Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 495 The Sage is going to suppress the aristocratic clans again?

A fast horseman entered Quchifang and rode all the way to West Street, stopping in front of a luxurious mansion.

This house was the villa of Zou Fengchi, the richest merchant in Chang'an.

The man on horseback dismounted and, as soon as he reached the door, he heard melodious music coming from inside.

"Bang, bang, bang!" The rider knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a voice came from inside the door.

"Du Fu, the Chief Clerk of the Ministry of Revenue!"

Upon hearing this, the door immediately opened, and a doorman with a fawning smile looked at the person outside and said, "Master Du, what brings you here?"

Du Fu ignored him and strode inside, and the doorman didn't dare to stop him.

Du Fu walked through the courtyard to the outside of the main hall and looked inside.

Inside the hall, two rows of people were seated. A quick glance revealed that they were either high-ranking officials from the capital, scions of prominent families in the capital, or several wealthy merchants dressed in black.

The man sitting at the head of the table was also a businessman, short and stout, about forty years old. He was the owner of the place, Zou Fengchi.

However, he was not sitting in the chair, but holding a glass of wine, and was toasting the guest on his left.

That guest was none other than Li Yifu.

On the carpet in the center of the hall were seven or eight dancers, all around twenty years old.

These dancers not only had fair skin and beautiful faces, but what was even more remarkable was that they all had similar figures. Wearing off-the-shoulder gauze dresses and bare feet, they raised their legs and swung their arms, their snow-white skin appearing and disappearing, making all the guests' eyes light up.

Li Yifu, being naturally amorous, was equally engrossed in the sights and didn't notice Du Fu entering at all.

When Du Fu came to his side, Zou Fengchi noticed him first and said with a smile, "Isn't this Steward Du? It's all my fault for being so negligent that I forgot to send you an invitation."

Li Yifu then noticed that Du Fu had come in and said with a smile, "Little Du, you've come at the right time. The dancers in Manager Zou's mansion are the best in Chang'an. It's a rare day off today, so please sit down and take a look."

Du Fu frowned, walked over to Li Yifu, and whispered a few words in his ear.

After hearing this, Li Yifu's expression changed slightly. He immediately stood up and said to Zou Fengchi, "Manager Zou, I have some urgent business to attend to. Farewell."

After saying this, without waiting for Zou Fengchi to ask any questions, he quickly left with Du Fu.

Li Yifu arrived by carriage, and soon he emerged from the second gate of the Zou residence in his carriage, with Du Fu also in the carriage.

Once they were on the street, Li Yifu asked Du Fu, "What exactly happened? What decree did His Majesty issue that made Minister Lu so nervous and so eager to have me come over to discuss it?"

Du Fu whispered, "His Majesty wants to reform the tax system again."

Li Yifu was slightly taken aback and said, "This isn't the first time we've reformed the tax system, so why are you making such a fuss?"

Du Fudao said, "This time it's different. His Majesty plans to change the tax collection method from per capita to per unit of land."

Li Yifu's expression changed drastically; this policy had a significant impact on officials.

Officials would grant land for official use, which would either be cultivated by family members or servants, or by tenant farmers.

Officials' salaries were actually not high, just enough for them to live on in Chang'an. To support a large family, they mainly relied on the system of allocating land and collecting rent.

Previously, the poll tax only required them to pay land tax for one or a few people. However, if the tax were based on the amount of land owned, the amount of tax they had to pay would increase by dozens or even hundreds of times.

This policy infringes upon the interests of all officials!
"Who gave His Majesty this terrible idea!" Li Yifu roared in fury.

Du Fu sighed, “I heard that before His Majesty issued the decree, he met with the Tibetan Lu Dongzan. Everyone is suspecting that it was this barbarian who advised His Majesty, because the Tibetans collect agricultural taxes based on the amount of land they cultivate.”

Li Yifu's eyes flickered for a moment, then he said coldly, "No, there must be a reason why His Majesty would summon Lu Dongzan!"

Du Fu said, "I don't know about that, but perhaps Minister Lu does."

Lu Chengqing was also anxious about this matter.

The land reform at that time caused huge losses to powerful families. The large amount of land accumulated by the Lu family of Fanyang over the years was confiscated by the imperial court and given to those landless people.

Those landless people used to own land; they sold it to acquire wealth, and now they've been given land away for nothing.

This matter displeased the powerful families, and many people protested against it, including Lu Chengqing, who secretly tried to stop it.

However, the emperor used the Xiao family's alleged rebellion to escalate the matter, ultimately enabling him to forcefully implement the plan.

With their land gone, the powerful clans would eventually squander their savings. They could only try to find ways to get more officials from their clans into the imperial court and receive their allotted land.

The total amount of all the clan members' assigned land is quite considerable. It is managed by the clan elders, who assign it to clan members and hire tenants to cultivate. With some frugality, they can barely maintain a balance between income and expenditure.

Now, the emperor suddenly wants to change the tax system again, and collect taxes based on the amount of land owned.

With so much land owned by the various powerful clans, it's unclear how much tax they'll have to pay, resulting in a huge extra expense.

Not only powerful families, but all officials in the court had to pay more taxes. The higher the rank, the higher the tax increase. Who wouldn't be anxious?
Lu Chengqing sat in his chair and sighed deeply, truly not understanding why the emperor was suddenly making things difficult for the officials.

If the national treasury is empty and officials are needed to contribute, he will not hesitate to do so.

The country is not short of money, and its fiscal revenue and expenditure are increasing year by year. Why would the emperor suddenly want to target the powerful and wealthy?
Is it because the war is over, and the emperor is going to suppress the aristocratic families again?

Just as they were pondering this, there was a knock on the door, and it was Li Yifu who had arrived.

Lu Chengqing invited Li Yifu in and explained the situation to him.

Li Yifu said in a deep voice, "I already know about this matter, but I don't understand why His Majesty would suddenly summon Lu Dongzan without any reason?"

Lu Chengqing said, "According to the information I have received, this matter may be related to the Qiang people."

Li Yifu frowned and said, "The Tuyuhun rebellion against Tang has already been dealt with by Han Boyu, and it has not caused any harm!"

Lu Chengqing said, "I am not entirely clear about the specific reasons, but regarding taxes, I have heard from the Court of State Ceremonies that His Majesty is preparing to levy taxes on the Qiang people."

Li Yifu suddenly realized, "That's right. Since Tuyuhun has rebelled against Tang, His Majesty will naturally no longer tolerate the Qiang people maintaining the old system of Jimi Prefecture!"

He paused for a moment, then frowned and said, "But this still has nothing to do with tax reform!"

Lu Chengqing said, "I've heard that Brother Li has a close personal relationship with Zhang Shaoqing of the Court of State Ceremonial. Why don't you ask him about it?"

Li Yifu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go find him now."

Zhang Jianzhi has been extremely busy lately, negotiating with the Arabs, handling the reform of the Qiang people's Jimi Prefecture, and also taking charge of the official affairs of the Central Secretariat.

Fortunately, he was full of energy and ran between the Secretariat and the Court of State Ceremonies two or three times a day without feeling tired at all.

No sooner had he dealt with a matter concerning the illegal mining of silver in Yingzhou by the Secretariat than he rushed to the Court of State Ceremonies. As soon as he entered the office, he met Li Yifu, who had been waiting for him for a long time.

"Lord Li, what's wrong? What happened?" Zhang Jianzhi asked Li Yifu, noticing his deeply furrowed brows.

Li Yifu said in a deep voice, "Jianzhi, have you heard about His Majesty's tax reform?"

Zhang Jianzhi nodded: "I understand."

Li Yifu asked, "Do you know why His Majesty suddenly wants to reform the tax system?"

Zhang Jianzhi pondered and said, "I think it's because the territory has increased significantly in recent years, and the tax rates in different regions are not uniform. The taxes in the newly incorporated regions are generally too low, which is unfair to other places. Therefore, His Majesty wants to adopt a fairer tax collection method."

Upon hearing this, Li Yifu suddenly realized and said, "That's right, that must be the reason."

Zhang Jianzhi continued, “In the past, agriculture was the main industry in various parts of the Tang Dynasty, but now there are many nomadic groups whose products are mostly livestock. It is impossible to collect taxes using the old system. Tax reform is timely.”

Li Yifu sighed and said, "Your Majesty's desire for the Hu people to be taxed in the same way as our Tang people is understandable. But Your Majesty could simply increase the livestock tax for the Hu people. Why change the agricultural tax to be levied based on the amount of land?"

Zhang Jianzhi replied, "I think it's very good."

Li Yifu frowned and said, "What's so good about it? You and I will have to pay dozens of times more taxes in the future. Brother Zhang, don't you care at all?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, “From a personal point of view, I am naturally not happy about this, but from the perspective of national interests, such a reform will result in the rich paying more taxes and the poor paying less taxes. The rich are not short of money, but the livelihoods of the poor will be greatly improved as a result.”

Li Yifu said calmly, "In this way, we would have to take stock of personal assets, which would complicate the tax collection process. Once anything becomes complicated, there is room for manipulation, which may not be in the best interest of the people."

Zhang Jianzhi said, "That is our responsibility as officials. We cannot back down just because it is difficult to handle."

Li Yifu knew that Zhang Jianzhi was speaking the truth, but he found it extremely jarring to his ears.

The words may sound grand and dignified, but they concern everyone's future quality of life.

With taxes levied in this manner, every official's household will have to reduce various expenditures.

It is unacceptable that the quality of life of officials is declining when the country is clearly doing well.

After leaving the Court of State Ceremonial, Li Yifu's mood worsened.

With the emperor's current prestige, he can do whatever he wants, and even if all the civil and military officials unite, they cannot stop him.

So it's no use going to any official.

The only person who could influence the emperor was Empress Wu.

This matter has, after all, affected the interests of the Wu clan, and Empress Wu would probably not be pleased with it.

With that in mind, he took a carriage and headed towards Jiang Yan's small courtyard, hoping to use Jiang Yan to probe the Empress's thoughts.

Jiang Yan left an old servant in the courtyard; with just a word of notification, she could be seen tomorrow.

Arriving at the courtyard, he knocked on the door and had just mentioned the matter to the old servant when he saw her beaming and saying, "Husband, you've come at the perfect time. My wife just left the palace on business and is resting in the room."

Li Yifu was overjoyed. He entered the main room and indeed saw Jiang Yan resting on the couch, with her legs crossed and eating tangerines in a rather unrefined posture.

Upon seeing Li Yifu enter, she exclaimed in surprise, quickly sat up straight, and asked with a flushed face, "Why did you suddenly come?"

Li Yifu laughed and said, "I've seen all kinds of positions before, why are you reacting so strongly?" He then sat down next to her.

Jiang Yan glared at him, peeled a segment of orange, put it in his mouth, and said with a smile, "So, what do you want from me?"

Li Yifu swallowed a tangerine and asked, "Are you aware of His Majesty's plan to reform the tax system?"

Jiang Yan nodded.

Li Yifu's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Does Her Majesty the Empress also oppose this matter?"

Jiang Yan frowned and said, "I don't know His Highness's attitude, but His Majesty's reform of the tax system is very likely related to His Highness."

Li Yifu asked in surprise, "Why is that?"

Jiang Yan said, "A while ago, the Eastern Queen approached Your Highness, expressing her willingness to pay taxes to the Tang Dynasty, but hoping that the tax rate could be the same as that of the Kunlun-Tibet region."

Li Yifu was stunned for a long time, then slapped his thigh and said, "I understand. Her Majesty must have told His Majesty about this. His Majesty felt that the tax system was chaotic, so he wanted to reform the tax system and set a unified tax rate."

Jiang Yan said, "That's right. Her Majesty the Empress sent me out of the palace today to tell Li Binjiu that the tax system in all regions of the Tang Dynasty will be unified in the future. She hopes that the Qiang people will pay taxes in the same way as the Kunzang Protectorate, and this has been achieved."

Li Yifu then asked, "With such a reform, all families in Chang'an will have to pay more taxes. What is Your Majesty's opinion on this?"

Jiang Yan hesitated for a moment, then said, "His Highness said this is very good."

Li Yifu was stunned and said, "That's right?"

Jiang Yan said softly, "His Highness said that according to the previous tax system, the country's wealth would be concentrated in the hands of aristocratic families. These aristocratic families are selfish and will never share the burden for His Majesty if the country is in danger in the future. It is a good thing to levy more taxes on them."

Li Yifu was speechless, both laughing and crying.

He knew that the emperor and empress had always suppressed the aristocratic families, but now that the aristocratic families were no longer what they used to be, was it still necessary to suppress them in this way?

Seeing his pale face, Jiang Yan whispered, "Should I go to the Empress and speak on your behalf?"

"Forget it. If we anger the Empress, the title you so painstakingly bestowed upon us might be in jeopardy," Li Yifu waved his hand.

There were quite a few officials like Li Yifu who inquired about the matter everywhere, but in the end, none of them dared to submit a memorial opposing it.

The following day, after discussion, the Secretariat and the Ministry of Revenue jointly submitted a decree to the emperor, proposing to set the tax rate at 80% of one hundred.

Originally, the Tang Dynasty's tax revenue, after deducting the "yong" tax, was two shi of millet per adult male, plus silk and hemp cloth, totaling about three or four shi.

Although the people of the Tang Dynasty were allotted 100 mu of land, they practiced a three-year rotation system, resulting in low yields, with an annual harvest of about 30 to 40 shi (a unit of dry measure).

Based on this calculation, the original tax rate was around 10%, while the current tax rate of 70% is actually a slight reduction.

This is, of course, also because taxes affect all officials, so everyone tacitly agrees to set taxes relatively low.

Previously, taxes were levied based on the number of males, but now they are levied based on the amount of land owned. Those with more land will pay significantly more taxes. With one increase and one decrease, the total tax revenue will not change much.

This meant that the wealthy bore a portion of the taxes levied on ordinary people. This was precisely Li Zhi's purpose, and he immediately approved the edict with a stroke of his jade pen.

He also dispatched several officials to various prefectures, protectorates, and governorates to oversee local tax reforms.

The envoy sent to the Kunlun Protectorate was none other than Gar Tongtsen.

(End of this chapter)