"The establishment of the Ministry of Commerce and the unified management of merchants has three advantages. First, incorporating all merchants into a unified management organization is like the household registration of the people, which is more convenient for strict management of merchants and business matters!"

His Majesty Li Er nodded slightly, and some of the ministers below could not help but nodded, agreeing with Li Chengqian's statement.

"Secondly, increase the tax revenue of the treasury! The father should also know how much commercial tax has Erchen paid for his own industries in the past few months... Erchen calculated that since October last year, Erchen's industries have paid more than one million trump sum of commercial taxes!"

"What? So much?"

"Millions of guan? My annual income of the Tang Dynasty's treasury is only 30 million guan, right?"

"Fake it?"

"Why are there so many?"

Li Chengqian told the amount of commercial tax he had paid in the past year, and everyone except for a few ministers who were informed of the matter whispered in surprise.

Li Chengqian smiled faintly and continued: "The father should also know which industries are under his command. Perhaps some industries are very profitable, but in terms of the total amount of these industries, not to mention that compared with the whole Tang Dynasty, even in Chang'an City, it is just a drop in the bucket! Then why can my industry pay millions of qian taxes for the national treasury, and how much did the entire Chang'an and even the Tang Dynasty have had the commercial tax revenue last year? It is less than five million! Is this normal?"

Li Chengqian's faint questioning made everyone, including His Majesty Li Er, fall into deep thought, including the minister who stood up to oppose the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce.

"There are different standards for tax collection by merchants in the Tang Dynasty. There is no unified standard for tax collection at all! And the commercial tax paid by Erchen's industries is paid according to 30% of the actual income... You can calculate how much money I have made in less than a year!"

Speaking of this, Li Chengqian looked at His Majesty Li Er with some slander, but was stared at him fiercely by the latter.

And the ministers quickly calculated how much money Li Chengqian had made in less than a year...

"You may think that making so much money is contrary to the way of a saint and the style of a crown prince, but... just as I said before, do you know that from October last year to now, there have been tens of thousands of refugees in Chang'an City, but have you seen these refugees on the street?"

Li Chengqian's words stunned everyone. After thinking about it carefully, it was true that there were few refugees in ragged clothes and begging along the street on Chang'an Street. If you don't pay attention on weekdays, Li Chengqian mentioned it and they discovered it!

"The industries under my command, except for some of the people in the rural areas around Chang'an City, are all these refugees, with a total of more than 5,000 people! The families involved in these more than 5,000 people are more than 14,000 households! In other words, the more than 5,000 people I hired have actually supported more than 20,000 people! Now, not only do these people not need to go out to beg, but everyone has food, houses, and clothes to wear! Do you still think there is something wrong with the money I have made?"

The specific numbers made these ministers look at Li Chengqian stupidly, and were shocked.

"The commercial tax is actually not less than the agricultural tax at all, especially now that our Tang Dynasty has frequent commercial transactions with the Western Regions. If all merchants can be registered in detail, they only need to collect taxes at the rate of 30 taxes. I believe that the income of the treasury can be doubled on the existing basis!"

"This is about the benefits of taxation. The third advantage is to improve the overall life of the people of the Tang Dynasty and improve the comprehensive national strength of the Tang Empire! You may not quite understand what comprehensive national strength means, so you should understand one thing? Have you ever thought about the future of a country or the goal of your diligent work throughout the day? Maybe some people will say of course it is to let the people live and work in peace and contentment! What about after the people live and work in peace and contentment? What are your goals?"

The question of Li Chengqian made His Majesty Li Er stunned and looked at him in a daze.

Yes, what is their goal? Is it just to let the people of the world live and work in peace and contentment? But if the people live and work in peace and contentment, then what is their goal?

"In addition to some objective factors, a very important reason for the change of dynasties is that with the development of time, both emperors and ministers have lost their goals and do not know what they are working hard all day long! Now, including the father, the goal of everyone's efforts is nothing more than the people in the Tang Dynasty who live and work in peace and stability around the Tang Dynasty. This is a very general concept.

After these things are concretized, they refer to the continuous improvement of a country's economy, agriculture, military, culture and other aspects! These aspects are combined to be a country's comprehensive national strength. For example, in terms of agriculture, how much agricultural income was last year, this year everyone will try their best to increase this income; for example, the upcoming military academy is to further improve the military strength of the Tang Dynasty... When we concretize the general concepts such as allowing the people to live and work in peace and contentment, you can think about whether your goal of striving for more clearly? And... Such a goal will never be the highest, only higher standards. Even if you work hard for a thousand years, you will never reach the peak!"

...

Li Chengqian taught His Majesty Li Er and his ministers a good lesson. As for whether they have new experiences, it is not what Li Chengqian knows. The reason why he proposed to establish the Ministry of Commerce was just to cooperate with some of his plans!

Of course, His Majesty Li Er agreed to establish the Ministry of Commerce without being in charge, even if no ministers came forward to object in the end... After all, it is very involved to establish a new department, so you can't make a decision with a slap in your head!

However, with Li Chengqian's efforts, His Majesty Li Er agreed to pilot it first in Chang'an City, that is, to set up a business department in Chang'an to manage all business signs, and the person in charge was...

"Brother, this, this... I don't know what to do!" Li Ke looked at the imperial edict handed over by Li Chengqian, and looked confused.

"Don't worry, isn't I help you with my brother?"

"Why are you pushing me this? You..."

“Too tired!”

Li Ke: "..."

"Okay, third brother, don't look at my brother with this kind of eyes. This is also to cultivate you. When the Chang'an Business Department is successful in its trial, my father will set up a new business department. Who can be the Secretary of the new department at that time?"

"you!"

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes and said, "No matter who it is, you can do it well. Brother, I have nothing to say. If this matter is done well, it will definitely be famous for all eternity!"

"Okay, then you said, how should I do it?"

"It's very simple, first of all, you..."
Chapter completed!