C179 Copper Tax
C179 Copper Tax
Prime Minister Lee sighed and said, "Your Majesty, you must not."
"Why?"
His Majesty frowned.
Prime Minister Lee said, "Nowadays, copper coins are needed everywhere, causing the amount of copper coins to decrease, as well as the various stockpiles. Now, four kilograms of brown rice can be exchanged for one copper coin, and before that, last year, one and a half kilograms of brown rice could be exchanged for one copper coin. In this way, if the payment was based on grain, it would be based on the previous price. Or would it be at this year's price, or at the price after that? In two months' time, it would take six kilograms of brown rice to exchange for a copper coin. If I use the food cloth as my salary, I'm afraid the officials below will have a lot of complaints."
" This... "
The corner of His Majesty's eyes twitched again.
"Then can't we gather it?"
Prime Minister Lee shook his head and said, "This official has already thought of all methods, but we cannot gather the numbers."
His Majesty was silent. He lowered his head and could not speak for a long time.
The eunuch saw and thought for a moment. Suddenly, he carefully came over and whispered, "Your Majesty, how about... this old servant go and ask Saint Xiao?"
"En?"
His majesty was really moved in an instant.
This was a matter of worrying people to death, perhaps that brat would have some way to deal with it.
But after a moment, he coldly snorted and said in a low voice: "If I ask him everywhere, wouldn't it make him even more arrogant? He even laughs at Zhen's lack of people in the court for no reason! Hmph, Zhen will not ask him!"
The eunuch was stunned and could only return to his seat with a bitter face. He wanted to laugh but did not dare. In the end, he could only sigh.
He wondered why His Majesty, who usually killed decisively, was so childish when it came to Xiao Yun.
His Majesty thought for a long time and suddenly his eyes lit up. He raised his head and said, "It's almost time for tax in some areas, right? This tax only needs to be paid with copper coins, and cannot be replaced with food. As for the number of copper coins, it will be converted according to the local grain price. As such, the people did not suffer any losses, and the treasury added copper coins. Wouldn't that be perfect? "
His Majesty said confidently.
He was so confident that... normally, if there was such a crucial move, he would let this official go down and say it. Then, he would nod in agreement. Even if this method was thought up by him, he would still go through such a formality.
It seemed that the officials were very useful.
However, this time, he could not hold it in anymore.
He even wanted to compete with Xiao Yun.
After Prime Minister Lee heard it, he lowered his head and thought for a while. Finally, he frowned and wanted to say something, but when he saw the king's happy face, he sighed and didn't say anything else.
This decree also quickly arrived below.
When the people heard that everyone used copper coins to pay taxes, they were initially a little happy.
After all, there was a lot of grain that needed to be paid taxes, so moving it would take a lot of effort. And the place where the taxes were paid, there was only one town... Some of the more remote villages simply took a cart of food and ran to the town. It would take two days.
However, the merchants who collected grain were everywhere. They sold the grain nearby, exchanged it for copper coins, and paid taxes. This saved them a lot of trouble on the way back and forth.
They were naturally happy.
However, when a few farmers excitedly went to sell the grain, they were stunned to realize that the price of the grain was different!
Previously, three kilograms of brown rice could be exchanged for a copper coin.
But when they arrived, if they wanted a copper coin, they had to take five kilograms of brown rice!
Five kilograms of brown rice was a small bag. Such a small bag of grain was heavy, but it could be exchanged for a copper coin? No matter what, this couldn't be justified.
"We heard from others that this year's taxes are paid using copper coins. We usually have to pay 1200 kilograms of grain, which is equivalent to 400 copper coins. If we don't get half a cent, the other side will be calculated according to the size of three kilograms of brown rice. Why do you charge 5 jin of brown rice per copper coin when you collect grain? Aren't you trying to cheat me?"
A few farmers joined forces and followed a man who knew how to read and write. They ran to the door of the grain collection house to cause trouble.
The grain household shouted loudly, "Aiyo, it's you guys? Yesterday, you refused to exchange four pounds for a copper coin. Today, a stranger came again. What's wrong? You went to another house and saw that the food in the other house was even more cheap. That's why he came back, right? It's too late! We also have a 5 kilogram copper grain here, do you want to sell it or not! If you don't want to sell it, then carry your food to the county. See if the tax collectors will take your grain or not! Hehe, this time it's the Imperial Ranking List! His Majesty the Emperor personally gave the order, who dared to disobey? Hey! Keep messing around? If you keep messing around, I will raise the price. If you don't like it, then I won't take your rice. Do you believe me? "
" Profiteer! You profiteers will die a horrible death!"
"Eh? Who are you scolding? You old bastard, you ingrate, I was thinking of my hometown folks, Wang Yao said. I took care of you guys, I only raised the money two days later than other people's house. You don't believe me and don't listen. Why? You only came here to cause trouble because you know that you are going to suffer a loss? Do you really think your good intentions are like a donkey's liver and lungs, and you still want to be scolded by you? Smelly shameless, why don't you scold me again? Do you believe that I will skin you alive? "
" F * ck that damn profiteer! Brothers, f * ck him up! "
It was very easy for a small granary to have such verbal arguments. Even if they were to fight, the casualties would be huge.
The big ones were the thugs who raised their clubs and waved them around. The messy clubs dispersed the crowd, and there were also many injured and dead people among them.
With such a mess, the whole place was in chaos!
The tax collectors of the Imperial Court also had a death order. It was absolutely impossible to not pay taxes. They had to be punished, and they could not even use grain to pay taxes. If the imperial decree was well written, it had to be copper coins.
Hence, the conflict could not be eased, so it naturally became more and more intense.
This matter was quickly sent back to the capital and was heard by the Emperor. It was then brought up to the Imperial Court.
In fact, no one actually wanted to place this matter in the Imperial Court.
After all, this was the emperor's move. If something happened, the emperor would not be able to keep his face.
But there was nothing they could do.
Because now, he needed His Majesty to give the order to send troops to suppress it. If this continued for a long time, it was likely that there would be chaos.
The people of Great Qin Country were all brave!
When His Majesty heard the following report, he was stunned.
Then, he flew into a rage and slammed his palm on the table, shouting loudly, "Evil profiteer, you dare to mess with my government!"
The group of people lowered their heads, not daring to speak.
Prime Minister Lee immediately stepped out from the crowd. He thought for a while but did not know what to say.
This was indeed the problem of the profiteers, but... He felt that something was wrong.
He could not think of what was wrong with it, and there was no one in the royal court to explain it.
At this moment, Leng Dazhu slowly walked out. He looked around, then sighed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down."
Leng Xiaohan was a military official. Furthermore, it had been so many years, and he had only gone through the motions in the court. It could be said that he had gotten up early to train his body, and he didn't care about what would happen in the court.
At most, there were some problems that involved Xiao Yun. He would just come out and talk.
However, once he took the initiative to speak, it meant that he wanted to speak, and everyone had to listen to him!
His Majesty took a deep breath, rubbed his glabella, and said, "Great Country Pillar, do you have anything to say?"
"Your Majesty."
Leng Xiaohan bowed and said, "We can't blame the profiteers for this. Although there are many profiteers, we can't kill all the merchants with one blow."
" Oh? The pillar is begging for his life for a profiteer?"
Leng Xiaohan shook his head and said, "Your majesty, this old subject wants to tell you something about the past."
The corner of His Majesty's eyes twitched. What time was it? 'You still want to listen to old people talk about family matters? '
He was angry in his heart, but it was not good to thwart Leng Xiaohan's face. He nodded and gestured for him to speak.
"Your majesty, when we were in charge of the army, the soldiers would bring three uncles and one meat when they marched. Three sacks of rice and a sack of dried meat. Some people like to eat meat. They would exchange millet rice for other people's meat to eat. The soldiers would eat to fill their stomachs. They did not care if they ate millet rice or dried meat. Two bags of millet rice for a bag of meat. No one felt that they were at a disadvantage. However, once they encountered a battle and the battle was imminent, they would have a meal. They would have to pick up their weapons and charge into the enemy lines. At this moment, a bag of dried meat needed five or six bags of millet rice to exchange for it. This would require a few people to gather millet rice to exchange for some. Divide the food. "
At this point, His Majesty was stunned and curiously asked: "Why did the price change?"
Leng Xiaohan smiled and said, "The millet is a supply for the army, so naturally it can be replenished at all times, and the dried meat is also a supply. Yes. ___ smiled and said, The millet is a supply for the army, so naturally it can be replenished at all times. But the longer we march, the less meat we have. And the more millet rice they had. They usually didn't show up, but only before the war. After a few years of being a soldier, everyone knew that on the battlefield, if one wanted to have a bit of strength... It could even be said that they had to eat more meat. Therefore, everyone wanted to exchange millet rice for meat. But there was only that much meat, even if you exchanged it with me, I would also exchange it. If there was not enough meat, they could only increase the price. The higher the price, the better. After all, if you exchange meat, you'll take the risk of eating less meat and not having enough strength. "
His Majesty frowned and nodded repeatedly. "So there is such a saying. Although I also followed the army for a few years back then, I am still not as clear as you... En?! "
Speaking up to this point, His Majesty was suddenly shocked. He raised his head and looked at Leng Xiaohan in disbelief!