The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

When they arrived at the restaurant, it was dinner time and the restaurant was extremely busy, with no empty seats. However, since they were the bosses, the food could be brought to the cashier's office. Tao Lizhi naturally didn't mind, as this was his nephew's restaurant, and almost his own home, so he was naturally more casual.

Hot pot is a must for meals in winter. Min Xi ordered a shuangxiang hotpot. Of course, hot pot has to be spicy to be enjoyable.

The hot pot was served very quickly. Soon, the soup base and side dishes were served, and the three of them sat around the table to eat.

After three rounds of drinks, Min Xi said, "Uncle has been very busy recently. He seems to have lost weight. He should eat more. I rarely see him recently. Is it because he has exams at the end of the year?"

"That's one aspect. The Ministry of Revenue is currently re-measuring and counting the land across the country, and I am also responsible for this. There are so many things to do," said Tao Lizhi.

"But do we need to prepare for tax reform?" Min Xi asked.

Tao Lizhi nodded: "Yes, this is what the Prime Minister meant. We want to promote tax reforms across the country."

"What should we do specifically?" Min Xi showed a strong desire for knowledge.

Tao Lizhi said: "Try to streamline the process, but the specific approach is not yet certain."

Min Xi said: "I heard that Dingyin seems to be abolished."

"Abolish the Dingyin tax? There is no such talk. It is possible that the Dingyin tax, corvee labor and land tax will be converted into silver for collection, simplifying the tax collection method and preventing local officials from cheating," said Tao Lizhi.

"That means the people have to exchange their grain for silver and then pay taxes?" Min Xi asked.

"Correct."

Min Xi sighed: "In this way, the people will have to suffer the exploitation of grain merchants again. Those who depend on the rich will still evade taxes, which is not fair to the tenants and the people with little land."

"There is no way around it. No matter what we do, there will be drawbacks. After hundreds of years of development, successive dynasties have not been able to break this miasma. Land annexation is inevitable." Tao Lizhi sighed helplessly.

Min Xi said: "Isn't the Ministry of Revenue measuring the land? I think it would be better to abolish the Dingyin system and collect taxes directly based on the land area. It can be divided into levels, for example, 15 mu is one level, and 100 mu is another level. The more land, the higher the tax. This will be more conducive to increasing tax revenue."

Min Xi's idea was to simply skip the "One Whip Law" and directly "divide the land tax according to the land area", so that the big landlords who wantonly annexed land would pay more and the rich would bear more taxes. Abolish the poll tax so that the people would be more willing to have children. In the feudal era, population was the most important criterion for social prosperity.

Tao Lizhi's eyes widened when he heard this: "Abolish the Dingyin system and collect taxes based on the acreage of land?"

He pondered for a moment, then frowned and said, "This is just cutting off the flesh of the rich. There will definitely be voices of opposition from the court."

Min Xi said: "That's true. In this way, the common people will no longer need to rely on the rich, which will help increase the population."

Min Xi knew that the tax rate distribution based on the amount of land would touch upon the fundamental interests of the ruling class and would definitely be met with opposition. However, Zhang Juzheng was now in power and he had the ability to push forward this tax reform. After all, the Single Whip System and the Performance Evaluation System were also offensive, and he had already been criticized, so he might as well offend more people.

But in this way, Zhang Juzheng would probably be even more overworked and under greater pressure. Would he die of overwork prematurely? Thinking of this, Min Xi couldn't help but shudder.

He mentioned this idea to Tao Lizhi, but it is unknown whether he would tell Zhang Juzheng. In any case, Min Xi had conveyed his ideas and done his best. After all, his words were not taken seriously, so he could only express his political views in this way.

On the way back, Yun Ji asked Min Xi: "Was it your idea to abolish the Ding tax?"

Min Xi looked at him and smiled: "What are you thinking? Of course others think so. I am just a porter. But this method is quite offensive. It depends on whether your uncle will tell others and whether Mr. Zhang will do it."

Yun Ji said seriously: "If this is really done, the tax revenue of the imperial court will definitely increase significantly. However, those big households will also pass the tax revenue on to the tenants."

Min Xi sighed helplessly: "Why do people say that when a country prospers, the people suffer, and when a country perishes, the people suffer. In our time, farmers not only did not pay taxes for farming, but the state also gave them subsidies."

Yun Ji's eyes widened: "With 1.4 billion people, how many farmers are there?"

Min Xi thought for a moment and said, "About 700 million or 800 million people. I forgot the exact number."

"No poll tax either?"

"No."

"Then the imperial court doesn't pay taxes? How can it maintain the operation of a country with a population of 1.4 billion?"

"Yes, there are industrial and commercial taxes. Although farmers do not pay taxes, the industrial and commercial products they need for daily consumption, such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, are already taxed when they are purchased. Factories and merchants collect these taxes on their behalf, and then the state collects them from them."

Yun Ji said: "It sounds like this industrial and commercial tax is quite high, so the industry and commerce must be quite developed, otherwise how can a country be maintained."

"Indeed. Our times do not emphasize agriculture over commerce, but encourage industry and commerce."

"If that were the case, the burden on the people would really be lightened."

Min Xi smiled and said, "Compared to now, the people do have no worries about food and clothing, but they will also have new burdens, such as buying houses, cars, children's education, medical care, etc. Everyone has their own worries."

Yun Ji said: "That's right, the people have their worries, and the emperor has his troubles."

"Yes. Humans' sorrows and joys are not the same." Min Xi shrugged.

Soon it was the end of the year, and Wenchang Academy gave its students a ten-day holiday. Yunji could go home and spend the New Year in peace.

It's not like he was at ease. After all, he was still the boss of Yunxiang, so he couldn't have a rest. At the end of the year, he had to be busy distributing dividends and bonuses to the shopkeepers and clerks of various shops, visiting the big merchants and officials he often interacted with, and giving them New Year gifts.

All in all, it’s no more free than when I was in school.

Min Xi couldn't do these things for him, after all, he was just a manager, not the boss, so Yun Ji had to do them himself. After all, everyone had worked hard for a year, and if Yun Ji, the boss, didn't show up, it would be too disrespectful to the people who did the work, so he should do it himself.

Tao Hong also gave the children in the cram school a holiday. Min Xi took the homework home to do. She didn't have to go to the cram school every day and only had to take care of Yunlin.

Yunji’s work was hard, but he still felt comforted when he came home every day to find hot meals or soups and snacks waiting for him.

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. The three brothers decorated the house, which had not had Spring Festival couplets posted for many years, with red and prosperous decorations. There were Spring Festival couplets, blessing characters, paper-cuts and lanterns everywhere.

This is the first time that Min Xi has celebrated the Chinese New Year since he came here. In previous years, he was always overseas, either in a foreign country or on the road. He didn't even know the exact day of the Chinese New Year, so his mood this year was also very unusual.

On New Year's Eve, there was heavy snowfall, not heavy but enough to suit the occasion. With the snow, the New Year atmosphere became stronger. After eating the New Year's Eve dinner, they set off firecrackers, had snowball fights, and built a small snowman in the yard, which made Yunlin very happy.

It was a rare snowy day without any wind, so they sat in the room, warming themselves by the fire, eating snacks and staying up late, with the window open and watching the snowflakes falling outside.

Yun Ji looked at Min Xi roasting sweet potato cakes on the fire, Yun Lin hugging Little Overlord, and Diego sitting beside him peeling peanuts for Yun Lin, and said, "I suddenly want to paint a picture, and call it "Stay Alive"."

Min Xi quickly put down the tongs and potato cakes in his hands: "I will go and serve the young master with pen and ink!" Yun Ji doesn't have much time to paint now. The last time he painted for him was "Outing Picture", the time when they went on a horseback ride and saw the apricot blossom forest in the northern suburbs of Lisbon. The painting has been framed and is still hanging in his room.

Yun Ji laughed when he heard that, and put his hand on his shoulder to push him back down: "Don't move here, I'll go by myself."

So on New Year's Eve, Yun Ji stayed up all night and painted until dawn, and finally finished the "New Year's Eve Watching Picture".

The picture shows a house covered with snow and decorated with spring couplets and lanterns. Looking inside from the window, the lights are warm yellow and there is a blazing fire. Four people and a dog are sitting around the fire. The four people have different shapes, and the scene is warm and loving.