In the prehistoric times, I was the Emperor of Heaven

Hearing this, Xu Shu nodded.

"In fact, I had no idea about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's tax reform plan at the beginning. The establishment of the bill voucher system and the review of the Qixin Talisman were a curse for those merchants.

It has never been implemented in the past. Those merchants are not easy to deal with and may resist forcefully.

But the result was that it was much better than expected."

"During the implementation process, most of the small traders complained at first, but few stopped business or left. They complained, but they still diligently went to the city supervisor and tax collector to learn about various regulations. system.

The larger businessmen were more fierce in their opposition, and many even stopped their business to fight, but few left Su Guang's.

As for the big merchants in Suguang County, they are basically run by powerful family members or supported by agents. Because of Taiping Road, their acres and shops are now in the hands of the court."

Xu Shu told Man Chong about the initial tax reform.

Man Chong had served as a county magistrate and a prefect, and he also had a very good understanding of the lives of the people at the bottom.

After listening to Xu Shu's words, he sighed:"Small merchants and hawkers are all They are ordinary people at the bottom. They may have a better life than the people in the countryside, but they only have enough food and clothing, or are just a little rich.

In the past, when they were running businesses, they not only had to provide support to the court officials, but also paid protection fees to gangs, etc., and were even killed by local gangsters. Bully.

If they go out of business, the family will starve, and it will be even more difficult to survive outside the local area.

Therefore, they have no choice but to accept the restructuring of the imperial court. They can only complain a few words. If the government can really enforce the law strictly as promised, restrain officials at the top, and crack down on criminals at the bottom, I am afraid they will be grateful in their hearts.

As for the slightly older businessmen, their connections are all in the local area. They are relatively well-known locally and are local snakes. But if they leave the local area and go outside, they have to steal other people's food and compete with the local local snakes for the market. Without their local advantage, they couldn’t stand firm, so they could only stop business and wait and see, and few left."

"yes!"Xu Shu nodded. After the tax reform experiment, it was proved that this is indeed the case. Those small traders and slightly larger traders can only accept the court's policies and have no room for resistance.

"and after?"Man Chong asked expectantly.

"As mentioned before, during the reform of the government's organizational structure, His Highness established a new Shang Cao. This yamen is specifically used for business, government-run merchants.

Those acres of land and shops left by powerful families in Suguang County were taken over by Shang Cao.

However, His Highness stipulated that Shang Cao's people could not directly intervene in the operation and management, but recruited specialized people to run and manage it. Shang Cao was only responsible for supervision and auditing.

His Highness asked the merchants to recruit people with business experience to run the shops in these fields. These people were government merchants.

The shopkeepers in charge of these shops do not have the official official establishment of the imperial court, but their status is equal to that of the imperial officials, and they enjoy the same benefits as the imperial officials, such as the exchange of exercises, the exchange of elixirs, the guidance and practice of strong men, etc., and they operate Well, rewards are given.

After Shang Cao issued the recruitment documents, many people applied for the job. Although becoming an official merchant did not have the rights of an official, he enjoyed the same benefits as an official, and his status was far higher than that of ordinary merchants outside. It is easy to practice in Gongmen, which is a big temptation for many people.

Shang Cao recruited many people with business experience. With the efforts of these people, one-third of the shops that Shang Cao took over reopened.

This made the waiting merchants outside anxious, so many people began to register with the city supervisor and tax supervisor."

"His Highness then asked to formulate a preferential investment policy and rent out the remaining two-thirds of the shops.

As long as you are willing to rent a store from the imperial court, you will be given a preferential policy of free rent for half a year and half the rent within one year.

The release of this preferential policy immediately attracted a lot of people, many people came to rent it, and even attracted some foreign businessmen.

After all, the imperial court is tax-free for half a year, so even if the business fails, the losses to themselves will be small, and these shops are core shops in the city, in excellent locations that they could not even imagine in the past."Xu Shu told Man Chong.

Man Chong was greatly shocked after hearing this. Why did all of them think that the bill voucher system and the heart-asking talisman review were difficult to implement in the past.

One of the reasons is that the people behind these merchants are powerful people from aristocratic families and other powerful people. , these people have people up and down the court, and they will stop it.

The second is that once implemented, these merchants will probably go on strike, causing a very big impact and forcing the court to compromise.

But now the reform of Suguang County has made He saw a new world.

Government-run merchants controlled some businesses and important industries, which was conducive to the court's regulation of the market and weakened the control of the market by merchants or the powerful families behind them. For government- run merchants, court officials did not directly intervene in the business. Only supervise and guide, and let professional people do the work. This will not only reduce official corruption, but also help the development of government-run merchants.

Businessmen pursue profits, and when faced with shops in good locations and rent-free or rent-reduced concessions, people flock to them. It shows that tax collection is not an obstacle to the market; it proves that the real obstacles to the court's tax collection are actually the powerful people and big businessmen of aristocratic families, and taxation is just their excuse. In the past, they only focused on big businessmen and big trading houses, because these big businessmen controlled a lot of resources. Once they go on strike, the court will be affected and ignore the small and medium-sized traders. In fact, these small and medium-sized traders are the ones that the court needs to pay attention to and support. The existence of these small and medium-sized traders can not only prosper the market, but also weaken the influence of powerful families and big businessmen on the market. Control is conducive to maintaining the rule of the imperial court.

PS: Please move to"The Supreme Emperor of the Ancients". This book will not be updated in the future. It is the same author. Click on the author of this book to search.