Chapter 983
Wake up
Chapter 983 Wake up
Gu Qingyan was taught from a young age that one should do as much as one is capable of, and protect as many people as one has the spare capacity.
He said, "Officials, gentry, and scholars with official titles protect the villagers and accept land as collateral, which is a customary practice."
“What is common does not mean it is without fault,” Xue Shao said. “This is not only embezzling national funds, but also shifting the burden onto other villagers whose land is not subject to taxation. They will have to bear your taxes, and may have to pay 20% more or even more taxes per mu of land.”
Pan Yun chuckled and said, “The Gu family has an excellent reputation in the countryside. Even outside this area, they are praised as great philanthropists. That’s because the people only know how to pay the taxes assigned by the yamen runners. Many people never understand how much tax they have to pay in their entire lives. Naturally, they don’t know that a portion of the taxes they have to pay by selling their fields, houses, or even their children belongs to the villagers who are protected by the Gu family.”
"They don't know, but Heaven knows, Earth knows, and all the intelligent people in the world with a conscience know that the Gu family is already caught in the web of cause and effect. Now you want to say it's just a convention?"
Xue Shao said, “The so-called convention is simply that when the first person does something wrong and is not stopped, others see that he benefits and follow suit. When two people follow, and three people follow, it becomes a convention.”
Gu Qingyan blushed slightly and retorted, "My Gu family did not profit from this; the 10% rent is merely a management fee."
“Originally, this management fee should belong to the national treasury,” Xue Shao looked at him with a half-smile. “If Young Master Gu uses his private wealth instead of national wealth, and does not repent, and does not even know the tricks of the trade, I think he doesn’t need to take the imperial examination. Even if he passes the exam by writing an essay in the eight-legged style, he will still be a mediocre official.”
Gu Qingyan stood up abruptly, spun around twice, and then turned back to question Xue Shao: "Then tell me, does my Gu family have to be rich while our relatives and friends become increasingly impoverished? Regardless of the fact that they once helped my Gu family, we are still related by blood. My Gu family cannot be heartless and ignore their requests."
Seeing that he had finally said something that hit the nail on the head, Xue Shao reminded him, "The taxes that Emperor Taizu set for Quanzhou were not heavy. If taxes are paid normally, why is the city becoming increasingly impoverished?"
“The land tax isn’t heavy, but the grain tax from Quanzhou is transported to the capital by waterway. There are losses during the transport of grain, and the government distributes these losses to each household. In total, the land tax has doubled.” Gu Qingyan said, “In addition to the land tax, there is also corvée labor. You all know that corvée labor is quite heavy in the Ming Dynasty. They put the land under my family’s name, and the government will assign less corvée labor because of the Gu family.”
"Besides, there are countless other taxes and levies. In any case, after paying taxes each year, the villagers only have enough grain left to fill their stomachs. They have no stored grain or savings. If they encounter a natural disaster or someone in the family falls ill, they may be ruined."
Gu Qingyan took a deep breath and said, "My father saw too much suffering and couldn't bear to see his relatives and friends in the same village and hometown suffer like this. That's why he took over their land. One-tenth of the income is used to pay the managers' wages, and the rest is used for annual relief. If you don't believe me, Lord Xue, just ask around. Every winter, my Gu family distributes porridge by the roadside, and the orphans, widows, and the weak in the village can all receive a bag of relief grain."
Pan Yun glanced at Xue Shao and shook her head in disappointment.
Xue Shao calmly asked, "Since you know the reasons for their increasing poverty, have you thought of any solutions?"
Gu Qingyan: "Haven't we already resolved it?"
Xue Shao looked at him with a deep gaze.
Pan Yun stood up and said, "Let's go. This person is kind but not smart enough."
Gu Qingyan: ...That sounds like an insult to him.
Xue Shao then stood up and followed Pan Yun outside. Reaching the door, he sighed and turned back, saying, “Young Master Gu, the head of a village governs a mile, the magistrate of a county governs a county, and the prefect of a prefecture governs a prefecture. You, however, are a successful candidate in the provincial examinations and will become a Jinshi in the future. Your ambition should be to serve the country. Since you can see the problem, you should be thinking about solutions, not taking shortcuts to temporarily cover it up and then bring disaster to other, more vulnerable people.” Xue Shao said sternly, “What you and Prefect Gu are doing is based on social etiquette, not on solutions.”
After saying that, Xue Shao followed Pan Yun and left.
Gu Qingyan stood at a distance, stunned. When she came to her senses, she quickly chased after the two, calling out, "Wait..."
He jogged after him and asked anxiously from behind, "Lord Xue, what do you think is the solution to this problem? For thousands of years, it has been a matter of course for the people to pay taxes to the country. Clearly, the founding emperors and wise rulers did not pay much tax at the beginning, but as time went on, local taxes increased more and more, and people lost their fields, their houses, and eventually even their lives. What do you think is the solution?"
Xue Shao and Pan Yun stopped and turned to look at him.
Gu Qingyan asked with distress, "I have asked my father before, but he has not said a word and still has no solution. Tell me, how should this be resolved?"
Xue Shao said, "Reform the tax system."
Gu Qingyan's eyes lit up as she pressed for an answer: "How do you want to change it?"
There would be many changes needed. For example, the land tax, poll tax and other miscellaneous taxes could be merged into one tax, and in order to eliminate losses and burdens, the payment of goods could be changed to the collection of silver.
For example, to eliminate the practice of accepting and sending mail, officials and gentry had to pay taxes together. There was no such thing as exemption, and even the welfare of exemption from corvée labor was also exempted. The exemption silver could be added to their salaries, and when it was their turn to perform corvée labor each year, they would use the silver to be exempted from the labor service.
Xue Shao looked at Gu Qingyan with bright eyes and asked, "If this law requires your Gu family to pay land tax like the villagers, and there is no longer any tax exemption, are you willing?"
Gu Qingyan's heart skipped a beat, and she stared at him sharply, asking, "Officials and gentry pay taxes?"
Xue Shao remained silent, simply watching him quietly.
After a moment's thought, Gu Qingyan lowered his eyes and asked, "Can the burden of taxes levied by officials and gentry really be reduced for the common people?"
Xue Shao: "Since your family accepts land for taxation, you should know how much land tax a scholar, a jinshi, or an official can be exempted from. Calculate how many officials, jinshi, and juren there are in our Great Ming Dynasty now, as well as the royal family and nobles. If all these people accept the full amount of land tax, how much tax grain will the national treasury lose every year? In addition to the normal channels, there are also land taxes that can be exempted through collusion between officials and gentry. The Gu family has such a good reputation, and even Young Master Gu said that his family does not take advantage of others. They can still protect the villagers and reduce their corvée labor and miscellaneous taxes every year. What about other officials and gentry?"
“I can tell you now that the total amount you can calculate only accounts for half of the missing amount. This half is entirely borne by ordinary people who have no protection and no foundation. In addition to this half, there is another half of uncalculated losses, which the national treasury cannot recover and the local governments will owe money every year.”
(End of this chapter)