hsntnovel Chapter 2638 I want 5%
Chapter 2638 I want 5%
With a loud "smack!", a large hand slapped hard on Li Shen's shoulder, startling him so much that he almost wet himself.
Then he heard his father's deep voice:
"Indeed, the Tenth Prince is a genius in the business world. This will greatly prevent people from entering the Tang Dynasty to sell goods without authorization."
And... brilliant! Why not set up this office in all ports?
In terms of manpower, don't forget your Chongwen Academy, and all those who have passed the imperial examinations over the years.
"I think the Tenth Prince's insight is good. You should discuss this with the Three Departments and Six Ministries later. This way, the court will have a stable source of income."
Li Shen turned to look at his father, surprised that even though he was speaking so softly, his father, the emperor, could hear him. It seems he's not old yet.
Why did you hit me? Don't you know that scaring someone can be deadly?
Luckily, I have a strong mentality, otherwise I would have been sent to heaven just now.
However, it was somewhat surprising that his father, the emperor, supported his suggestion, since it was not an easy thing to implement.
The very act of collecting taxes will encounter great resistance. These nobles have been taking advantage of others for too long, and they may not be able to accept paying taxes suddenly.
"Yes, Er Yuanzheng will discuss this matter with Duke Zhao and the others, but Father may need to intervene at that time."
After bowing, Li Chengqian agreed, but still somewhat worried, he asked his father to come out and keep order.
"Hmm? If you can't even handle something as sophisticated as this, how can I entrust this empire to you?"
You will encounter many more similar situations in the future, even more difficult ones. If you have already passed away by then, will you expect me to come back and help you solve them?
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin frowned, glared, and said somewhat displeased.
"Father is right." Li Chengqian lowered his head in shame. He was already thirty years old, and now he still had to ask his father for help to solve his problems.
It is indeed somewhat disappointing.
"Brother, just tell them that the Prince Ji's Mansion has begun to increase maritime trade and transportation, and will build a hundred large ships in the next ten years, with an estimated annual revenue of ten million strings of cash."
I strongly disagree with the imperial court establishing any maritime trade office, nor do I agree with levying customs duties.
Seeing that Li Chengqian was somewhat dejected, Li Shen offered an idea.
Li Shen's thinking was simple: he had so many enemies, all of whom were officials in the court, and no one wanted him to have an easy time.
He guessed that these people would give up some of their own interests to make things difficult for him.
That is, it hurts the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred of your own.
Hearing that Li Shen earns tens of millions of strings of cash a year, the taxes he collects must be at least a million, which makes their taxes seem insignificant compared to the few thousand or tens of thousands of strings they pay.
As for enemies, what does it matter if we suffer some losses as long as Li Shen doesn't have an easy time?
Upon hearing Li Shen's words, Li Chengqian's eyes lit up, and he gratefully said to Li Shen:
"Thank you, Tenth Brother, but this might have some impact on you. What if they find out in the future..."
"So what if we know? This is all for the sake of the court. Besides, only a few of us here know. If Father doesn't tell, if you don't tell, I certainly won't tell either."
If others find out, then there must be a traitor among us, someone who betrays us.
As Li Shen spoke, he looked at Li Tai and Li Zhi.
They were positioned quite far from the others, who were all chatting and naturally didn't notice them.
"You..." Li Zhi was angered by Li Shen's words. Wasn't this a blatant dig at them?
"Don't worry, Qingque and Zhinu won't tell anyone. They're much more reliable than you when it comes to matters of principle."
Li Shimin looked at Li Shen with some disdain in his eyes. If you don't even mention the most unreliable things, then there's no problem.
"I'm very tight-lipped; I wouldn't say a word even with a knife to my throat." Li Shen straightened his neck, full of arrogance, actually saying such a thing about himself.
"You? Ha! Forget it, a knife to the neck? You wouldn't even last a few strokes of family discipline before you confess."
Li Shimin scoffed dismissively. He knew Li Shen all too well; this rebellious son had always had a smooth and successful life.
Nothing had ever caused him any setbacks, except for the assassination attempt when he was a child, which frightened him so much that he always had a bodyguard by his side.
Apart from that, he has never failed at anything; he's just not the type of person who can handle things.
He had captured prisoners before and tortured them as well. In fact, if Li Shen were captured, he couldn't even stand being spanked.
Li Shen's face turned somewhat ugly after being told off, but in the end he didn't dare to argue. He was really afraid that his father would say something like, "Why don't you give it a try?" and then he would be in a difficult situation.
"Tenth brother, why don't you tell me about the Maritime Trade Office again? Do you have any good suggestions?"
For example, the imperial court was not familiar with the prices of goods, and prices varied from place to place.
And you're quite good at figuring out how much tax we should collect.
Li Chengqian asked in a low voice, which conveniently helped Li Shen out of his predicament.
Li Shimin stopped teasing Li Shen and waited for his reply. Li Shen thought for a moment and said:
"Brother, if I say we don't accept money, but instead take the goods directly, no matter what kind of goods they are, we will take the goods according to their different categories."
For example, we take about 30% of the price for ordinary goods, and 10% or 20% for valuable items.
The goods that are extracted will be stored in the warehouse and cataloged, and the imperial court can set up shops in Chang'an to sell them.
If it's inconvenient for the imperial court to intervene, I can do it on their behalf, but I'll have to take 50% of the service fee.
"Fifty percent?" Li Chengqian's mouth dropped open. "Tenth brother, aren't you being a little too ruthless?"
"How could that be? I also have capital, with shops, managers, employees, and taxes to pay."
Li Shen innocently replied that it was already quite generous of him not to have taken anything from him.
"Tenth Prince, how dare you cheat the imperial court out of its money like this?" Li Shimin roared.
“But Father just asked me for 50%,” Li Shen immediately retorted, still holding a grudge about it.
"What you and I do is business, but the Maritime Trade Office is a government agency. How can they be the same? At most, one level higher."
Li Shimin's face darkened.
“One floor is too few; it’s not even enough for me to pay taxes to the Chamber of Commerce.” Li Shen immediately shook his head.
"You won't just refuse to pay taxes? It's the imperial court's money anyway, why do you need to pay taxes?" Li Shimin scolded angrily, this child is obsessed with money.
It's one thing to cheat oneself, but now they're even trying to cheat the imperial court out of its money. This is a trap that can't be opened.
Li Shen frowned and said decisively:
"That won't do. I can't break the rules that the Chamber of Commerce worked so hard to establish."
The imperial court entrusted this matter to me, so it falls under the jurisdiction of the Prince Ji's residence and must be handled in accordance with the rules of the Chamber of Commerce.
Even if you don't have to pay a deposit, the membership fee plus license fee will still be at least 10%.
I'll compromise, how about 40%?
(The tax collection by the Maritime Trade Office was called "extraction," which was offset by goods. However, I don't understand why cheap goods were taxed at 30%.)
They take a 10% cut from valuable jewelry, ambergris, agarwood, and other precious materials.
Shouldn't people smoke more the more expensive cigarettes they buy? Does anyone know?