Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

"No, it's not that they don't care about the people. It's more that they are the culprits who caused the people to suffer in the late Ming Dynasty!"

Having said that, Wei Wu looked directly at Zhu Yuanzhang.

"But to be honest, Uncle Zhu, you are also responsible for this!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened and he immediately wanted to defend himself.

But Wei Wu spoke again, not giving him a chance to speak.

"Mr. Zhu, you want to know how to make money! If the national treasury's tax revenue is high, won't your treasury also be rich?"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

Although the sources of income for the imperial treasury included imperial farms, local tributes, customs duties, mining taxes, fines and atonement, etc.

But it is true that every year a portion of the taxes submitted to the Ministry of Revenue will be sent to the emperor's treasury.

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang nod, Wei Wu deliberately asked a question to keep the audience in suspense.

"What Mr. Zhu wants to ask most right now should be how to increase tax revenue, right?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded again, and then listened to Wei Wu continue:

"But what I want to talk about is how the taxes that should have been collected could have been lost due to deceitful tactics."

"In the future, the common people will have no land to farm, and there will be no harvest to pay taxes, leading to a deficit in the national treasury."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but retort:

"How could the people have no land to farm? In order to ensure that the people have enough to eat, we issued an edict at the beginning of the founding of the country to encourage them to reclaim wasteland."

"And it stipulated that anyone who reclaimed wasteland would be exempted from rent and taxes for three years. Has this benevolent policy become a disaster?"

Wei Wu shook his head and said affirmatively:

"This is a benevolent policy, not a disaster. However, no matter how much land there is, it cannot stop greed. What good is land if it is not in the hands of the people?"

"I have previously explained to you, Uncle Zhu, how the Ming Dynasty declined, but there is one thing I didn't mention."

"It's not that I did it on purpose, it's just that land annexation is a problem that almost always occurs at the end of every dynasty."

"But honestly, the land annexation situation in the late Ming Dynasty was one of the most serious in all dynasties."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was unhappy.

This is something that has happened in every dynasty, so why should he be blamed for it?

However, Wei Wu guessed what he was thinking and told him the reason directly.

"Uncle Zhu, you once issued an edict granting scholars some privileges. I won't go into other details, just talk about the tax-related ones."

"Those who have achieved meritorious service are exempt from labor and taxes. A scholar can own up to 80 mu of land without paying taxes."

"Juren are even better off, with 400 mu of land exempt from tax, and Jinshi are even better off with up to 2,000 mu of land exempt from the Ding tax."

"That's why I say you are also responsible, because this is the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's land annexation!"

Wei Wu had just begun to speak part of his words when Zhu Yuanzhang's face became terrifyingly gloomy.

But this is just the beginning, because every word that follows will hurt Zhu Yuanzhang's heart!

"Because of this decree, scholars took advantage of this privilege and began to accept others' services."

"Wealthy merchants, as well as those who could not or did not want to pay taxes, would transfer their land to them."

"That way they wouldn't have to pay land tax, only population tax. But how much population tax could they collect?"

Indeed, Zhu Yuanzhang understood what Wei Wu said.

Land tax is the most important item of national taxation.

But he did not expect that his preferential treatment of scholars would become one of the triggers leading to the country's demise.

Just as Zhu Yuanzhang was deep in thought, Wei Wu's voice came to his ears again.

"Your Majesty, you are also aware that the South is rich, and Jiangnan is an important grain-producing and tax-paying area. Most of the scholars are from the South."

"Most of the civil servants in the court came from the south, and they had close ties with the gentry in various parts of Jiangnan, and they had frequent correspondence."

"Now they are just teacher-student or close friends, but in the later stages it will become a huge interest group."