"This shopkeeper, how can you know only one thing but not the other," Li Xiao glanced at the businessman and said deliberately in a dissatisfied tone.

"Sir, I would like to hear the details."

"Li is not talented, and he also knows that someone is doing a murder business and no one is doing a loss of money. Shopkeeper, you open a shop in my Chifeng Castle. Although my business tax is slightly heavier than in other places, I Chifeng Castle has two preferential conditions. You can't buy this shopkeeper, even if you spend money elsewhere." Li Xiao kept it a secret, but his face was full of smiles.

The businessman's eyes widened. He looked at Li Xiao and couldn't tell whether he was yearning or doubting. The merchants next to him also started to talk.

Li Xiao looked at them talking to each other, but his heart sneered.

Li Xiao remembered that the commercial tax in the early Ming Dynasty was 30 yuan, and if it was over, it was considered to be a violation of orders. The tax rate was astonishing. Moreover, in the tenth year of Wanli, there was a regulation that the three tax exemption deeds were placed, and the purchase price was less than 40 taels and the bill price, and all tax exemptions were exempted. If the purchase price was more than 40 taels, the tax was stopped for one cent and five cents per twelve!

Because the merchants in the Ming Dynasty were very light, and the collusion between officials and businessmen, and the merchants paid money to train scholars to enter the official career as their spokespersons, the merchants finally rose in the late Ming Dynasty and were very arrogant. They would stop and threaten the government. There were also the eight great merchants in Shanxi, such as the Chang family of the Cao family of the Hou family of the Qu family of the Kuang family of the Kang family of the Fan family of the Kang family of the eight great merchants, regardless of the dangers of the country, colluded with the Qing Dynasty and Mongolia, and sold precious grain, iron, cloth, medicinal materials and other war preparation materials to support the enemy. Even the secret information of the Ming Dynasty was betrayed to the Tartars, which was really hateful.

The Ming Dynasty court, which was surrounded by merchants, did not impose taxes on these wealthy merchants when the country was in danger, but instead kept squeezing the poor people struggling on the brink of death. It eventually led to refugees everywhere and thousands of miles away, providing endless sources of rebels for the rebels such as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in Shaanxi.

Thinking of this, Li Xiao sighed in his heart.

As a time traveler who is familiar with history, Li Xiao must prevent such things from happening in the future. Therefore, he must make strong control over these merchants and make them a tool for their own development and growth, rather than letting them turn against each other, and ultimately put himself in passiveness and threats.

I will make the decision on my territory and strengthen the management of merchants. Let’s start with the strict registration system and the collection of commercial taxes.

At this time, the merchants were talking much less, and the merchants looked at Li Xiao and waited for him to speak next.

Li Xiao's eyes looked at the distant place and said lightly: "Emperor Yongle had an imperial edict to target your merchants, so the shopkeeper must know it?"

The businessman's face suddenly turned gray, and he whispered: "What is the Lord saying about Chengzu's imperial edict to buy items from the merchant?"

"That's right. I remember correctly. Chengzu's original words in the imperial edict were that whenever the military family opened a shop in a street market, the government asked for some materials, but why would he not be willing to buy it? Your department issued a document and asked Yingtianfu to know: If there is a comprador in the future, if there is a comprador in the future, it will be divided into military, civilians, etc., and if it dares to violate it, it will not be forgiven." Li Xiao said this passage calmly, and watched the expression of the merchant in a blink of an eye.

When Li Xiao saw that the merchant's face turned into a state of disgrace and embarrassment. He knew that the imperial edict of Chengzu Li Xiao was actually a Damocles sword hanging high on the head of an ordinary merchant like him. It would fall down at some point and chop off his head.

In the Ming Dynasty, ordinary merchants were most afraid of being the outfit. The so-called outfit is the official household recorded in the government case. The yamen sent people to "assist" the outfit, and the outfit was responsible for completing the purchase of goods and various servants for various services. However, basically, the businessman was finally given the exploitation and exploitation of the government and was insolvent, and his family was destroyed.

Chengzu's evil decree became the biggest reason why the clerks in the Ming Dynasty were righteous and unyielding to bully merchants.

To put it bluntly, if an ordinary merchant without background is a prestige, the best way is to run away with his family!

It was not until Emperor Longwu of the Southern Ming Dynasty that the emperor truly realized the cruelty of the government's exploitation and exploitation of ordinary merchants.

The short-lived emperor once sighed: "The households in prefectures, prefectures and counties are actually harmful to the people's evil policies. Those who have a little conscience still buy them at the official price, which is 50 or 60% off the market price; those who have no conscience will receive the ticket directly as if they are sent. The clerks come to know them all, and they have many traitors. I have been secretly acquainted with this for a long time and should carry out eternal rebellion."

But by this time, the Ming Dynasty was almost destroyed, and Emperor Longwu's conscience discovered that it had no practical significance for merchants.

Therefore, for ordinary merchants, although they usually have the advantage of low commercial taxes, they can live a prosperous life and make a lot of money, but these merchants understand that their fate is like dancing on the tip of a knife, and their property can be robbed by the government and exploited by clerks at any time. If they are used as a gift, they will be sentenced to death.

These days, in addition to huge merchants like the Eight Great Masters of Shanxi or officials and businessmen in Jiangnan, these ordinary small and medium-sized merchants have a very sad fate. They will die at the hands of the government at some point.

After Li Xiao finished speaking, there were another whispering between them.

A businessman asked boldly: "Mr. Li, what you mean is that there is no need for merchants to be the prestige?"

"Dear merchants, I can guarantee this that in my Chifeng Castle, there will never be any shameless thing to let merchants be the stockings! Moreover, I will never allow them to appear. Officials wantonly occupy merchants' wealth, and there will be no bullies or hooligans who are allowed to oppress merchants. Therefore, as long as the shop does business formally in Chifeng Castle, pays taxes honestly, abides by the law, then you only need to consider doing business well and making money well, and no need to worry about other things. In my Chifeng Castle, I, Li Xiao, can definitely guarantee that this is also a discount that you, Shopkeeper Cai, cannot buy in other places, even if you spend money." Li Xiao looked at his expectant eyes and said word by word.

There was another whisper below.

Li Xiao saw that every businessman didn't feel bright in his eyes.

When doing business, everyone is most afraid of infringement of public power, most afraid of public security and market environment. Every business knows this. Li Xiao’s promise is like giving them a reassurance.

Li Xiao knew that these businessmen had been basically moved by him, so he had to strike while the iron was hot.

"Dear shopkeepers, making money is the foundation of business. In my opinion, no matter how many or good your products are, the people can buy them. Therefore, the second advantage I mentioned is the purchasing power of the people of Chifeng Castle. I dare to assure you that the staff of this castle are much richer and more wealthy than the extremely poor people in other places. And, at most one or two years, I will let the people under my rule have abundant financial resources and abundant family resources, so that they can have more financial resources to purchase goods. At that time, the shopkeepers' shops will be sold vigorously, and when they make money every day, they will understand what I say today, which should be true." Li Xiao saw that everyone's thoughts were moving, and immediately said this with a smile.

After hearing Li Xiao's words, although some people were a little hesitant, most of the businessmen still expressed their agreement.

After the two sides agreed, the merchants then said goodbye. Li Xiao looked at their departure backs, but his face was very serious.

It seems that under his own rule, some relevant institutions should be started as soon as possible.

In Li Xiao's view, the most urgent thing is to establish the Business Department and the Civil Affairs Department.

The head of the Commercial Department is responsible for various commercial stores opened in Chifengbao, including the registration, review, supervision, tax collection and other matters of shop registration.

The Civil Affairs Department is responsible for the registration and inspection of household registration cards for the family members in the fort, reporting on birth and death of the population, handling disputes and cases between the people in the fort, and maintaining public security and rectifying streets.

The first thing to start is to register the existing population of Chifeng Castle and issue waist cards, which requires urgent work to be started.

Li Xiao called Wu Liang over and said to him: "Mr. Wu, these **** have been thinking about it repeatedly. I feel that in my Chifeng Castle, the Civil Affairs Department must be established to quickly establish a household registration system so that the people in the office can be effectively managed."

"My sir, it should be necessary to strengthen the management of residents in the fort?"

"That's right, you can prepare the record list first. After the demographic is completed, you will register the people in the whole house. You need a household registration book and every adult citizen has a waist card certificate." Li Xiao said seriously.

Wu Liang nodded and said, "Mr. Li's move is indeed necessary. In the future, the population of Chifeng Castle will increase and management will be even more difficult. If you don't prepare in advance, it may be difficult to deal with it."

"I also mean that this is the case. In this way, this household registration book and waist-plate certificate will be designed and produced by Wu Liang. After the implementation of this system, all the people and soldiers in Chifengbao must register and bring waist-plate. In this way, it can effectively manage the people, be careful of detailed work, and arrange all work very conveniently." Li Xiao said solemnly.

"I will follow the orders of the Lord."

Three days later, the household registration sample and waist-brand sample designed by Wu Liang were delivered to Li Xiao.

Li Xiao looked at it and said that the household registration book was made of solid kraft paper, about six in size, and it was divided into several pages. Each page indicated the information spaces such as the name, man and woman, age, hometown, address, etc. for the member of the household to fill in at that time.

The waist tag designed by Wu Liang is more detailed. A smooth and detailed fir waist tag that is square inch by square, with the name, origin, and number on the front engraved with the wearer's name, origin, and number.

On the back is the three characters of Chifengbao written in running script, and a line of small characters in regular script next to it: "All adults in Chifengbao must wear this card for verification. If there is any loss, they must go to the Civil Affairs Department to re-issue."
Chapter completed!