Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

Chapter 1009

"Master Bao, what do you think we should do to reduce our losses?"

"It's easy!"

Bao Guanjiao smiled slightly, and then continued to express his thoughts.

"If we want to implement the land tax system, the court must first help people measure the land and register the specific conditions of the land."

"And this kind of thing is usually handed over to the lower-level yamen runners and grain officials, and everyone is familiar with the grain collector in Suzhou Prefecture."

"When the time comes, we just need to pay them some money, and they won't offend us, and we can still get paid."

"Then five or ten acres will only be recorded as one acre, and the upper fields will be recorded as lower fields, and the lower fields will become barren fields, and the barren fields will be directly registered as wasteland..."

Having said that, Bao Guanjiao showed a meaningful smile on his face, and the others understood it instantly.

For rich people like them, spending money to achieve their goals as quickly as possible has become an instinctive behavior.

Even if Bao Guanjiao didn't say the rest, they all understood what to do, so they all laughed.

However, when everyone was laughing, Zhou Li was the only one who did not laugh. Instead, he frowned deeply.

No one else noticed Zhou Li's expression, but Bao Guanjiao was always paying attention to the situation on Zhou Li's side.

Seeing him frown, Bao Guanjiao felt a sinking feeling in his heart and immediately asked Zhou Li a question.

"Boss Zhou, you look a little strange. Is there something wrong with my idea?"

Hearing Bao Guanjiao's words, the wealthy businessmen and gentry present were stunned, and then looked towards Zhou Li.

They were not questioning him, but they knew Zhou Li was capable and wanted to hear what he had to say.

Zhou Li did not hide anything and expressed his concerns under the gaze of everyone.

"Master Bao's method is feasible, but it's not suitable for the current situation. If we really do it, it might backfire."

"Oh?"

Hearing Zhou Li's words, Bao Guanjiao narrowed his eyes and responded, then asked:

"Then please tell us, Boss Zhou, what is wrong with the current situation and why it is counterproductive."

"Hey!"

Zhou Li sighed lightly. He could hear that Bao Guanjiao sounded a little unhappy, and he obviously thought that Bao Guanjiao was deliberately finding fault with him.

But in fact, Zhou Li did not mean that, but really thought that this matter could not be handled in this way.

"If the imperial court simply ordered Suzhou Prefecture to implement the land-based tax system, then Master Bao's method would be fine."

"But the current situation is that the imperial court has sent people directly here. If we really do what Patriarch Bao said, we will just be giving them a handle."

"Everyone should be clear about one thing: no matter how much we bribe, the land and property are there. We can't hide them."

"We can just send someone over to take a look and see at a glance how many acres of land there are and whether it's good or poor quality!"

Zhou Li's words hit the nail on the head, instantly reminding those present of a key issue.

That’s right, in the past, when the imperial court implemented new policies and laws, they would communicate them to various places, and the local authorities only needed to implement them.

But there are exceptions, which is to send an imperial envoy. Now, Duke Wei Wu is the imperial envoy sent by the court.

For any matter, the results will be very different if there is supervision and if there is no supervision.

What Zhou Li said did make sense. The fields were there and could not be hidden or changed.

As long as we send someone over to take a look, the size and quality of the fields will be immediately exposed, and then it will be a real trouble.

Even Bao Guanjiao felt a little scared after hearing Zhou Li's words, but at the same time he felt ashamed.

So, when everyone's eyes were focused on Zhou Li, Bao Guanjiao said:

"I thought it was too simple and almost hurt everyone. Boss Zhou is indeed a man who can build a family business to such a big scale."

"You can tell at a glance that my method isn't working. So, why don't you, Boss Zhou, come up with a way to reduce the losses for everyone?"

Zhou Li turned around and looked at Bao Guanjiao deeply, and understood in his heart why Bao Guanjiao said that.

But in fact, Zhou Li himself didn’t care who had the final say in the room. He just didn’t want to be dragged into this.

In fact, if his family was not so deeply involved with these people, Zhou Li would not have wanted to get involved in this mess.

However, he had no say in this matter, because the powerful Zhou Li was not the head of the Zhou family.

This requires us to talk about the difference in status. After all, there are scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, with scholars ranking first and merchants ranking last.

People with official titles have always looked down on merchants. They believe that doing business would be a disgrace to the status of scholars.

But they just like money, and doing business is the most profitable way, so they come up with the practice of being a concubine and a virtuous woman at the same time.

In a family, only those who have achieved great achievements can succeed as the head of the family, and the profits from business are left to other younger generations in the family.

Take Zhou Li for example. He works diligently to make money for the family, but to put it bluntly, he is just a businessman to the Zhou family.

In this situation, whether he wants to come or not, as long as the Zhou family gives the order, he must come on behalf of the Zhou family.

Now that he is here, he must consider the interests of the family and naturally oppose any plans with loopholes.

His original intention was not to target anyone, but Bao Guanjiao was dissatisfied with it, so much so that it seemed like a tit-for-tat.

Zhou Li didn't care about this. Since he was asked to speak, he might as well express his thoughts.

"Reducing losses is not difficult, but it's not about focusing on something as obvious as fields."

"Instead, they're making a fuss about the people and the land deeds. That way, even if the government wants to investigate, they won't find anything."

"We can divide the large tracts of land into small plots, and then distribute these plots among the servants and tenants of the household."

Zhou Lizheng was speaking, but before he could finish his words, Bao Guanjiao interrupted.

"That's ridiculous! If it's really as you say, and the servants and tenants don't return the land, or if they resell the deeds, we'll be devastated!"

After Bao Guanjiao finished speaking, Zhou Li did not get angry. He just glanced at him before responding.

"You, the Bao family, are a distinguished family of local gentry. How dare your servants and tenants do this? Besides, when did I ever say it was a transfer of ownership?"