Reborn as a tyrant in the Ming Dynasty

Chirp, chirp.

On the emerald green branches, a few birds jumped and made sounds from time to time. The breeze came slowly and the branches and leaves were swaying gently. The bright sun hanging high in the sky was very dazzling. The breeze blowing made people feel very cool.

July has arrived quietly, and the weather is still very hot.

Creak~

Under a tree in the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao was lying on a recliner, reading the imperial memorials intently, while Chen Qiyu, Yin of Shuntian Prefecture, was sitting on a brocade stool.

Although the weather was very hot, Chen Qiyu's heart was very cold.

"This is how we can confront each other."

While Chen Qiyu was thinking about it, Zhu Youxiao stared at the memorial he held and said leisurely: "Smuggle grain, cotton cloth, cotton, oil, salt, tea and other daily commodities through various gates inside and outside the capital, bypassing the Chongwenmen customs where the imperial court levied taxes. As well as the various tax offices under his jurisdiction, this person and sophistication have made them understand."

"I remember that in the fourth year of Tianqi, the annual tax collection quota of Chongwenmen customs has reached more than 7 taels, which is higher than that of Hexiwu, Linqing, Huai'an, Yangzhou, Hushu (north of Suzhou), Beixin (Hangzhou) and other customs It is much higher. I was very pleased before, thinking that being able to collect such a large amount of taxes would be a good thing for the court."

"But now I don't think so. Just the population under the control of various villages inside and outside the capital consumes a huge amount of food, cotton cloth, cotton, oil, salt, tea, sugar and other daily commodities every year. Not to mention that whoever wants to secretly collect and store these goods will definitely not pay more than this amount of money according to the commercial tax established by the imperial court!!"

"Your Majesty is wise."

Chen Qiyu bowed his head slightly and said: "In fact, in addition to the above-mentioned daily commodities, there are also many items such as silk, porcelain, white wax, tung oil, turmeric, isinglass, medicinal materials, furs, etc. that flow into the capital from various places every year."

"Based on the current situation, the vast majority of goods entering Beijing have not paid commercial taxes at all through Chongwenmen Customs and Zhumen Tax Offices!!"

"If smuggling can be eliminated, it will not be difficult at all to collect more than 40 taels of tax money from the Chongwenmen Customs House annually!!"

"That's a lot."

Zhu Youxiao said with a sigh: "If we can really collect so much tax money, it will be the total tax revenue of the previous eight passes. In this case, Hexiwu, Linqing, Huai'an, Yangzhou, Hushu (North of Suzhou City), Beixin (Hangzhou) and other cities also have big problems!!"

Chen Qiyu was silent.

If these matters had not been investigated clearly before, Chen Qiyu would never have thought that the Eight Great Passes established by the imperial court would actually hide such a big trick.

According to this calculation, the annual tax collection quota of the Eight Great Passes permanently established by the imperial court is definitely not something that can be spent in a million taels. The majority of this is due to corruption in various places! !

As for which groups are involved, this is a confusing account.

The above-mentioned eight major passes are only banknote passes affiliated to the Ministry of Revenue.

What about Gongguan, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Industry?

This is also a confusing account!

If all the taxes and money collected by these bank and industrial customs could be confiscated and delivered to Beijing, then how could the imperial court be in such an embarrassment? !

With these tax dollars, it is impossible for the national treasury to be empty, so there is no need to apportion and levy taxes.

Without the assessment and levy of Liao's wages, the pressure on the local people will be reduced!

In this way, the civil strife or rebellion that previously spawned in various places may not happen, and there will be no need to tear down the east wall to repair the west wall to collect military pay to suppress the rebellion.

Chen Qiyu didn't dare to think about it any more.

"How many things can be ruined by one greedy person."

Zhu Youxiao showed a self-deprecating look, suppressing the anger in his heart, "If there was no greed, then Ming Dynasty would have avoided many detours. There were many things in the past that were closely related to money. What happened to Ming Dynasty over the years? How much wasted!!"

Zhu Youxiao has never been afraid of facing strong enemies.

If the journey is extremely smooth, such a life will not be fun.

On the road of continuous advancement, I can face challenges and encounter difficulties from time to time, and resolve them again and again through my own abilities. This process may not be easy, but it is full of sense of accomplishment.

But what Zhu Youxiao couldn't accept was that there were people with ulterior motives among his own who would do unseemly things for their own selfish gain, and then create turmoil or difficulties. That was simply unreasonable! !

However, the reality is so cruel.

The Ming Dynasty did not fall at the hands of a powerful enemy at all, but fell into the hands of its own people. Internal friction and ruin caused the Ming Dynasty to collapse from the inside. This gave Jianlu an opportunity to take advantage of it! !

Jianlu's ability to conquer China was purely due to luck and mistakes. Otherwise, how could he defeat the Ming Dynasty with that little force! !

It is precisely this that made Jianlu create tragic tragedies one after another in the process of striving to conquer China, resulting in the death of countless people in China.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao suddenly sat up from the recliner and said with sharp eyes: "Chongwenmen Tax Customs and all the tax offices under its jurisdiction, everyone involved in it, no matter who they are, arrest them all!!"

"Besides, I have arrested all the groups involved in smuggling that I have found without special backgrounds. As for those with backgrounds, I will order the East Police Factory to arrest them!!"

This is to bring Wei Zhongxian in.

After hearing this, Chen Qiyu felt something deep in his heart. At this moment, Chen Qiyu suddenly understood why the emperor wanted to indulge Wei Zhongxian in the first place.

This is to ask Wei Zhongxian to arrest those who dare not arrest and kill those who dare not kill!

"And from today on, Chongwenmen Customs Customs will be transferred to Shuntianfu Yamen." When Chen Qiyu was sighing, Zhu Youxiao said in a sonorous and powerful tone: "I will set up a special national tax directly controlled department in Shuntianfu Yamen and promote Han Yiliang to take office. For this position, I will first go to the Chongwen Gate Tax Office, and if it is done well in the future, I will upgrade the Zhili Department of National Taxation!"

Han Yiliang, this gentleman was a Jinshi in the 47th year of Wanli. He was first appointed as the magistrate of Chenliu County. He is now the household secretary. The reason why Zhu Youxiao remembers this monarch so deeply is that he first came to Chongzhen in the original timeline. It didn't take long for Dabao to publish "Correcting Civil Service Officials' Love of Money" and "Encouraging Integrity and Punishing Corruption" successively. This move can be said to cause thunder and shock in the court.

What a good anti-corruption talent.

Besides, he is still very young.

Nowadays, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty is full of chaos, corruption, and moral collapse. Zhu Youxiao needs such a vanguard to rush forward. As long as he firmly grasps the barrel of the gun and holds the money bag, no matter how hard the foreign government tosses, those civil servants will be defeated. The group does not dare to do anything out of the ordinary.

Since you want to take full power, you must promote loyal and reliable people who dare to fight against evil forces!

That's really going to change today.

Chen Qiyu was surprised. The emperor set up a direct-controlled department of national taxation in Shuntian Prefecture. It was just a transition. I was afraid that if Han Yiliang made political achievements in the future, the cash customs under the Ministry of Household Affairs and the work customs under the Ministry of Works would still be lost. There are other customs offices, and I am afraid they will all be reorganized one after another.

Chen Qiyu even thought that after this decree was promulgated, if Han Yiliang dared to accept the decree and go to the Zhili Department of National Taxation, there would definitely be a big turmoil between the government and the opposition! !

After all, there was no such precedent in Ming Dynasty before this, not to mention that it touches the interests of many groups, which is not a small matter.

But with the current situation, Chen Qiyu did not dare to persuade him anymore. After all, the current emperor was still filled with anger in his heart...