Chapter 50

The salaries of officials, the pay for the army—sometimes they could not even afford to pay the salaries.

Fortunately, most of the soldiers were old Qin people.

They did not cause any trouble because of the occasional inability to pay salaries.

From this, one can see how empty the Great Qin treasury had become.

It is evident how much money Great Qin lacks now.

And now the Ninth Prince actually says it is a mere trifle, not worth mentioning.

However, as the other party is the noble Ninth Prince, and they were in the court, they dared not mock him too much.

They could only listen quietly to what His Majesty would say.

Ying Ying Zi Ye performed a cupped-hand salute and, under the watchful eyes of all, asked a question instead of answering.

"Father Emperor, may I ask where the treasury's income originates?"

Ying Zheng did not know what Ying Zi Ye meant by this.

But he still answered quite readily.

"Of course, it is from land taxes, miscellaneous taxes, poll taxes, and commercial taxes."

Fearing he might have missed something, Ying Zheng looked toward the Minister of Agriculture below the court.

"You come and explain it in detail to the Ninth Prince."

"This subject obeys the decree."

An old man stood up and performed a cupped-hand salute.

"Reporting to the Ninth Prince, Great Qin has land taxes, commercial taxes, poll taxes, and miscellaneous taxes."

"Land tax is also known as household tax, collected according to the amount of land; one only needs to pay tax on a maximum of one hundred mu of land."

"Commercial tax is the tax levied on merchants buying and selling goods."

"And poll tax is the tax on population."

"Miscellaneous taxes refer to all kinds of exorbitant levies; the common people must pay taxes according to designated categories."

"Miscellaneous taxes are a type of fee collected by local officials to alleviate the pressure on the imperial treasury."

Ying Ying Zi Ye was silent for a while.

"According to what you say, Great Qin's main income is from land taxes and poll taxes?"

"Then which of these two taxes is collected the most?"

The Minister of Agriculture bowed and continued to speak:

"The land tax collected by household is about thirty percent, while the poll tax collected by head is seventy percent."

"Understood, you may step down."

Having obtained what he wanted to know, Ying Ying Zi Ye waved his hand for him to withdraw.

This scene left the officials somewhat stunned.

Good heavens, this is the morning court of Qin Shi Huang.

His Majesty is still sitting above.

Since when is it a Prince's turn to issue orders?

If this act were to anger Qin Shi Huang, he could be punished directly.

Lightly, he would be demoted; heavily, he would face the disaster of death!

The officials looked one after another toward Qin Shi Huang sitting on the dragon throne.

They hoped His Majesty would punish the Ninth Prince; he was too unscrupulous.

However, they were disappointed.

Only then did they realize they had thought too much.

They saw that His Majesty sitting on the dragon throne had no intention of being angry at all.

Ying Zheng was not angry; on the contrary, he felt a sense of gratification in his heart.

Ying Zi Ye had recently established merit, and this was his son.

If he could be stronger, he would be even more indulgent and let him be.

This had a trace of his own shadow from back in the day.

"Ying Zi Ye, can you speak of your solution now?"

Ying Zheng had a trace of expectation in his heart; perhaps this son would give him a surprise.

After all, the few things he had done recently were not things a wastrel could accomplish.

"Father Emperor, your direction for collecting taxes is problematic!"

"You are collecting from the poor common people; how could they have money to give you?"

"No wonder the treasury is almost empty."

Ying Zheng was taken aback.

"If not from the common people, from whom should I collect?"

Ying Ying Zi Ye did not want to keep him in suspense anymore.

"Of course, collect from the wealthy!"

The wealthy?

Ying Zheng was taken aback again.

The wealthy of Great Qin...

Aren't the wealthy those noble gentry and powerful families?

"The noble gentry are the wealthiest people in Great Qin; why does the imperial court not go to them to collect taxes?"

"Instead, you collect so many taxes from the poor common people?"

"One must know, they often possess ten thousand qing of fertile land, yet land tax is only collected on a maximum of one hundred mu; why is this?"

"This is equivalent to the imperial court picking up gold grains while abandoning the gold bars beside them."

"Dozens of commoners do not even equal one noble gentry."

Ying Ying Zi Ye pointed out this problem in one breath.

"This..."

Ying Zheng was left speechless.

He had never thought about this problem.

His thoughts had always been on military affairs before.

Later, after his health grew increasingly weak, his thoughts were always on longevity. ===== CHAPTER 52 =====