nycdaug Chapter 432
Chapter 432
In the capital city, in the imperial court.
“Your Majesty, it seems rather irregular that the Grand Secretary’s grandson became a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Moreover, this Yang Shengzhai does things completely unconventionally. He is neither from the Northern Garrison Command, so how can he arbitrarily arrest people?”
Mao Ji stepped forward.
They had received news of Yang Shengzhai's actions in Jiangnan a couple of days ago. They never expected that Yang Yiqing, the Grand Secretary, would not only refuse to help them, but his grandson would even side with Zhou Chu.
This old fox is betting on both sides, which makes Mao Ji feel more powerless than ever before. If Yang Yiqing, the Grand Secretary, also sides with the Emperor and Zhou Chu, even with Xie Qian on their side, it will be difficult for them to achieve anything.
Even so, Yang Shengzhai's actions were against the rules, and Mao Ji and others were determined to impeach him.
"Yang Shengzhai? Is he Shi Cong's grandson?"
Jiajing asked with a puzzled look.
Jiajing naturally knew about this matter long ago. Zhou Chu had sent him a secret report when he first appointed Yang Shengzhai. Jiajing had always fully supported Zhou Chu's actions.
Moreover, Jiajing also believed that the situation in Jiangnan needed someone to stir things up, and Zhou Chu was no longer suitable to step forward, after all, times had changed.
Now, Jiajing is just pretending to be confused and trying to smooth things over. Yang Shengzhai is, after all, working for the court. Although his methods may not be entirely in accordance with the rules, Jiajing doesn't care as long as the goal is achieved.
Often, being too particular about methods and approaches can lead to being hindered at every turn, ultimately resulting in accomplishing nothing.
“Your Majesty, he is indeed my son’s youngest son. He was studying in Yuyao before, and for some reason, he suddenly became a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. I only just found out.”
Yang Yiqing feigned a puzzled expression and said,
When Mao Ji and the others saw Yang Yiqing's appearance, they wanted to spit in his face. They thought to themselves, "We're all old foxes, what are we doing playing the empty city stratagem?"
"Shi Cong, you don't know either?"
Jiajing also looked puzzled.
“I truly did not know. This boy has been unconventional since childhood, completely disregarding his two older brothers and his father. Going to Yuyao to study was his own idea, and his father could not stop him and could only let him go.”
Yang Yiqing said with a helpless expression.
As he said this, Yang Yiqing looked at Yang Shen beside him, as if to say that just like Yang Shen with his father, his grandson was also disobedient.
Yang Shen felt Yang Yiqing's gaze and felt helpless. After all, how he had treated his father was obvious to all the officials. Now, the words "unfilial" were practically etched on Yang Shen's forehead.
In fact, Yang Shen and Yang Tinghe had been exchanging letters frequently over the past year. After retiring from his official post, Yang Tinghe lived quite well in his hometown and no longer had to worry about the unpredictable situation in the court.
The imperial court is now wealthy, and the emperor and Zhou Chu, out of respect for Yang Shen, have not pursued any action against Yang Tinghe. In fact, Yang Shen has indirectly protected his father.
On the surface, however, what everyone saw was that Yang Shen betrayed his own father, which is why he was promoted to the cabinet.
"Your Majesty, Yan Weizhong's rash increase in commercial taxes in Jiangnan is simply lawless. How can the people survive if they continue to exploit them like this?"
Seeing that Jiajing and Yang Yiqing were both pretending to be confused, Xia Yan realized that it was unlikely that he could impeach Yang Shengzhai at this court meeting. Yang Shengzhai's matter could be discussed next time, but he could not wait any longer for Yan Song's matter.
Today, because of Yan Song's actions, the foundation of the Jiangnan faction has been completely shaken. The so-called Jiangnan faction is a huge network of interests formed by the gentry class, officials and merchants of Jiangnan.
Yan Song suddenly increased commercial taxes and used a portion of the collected taxes to reward officials. This move directly caused a rift between officials, gentry, and merchants in Jiangnan.
If officials want to fulfill their duties and also get enough commission, then they must collect all the commercial taxes that should be collected. This will create conflict with the merchants and gentry in Jiangnan. Once there is conflict, how can they be without grudges?
Moreover, since smuggling was no longer an option, the entire Jiangnan Group was already on the verge of collapse. The reason these problems hadn't fully erupted before was because everyone was already intertwined with each other.
But things are different now. Yan Song's policy has caused the existing problems within the Jiangnan faction to completely erupt, leading to its disintegration.
This was the situation that Mao Ji and Xia Yan least wanted to see, but it happened nonetheless.
Therefore, both Mao Ji and Xia Yan needed to do something, and they even hoped that Xie Qian would help them do something as well.
"Exploiting the people? That's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it? Lord Yan's move is simply to make a huge change to the finances of our Great Ming. Those merchants earn huge profits, but the taxes they pay are very small, only one-thirtieth of the total. In previous years, even with this one-thirtieth tax, most of them couldn't be collected."
Yang Shen looked at Xia Yan and retorted directly.
"The taxes for maritime merchants are much higher than those for ordinary merchants, yet countless merchants still try their best to go to sea to do business. Even though the profits from land trade are not as high as those from maritime trade, each merchant probably earns a considerable profit. Lord Yan only collected 10% of the business tax, which is reasonable."
Yang Shen's words always sounded reasonable and well-founded, leaving people completely at a loss for words.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Lord Yan increased the commercial tax, not for his own selfish reasons, and the money collected did not go into his own pocket. How can this be considered exploitation of the people? Since when can merchants represent all the people? Lord Xia's words are despicable!"
Han Jie also stepped forward and refuted Xia Yan's statement.
"Didn't Yan Weizhong submit a memorial to the cabinet regarding increasing commercial taxes? How can you say it's exploitation?"
When Jiajing said this, he looked at Yang Yiqing, Mao Ji, and others.
"Your Majesty, Yan Weizhong has submitted a memorial detailing the progress of increasing commercial taxes and implementing the performance evaluation system. According to his memorial, officials in Jiangnan support increasing commercial taxes. However, is it appropriate for him to rashly award one-thirtieth of the commercial tax revenue to the officials who collect it?"
Yang Yiqing stepped forward.
His words were very objective and fair, without any bias. Even at the end, he only raised his own questions and did not attack Yan Song like Mao Ji and Xia Yan did.
"I believe that Yan Weizhong's move is the most ingenious. Since ancient times, reforms have required severe measures. If we want to increase commercial tax revenue, we must find the right method. If we don't give these officials any benefits, how can they be willing to work wholeheartedly?"
Yang Shen said.
"But if we do this, we risk going too far. If the officials below, for their own benefit, levy exorbitant taxes on the merchants, it will be difficult for them to survive. Without merchants connecting the north and south, the lives of ordinary people will become very difficult."
Yang Yiqing shared his opinion.
Mao Ji and Xia Yan, standing to the side, watched helplessly as the two of them, working in concert, completely steered their impeachment of Yang Shengzhai and Yan Song astray.
Jiajing listened intently.
“Shi Cong’s words make a lot of sense, and Yong Xiu’s words are also correct. Since we want to increase commercial taxes, the methods are very important. In that case, let the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Jiangnan supervise all officials first. If any official is found to have over-collected or over-embezzled, they should be investigated and punished directly.”
Jiajing said with a serious expression.