Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

It’s quite outrageous to say that the imperial court cannot mobilize half of the troops in the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty.

You say they are plotting a rebellion, but they just stay in the military town and do nothing.

You say they are loyal, but they do nothing but ask you for food and money.

What the hell is this?

"I have been dissatisfied with them for a long time. If you have time, you must eradicate them all to serve as a warning to others." Emperor Chongzhen said bitterly.

"It's not that easy, Your Majesty. Do you really think that I have three heads and six arms and can do everything?" Zhang Shikang said speechlessly.

This matter between Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui was caused by you, brother?

Governor Yuan is indeed not a decent person, but what you did is not much more decent, brother.

Given the situation at that time, not to mention the uncle and nephew, even the others would have been terrified.

Now you, brother, just throw your hands away and push the blame. I’m not a firefighter.

In the past six months or so, he had hardly had a day of peace. He died of overwork in his previous life, and was born into a Duke's Mansion in this life, and he thought he could enjoy a good life.

As a result, I sleep later than a dog and wake up earlier than a chicken. I am even more tired than when I was delivering food.

Who can I talk to to explain this?

Emperor Chongzhen certainly didn't sense Zhang Shikang's displeasure, and said to himself:

"As for that group of nobles, I am extremely disappointed. For the sake of their own little business, they actually ignored the overall situation."

Emperor Chongzhen thought of the faces of the nobles in the court and said with great dissatisfaction.

“It’s as expected, but the nobles are different from that group of people. Your Majesty, believe it or not, as long as you are ruthless, you can severely punish the one or two leaders.

These fence-sitters will betray us immediately," Zhang Shikang vowed.

After saying this, he looked at Brother Chongzhen. His words were quite clear, and he didn't believe that this brother didn't understand what he meant.

"Duke Chengguo, Earl Jiading." Emperor Chongzhen muttered.

Zhang Shikang didn't say anything, just lowered his head and drank tea.

"Regarding tax reform, Shikang, do you have any suggestions?" Emperor Chongzhen thought for a while and said.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the commercial tax rate was 15%, later it was relaxed to 20%, and now it has been relaxed to 30%.

Even if only 3% is levied, it still cannot be collected due to various reasons.

The situation is roughly the same with labor taxes. Instead, everyone is focusing on the farmers, and the levies of various exorbitant taxes are also levied on the lower-class people.

If this happened in the future, all business owners would be delighted.

"How would I know about this? Minister Cai has been in charge of the Ministry of Revenue for some time. Let him draft this matter. After all, everyone has his own expertise." Zhang Shikang thought for a while and said.

He now understood in his heart that Brother Chongzhen really thought he was Nezha.

But after hesitating for a while, Zhang Shikang said:

“Commercial and industrial taxes will certainly increase, but the extent of the increase will vary according to industry categories.

For example, the necessities of life for the lower-class people, such as food, oil, salt and daily necessities, can be lower, and a tax rate of one in twenty is not a bad idea.

In addition, the tax rate for general industries can be roughly set between 10% tax and 20% tax.

But for special industries, such as brothels, wine shops, jewelry, jade, etc., the tax rate shall not be lower than 10% of the tax rate. "

Things related to the national economy and people's livelihood are basically those that the ordinary people cannot do without, including linen, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, etc., which can even be exempted from tax.

The general standard for corporate income tax in later generations is 25%, and 20% is 20%.

However, since this is the first reform after all, in order to reduce possible resistance, it might be better to set it a little lower and make adjustments based on actual conditions in the future.

As for industries such as brothels, wine shops, jewelry, and jade, they are basically only affordable by wealthy people, so naturally they have to be highly educated.

Aren’t you rich? Don’t you like to buy luxury goods to show off?

Then buy it, just pay the tax.

Zhang Shikang never thought of making money from the common people. There were plenty of rich people in the Ming Dynasty.

Merchants, gentry, landlords, and bureaucrats, these four groups controlled most of the land and silver in the Ming Dynasty, and were also the main targets of this tax reform.

Emperor Chongzhen did not quite agree with the last point at first, but after Zhang Shikang explained it, he roughly understood Zhang Shikang's idea and thought to himself, you still say you don't understand the tax system.

If you really don't understand anything, how can you come up with such constructive suggestions?

However, Emperor Chongzhen was somewhat worried, thinking that doing so would be tantamount to alienating the gentry in terms of policy.

Since the Song Dynasty when the country shared the world with the literati until now, this concept has been generally accepted by scholars. Now that he is the emperor, the first blow he strikes is on the heads of the literati. Emperor Chongzhen is worried about the alienation of the people.

"Shikang, why are we treating them differently? Isn't 10% tax and 3% tax a bit high?"

“Why are they treated differently?

Your Majesty, don't you think that you and the princes and nobles are not affected by this? Then your Majesty's awareness seems to be insufficient.

Everyone is the same, even me and your Majesty, if they want to buy jewelry or visit brothels, they have to pay taxes. "

Zhang Shikang smiled.

The main reason why the current commercial tax of 1% of 30 cannot be collected is that the privileged class uses their privileges to evade taxes and shift all the tax burden onto small vendors with no background.

This resulted in the court not only failing to collect taxes, but also making it difficult for ordinary merchants to gain a foothold, and all industries were basically monopolized by big merchants supported by the privileged class.

The fact that capitalism did not grow in the late Ming Dynasty was also related to this suppression. It was originally surviving in the cracks between three big mountains, so how could things be any better?

This is absolutely not advisable.

Emperor Chongzhen did not comment, thinking that he did not go to brothels, but he did not expect that the royal family's purchase of jewelry and jade would also be affected by this.

"None of this matters. As long as the court has enough silver, would Your Majesty care about this little money?

When it comes to tax reform, there are only two points we should really care about.

First, we must control prices, especially those related to the lower-class people, and not allow merchants to pass on the pressure of tax increases to the people. "

As the saying goes, the wool comes from the sheep, and it is natural for tax increases to lead to rising prices.

But the purpose of imposing commercial taxes is to gain benefits from the merchant class. If they are really asked to pass it on, it will be no different from imposing three additional taxes.

“I believe that the Donglin Party members will definitely resist in this regard, and their threats are by no means alarmist.

Your Majesty should be prepared to stabilize prices."

The impact on the lower-class people should be minimized. Only in this way can the increase in commercial taxes be successful.

But the Donglin Party members did not think so; in fact, the two were exactly opposite.

Emperor Chongzhen pondered for a while, roughly understood the reasons, and could not help asking:

"What about number two?"