Chapter 558 2 Tax System
In the blink of an eye, it was October. Sun Shan studied in Chongzheng Academy day after day, and the failed candidates also returned to the academy one after another to study.
The atmosphere in class was much better than before, discussions were more intense, and of course opinions became more radical.
There were even flashes of a "fight", which made Sun Shan stare intently.
I couldn't wait to move out the tables and chairs, drink tea, eat melon seeds and watch the show.
Fortunately, he has always been a spectator and stayed away from the extreme crowd.
His small body was very weak. If he got into a fight, he would not be able to win and would only get beaten.
These days Sun Shan has been wandering around Nanjing, thinking of visiting Suzhou and Hangzhou in the future.
Now that I’m in Jiangnan, if I don’t go for a walk, I’m afraid I won’t have the chance again in the future.
After Gui Ge'er sent Sun Shan to the gate of the academy, he turned around and went to the flower garden to work with Sun Dali.
Sun Shan walked into the academy as usual. As he walked, he felt that the atmosphere of the academy was a bit strange. When he arrived at the classroom, everyone was talking in low voices with their heads down.
Sun Shan casually pulled a student and asked, "Brother Song, what happened today?"
Song Junhua whispered, "I heard, just heard, that the court seems to be preparing to introduce new policies."
Song Junhua was a juren whom Sun Shan met in the library. He did not take part in the imperial examination because he felt he was not knowledgeable enough.
He stayed in Chongzheng Academy and continued his studies, and went to Beijing to take the imperial examination three years later.
Sun Shan asked in confusion: "What new policy?"
It’s not like the imperial court hasn’t issued new policies before, so even if there were a new policy atmosphere, it wouldn’t be that strange.
Chongzheng Academy is the largest academy in Jiangnan, so it receives information very promptly. As soon as Yingtian Prefecture receives news from the imperial court, it will spread in Chongzheng Academy within a quarter of an hour.
In particular, Chongzheng Academy would get the first-hand information on new developments in the court and the dismissal and appointment of officials as long as they appeared in the court bulletin.
In terms of the convenience of collecting information, Chongzheng Academy is much faster than Yuelu Academy, perhaps because of its geographical location and the distance.
Song Junhua looked around furtively and found that they were all classmates. He whispered, "It seems that the court is reforming taxes. I don't know exactly how it's reformed. But..."
After a pause, Song Junhua continued, "I heard that this tax reform has caused a lot of controversy. Now..."
Song Junhua pointed to the sky and whispered, "The court has not yet made a decision. It is only proposed now. Whether to reform or not depends on what the emperor does."
Sun Shan frowned, wondering how the imperial court would reform the taxes.
Was it a drastic reform like Zhang Juzheng's "One Whip System" or Yongzheng's "Equalizing the Land Tax and Tax"?
And why the sudden tax change?
Now it's the New Dynasty, and the current emperor is still the first emperor. Why does he suddenly want to reform the tax system?
And who is the person who proposed this reform?
Sun Shan asked whatever came to his mind: "Brother Song, why do you suddenly want to change the taxation? Who proposed this?"
Song Junhua shook his head and said, "I don't know why the tax should be changed, but it was our Duke Xu who proposed to change the tax."
Sun Shan was stunned and looked outside the door.
Duke Xu? How could it be Duke Xu's?
Duke Xu and the present emperor are both peasants, even rougher and less educated than the emperor, and they have achieved great success through military force in battles.
It is said that Duke Xu was able to win battles entirely due to the talented people around him.
It is said that Duke Xu is not very capable, but he has one ability that many people do not have: knowing how to use people and having a keen eye for talent.
He is not the smartest, but he is the best at using people and has a very accurate eye for people.
Therefore, he is the oldest one following the current emperor and the one most trusted by him.
Now, when it was said that Duke Xu proposed tax reform, Sun Shan did not believe it.
Duke Xu was already seventy years old and had long stopped caring about state affairs. He only attended court occasionally to make up the numbers.
Seeing Sun Shan's disbelieving expression, Song Junhua nodded and said, "Don't say you don't believe it. I don't believe it either. Duke Xu is a military commander, and a retired military commander. How could he propose tax reform for no reason? I think Duke Xu is just a pawn of the Ming Dynasty. There must be a dark hand behind the scenes."
Song Junhua was stunned after saying this.
Then he looked at Sun Shan, and Sun Shan was also looking at him.
Everyone thought of the same thing: Duke Xu is known as the number one duke of Daqian, and he is even a chess piece, so who else can be the chess player?
With such a noble status, it seems that so far there is only one person who is more noble than him.
Even the crown prince had to be respectful to Duke Xu, let alone order him to do things.
Song Junhua and Sun Shan raised their heads at the same time and looked at the sky. It seemed that only the current emperor could command Duke Xu, and Duke Xu seemed to only listen to the emperor.
Song Junhua said hesitantly: "Brother Sun, you are not going to... push Duke Xu to come forward, right?"
Sun Shan didn't know how to respond. At the moment, only the current emperor could push Duke Xu out.
Could it be that His Majesty wanted to reform the tax system, so he discussed it with Duke Xu, and had Duke Xu propose a new reform system, which then was agreed by His Majesty?
The new taxation system that could attract Duke Xu must have been a system that faced enormous resistance, and only Duke Xu, a founding father of the dynasty, would dare to propose it.
If an ordinary person brought this up, let alone bringing it up, it would be too late for him to be beheaded before he could even say it.
Sun Shan was very worried about this. What on earth was the imperial court going to do?
Also, my eldest cousin said that the court was unstable, and Minister He also said that the court was unstable. Could it be that they were not referring to the emperor's poor health, but to the new policies that the emperor wanted to reform?
And this new policy will definitely involve major changes.
If there is a major change, there will definitely be rivers of blood.
Whether it is a top-down or bottom-up change, it cannot be achieved without bloodshed.
Currently, Daqian is implementing the Two Tax System.
The so-called two-tax system is a new tax law formulated to unify various taxes based on the original local tax and household tax.
Because it is collected in two seasons, summer and autumn.
The territorial agricultural tax rate is set at 10%.
Payment made with rice or wheat is called "original payment". If payment is made with other commodities such as gold, silver, silk, hemp, banknotes, and silk, it is called "discount payment".
In addition to agricultural taxes, there were also various other taxes, such as poll tax, corvée labor, and so on.
Sun Shan thought about it and realized that Daqian had only been established for thirty or forty years, and the current taxation system was still light on the people, allowing them to rest and recuperate.
The taxes are not very heavy and are reasonable.
But if it continues for a long time, the shortcomings of the two-tax system will become obvious.
Under the two-tax system, land was legally bought and sold, and land mergers became more prevalent. The rich forced the poor to sell their land without paying taxes, and the taxes were kept after the property was sold. Later, the poor were unable to pay the taxes and had no choice but to flee. Land concentration reached an unprecedented level, and more farmers became tenants and farmhands.
The amount of taxable farmland and population in the country decreased significantly, and the collection of land tax, capitation silver and the assignment of corvée labor became increasingly difficult.
By then, I'm afraid it will become a chaotic society where people eat each other.
Of course, Sun Shan did not have to experience this situation because he had already passed away by then.
He is currently in the best era and the era in which he can strive the most.