readsfreenovel Chapter 161 Reward
Chapter 161 Reward
"Marquis Shen Tang of Ning'an County, awaiting the title—"
"Ning'an County Marquis Shen Tang is naturally intelligent and has repeatedly achieved remarkable feats. He is also loyal and steadfast, never forgetting his original aspirations. I am deeply pleased and have specially conferred the title of Ning'an County Marquis, granting him a fief of 2,000 households.
The wealthy merchants of Qingshan Town, the Tao, Wu, and Liu families, are truly righteous merchants. They were granted the title of Imperial Merchants and granted the title of Imperial Attendants. Together with the Marquis of Ning'an, they are in charge of the cotton industry in Jiangnan Province."
Emperor Jing sat at the top, his imperial aura evident.
"Shen Tang thanks the Emperor for His Majesty's grace. Long live the Emperor."
Everyone watched helplessly as Shen Tang was promoted on the spot.
Although there is only one character difference between the title of Marquis of a County and the title of Marquis, there is a world of difference between them.
The Marquis is of the first rank, and Shen Tang is also a marquis with a title, which is much more noble than the ordinary marquisate.
Sure enough, the eyes of several other marquises standing in the hall moved slightly.
It seems that the wealthy families in Beijing are going to be reshuffled.
The country girl whom they had looked down upon before slapped them hard.
They claimed to be descendants of founding heroes, but by the time Emperor Jing came to power, the noble families in the court, except for those with promising children or those who were marquises of war, whose families were still standing, the rest were just a spent force.
Naturally, those nobles did not have a good impression of Shen Tang.
After all, the emergence of Qianjin Rice has already posed a great threat to them.
These nobles are involved in many industries. Shen Tang has not only entered the grain industry, but has also grown low-priced cotton in a short period of time.
Shen Tang has already taken up half of the cost of food, clothing, housing and transportation. The key is that she benefits the people, which naturally affects the interests of these noble and wealthy families.
As one grows, the other declines, and the two sides become balanced.
Not only that, Shen Tang's act of donating cotton clothes naturally made half of the pro-war officials in the court have a good impression of Shen Tang.
Many ministers who understood the situation looked at Shen Tang with increasingly fiery eyes.
Such a popular person around the emperor, a good official in the eyes of the people, would only make one crazy enough to think of making an enemy of him.
Just looking at what Shen Tang did, any one of them alone, as long as he didn't commit corruption, abuse of power, or commit a heinous crime, there is room for him to be forgiven.
After accepting the reward, the next step for the ministers was to discuss how to transport food and how to increase the number of troops.
Finally, the court meeting came to an end.
All the ministers withdrew from the court, but Shen Tang and a group of officials above the third rank were retained by Emperor Jing.
In the imperial study room.
The silver charcoal burned vigorously.
The court officials looked at the Grand Tutor and Shen Tang, who were being seated by Emperor Jing on the grounds that they were young and growing, and that they were old and had difficulty walking, and they understood that Shen Tang was now really in the emperor's favor.
"Your Majesty, I would like to promote cotton throughout Da Qi, following the introduction of thousand-jin rice."
Shen Tang said this sincerely.
"Your Majesty, cotton is indeed good, but isn't it too soon to plant cotton before the thousand-jin rice is widely planted?"
Someone raised the question, and this statement received support from many people.
"I think we should start with rice, and then it won't be too late to popularize cotton in two years."
Emperor Jing sat at the top, remained silent, and then turned his gaze to Shen Tang.
"Does Lord Shen have any good suggestions?"
Shen Tang stood up and bowed.
"Rice is grown in paddy fields, while cotton is grown in dry fields. The land used for the two is different.
Your Majesty, my Lords, Shen Tang has a small idea."
After receiving Emperor Jing's approval, Shen Tang continued:
"For families who plant 1,000 kilograms of rice seeds, we will increase the grain tax. We will collect it based on the yield of 1,000 kilograms of rice per mu. If an mu of land produces more than 1,000 kilograms, we will collect 40%; for farmland with ordinary rice, we will not collect it.
The cotton industry has been established as an imperial merchant and is controlled by the imperial court. Every year, localities can include cotton growing in the corvée labor program."
Shen Tang took a deep breath when he said this:
"Also, abolish the system where officials do not pay taxes."
The entire imperial study was in complete silence.
However, Shen Tang's words made the old tutor who was sitting stand up and look at Shen Tang with wide eyes.
Emperor Jing seemed to be frightened by Shen Tang's words.
Sure enough, a huge noise broke out in the imperial study.
"Shen Tang, you are so outrageous! You are violating the ancestral rules of the Great Qi!"
"Marquis Ning'an, you are simply exaggerating!"
"Your Majesty, Ning An Hou actually dared to defy the rules of our great ancestor. This is truly treasonous!"
......
Sixty percent of the officials present were from aristocratic families.
Whether it was the Great Qi Dynasty or even earlier, as long as one held an official position, one could be exempted from taxes.
Not to mention being an official, even if you pass the imperial examination, you will have a certain amount of land under your name and will not be subject to tax.
Most of the treasury's income comes from the people's levies and taxes. The country has been relatively peaceful in recent years, so the taxes are not high and the people can still make a living.
Emperor Jing looked at the noble families present and thought that they were all attacking him.
Shen Tang is a small child, but he has to bear the pressure from the leaders of major families.
But he remained calm, and this composure made everyone look up to him.
"My dear ministers, please be patient. Mr. Shen is young and full of vigor. Why bother with a child?"
Emperor Jing sat on top and spoke softly.
When the ministers heard this, they were in trouble. From the emperor's tone, it seemed that he was going to stand on Shen Tang's side.
After Shen Tang said this, Emperor Jing had already thought about standing on Shen Tang's side.
Over the years, he had thought about taking back some of the money from the aristocratic families. However, although these families were not harmonious with each other on a daily basis, they were surprisingly united when something really happened.
Wealthy families have complicated interests.
Shen Tang's words were tantamount to violating their biggest taboo.
"Back then, Emperor Gaozu decreed that the aristocratic families would not pay taxes, also because your ancestors had made great contributions to the founding of the country."
Court officials: You also know that our ancestors made great contributions.
But who would have thought that the next sentence would break their defense.
“But that belonged to your ancestors, what does it have to do with you?
Besides, after all these years, the royal family has almost repaid all your great contributions. You enjoy blessings that ordinary people cannot enjoy, and now you are just paying some taxes. Why do you make me act like I want to kill you?
Ministers: Cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing his parents.
"Your ancestors were willing to sacrifice their lives for the Great Qi, but when it comes to you all here, it's like I'm breaking a taboo if I ask you to collect taxes.
Your Majesty, I believe that when Emperor Gaozu was still alive, even those noble dukes and marquises would be willing to sacrifice their lives for the Great Qi, let alone pay taxes."
Shen Tang said it lightly, but to everyone's ears, he didn't mean that.
No, what do you mean by saying this?
Emperor Jing listened to Shen Tang's words, looked at the ministers who looked depressed, suppressed the smile in his heart, and explained:
"Your Highness Shen, you may not know that this is indeed the ancestral law that officials are exempt from paying taxes."
But unexpectedly, Shen Tang blinked.
"Your Majesty, you are a wise ruler. Otherwise, there wouldn't be such beneficial things as thousands of kilograms of rice and cotton appearing at this time.
You are a wise ruler who created a prosperous era. Don't you have the final say in the Great Qi?
Aren’t you the one who has the final say in Da Qi?
These words struck Emperor Jing's heart hard.