The Empress's No.1 Lackey-Chapter 191 - 169, From land tax per person to silver standard and the budding of capital_2

The night breeze was cool. Zhao Douan leisurely ate a pear and drank a cup of tea, also leaving time for the scholars to digest the information just received.

About a quarter of an hour later, he clapped his hands to attract attention and smiled,

"Earlier, we discussed governance. But fundamentally, the biggest problem the court currently faces is a matter of ’money.’"

"Master Han’s ten strategies, if solely for the kingdom to amass wealth, are effective. My criticism is not of their uselessness, but of their significant drawbacks."

Master Han’s face flushed, and he said,

"Don’t mention it again, Master Zhao, please share your methods."

Zhao Douan smiled but did not tease him further and seriously said,

"Regarding ’money’, I’d like to talk about it in two parts. The first part is still about what everyone discussed during the day and the focus of Master Han’s strategies, that is, the two major difficulties of taxation and corvée labor."

"Though called two, they are in fact one, since corvée labor itself is a form of tax."

"The main source of money for the dynasty’s National Treasury is also tax. However, the tax collection method of Great Yu, in my opinion, is hardly commendable."

"Not to mention the harsh and miscellaneous taxes, which are unavoidable. Paying taxes with goods creates too many opportunities for lower-level officials to skim off the top. But the most fatal is the ’poll tax’, a method that has been used for thousands of years."

Zhao Douan wrote the words "poll tax" on the screen.

As for the so-called poll tax, he was no stranger to it. It was common everywhere and in all eras, requiring every individual to pay.

The poll tax in Great Yu was a typical feudal dynasty form.

Both the rich and poor paid the same; the rich wouldn’t feel it, but for the poor, it was different.

It is said, the poorer one is, the more children they might bear, coupled with high infant mortality rates, the people of Great Yu were very prolific.

But the more members a family had, the more poll tax they would have to pay... increasingly unable to sustain themselves, especially in disaster years, they simply couldn’t pay.

They had to either flee and become "hidden households", or they had to sell their properties and become tenant farmers.

Meanwhile, the gentry class enjoyed tax exemption and possessed wealth, which allowed them to buy lands unscrupulously... thus, opening Pandora’s Box, wealth in Great Yu quickly concentrated in the hands of a few.

"Under the poll tax, as the dynasty lasted, it inevitably led to less and less tax money the court could collect... so, my second strategy is to ’spread out the tax over acreage!’"

Zhao Douan wrote these words on the screen before explaining his idea.

The so-called spreading out the tax over acreage was actually a modified version of Zhang Juzheng’s single whip law, with the core changes not large.

First, to convert the messy various taxes into a single modality, that is, "silver."

The court only wanted silver, a change from the past practice of submitting goods or corvée labor under various pretenses.

Here, it somewhat resembled Master Han’s strategy, where the commoners required to perform corvée labor needed only to pay silver, and the labor required for corvée would be hired by the government.

But different from Master Han’s ten strategies, Zhao Douan directly changed the tax collection method, so there wouldn’t be repeated collections.

Second, it changed the poll tax into an "acreage tax", where one paid according to the land they owned, and those without land paid nothing.

In this way, the gentry who owned land could afford to pay the taxes, and the poor, without the burden of poll tax, could have as many children as they desired...

Zhao Douan was well aware that more people meant more power; people were productive force. He didn’t mind having too many people, only too few.

"Besides..."

After finishing the main content, Zhao Douan turned around and added two additional terms on the screen:

"Losses due to smelting become public"

"Gentry and officials as one"

"In the past, when the government had to melt down the fragmented silver paid by people into silver ingots for the court, there was always some loss in melting, which many people used for personal gain.

Therefore, since the new method required settlement in silver, this loss must be attributed to the court."

"Similarly, since it changed to collection according to acreage, the tax exemption privileges of the gentry must be revoked. This is ’gentry and officials as one.’"

Zhao Douan concluded,

"Spread out the tax over acreage; the more land, the more tax, and the less land, the less tax. Calculated by acreage, no deception possible, benefit one: no compensation misery among the people, benefit two: during the auditing year, as usual, compile the registries, no need to audit further, benefit three; every house tends to their own land, no one unable to operate, benefit four."

He paused, looked around at everyone with conviction,

"If this law could be implemented, it could ensure the stability of the kingdom and the court’s National Treasury would never lack again."

The room fell into silence for the second time.

After Zhao Douan finished speaking, many faces in the room showed an expression of admiration.

Suddenly enlightened.

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"Excellent, truly excellent," Master Han stood up excitedly, his eyes bright as he stared at the words on the screen, utterly absorbed.

No one knew how disheartened he had felt that afternoon, not only because his ten strategies were rejected.

But also because, despite wracking his brains, he couldn’t think of a better method.

His so-called intention to take his ten strategies and revise them, but how and what to revise?

He was completely clueless.

However, just a few hours later, he saw a method that was completely different from his ten strategies, yet obviously superior.

How could he not be excited?

"Dividing the population into land...Dividing the population into land..." Mo Chou also murmured this term.

Although she was far from being a real "female chancellor" and often acted more like a chief maid because she was Zhao Douan’s rival in love, the fact that she was heavily relied upon by the Empress to assist with national affairs was enough to show that Mo Zhaorong was at least not inferior to these scholars in terms of vision and judgment.

Therefore, she also understood the advantages of this method.

And scholars like Wang You who came later finally understood why the atmosphere in the room had been so strange earlier.

It was really because the things Zhao Douan talked about were too impactful.

The key was not that it was shocking in language but that it seemed indeed feasible in every aspect.

But after the surprise, Wang You, who was a descendant of a powerful family, frowned.

Because this new method clearly targeted the gentry class.

This wasn’t good news for the powerful clans all over...

"Grandmaster..."

Someone looked at the leading elder, seeking his opinion.

Grandmaster Dong stared intently at the screen, and after a long time, he exhaled deeply:

"What a ’Dividing the population into land.’"

He paused and then shook his head, "It’s a pity."

A pity? What was a pity?

Grandmaster Dong looked at Zhao Douan and said:

"This method is indeed quite feasible, but unfortunately, though it is much softer than Han Scholar’s method, it’s still hard to implement. If we want to make it work, we must proceed gradually, and the court cannot wait."

Cannot wait!

This sentence instantly pulled everyone back from their excitement to reality.

Han Scholar calmed down, first stunned, then sat down again.

Yes, although Zhao Douan’s method was good, it still, after a roundabout discussion, failed to solve the imminent problem, which was money.

If they proceeded gradually, it would be hard to alleviate the emptiness of the National Treasury.

If they sought rapid action, they would inevitably make enemies of the gentry class, which could win the hearts of the people, but...

If the gentry throughout the nation, because of this, became disloyal and defected to the Eight Princes, the court would still be unstable.

Indeed, it was much better than his ten strategies, but distant water doesn’t quench immediate thirst.

Wang You’s brow relaxed slightly, and his expression eased.

Mo Chou also came to realize, her gaze slightly dimmed.

Yes, whether it was "Dividing the population into land" or the previous Examination Method, both actually required time to implement.

Good as it was, but...

"Ah, the Grandmaster is right, both methods, if implemented, will inevitably require time."

Zhao Douan saw the expressions of everyone, yet he was not at all flustered.

Because in his hand, there had never been just Zhang Juzheng as a weapon.

Regarding how to make money rapidly, and without mobilizing troops, under the premise of minimally affecting the stability of the court, he initially had no idea.

But after talking to Han Scholar, some insights became clear.

"But, gentlemen, do not forget, I just said to solve the issue of money, I have two parts, and now I have only mentioned one.

The next one is the solution to the urgent need," Zhao Douan said with a smile.

What?

There was still a solution?

At this moment, including Grandmaster Dong, everyone looked at him in amazement.

Only then did they remember, this Martial Artist and strict official had indeed said earlier that he would talk about two parts.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Zhao Douan turned around, personally replaced a new sheet of paper.

On the screen, then swiftly, he wrote down a few bold characters:

"Silver, Merchants, Capital, Market."