Chapter 1237 Opposing voices!

If it were any other time, Murong Qingwu would not think too much about it, maybe just think it was just children playing, no big deal!
However, it’s different now. Such a thing happened right after she gave birth to her son. Considering Murong Qingwu’s usual style of doing things, Murong Qingwu couldn’t help but think more...
Although she was disgusted by An Miaoyi's little trick, Murong Qingwu was unable to change anything at the moment. After all, the Murong family was now in decline.

Retracting her thoughts, Murong Qingwu asked Ying'er beside her:
"How is the negotiation between the Coordination Office and the pirates going?"

"Madam, those pirates in the South Seas seem to have taken advantage of the imperial court's current navy and are unable to play any role in the South Seas. That's why they are asking for a very high price and are very determined. I heard that the negotiations at the Coordination Office are not going smoothly, and there is no new news at the moment!"

"Although there is no new news from the Coordination Office, it is said that the Department of Aides is planning a tax reform, and it seems that they are going to introduce some kind of tiered tax rate!"

This statement immediately caught Murong Qingwu's attention. She was born into a noble family and was well aware of the sensitivity of the word "taxation". In history, any reform involving taxation was undoubtedly a major event that affected the entire body, so Murong Qingwu immediately said:
"Ying'er, tell me everything you have heard about this matter!"

Feeling her wife's serious look, Ying Er was also a little surprised, and then recalled and said:

"It seems that a few years ago, the Marshal carried out a tax reform pilot in Kongshan County, Yunping. I don't remember the specific details of the reform, but it seems that the original head tax and more than a dozen other taxes were abolished, and then income tax was levied!"

“It seems that everyone has a tax-free allowance of one or two taels of silver per year for income tax. If your annual income exceeds one or two taels of silver, then you will need to pay taxes to the government on the amount exceeding one or two taels of silver…”

Murong Qingwu keenly grasped the key information in Ying Er's words and said:

"So, if your annual income is less than one ounce of silver, you don't have to pay taxes?"

Ying Er nodded and said:
"It is said that the tax rate for income between one and five taels of silver is 15%, for income between five and ten taels of silver it is 20%, for income between ten and thirty taels of silver it is 30%, for income between thirty and one hundred taels of silver it is 35%, and for income above one hundred taels it is 40%!"

"The Marshal calls this a step tax rate, and the purpose is to make the rich pay more taxes and the poor pay less! It is said that this thing has been promoted very well in Kongshan County. In just a few years, the economy of Kongshan County has recovered to its previous level. So it is rumored that the court intends to promote this step tax rate!"

After listening to Ying Er's words, Murong Qingwu's expression became very serious, and she was even more shocked in her heart!
She knew very well that Ye Mingsheng was not an ordinary person, but she did not expect Ye Mingsheng to be so crazy. In the Great Zhou, the gentry class represented by aristocratic families, as the ruling class, many of the industries under their names were tax-free. Although their number was less than 10% of the total population of the Great Zhou, they controlled nearly 50% of the wealth of the Great Zhou!

The remaining 90% of the common people earned a meager amount of money and rice but still had to support the huge imperial court. This was the fundamental reason for the constant unrest and the people's miserable lives in the late Zhou Dynasty.

The core content of the reform promoted by Ye Mingsheng was that Ye Mingsheng held a knife to force these people to pay taxes like ordinary people······················

As a child of a noble family, Murong Qingwu knew very well how difficult it was for Ye Mingsheng to do this. So even though she did not have much love for her husband, in Murong Qingwu's heart, she still admired Ye Mingsheng's determination and courage!

In the past, many great emperors and people in power chose to collude with each other and become corrupt, but only Ye Mingsheng made such a decision!

Murong Qingwu believed that this item alone was enough to make Ye Mingsheng famous in history. However, despite being Ye Mingsheng's bedside companion, she still underestimated Ye Mingsheng's ambition!
Ye Mingsheng not only wanted officials and gentry to pay taxes like ordinary people, but he also wanted them to pay more taxes than ordinary people. For Murong Qingwu, who was influenced by traditional ideas, this could be said to be going against the will of Heaven!
If they really did this, according to this tiered tax rate, the Murong family would have to pay taxes on 40% of their annual income, which would be tens of thousands of taels of silver!
It's not just their Murong family, but all the officials and gentry in the world are like this. When Murong Qingwu thought of this, her scalp went numb and her back felt cold.

As a member of an aristocratic family, Murong Qingwu, who has lived in this circle since childhood, knows these people’s personalities too well. She believes that it will be difficult for them to tolerate paying 40% of their annual income to the court. Therefore, if Ye Mingsheng forcefully pushes this tiered tax rate, then the Great Zhou Dynasty, which was finally unified, will be in turmoil again in an instant...
When Murong Qingwu thought of this, she couldn't help but want to persuade Ye Mingsheng to abandon this tiered tax rate, which would cause public outrage!

Now that the Fengwu Army has unified the Great Zhou, people all over the world are looking forward to the moment when Ye Mingsheng ascends the throne. As long as Ye Mingsheng returns from his southern tour, he can ascend the throne and become emperor. So Murong Qingwu really has no idea what Ye Mingsheng is thinking.
Wouldn’t it be nice to start a new dynasty smoothly?

Why do we need a tiered tax rate, something disgusting that offends everyone?
Although she didn't understand what Ye Mingsheng was thinking, Murong Qingwu felt that she could not sit idly by and watch Ye Mingsheng make such a mistake. After all, she was Ye Mingsheng's woman, and her fate in this life was basically tied to Ye Mingsheng. They would prosper together and suffer together!
If Ye Mingsheng succeeds in founding a new dynasty and ascends the throne to become emperor, although she cannot become the queen, Murong Qingwu feels that she will definitely have the position of a noble concubine, and her son with Ye Mingsheng will at least be a prince in the future, and her lifelong wealth and glory is guaranteed!

And if something like a progressive tax rate is implemented and causes unrest in the world, then everything will be unpredictable!

Therefore, Murong Qingwu was disgusted with the tiered tax rate from the bottom of her heart. She thought that this kind of thing was a disaster. She didn't know whether this thing was thought up by Ye Mingsheng himself or someone else and offered it to Ye Mingsheng. If it was someone else who offered it, then that person must have ulterior motives.

After thinking carefully, Murong Qingwu thought of Ying'er and asked:

“Who else knows about the step-rate tax?”

Ying Er thought for a moment and said:
"Madam, the news we learned from the Attendant's Office is probably also known to An Miaoyi. In addition, I think several important officials in the court, such as Cui Shao, Gu Sansi, and Li Jian, should have at least heard about it!"

Hearing this, Murong Qingwu breathed a sigh of relief. Although she didn't know why Ye Mingsheng went crazy, she believed that the officials in the court would be very rational and would not go crazy with Ye Mingsheng!
Therefore, if Ye Mingsheng forcefully promotes it, everyone will definitely write to Ye Mingsheng to advise him, so there will be no need for me to advise him...

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At night, in the study room of Yijing Cui Mansion
Under the dim light of the kerosene lamp, Cui Shao looked at the memorial in front of him with a complicated expression. He didn't know whether this memorial was a good prescription or a poison for the current Great Zhou!
As the Minister of Finance of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the de facto Prime Minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the person who specifically implemented Ye Mingsheng's economic reforms, Cui Shao was the person in the entire court who knew Ye Mingsheng's ideas and ambitions best! Cui Shao knew that although Ye Mingsheng sometimes behaved very realistically, Marshal Ye was still a somewhat romantic idealist in his bones. He wanted to create a great prosperous era and do something that no one else had ever done!
It is this kind of ambition that has allowed Ye Mingsheng to lead the Fengwu Army all the way to where it is today, from a small vassal state in Fengzhou, Liaoyang, to the Yijing court that now unifies the world!

However, current success does not mean future success. Although Cui Shao is familiar with Ye Mingsheng's style and knows that Ye Mingsheng will be very cautious in this matter, just as Ye Mingsheng is only conducting a pilot project in Kongshan County, Ye Mingsheng will not immediately popularize it throughout the world.

However, Cui Shao still did not think highly of Ye Mingsheng's idea. He believed that Ye Mingsheng was making an enemy of all vested interests!
Although he was not optimistic, Cui Shao could not deny that this idea was very groundbreaking. As the Minister of Revenue, he knew very well that once this ZC was implemented, not only would the financial problems that were currently plaguing the Yijing court be solved immediately, but the national strength would also be able to flourish and reach an unprecedented height...

Although the prospects seem bright, the road to success is too dangerous. If you are not careful, all your previous efforts will be wasted and there will be no recovery. Cui Shao really doesn't want to see Ye Mingsheng embark on this path!
Although his feelings towards Ye Mingsheng were complicated, the two were both monarch and subject as well as relatives. However, compared to the first two relationships, Cui Shao believed that Ye Mingsheng was his mentor. He knew his abilities and that his ambitions were difficult to achieve, so he gave himself such a platform to fully display what he had learned in his life!
During the years of following the Fengwu Army, Cui Shao lived a very tiring life every day. He got up at dawn, washed up, and went to the yamen to work. He would not go home until it was completely dark at night. Basically, he spent every day like this for 365 days a year!

Although he was physically exhausted, Cui Shao felt fulfilled in his heart. He had witnessed the Fengwu Army grow little by little to where it is today!

It is true that the current financial problems still plague the Yijing court, but Cui Shao believes that there are many ways to solve the problem. Compared with subversive tax reforms, as long as Ye Mingsheng is willing to pay some price, the Yijing court has a more reliable way!

Thinking of this, Cui Shao hesitated for a long time, but finally decided to write a letter to Ye Mingsheng to express his thoughts.

Cui Shao didn't know whether his actions would anger Ye Mingsheng, but he thought that as the Minister of Revenue, he should do something he thought was right!

Cui Shao believed that Ye Mingsheng had such an idea most likely after achieving major victories in succession. These victories had clouded Ye Mingsheng's head. In addition, the group of fawning and sycophantic people in the Attendant's Office kept slandering Ye Mingsheng. All of these made Ye Mingsheng's mind no longer rational and calm, and he produced such an idealistic idea!
Therefore, as the Minister of Revenue, Cui Shao had to speak frankly and explain the pros and cons to Ye Mingsheng, so that Ye Mingsheng could return to reality...

After an incense stick of time, Cui Shao put down the brush in his hand and looked at the letter he wrote to Ye Mingsheng, with a glimmer of hope in his heart.

In his mind, although Ye Mingsheng is sometimes stubborn, he is not a person who will not listen to persuasion. He very much hopes that Ye Mingsheng can see his heartfelt words and stop before it is too late!
Just as Cui Shao put the letter into the envelope and prepared to have someone rush it to Ye Mingsheng, the old butler Cui Fu came in and reported:

"Master, Master Hang wants to see you for something!"

"Let him in!"

At Cui Shao's instruction, Cui Hang quickly walked into the room and bowed respectfully to Cui Shao:

"Third uncle!"

Cui Shao nodded slightly and asked:

"It's so late, what's the matter?"

Cui Hang heard this and said immediately:

"The Madam sent someone to deliver a message about the tiered tax rate. She hopes you can come forward to persuade the Marshal!"

Although Cui Shao admired the talent of his nephew Cui Hang, and used the method of promoting Cui Hang to warn his eldest son Cui Zibo, so that Cui Zibo would have some sense of crisis and concentrate on his career instead of hanging out with those bad friends!

But to be honest, Cui Shao had never thought of letting Cui Hang inherit the Cui family. In his expectation, Cui Zibo had always inherited the family, and then Cui Hang would assist Cui Zibo. The two cousins ​​would complement each other and keep the Cui family from falling!
However, when Cui Zibo was infected with syphilis and his health was deteriorating, although Cui Shao was distressed and helpless, he had to make a decision that was beneficial to the family. He began to train his nephew Cui Hang as the family heir. For this reason, he also gave Cui Hang the task of conveying messages to An Miaoyi.

Cui Shao was not surprised at all when listening to what Cui Hang said. He had expected An Miaoyi's reaction and said immediately:

"Tell Madam to rest assured. I have already written a letter to the Marshal. I will not sit idly by and watch this matter..."

Cui Hang nodded and said:
"I'll find a chance to inform the Madam tomorrow!"

After saying this, Cui Hang asked with some concern:
"Third uncle! Is my eldest brother's condition getting better?"

(End of this chapter)