Chapter 107 Zhu Yuanzhang is ecstatic

Ninety percent.

The more Zhu Yuanzhang listened, the more mysterious it seemed.

He stared at the merchant in front of him, as if trying to read his mind.

"what do you mean?"

The merchant Liu Kang said boldly: "Let's talk about the merchant who has been suing everywhere these days."

"Sue everywhere?" Zhu Yuanzhang thought of the victim who went to Yingtian Prefecture and the Dali Temple to file a lawsuit, so he asked, "Are you talking about the man named Zheng Tong?"

"Yes, it's this person. He also deals in paper, but his business is very big." Liu Kang licked his lips and continued, "Your Majesty, why do you think he refuses to pay taxes?"

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to understand something after hearing this reminder, but he did not reveal it. Instead, he asked knowingly, "Why?"

"It's because they don't have to worry about the checkpoints along the way. His family has been doing this business since the Yuan Dynasty. They are a prominent family, and many of them are officials! It was the same in our Ming Dynasty. Although he is only a branch of this prominent family, he has a deep relationship. No matter where the Zheng family's business goes, they only need a name card, and people will often turn a blind eye and not make things difficult for them."

Zhu Yuanzhang understood and said, "So for you, this Hundred Households Office provides you with convenience, but for Zheng, it is actually chicken ribs. They don't pay business taxes and don't care about road permits."

"Of course." Liu Kang said, "In the past, the Zheng family sold their paper at a lower price than us because, of our goods, only 50% would remain after transportation, but the Zheng family didn't need to consider such losses. How could other paper merchants compete with them? In the past, we could only pick up some of their leftovers. But now it's different. Although we pay taxes, our goods can flow freely, and the cost has been greatly reduced."

Liu Kang paused and continued, "But their family has never worried about the difficulties encountered at the checkpoints along the way, so naturally, it doesn't matter whether they pay taxes or not. Moreover, paying taxes will increase costs... Not only are they unwilling to pay, they also complain the most about it."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he couldn't help but say, "That's why this Zheng guy was investigated! Let me guess, he was investigated because you, Liu Kang, reported him, right?"

Liu Kang shuddered and said hurriedly: "I...I dare not, I am not an ordinary person."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him coldly.

Liu Kang quickly defended himself, "I am a coward, but there are many people in this county doing papermaking business. Normally, no one can compete with the Zheng family. Now we have all paid taxes honestly, except Zheng. His cost is still lower than ours. And the Hundred Households Office encourages anonymous reporting. I was thinking... it must be reported by a colleague. Who would have thought that the Hundred Households Office... really took action. Your Majesty, you see, they found the truth after investigation."

Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts suddenly opened up.

He looked at Deng Qianqiu and asked, "How many people are there in your hundred households?"

Deng Qianqiu said: "There are eleven people on the payroll, but we have recently recruited more than twenty temporary ones. In total, there are less than forty people."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but said: "I understand..."

It is the most difficult to collect taxes from mobile merchants, because you have no way of knowing how much goods they have or how much they are worth. And to be honest, it is very difficult to investigate, because it requires a large number of personnel, and these personnel cannot be ordinary clerks.

Because you need to be proficient in accounting and be able to read and write.

To put it bluntly, in this era, people who are familiar with and master these skills are in high demand no matter what they do.

It can even be said that a family that can raise such a person does not need to earn money by working as a clerk.

But a centurion office with only forty people actually set up such a framework.

This is equivalent to reducing the cost of taxation to the minimum.

Because most of the taxes are declared by the merchants themselves.

Even if there are some people who refuse to pay, on the surface it is said to be random inspection, but in fact, there are so many merchants, and it is so troublesome to collect evidence. Finding such merchants is like looking for a needle in a haystack. How much manpower and resources will it take?
If we can’t spot check, once someone starts evading taxes, others will follow suit, and the final result will be…

With the administrative scale of a hundred households, it is ultimately just a thunderstorm, coming quickly and going quickly. Soon the so-called commercial tax will be abolished and eventually become meaningless.

but……

Zhu Yuanzhang figured out the key points, and his expression became visibly better. He smiled and said, "Deng Qianqiu, your random inspection depends on the reports of these businessmen, right?"

Deng Qianqiu finally saw a smile on His Majesty's face, and he breathed a sigh of relief, "That's right, Your Majesty. They know much more about the business than we do. They know how much goods they have sold, how much they have delivered, and how much they are worth. Those who reported it even provided evidence. Based on such clues, our Hundred Households Office can find the truth. Take the Zheng family for example. They do a big business and sell a lot of goods. If we really want to investigate from the beginning, the Hundred Households Office will need to send out at least seven or eight knowledgeable clerks to investigate their storefront and workshop for a month or two."

"But based on the clues from this report, a rough one can convict him in three to five days! This Zheng is quite courageous. He has tens of thousands of taels of silver in his monthly income, but he doesn't pay a penny. According to humble calculations, he should pay 2,300 taels of silver in three months. Add in the fine, and he will be directly convicted of more than 17,000 taels of silver. He refuses to give up, so he sues everywhere..."

Good guy...

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately understood Deng Qianqiu's idea. Taxation requires costs, and the lowest cost can bring in the most tax revenue.

The most important thing is... that man surnamed Zheng... seems... to have a very prosperous family and doesn't take the government seriously.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned colder, and he said, "How can a man named Zheng be so arrogant and rob so many taxes? How much tax did each household in Jiangning County collect?"

Deng Qianqiu glanced at Zhu Biao.

When Zhu Biao heard the amount of tax, he felt a headache.

I've been calculating day and night these days and I'm really tired of it.

Deng Qianqiu scratched his head and said, "Your Majesty, aren't you calculating? Jiangning is a county in the capital, and it is a place where merchants gather, especially wealthy businessmen. In the past three months, I have collected a total of 1.17 million taels in taxes. Of course, this is the income after adding fines. Several big fish in the county were seized by the Hundred Households Office because they refused to pay taxes... However... this 1.17 million taels is only a temporary settlement. I have been speeding up the calculation with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince these days. I am afraid there will be 200,000 or 300,000 taels left..."

One hundred and seventeen...there are still two or three hundred thousand left.

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression suddenly changed.

He said suddenly: "The account, I want the account."

Deng Qianqiu was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He quickly took the thick account book and presented it to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood there and began to read quickly.

But he obviously didn't understand.

Of course, the main reason was that the amount reported by Deng Qianqiu was too large.

This made him a little unbelievable, and only when he saw the densely packed account books himself did he feel at ease.

Checking the accounts is not the goal; checking whether the accounts are clear and organized is a means to determine the facts.

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and pondered for a moment, his eyes flickering constantly, but he tried hard to suppress his inner excitement. He turned to look at the merchant Liu Kang and asked, "Are there any merchants in this market who are dissatisfied with the prince?"

After hearing this, Liu Kang's Adam's apple rolled and his heart pounded. Even a fool would know that if he gave a wrong answer, he would lose his head.

Seeing that he did not answer for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "If you tell the truth, I can pardon you, but if you dare to lie, I will naturally send people to investigate. If you say one word wrong, I will kill one of your sons."

Liu Kang shuddered, not daring to hesitate any longer, and hurriedly said, "Whether the man surnamed Zheng cursed the Crown Prince, I dare not say, and I don't know. But the ordinary merchants I come into contact with on weekdays talk about how thanks to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, our business is actually better than before. Although it hurts a little to pay taxes, it is better than in previous years. So... everyone is still grateful to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. This is the truth. If one sentence is false, I am willing to be punished."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

We collect taxes from him and he is happy about it.

If that’s the case…wouldn’t it still win people’s hearts?
Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned red when he thought of the huge amount of tax silver lying in just a hundred households.

This money... once it can be implemented, it will become a long-term and stable source of tax revenue...

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly laughed and said, "Hahahaha... My eldest son follows me and is the founder of the country. Of course, he is not comparable to ordinary people. Liu Kang, you should manage the business well. As long as you don't commit crimes, don't worry, I will never let you be bullied. Okay, you don't have to kneel anymore. You are a law-abiding person. You don't have to be afraid in front of me."

"Yes, yes, thank you, Your Majesty." Liu Kang breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly felt that... this trip was like passing through the gates of hell, but... it seemed that this was also something he could brag about for the rest of his life.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked very happy at this time, and was very courteous to others.

Zhu Biao and Deng Qianqiu looked at each other and their eyes met.

Deng Qianqiu suddenly felt in sync with Zhu Biao, as if he had seen through the meaning in Zhu Biao's eyes: Look, father really only loves money, he hates merchants, but now that he has money, even the merchants seem amiable to him.

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly turned around and angrily said to Deng Qianqiu: "What did you do, you bastard!"

"Ah..." Deng Qianqiu suddenly felt like he was in an ice cellar. Being scolded suddenly, he was also confused, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I will die a thousand times, but... I don't know what crime I have committed?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and said, "Zheng Tong, who is still suing everywhere, stole my money and the court's money, but you only fined him. Even such a person dares to sue everywhere! Why don't you send someone to kill his whole family immediately?"

"..."

(End of this chapter)