Qian Jieren wanted to cry. The powers of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce were mostly carved out of the Ministry of Revenue, and his authority as Minister of Revenue had been severely diminished.
Did this mean his Ministry of Revenue would only be left with the duty of calculating accounts?
Seeing his distress, Chu Chen hesitated before smiling. "Your Ministry of Revenue can focus on managing money. The money collected by the Ministry of Commerce still goes into your Ministry of Revenue's coffers. As taxes gradually increase and officials multiply, all financial transactions in various regions will require appropriations from your Ministry of Revenue. This alone is enough to keep your Ministry of Revenue busy."
"This... your subordinate accepts the order." Qian Jieren cupped his hands in resignation.
Despite his deep reluctance, he knew he couldn't go against the prevailing power. Although he had stopped engaging in corruption since Chu Chen began his reforms and had been cautiously law-abiding, he was still deeply fearful of the Imperial Guards.
He couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be any violations of regulations in his daily life. If he dared to oppose at this juncture, even for the slightest misstep, it would undoubtedly be magnified, and he would be thrown into prison to keep the Minister of Rites, Wu Sheng, company.
"Now that the specific tax collection duties have been separated from your Ministry of Revenue, you don't need to worry about how to determine profits and collect taxes based on tax rates."
Chu Chen smiled, explaining the reason he hadn't answered Qian Jieren's earlier question. It simply wasn't his concern anymore, so why answer?
Supervising the collection of commercial taxes based on profits only required the Industry and Commerce Department of the Ministry of Commerce to establish business licenses and issue invoices to control the source. Of course, there would be loopholes, and that was the responsibility of the Audit Department and the Enforcement Department of the Ministry of Commerce.
The Audit Department would be responsible for examining accounts, while the Enforcement Department, Chu Chen intended to make an armed tax collection force. Dare to evade taxes? Once any suspicion arose, the Enforcement Department would directly lead soldiers and personnel from the Commercial Tax Department to the defaulter's premises to examine the accounts. It would not be easy to resolve or smooth things over then.
As for agricultural taxes, once the land survey was completed, the Yunyue Kingdom already had a method for collecting agricultural taxes. All that was needed was to establish strong supervision and purge corrupt officials.
"As for the tiered taxation, it is also very easy to understand. It means paying more taxes based on the amount of land or profit."
"Specifically, land less than one hundred mu will only pay the normal two-tenths of agricultural tax. Land between one hundred and five hundred mu will pay two and a half tenths; land between five hundred and one thousand mu will pay three tenths; land between one thousand and five thousand mu will pay three and a half tenths; land between five thousand and ten thousand mu will pay four tenths; land between ten thousand and fifty thousand mu will pay four and a half tenths; land between fifty thousand and one hundred thousand mu will pay five tenths, and then it stops there."
"For commercial taxes, businesses with a monthly net profit of less than ten taels will pay the normal two-tenths commercial tax. Ten to fifty taels will pay two and a half tenths, and so on, up to five tenths."
"Hiss~"
This tiered tax rate made the five ministers gasp.
It was too harsh, too harsh on wealthy families! The Emperor intended to split profits with the wealthy families fifty-fifty. Who would willingly agree to this? Regardless of anything else, the five of them had reservations after hearing this.
"What? Do you think it's too much?"
Chu Chen, knowing their thoughts, asked with a smile.
"Indeed, it is."
The five ministers nodded in succession.
"Actually, there is a way to avoid paying so much tax. Would you like to know this method?"
"This..."
The five ministers exchanged glances, not daring to answer immediately, fearing that this prime minister had set a trap in his words.
"There's no need to worry so much. I don't eat people. I'm just kindly offering you a method."
Chu Chen waved his hand, showing a harmless expression, and smiled. "I know that your families all own land and shops of varying scales. It's understandable that you don't want to pay so much tax. So, I am willing to teach you how to deal with it. It depends on whether you are willing to ask and learn."
You don't eat people? Then why was the Minister of Rites, Wu Sheng, in the death row? How did the Censorate's Grand Censor, Zhang Guojin, disappear?
While they grumbled internally, Chu Chen's suggestion greatly tempted the five ministers. Even paying half a tenth less tax would save a considerable amount of money and grain. All it would take was a little bit of humility. Why not?
Qian Jieren was the first to ask, "May I ask, Prime Minister, what method is there to legally pay less tax and grain?"
"This is very simple!"
Chu Chen smiled slightly, but a cold glint flashed in his eyes, imperceptible to others.
"The monthly commercial tax and the quarterly agricultural tax are calculated based on the scale of a household, correct?"
"Indeed."
Chu Chen nodded and smiled. "Let's take land as an example. Less than one hundred mu only pays normal agricultural tax. Between one hundred and five hundred mu, half a tenth is added. This is the amount of agricultural tax that a household's cultivated land needs to pay. But if a household has five people, and one or two sons are adults, if they split the family and establish separate household registers, wouldn't one household become two or even three households? In this way, if five hundred mu is divided among adult sons, each receiving one hundred mu, only three hundred mu remains to pay the extra half-tenth tax. The other two portions of one hundred mu each would not need to pay the extra half-tenth because the acreage does not meet the standard."
"Isn't this wonderful? I call this method 'legal tax avoidance'."
Chu Chen chuckled as he explained the method for reducing tax payments.
However, Qian Jieren and the other four fell silent, their hearts churning like a stormy sea.
Why were they called aristocratic families? It was because they owned vast tracts of land, possessed ancestral scriptures for scholars to study and held the authority to interpret them, supplemented by a thriving population, numerous immovable assets, and extensive networks. This was why they were called aristocratic families.
As such, no matter who sat on the throne or which dynasty ruled, as long as they didn't court disaster, they would not be wiped out. Even in times of war, they had a high degree of safety.
This was the nature of aristocratic families!
But now, this so-called legal tax avoidance method involved dividing family members into multiple households and distributing family assets to evade tiered taxes. While it seemed beneficial in the short term, with family assets being transferred from one hand to another without issue, human hearts were unpredictable!
Would those family members who split off and established new households still acknowledge that these assets belonged to the family? Wouldn't they find ways to make them their own?
In this way, wasn't this legal tax avoidance method weakening the wealth of aristocratic families?
"Damn it, I knew this Chu Chen had no good intentions. He actually gave such a deadly suggestion. How can this be used? If it's used, won't it lead to the family's ruin and disintegration?" Qian Jieren cursed inwardly.
Although the five ministers were advanced in age, they were all shrewd individuals. Who couldn't see Chu Chen's underlying intention? Was he secretly targeting the aristocratic families?
Chu Chen, Chu Chen, are you sure this is okay? Are you sure you won't mess things up? Don't end up causing the Yunyue Kingdom to fall even faster! By then, they would all become ministers of a fallen state.