The autumn tax collected from the entire Shandong province and remitted to the treasury of my Great Qing, excluding the Linqing customs, only amounted to over eight hundred thousand taels, even in the forty-eighth year of Qianlong. Now, Yizhou Prefecture alone has collected one million taels of autumn tax?
Such an absurd matter, let alone Zhu Jinsong, even Zeng Cheng, who reported this news, could not believe it.
One must know that the autumn tax collected by my Great Qing in Shandong annually should have been tens of thousands of taels, but only over eight hundred thousand taels were remitted to my Great Qing's treasury.
As for the twists and turns in between, perhaps other leaders on Mount Mengliang would not understand, but Zeng Cheng, the former Prefect of Tai'an Prefecture, understood it all too well.
It is not difficult to levy one million taels of taxes in Yizhou Prefecture; any prefect could collect more than this amount. The difficulty lies in how to collect one million taels of taxes without oppressing the people, let alone the Great Leader having exempted agricultural taxes and repeatedly strictly prohibiting the oppression of the people.
It is precisely because of this that this autumn tax of over one million taels appears so absurd.
However, as Mr. Lu Xun said, no matter how absurd the matter is, or whether you believe it or not, the collected autumn tax is there, and you have no choice but to believe it.
After repeatedly verifying it several times, and even personally leading people to investigate the villages and counties below, Zeng Cheng, the Prefect, had to believe this frustrating result.
Zeng Cheng organized his language and said with great distress, bowing to Zhu Jinsong, "The Great Leader previously instructed that the regions under the jurisdiction of Mount Mengliang be exempted from agricultural taxes for three years. The agricultural associations in various places are also aware of this matter, so the county yamen under Yizhou Prefecture have not collected much agricultural tax."
Ke Zhiming looked at Zhu Jinsong and nodded, saying, "Reporting to young master, I have indeed not received relevant intelligence."
Hearing Ke Zhiming say this, Zhu Jinsong immediately became interested.
If someone else vouched for Zeng Cheng, Zhu Jinsong might still suspect something was wrong, but with Ke Zhiming, the overt intelligence chief, saying so, it could only mean that what Zeng Cheng said was true.
Ke Zhiming's intelligence sources were complex, not only the overt Tiandihui but also remnants of the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot would send intelligence to Ke Zhiming.
Of course, Zhu Jinsong was not worried that Ke Zhiming would pose any threat, because the reason why the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot sent intelligence to Ke Zhiming was entirely at Zhu Jinsong's behest.
For example, everyone on Mount Mengliang knew that Zhu Jinsong was always accompanied by a silent bodyguard, but who would have known that this bodyguard, sent to Zhu Jinsong by the Tiandihui, was actually the current Commander of the remnants of the Imperial Guards?
To put it bluntly, Ke Zhiming was the overt intelligence chief pushed forward by Zhu Jinsong. Without Zhu Jinsong's approval, even the remnants of the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot would not pay any attention to Ke Zhiming. Instead, many people within the Tiandihui were spies of the Imperial Guards.
This was also why, as soon as the Tiandihui confirmed Zhu Jinsong's identity, the remnants of the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot quickly came knocking.
The remnants of the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot had an even stronger anti-Qing will than the Tiandihui, and their support for Zhu Jinsong was even more resolute.
The Tiandihui, the remnants of the Imperial Guards, and the Eastern Depot, these three organizations were not subordinate to each other, and their relationships were a mess. Each had spies of the other within their ranks, and each also had secrets and methods that the other could not grasp.
In comparison, the intelligence held by the Tiandihui was mostly about the common people, the intelligence held by the Imperial Guards was mostly about officialdom, and the intelligence held by the Eastern Depot was about the Qing imperial palace.
It could be said without exaggeration that if Zhu Jinsong wanted to know what the old dog Qianlong ate last night, the relevant intelligence could be placed on Zhu Jinsong's desk within three days or even less.
It was precisely because of this that Ke Zhiming, the overt intelligence chief, could be fully aware of the dynamics of the Qing government, and even knew the suppression plans of Agui, Fu Hual, and Fuk'anggan like the back of his hand.
Given Ke Zhiming's intelligence sources and their authenticity, Zhu Jinsong became even more curious when Ke Zhiming said he had not received relevant intelligence.
No one went to extort the people, no agricultural taxes were collected, which meant that the over one million taels collected was only commercial tax?
This was even more absurd, it was absurd to the point of absurdity's mother opening the door for absurdity, absurd to the extreme!
While Zhu Jinsong was thinking about these messy things, Zeng Cheng continued to say, "This over one million taels is indeed only the commercial tax for this year, and the tax rate is only one-fifteenth."
"At first, I really couldn't believe what I saw, and I even secretly went to the villages and counties below with people."
"It wasn't until yesterday that I finally understood the connection."
Zhu Jinsong hummed and tapped the table with his fingers: "Tell me?"
Zeng Cheng bowed again and replied, "Reporting to the Great Leader, the reason why Yizhou has such an exaggerated figure of one million taels in commercial tax is fundamentally because of the Great Leader."
"First, the Great Leader personally led the people to dig many wells. The harvest of the people in Yizhou this year was not greatly affected. Coupled with the fact that the Great Leader exempted the agricultural taxes of the people under the jurisdiction of Mount Mengliang, the people's lives have become a little easier."
"Secondly, because our Mount Mengliang purchases a large amount of grain, steel, saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur, and other various materials, and all payments are settled in cash and never in arrears, more merchants have come to Yizhou, and many workshops have sprung up among the people."
"Merchants themselves have to pay commercial tax, which is nothing to say. The key lies in those workshops that have sprung up among the people."
"Establishing workshops inevitably requires labor. To employ labor, wages must be paid. Many people take advantage of the slack farming season to go to workshops to work, and even many families with little land and many people simply send a few members to work in workshops to earn money."
"As a result, the people gradually have more money in their hands."
"When the people have money, they want to improve their lives a little, which in turn attracts a large number of merchants..."
"Therefore, even with a tax rate of only one-fifteenth, and even if it's just commercial tax, it has reached an astonishing one million taels."
At this point, Zeng Cheng, who had become more and more excited as he spoke, suddenly became troubled again: "It's just that I can't understand why collecting taxes was so difficult in Tai'an Prefecture, but it became so easy in Yizhou?"
"Logically speaking, merchants are naturally profit-seeking. Although the tax rate of one-fifteenth is not high, how can these people willingly pay?"
"Another matter is that many of the people working in the workshops are organizing to form labor unions, which is a headache for now."
"Logically speaking, many of the laws of our Mount Mengliang inherit from the Great Ming, and the people already have the right to associate. And it was our Mount Mengliang that first established agricultural associations. Therefore, since the people want to form labor unions, as long as they report to the government and do not cause any trouble, they should be allowed to do so."
"However, I cannot figure out whether the consequences of forming labor unions will be good or bad, and I am currently considering it."
Hearing Zeng Cheng's questions, Zhu Jinsong tapped the table with his fingers, pondering the pros and cons.
As Zeng Cheng said, it was difficult to collect taxes in Tai'an Prefecture before, but merchants in Yizhou Prefecture were willing to pay taxes at the rate of one-fifteenth. The fundamental reason for this was the word "profitable."
Compared to the cash payments of Mount Mengliang, what was the nature of my Great Qing court?
It's just labor unions...
Once labor unions emerge, they can be considered a great benefit to both the rule of Mount Mengliang and the people.
However, how can the workshop owners be made to accept the existence of labor unions?
Look at later generations. Most internet giants and private enterprises basically do not have labor unions. Those with labor unions are basically official regular armies.
Alibaba did not establish a labor union until December 28, 2021, and the Tencent system has no labor union at all.
Labor Union Law?
Heh heh!
There are countless messy reasons for this, and one very important reason is that capital is unwilling to create trouble for itself. Another reason is that the essence of labor unions is to beg from capital's bowl while simultaneously confronting capital.
With these two reasons combined, this matter is basically a bust.
In addition, there is an even more maddening third reason.
Where there are people, there is a Jianghu.
Those who understand will understand.
To put it bluntly, these reasons are the same for Mount Mengliang. Moreover, Mount Mengliang is just starting, and many things are not yet perfect. If the step is too big, the consequences may be disastrous.
Don't talk about being able to eat pork with bristles even without butcher Zhang, just listen to such words, don't believe them, because if there is no butcher Zhang, you may not even be able to eat pork with bristles.
After pondering for a long time, Zhu Jinsong suddenly asked several questions unrelated to labor unions: "How many grain reserves does our Mount Mengliang have now? If we leave those merchants and workshops, can Mount Mengliang achieve self-sufficiency?"
Zeng Cheng was startled and, after careful consideration, tentatively replied, "Our Mount Mengliang has granaries in various counties and townships, mainly storing wheat and corn, supplemented by sweet potatoes and potatoes, which are enough for the local people for one year."
"As for those merchants and workshops... steel is relatively easy to say, after all, their steel is not enough to supply Bai Zhang Cliff. There are no major problems with cloth, but other aspects will inevitably be affected."
"Other aspects are relatively fine, and even if they are affected, there will not be any major impact, at least not fatal. The problem lies with salt. Before the Second Leader organizes the Denglai Salt Fields, our Mount Mengliang's salt still has to rely on merchants to transport it. The current salt reserves are less than three months' supply."
The keywords "one year," "three months," and "not fatal" kept flashing in Zhu Jinsong's mind.
After a long while, Zhu Jinsong said, "What has brought us to this point, I believe everyone is clear about it."
After everyone nodded, Zhu Jinsong said to Zeng Cheng again, "The matter of labor unions will be put aside for now, but you, Prefect Zeng, must make certain preparations."
Zeng Cheng's heart sank, and he bowed in response, "Please instruct, Great Leader!"
Zhu Jinsong said, "After we repel the Qing army's encirclement and suppression, Prefect Zeng, you will find more personnel to revise regulations for workshop employment, specifying the daily working hours and the monthly rest days, as well as the minimum wage standards."
"In addition, any workshop with more than twenty people must have a labor union. If those workshop owners want to close their workshops, then our Mount Mengliang will establish new workshops ourselves."
Labor unions cannot just issue movie tickets, nor can they just issue a few bars of soap and a pair of gloves.
Labor unions must act as the masters of the workers!
Since my Great Qing does not have a working class, Zhu Jinsong will cultivate a working class himself and forge the hammer himself.
If those workshop owners threaten to close their workshops, then Zhu Jinsong will establish state-owned workshops.
In the fiftieth year of Qianlong, Watt improved the steam engine. At that time, the Sun Never Sets had already entered the era of machines and steam, which was also the symbol of the First Industrial Revolution.
Zhu Jinsong intends to take the lead in starting the Industrial Revolution himself.
Shatter the Manchu Qing!
Of course, all of this is based on the premise of successfully repelling the second encirclement and suppression launched by Agui and Mingxing, Fu Hual, and Fuk'anggan.