Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

As soon as the word "tax" came out, there was complete silence and everyone fell into deep thought.

Shen Xingjian looked at the large black characters on the wooden board, his pupils shrank slightly, and he turned to look at Shen Zheng.

"Master Shen, do you mean to use the 'luxury goods' tax to adjust the gap between the rich and the poor?"

Taxation was no stranger to Shen Xingjian, who came from the Ministry of Revenue, but...the tax on "luxury goods" was obviously different from the many taxes that existed in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Products with high value and artificially given meanings must have high taxes.

As the bearers of taxes on “luxury goods”, will the buyers and sellers be willing to pay for such high taxes that are artificially given meaning?

Shen Xingjian stood up subconsciously and paced back and forth around the crowd. "Nowadays, merchants in the Great Zhou Dynasty have to bear a lot of taxes when selling goods. If a 'luxury tax' is added..."

He was worried that the merchants would not be willing to do so.

"You are wrong." Shen Zheng stood up and wrote three words on the board with a charcoal pencil - consumer.

She looked at Shen Xingjian, "Sir Shen, in fact, whether it is you, me, or everyone here, we all understand that the essence of consumption tax is not borne by merchants, but passed on to consumers. No matter how high or low the price of the goods is, no merchant will do business at a loss."

Shen Xingjian nodded silently.

"So." Shen Zheng tapped the wooden board gently. "It is the consumers who pay for this, so what the merchants need to consider is how to make these consumers willing to pay. And what we as officials need to consider is how to help these merchants so as to achieve the goal of using tax revenue to fill the national treasury."

Yu Shizhang agreed, "Ever since Shen Zheng told me about this, I have been thinking about it. The court can levy high 'luxury taxes' on high-priced luxury goods to fill the national treasury without increasing the tax burden on ordinary people. Exorbitant taxes and levies are the blood and sweat of the people, but luxury taxes are levied on a targeted basis."

As the sun set, Mo Qingwan took out the oil lamp and placed it on the lamp stand, lighting up the dark and cold night.

Shen Zheng gathered her clothes and wrote a few words on the board.

"In fact, luxury tax has many uses, not only to fill the national treasury and adjust the gap between the rich and the poor. It also guides consumption, protects our local industries, and collects import and export tariffs. These are all its benefits."

Shen Xingjian raised the oil lamp and walked forward, looking at the words "import and export tariffs" in a daze.

After a moment, he looked at Shen Zheng, "Lord Shen means that we can let luxury goods leave the Great Zhou, and use tax transfer to collect taxes from wealthy businessmen in other countries?!"

For Lord Shen, collecting taxes from the country's wealthy businessmen is not enough? !

The light of the oil lamp flickered in Shen Zheng's eyes. She looked at Shen Xingjian with a smile and asked, "Is it not possible? As officials, we should take a long-term view."

"Liuli has been born. If we don't take the initiative, all luxury goods sales will be in a passive position in the future. But if we first put forward the concept of luxury goods and take the initiative, then wealthy businessmen from other countries who want to buy these items will need to pay us import and export taxes that are higher than luxury taxes."

After hearing this, a figure suddenly appeared in Shen Xingjian's mind.

This man has devoted most of his life to the Ministry of Revenue, dedicated to... taking in nothing and never spending a penny.

If that person heard this, he would probably grab Lord Shen's hands with tears in his eyes and shout, "Lord Shen is the one who understands me!"

However, it may be a fantasy to rely on only a group of merchants to make "luxury goods" - since they are not antiques, nor are they gold, silver, or jade, there are probably very few people willing to pay for them.

But...what if we add the support of the imperial court?

For those wealthy businessmen who have money but no power, powerful court officials are the objects of their emulation.

If you throw jade in front of you, why worry about not attracting gold and silver?

"This method may really work!" Shen Xingjian took a deep breath and sat back down. "Then what do you think the 'luxury tax' should be?"

Everyone looked at Shen Zheng.

Shen Zheng had already considered this matter.

In the past, the country would levy a luxury tax of about 20% on products, but from the perspective of the national treasury, a 20% luxury tax was actually not enough, and the bulk of its tax revenue was actually "import tax."

The import taxes borne by consumers are far greater than the domestic luxury taxes, but this is actually not what the country wants to see.

After all, the bulk of the product revenue still goes into the pockets of foreign companies.

So now Shen Zheng has to establish a luxury tax from the perspective of a "foreign country" and build Da Zhou into a "major exporting country."

Whether it is cheap food and cotton cloth, or expensive glassware and exquisitely designed luxury goods, they are all ways to reach into the pockets of foreigners to make money.

"On top of the original tax revenue, at least a 20% luxury tax and a 10% to 50% export tariff will be added." Shen Zheng looked at Shen Xingjian, "But the specifics are not something we can decide. For this matter, we'll have to trouble Lord Shen to write a letter to the Ministry of Revenue, and the officials in the Ministry of Revenue will discuss it and submit a letter."

"Fifty percent?" Shen Xingjian and the others took a deep breath and asked in unison, "Why is it so high?"

This foreign tycoon is not a fool. How could he be willing to bear such high taxes?

Shen Zheng smiled and waved her hands, "Not high, not high, just a few percent, how can it be high? We can set different tariffs for different countries. For example, we have a bad relationship with Japan and rarely trade with them, so we can set a 50% tariff for them. There is a luxury craze among wealthy businessmen in other countries, how can the wealthy businessmen in Japan be really isolated from it?"

Luxury goods are sold based on experience, and the sense of transcendence of “you have something that others don’t”.

Next, everyone gathered together to discuss it in detail, and finally decided that Shen Xingjian would write a letter to the Ministry of Revenue first to ask for the opinions of the senior officials of the Ministry of Revenue.

Shen Zheng seemed to have thought of something, waved to Mo Qingwan, and said to her: "Let's decide this for now. When the foreign merchants come over in a few days, you and Lord Shen Xingjian will receive them. You can talk to them properly."

Mo Qingwan's eyes suddenly widened and he pointed at himself in disbelief.

"Sir Shen, you want my daughter..."

Lord Shen actually gave such a big thing to me?

"What?" Shen Zheng laughed and teased, "Is it you who can't do it? Then I will have to meet them in person."

How can a woman say no!

Mo Qingwan grabbed Shen Zheng's wrist and nodded repeatedly: "Okay! Okay! I'll do it! Master Shen, thank you for giving me this opportunity."

Shen Zheng patted her hands, leaned over and whispered, "I'm sure you've seen these days that Lord Shen Xingjian's temper is a little...hard to say, so when the time comes, if there are some things he can't say, you have to speak for him, understand?"

Mo Qingwan and Shen Xingjian's personalities are complementary.

One is usually taciturn and good at negotiation, while the other has a long career in the business world and is quite smooth.

"My little girl understands."

Mo Qingwan secretly glanced at Shen Xingjian who was looking down in deep thought.

This gentleman has a somewhat...special personality.

Shen Zheng looked up at the sky and said, "It's getting late. I have one last thing to do today."

Everyone was about to leave, but after hearing this, they stopped abruptly and looked at Shen Zheng with resentment in their eyes.

They are really being used like mules!