Traveling again in the old place is like a different generation.

Today, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, the capital of the Qing Dynasty, was familiar and unfamiliar in Prince Chun’s eyes.

Get off at Majiapu Station, and the group boarded the carriage to the capital. The carriage was carried forward all the way north and arrived at the capital in more than half an hour.

Along the way, the official roads were very different from before. During the Qing Dynasty, there were official roads from Fengtai to Beijing, but the current official roads were not comparable to the original official roads, whether they were wide or flat.

As for Majiapu, Prince Chun was here in the early years, and the memory he left was only a small town in Fengtai area. The entire town had a population of less than 1,000. It was surrounded by either farmland or the farms of the Qing nobles. The people who came and went to and from ordinary farmers.

The Majiashu now is no longer what it was like back then. The Majiashu is now very lively. The town at that time is now a huge transportation hub. The entire station covers more than twice the area of ​​the entire Majiashu town before.

In addition, after leaving the station, shops, restaurants, warehouses and other buildings can be seen everywhere along both sides of the official road, and people come and go, which are very lively.

Among the people who came and went, there were both ordinary people, businessmen, officials, and many Westerners with high noses. This scene was simply unimaginable before.

The closer the capital, the more lively it became. When entering the outer city, Prince Chun suddenly found that the aisle was different from what he expected.

According to the previous rules, when entering Beijing from Fengtai to the north, you must first enter the outer city and then enter from Chongwen Gate. Because the nine gates of the capital are Xuanwu Gate, Zhengyang Gate and Chongwen Gate. Among them, Xuanwu Gate is called the "Death Gate" because it is close to Caishikou. Zhengyang Gate has a special imperial road for the emperor to travel, so entering the capital from south to north is usually done by Chongwen Gate.

What is the most famous Chongwen Sect? Of course, it is a tax official.

The Chongwen Sect tax was a rich source throughout the Qing Dynasty. Didn’t Heshen, later generations, relied on the Chongwen Sect to collect taxes and make countless silver? Originally, Prince Chun thought that the rules of getting started from Chongwen Sect were the same as before. Who would have thought that this time, the Chongwen Sect would be unpredictable.

As the traffic flows and people move forward in turn, Chongwenmen, which is blocked every day, is now in order. In addition to checking the identity certificates of the people entering the city, the police (yamen runners) at the gate basically do not check the personal belongings carried by individuals. The transport of goods only checks whether the name of the goods list matches the goods, and does not see the tax collection process.

After only a quarter of an hour, it was Prince Chun's turn and his party. The Ming army officer who accompanied Prince Chun showed the documents to the police guarding the city. After confirming the authenticity of the documents, he released them directly. After entering the city, Prince Chun could no longer help and asked why he had not seen Chongwenmen collect taxes.

"Charge taxes? Why do we need to collect taxes?" Ming army officer asked in surprise.

"The city entry tax of Chongwenmen! In addition to this, there are also goods tax and counting tax."

"Where are these? I have never seen Chongwenmen collect taxes in the capital in recent years. Moreover, I have canceled the cap tax in the Ming Dynasty. Now even the land tax is pitiful. However, the court is very strict with commercial tax rules. However, there is a special system for commercial taxation, which is under the responsibility of the tax department and has nothing to do with the Chongwenmen." The officer replied with a smile.

Prince Chun was a little confused. It would be fine if the Chongwen Sect did not collect taxes, but the Ming Dynasty actually abolished the capita tax, and even the land tax was pitifully small. This does not mean that land tax was dispensable? This seemed unimaginable to Prince Chun.

You should know that the courts in all dynasties rely on taxation, capitation tax and land tax are the two most important items, which constitute the basis of taxation. As for commercial tax, it is not lacking, but commercial tax has been dispensable since the Ming Dynasty. Although the requirements for commercial tax during the Qing Dynasty paid a little more attention than in the Ming Dynasty, due to the privileges of the Manchu people and the care of some officials, the income of commercial tax was actually not satisfactory.

In addition, it is the tariffs of the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou, which is a big deal, but these accounts for only a part of the basic capita tax and land tax. Although Prince Chun knew that the Ming Dynasty attached importance to commerce now, he did not expect that the Ming Dynasty would adjust its tax structure in this way.

Back then, in order to appease the people of the world, Kangxi vowed to "never increase taxes", and he wrote these four big words. But this was just not adding taxes. Taxes and taxes were eliminated. What's more, it was not said that the previous taxes were exempted. However, the Ming Dynasty was better than that, not only the cap tax was cancelled, but also the land tax was collected at a very low proportion. This was unimaginable to Prince Chun's opinion.

Logically speaking, how could the court have any income when the Ming Dynasty did this? Can the whole world be maintained by collecting commercial taxes?

In response, Prince Chun couldn't help asking about the source of taxes and the specific tax collection implementation of Daming, but he could not answer these officers. After all, these questions far exceeded his ability. The officer could only smile and tell him that if he wanted to know these, he could go to the "Da Ming Tax Law" promulgated by the Daming Taxation Department to see. Everything he wanted to know was explained in detail in this tax law.

After listening to the officer's explanation, Prince Chun secretly wrote down the "Da Ming Tax Law" and prepared to find him to study it carefully after settling down. The Ming Dynasty could do this, and it could maintain the prosperity and continuous progress of the country, and even maintain good financial operation. Although Prince Chun does not understand how the Ming Dynasty did this, no matter how the Ming Dynasty did it, since this is the case, it can be used to polish jade from other mountains. If you can learn something from it, it may be of great benefit to the Qing Dynasty.

After entering the capital, Prince Chun and his group settled in a long time ago. Their residence was originally the residence of a third-rank official in the Qing Dynasty. Now this place belongs to the official property of the Ming Dynasty court and is used as a residence for entertaining diplomats from various countries on weekdays.

Prince Chun is not unfamiliar with this place, because his mansion is not far from here. But now things change, the Ninth Prince's Mansion in the early years is no longer his home, but has become the residence of the Ming officials. The master of that year has now become the envoy to seek peace and can only stay here.

The officer took them to the place and helped settle down. Then he instructed Prince Chun and others for a few words.

It is nothing more than that according to regulations, they must live here. They can go out on weekdays, but they cannot stay outside. They need to register with the Jinyiwei guarding this place every day. In addition, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, they are not allowed to dress up in Qing Dynasty clothing during their outings. They pay special attention to this. Although Prince Chun felt a little uncomfortable when he heard this, Beijing City is no longer the Beijing City of the Qing Dynasty, and these Manchus are not the masters of the past. In such occasions and circumstances, it is indeed inappropriate to enter and exit the Beijing City as Manchus.

These are just subtle details. Prince Chun agreed and asked when he would have the opportunity to meet the Emperor of Ming or several ministers from the Military Affairs Office of the Ming Dynasty.

In response, the Ming Dynasty said that this needs to be reported through the procedures and read the above arrangements, so that Prince Chun and his party can wait patiently. Maybe a few days, maybe more time, someone will naturally come to notify you.

The man had to bow his head under the roof. When he responded to such an official reply, Prince Chun could only nod helplessly to show his knowledge, and then he rested here.

That night, Prince Chun lay in bed but didn't sleep well all night. Although he returned to Beijing again, the current Beijing city gave him an inexplicable sense of strangeness, which made him feel that the Beijing city in his memory was completely two places. In addition, he was burdened with heavy responsibilities, Prince Chun kept thinking about what to do next, and at the same time he was concerned about how the war in the Western Regions reached.

It was not until the early morning that Prince Chun fell asleep, but he woke up shortly after sleeping.

After waking up, Prince Chun washed up and changed into Mingren's robe, put on a hat, and then went out with his servant after registering with the Jinyiwei who was guarding yesterday.

After leaving, Prince Chun clearly felt that there was someone following behind him, so he was not surprised by this. This must have been the arrangement of the Jinyiwei, and the other party deliberately let him know that this was just a reminder and warning him.

The appearance of Beijing City has changed drastically, but many roads in the city are still the same. Prince Chun, who has lived in Beijing for so many years, quickly regained some familiar feeling. He went to the market not far away to use breakfast. The breakfast was simple bean juice and burnt circles. Prince Chun hadn't eaten these two things for a long time since he left here. Now he tasted the familiar taste again, which made him feel extremely moved.

After using breakfast, he asked someone to ask, and Prince Chun went to a nearby bookstore to buy the "Da Ming Tax Law". After getting the book, he read it quickly. As the Ming army officer said yesterday, the content inside was extremely complete.

Putting this tax law into his arms, Prince Chun walked casually along the street, perhaps intentionally or unintentionally. As he walked, he actually walked to his previous residence. When he noticed the surrounding scenery, he discovered it.

"Forget it, it's better not to see you..." After stopping, Prince Chun said to himself with a smile and cry. Although the mansion was still there, it was a pity that it was no longer his own. Going to see it again would make people feel moved. Why bother?

Thinking of this, Prince Chun decided to turn around and leave, but as soon as he turned around, he accidentally encountered a pedestrian coming from behind.

"Sorry, this man, are you okay?" He was walking normally, and Prince Chun turned around for no reason, so he was naturally inappropriate.

"It's okay, it's just that I'm a little anxious." The other party was actually nothing, just a little touch.

Since the other party was fine, Prince Chun nodded and prepared to leave. But before he could take two steps, the person he had just met passed by Prince Chun, and suddenly turned around and hesitated to Prince Chun, saying, "Master Jiu! Are you Master Jiu?"
Chapter completed!