GBP Chapter 240 Li Shanchang, we underestimated you after all!
Chapter 240 Li Shanchang, we underestimated you after all!
As the registrar of Ningyang County, even if he was only temporarily appointed by Magistrate Yang, and before the official appointment from the imperial court was issued, Chen Mo could still access various archives of Ningyang County.
While flipping through the various archives of Ningyang County, Chen Mo felt that he recognized every single word. However, when these words were turned into official documents in the hands of Magistrate Yang, he could not understand them at all.
In particular, Magistrate Yang had previously submitted a memorial proposing to abolish the preferential treatment for scholars and to determine the tax collection level based on the amount of land owned.
For example, if a person owns fifteen acres of land, he pays taxes at a rate of one-thirtieth.
However, when a person owns twenty acres of land, he must pay taxes according to the rate of one-twentieth of the land.
If a person owns forty acres of land, the tax rate will skyrocket to a terrifying 3/5.
In other words, if you take into account all the miscellaneous costs such as seeds, fertilizer, manpower, animal power, farm tools, etc., a person can barely make ends meet when they own 30 mu of land, but when a person owns 40 mu of land, they will lose so much that even their own mother wouldn't recognize them.
It is precisely because of such a terrible progressive tax rate that many gentry in Jiangnan are now thinking of selling their extra land to tenant farmers as soon as possible.
At the very least, before Emperor Zhu changed the tax rate back, I absolutely cannot own so much land.
In Wu Yanhu's view, this move seems to have largely solved the problem of land consolidation. All that's left is to completely bind the population and land together. Things like hidden households and absconding people, and tax evasion, will eventually be solved by this move.
So why did Magistrate Yang propose the implementation of the "Wangtian System"?
The core of the Wangtian system was to bring all the land under the control of the imperial court. Moreover, judging from the memorial written by Magistrate Yang, there were quite a few messy loopholes in it, and many things even conflicted with the progressive tax rate.
Just as Chen Mo was sighing, Wu Yanhu shook his head slightly and said, "Let the county magistrate do whatever he wants. The three of us are just assistant officials after all. Don't think about becoming second masters, third masters, fourth masters or anything like the county magistrates, registrars and clerks in other places."
At this point, Wu Yanhu couldn't help but sigh.
Damn it, in other places, the county magistrate is the second-in-command, the registrar is the third-in-command, and the clerk is the fourth-in-command. They are all very important figures in a county. The county magistrate, in particular, doesn't necessarily have much less power than the county magistrate. Everyone has to call him "Second Master".
But in Ningyang County, all of this was just a pipe dream.
Wu Yanhu finally understood. What the hell was the county magistrate? What the hell was the second master? Without Magistrate Yang's approval, not only was he a temporary acting county magistrate appointed by Magistrate Yang, but even if he were a proper seventh-rank official sent by the imperial court, it would be of no use. No one in the entire county office would even give him a second glance.
……
Just as Wu Yanhu, Chen Mo, and Lü Peng were sighing together, Emperor Zhu also gathered Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, Hu Weiyong, Yang Xian, Yang Siyi (Minister of Revenue), Shan Anren (Minister of Works), and others in the capital.
Emperor Zhu asked first, "How is the matter of measuring grains and scales progressing? And how long will it take to get results from those people who were sent to investigate the situation in various workshops?"
Minister of Works Shan Anren directly cupped his hands and replied, "Your Excellency, the matter of measuring the hu, dou, and cheng should be resolved in three to five days. The first batch of measuring tools can be produced within ten days, and it is expected that one thousand sets of measuring tools can be produced within three months and distributed to counties throughout the country. After that, counties throughout the country can then imitate them on their own."
The measuring tool called "hudou" is not just a ruler or a scale, but a whole set of miscellaneous measuring instruments including a ruler, a scale, and a "dou".
The demand for these measuring tools varies among different groups of people.
People in some places need rulers even more, such as those areas where mulberry and hemp are the main crops.
In some places, people need measuring tools like bang and dou, for example, in areas where grain cultivation is the main industry.
Therefore, the Ministry of Works could work with the Ministry of Revenue to develop a set of standard measuring tools and manufacture a thousand sets of standard measuring tools, but it was not enough to meet the needs of all the people. In the end, they could only manufacture a little over a thousand sets of standard measuring tools and distribute them to various counties, and then each county would find craftsmen to imitate them.
Emperor Zhu gave a faint "hmm," and Shan Anren continued, "Those minor officials who were sent to various counties to collect statistics on the workshops are expected to return in about three months."
"My plan is to take advantage of the time while these minor officials are collecting information on the workshops in each county, so that the Ministry of Works can first manufacture standard measuring tools, then manufacture several harvesters using the new standard measuring tools, and then disassemble them, distributing the parts according to the situation of the workshops in each county, so that the workshops in each county can make imitations."
Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi also chimed in, “Your Majesty, I believe that the manufacture of these parts should not be limited to workshops. If there are skilled people among the common people, they can certainly be allowed to participate. As long as the parts they produce meet the requirements of the new standard measuring tools, it should not affect the final assembly.”
Zhu Chongba hummed in agreement again, then changed the subject, looking at Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen and the others, and asked, "How did Brother Shanchang and Mr. Qingtian discuss the matter of the Wangtian system?"
Hearing the terms "Brother Shanchang" and "Master Qingtian" from Emperor Zhu's mouth, Liu Bowen was momentarily dazed.
This is fucking a wake-up call for myself, you bastard!
While secretly grumbling to himself, Liu Bowen turned his gaze to Li Shanchang and said with a smile, "Why don't you speak first, Master Shanchang?"
Li Shanchang stroked his beard, smiled, and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, saying, "Your Majesty, I believe that the Royal Land System, along with the previous progressive tax rate, can be implemented in a complementary manner, and can be considered a good policy that benefits the country and its people. However..."
Emperor Zhu responded with an "Oh," and asked with a smile, "But what?"
Li Shanchang changed the subject, saying, "However, after you take the throne, you can no longer arbitrarily bestow land upon your subjects. Otherwise, when the fifty-year tax exemption period ends, if you can't sell the land you hold, you'll have to bear high taxes, and wouldn't you be going to lose everything?"
Emperor Zhu laughed heartily and said, "Then what does Brother Shanchang mean?"
Li Shanchang said, "In my opinion, it would be better for Your Majesty to first establish a rule—once the tax exemption period granted to us by Your Majesty expires, the government must redeem the land in our hands."
Upon hearing Li Shanchang's words, Emperor Zhu's heart, which had been in his throat, immediately relaxed.
OK, OK.
Li Shanchang, Li Shanchang, we underestimated you after all!
Just as Emperor Zhu was secretly pleased, Li Shanchang continued, "Your Majesty, there is something I have been holding back for a long time, and now I can no longer keep it to myself. If I have offended Your Majesty in any way, please do not take offense."