Son of Song Dynasty

Chapter 34 The Best of Both Worlds
Zhao Guangyi had never expressed his position before, and the ministers felt that, given the special weight of King Jin in the court, his views might be able to give a final word on this issue.

Zhao Guangyi bowed his head and thought for a moment, then replied in a deep voice: "I think that the imperial court is currently unable to make ends meet, and the finances are indeed in dire straits, so we must find ways to increase income. However, increasing the land tax involves a lot, so we can't be careless."

Zhao Dezhao cursed secretly in his stomach: "The glazed monkey is so slippery that he talks nonsense!"

After hearing his second brother's answer, Zhao Kuangyin frowned slightly, seeming a little disappointed, but didn't say anything.

Immediately afterwards, he pointed out the younger brother Zhao Yanmei who was standing next to Zhao Guangyi.

"Culture (Zhao Tingmei's word), what do you think?"

"I think what the King of Jin said is true." Zhao Tingmei replied in a deep voice, obviously not wanting to take this issue.

Zhao Dezhao glanced at this little uncle. This little uncle was only a few years older than him, he didn't have much contact with him, and his presence in the court had never been high, but it didn't mean he was a good stubble.

Zhao Kuangyin fell silent, with a solemn expression, and did not name anyone.

The pros and cons of this matter, the supporters and opponents among the courtiers have already expressed themselves clearly in the debate just now, so there is no need to continue to ask the ministers for their opinions.

The only thing needed is to make a decision-the most useful position of the emperor is to make the final arbitration of conflicts.

After thinking quietly on the throne for a while, Zhao Kuangyin finally spoke slowly: "In that case, then I—"

"Father, wait a moment, my son has something to say!"

Zhao Dezhao saw that the time had come for the stage, and immediately stepped out, loudly interrupting the final decision of the emperor's father about to exit.

"Father, my son here has a way to get the best of both worlds. It can increase revenue for the imperial court and fill the national treasury without causing public resentment." Zhao Dezhao said loudly.

As soon as this remark came out, there was a slight commotion in the court hall, and dozens of eyes rushed over, full of suspicion and ridicule, as if to say: "Can such a good thing happen in this world?"

"Above the court, what nonsense are you talking about?! Hurry up and retreat!"

Zhao Kuangyin raised his face and scolded his son, which was different from yesterday's joking and pretending to let his son go away. At this moment, he was really annoyed. At this moment, Zhao Kuangyin even suspected that he had favored his son too much recently, so that he made him arrogant No matter the occasion!
Seeing that the father and son were about to freeze in court, Zhao Guangyi suddenly stood up and spoke in support of Zhao Dezhao, the eldest nephew.

"Your Majesty, why don't you let Erlang express his thoughts, maybe he really has true knowledge and discretion, but I don't know."

As he said that, Zhao Guangyi turned his head and looked at him. He had a friendly smile on his face, and his eyes were full of encouragement for the younger generation.

Zhao Dezhao was stunned, and then realized the sinister intentions behind the seemingly kindness of the other party. What the hell, he believed that I can't spit out ivory, and the method proposed would only make people laugh. This gave me the opportunity to speak, and tried to persuade me to say Come out, so that the officials in the court will look down on me and ruin my reputation!
What a pity, uncle, you were so smart that your cleverness led you to give me a chance to perform!
Zhao Dezhao took a deep breath, took out the "deed tax collection plan" drawn up in the mansion last night from his arms, and walked up the steps to the throne in full view of everyone.

He didn't bother to forward it to the servant on duty, but directly forced the memorial into the hands of the emperor's father.

Although it is said that "there is no father and son in the court", father and son are father and son after all. If others want to play in front of the imperial court, they have to see whether the emperor wants to accept it. You have to watch it if you don’t.

Zhao Kuangyin reluctantly unfolded his son's presentation. At first glance, he saw the paper full of eloquent handwriting, which seemed to have written many clauses, and most of his anger disappeared immediately.

Regardless of whether the content is reliable or not, the ability to put ideas on paper, and write so much, shows that the son drew it up after careful consideration, and it is not just nonsense and bragging after a feverish brain. This attitude alone deserves to be taken seriously. .

Zhao Kuangyin first noticed that his son's presentation had a novel name that he had never seen before, called "Deed Tax Collection Plan".

The first three sentences of the performance are the beginning and the meaning.

Here, Zhao Dezhao thoughtfully explained to the emperor what is "deed tax", how to collect it, and its advantages:
"Where there is a private contract, taxes can be collected based on the contract, which is called 'deed tax'."

"Where there are large-scale sales, transfers, leases, loans, etc. among the people, in order to avoid disputes, the two parties to the transaction often sign a contract. The imperial government can notarize the contract, which can not only facilitate the people, but also collect taxes from it. It is equivalent to a tax value of [-]% to [-]% of the transaction value."

"This kind of deed tax is collected from a wide range of sources and is convenient to collect. The amount of each tax is very small and does not attract public complaints, but it is enough to accumulate income. It is estimated that the annual income will increase by no less than tens of millions!"

Zhao Kuangyin has spent a lot of time thinking about the difficult issue of the court's finances and taxes. With his vision and experience, he is naturally knowledgeable. He immediately got a preliminary impression after reading the beginning: "reliable"!
The more he looked down, the more surprised Zhao Kuangyin was, and he couldn't help but be amazed. He didn't raise his head for a long time, and he didn't even change his sitting posture.

At this time, the nearly a hundred courtiers under the throne were not calm anymore. They watched the Holy Majesty so intently, so the content of this presentation was almost certainly very reliable, but there was no one Can know or guess the general content.

As a result, these ministers were full of doubts and curiosity, scratching their heads and scratching their heads, wanting to know what kind of magic method can "have the best of both worlds"?However, the Prince of Tianshui County kept his mouth shut and did not reveal a single word. This is really abominable!
"Your Highness." After waiting for a while, a minister finally couldn't stand it anymore, and stood up and asked Zhao Dezhao, "I dare to ask Your Highness, what exactly is the 'best of both worlds' you mentioned?"

(End of this chapter)