Chapter 132 Three Proposals
The final winner was a senior from China named Sun Lu, who came from a rural area and learned art from the educated youth in the village.
Although his foundation was weak, Sun Lu was very talented. Four years had allowed his painting skills to mature and he was favored by many professors.
After graduation, he hoped to work at the Palace Museum, but his family was too poor, and when his younger brothers and sisters grew up, they had too many expenses.
Therefore, Ma Weidu offered Sun Lu a high salary and he applied for the job. Working here for a month would almost solve the financial crisis of his family.
Sun Lu arranged positions for each art student according to their strengths. Then Liu Hongmin took them to their workplace, a courtyard house next to the Chinese Medicine Association.
This courtyard house was also bought by Liu Hongmin, and the price of the second courtyard has risen to 40,000 yuan.
Liu Hongmin handed the draft he had drawn to Sun Lu, "The drawing is not very good, but you should be able to roughly see some characteristics. You can lead them to enrich the characters first, and I will come to see them in a few days."
Sun Lu nodded, holding the draft, and was speechless. Liu Hongmin's painting skills were really not to be praised.
But he could understand that after all, not everyone is an artistic genius. If Liu Hongmin could draw, why would he need them?
Liu Hongmin's draft had already drawn out the character's features, which meant that he already had an idea in his mind, but only hired someone to draw it because he couldn't draw it.
Sun Lu cherished this opportunity very much. After all, Liu Hongmin gave him too much money.
After Liu Hongmin handed over the matters, he began to prepare for attending the two meetings.
The Beijing delegation had a total of 15 proposals, three of which were proposed by Liu Hongmin. Therefore, he needed to speak at the meeting as a representative.
Liu Hongmin’s first proposal was to ensure the independent development of military industry.
"Military industry is the foundation of a country and the logistical support for our soldiers. If we rely on buying all our weapons and equipment, we will become dependent on the other side. Once the relationship between the two countries breaks down, the other side will inevitably cut off our source of weapons. Our soldiers can't just fight the enemy with fire sticks, right?"
"During the Spring and Autumn Period, Yue was defeated by Wu and became a vassal state of Wu. After Gou Jian had endured hardships, he returned to Yue. One year, there was a famine in Yue, so they borrowed 10,000 dan of grain from Wu. The next year, there was a good harvest in Yue, but they returned 10,000 dan of cooked grain to Wu. Wu used the grain to cultivate the land, but ended up with nothing. A great famine occurred, and the country's power declined from then on."
"In the face of the life-saving grace, Yue State did not think of repaying, but instead used a vicious scheme. It can be seen that there is no friendship between countries. Now we have a good relationship with the United States, that is because we have the Soviet Union by our side. Once the Soviet Union is gone, the first thing the United States will deal with is us."
This speech was a critical comment on current social ills and drew applause from many representatives.
A representative asked: "But the national economy is very bad now, we don't have the money to develop our own military industry!"
“That’s my second proposal: tax reform,” Liu said.
"From the founding of the People's Republic of China to the present, we have implemented a planned economy, and everything is state-owned. In this case, it is reasonable not to collect taxes. However, it is unreasonable not to collect taxes after we have implemented reform and opening up." "Many people should have heard of me and know that I am rich. I can make it clear that I am in favor of the state collecting personal income tax. According to the current salary standard, wages below 1 yuan are tax-free, 3% is levied between 20 yuan and yuan, and % is levied between yuan and yuan. Every extra zero will increase the tax level, up to % or more."
"Personal income tax is a national wealth redistribution mechanism and the first means for us to achieve our ultimate ideal. Stepped taxation can both guarantee the livelihood of low-income groups and ensure that the country can receive enough tax revenue."
"Although everyone is not rich now, it does not mean that everyone will not be rich in the future. The ability of us Chinese to make money has been verified by history."
A representative asked: "But distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. Individual income tax cannot subsidize the research and development funds of military projects."
Liu Hongmin continued: "In addition to personal income tax, there is of course corporate tax. Now that foreign capital is coming in, we have given tax incentives. But we can definitely make up for it from other places."
"We all know that during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, salt and iron monopolies were implemented, which was actually a tax reform. We can also implement salt and iron monopolies on non-essential items and collect more taxes. For example, tobacco, alcohol, toys, games, antiques, etc., these things are more expensive, but it will not affect people's lives. On the contrary, for many addictive items, the consumption level can be raised through price to reduce the number of people who indulge in them."
A group of representatives looked at Liu Hongmin in astonishment, especially the representative from Pengcheng, who knew that Liu Hongmin had opened a large toy factory in Pengcheng.
This person is too cruel. He always cuts flesh from his own body!
The representatives from Beijing looked at the expressions of other representatives with a smile. They were also shocked when they first heard it. Regardless of whether Liu Hongmin was sincere or not, he was able to bring it up at the double meeting, which showed that he was a real man.
The representatives raised their hands and agreed to Liu Hongmin's proposal. With Liu Hongmin, tax reform will be very smooth. Anyone who opposes will not speak out, but will only resent Liu Hongmin in secret.
Liu Hongmin became a living target and the country benefited, so why wouldn't the representatives be happy about it?
Liu Hongmin knew what the representatives were thinking, but he didn't care.
"My third proposal is to implement a policy to protect traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine is a treasure of our country for thousands of years and should be the wealth of all mankind. Therefore, I propose that all prescriptions and treatment methods of traditional Chinese medicine be prohibited from being patented. Patents for traditional Chinese medicine registered in other countries will not be recognized in our country."
The representatives' smiles froze, and they didn't understand why Liu Hongmin made this proposal.
Liu Hongmin said: "There is a huge loophole in the international patent system. Whoever applies for the patent first owns the product. There are many things that we used thousands of years ago, but when they were introduced to foreign countries, they became the property of others."
"Let me give you an example. Everyone knows that manure can be used to make farmyard manure, right? This is very common in our country, but no one uses it abroad. Suppose someone registers farmyard manure as a patent and then asks us for patent fees, should we pay or not?"
The representatives immediately started to discuss, feeling that what Liu Hongmin said was a bit unbelievable. Who would be so shameless! Using someone else's things to register a patent?
Liu Hongmin continued, "Situations like farmyard manure are everywhere in our country. If all of them are registered as patents, then we will have to pay patent fees to others for our food, clothing, housing and transportation in the future. A large amount of the country's wealth will be taken away by others. How can the country develop? How can the people live?"
(End of this chapter)
