amaotonovel Chapter 1143 The bastard has finally incurred the wrath of the masses!
Chapter 1143 The bastard has finally incurred the wrath of the masses!
Li Shanchang really wanted to grab Yang Shaofeng and ask, "What kind of living Yama are you, you son of a bitch?"
It was you, Yang the Madman, who said that we need to first define the position and powers of the cabinet. I want to bring you, Yang the Madman, into the cabinet so that you, the "instigator," can help me give advice and help complete the cabinet reform as soon as possible.
But how did you, Yang the Madman, treat me?
Before the cabinet reform has even started, you've already thrown this huge accusation at us: "Completely abolish the tax, poll tax, and corvée labor."
Yes, as the common people say, "powder should be applied to the face." Having the ruler formally abolish the poll tax and corvée labor by issuing an edict to the world would not only benefit the people but also bring glory to the ruler.
The question is, does Yang the Madman even know how much poll tax our Great Ming Dynasty should collect every year?
Assuming a poll tax of 20 coins per person per year, with over 70 million people in the Ming Dynasty, that would amount to 1.4 billion coins annually.
The court wants the people to recuperate now, so it's fine if the new emperor doesn't collect this money. But what about in the future?
In case the imperial court needs money urgently, 1.4 billion coins can be used to the fullest extent!
There was also corvée labor.
You, Yang the Madman, do not need to perform corvée labor in Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture because Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture are rich and have plenty of laborers to employ. But how many of the more than a thousand prefectures and counties in the Ming Dynasty are as wealthy as Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture?
Fields need to be cultivated, roads need to be repaired, rivers need to be dredged, bridges need to be built, mausoleums need to be constructed, railways need to be built, and there are a whole host of projects to be done. All you can say is that you're exempting people from corvée labor, which is tantamount to asking the government to pay people to do the work.
Good heavens, first you bastardly exempted 1.4 billion coins from the head tax with just a word, and then you bastardly asked the government to pay people to work.
So you and your superiors got all the credit, leaving the cabinet to clean up a huge mess?
Li Shanchang grew increasingly angry, but Yang Siyi, the Minister of Revenue, stepped forward and glared at Yang Shaofeng, saying, "May I ask Your Highness, after the formal abolition of the poll tax and the household tax, who will make up for the difference of over a billion taels of silver in the national treasury?"
Before Yang Shaofeng could speak, Xue Xiang, the Minister of Works, also stepped forward, glaring at Yang Shaofeng and saying, "I also have a question to ask the Prince Consort—if corvée labor is officially abolished, who will do the work on water conservancy, roads, bridges, and other projects that are of great importance to people's livelihoods in various places?"
Yang Siyi immediately chimed in: "In my opinion, the Prince Consort will most likely talk about a labor service system, where the government pays to hire people to work—but I wonder where the Prince Consort will get the money from the national treasury since there are over a billion dollars missing?"
Li Shanchang's eyes darted around, and he stroked his beard as he said, "Does Your Highness know that our Great Ming Dynasty's current tax system is based on living within our means?"
"If we follow the Prince Consort's advice and abolish all taxes, poll taxes, and corvée labor, we can barely manage in the short term. However, as more and more projects are undertaken and more and more places require money, the national treasury will not be able to keep up. The principle of living within our means must be changed to living within our means, and we must create new pretexts to levy additional taxes."
"In the end, won't it be the common people who suffer?"
Even the Zhu Emperor, who was sitting on the dragon throne watching the play, sat up straight.
This bastard has finally angered everyone!
Watching other people's drama is nowhere as interesting as watching a scoundrel get attacked.
At least it lets us vent our anger!
Seeing the faces of Li Shanchang, Yang Siyi, and Xue Xiang, as well as the other eager officials and the old man's expectant look, Yang Shaofeng rolled his eyes and said to Li Shanchang, Yang Siyi, and the others, "Oh, so it's all my fault after all. How did I cause such a big mess?"
As Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, Emperor Zhu's hands, which had been tucked into his sleeves, clenched into fists.
That damn tone!
That disgustingly sarcastic tone!
Damn it, it's only because the emperor beating up the Duke of Ying in court that it sounds bad, and it's also really unacceptable for a father-in-law to beat up his son-in-law in court. Otherwise, we would definitely teach you a good lesson today, you bastard!
Emperor Zhu's hands clenched into fists one moment and grasped into claws the next, as if he wanted to practice all eighteen martial arts on this scoundrel.
Yang Shaofeng gave a nonchalant snort and looked at Li Shanchang, saying, "What did Grand Secretary Han just say? Was it 'living within one's means' or 'living within one's means'?"
Pay attention!
The traditional financial principle of Zhongyuan Hall is "living within one's means," that is, determining expenditures based on income. For example, the Book of Rites states, "Control the national expenditure and live within one's means."
Of course, not all dynasties strictly adhered to the practice of living within their means.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, Sang Hongyang proposed the "salt and iron monopoly," which, although not yet fully defined, was essentially a rudimentary form of the "export-based revenue" system.
During the Tang Dynasty, a financial crisis arose after the An Lushan Rebellion. In the first year of the Jianzhong era, Prime Minister Yang Yanzhong implemented the Two-Tax System, which clarified the concept of "controlling income based on expenditure," that is, determining expenditure needs before levying taxes.
From the Song Dynasty onwards, "living within one's means" became the mainstream practice, but it was controversial. The traditional practice of "living within one's means" was still praised as a model of restraint in taxation.
After establishing the Ming Dynasty, Lao Deng, because the wars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty had caused too much harm to the people, revived the policy of "living within one's means" and tried to make the people "well-off" through "moderate taxation".
Yang Shaofeng cupped his hands in greeting to Emperor Zhu and continued, "I once heard a wise man say that when looking at a problem, one should look beyond the surface and see the essence."
"Whether it's living within one's means or living within one's means, the essence ultimately lies in how to determine taxes, how to collect taxes, and how to use taxes."
"The reason why dynasties throughout history have been unwilling to give up the tax system of taxation and poll tax is ultimately due to the difficulty in collecting commercial taxes. It is difficult to collect taxes from merchants with large businesses, and it is also difficult to collect taxes from ordinary people who do small businesses."
"The former involves too many complex interests, and may even involve collusion between officials and businessmen."
"The latter is that the profit is too low and the tax amount is difficult to calculate. If the tax is too low, the cost of handling it back and forth may be higher than the tax revenue. If the tax is too high, ordinary people may lose money, which may lead to the destruction of families and the creation of turmoil out of nowhere."
"..."
Yang Shaofeng adopted a posture of debating with the scholars, but the court fell into silence. Countless officials wished they could strangle Yang Shaofeng.
That's incredibly outspoken!
This grand court assembly was different from the past; it was a truly grand assembly. From the cabinet to the various ministries, supervisory commissioners, temples, academies, and the Grand Military Commissioner's Office, all the powerful figures from various government offices, as well as the provincial governors, judicial commissioners, and military commanders, were present to summarize the first five-year plan and discuss the second five-year plan.
In other words, what exactly are you, Yang Dianfeng, trying to express by saying these things?
Which officials and wealthy merchants are implying to have conflicts of interest?
Is it because you, Yang the Madman, offended Prime Minister Li by taking over, that you want to drag everyone down with you?