Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 82 I want to laugh when you talk to me about the legal system
Hearing this, Zhang Ai was already angry with shame. She pointed at Zhao Guangmei with a suppressed face and asked: "I don't know why, Your Highness, you insult me? I am the censor, but I have heard about it. Even if I impeach you and the company, , and it was entirely out of a public heart. Without exception, the things recorded here are all conclusive evidence, and there is absolutely no mistake. Your Highness humiliated me in public. If you can't tell me why, I will be killed today. Above this hall!"

"Pfft."

Zhao Guangmei laughed again.

"Sorry, sorry, um, what, I'm really sorry. I'm really sorry. You're so funny. Don't kill me. Come on, come and sit. Oh, you're not sitting. Come and stand for a while. Let's talk slowly. .”

"You...hum! I would like to hear His Highness's opinion."

Zhang Ai became more and more annoyed, always feeling that Zhao Guangmei was clearly deliberately humiliating herself. However, he was the King of Qin after all, and his sect had always had no rules. After thinking about it, he had no choice but to endure it for the time being.

But this was really an injustice to Zhao Guangmei. Zhao Guangmei really didn't mean to humiliate him intentionally. In fact, although the old man was annoying and always found trouble with himself, Zhao Guangmei thought he was really cute.

Zhao Kuangyin used him as Wei Zheng. He was comparing himself to Li Shimin. Occasionally, he would be a little disgusting and just tolerate it. Who made him so vain and care about the reputation of a young man in history?Naturally, he wouldn't ruin the show that his elder brother had worked so hard to put on.

Zhao Kuangyin also said curiously: "I don't quite understand it. Your business can make money, it's your ability, but you obviously paid less tax, so why are the profits distributed more than the normal tax?" How many?"

Zhao Guangmei said: "What's so difficult to understand? To be honest, this year is just because it is the first year, especially in heavy industry where there is less investment and less output. Next year, maybe I will have to pay even more taxes than now. Twice more."

"This is strange. Could it be that you have the Midas touch and turn it into gold?"

"First of all, the world's wealth is not fixed in nature. It does not mean that if I make an extra penny, someone else will make a penny less. Otherwise, the reason why trading houses make money is largely because Productivity has been developed, production efficiency and production technology have been improved, and this is one."

"Besides, of course it's the tax. Brother, do you know that if a merchant does business normally and pays taxes in a disciplined manner, the tax he has to pay is what percentage of his profits?"

"How many percent?"

"At least [-]%. If he sells salt, iron, tea, vinegar, wine and other controlled items, I'm afraid the profit will be [-]% or [-]%. This does not include time and space taxes. To be honest, if there is such an honest person on the market, A man of his duty should stop doing business, and his wealth is not enough to compensate him."

"Why is this?"

"Because if you really pay [-]% of your profits as taxes, the remaining [-]% may not be enough for you to maintain. And if others only pay [-]%, you won't be able to bear a slight price reduction. If you go back and forth, this is not called buying and selling. , this is called contributing to the country, sacrificing one’s own family for everyone.”

Zhao Kuangyin frowned and said: "You mean, most of the merchants are evading taxes?"

"It's not the majority, it's all. It's just that some people escape more and some escape less. To be honest, I also worked in this business, and I gradually understood some things. Brother, would you believe it? For these big businessmen, three-thirds of the taxes were given to the court, and at least nine percent of the taxes were used for up and down management, enriching the corrupt officials. In the end, the battle is still about who pays more taxes. With background, who has a better relationship with the local government, tax law? I want to laugh when you talk to me about the legal system."

Zhao Kuangyin's expression changed greatly when he heard this: "Is it so serious? Then, that's the tax law, is it set too high?"

"It has nothing to do with level. In essence, it's still a matter of who is responsible for the tax base. To be honest, my business is not the only one who doesn't pay taxes in the world? Do Li Jun and Fu Yanqing pay taxes? Do those businessmen who are bigger, have certain energy and connections pay taxes? Do the powerful landowners who own a lot of land in the countryside pay taxes?"

"The tax laws of our dynasty are basically inherited from the Two Tax Laws of the Tang Dynasty. Most of the financial and taxation parts are designed to allow the really wealthy households to pay more taxes and the poor and helpless people to pay less taxes, such as intermittent taxes. The original intention of this tax is to assess the property value of city citizens based on the size of the house where a person lives, and then charge a fixed property tax burden. It adopts a progressive tax system. The larger the house, the more taxes will be paid. "

“However, in actual practice, who is to evaluate how big a house is, how much the furniture inside is worth, and whether the house is located in a prime or prosperous area? If I originally had to pay a tax of [-] guan, then if I bribe the tax collectors and local officials with a thousand guan, can I pay less and only pay [-] guan?"

Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help frowning and said: "However, the imperial court can still collect nearly ten million yuan of property every year. Is it possible that the private industry and commerce are already so prosperous and wealthy?"

"That's naturally impossible. In fact, there is a more or less fixed number of taxes that each prefecture and each county should collect. You have to justify it. Therefore, the taxes that big merchants pay less will eventually It is to be recovered twice as much from small businessmen, even ordinary citizens, and even farmers in the countryside."

"It is said that farmers do not pay miscellaneous taxes, and all they receive in name are commercial taxes, but in fact this burden really falls on farmers, because farmers have no pricing power, and the court only collects money and not in kind. Taking silk as an example, a peasant woman can grow mulberry, raise silkworms, reel silk, and weave cloth, and can weave half a piece of cloth throughout the year."

"But the court only collects taxes in cash. Logically speaking, women should sell the cloth for money, part of which is paid for taxes, and part of which is kept for the family. However, businessmen, government officials, and powerful landlords often collude with each other. Originally, the market A piece of cloth that should be sold for a thousand coins often only gets [-] coins. Merchants and powerful men then pay taxes at the price of [-] coins, change hands, and then sell the cloth for [-] coins. Brother, what do you think? , Who is the tax on this piece of cloth collected from?" Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help but stretched his hand to the jade ax and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"How dare they do this? Is this still a common phenomenon? Do these rat bugs really think that we can't kill people? Do they really think that I, Zhao Kuangyin, can't kill people?!"

However, Zhao Guangmei comforted him: "Calm down, calm down, brother, it's not like that, and I'm not blaming you. Ever since the Two Taxes Law was introduced, from the middle and late Tang Dynasty until now, the world has always been like this, and you've already made up for it. "

"To put it bluntly, it is the same at all times and in all countries. When all tax laws were first formulated, the original intention was to levy taxes on the rich. But in practice, when they are actually implemented, it must be those rich who do not pay taxes or If you pay less tax, people who don’t have money will have to pay more tax, and even those who have money will have to make up for what they pay less.”

"In any dynasty, the only people who pay taxes are those who have little money but can afford to pay taxes, that is, the middle class. As time goes by, a few of these middle class are lucky or particularly capable. , will join the upper class of wealthy people who do not pay taxes, and most of them will be forced to become poorer and poorer by heavy taxes, and eventually become bankrupt and become refugees, while the taxes that the court can collect are getting less and less. .”

"Generally, when a dynasty reaches this level, they will definitely reform the tax system. If they reform well, they can maintain it for another two or three generations, and then they will reach a dead end again, and then they will carry out reforms again, until one of the reforms fails to change, or they fail. When it reaches the point where it is really difficult to return, it will almost be the time for this dynasty to perish."

But I was thinking in my heart that this tax method was really good among the past dynasties. Whether it was a whip method in the Ming Dynasty or the sharing method of the Qing Dynasty, in essence, it traces back to the Song Dynasty. The shadow of tax, tax collection, don’t shudder, you can bear it for a while, Chongzhen didn’t even have the ability to kneel down and beg for food.

"So, there is no point in worrying about how much tax I have evaded. There are so many ways to evade tax. It is better to escape openly like now and then directly share the profits with the court."

After saying that, he picked up the so-called criminal list in his hand and said: "I really don't know these people, but I still know about this. Brother, in fact, this is the real tax payment to the court."

"These people, even if they don't have a relationship with me, will still try their best to avoid taxes. However, they don't have a strong network of connections. If they want to evade taxes, they still have to bribe officials. Isn't this also their cost?"

"It's different if you get on the line with me. As long as you have a relationship with a commercial bank, you can naturally get tax exemptions openly. Will you save the money for bribing officials and tax collectors?"

"They are all my raw material suppliers. When I purchase raw materials, I go through a bidding process. If they want to build a relationship with me, they have to bid. In the end, my price for purchasing raw materials will be cheaper. Among them, the difference in the purchase price , originally it was supposed to manage the money of those corrupt officials."

"In this way, they save costs, and I earn more profits, and one-third of my profits are now paid taxes. You see, this is killing three birds with one stone, except for corrupt officials. Except for the dirty officials, it’s a win-win situation, that’s great.”

But Zhao Kuangyin slapped the table hard and said: "This is simply unreasonable and ridiculous. I have conquered the country with a golden sword and an iron horse. How can I still not deal with these corrupt officials and raped businessmen? Come here, call Zhang Qiong. !”

After a while, Zhang Qiong limped in and saluted respectfully.

"Zhang Qiong, I order you to lead the front team to start from Kaifeng. Check for me! Check for me from top to bottom. Check who is taking bribes. Is it true that you are not accepting money from the rich and passing it on to the poor? If the matter is found out, you won’t give any face to anyone, but we want the world to see whether the sword of my Da Song Dynasty is good or bad internally!"

"yes, Sir."

Zhang Qiong himself heard this and actually took over the job without even hesitating.

Zhao Guangmei was shocked: "Brother, do you want him to investigate such a thing?"

"Humph, Zhang Qiong is the most impartial and selfless person. He has an extraordinary relationship with me, and he doesn't need to please anyone. I'm afraid only he can investigate this matter, so I can rest assured."

"Ah...that's it." Zhao Guangmei nodded.

I thought, now I finally understand why this Joan was inexplicably beaten to death in front of you in history.

Do not overestimate your own capabilities, this is not just what you deserve.

　The root cause of Zhang Qiong's death was his enmity with Zhao Guangyi. Zhao Guangyi wanted to kill him, and Zhao Kuangyin acquiesced. But why Zhang Qiong offended Zhao Guangyi and formed such a big hatred is unknown. The plot of this book was created by the author.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)