The guards handed each prime minister a copy of the tax reform plan drafted by the emperor himself. The core of this plan is two points. One is to change the existing rent-adjusted tax law into a two-tax law, and the other is to reform the commercial tax, which basically cannot collect much tax revenue. When Yang Su and other officials heard about the tax system reform, they were a little moved. Taxation is the cornerstone of the country, and it would be serious to change it even a little bit. And when you see that the first item of the tax reform is to change the existing tax modulation, you can't help but be even more surprised. Since Qin unified the world, the official taxes of various Chinese dynasties were generally derived from Mencius's millet levy, cloth levy, and labor levy as the theoretical basis, and were based on "rent, transfer, and labor" (land rent, special products, corvee) Three projects are levied. In this dynasty, it was stipulated that people could lose money and be exempted from military service, and the government would hire people to replace them, which was called "yong". "Rent and transfer service" therefore became "rent and transfer". This dynasty's land-tenure system was based on the land equalization system. Ding men (21 years old) and middle men over 18 years old were each granted 100 acres of land, of which 20 acres were Yongye land (never returned) and 80 acres. It was returned after the death of Weifentian. At the same time, the "Law of Renting Yongtiao" was promulgated, which stipulated that the land rent, taxes and corvees that the men in the field should pay were called Rent Yongtiao. Realize that "if there is land, there will be rent, if there is a household, there will be harmony, and if there is a body, there will be mediocrity." The imperial court stipulated that every ding should send 2 shi of millet to the country every year as rent; 2 zhang of silk and 3 liang of cotton (or 2 zhang and 4 feet of cloth and 3 jin of hemp) as transfer; and those who served for 20 days were called regular servants. Those who did not serve It is mediocre to receive 3 feet of silk (or 3.6 feet of cloth) every day. If the number of servicemen is increased due to special circumstances, the additional days will be offset against the rent and transfer. "If there are five days in ten days, the transfer will be exempted, and in the third ten days, all rent and transfer will be exempted." It is also limited that the total number of additional days and regular service shall not exceed 50 days. This kind of rent-to-rent modulation based on the land equalization system is still very good, but it also has great limitations. The biggest limitation is that as the country stabilizes and the population continues to rise, the government will eventually have no land to grant. The rent-yong adjustment system is basically a land equalization system. Only when there is land, there is rent, when there is a household, there is adjustment, and when there is pregnancy, there is mediocrity. And once there is no land to be granted, then the people have to pay mediocre rent even though they have no land. This is contradictory. It was better at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Everyone had land. Gradually, the land was divided into less and less. There was even no land to divide, and the rent was mediocre but still had to be paid. This was a big problem. This is actually a disguised poll tax, which seems fair but is actually the most unfair. What are the two tax laws proposed by Yifeng? It was precisely the new tax system that the court had to reform after the collapse of the land equalization system in the mid-Tang Dynasty. Historically, after the introduction of the two-tax system, for more than a thousand years, during the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, although the tax systems were different, the main tax system was basically based on this basic tax system. The core of the two taxes in the Tang Dynasty should be to measure the amount of money to make money. First, estimate how much money the government will spend, and then collect the amount of taxes from the people. Specifically, it is to refer to the fiscal expenditures of previous years, take an average amount, and then set a total tax amount, and then allocate this tax amount to various regions, and each region will set tax rates based on tax quotas. The second is to cancel the distinction between primary and secondary residences and to legally recognize the status of customers. Since tax rates are not uniformly set by the central government but are set by local governments based on tax quotas, the more densely populated areas are, the lower the per capita tax rates are. Without distinguishing between host and guest, people from other places have moved into this low-tax area. This migration, in turn, further increases the differences in population density and tax rates in various places, forming a vicious circle. Third, there is no difference between the rich and the poor, and the amount of tax is determined according to the amount of assets, eliminating the unfairness caused by the original fixed levy on a per capita basis. 4. "It is levied in autumn and summer," so it is called the two taxes. The three original items of "renting Yongtiao" are merged into the two taxes and cannot be levied separately. Three projects combined into one, simple and clear. The promulgation of the Zhongtang Tax Law can be said to have revitalized the Zhongtang Dynasty and allowed the Tang Dynasty to continue for a long time. However, the core of this tax law is good, but there are many shortcomings in the specific situation. The two-tax law that Yifeng is working on is basically based on this. Yi Feng¡¯s two-tax law was first changed from the rent-to-tax method, which mainly focused on conquering grain, cloth and other physical goods, to collecting money and levying taxes twice a year. And the most important thing is to change the practice of taxing according to Ding, and implement the taxation standard based on the amount of property. Thirdly, to completely abolish the labor service, and instead calculate the labor service as free money. This money is directly calculated into the two taxes. People no longer need to perform hard labor, nor do they need to pay extra money for exemption from labor. The most important point is that we do not live within our means, but according to the rent system, the original rent of 2 shi of millet per ding is rented; 2 feet of silk and 3 taels of cotton (or 2 feet of cloth) are rented. 4 feet, 3 pounds of hemp), as the tax; serve for 20 days, all calculated as money, and then divided by 100 acres of land to get the tax per mu. Finally, based on this, the people of the world are taxed on an acre basis. If you have 100 acres of land, you will pay 100 acres of tax. If you have 10 acres of land, you will only pay 10 acres of tax. If you don¡¯t have even one acre of land, Then you don¡¯t have to pay any taxes. If you have a thousand acres of land, you have to pay a thousand acres of tax. In short, all these taxes are calculated into the acres, and the taxes are calculated according to the acres owned.To tax, if there is more land, more land will be levied, and if there is less land, less land will be levied. But for the country, the amount of land in the world will not change, so the taxes collected by the country will not change, but this change will not change. People without land will not be allowed to still have to pay taxes, nor will landowners with large amounts of land be allowed to pay taxes only on a per capita basis. The two taxes of Yifeng are completely different from the two taxes of the Tang Dynasty. The two taxes of Yifeng only have the name of paying taxes twice in spring and autumn, but there is no different classification of household tax and local tax of the two taxes of the Tang Dynasty. Su Wei looked at the emperor's tax reform plan and silently calculated a few numbers in his mind. According to the records of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the imperial court had just conducted a land and population review and found out a large number of hidden fields and hidden households. Now the total land in the country has been checked. There are about 10 million hectares, a total of more than one billion acres of cultivated land, more than 9 million households, and a population of more than 50 million. Under the new tax law, the tax for every 100 acres is two stones of millet, two feet of silk, three ounces of cotton, and twenty days of labor. According to a rough calculation, the imperial court can collect more than 20 million stones of millet, 10 million bolts of silk, and more than 1.8 million catties of cotton every year. The service fee is three feet of silk per day, and the twenty-day service is sixty feet. Silk is equivalent to one and a half bolts of silk, and the free money for the country's land is more than 15 million bolts of silk. According to the new tax system, the country can collect more than 20 million shi of millet, 25 million bolts of silk, and more than 1.8 million jins of cotton every year. If the tax is converted into money, the current price of one shi of grain is about 200 Wen. The piece of silk is almost a thousand yuan. If you calculate it this way, the country's tax revenue is about 30 million yuan a year. After this calculation, it is much more than the original amount during the Kaihuang period. After all, during the reign of Emperor Kaihuang, there were a large number of hidden fields and households. Most of these fields were originally occupied by the Guanlong Group. Since the new emperor came to the throne, he has made several ruthless attacks, all of which were directed at the Guanlong Group. Not long ago, the country's fields and A census of the population immediately revealed a large number of household registrations that concealed their land. Whether it is the current tax reform or the old tax law, the tax revenue will increase a lot. Especially after the reform, if the court levies cash directly, it will be more troublesome and convenient than levying in kind. Moreover, if the tax is per mu, then there will be no situation where the poor cannot pay the tax. After all, it is levied per mu. One hundred acres of land They only required two shi of millet, two feet of silk, and three taels of cotton, plus one and a half horse and a half of free money. It was impossible that they couldn't afford it. After all, one hundred acres of land could at least produce more than a hundred shi of grain. However, when Su Wei read the emperor's plan, he became more and more surprised. It turned out that in the emperor's plan, the tax revenue of 30 million yuan this year was actually only the main tax, in other words, it was just land rent. There are many taxes in the new tax system, the most important ones are commercial taxes, various industrial and commercial tax systems, customs duties, transaction taxes, business taxes, toll taxes, etc. However, these are taxes for merchants and shops and have nothing to do with ordinary people. Not big, but it can be seen that the emperor has great hopes in this area of ??taxation. Originally, the court's taxation in this area was only two to three hundred thousand yuan a year, but now it may reach the scale of the main tax or even exceed it. One of the emperor's new tax systems is even more severe, that is, it imposes heavy taxes on salt, tea, wine, minerals, copper, iron, etc. Especially on salt, it is planned to levy a salt tax of at least 10 million guan every year. Salt, The total amount of wine and so on will reach 10 million yuan. Nowadays, salt and tea are not taxed, but in the future, they will be taxed, and the tax will be heavy. A pound of salt may cost more than ten cents, which is two or three times more expensive than rice. In short, in Yi Feng's plan, the imperial court will vigorously develop business. The main tax is two taxes. The annual tax revenue is about 30 million guan, and the second is the commercial tax, which collects about 10 million to 20 million guan every year. Supplemented by taxes on salt, tea, wine and mines sold exclusively, it is estimated to be around 20 million guan. In short, under Yifeng's new tax system, the total tax collected by the court every year is around 60 million guan. This amount is six times higher than the current fiscal revenue of the imperial court, which is only thousands of dollars a year. Su Wei felt dumbfounded when he saw it. With the tax increased six times, the people in the world would not be able to rebel. But after taking a closer look at the plan, something seemed wrong. The commercial tax is mainly aimed at businessmen, and ordinary people will not be affected much. Prices may rise a little, but they will certainly not rise without limit. It is the main tax. There will be no change in the total amount, but the taxes for a few large landlords will definitely be higher, and absolutely Most ordinary people will have less tax, because the land equalization system has long been difficult to implement due to the increase in population in the world. The vast majority of people do not have 100 acres of land per den in their homes. In this way, ordinary people pay taxes per acre, and their main tax rate drops. After all, more than half of the land in the world is actually in the hands of a few nobles and powerful landlords, about one thousandth of the world. The vast majority of the people actually only have a small amount of land, and many people even rely on tenant land for farming. , they are exploited by the landlords, but they still have to pay mediocre rent, which is very unfair. Landowners who own a large amount of land only pay a mediocre rent of several thousand dollars a year by paying taxes per ding. The only tax on salt, tea and wine also has a lot of impact on ordinary people, especially the salt tax.?Tea is okay, but not salt. A pound of salt costs ten kilograms, and one person has ten kilograms of salt per year. The annual salt cost is hundreds of pennies. A family may have to pay thousands of pennies to buy salt. This amount of money is a large additional expense. Pay hundreds of pennies more than before. But because it is included in the price of salt, it is not compulsorily levied, but it is still feasible. Although this may support the rise of private salt and the poor may not be able to afford salt, if the court can really receive the salt tax every year Ten million guan, this is not impossible. Of course, according to the emperor's wishes, there will be many taxes, such as real estate tax, vehicle and vessel tax, etc., but the main taxation idea is to target the rich, and ordinary people will not be affected too much. It's like levying heavy taxes on casinos, restaurants, restaurants and other places. This will greatly increase the consumption expenditures of the wealthy people who go to these places to spend money, but it will have no impact at all on the people who have no money to go to these places. . Yi Feng's tax reform plan surprised all the officials, but Yi Feng didn't find anything too surprising. The reforms he proposed were actually some systems taken from the tax system of the Tang and Song Dynasties. It is a system that has been implemented. Just like the salt tax, there was no salt tax in the Sui Dynasty and the early Tang Dynasty. However, starting from the mid-Tang Dynasty, the salt tax became one of the main taxes of various Chinese dynasties for more than a thousand years. In the Song Dynasty, the annual salt tax reached two or three times. During the Qing Dynasty, the annual salt tax revenue exceeded 12 million taels of silver. In the late Southern Song Dynasty, the national salt tax revenue even accounted for more than 70% of the national fiscal revenue. The salt tax is actually a disguised head tax, because everyone has to eat salt and it cannot be replaced. In short, Yi Feng¡¯s new tax law has a core idea, which is to reduce the tax expenditures of ordinary people and collect money from the rich. For example, the commercial tax, it turned out that the Sui Dynasty almost ignored this area, and Yi Feng wanted to collect about one-third of the annual fiscal revenue from here. As for the salt tax, it was a supplement to the decrease in the main tax land rent. Even if People who do not farm do not pay land rent, but they still have to eat salt. Buying salt is equivalent to paying tax. Generally speaking, after the new tax system, businessmen, who used to make more money and pay less taxes, will now become the main body of tax payers. Ordinary people will pay taxes based on their land. Generally speaking, farmers who have less land will rent less, and those who have less land will rent less. Landowners, the more fields you have, the more taxes you pay. Just like the emperor's governing ideas since he came to the throne, he suppressed the nobles and wealthy families, while caring for the ordinary people. There is one final item in the new tax system plan. Officials and citizens must pay taxes together. Regardless of whether you are an official or a citizen, you must pay taxes and taxes. There is no exemption or privilege, even for temples and Taoist temples. If you have land, you must pay rent. The imperial court can collect about 60 million guan in cash every year, and then the imperial court spends money to purchase grain and other necessary supplies, which also becomes a part of the market. Of course, there is another important point. In the future, the court will no longer be able to recruit people to do labor for free. The people have already paid the exemption fee. When the court wanted to build a project, it would either directly contract it to businessmen or use money to recruit people to work on it. It can be said that this is an extra amount of money compared to the original expenditure, but if you use money to recruit people to work, it will definitely be more convenient than recruiting people to serve, provided that the government has money. "Last point, except for commercial taxes, salt taxes and other taxes that must be turned over to the central government, two-thirds of the two taxes collected by various places, that is, land rent, are handed over to the central government, and one-third is retained by the local governments. This one-third One-third of it is retained by the counties, one-third is paid to the state, and one-third is paid to the province." This is another aspect of the new tax system that is completely different from the original tax system. "Okay, now everyone has seen the tax reform plan I proposed. Now all the prime ministers can talk about their opinions. I hope everyone can speak freely and express their opinions." Yi Feng clapped his hands and said to each of them. said the pensive governors.