Chapter 630: Establishing the Ministry of Commerce. This is absolutely inappropriate!

Chapter 630: Establishing the Ministry of Commerce. This is absolutely inappropriate!

Today, the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce has become an important step for Gaoyao. This is not only to fundamentally eliminate the emergence of class distinctions, but also to provide people with more choices.

It is undeniable that class differentiation is beneficial to the checks and balances of the rulers to a certain extent, but it also brings obvious disadvantages. The most prominent problem is that the status of scholars is over-elevated, which is not conducive to the development of the entire society. Therefore, Gao Yao is determined to establish a Ministry of Commerce, not only to improve the treatment of businessmen, but also to make people realize that becoming a scholar is not the only way out, and there are other options for ordinary people to consider.

In addition, the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce will also help to differentiate financial issues. For Gao Yao, this is actually out of helplessness. Because the current economic development of the South Territory is overly dependent on the existence of the Chamber of Commerce. In the early stages of the development of the South Territory, the support of the Chamber of Commerce is crucial, otherwise Gao Yao may not even be able to maintain basic life. Times have changed, and the current situation has undergone fundamental changes.

Because of the increase in grain production, grain output in various places has also been continuously increasing. The imperial court's granaries are full, and the people have no worries about food and drink. Some of the surplus grain can be made into rice cakes, rice crackers, or rice wine and other items.

There are also a lot of commercial taxes, which are enough to maintain the normal operation of the entire southern region. What Gao Yao needs to do now is to split the Chamber of Commerce into the Ministry of Commerce, and then completely separate the two.

Usually, the core agencies in charge of taxation are Zhisu Neishi and Shaofu. Zhisu Neishi is responsible for collecting and managing various taxes of the country, including land tax and currency, while Shaofu is responsible for collecting head tax, commercial tax and the benefits of mountains, forests, rivers and lakes. These taxes are mainly used to provide for the expenses of the emperor and the court, as well as for the operation of royal land and official handicrafts.

The problem facing the South is that these two crucial institutions are largely in a state of being sidelined. It should be made clear that this sidelining is not passive, but a situation formed out of helplessness. Whether it is the salaries of officials, the military pay of soldiers, the funds needed for construction projects in various places, or the funding for the construction of various facilities, they are almost entirely dependent on the investment of the Chamber of Commerce. Not only that, in the whole process, the personnel who should have been responsible for the relevant affairs of the court basically only played an assisting role.

But even so, there is no other way. After all, the court's funds are really stretched to the limit, so in this case, we can only rely on the Chamber of Commerce to fill this gap.

However, the Chamber of Commerce is actually one of Gao Yao's industries. This means that if he cannot get the money back after taking it out, he will face penalties when he checks his accounts. Therefore, in order to avoid this situation, all taxes collected must be returned to the Chamber of Commerce as soon as possible.

On the surface, this seems to be a transfer from one hand to the other, but in fact, this situation has been going on for a long time. The existence of the Chamber of Commerce gives people the illusion that it is like a logistics warehouse that can take charge of all kinds of affairs at any time.

Not only that, but all kinds of expenditures, big and small, have also gradually changed. Initially, people tried to save as much as possible, but now they are pursuing good political achievements. For example, when responsible for the resettlement of refugees in various places, due to sufficient money, the local officials directly called five people to do the work that could have been completed by three people. In this way, although the construction period was completed ahead of schedule, it actually became their own political achievement.

There are many similar things, such as the construction of roads and city walls. As time goes by, the expenditures of these projects are getting bigger and bigger, and they consume more and more resources.

Even in some places, the same project, the same construction period, the cost is directly more than half more. If you say it is corruption, they really haven't embezzled, they just recruited more people and ate better. Although Gao Yao is open-minded, he is not stupid. The Chamber of Commerce was also cultivated by himself. Even if it can make money, he can't let the people below spend so much.

Especially for the Internal Affairs of Zhisu, basically any application would be approved as long as it was reasonable, regardless of the amount of money. Li Yi's money was not blown by the wind, so it could not be allowed to be wasted like this. Therefore, Li Yi had to make a deal with the wealth of the Chamber of Commerce and the court, one thing at a time, and could not let this situation continue.

However, at this moment, the heads of the various chambers of commerce departments present were not delighted by Gao Yao's explanation. On the contrary, they all showed an embarrassment on their faces.

"My husband, this matter really needs careful consideration!" Lu Zhi stood up without hesitation and expressed her opposition directly. "The world is not stable yet. If we rashly set up a Ministry of Commerce, I am afraid it will cause dissatisfaction among many people. Low grain prices will hurt farmers. Once the Ministry of Commerce is established, my husband will definitely be criticized by many people! Therefore, we should act cautiously now."

It must be said that Lu Zhi showed her courage and wisdom at this critical moment. Unlike others, she was not afraid of Gao Yao's authority, nor would she say some submissive words to please him. In the face of major issues, Lu Zhi saw very clearly, and she knew the possible consequences of doing so.

Lü Zhi could roughly guess why Gao Yao wanted to establish a Ministry of Commerce. But precisely because of this, she had to step forward to stop this behavior. Directly establishing a Ministry of Commerce and appointing and dismissing businessmen would undoubtedly cause criticism and controversy from many people.

Gao Yao had to face four problems by doing this. The first one was the impact on the existing social classes. In the society at that time, the class division of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans had been tacitly accepted by most people. However, Gao Yao's move broke this traditional class order, which would undoubtedly cause dissatisfaction among many people. Those who were originally in a higher class might feel that their status was threatened, and thus resent Gao Yao. What's more serious is that this dissatisfaction might gradually spread and even shake the foundation of Gao Yao's rule.

Secondly, the attitude of the court is also an important issue. Since Gao Yao is going to set up the Ministry of Commerce, this is not a small department, and its status must be no lower than that of the Nine Ministers. However, letting some businessmen who only know how to pursue profits to enter the court will undoubtedly cause dissatisfaction among a large number of officials. After all, the officials are all working hard for Gao Yao. They work hard for the country, but they find that businessmen can get the same or even higher official positions as them just by buying and selling things. This will inevitably make many people feel unbalanced.