On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 441 Reset Commercial Tax

Queen Dowager Doulu said that she was deeply in love with her, but Cui Che was not a child, and she knew in her heart that the other party could not really fall in love with her.

But this did not prevent him from being the father-in-law to the young emperor during the day and the queen mother-in-law at night.

A wife is not as good as a concubine, and a concubine is not as good as a thief. The strange pleasure of having an affair with the Queen Mother Doulu also makes Cui Che endlessly enjoy it.

It was in sharp contrast to last night when I begged Yang Awu for mercy early.

Since Empress Dowager Doulu persuaded Yang Liang to stay in Jinyang at the beginning of the year, she was resented by him and never had any intimacy with him.

The two lingered all night until they were exhausted.

The next day, before dawn, four maids who had been waiting outside the door all night were called in. They carried the quilt away, and Cui Che was the only one left in the wing of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Although the gentle country makes people sink, Cui Che did not completely fall into it. When the sky was bright, Cui Che also washed up early, and after having breakfast, he went to the meeting hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Not long after, Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng were summoned by Cui Che and rushed over.

Power is a man's aphrodisiac. Cui Che regained his energetic appearance and asked:

"Now that the national treasury is empty and I want to save provinces and counties, what do you two think, pharmacist and Xuancheng?"

After Fang Xuanling looked at Wei Zheng, he dissuaded him:

"Your Majesty, I believe that merging provinces with prefectures and counties can certainly reduce treasury expenditures, but now that the country is not in peace, it is the time to recruit talented people, and we should not lay off officials on a large scale."

Wei Zheng echoed:

"I think what Chief Shi said is reasonable, but I would like to ask your Majesty to think again."

Seeing that both of them were opposed, Cui Che temporarily put aside the idea of ​​merging provinces with prefectures and counties and streamlining the official team until later.

He asked again:

"It's just that the national treasury is empty now. Thanks to the Qingzhou salt industry, we can barely maintain it. After all, we have to find some ways to fill the shortfall. I wonder if you two can make money?"

Fang Xuanling pondered for a long time and replied:

"I ask the king to re-establish commercial tax."

Cui Che was silent after hearing this and did not immediately agree.

The Sui Dynasty was the only dynasty in Chinese history that had no miscellaneous industrial and commercial taxes. Even important materials such as salt, iron, tea, and wine were neither monopolized nor taxed.

There was no government monopoly and no exploitation by commercial taxes, which also made the Sui Dynasty's commercial economy unprecedentedly prosperous.

Re-introducing commercial taxes can certainly inject blood into the national treasury and alleviate or even solve the fiscal crisis.

Cui Che is a time traveler after all, and he knows the huge benefits that business tax can bring.

It's just that everything has advantages and disadvantages. The nobles talk about being peasants, farmers, industry and commerce, and think that business is a cheap industry, but the real big merchants actually have the shadow of those clans behind them.

Imposing business taxes is undoubtedly cutting flesh off the bodies of these nobles.

Wei Zheng saw the hesitation in Cui Che's heart, and he added:

"I think your Majesty does not need to worry about this.

"The king was able to easily sweep Hebei in the past, and it was certainly inseparable from the support of the nobles.

"But now that the king has repeatedly defeated powerful enemies, the tiger has conquered the Three Rivers, and is powerful in China. The troops and horses under his command are so abundant that no one dares to stroke the tiger's beard.

"Today the treasury is empty. Your Majesty just wants to collect a small amount of business tax. Who dares to turn against your Majesty for this?"

Cui Che nodded slightly. He also believed that what Wei Zheng said was reasonable. A little business tax would not touch the fundamental interests of these noble families.

Just like when Yang Jian forced the nobles to hand over the occupied fields and hidden population, they also chose to give in.

What these nobles valued most was their political privileges.

Realizing this, Cui Che also left the imperial examination system in his mind behind. At least before the destruction of the Western Sui Dynasty, he could not touch this taboo.

The previous orders to seek talents were just a temporary product and could be tolerated by the nobles.

But if you want to institutionalize the method of selecting scholars regardless of family background or family status, you will definitely arouse opposition from many people.

In the current situation of external enemies, there cannot be a big chaos internally.

In a short period of time, the Western Sui Dynasty would still follow Yang Jian's method of recruiting scholars and ask the governors of each state to recommend three people every year to come to Jinyang for assessment.

In the main hall, Cui Che discussed with Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng for a long time and finally decided.

Choi Cheol plans to levy pass tax and residence tax on businesses.

The so-called overtax refers to tariffs, and the tax rate is one hundred and two taxes.

The residence tax is the transaction tax, and the tax rate is one hundred tax three.

The total tax rate is only 5%, which is completely within the range that businessmen can afford.

In order to collect taxes, Cui Che will set up tax gates and place tax collectors at the water and land transportation thoroughfares in the Sanhe area.

Once the tax is paid, a voucher will be issued, which records the quantity and type of the goods. When you arrive at the next tax customs, after checking the goods, you can go straight through to avoid merchants having to pay repeatedly every time they go to a tax customs. .

Cui Che also knows that no matter how good his intentions are, if there is a lack of supervision, it will increase the burden on small traders.

Those tax collectors did not dare to ask for bribes from large merchants who had noble families as their backers, but they would not be merciful when trying to offend small traders.

For this reason, Cui Che specially called Zhao Mu and Zhao Wen and divided the Observation Department into two.

Zhao Mu was in charge of the external government, dispatching agents to the enemy's territory, spying on information, and buying internal agents.

Zhao Wen presided over the internal government office and was responsible for supervising the civil servants and military generals as well as the tax collectors in various places.

Forming dual supervision with the local government, both overt and covert.

The income tax money will not flow into the local treasury, but will be transported directly to Jinyang. This also prevents the local government from acting as both athletes and referees.

It's easy to collect the tax, but if you don't have a tax certificate, you'll have to pay as long as you pass by.

But residence tax, that is, transaction tax, must have limited trading venues.

Cui Che plans to divide commodity trading into fixed places and mobile places.

A fixed place means that a market is set up in every county in the Sanhe area. When entering the market, you pay a 3% residence tax and obtain a voucher.

If the goods are not sold out, you can request a refund of the tax on the unsold goods based on the voucher.

Cui Che considered that in feudal society, it would be difficult for many people to visit the county town in their lifetime, so he arranged for dedicated people to take turns organizing trade in each township.

Just like a fixed place, you pay residence tax and get a voucher when you enter the market, and the remaining amount is refunded when you leave the market.

There is still a dual supervision between the local government and the Observation Department, one overt and one covert, and tax money does not enter the local government treasury.

After finalizing these matters with Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng, Cui Che wrote a letter to the young emperor in the afternoon of the same day, requesting that the commercial tax be re-established, and a court meeting would be held tomorrow.

When the news spread, all the ministers were horrified. There is no doubt that this is a major event, which can be said to have changed the laws of the ancestors.

Otherwise Cui Che would not have brought it to the court to discuss with the ministers.

The next day, after spending the night with Queen Mother Doulu who was carried by the servant women, Cui Xiangguo set off for the Daming Palace.

(End of chapter)