Xie Ming

Chapter 262: Taxation

Chapter 262: Taxation
"Um, Minister Ni!"

"How about you take the trouble to give these southern generals a chance to leave their tents?!"

"After all, they are the ones who go into battle and kill the enemy, carrying their heads on the line!"

"I have doubts in my heart. As the superior, you must give an explanation!"

Qiu Weizheng was pondering and making plans, when suddenly he turned his head and threw the pot onto Ni Ruyu who was watching the show nearby.

He deliberately took advantage of Liu Liangzuo's questioning opportunity to divert the conflict and make things difficult for both parties, hoping to reap the benefits!
Secondly, he also wanted to use this as a way to test the situation and further suppress the arrogance of Ni Yuanlu, a Beijing official!

Upon hearing this, Ni Ruyu was caught off guard and was slightly stunned.

But in a short while, Mr. Ni was able to make up his mind quickly, and he regained his composure.

"hehe."

"Yes! Yes!"

"What Mr. Qiu said makes sense!" Ni Yuanlu stood up and took the challenge.

"This"

"Liu Liangzuo, General Liu, I have some doubts about the tax silver and grain transported to the north, and I am worried!"

"Well, I, Ni, understand."

"The affairs of the imperial court are complicated and intricate, with a myriad of issues to deal with!"

"Sometimes, not to mention that others don't understand, even the officials who are personally experiencing it may have a lot of complaints in their hearts. This is normal!"

"I think it's not just General Liu who has this thought. The officials in Jiangnan, including the four generals present, probably all have this question!"

"Haha, as for this matter, although I was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue when I was in Beijing!"

"But it's hard to explain everything in a short time!"

"Besides, time is running out. If we want to explain the details of this huge and complicated national tax distribution, I'm afraid it will take several days to explain it in full!"

"so."

"Haha. How about this!"

"Ni, let me first give you some specific numbers, and everyone please listen!"

"If we use the dots to cover the whole, we should be able to distinguish the general situation!"

Having said this, Ni Ruyu paused intentionally to observe your attitudes.

After waiting for a while, no one disagreed with his opinion, so he continued to speak.

"Our Ming Dynasty has been collecting taxes since the Hongwu reign of our ancestor Emperor Gao, and the amount collected each year is often tens of millions of taels!"

"When it comes to the Chongzhen period, ah, here, I will take the recent Chongzhen 16th year as an example."

"The Ministry of Revenue officially collected taxes and levies, including military pay, customs duties, salt taxes, warehouse assistance, etc."

"According to overall statistics over the past sixteen years, a total of 10.53 million taels of silver were collected." Ni Yuanlu paused again.

"Haha. But you may not know this!"

"This figure is the total of the Ministry of Revenue, not the actual amount of silver deposited into the treasury."

"What's the actual situation?!"

"The arrears rate of regular taxes is as high as over 80%!"

"According to the investigation, in the 16th year, the military pay was paid in the amount of only 1,174,800 taels of silver, and the remaining amount was 7,875,200 taels of silver."

"The total amount of customs duties, salt taxes, and warehouse assistance paid is 689,400 taels, and the remaining amount is 2,654,400 taels."

"Of course, some people will say that there are still three additional taxes to be levied!"

"Yes, in the 16th year of Chongzhen, the New Pay Department, Border Pay Department, and Training Pay Department were merged into the Left Pay Department and the Right Pay Department."

"The annual income of the Military Salary Left Department is more than 9,870,170 taels of silver. The total amount of silver exempted in the 16th and 17th years is 2,110,3985 taels of silver. The actual income is 7,750,7715 taels of silver!"

"Annual expenditure is 106.1 million taels, and the shortfall is about 2.85 million taels!"

"The annual income of the Right Military Pay Department was 10,229,832 taels of silver. During the 16th and 17th years, a total of 2,140,2520 taels of silver were exempted, so the actual income was 15,845,027 taels of silver."

"The total annual expenditure is 21,220,1487 taels of silver, and the total shortfall is 5,370,6459 taels of silver!"

"The total annual income of the two departments is 20.1 million silver, 65.06 taels!"

"The actual amount collected was 15,840,000, 5,027 taels."

"The total amount of silver exempted is 4,250,000, 6,506 taels."

"Expenditures: 21,220,000, 1,487 taels."

"The total shortfall is 5,370,000, 6,459 taels!"

Ni Ruyu knew the tax and profit accounts of previous years by heart. When he finished talking about the figures, most of the people present were speechless.

There were also some very attentive people whose fingertips moved slightly, and they could remember something. Seeing this, Ni Yuanlu smiled and continued.

"As for this dynasty, before the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the Ming court's annual tax revenue was basically stable at around 20 million taels of silver, and expenditures were the same, so on paper, it was relatively smooth."

"But in recent years, wars have been frequent, natural disasters have been calamities, disaster relief, especially the large military expenditures, the national treasury has become increasingly unable to make ends meet!"

"Liu Liangzuo, General Liu, asked where the money went after it was paid in.

"hehe."

"I can only say that it is indeed difficult for everyone!"

"In the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the country, from the capital to the localities, officials of all ranks need salaries!"

"The country is unstable, and the military needs to suppress bandits and robbers are even greater!"

"The royal family and local princes also have their salaries and silver supplies in accordance with ancestral rules!"

"The small ones have their own small troubles, and the big ones have their own big troubles!"

"In the 16th year of Chongzhen, the salaries of officials at all levels cost about 1.4 million taels throughout the year."

"The princes of various places and the royal family will also have to spend more than two million taels!"

"Military expenses are the biggest expense!"

"Liaodong alone has to pay the imperial court 4 million taels of military pay every year!"

"If we simply use fiscal tax revenue to offset the total annual expenditure across the country, the national treasury will definitely have a surplus, and there won't be such a situation of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs and spending the next year's food in the current year!"

"But, alas!"

"Plans can't keep up with changes!"

"In recent years, war has broken out all over the country, and troops are needed everywhere!"

"Once we send troops to conquer them, the money and grain we spend will be like a bottomless pit!"

"For example, Yang Sichang recruited 100,000 soldiers in one year to fight against the rebels Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong!"

"In just one year, the imperial court allocated him 2.6 million taels of silver."

"In addition, the annual military pay for the important cities in Liaodong needs to be maintained between 4 and 5 million taels."

"If you look at it this way, these messes are really enough to make me worry until my hair turns white, but I still can't make up for it!"

"If money is not spent, the country will have no peace!"

"But the silver that flows like water has been thrown out, and now it is also"

Ni Yuanlu finished his words and shook his head helplessly.

He cited a lot of references and spoke eloquently, but in fact he was obviously deliberately avoiding the contradictions, just to muddy the waters!
hiss--

As soon as Ni Ruyu finished speaking, as expected, Gao Jie, one of the four towns on the right, gasped and interrupted him with an silly look.

"Ugh!"

"This Minister Ni from the capital speaks very honestly!"

"At this time of quelling rebellion, it is inevitable to use military force!"

"War is a waste of money and food!"

"Warfare is a matter of great importance to a country! Ah!"

"Now, Liaodong is completely gone!"

"Just now, I heard that the annual cost of Liaodong town is four or five million taels?!"

"My dear!"

"It's really true that those who are drought-stricken will die of drought, and those who are flood-stricken will die

"I'm talking to Qiu Laowa!"

"We don't have such a big appetite!"