jdhmnovel Chapter 250 He is still a child
Chapter 250 He is still a child
Magistrate Yang was very welcoming of Zhu Biao, the Grand Vice Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. After all, in addition to his two foolish younger brothers, Zhu Biao had brought a whole pound of small dragon dumplings, a rare treat that money couldn't buy.
For the sake of a pound of small dragon balls, Magistrate Yang didn't mind accompanying Vice Emperor Zhu on a good tour of Ningyang County.
"Your Highness, look here. This is the crack that was created by the earthquake last time. If it is not repaired, a heavy rain could wash this crack into a large fissure, and the house might collapse at any time."
Magistrate Yang pointed to some houses with cracks in the walls and began to explain to Vice Emperor Zhu: "But our Ningyang County is small and poor, and we don't have enough manpower. We can't make enough bricks and tiles, and we don't have enough manpower to build houses, so we can only repair and patch them up."
Zhu Biao nodded in agreement with a heavy expression, but in his heart he was thinking about where exactly Ningyang County was poor. Was it because the people of Ningyang County had not yet built a three-courtyard house with blue bricks for every family?
No, if every household in Ningyang County could live in a three-courtyard brick house, wouldn't everyone in Ningyang County be a landlord?
Just as Vice Emperor Zhu was secretly grumbling to himself, Magistrate Yang pointed to the young men who were demolishing a house in the distance and said, "Your Highness, look, that house was demolished and rebuilt because the earth dragon stirred up a large crack."
"To build a house, from laying the foundation to the final completion, it will take about three or four months. We will be busy until the spring of next year."
"So it's tough for ordinary people too. If they don't demolish and rebuild, their houses risk collapsing. If they do demolish and rebuild, it will delay the autumn harvest and the plowing and harrowing before winter, which will also affect next year's harvest."
As Zhu Biao watched several strong young men use a thick roof beam as a battering ram to knock down the mud wall several times, his mind was filled with Magistrate Yang's words, "There is a risk of collapse"—damn it, it took several people several times to knock it down, how could this kind of wall be at risk of collapsing?
The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. Zhu Biao couldn't help but say, "Brother-in-law, I may not know much about the hardships of ordinary people, but I have seen soldiers using battering rams to strike the city gates."
I may not be very smart, but brother-in-law, you can't treat me like a fool.
Upon hearing Zhu Biao's words, Magistrate Yang immediately stopped complaining, chuckled twice, and said, "It's just that it hasn't rained recently. If it had rained and been soaked by the rain, this wall wouldn't be so sturdy."
Zhu Biao was no longer willing to listen to Magistrate Yang's nonsense.
It's true that ordinary people's houses are made of mud bricks, but mud bricks are much bigger than blue bricks. They are about a foot long when laid horizontally. In addition, the walls inside and outside are plastered with mud, so the final wall is about a foot and a half thick. What kind of rainwater can wash away such a wall?
Or rather, apart from a very few exceptions, which ordinary person doesn't lay the mud bricks horizontally when building a house?
After silently complaining to himself, Zhu Biao simply changed the subject and said, "Brother-in-law, the reason I came to Ningyang County this time is actually to ask you about Hongzhou."
Magistrate Yang was slightly taken aback and asked, "Hongzhou? Could it be about establishing salt fields in Hongzhou?"
Zhu Biao nodded slightly. "That's right, it's about establishing salt fields in Hongzhou. My father is a bit confused right now. If salt fields are established, how will the people of Hongzhou be classified? Will they be farmers or salt producers? And how will Hongzhou's taxes be calculated? Will they be taxed as salt tax or agricultural tax?"
Magistrate Yang chuckled, not directly answering Zhu Biao's question. Instead, he stopped and looked at Zhu Biao, asking, "Then what does Your Highness think?"
Zhu Biao also stopped and frowned, saying, "In my opinion, if the profits from salt production are greater than those from farming, then the people of Hongzhou should be designated as salt households and naturally taxed on salt in the future. If the profits from salt production are less than those from farming, then it is better for the people of Hongzhou to make a living by farming."
Magistrate Yang smiled again and continued, "Then why can't the people farm and boil salt at the same time? Or rather, the men in the family can farm, and the women can boil salt in their spare time. Land tax is land tax, and salt tax is salt tax. Who says they can't be collected together?"
Pointing to the house next door, Magistrate Yang said with a smile, "This house belongs to Wang Laowai. His family has three men, 45 mu of farmland, 6 mu of vegetable fields, dozens of chickens and ducks, and a pig. There is also a room in the house where they cultivate mushrooms in the winter."
"Your Highness, what do you think should be done about taxing his mushrooms, chickens, ducks, and land after the three-year tax exemption period ends?"
Zhu Biao hummed in agreement and continued, "What about the tax rates? Brother-in-law, you mentioned before that a progressive tax rate could be applied to land. So, could other commercial taxes be classified first, and then a progressive tax system be applied?"
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Yang couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.
“Your Highness, everything I have said is based on the current situation in Ningyang County. However, there are more than a thousand counties in the Ming Dynasty, and the number of people involved is in the tens of millions. The situation in Ningyang County may not necessarily apply to the entire Ming Dynasty.”
"As for the progressive tax rate for farmland, and the commercial tax that Your Highness just mentioned, which is first classified and then progressively taxed, Your Highness needs to look into these things and think about them yourself. I don't have a definite answer to give Your Highness."
Upon hearing Magistrate Yang's words, Zhu Biao nodded again and continued walking forward with Magistrate Yang.
After walking a long way, Zhu Biao suddenly said out of the blue, "Brother-in-law, I've been feeling quite lost lately. I hope you can help me find some answers."
Upon hearing Zhu Biao say he felt lost, Magistrate Yang immediately became interested.
Should I find some props first, and then, when Zhu Biao explains why he is confused, use the props to put on a show, and through conversation, make Zhu Biao say with genuine respect, "Master, I understand"?
Just as Magistrate Yang was pondering this in his mind, Zhu Biao spoke up and said, "I still can't understand why some gentry would desperately try to seize land for themselves, even at the cost of driving ordinary people to their deaths, but why some gentry don't seem to care much about land at all?"
"And why do some people prefer to sell their land, or even become slaves, rather than pay taxes?"
"And what about all the officials in the world? Why can't they consider the people's needs like you, brother-in-law? Don't they always say they want to make the emperor like Yao and Shun, and love the people like their own children?"
"..."
Listening to Zhu Biao's bewildered expression as he addressed these questions, Magistrate Yang suddenly realized that Zhu Biao was not only the Executive Vice Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but also a child of about ten years old.