Chapter 600 Unbreakable

Song Nan suddenly understood a question that had thought many times. Obviously, the land was precious and there were many people and few people. I'm afraid one of the reasons why the people were still stuck to farming the land instead of trying to get rich. I'm afraid one of the reasons is that this strict regional household registration system restricted their freedom and allowed them to go out and do business freely. Difficulties.

The famous business gangs of this dynasty are local and rarely make changes. The operation of the land seriously limits the scale and influence of merchants. In a word, even if some giants have accumulated huge wealth, these gold and silver treasures are rarely used for other purposes. In addition to selling industries in their place of origin, they cannot invest in different ways. The land drives the economy and benefits the whole Ming Dynasty.

Song Nan could not answer the questions raised by the businessmen. Song Nan had to treat them and send them out of the house. Song Nan understood that if this problem could not be solved, the real estate development of the white paper workshop would be ruined, and the millions of dollars of money of herself and Zhu Fengtong would be lost.

After the guest left, Zhu Fengtong looked at Song Nan quietly and said, "I should have reminded you of this matter, but I thought you must have a countermeasure, so I didn't say it; you don't have to worry, maybe there will be a solution; the business owners will leave three days later to see if there is a turnaround before that. Even if it can't be solved, it's just a loss of money. Just take it as a lesson.

Song Nan shook his head and said, "That's not possible. How can I let those guys laugh? They prohibit local merchants from buying my shops just to see that I am limited to a predicament? Besides, this matter seems to only concern my interests, but in fact, it is a restriction on the merchants of the whole Ming Dynasty. Originally, I didn't want to be involved in the government affairs of the imperial court, but this time I have to go to the palace to talk about it with the emperor.

Zhu Fengtong said, "What are you going to do?"

Song Nan said in a low voice, "Breaking this unreasonable rule is beneficial for public and private."

Zhu Fengtong said in surprise, "How can this be done?"

Song Nan smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's man-made. Please go and take them to Beijing for a few days. Leave other things to me."

......

On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, the sleepy Zhengde squinted and listened to a proposal that seemed to be asleep. The emperor was not in good spirits, and many ministers in the palace also stood and dozed off. Most of the early mornings after the annual leave were like this. After a fat New Year, everyone was tired a lot. In addition, tomorrow is the Shangyuan Festival again. , even more absent-minded.

From the seventh day of the first lunar month, the content of the consecutive days of the court meetings is a summary of the work of various ministries and departments of the internal and internal court. This is almost the practice of the Zhengde Dynasty. These days from the Spring Festival to the Shangyuan Festival are like last year's work reports, so these days of dynasties are boring and lengthy, which makes people unable to lift their spirits.

The six officials finally finished their deliberations, and many uninterested officials had also taken a nap, waiting for the emperor to leave the court. Zhengde is also beautiful. Midea bowed and lazily, intending to get up and retreat from the court. At this time, Song Nan walked out of the ranks of ministers and came down to salute.

"Soong Nan, have you discussed it?" Zhengde asked with dry eyes.

Song Nan said, "Your Majesty, I have a copy of it."

"Oh, say it." Zhengde sat on the dragon chair again and boredly fiddled with a sheep fat longan gem inlaid on the armrest.

"Your Majesty, I just listened to the report on last year's fiscal and tax revenue reported by the Ministry of Household. Last year, my financial and tax revenue was 17 million taels, nearly 4 million taels more than the previous year, which shows that the cabinet's policy is very effective."

"Do you still need to say that? Will Yang Shoufu still do useless things? Someone whispered.

Song Nan ignored the sarcasm and continued: "However, even if the financial and tax growth is considerable, the expenditure of the court last year is as high as 23 million taels, and the financial and tax deficit is as high as 6 million taels. These 6 million taels are all from the balance of the treasury. Coupled with the loss of silver in previous years, I'm afraid the treasury is empty; we are always so old. Ben, it's not a matter."

The ministers were in an uproar. Wouldn't Song Nan make the emperor unhappy? Admittedly, in recent years, he has been eating the old capital of the treasury stored by the emperor every year, but everyone can only say these things in his heart. With such a direct mention, I don't know if Song Nan is stupid.

Zhengde licked his lips and said, "Song Nan, I know what you said. The court has been trying its best to solve this matter. Don't you see it? Cabinet* policies increased taxes, and last year's income increased by 6 million. In time, it will definitely make up for the deficit.

Song Nan said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, these things are not the duties of ministers, but as ministers of the Ming Dynasty, they also participate in politics and deliberations. I do not feel that the policies of the cabinet are effective, but they are not well considered. This growth is not enough to make up for consumption. As far as I know, the reconstruction and relief of Shandong prefectures alone is enough to eliminate them. In the long run, the treasury will be exhausted. Once there is a war, it will be extremely bad.

Everyone understands what Song Nan said. If there is no reserve in the treasury and Yin eats Mao grain, it is a terrible thing if the border town taris attacks or another Liu Liuqi-like uprising in the territory, the court will send troops with no money to suppress the war.

However, Song Nan's worries are not a presage. Everyone in the court knows this, but they are suffering from being unable to solve this matter. What can they do?

Zhengde is a little irritable. He doesn't want to hear these words. Song Nan's words are all commonplace. In the past year, the ministers have discussed this matter hundreds of times, but what can Zhengde do? The money that should be spent still needs to be spent, and the things that should be rebuilt should still be done. If the heart is unstable, it will cause a vicious circle.

Last year, homeless displaced people gathered into bandits in the area of Weishan Lake in Shandong Province, which is a warning. If others said these words, Zhengde would have already scolded him with a black face, but when Song Nan said it, Zhengde just did not reply. In fact, he did not know how to answer.

"Lord Song, the officials of the imperial court are well aware of what you said, and there is no need for Lord Song to repeat it. The foreign court has actively formulated a response policy, and there should be a change within a few years. It is urgent." Yang Tin and vaguely felt that Song Nan's words were a disguised accusation against the cabinet, so they made a list.

Song Nan said, "The cabinet's strategy of vigorous reclamation has indeed achieved great results, but I always feel that the effect is slower, and we should think of more ways."

Fei Hong, a university scholar, finally couldn't help laughing: "Does Lord Song have any amazing plan? I'd like to listen to you.

Some civil officials whispered, "Does Lord Song want to join the cabinet? It's so nosy."

"It's not impossible for him to enter the cabinet, but he has to go to high school first."

There was a sound of chuckling among the officials. No matter how important Song Nan's status is now, civil servants always listen to him as a joke about his failure to pass the imperial examination. At the party, this is also one of the most classic jokes about Song Nan.

Song Nan heard it, but his face smiled: "Mr. Fei, if you are willing to listen, I don't care about putting forward my ideas. As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, everyone actually has the right to put forward a policy to share the country's worries, but it is not only the foreign court. As the saying goes: Three stinky cobblers compete with Zhuge Liang, maybe we laymen can also have a good idea.

Fei Hong smiled and said, "I would like to ask Lord Song to give me a wonderful plan."

Song Nan bowed his hand and saluted Zheng De and said, "Your Majesty, I do have some ideas. Maybe it can be beneficial to the increase of the court's finances and taxes. Can I speak freely?"

Zhengde also became interested and held his cheek and said, "Yes."

Song Nan thanked her and turned to the ministers and said, "Your Excellency, who can tell me where my finances and taxes came from?"

He Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Household, said in a low voice, "Lord Song, do you still need to ask this? Taxation is taken from the private sector, the tax of Tianmu, the tax of Dinghu, the tax of municipal trade, etc. If Lord Song is interested, you can come to our household department. I can order someone to tell Lord Song for three days and three nights.

The officials laughed. Song Nan didn't care and said seriously, "Lord He is like a few treasures. I'm afraid you really need to talk about it for three days and three nights, but in my opinion, the main taxation of the court is nothing more than three ways, one is farmers, two for workers, and three is business. The three words of agriculture, industry and commerce can summarize the tax channels among all the large population, right?

He Jian opened his mouth and nodded, "It's not bad, but Lord Song's generalization is also accurate."

Song Nan said, "Now that my taxes in the Ming Dynasty, how much does the tax of farmland occupy? Lord He may say something general?"

He Jian said, "About 70%."

Song Nan nodded and said, "What is the tax of mine salt tea?"

He Jian said, "About 20%."

Song Nan said, "Nit is that commercial trade tax also occupies a part, which is the problem."

Fei Hong frowned and asked, "What on earth is Lord Song going to say?"

Song Nan said, "Don't worry, listen to me slowly; my taxes in the Ming Dynasty relied on agriculture and mulberry tax, accounting for 70% of the annual income. The combined industrial and commercial industries are less than half, but there were not many acres of arable land in the Ming Dynasty, and the output was not large. Many labor was limited to acres of land, and the income was also very limited. It's good to go further, but the energy consumption is also huge. Instead, why don't you start from the second industry and commerce that is easy to start?

Yang Tinghe said lightly, "Lord Song, the truth is not as simple as you think. It's not that you can buy it if you want to buy it. Although the matter of industry and mining is very profitable, iron, gold, silver, carbon, oil and salt wells and other heavenly minerals are not all bowed. That's not just what you say."

Song Nan said, "What is said is that although these are limited by resources, such as a large gold mine is under our feet, but it is in vain that we can't find them, but these things can be tried, and there is no need to reclaim a limited mu of land faster."

Yang Tinghe said, "You still need to say that there is a division of the foreign court looking for mines all the time. Your proposal has already been implemented, but the result is unknown."

Song Nan said, "That's good. It's better to try your best than not to do it, but this is not the point I want to say. What I want to say is business. There is a saying that I don't know if you have heard of it. It's called 'no farmers, no business, no wealth'. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty for more than 100 years, the matter of agriculture and mulberry has become its own scale, which is clear that it occupies 70% of the court's fiscal and tax revenue, and it is precisely the easiest business to implement, but only accounts for 10 per cent of my Ming tax revenue, which has to be said to be said to be a pity. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the country was rich and the people were strong, largely relying on commercial development. If the market trade in our country is prosperous and merchants walk around the Ming Dynasty, it will not only increase the large amount of tax revenue of the imperial court, but also drive changes in various places. My suggestion today is to ask the court to strongly encourage idle people to engage in business. The output of agricultural mulberry will not change, and the tax on business will be greatly increased, which will have an immediate effect.

The hall was silent, and everyone was thinking about Song Nan's words and considering the prospect described by Song Nan.

listened to Yang Ting and Jingjing say, "I don't deny that Lord Song's idea is good, but I'm afraid it's just fantasy. Who doesn't know that encouraging merchants to operate will bring benefits to the court? From the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, merchants were encouraged in the Taizu Dynasty. In the previous dynasty, merchants had a low status, and even merchants could not participate in imperial examinations after that, and they were despised by others, but in the Ming Dynasty, there had never been so many restrictions. But what about the facts? My Ming Dynasty business is still so sluggish, which is not encouraged by the court. I think it is probably the inherent idea of industry and industry that makes the people unwilling to do business. After all, merchants are single-minded for profit, and they will be discriminated against in their hearts, and no one is willing to do so.

Song Nan laughed and said, "Does Lord Yang think so? But I don't think so. It is a natural duty for merchants to pursue profits. If merchants do not pursue profits, where can the court get tax? I just asked, are the people willing to starve to death with the idea of being a disgraceful business, or are they willing to live a comfortable life with food and clothing?

Yang Tinhe frowned and said, "For some people, I'm afraid they would rather starve to death than go to business, but for ordinary people, I'm afraid they still choose the latter."

"That's it. The people are all ordinary people. They don't care about their status like the adults who have read sages. They just hope to live a stable life with enough food and clothing. Besides, how many of the adults here are willing to be willing to be poor? So I don't know that there must be another reason why people don't want to do business.

"But I don't know what the reason Mr. Song said?" Yang Tinghe asked.

"In the words of my family, I think the problem comes from the household registration policy of the court." Song Nan said with a straight face.