"What's your name?" Li Xiao sat down on the main seat and looked at the prostrate county magistrate at his feet.

"Old Liu Yupu."

At first glance, it was a very cultural and meaningful name! Li Xiao shook his head, this elegant name was a waste.

"My name is Li Xiao, and they all call me Marshal." Li Xiao introduced himself.

"Commander...Commander! Master, have mercy on me! Master, have mercy on me!" Liu Yupu thought he was a thief just now, but it would be better if he was a robber.

If there is no deep hatred, these people are basically here to seek money. As long as they donate money, they can always save a life!

But when this commander comes, it's over.

This commander can be called the killer of the Donglin Party. He killed more than 2,000 people in the capital in one night. Over the years, he has killed not 10,000 but also 8,000 Donglin Party scholars.

It was very difficult for me to survive after falling into the hands of this commander. Damn it, this King of Hell actually came to my jurisdiction. Why didn't I receive any news at all? What a bad day today.

"Oh! If you want to live, it will be easy. Let me ask you why the taxes collected under your rule are much higher than the court regulations." Li Xiao said slowly and leisurely, twisting a fruit on the table.

I was eating a fruit I didn’t recognize, but it tasted very sweet.

"Xiaguan...! The jurisdiction of Xiaguan is indeed..., it is indeed slightly higher...slightly higher than the imperial court...!" Liu Yupu stammered, his eyes chattering as he thought about countermeasures.

"Slightly higher than the imperial court? The damn tax you collect is as high as 70%, which is more than double the highest tax rate stipulated by the imperial court. It's still slightly higher than the royal court! I don't think you're going to say it anymore. Come on.

, hang him on the tower together with the tax collector, and they are not allowed to put him down until he turns into a skeleton."

Li Xiao waved his hand, and two burly men immediately came over, dragged Liu Yupu away like a dog to death.

"Spare your life! Spare your life! Commander, please spare your life! I'll do it, I'll do it all." Liu Yupu was so frightened that he cried for his father and his mother, and his voice broke.

Li Xiao waved his hand to pull the person back.

Liu Yupu lay on the ground, his head hitting the ground with a "bang" and "bang" sound.

"Say it!" Li Xiao glanced at Shi Kefa next to him.

The Donglin Party is really a strange group. It can produce not only tough guys like Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou, but also such bastards who are greedy for life and afraid of death.

If the historical process were normal, the Manchu and Qing armies would have moved south by now. Except for a few people such as Shi Kefa and others who led people to resist, most of the remaining cities surrendered without a fight.

With such a weakling in front of you, how could you not surrender?

For them, the most important thing is to be an official and enjoy the wealth and honor in the world. The so-called changing of dynasties means changing someone to be the emperor. As long as I can still be an official, I will surrender.

Some shameless people even put gold on their faces!

If I had not sacrificed my reputation to protect myself, all life in Jiangnan would be in ruins. Just like if he surrendered, no life would have been in ruins.

Historically, the population at the end of the Ming Dynasty was close to 200 million, but by the time of Kangxi's heyday, only tens of millions were left. In these years, tens of millions of people died, wouldn't it be a loss of life?

Sure enough, Liu Yupu gave the full account! He was even more detailed than the master bookkeeper, and said that he was willing to make meritorious deeds. The person in charge of the account books in Jinling City was his nephew, and he could get the account books from his nephew.

There were traitors within the revolution, and they even took refuge with guns.

This will please people's hearts, especially Li Xiao's. Great! The Liao army's swords are fast, but they can't kill innocent people. The account books are hard evidence, as long as you get the account books.

All officials in Jiangsu should be killed and arrested. This account book can not only make the people breathe a sigh of relief, but also greatly speed up the promotion of Jiangsu officials.

"Okay! Send someone to get the account books and give you seven days. When the account books arrive, you will live. If the account books don't arrive, wash your neck and wait for the knife." Li Xiao said, raised his feet and left.

"Go to Jinling and tell Yang Sichang that the money and grain paid by the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River this year should not be transferred to the capital, but should be kept in the Jiangnan treasury. In this way, when there is a famine in the spring of the south of the Yangtze River, there will be money and grain for disaster relief." Li Xiao ordered helplessly.

I sincerely hope that people in Jiangnan will not starve to death in spring.

"This governor Yang Sichang has come to an end." Shi Kefa glanced at Li Xiao's back and shook his head.

Yang Sichang was a loyal minister of Chongzhen, and he was definitely a standard Donglin Party member. However, he was protected by Sun Chengzong and only stayed in the position of governor for ten years.

It used to be a war period, and it was necessary to ensure that Jiangnan was stable and free from trouble. Li Xiao could easily rub some things into the sand.

But things are different now. Sun Chengzong is retiring in Yuquan Mountain, and the country has not been at war for two years. Li Xiao has invested his attention in the country, and now something like this happened under Yang Sichang.

The original path of entering the imperial court and serving as a minister in the cabinet was no longer feasible. The best outcome now is to be kicked out by Li Xiao and find a place to retire quietly.

The worst outcome, of course, is to be dragged out like a baby and stabbed in the head at the market entrance.

Life or death depends on Li Xiao's thoughts.

Li Xiao didn't speak, so it was hard for others to interrupt. Anyway, Yang Sichang had been living alone in Jiangnan these years, which had aroused the dissatisfaction of many people in the court.

It can be seen that one cannot always eat alone. People who always eat alone will become a single husband sooner or later. Last month, the Chen family planned to get married. Is it necessary to return to Beijing this time...!

On the airship back to Beijing, everyone had different thoughts.

"I want the country to abolish agricultural taxes! And every year the country purchases rice grains from farmers and trades them at a fair price. The extra rice grains can be bought and sold with farmers. If grain dealers are willing to buy them at high prices, this is also a good thing that benefits the country and the people."

After returning to the capital, Li Xiao did not go back to his commander's mansion, but went directly to Zhang Huangyan's office.

"There is no tax on farmers?" Zhang Huangyan was so surprised that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear.

If you plant the land of the Ming Dynasty, you must pay taxes to the Ming Dynasty emperor. The people of the world have paid the national tax on imperial grains for more than two thousand years. Now Li Xiao actually said that he would not collect it. This is an important tax source for the country.

"Although commercial taxes now account for 50% of the national treasury revenue, if half of the revenue suddenly disappears... then what will happen to the court's various expenses?

The Yangtze River Bridge in Jinling is still under construction, and Hankou is also applying for approval to build a Yangtze River Bridge. Jiangyin has also announced that it will build one in Jiangyin.

Every bridge is built with money, not to mention the construction of roads, railways, bridges and factories across the country. This is a huge amount of money!

There is also the annual investment in scientific research, plus military expenditures, which... these are large investments, and these have been planned. The cumulative annual investment is fixed, and it must not be changed at will.

How can we do so many things if we lose half of our income all at once?" Zhang Huangyan vomited his bitterness.

You, Li Xiao, are the hands-off shopkeeper, and your words of invitation have won the hearts of the world. But I, the boss of the family who spends money, can no longer open the account.

What's more, you have to set grain prices at low prices. Every year, the state spends money to purchase grains from farmers. This is not something that can only be done with a penny, but with a mountain of silver coins.

Where do you want me to get money?

"I have thought about it. The state has a monopoly on tobacco and alcohol business. These two inputs should be able to make up for the input of the state treasury.

In addition, customs fees will also be transferred to the national treasury for overall planning in the future.

Although local agricultural taxes are not collected, grain merchants still have to collect taxes when buying and selling grain. This is another benefit! If you add up to it, you can finally plug the agricultural tax hole.

And I think in the future..., all taxes will be collected by the state. All tax collectors will be directly under the state, and the State Administration of Taxation will be established. From now on, all taxes will be collected by the state, and will be entered into the treasury account through the bank system.

There is no longer a vassal treasury in each province, which can streamline the tax collectors and vassal government staff in many places. Again, it is another disarmament."

"Disarmament? Also disarmament..., this..., Mr. Ao and the others...!" Zhang Huangyan opened his mouth in surprise. The number of soldiers in the Ming Dynasty had dropped to a dangerous number.

During the Tianqi and Chongzhen years, the entire Ming Dynasty Military Department had military households and private armed forces of various generals, which once reached a scale of two million people.

But now, the total Ming army totals only 970,000 people. Not even half of what it was back then!

The Ming Dynasty now has only four main Manchu divisions. Ao Ye's first division is stationed in the capital, Yuan Chonghuan's second division is stationed in Guangdong and Guangxi, and Cao Wenzhao's third division is stationed in Xi'an.

Zu Dashou's four divisions were stationed in the Western Region. These were the troops that stabilized one side and could never be disbanded.

What is left in the country is the security army, which counts between 10,000 and 20,000 people in each province. These troops are mainly used to suppress local areas, and their equipment and training are all simplified versions of the Liao army.

Ten thousand or twenty thousand people sounds like a lot, but for managing a province, it is not much. Just like in a place like Jiangnan, there are actually only eight or nine thousand people. In a big city like Jinling, there are only more than a thousand garrison.

soldiers.

However, places like Yinchuan and Xining have more local troops. The Gansu security army has just over 20,000 troops, while Xining has less than 30,000 troops.

There are also many in Heilongjiang, with more than 18,000 people.

Dismantling these troops may lead to instability at the border and local areas.

The only thing left is the overseas Marine Corps. All these troops are stationed abroad, and it is up to them to protect Ming Dynasty's overseas interests. If they want to be abolished, not only Li Xiu will fight hard, but even Zhang Huangyan will not agree.

"I have thought about abolishing the security forces in the six provinces south of the Yangtze River. Only 2,000 people will be left in each province, and the security forces in Guangdong and Guangxi will be reduced by half. With Yuan Chonghuan in Guangdong and Guangxi, there is nothing that cannot be suppressed.

Sixty percent of the security forces in Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Huaihe and other places will be abolished. In total, more than 150,000 security forces across the country can be abolished.

This saves another expense!”

Obedient to his words, Li Xiao reduced the security forces in so many places. Especially in Jiangnan, only 10% were left. Zhang Huangyan understood instantly.

With the disarmament in so many places, apart from the borders, only the security forces in Liaodong, Shandong, Hebei and Gyeonggi Province have not been dismantled. The security forces in these places, equipment and training are on par with the main divisions.

Once there is a war, these security forces will quickly become a supplement to the main force. Anyway, the Liao army is dominated by the people in these places, so there will be no problems in communication.

And Jiangnan...! Needless to say, Yang Sichang is in danger this time. It is estimated that he will become the chicken that scares the monkeys.

But what kind of monkey does such a big chicken need to scare?

Shut up decisively, there are not many monkeys of this level in the entire Daming Dynasty, and he happens to be one.

"Since you have said so, Marshal, there must be a buffer period, otherwise the manpower will not be available. After all, collecting business taxes requires more professionals who can review accounts.

I think it should be gradually promoted nationwide over a two-year period. The first places to be promoted should be Shandong, Liaodong, Hebei and Gyeonggi.

These places have a good foundation for development and have many factories. There are more people working than farmers, so promotion is the least difficult and most labor-saving.

The tax collectors who have been abolished from these places can be transferred to the south. In addition, the officers of the public security forces that have been abolished in the south can also become tax collectors in the south after being trained in the north.

In this way, such a policy that benefits the people can truly benefit the people and prevent the country from falling into chaos."

This is the difference between Zhang Huangyan and Sun Chengzong. Sun Chengzong would only nod to Li Xiao at this moment, but he would not tell Li Xiao how to do specific things.

Zhang Huangyan will come up with a plan and ask Li Xiao for his opinion. It will only be implemented after Li Xiao agrees!
To be continued...