Chapter 104 National Origin
Zhu Biao was a steady person and never spoke in an exaggerated manner.

Deng Qianqiu liked him very much, but in this respect, Prince Jin was far inferior to the Crown Prince.

Since he said that this is the foundation of the country, then...this tax is naturally the foundation of the country.

Deng Qianqiu bit the tip of his pen and couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, we have been here for two days and two nights. I think Your Highness is tired. Let's go back and rest."

After a pause, Deng Qianqiu added: "I feel sorry for Your Highness."

Zhu Biao sat upright, shook his head and smiled, "It's okay, just calculate the number first. If not, I will be worried. There are still many things to do. I see that everyone in your Hundred Households is busy, how can I rest?"

What a nice guy.

It would have been better if he had not died early during the Hongwu period.

Deng Qianqiu let out an "oh".

Zhu Biao seemed to remember something, so he asked, "How come these merchants have so much silver?"

"In fact, there is a lot of wealth in the world." Deng Qianqiu paused, thinking about how to tell the prince, and then said: "The problem is that there is actually very little currency in circulation in the market."

"Hmm?" Zhu Biao looked at Deng Qianqiu. He used to treat Deng Qianqiu as a younger brother, but now he increasingly finds that Deng Qianqiu is not simple.

The prince said calmly: "I don't quite understand what you said."

Deng Qianqiu said: "Because everyone in the world needs to save. Only by saving can we prepare for emergencies. But only merchants need to buy and sell, so they need to circulate goods and currency. What we are collecting now is the circulating currency."

Zhu Biao nodded, then said in annoyance: "Why didn't the emperor see this?"

Deng Qianqiu thought for a moment and said, "Because the economic base determines the superstructure."

Zhu Biao was stunned, his eyes slightly widened, and he said, "Wait a moment."

Zhu Biao actually took out a blank note and wrote down this sentence: "Go on, I'll take note."

Deng Qianqiu couldn't help but sigh: "Your Highness is really studious."

Deng Qianqiu coughed and said seriously, "What is the economic base? The essence is who the court can collect taxes from and who the country relies on to support itself. Take agricultural taxes for example. More than 80% of the taxes in the world are collected from farmers. If the court wants to collect taxes, it has to rely on the gentry, because land is dead. Such a large piece of land cannot be hidden. Taxes can be collected from here. Even if there are losses and there are many ways to deceive superiors and subordinates, in the end... the court must rely on it."

"I understand." Zhu Biao smiled and said, "No wonder father hates gentry, but in the imperial edict, he still treats them very well. This is what you call the economic foundation! And the gentry are the superstructure. If father wants to maintain this house, he has to rely on them, even if he has some complaints about them, he has to do so."

Deng Qianqiu looked at the prince with a sharp gaze and could not help but say, "Your Highness is so smart. He is the smartest person among all the people I have ever met. I find it strange, why are they all dragon descendants..."

Zhu Biao smiled faintly and interrupted, "Tell me about this merchant."

Deng Qianqiu gathered his scattered thoughts and said seriously, "There is actually no difference between merchants and gentry. They are all profit-seeking. The former rely on exchanging what they have, while the latter rely on exploiting tenants. Logically speaking, there is actually no difference between them. But the reason why they cannot become the economic foundation is that in all dynasties, there is actually no effective means to collect taxes from them. On the one hand, silver and goods flow too quickly in their hands. Commercial goods are not like land. It is clear and obvious. It is easy to hide the amount."

"On the other hand, most gentry have lived in one place for generations and rarely move around. Merchants are different. They are highly mobile. Because of these characteristics, it is extremely difficult to collect taxes from them. Because of their many uncertainties, no court can rely on them as a stable source of tax revenue."

Zhu Biao frowned: "Didn't you say that they were also a source of taxation during the Tang and Song dynasties?"

"The problem lies in stability." Deng Qianqiu said, "The court is different from ordinary people. Ordinary people can only eat one day and go hungry the next. But the court needs stability the most. Otherwise, if the revenue this year is 100,000 taels, and it becomes 10,000 next year, there will be a big mess. In this regard, commercial taxes are far inferior to agricultural taxes."

Zhu Biao suddenly realized: "Even the past dynasties could not completely rely on commercial taxes, so you think that merchants cannot become the economic foundation. So my father is right. He despises merchants and hates gentry. But he can completely abandon merchants, but he can't treat gentry badly?"

"That's roughly it." Deng Qianqiu said, "So your majesty is wise, and his idea is right. If we rely on merchants, the world may not be stable. For example, the Yuan Dynasty of Mongolia couldn't handle the agricultural tax, and the tax was a mess. On the contrary, they relied on merchants because merchants could provide them with real money. But your highness, you see, the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty did not have a hundred years of national fortune, and its luck would be over. I think your majesty is considering this level."

Zhu Biao seemed to be thinking about something. Deng Qianqiu's words suddenly made him enlightened. In fact, he felt that some of his father's actions were too extreme. However, in the main hall, many great scholars taught him why scholars should be treated preferentially and merchants should be despised, but he was always confused and felt that they were not fully explained.

Instead, it was this guy Deng Qianqiu who directly revealed the secret and actually explained the key to it.

He thought about it carefully, and then said: "In this case, what we are doing now is wrong, and Father is right."

Deng Qianqiu nodded and said, "Your Majesty is right. But... Your Highness, can I say something?" "Say it." Zhu Biao smiled and said, "It's okay. I will never report it to my father."

Deng Qianqiu coughed and said, "Although your majesty is wise, he is wrong. His mistake is that he knows the root of the problem better than anyone else, and he sees through the truth at a glance, so he chose a set of effective means to stabilize the country. But he never thought that since merchants cannot be taxed stably and cannot serve as the foundation of the country, why not try to establish a system for levying stable commercial taxes, so that it can become a stable tax source for the court like the land tax, and make it the economic foundation of our Ming Dynasty?"

I have to say that Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed very powerful. He saw through the truth better than many people in this world, even in later generations.

Although it is valuable to see through the essence of the problem, Zhu Yuanzhang chose the most conservative approach to avoid this issue.

Deng Qianqiu had lived two lives and of course he knew that this attitude could certainly keep the country stable, but... it also made the entire Ming Dynasty languishing in decadence, and was always in a state of insufficient taxation and financial difficulties.

Deng Qianqiu continued, "When you see a problem, you should change it. How can you just avoid it? If you avoid this problem today, it will cause endless trouble in the future! After all, all taxes in this world are collected from farmers. For farmers, it is such a heavy burden. It is fine when the world is peaceful, but once something goes wrong, this burden will only continue to increase until the farmers can no longer bear it."

"Another problem is that if we don't regard commercial taxes as the foundation of the economy, it is inevitable that people will exchange goods for goods. This is human nature and cannot be stopped. However, if we don't try to make them a stable source of tax, it will inevitably become a source of trouble."

Zhu Biao suddenly realized: "Listening to your words is really better than reading ten years of books. So, my father is 80% wise, but also 20% confused."

Deng Qianqiu blinked and said, "Your Highness said this, I didn't say it."

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "Let's settle the accounts."

…………

Wen Yuanji couldn't understand why His Majesty wanted to go on a secret tour.

This is so dangerous. Even though I brought a dozen guards, if I encounter bad guys...

He followed behind Zhu Yuanzhang, looking left and right, turning back every step, feeling extremely nervous.

But along the way, he couldn't help but vent his anger: "Deng Qianqiu is not a good person. People outside call him Deng Baopi. I heard that no one who falls into his hands has a good ending."

"It's nothing, actually. Heaven's net is vast and nothing can escape it. Sooner or later, he will question you. What I am worried about is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is usually courteous to others and studies very hard. He is a filial person, but these days, I don't know why... he has no interest in studying. Your Majesty, this cannot be underestimated. We must nip it in the bud..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was in a bad mood at this time. He said impatiently: "Come on, come on, can you say less?"

Wen Yuanji smiled bitterly and said, "I am the Imperial Censor, and it is my duty. If I don't tell you... what will happen? Deng Qianqiu killed the people and just snatched a glance from Ming. Such a person... Tsk tsk..."

As they were talking, Zhu Yuanzhang finally arrived at the county government office.

But I saw that the big house next door had a plaque hanging on it that read "Chunhe Palace Hundred Households Office".

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but stepped forward, his face pulled down.

Chunhe Palace is the residence of the crown prince. To display the crown prince's name so blatantly in the street like this, if the people from the Hundred Households Office were committing a crime, wouldn't that embarrass the crown prince?
He stepped forward and saw a man who looked like a merchant, with two assistants, preparing to go in.

"Hey, why did you bump into me?" The merchant looked hurried and was accidentally bumped by Zhu Yuanzhang. He couldn't help but look back with an angry face.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care, he smiled and said: "I saw you wearing cloth, but the cloth is made of the finest Songjiang cloth. You must be a merchant, what are you doing here?"

The merchant's expression softened a little: "Of course I'm here to pay taxes."

Wen Yuanji behind Zhu Yuanzhang was like a fly encountering rotten eggs, and suddenly became excited: "Look, look, I know... the people are so scared, it shows how cruel and evil they are in normal days. It is said that people do not fear death, but how can they be frightened by death? How notorious must the crime be to make people so scared."

Zhu Yuanzhang felt like he was being followed by a noisy fly all the way. He couldn't help but turn around and yell, "Shut your stinky mouth! He's here to pay taxes, none of your business!"

……

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I'm still writing the next chapter, I'll try to update it soon.

(End of this chapter)