The Tang Dynasty: Wu Zetian made me her imperial tutor

"How many households does Your Highness pay taxes annually?"

Upon hearing Lu Jun's question, Li Lingyue paused for a moment, then shook her head: "It's Feng Yan in charge..."

She only knew that she needed to pay household tax, but she didn't bother to ask about the specific amount; the princess's household steward was in charge of it all.

Lu Jun smiled and said, "The princess is a first-class household, and the household tax is paid in a large amount every three years and a small amount every year. In a large year, the tax is 3,000 coins, and in a small year, it is 1,500 coins."

"So little?" Li Lingyue blurted out.

He then laughed out loud: "That's quite a lot. 1,500 coins is enough for the people to buy a lot of grain."

She had 1,200 households of fiefdom, was granted land, and frequently received various rare and precious gifts; a thousand coins were really nothing to her.

In the process of asking and answering myself, I have figured it out.

"I understand what you mean. The household tax classification is too simplistic and has not been truly implemented."

"In the past, powerful clans could arbitrarily absorb refugees without much burden. Only by recruiting them according to their population can we control them."

Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Ah!" "A first-rank official is limited to 100 acres of land and 60 men. Doesn't that mean they've included me in their scheme?"

Li Lingyue glanced down at her mother, afraid that she would blame her for only caring about her personal affairs and neglecting the court.

Sure enough, Wu Zetian's gaze swept over her intently, causing her already cool skin to become covered in beads of sweat again.

Being blamed for being promiscuous and unreasonable is nothing; if my mother thinks I lack magnanimity, she won't consider passing the throne to me in the future...

Lu Jun smiled and said, "I suggest that this be limited to princes below the rank of Prince of the Second Rank, and not to princes and princesses who are close relatives of the Emperor."

Politics requires compromise.

He currently has no real power and can only offer suggestions. He needs to win the princess's support, and even Wu Zetian herself will have many concerns when it comes to actually implementing them.

In order to gain the approval of more ministers, she will definitely carefully consider the number of land and population restrictions.

Moreover, she has always valued the dignity of the imperial family and would give her closest relatives a grand welcome, never being stingy.

Hearing that Lu Jun was taking care of the imperial family, Wu Zetian smiled and nodded: "There are only a dozen or so princes and princesses, it's fine."

Li Lingyue finally felt relieved, her face blossoming into a smile. She winked at the bottom of the steps and thanked Lu Jun.

Seeing this, Wan'er pouted, "Chu Yu is just using you for support, what's there to be so smug about..."

The household tax issue has been clarified, and Wu Zhao continued to ask:

"Chu Yu, what about the land tax? I know that the land tax is now incorporated into the local charitable granaries, which is different from what you said."

"You mean taxes are levied based on land area, including the current public granaries? What does that have to do with the land tax, labor service tax, and corvée labor tax?"

"Are there any additional burdens on the people?"

She was very experienced and immediately grasped the key point.

Throughout Chinese history, tax reforms have often involved merging taxes, which, while well-intentioned, have consistently resulted in an increased actual tax burden on the people.

For example, the reform of the Two-Tax System merged miscellaneous taxes other than rent, labor service and tax into the tax system, and the household tax was paid in copper coins. The loss from selling the copper coins was also included in the regular tax.

The Single Whip Law reform in the Ming Dynasty incorporated the silver equivalents of transportation losses, corvée labor, village head system, and local tribute into the regular tax.

The Yongzheng Emperor's policy of merging the poll tax into the land tax was a good thing, but as a result, landlords shifted the burden of rent onto tenants, which was then incorporated into the regular tax.

The imperial court intended to avoid additional levies, but in reality, it only made it easier for itself to collect them, while the people ended up paying even more.

This pattern is known as Huang Zongxi's Law.

Wu Zetian had never heard of this law, but she knew that "water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it," so she first had to confirm whether it was an oppressive government.

Otherwise, before the powerful clans even start to rebel, the common people will revolt first, and the powerful clans will take advantage of the situation, which would be a big problem.

Lu Jun replied:

"As the Empress Dowager said, the land tax is now used for charitable granaries to help the people get through lean years."

"The practice of collecting two liters per mu was implemented in the second year of the Zhenguan era. In the second year of the Yonghui era, it was changed to be collected per household, which was no longer related to the land area."

"The land tax I propose consists of two parts."

"Payments to the public granary will still be calculated at two liters per mu; rent from the land tax and labor service system will be incorporated into the tax collection."

"The imperial court then stipulates that two-tenths should be allocated to local areas to build charitable granaries, while the remaining eight-tenths should be allocated to the imperial court and deposited into the national treasury."

"The 'yong' and 'tiao' in the 'rent, labor, and tax' system were combined into the household tax and levied based on the population."

"The original tax was levied on a household basis, so it needs to be recalculated. The principle is to make ordinary people pay less and powerful families pay more."

"We can first select some prefectures and counties as pilot areas, and then gradually implement it. For ordinary people, there will be no new taxes or additional burdens. I believe this should not be considered an oppressive policy."

Regarding the payment of taxes to the charitable granary, the Tang Dynasty went through several rounds of debate.

In the second year of the Zhenguan era, a tax of two sheng per mu was levied.

In the second year of the Yonghui era, the tax was changed to be levied per household.

In the twenty-fifth year of the Kaiyuan era, the tax was increased to two liters per mu.

Later, when the Two-Tax System was implemented, the imperial court made it clear that no other miscellaneous taxes, including those for charitable granaries, would be collected in addition to the Two-Tax System.

As a result, in the first and ninth years of the Zhenyuan era, the court issued two orders that in years of plenty, the people should pay grain to build granaries, which was a slap in the face for the court.

It wasn't until the first year of the Yuanhe era that the additional tax was abolished, and 20% of the local tax was diverted to local governments to build granaries and charitable granaries.

Lu Jun took a decisive step, merging local and national taxes to prevent the people from criticizing the court for going back on its word.

In addition, he avoided the hidden drawbacks of the two-tax law.

Yang Yan mixed the poll tax and land tax into the land tax, levying it based on the amount of land, while the household tax was still levied on a per-household basis. On the surface, the poll tax was removed, but in reality, the burden was not reduced.

During the Song Dynasty, the court discovered that the poll tax had not been collected, so it was reinstated.

This policy continued until the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, when the poll tax was merged into the land tax, thus combining the poll tax into the land tax once again.

Lu Jun proposed levying household tax based on the number of people, which seemed to increase revenue, but in fact avoided potential problems in future generations.

As for Huang Zongxi's Law, it's hard to bypass it.

The root cause is that the bureaucratic system has expanded continuously throughout history, increasing the cost of supporting officials that is shared by the common people.

The number of officials in the Han Dynasty was about 7,000, while in the Tang Dynasty it was about 18,000. The number exploded after the separatist rule of the regional military governors in the mid-Tang Dynasty.

The Northern Song Dynasty had 34,000 officials, the Ming Dynasty had 100,000 civil and military officials, and the Qing Dynasty had fewer officials on the surface, but in reality, the number of clerks who also received government salaries was even greater.

Therefore, successive dynasties continuously increased taxes, and reforms were implemented to simplify collection, but this could not alleviate the burden on the people.

There's nothing we can do about it.

The day the imperial court can no longer collect taxes will be the day the dynasty falls, and after decades of chaos, the people will only suffer more.

What Lu Jun needs to do is to spread the burden to the powerful clans as much as possible so that taxes can be collected.

It benefits both the monarch and the people.

However, we must proceed slowly...

When Li Lingyue heard her mother's doubts and pressed her for details about whether there would be any additional burden on the people, she immediately spoke up for Lu Jun:

"Chu Yu's method is excellent; it considers both the court and the people, and it's certainly not an oppressive policy!"

Wu Zetian certainly knew it was a good idea, and she also knew that Lu Jun had thought things through very deeply, to a depth she had never imagined.

Not only her, but all the officials in the court could not achieve this.

Even the most famous prime ministers during Emperor Taizong's reign could not achieve this.

Throughout history, those who have undertaken complex tax reforms, such as Guan Zhong and Shang Yang, have all been great talents who have left their mark on history, regardless of their ultimate fate.

Lu Jun's strategy alone demonstrates his exceptional talent, and Wu Zetian naturally had no intention of blaming him.

But she considered it more deeply and slowly said, "I understand. This method suppresses powerful clans and reduces the burden on the people, which is beneficial to both the court and the common people, but..."

The implication is that while the common people may approve, powerful clans will inevitably oppose it vehemently.

She turned to Li Lingyue and Wan'er and said:

"A memorial presented before the Emperor is a top secret. I must repeat it again: this plan must never be revealed!"

"Chu Yu is a loyal minister who serves the country, not someone who seeks personal gain. If this is leaked beforehand, someone will attack him."

"Powerful clans wield considerable influence in the imperial court, with many members holding high positions; they should not be underestimated!"

The two answered in unison, "Yes!"

They each thought to themselves, "Of course I won't reveal Chu Yu's name; there's no need to emphasize it so much."

Li Lingyue had a further plan: "This method can't be used for now. If I become emperor, Chu Yu is plotting for me!"

At this moment, Lu Jun suddenly spoke:

"Your Majesty, I am not afraid of powerful clans. My third method will gradually weaken their power."

"At that time, there will be more and more people of commoner origin in the imperial court, and fewer and fewer powerful families."

"The era when powerful clans considered themselves superior and had the power to confront the imperial court is gone forever!"