Chapter 183 Busy

"According to me, 40 or 50 percent is not an exaggeration."

Ying Yi took the coupon handed over by the Taxation Department of the State Mu Yamen. After reading it, he said with a smile: "But we really can't be too harsh right now, lest it dampen their enthusiasm, although it's already a big enough blow."

The sexton of the Taxation Department was just transferred from Yuzhou, named Zhao Huaizhun. Zhao Huaizhun was a Jinshi and was in the same year as Zheng Yunzhi. He was a few years older than Zheng Yunzhi. He looked about forty years old, skinny and thin, but very energetic.

This person originally had a promising future, but because he was implicated in some affairs in the imperial court, he was expelled as a Jinshi and would never be hired. His life was extremely miserable.

He is a native of Nanyang and was a candidate in the same class as Zheng Yunzhi. There is some friendship between them. When Zheng Yunzhi was in Yuzhou, he accidentally learned about Zhao Huaizhun. Knowing his abilities, he pulled him into Ying Yi's chariot.

Now, because of his outstanding ability, he is directly promoted to the position of tax clerk, which can be said to be a step to the top.

In Zhao Huaizhun's own opinion, this is the case - he does not think that Ying Yi, who has won every battle and has such a magical existence as the Humanity Ranking, will not succeed. Although he is already in his forties, he has an extremely broad vision for the future.

Zhao Huaizhun said: "What my lord said is absolutely true. Since ancient times, all dynasties have emphasized agriculture and suppressed business, which is not without reason. Just like this in Kaifeng, it is proof. When the city is in danger and the people are hungry, merchants are unscrupulous, so they should be severely punished. However, After all, it is indispensable for the lord to be wise and the merchants to be open-minded."

Ying Yi nodded with satisfaction. He could completely see that Zhao Huaizhun had no good impression of businessmen, but Zhao Huaizhun also knew the necessity of business, which was good.

The brochure handed over by Zhao Huaizhun was more than 20 pages and two inches thick. It contained detailed information on tax regulations. After reading it, Ying Yi felt that there was nothing he needed to add for the time being. But Ying Yi has another idea about taxation.

In the era hundreds of years later, a Western country's emphasis on taxation is worth learning from. People say that the department with the strongest combat effectiveness is the tax department. Ying Yi thinks he can follow suit.

He said: "Businessmen deal with profits, and the benefits are so exciting that they must be guarded against. I have no objection to your proposal, but I think we can establish an armed force dedicated to collecting taxes under the Taxation Department."

Zhao Huaizhun was startled and couldn't help but said: "A tax collector?"

Ying Yi smiled and nodded, then shook his head: "It can be said that he is a taxman, but he has more autonomy. But you have to remember that the ferocity of taxmen mainly targets powerful businessmen. As for the common people, you should Know."

Zhao Huaizhun understood the idea and said: "My lord is wise."

Ying Yi smiled and said: "You should slowly build up the tax officials first, and in the future they will be mainly retired soldiers. As long as you act in accordance with the tax laws, just go ahead and do it without worrying too much."

Taxation is the energy source of a regime - without taxation, any regime will collapse. The Ming Dynasty is a lesson learned from the past. Financial collapse was an important reason for the rapid collapse of the Ming Dynasty.

There is no reason for Ying Yi not to pay attention to it.

After meeting Zhao Huaizhun, Ying took the time to meet with the kind merchant and honorable man the next afternoon.

No group can be generalized. There are many merchants in Kaifeng City, thousands of them large and small. Some of them are evil-hearted, but there are also some who are sincere.

Ying Yi attaches great importance to them. It's not easy to keep one's heart amidst the entanglement of interests.

During the meeting, Ying Yi emphatically expressed his emphasis on business and his warning on tax matters, and told them that as long as they followed the rules, everything else would not be a problem.

Now that Ying Yi has reached this point, his power becomes more and more powerful. Even if he is calm, people dare not turn their attention to him and are trembling with fear.

Although Ying Yi is self-reliant and outsiders don't know the secrets of the Humanity List, and may have doubts about Ying Yi's ability to stand, they still recognize Ying Yi's combat effectiveness from the bottom of their hearts.

Maybe there are those who are cautious and think that they can just deal with it first and wait for Ying Yi to be defeated. But no matter what, no one dared to resist - Sun Xiucai's butcher knife was not unsharp, and the fate of tens of thousands of heads and a sea of ​​blood was still vivid in his mind.

In terms of government affairs, with the passage of time, two yamen and seven departments were gradually established. It may still be crude, but it already has a certain atmosphere.

When the army's reorganization and expansion were completed, the order of Kaifeng City had been restored considerably.

The continuous output of more than 8 million tons of grain and the stabilization of grain prices temporarily solved the food and drink needs of millions of households in Kaifeng City, and also helped Ying Yi win the support of the people. Although it is not provided free of charge, the people of the Xia Dynasty have always only needed enough food and clothing.

In this process, the Prefecture Mu Yamen’s Household Division also conducted statistics on Kaifeng’s population. Combining the information left by the Ming Dynasty officials, we got a relatively accurate figure - there are more than 980,000 households in Kaifeng City, and the total number of households is around 5 million.

This is a huge number, but not surprising.

The total population of the Ming Dynasty exceeded 100 million. As an important city in the Central Plains, Kaifeng has a long history. It is normal to have five million people.

With the stabilization of order in Kaifeng, the recruitment of officials and staff in the Prefectural Muyamen has become increasingly smooth. Scholars are clever and know how to observe. If they are intruders and others, they will torture the people in the process. Probably not many scholars will be willing to serve them unless they are forced to do so or forced to do so.

As for what Ying Yi did after entering the city, although some aspects were a little violent, he did well in other aspects.

A scholar with ideals and ambitions felt that Ying Yi should be a "Ming Zhu" at this time, so he no longer hesitated.

As the staff of the two yamen and the seven divisions are enriched, their ability to act becomes stronger and stronger. After counting the population, various aspects of work including land counting and work-for-relief work began to be put on the agenda.

Needless to say, there is no need to say more about the land statistics. The rich and powerful people in Kaifeng City have fallen into the dust. The large amount of land that was taken out from their hands, as well as the land that was desolate due to the war, all need to be counted, and after the statistics, they have to be distributed.

After the distribution, it is time to start farming.

Many things are just the beginning.

As for work-for-relief, Kaifeng experienced war and many places needed repairs. Similarly, this is also a way for Ying Yi to distribute money and food to the people - it is impossible to do it for free, and people must know that there is no free lunch in the world.

Work-for-relief is the best.

Repairing Kaifeng is only the first step. In the future, public facilities such as water conservancy and transportation will also be built, which are all planned.

Labor creates wealth. Through this step, people can become active and receive income, thereby activating commercial circulation and forming a cycle.

On the seventh day, the army's reorganization and expansion were completed, and Zhu Bingkun and Zheng Wu came to hand over their orders.

"very good."

Ying Yi read the document, put it down, and nodded slightly: "Twenty-seven thousand people are enough. I will give you seven more days to rest and train. After seven days, you will have important tasks."

Zhu Bingkun and Zheng Wu looked at each other and responded in unison.