Zhang Xiaobao sat up straight and greeted everyone with a smile. Then, he coughed softly.
"For example, Your Majesty, you are the head of a rich family. Your family does business, and there are people in your family who are officials in the imperial court. You are prominent in the local area. The tax you usually pay is 15% to 20%. I want to charge you 40% of the tax.
Therefore, the imperial court issued an edict saying that the Tang Empire will raise the tax from 20% to 40%. Those who agree will go to the Ministry of Works to receive compensation after signing the contract. Will you go? "
"No." Li Longji shook his head. "If you compensate me with a bunch of light bulbs, I definitely won't be able to get back the tax money. Besides, the tax is long-term. The compensation must be one-time. I have to consider for my descendants."
"I'm not done yet. Your family's annual turnover is one million strings of coins. Based on the tax your family paid last year, if your family's turnover exceeds one million strings of coins, if you agree to pay 20% more tax, you'll get permanent distribution rights to the four train carriages of the Jingluo to Luoyang Railway and the Jingluo 002 train.
"Wait, Xiao Bao, you're even giving out the distribution rights of the train carriages? There are only four trains in operation now. You're giving out four carriages of one train just for 200,000 strings of coins of coins? Even if you're willing, I'm not. With four carriages of goods, you can earn more than 600 strings of coins a day, right?
A carriage should be able to carry about 20 meals. Four carriages is 80 tons. 200 strings of coins is no more than 200,000 copper coins. One ton of goods can't earn 1.5 copper coins? "
Without waiting for Zhang Xiaobao to finish speaking, Li Longji became anxious. He was only calculating the price difference between the capital and Luoyang. What if he transported more valuable goods?
Wang Juan hurriedly persuaded, "Your Majesty, what Xiao Bao means is the distribution of carriages. It doesn't mean that you don't have to pay the fare. That is to say, there are four carriages under your control every day. But whether you use them for yourself or others, you have to pay the fare.
If they only transport grain and pay the fare, they won't be able to earn 200 strings of coins. Of course, it's impossible for them to transport grain, but the price difference between the two places is high. Four wagons is just an example. In reality, it might be two wagons. Xiao Bao, with a turnover of one million strings of coins, it's not much to give two wagons, right? "
"Yes, it's not much. Because it's a short journey from the capital to Luoyang, it only takes two carriages to make a profit of 500 strings of coins a day. I believe that many people will be willing to pay more taxes."
Zhang Xiaobao calculated in his mind.
Li Longji still shook his head. "That's still a lot. You said that it's permanent. If I ask for an extra two hundred thousand strings of coins, it'll still be two hundred thousand strings of coins a year. Besides, he arranged a carriage for others, so there are naturally other benefits."
Zhang Xiaobao felt extremely helpless. Why was Li Longji's brain not working properly?
He turned to look at his godfather and asked, "Foster Father, what do you think?"
Gao Lishi pondered for a moment and said, "If the carriage is given away, that person's influence will increase, and the benefits it will bring to them will definitely far exceed two hundred thousand strings of coins. As long as they aren't stupid, they will be willing to take the carriage. There are times when one loses money in business. Presumably, no matter where the price of the goods is, the carriage will be able to generate profits.
However, since it's Xiao Bao's idea, I believe that you naturally won't let them off so easily. It's just that I haven't thought of a reason yet. "
Gao Lishi was very honest and approved of his godson's way of doing things. Doing business that lost money was not his godson's style.
"Many thanks, Foster Father." Zhang Xiaobao thanked Gao Lishi with a smile. Of course, there was no sincerity in it, but Gao Lishi didn't care. He gestured for Zhang Xiaobao to continue.
"Your Majesty's thinking is very correct, but there is a prerequisite. That is, the carriage from the capital to Luoyang will only run four times a day. If I increase it to forty times a day, running once every hour or so, giving you the management rights of four carriages, you will immediately feel a lot of pressure and the competition will be fierce.
In the future, there will be even longer distance railways. Didn't we agree this year that I will be in charge of the money, and you will be in charge of the workers? We will build thirty thousand kilometers, and I will use the management rights of these thirty thousand kilometers of railway carriages to exchange for the majority of people who are willing to take the initiative to raise the tax rate.
As for the minority who don't support it, what can they do when the time comes to enforce it? The later they support it, the fewer benefits they will receive when the time comes. We have to think of a way to spread this news as a rumor. "
As Zhang Xiaobao spoke, he gestured and told everyone what he had envisioned.
Wang Juan laughed happily at the side and added, "Don't look at how it's powered by the steam engine now. After we increase the number of carriages, we will immediately share the profits of others.
The faster the development of technology, the smaller the profits of investments that don't consider the technology in the short term. A year later, they will realize that the profits they take out every year are far less than the figures they once imagined. The extra money will become the tax of our Great Tang.
When the time comes, there will be more leeway to choose whether to use it for medical treatment or education. We can even subsidize the farmers. Yes, subsidize the farmers. It's not obvious now, but in the future, the land tax will gradually be abolished.
This is the law of social development, but in the process of buying and selling food, there is a need to levy taxes. No one can resist this trend, and we can only seek more balance in the rise and fall of the trend. "
"Yes." Zhang Xiaobao continued, "In this world, the internal stability of a country will always be based on the proportion of tax and land. With land, the problem of survival will be solved. With tax, the problem of welfare will be solved.
As for the carriages, they are all fake. If you have them today, you might lose them tomorrow. If you give away the management rights of all the carriages, I will one day let the Ministry of Works catch up with the development. I will change all the steam engines to diesel engines, and the number of carriages will naturally disappear. "
"Ah?" Li Longji was frightened by Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's words. He felt a chill down his spine.
He felt that Xiao Bao and Cuckoo were good people. If they were talking about land, they usually did not occupy it. The Zhang Family and the Wang Family in Sanshui County, Zhuangzi, were still as big after so many years. The land in Tubo that was closest to the pass was also nominally given to the imperial court. They went to Qinghai Lake to occupy it again.
There was also the northern part of Hebei Province that was nominally also under the imperial court. They had to pay more rent every year. There was also Lu Zhou. Although the Zhang Family and the Wang Family were the absolute rulers there, they still did not claim a piece of land for themselves.
They only occupied it outside and would return it to the Tang Empire when the Tang Empire's forces passed. They knew the importance of land. Hence, they did not touch it.
Wu Huifei felt the same way as well. She said, "Xiao Bao, Cuckoo, don't worry. I won't tell anyone about what you said today."
Zhang Xiaobao nodded with a smile. "It's fine even if you tell them. They still have to raise their tax rates voluntarily. I have compensations and backup measures. I'm only asking those who earn more to pay more tax. I'm not going to kill them all.
As for the land, I'll slowly take it back from them. I can give them other things in exchange. Land is related to the stability of the country. I won't compromise. I'll force them to make a decision willingly. "
Wang Juan chimed in, "My family is the first to be willing to raise the tax rate. Money is only a burden to a certain extent, not a blessing. Moreover, my family doesn't have to pay 40% tax. It's 60% tax."
"60%? What kind of compensation do you want? "Li Longji was stunned by Zhang Xiaobao's words. He was shocked by Wang Juan's words.
60% tax? Would there still be profits? Perhaps, the restaurant Between the Clouds and the Water could, but wouldn't the other businesses suffer losses? If they ran out of money, their intelligence network wouldn't be able to support them. If the Zhang Clan and Wang Clan lost their intelligence network, it wouldn't be a good thing for Great Tang.
Thinking of this, Li Longji waved his hands. "No, 60% is too much. You have your own matters to attend to. You aren't pure merchants, so you have to ensure that you have sufficient guards. Every year, your family takes out a lot of money to do things in the name of the royal court. We can't bully your family anymore."
Zu Zan and Princess Jincheng glanced at one another. The two of them tacitly thought of the same thing. Great Tang had to ensure that the interests of the Zhang Clan and Wang Clan were guaranteed.
Under normal circumstances, the two clans were a power that every ruler feared. However, in Great Tang, not only could they not suppress them, they had to support them. Xiao Bao and Cuckoo's talents had already determined their positions in Great Tang.
Wang Juan's smile remained unchanged. "Your Majesty, there's no need to worry. This is a matter of 300% of the cost and 500% of the profit. So what if we have to pay 60% tax? If an item that costs ten copper coins is sold for forty copper coins, we have to pay a 60% tax of 24 copper coins. I still have a net income of 16 copper coins, and a portion of this 16 copper coins will be used to subsidize other industries. The profits will still be there. "
"What kind of toy can earn so much? Your family's luxury goods? " Li Longji thought of glass. Cement used to be a luxury item, but it wasn't now. He just didn't hand over the formula for cement, and he didn't allow others to buy and sell it. However, the price of cement had become very low.
"Your Majesty, you have forgotten. You promised us that you would let us establish the Great Tang Heavy Industry. We control the entire industrial system of Great Tang, and the profits will naturally come from the industrial side. Technological products are the most profitable, and luxury goods are just small toys.
In the future, I will compensate those who are willing to pay a high tax rate for technological products. I will allow them to earn money, but I won't allow them to touch anything that involves the foundation of Great Tang. This is because money is something that can be lost at a crucial moment in the country. "
Zhang Xiaobao brought up the words he said on the ship to Jili Province.
Li Longji suddenly understood. So that's what he was waiting for. Right, it was agreed that the Great Tang Heavy Industry would be handed over to Xiao Bao and Cuckoo. Only by letting them manage it would he be at ease. There were too many crucial technologies in it.
Gao Lishi interjected, "Xiao Bao, in other words, when you make deals with others, you will suppress them every time. When they don't have enough profits, you will compensate them in another way."
"Yes, it's easy to ruin the business of one family, but I don't dare to ruin the business of all the major families in the Great Tang. But in the early stages, as technology develops and people become smarter, their competitors will gradually increase.
Every time I make a change, I will compensate them so that they have a chance to increase their competitive advantage. However, when there are too many choices, there will be a large number of people who will not be able to manage their businesses well. The faster society develops, the harder it will be for them to make a choice.
Only a small number of people can stand in the noble class. The rest will be buried in the tide. Perhaps it won't take long. Ten years? Twenty years? Today, the families that we use to exchange tax rates will drop by ninety percent or even more.
This is because the development and application of various technologies in Great Tang is too fast. This is a development speed that Cuckoo and I expect and push forward. However, to me and Cuckoo, not only do we not find it abnormal, we find it slow. "
Zhang Xiaobao said another result, which was that those who agreed to pay more taxes would gradually be squeezed out in the process of technological development.
So what if they were a millionaire? A person with a net worth of several billion yuan could collapse overnight. There were many cases of giant enterprises collapsing in an instant. Even countries could go bankrupt. What else could not happen?
Li Longji and the others finally witnessed the ruthlessness of Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. They seemed to be willing to sacrifice many things for the stability of Great Tang, including the people abroad and the rich in the country. They would kill anyone who stood in their way.
Zu Zan had a deep impression of this. He had personally experienced it. The 'civil' and the 'martial' were working together to achieve the same goal. Just like the snow on a snowy mountain, under the calm surface, there was a power that could turn the world upside down.
Revealing even the slightest loophole and giving others a chance would result in an avalanche. This was how Tubo collapsed. They had sent people to cause trouble once, but they suddenly got in the way of Xiao Bao and Cuckoo leading the development of Great Tang. Thus, the two of them were forcefully removed, regardless of how many people died in the process.
Zuzan Chide no longer felt resentment. What he felt was more helplessness. Tubo did not have Xiao Bao and Cuckoo. Tubo did not send people to kill them in advance.
No, they had already sent people to scout Sanshui County to find people and things worth killing. In the end, they sank by the small river beside Zhuangzi where the Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Family lived. That river, that small bridge, and those two Zhuangzi seemed to be filled with mysteries ever since they were born.
Other than Xiao Bao and Cuckoo's relatives, the people in the inner court were the ones who understood the situation the most. They could not get any information from them. The only one who could be considered an outsider was Song Jinggong.
It was said that he used to be a swindler and was very good at swindling people. He had never failed in his swindling for many years. In the end, when he went to someone else's manor, he failed miserably and even lost his capital.
Later on, when people asked him why, he kept it a secret. Every time he got drunk, he would only sigh and not say anything. He was the number one on the list, but he never challenged Zhang Xiaobao, much less left the Zhang Xiaobao and the Wang Family. Why was he so afraid?
As he thought about it, Zuzan Chide suddenly thought of something and asked, "Xiao Bao, you said that you feel that your development is too slow? Does that mean that you are not worried about encountering any problems, such as developing too quickly and exceeding your control? "
Li Longji was also thinking about it. When he heard Zuzan Chide's words, he reacted, "That's right. Xiao Bao and Cuckoo, you don't seem to be afraid at all."
"What are we afraid of? Where are we going now? It's just that after a period of time, the use of industrial investment in the people's livelihood will cause a portion of the handicraft workers to lose their jobs. It's not a big deal to find a new job for them, right, Cuckoo? "
Zhang Xiaobao said indifferently.
Wang Juan replied, "Yes! In theory, it's impossible for people to lose their jobs. The so-called unemployment is not working because they can't find a job with the same income as they want. The contradiction is that how much money you want to earn, what kind of job you can do, and what kind of job you want to do.
The faster the development, the more opportunities there are for employment. Careers are always relative. If a country has too many people with careers, it can only mean that there are problems with the country's economic structure and industrial technology.
It's definitely the responsibility of the ruler. He or she did not manage to balance the country's income, so he or she has to support the people with careers. "
"What if they don't support them?" Li Longji felt very uncomfortable with the responsibility being pushed to him, so he asked in a loud voice.
Zhang Xiaobao followed up and said in a loud voice, "Then they are not loyal to the emperor and are not patriotic. As long as they are given a chance, they are willing to betray the country for more income."
"Uh!" Li Longji was at a loss for words. As the emperor, he still cared about the loyalty of the people.
He didn't want to need a lot of guards when he went to a construction site like Beijing one day. He didn't want to treat the people who were supposed to protect him with their lives as enemies just because he felt guilty.
He felt that as the emperor, it was too sad to live like that. If that was the case, he wouldn't be as good as Xiaobei and the others. At least wherever Xiaobei and the others went, they would be loved and respected by the people as soon as they revealed their identity.
"Xiao Bao, you keep saying that there are problems. Do you have any ideas to solve the problem of career?" Li Longji asked Zhang Xiaobao angrily after being frightened. What was the use of always finding problems? The main thing was to find a solution.
"I do." Zhang Xiaobao became serious. "Actually, Your Majesty has already done a good job, so there's no need to worry. I'll solve the problem of career. It's not a big problem anyway. I'll use the money you gave me from the bank to set up a long-term training class. Whoever has a career, I'll give them living expenses first before teaching them survival skills.
If those who have a career aren't willing to do manual labor, I'll teach them simple mechanical operations. Once they learn how to do it, they'll naturally be needed by other industries. I can teach them simple accounting, and they'll be able to find similar jobs. I can even teach them how to edit words.
In the future, Great Tang's industries won't be based on production but entertainment and services. After they learn how to edit words, they can find a small newspaper office to work for. Of course, you'll be the one paying for it.
If they can't learn it in the first period, they can continue to learn it in the second period. If they can't learn it all the time, they won't be able to withstand the gazes of others.
Our Great Tang is a country with dignity and backbone. The same goes for the people. They have their own pride, and if they can't learn it, how can you be so shameless as to refuse to pay for their living expenses? "
Wang Juan added, "Xiao Bao is right. There are many jobs in society that don't require too much skill. I don't require everyone to know how to calculate calculus, probability, and psychology. Ordinary jobs don't require that.
What a normal industry actually needs is a skilled worker, especially for private businesses. In that case, the country can help to nurture the worker's proficiency. The country has to pay for this. Right now, it's the money that Your Majesty left with Xiaobao to support it.
It won't be used for the time being, but Xiao Bao already has a plan. As long as they have a career, Xiao Bao will fork out your money. So, you don't have to worry. Xiao Bao and I are more than capable of handling such matters. "
"Then, what if I'm not willing to fork out this money?" Perhaps Li Longji felt that he was too afraid and embarrassed, so he asked.
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