Chapter 80 Gap

Zijin Mountain is the most beautiful mountain around Nanjing. In addition to the Ming Emperor's Mausoleum, for the outside world, the most famous place here is "Zijin Mountain Royal Beiyuan". It is said to be the Royal Beiyuan, but in fact, it is a mountain forest purchased by His Majesty three years ago when he was latent. It has been built in the past three years. It has become a European-style palace and more than a dozen villas. After the restoration, it has been further expanded, and even now it has not stopped expanding.

The neatly trimmed French garden, full of Baroque style and oriental style pavilions, the Royal Garden Garden, which combines the Eastern and Western garden styles, is very elegant. The European garden, the Chinese-style small bridge, the pavilion and the garden made of flowers and plants set off the magnificent architecture. Walking through the path in the garden all year round, always It will give people a sense of beauty. Perhaps because of this, people feel that this place is even more airy than the palace in the city, especially the European-style three-storey palace.

As a royal court, it is open to the outside world to a certain extent. For example, the newly built noble school in the royal court will be a place where the children of the aristocracy will receive education in the future, and it is also part of Chen Moran's preparation. The school is prepared for the aristocracy of this country in the future, and also for its own children. The woman prepared it.

Perhaps in more than ten years, the Royal Beiyuan will not only be the most beautiful place in Nanjing, but also become a place for the children of the aristocracy. Now, this is just a separate garden, just a place to cool down and rest in the summer. At most, it will receive a few more guests.

"I don't know, I don't know what to do!"

Risa stood up and walked to the window. It was late spring. The fragrance of lilacs and mountain plum blossoms overflowed, and the birds in the woods came in bursts. She looked suspiciously at the neat French garden lawn in Beiyuan. Then, she turned around and looked at the queen: she sat in the armchair. Although she seemed to tease her son lazily, the aristocratic temperament between her eyebrows was hard to hide.

"Do you want me to leave here, madam?"

Risa's words made Ji Li's heart slightly shocked. Resa's concise language once again made her feel helpless. She has long been used to her being by her side, her voice, and likes her other charms! Even Qin Er likes her Aunt Resa, and the children in the orphanage also like her.

Are you really willing to leave her? Although she hopes to accept Mikhail's proposal, on the one hand, she hopes that she has a good home, and on the other hand, she hopes... She softened her tone.

"I hope you can be happy!"

Ji Li looked at Risa seriously, without any pretentiousness in her eyes.

"... He has never forgotten you. He loves you and will bring you happiness. I know you've been swarming with him, haven't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't ask me for my opinion, would you?

"Madam!"

Although Ji Li has long been the queen of the Chinese Empire, she is still used to calling her a wife, and Ji Li also likes this title, of course, only the close people around her.

"I...I..."

Finally, Risa still didn't say anything. She looked at the garden again and said that it was false that she had never been taught at that person, but what could she do? He is the Lord and he is a servant. In the past, she thought that maybe she would die here in her life, but this sudden emergence of Mikhail disrupted her position.

"Your Majesty, I also hope you are happy, Resha, you know, in Your Majesty's eyes, you are like his sister! Moreover, he also hopes that you can marry Mikhail!"

After hearing this, Resa stood there with her head down and said nothing. After a while, she stared up at her wife and smiled for the first time after coming here.

"Okay! Maybe he can really bring me happiness!"

After saying that, she looked at the beautiful Beiyuan Garden in front of her again. Maybe she would leave this place soon. Maybe it was also a good choice to marry Mikhail. At least, he loved him very much.

"Marry someone who loves you! The person who really loves you!"

Risa remembered what her mother said to her when she died. If she was not touched by Mikhail's pursuit, she was lying to herself, but... "Oh!"

Chen Moran closed his eyes silently, and Risa accepted Prince Mikhail's proposal!

Thinking of Rissa's charming eyes, Chen Moran just sighed that it was a pity. If... immediately shook his head again, what was he thinking? If you can't give her anything, don't harm her. What's more, she doesn't like herself, and it's not bad to marry Mikhail. She is a prince, at least it can bring her happiness.

"Your Majesty, I can't but say that this is a very wise choice!"

Guan Mingtang looked at His Majesty and said softly.

"Oh?"

Looking up slightly, Chen Moran looked a little curious.

The palace lady accepted Mikhail? Grand Duke Alexandrovich's proposal has now come to Nanjing. Originally, Mikhail's pursuit of Reza was published in the newspaper from time to time, but now it is just a confirmation of the original scandal.

"Although it is necessary to give up the right to inherit the throne when Grand Duke Mikhail marries Miss Resha, he is only the younger brother of the current tsar, not his son. It doesn't matter whether he gives up or not, but it can be conuted that in the future, this relationship will directly affect the relationship between China and Russia. Russia Ross may be a declining empire, but the thin camel is bigger than the horse. Through the wife of Grand Duke Mikhail, we may be able to directly influence some Russian policies in the future. Of course, this must be cleverly arranged!"

Compared with others, Guan Mingtang saw an opportunity from Mikhail's proposal to Risa, an opportunity for China to infiltrate the senior management of other countries.

"Russia is different from other countries. This country's aristocracy is in charge of everything. Taking advantage of the interests and friendship between China and Russia in this war, and through proper management, a relatively friendly Russia can be obtained at least in the next ten years. Bribery and proper operation, Your Majesty, at least the door to the results of Russia's high-level decision-making is open to us!"

With a slight smile, Chen Moran didn't say anything. For a long time, he didn't pay attention to Russia. The number of this country has entered the countdown. Now it is 1905. Twelve years later, the Russian Empire and the Romanov Dynasty will become history. At that time, for China, the only need It is to take advantage of the fire to rob.

However, it is necessary to maintain friendly relations between the two countries now. After all, China only needs one enemy now. As for Russia, there is no harm in short-term friendship. Twelve years later... Let's talk about it then!

"Zheqin!"

Looking at Guan Mingtang with a smile on his face, Chen Moran looked at him seriously.

"Maybe you shouldn't be the Chancellor of the Exchequer!"

"Your Majesty, I, the Minister of Finance, should be conscientious!"

Guan Mingtang did not mean any modesty. His words were exchanged for Chen Moran's nod. Indeed, he, as the Minister of Finance, was very competent. It can be said that after nearly a year of restoration, the biggest change in China's political system was the establishment of a complete fiscal, tax and financial system.

Almost as soon as Guan Mingtang took office, he implemented the reform of the currency system. On the one hand, he promulgated the National Currency Regulations, set up a currency system bureau, collected the right to mint coins from the central government, and imposed restrictions on gold, eagles and miscellaneous oceans. On the other hand, the new silver dollars were minted. From the beginning of the restoration, the silver dollars with their own avatars began to be implemented in the city. The value of "Chen Datou" silver dollar is welcomed by the public, but it minted more than bic million yuan a year, basically expelling Longyang and Yingyang in circulation in the market, and is gradually replacing silver.

While issuing silver dollars, when the empire was first built, the central bank issued "imperial reserve silver dollar coupons" to forcibly recover the issuance rights of foreign banks and domestic banknotes. It was the issuance of more than 450 million yuan of banknotes that supported the political axe to carry out this war, the purchase of machines, the construction of factories and railways to realize the country's work. Industrialization.

Two years ago, the Qing government axe included local fiscal revenue of only more than 170 million taels, but the result was that the people were unbearable. Last month, the central and local fiscal revenue exceeded 60 million yuan for the first time, with a discount of more than 40 million taels. Moreover, it reached this value without obvious tax increase or even tax reduction, which created this What is the effective tax system established by him as the Minister of Finance.

It can be said that as long as you are willing, now China can even rely on domestic taxes to continue the war, but he advocates borrowing money, borrowing as much as he can, and borrowing money boldly. Only by borrowing money boldly can we realize the industrialization of the country in the shortest time, with a monthly income of more than 60 million yuan and spending 100 million yuan. Fame is not for nothing.

However, compared with the minister of borrowing, the development of industry and commerce across the country cannot be concealed. In order to develop industry, we provide a lot of low-interest loans to 40% of the total investment to the real industry. In order to develop shipping, through shipbuilding incentives, he has a way to open source, and there is also a way to open up the flow, and others may not be ignored. However, Chen Moran understands that between the two, China may change a lot in ten years.

And this war is also pushed by him, and he is about to end it.

Staring at Guan Mingtang, who received systematic Western-style education, which is rare in his cabinet, recalled his achievements. Chen was silent for a while before he said.

"Five years, five years later, I will appoint you as the prime minister of the empire!"

In a sudden sentence, Guan Mingtang was stunned at first, and his heartbeat accelerated at the same time, but he was a little nervous.

"Your Majesty, ten years later, I may not be suitable to be the prime minister!"

Although it is his dream to be the prime minister and a position that he must reach to write the answer sheet, Guan Mingtang knows that he will never take up that position five years later.

"Why?"

And Chen Moran was curious about his refusal. Now Zhang Zhidong is "Zhang Transition", but five years later, if Guan Mingtang becomes the prime minister, it will be two completely different situations.

"Your Majesty, how many years has China been since the Qin Dynasty?"

"Two thousand..."

"2126, Your Majesty!"

"Since the establishment of counties and counties in China, China has been accustomed to the political system of the old empire for 2126 years. Now it is the beginning of the establishment of the empire, led by the old officials and presided over by a large faction of affairs officials. Zhang Xiang reluctantly maintained the overlap of the old and new political system. Only then did he maintain the current situation of not mixing and chaos. Can the political system be achieved after five years of achievements?"

Guan Mingtang shook his head. After more than ten years abroad, how could he not know that China was more than a hundred years behind the world, and he didn't want to catch up with him, but he could only think about it.

"Your Majesty, today, the national banking capital is 956 million yuan, China is 2.875 billion yuan, the shipbuilding capital is only 13.65 million yuan, while China is 36.45 million yuan, the mechanical manufacturing capital is 135 million yuan, China is 396 million yuan, metallurgical industry, Japan's 38.67 million yuan, China's 217.5 billion yuan, last year's total foreign trade was 620 million yuan, China's 2.1 billion yuan,..."

When Guan Mingtang listed a series of numbers, Chen Moran was a little puzzled. Why did he list these numbers? These figures are nothing more than a problem. China's strength is far from comparable to what Japan can. Whether it is light and heavy industry or agriculture, China and Japan are not a great opponent at all. .

Japan's steel production can't even catch up with one-third of Hanyang, not to mention Ma'anshan, which has an annual output of more than one million tons. And now Hanyang and Ma'anshan are expanding. The machinery manufacturing industry, only in Pudong, Shanghai, is not inferior to Japan. Of course, he knows these figures, otherwise it will not be iron. I want to fight this battle.

"Yes, Your Majesty, six years ago, the fiscal revenue of Japan was 188738934 yuan, and the value of the Chinese currency was equal. The number of Chinese merchants, peasants and workers was several times less, and more than ten times more than that of the Japanese capital. It is expected that the fiscal revenue of this year was 220 million yuan, while China, even according to the forecast, by the end of the year, the monthly income may exceed 100 million yuan mark. It's only about 940 million yuan. That's 4 times more than the Japanese version! But the total amount of our country is ten times that of Japan!"

Listening to his words, Chen Moran interrupted him without hesitation. Isn't it just that he wants to raise taxes?

"On the surface, we are an agricultural country. We have 1.5 billion mu of arable land. How much is it? But it's only more than 70 million mu!"

"The 1.5 billion mu of arable land has been requisitioned 126 million yuan, and the original 70 million mu has been requisitioned 75.36 million yuan!"

Hearing this contrast, Chen Moran was shocked. The 20-fold gap brought less than twice the tax, but now more than 100 million agricultural taxes have been finally available. It is by relying on the "registration and identification of the legal right of the mu of the field" to finally find out the number of acres of arable land in China and the upper, middle and lower three-level fields. The only way to increase the tax is collected by the agricultural tax in the Qing Dynasty, but when Guan Mingtang collects taxes, he found out the concealment when the tax is reduced. The legal right of the private field mu is not recognized, and the space is the official field, which is used for the school to make school property, from less than 900 million mu. It is 1.5 billion mu.

The upper, middle and lower third-level and ninth-level field evaluation is also part of the legal registration. As soon as the registration is counted, the land is prohibited from private sale and sold. The land officials are listed to supervise the transaction. The price of the third-level and ninth-class fields is several times different. With the help of supervising transactions and the same way of evaluation, the field is determined, so as to formulate tax rules according to the fields. Good land tax is heavy. The bad land tax is light, which has quadrupled the agricultural tax.

Although the gap between the two countries is really scary, Chen Moran still waved his hand and said.

"Zheqin, now we have barely enough money. Don't talk about tax increase! In particular, the agricultural tax must not be increased. The difference between industrial scissors is enough!"

Joke, add agricultural tax. Now the agricultural tax is heavy enough. If you add more, you will wait for the people to rebel against themselves. What's more, the agricultural tax will make a big deal in the future. This tax can only be reduced and cannot be increased!

"Your Majesty, I don't mean to increase the agricultural tax. Colonial taxes such as agricultural tax have never been seen and will be cancelled. Of course, it is not appropriate now. I just use this example to point out the gap between us and Japan!"

Guan Mingtang shook his head. The agricultural tax could not be increased. How could he not know that even the separate existence of agricultural tax itself is unreasonable. Except for colonial and Asian countries in the world, few countries in the world collect separate agricultural taxes. Agricultural tax is completely distributed in various related taxes, and agricultural tax is levied. At that time, farmers are also responsible for all aspects of taxation, which is simply a disguised double taxation.

"Colonial tax... It's a little interesting!"

Chen Moran didn't say anything, but he muttered in his heart what was going on with the colonial tax.

"In fact, the biggest gap between us and Japan is not the economy, not industry. The first is education, the second is the political axe system, and the third is the law. Now we are talking about taxation. More than half of our 940 million yuan this year comes from tariffs, and the other 150 million is the results of sorting out the salt tax after one year, and then deducting more than 100 million farmers. Taxes, Your Majesty, after these deductions, the tax from industry and commerce is only more than 200 million yuan. Although we encourage the development of industry and commerce with tax reduction and exemption, the problem is that the tax levied is too small, with at least 300 to 400 million tax losses..."

Aware of the change in His Majesty's expression, Guan Mingtang remembered that His Majesty in front of him did not have much money. He lost three or four hundred million yuan in taxes a year. How could he not be heartbroken? Don't think that this is embezzlement. The tax police are under the control of the Ministry of Finance.

"Your Majesty, it is not that people have embezzled that money, but the necessity of a backward tax collection system. Your Majesty, the establishment of a modern state system is not a one-time attack. Taxation can be started with fast-effective tariffs and salt taxes, but such as education, taxation, political axes and other institutions, and even local councils, is not five years. It can be done! During the construction period, the central government really needs to be presided over by a prestigious person to bomb the place!"

Chen Moran knew that Guan Mingtang was reminding himself that everything should be done step by step. Although he didn't say anything, the meaning in his words was very clear.

"I can't do this kind of work!"

But after hearing what he said, he couldn't help but feel a 300 million tax. Chen Moran could feel that his heart was bleeding. 400 million a year, which were 20 dreadnoughts!

"Zheqin, don't worry about those. In the past few years, you can handle this tax for me first! That's..."

Within waiting for Chen Moran to say the silver, the harsh phone rang. He picked up the red phone on the table and smiled at Guan Mingtang when Chen Moran hung up the phone.

"Zheqin, the big deal has been decided!"

(to be continued)