes, yes."
Zhou Jing nodded somewhat awkwardly, and then began to report.
"Your Majesty, the matter of surveying and registering all the land in the empire has been addressed by a joint working group composed of the Ministry of Revenue, the Censorate, and the Western Depot."
"A total of thirty-eight teams have been dispatched to various prefectures and cities and are currently surveying the fields at full speed. Everything is going smoothly so far."
"Meanwhile, the eunuchs of the Tax Bureau and the garrison eunuchs in various regions are jointly monitoring economic activities in their respective areas..."
"Your Majesty, we were shocked by what we found when we investigated!"
"Economic activity was very strong in various places, with transactions often reaching tens of thousands of taels in a single prefecture or county."
"This only includes the transactions of merchants with fixed shops. If we add the transactions of itinerant merchants, which are difficult to quantify, and the transactions in people's markets, the total trade volume becomes incalculable!"
"This old minister has made a rough estimate, and this year alone, the commercial tax revenue from the summer harvest will likely exceed ten million taels of silver!"
At this point, Zhou Jing trembled with excitement.
He never imagined that commercial taxes could generate so much revenue!
In comparison, the total commercial tax collected during the summer tax season in previous years was only 1.5 million taels of silver.
From 1.5 million to over 10 million, that's almost a tenfold increase!
If this can continue, the Ming Dynasty's treasury will never be empty again!
Upon hearing this news, Zhu Houzhao also showed a genuine smile, a rare occurrence.
"Haha, not bad, not bad. It seems that my tax reform has already begun to show results."
"As for the two questions you just mentioned, that's easy for itinerant merchants. Just make merchant permits and issue them to itinerant merchants in various places."
"The purchase price, selling price, quantity, and profit of the goods should be clearly recorded on the sales certificate. Each time, tax should be levied at 30% of the profit."
"Anyone without a business license, or whose license is expired, damaged, or contains incorrect information, will be considered an unlicensed merchant, arrested immediately, and all goods and money will be confiscated!"
"As for the people spontaneously gathering to trade..."
Zhu Houzhao sighed: "They are all my subjects, and they don't have much property to begin with, so I won't collect taxes from them."
Zhou Jing was filled with awe and couldn't help but bow deeply to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty is benevolent and kind, loves the people like your own children, and implements benevolent policies. Your imperial grace is boundless!"
"This bow is on behalf of all the people of the land, to express our gratitude for Your Majesty's benevolence!"
After Zhou Jing finished speaking, he respectfully bowed deeply to Zhu Houzhao.
Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhou Jing with a half-smile. He hadn't realized that Zhou Jing, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, was actually a master of flattery.
However, this bow truly made Zhu Houzhao feel exceptionally comforted and pleased.
But shortly after, Zhou Jing reported a piece of news that made Zhu Houzhao involuntarily frown.
"But Your Majesty, because merchants everywhere know that the court is going to collect commercial taxes, prices across the Ming Dynasty have begun to rise."
"Taking rice in the south and wheat in the north as examples, the price of rice has risen from 500 copper coins per shi to 700 copper coins per shi, while the price of wheat has risen from 350 copper coins per shi to 500 copper coins per shi."
"It's not just grain, but also cloth, porcelain, charcoal, tea, and other commodities, which are all experiencing a rapid increase in price."
"The prices of many commodities have increased by 30% compared to previous years, while tea, porcelain, and silk have risen by more than 50%!"
"These merchants are passing on all the costs of tax collection to the ordinary people. If this continues, the people will eventually be overwhelmed!"
Zhu Houzhao listened and nodded, it seemed that the drawbacks of tax reform had appeared earlier than he had expected.
He should have realized that the gentry, landlords, and capitalists of the Ming Dynasty would never willingly swallow this bitter pill.
They shifted the cost of taxes onto the people, which not only increased their burden but also hindered the circulation of goods within the Ming Dynasty.
In later generations, this situation would only necessitate tax cuts, increased lending, and economic stimulus.
But now it's a feudal dynasty, and Zhu Houzhao has a hundred ways to hang these capitalists on streetlights.
Even without streetlights, hanging it on the roof beam will have the same effect.
Zhu Houzhao pondered, and had a general solution in mind, but it was not yet fully developed.
However, this matter is not urgent; he has plenty of time to consider adjusting these policies.
Zhu Houzhao waved his hand at Zhou Jing: "I know about this matter. If there's nothing else, you may leave."
"Yes, Your Majesty. This old minister takes his leave."
Zhou Jing clasped his hands in greeting and took his leave.
As for how to solve the problem of rising prices of these commodities, Zhu Houzhao had already considered it when he asked Shangguan Haitang to set up the Daming Salt Estate.
Currently, the Daming Salt Bureau only has one branch located next to the Jingtong Warehouse, which is in charge of issuing salt permits.
But in the future, the salt estates of the Ming Dynasty will be established in every prefecture and county of the Ming Dynasty.
These Ming Dynasty salt estates would sell daily necessities such as rice, flour, oilcloth, and cloth while issuing salt permits.
Merchants would transport grain to these Ming Dynasty salt estates in exchange for salt permits, and the salt estates would then sell the grain directly to the people, saving a considerable amount of transportation costs.
Furthermore, the prices of these daily necessities will be set by the imperial court, and it is absolutely impossible for them to skyrocket.
At the same time, the monthly purchase limit for each person will be restricted to effectively guarantee the basic livelihood of the common people at the bottom of the Ming Dynasty.
This sales model was adapted by Zhu Houzhao from the supply and marketing cooperative model of later generations, but with local conditions.
However, this model requires a considerable expense from its establishment to its continued operation.
The annual transportation costs alone are frighteningly high. Let alone making a profit, it would be very difficult to even break even.
However, this has one advantage: if there is a food shortage in a certain area, the Ming Dynasty Salt Bureau can close the salt permit issuance qualification in other areas.
This forced the merchants to transport grain to areas lacking food in exchange for salt permits.
The ideal is wonderful, but to establish a saltworks in every prefecture and county of the Ming Dynasty, the initial investment would be at least 30 million taels of silver.
Zhu Houzhao couldn't come up with that much silver right now, so he could only proceed slowly.
In the evening, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard requested an audience with Zhu Houzhao.
After bowing to Zhu Houzhao, he brought him some important news.
"Your Majesty, after a thorough investigation of the capital, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has arrested several criminals involved in the burning of the Imperial Palace."
"According to the investigation by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, all of these people are followers of the White Lotus Sect!"
The White Lotus Sect?!
It's the White Lotus Sect again!