Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 611 - 447 Disagreement

Gu Chengyu finished speaking and took out the booklet from his pocket. He had written until midnight yesterday, only outlining the regulations on the tea tax.

"Oh! Is there anything that leaves you indecisive?" Liang Zhirui smiled.

Though there was some doubt in his heart, he still accepted the booklet and began to read it carefully.

However, as soon as he started reading, he restrained his smile, and his expression grew increasingly solemn. After about half a stick of incense’s time, he finished reading the booklet and placed it on the desk in front of him.

Liang Zhirui’s eyes fixed on Gu Chengyu, revealing a look of complete disappointment.

"Is this your proposal?"

He could tell at a glance that it was Gu Chengyu’s idea, each clause presented clearly and explicitly.

This disciple was very clever, never causing him any trouble, and he was respectful to him and his senior disciples. He was not overly honest, but he always carried himself with propriety, and he had a kind heart.

He had high hopes for this disciple, believing that as long as Gu Chengyu put in effort, becoming a First-Grade Official in the future would not be difficult.

But what was he seeing now? A tea tax? If the court wanted to impose a new tax, they would have to extract it from the common people. Could it be that his disciple, in pursuit of promotion, was instigating the Emperor to introduce a new tax?

Seeing his teacher’s extremely grave expression, Gu Chengyu knew what was on his mind. He understood his teacher’s character well; the teacher must have misunderstood his intention, assuming he was acting out of personal gain to achieve merit with this proposal.

Gu Chengyu promptly stood up and replied earnestly, "Teacher, please don’t be angry and listen to me explain slowly."

Liang Zhirui waved his hand, wanting to say that he had already read the booklet. However, having watched Gu Chengyu grow up, he naturally understood his character. If his conduct were improper, he wouldn’t have accepted Gu Chengyu as his disciple back then.

Because he had suffered a loss from He Jisheng before, Liang Zhirui had observed and tested Gu Chengyu for quite some time before finally deciding to take him as his disciple.

After some thought, he decided to give Gu Chengyu a chance.

"Then let me ask you, do you know that once this tea tax is implemented, it will be the tea farmers who suffer?"

Merchants are cunning and will only pass this tax onto the tea farmers. They certainly won’t be willing to pay this silver themselves.

"Of course, I understand, which is why I propose reducing the annual land tax on tea farmers. With a reduction in land taxes, the farmers’ revenue will increase, compensating for their losses."

This was not mentioned in the booklet because the officials in the court didn’t care about such matters. So he had to paint a rosy picture for the officials to suggest this; raising it at the end makes it less unacceptable.

If this had been included from the start, those officials would have fixated on this point.

Liang Zhirui shook his head, thinking this method ineffective, "Isn’t this just the same as the original land tax, only phrased differently?"

"Naturally, it’s only a partial reduction, not a full exemption. The profits must be calculated carefully, which is up to the Ministry of Revenue. And tea merchants should bear a part as well, not all should fall on the tea farmers—who are not foolish."

Actually, Gu Chengyu was already being very benevolent, considering the tea farmers’ interests, as prior to this, their land taxes were not less than these.

"In the proposal, I mentioned setting up tax checkpoints along the way to greatly ensure the safety of tea merchants themselves. More merchants will certainly travel than before. With more merchants, tea farmers will have more options, allowing prices not to be pressed too low."

With this analysis, Liang Zhirui found some rationale, but he still didn’t agree.

"According to you, but what if those tea merchants’ profits decrease? Will they be willing? If they’re unwilling, who would want to be a tea merchant then?"

Liang Zhirui didn’t care about extracting silver from the merchants; he was concerned about the tea farmers’ profits.

Hearing this, Gu Chengyu smiled, "Why wouldn’t they be willing? The profits for tea merchants are enormous. With a tea tax, they only lose a small portion of their profit. The tax I set is not heavy, and this amount is negligible to them."

"With such large profits, would they be willing to give them up? As for whether they’re willing, it’s not up to them. Aren’t the court’s land taxes, poll taxes, and salt taxes all enforced?"

He wasn’t worried about how the court would enforce it. This was a monarchy, unlike the democracy consciousness he knew in his past life. The biggest obstacle with this tax was the officials behind the tea merchants.

Liang Zhirui looked at Gu Chengyu’s indifferent demeanor, speechless for a long time. He couldn’t quite understand this disciple anymore. His words were said so lightly, as if he was already accustomed to the orders of those in power, becoming somewhat callous.

Alas! The officialdom is ever-changing. Hopefully, this disciple won’t waver in his original intention.

"Teacher, have you thought about it? The court is already in difficult times. The current dynasty’s taxes aren’t heavy. The people have been recuperating for decades. This only takes a portion of the merchant’s silver, which isn’t excessive."

Gu Chengyu knew his teacher was stubborn, fearing the new tax law would burden the people. But the tea tax, after all, relies more on merchants’ contributions—it can alleviate the court’s urgent need, so why not?

"Then how do you know that in the future, this tea tax won’t keep increasing? As long as there’s one more type of tax, there’s one more way to harm the people."

Actually, Liang Zhirui was worried that the court would violate their original intention later. If taxes were increased in the future, merchants would certainly suffer losses, but it would still be the tea farmers who suffer. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Gu Chengyu was touched that his teacher genuinely cared for the people’s well-being, but that was something for the future. One could only take it one step at a time; no one can foresee the future, right?

"Who can predict the future? Take the salt tax, for instance! Our dynasty hasn’t increased the salt tax. Whether taxes increase relies on those in power and their greed. Even without the tea tax, does it mean that other taxes wouldn’t increase?"

Though he also worried about this, it ultimately depended on whether the King was incompetent or muddle-headed. Further, if the court came to a time of crisis, increasing taxes was inevitable.

"Teacher, the Emperor worries about the National Treasury daily, and the border guardians haven’t received their pay for several months. If this continues, it will undoubtedly lead to turmoil. By then, even the court will be at risk; who will care for the people then?"

"The court is already in such difficulty. If I don’t propose the tea tax, increasing the tax burden in the future is imperative. Our dynasty’s taxes are limited—won’t they still fall on the poor people then?"

Here, only part of the tea merchants’ and farmers’ interests is lost, with the other part affecting impoverished people’s interests. Which is lighter or heavier, the teacher surely knows how to choose.

Hearing Gu Chengyu’s words, Liang Zhirui was astounded and once again scrutinized Gu Chengyu from top to bottom.

"I’m getting senile, not as thorough as you."