"Then what do you think is the reason why people cannot live a prosperous life?" Li Yi did not answer Zhu Qilong's question, but asked instead.

"There are two main reasons for the poverty of the people. One is heavy taxes and a lot of extra stipends. The other is too much labor, which consumes people's labor." Zhu Qilong had extensive knowledge and spoke slowly at the moment.

After Zhu Qilong's introduction, Li Yi also had a deeper understanding of Ming Dynasty's taxes.

The taxes of the Ming Dynasty mainly included land rent, oral taxes and labor. Later, Zhang Juzheng implemented the One Whip Law, which combined all levies including land taxes, labor, miscellaneous taxes, etc. into one collection, simplifying the complexity, but in fact the tax

The gift has not become lighter.

Based on the output of one stone per mu, the Ming Dynasty's tax rate was about 5%. This tax rate can be said to be very low. Later, after Wanli and Tianqi, the tax rate never exceeded 10%.

But why don’t ordinary people feel the benefits of light taxes?

Because after the regular taxes and taxes were collected, the court and local officials would not give up. They would also send some more taxes and labor.

You must know that Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that he would never increase taxes. This wish was very good. However, as time passed, the public functions burdened by the Ming Dynasty and the expenditures of the palace itself were increasing. If taxes did not increase, expenditures would increase. If there was no increase,

With extra income, Daming will be unable to make ends meet.

When regular taxes cannot be increased, the central ministries, palaces and localities will try their best to find ways to make money other than land taxes.

They have five methods. One is to add various surcharges to the land tax, such as transportation fees, losses and various apportionments above, or add them to the regular tax by acres or people. The result is that light taxes become

There was a medium tax, which later evolved into a heavy tax.

The second is to increase the intensity of labor service, and change some items that should be paid by the government into unpaid service for the people under various names.

The third is to allocate government expenditures and public expenditures to the countryside, and the people will provide various kinds of goods and labor.

The fourth is to adopt some temporary names, such as suppressing bandits, increasing Liao pay, suppressing Japanese pay, training pay, etc.

Fifth, in the conversion of physical taxes into silver and the conversion of labor into silver, unequal exchange rates were imposed, and the people were robbed.

It has to be said that the officials of the imperial court were indeed the most elite group of people in the Ming Dynasty. They came up with various taxes and labor services and used various methods to collect them. Zhang Juzheng's whipping method was to change this.

The plan was to incorporate the generals, the remaining poll taxes, etc. into the land tax to reduce the burden on the people, but in the end it was too complicated and affected the interests of all parties, so it was not completed.

As for whose interests are affected, it is conceivable that they are definitely not those poor ordinary people.

What is ridiculous is that some people naively regard people such as the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party as the pillars of the country, but they do not know that the pillars of the country are being eroded step by step by these people.

As for the fall of the Ming Dynasty because Chongzhen was mean and ungrateful and killed ministers indiscriminately, it is even more nonsense. You must know that one of the reasons why the Ming Dynasty is struggling now is that the treasury is empty. At this time, there were large areas of tax arrears throughout the Ming Dynasty.

In , 340 counties reported that tax arrears reached 50% or more. The taxes of these counties accounted for more than a quarter of the entire empire's fiscal revenue, and 134 of them were

In fact, no taxes were paid to the court. Who is running these places? Are they not officials who claim to be the pillars of the Ming Dynasty? The local government refused to pay taxes, but the court officials actually let it go, allowed state affairs to be corrupted, and shirk each other.

The debate continues. If you have such a group of "pillars of the imperial court" who do nothing, what's the point of killing them?

After Xiang Chongzhen ascended the throne, he faced such a mess that Li Yi couldn't help but pity him.

"Sir, do you want to buy melons?" An old man pushing a cart came over, smiling in his weathered wrinkles, and speaking in a strange Mandarin dialect.

"There are actually melons to eat, which is really fresh." Li Yi didn't expect that An Xin would have such fruits, so he couldn't help but ask: "Old man, can you sell these melons?"

The old man heard this and laughed and said: "Young master is joking. If you can't sell it, how can I transport it out?"

Li Yi became more interested after hearing this, and said: "This watermelon should be much more expensive than meat, but it can be sold. I don't believe it. Is there anything wrong with your melon?"

Hearing the young man in front of him saying that there was something wrong with the melons he sold, the old man suddenly became unhappy and said in a stiff tone: "What's wrong with my melons? The young man has no proof, how can he taint the old man's innocence? Can the young man buy it?"

Buy it, don’t buy it, but the old man is leaving."

As he said that, he was about to leave with the cart.

Li Yi stopped after hearing this and said with a smile: "Don't be angry, old man. As long as you tell me how the melon is selling, there is no problem. I will buy it immediately."

Hearing Li Yi promised to buy it, the old man stopped and snorted coldly: "This watermelon is indeed precious. If it were before, many people like me would have never eaten it in their lives. But now I am a small benefactor."

People in the country can go to work in workshops and construction sites every day. The price of watermelons is more expensive than meat, but it is only a day's wages for my wife. Many people have spare money and work to make a living, and they all want to try something new, so they buy a watermelon.

What’s all the fuss about when we go back to normal?”

After hearing this, Li Yi immediately bowed his hands and said: "The kid just made inappropriate remarks, please don't pay attention to me."

When the old man saw Li Yi saluting, he quickly put down his car and returned the salute: "I don't dare to accept it, I don't dare to accept it."

"Old man, do you know that the income of Anxin villagers is really so high? Watermelon is just their daily wages?"

Li Yi took the initiative to admit his mistake. The old man had a good impression of him and explained: "Of course. My Anxin products are unique in the world and are sold as far as the capital. Even the rich and powerful are vying to buy them. The little benefactor is kind and kind, and he gives

My salary is also very high, so why should I be surprised if I eat a watermelon?"

"The number of work places in the workshop is limited. I'm afraid the rest of us are not as worry-free as my father-in-law said, right?" Li Yi asked again.

After hearing this, the father-in-law was immediately excited and said: "You boy, you are really a villain. My little benefactor is impartial in his work. Those who are capable can go to the workshop, and those who are not good at work can also go to the construction site to work. The rewards are not low. Moreover,

Those who are disabled, sick or weak can be reported to the old home by the chief security officer, and there will still be money and food to supplement their living expenses. We, Anxin, are the land of heavenly abundance, even the capital cannot compare with it."

Seeing the pride on his father's face, Li Yi was also very happy. It seemed that the villagers in Anxin still had a strong sense of belonging.

He thought for a while and then said: "Then according to my father-in-law's words, there is no shortcomings in Anxin Land?"

Hearing Li Yi's question, the old man hesitated, and after thinking for a while he continued: "It's not enough, but there are some. The villagers are divided into grades based on their merits. After the upper-class people get rich, they often show off their wealth with arrogance and fun, which makes

Everyone is dissatisfied."

Hearing this, Li Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, but he did not expect that this would happen.

Finally, Li Yi bought three watermelons, then said goodbye to his father-in-law and continued to visit the market.
Chapter completed!