God-level Consort of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 959 Tax Collection
Hearing Wei Shuyu's explanation, Du He was also stunned.

"Brother Wei, what's going on?" He asked hastily.

Wei Shuyu scratched his head, and said with some embarrassment: "Brother Du, to tell you the truth, the balance of last year's taxes was more than 3 guan. Originally, a county government's annual expenditure, in fact, a few thousand guan is enough. However, during my tenure as county magistrate, I built a number of houses for the homeless people in order to appease the people. I also remodeled two roads in the county seat of Huxian County. It cost more than 3 yuan It's empty, now, the county government is gone, but there is still at least [-] yuan for road construction, so, I wonder if I can borrow money from you in the name of the county government, after this year's taxes come up , except for turning over to the imperial court and repaying the loan from Wudi Bank, all the rest will be returned to you first..."

Taxes in this era are usually collected once a year.

The county government is now on the verge of bankruptcy.

Wei Shuyu had no choice but to send Du He a suicide scalper, but the purpose was to borrow money from Du He.

Du He couldn't laugh or cry.

Wei Shuyu obviously doesn't have the ability to make money, but he has been dealing with Du He for a long time, and he doesn't feel bad at all when spending money.

Thirty thousand guan, if it is given to the county magistrates in other places, it is estimated that those people can't sleep with laughter, and they can use it for ten years if they embezzle casually.

Fortunately, Wei Shuyu directly built houses for the common people, and also rebuilt two roads in the city, the standard was exactly the same as Chang'an's Renmin Avenue.

No wonder it went bankrupt.

Du He thought for a while, turned to look at Wei Shuyu, and teased: "Brother Wei, you are guarding the golden mountain without knowing it. You are rich now, why do you need to borrow money from me?"

Wei Shuyu didn't come back to his senses for a long time: "Brother Du, what do you mean, the county government still has money? That's impossible, I have already taken people to the warehouse of the county government to look inside and out, and there are indeed a few Kaiyuan Tongbao , but this is not enough for the county government’s daily expenses.”

This guy is out of his mind.

Du He said with a smile: "Brother Wei, now a large number of people have come to the county, and all the restaurants, grain shops, and cloth shops have all opened up. Why don't we change the tax collected once a year to monthly?" As for the collection, in the past, merchants only had to pay taxes every year, and most of the merchants were local nobles, who paid the same taxes every year, and the taxes received by the county government were pitifully small...Now, why don't we change the way we used to be? Those who make more money pay more taxes, and those who make less money pay less tax or even no tax. They collect one-twentieth of the money they earn from various merchants every month, and those who earn less than ten per cent do not have to pay taxes. ...in this way, can't this problem be solved?"

In the past, merchants paid taxes the same every year. Some were based on the size of the merchants, and some were based on the business they were engaged in. It was very complicated and there was no standard.

What Du He has to do is to change the previous tradition and directly change the ratio of turnover to pay taxes.

Wei Shuyu asked suspiciously: "But when you were the county magistrate, didn't you implement the three major policies to exempt the people of Hu County from paying taxes for two years?"

Du He smiled and said: "That's right, it was written in black and white, and it was aimed at the people of Hu County, but now all the merchants in the entire county have changed a group of people, most of these people are from Chang'an or other places, and they are not here. The people of Hu County are not counted in the yellow book of Hu County, so it is reasonable to collect their taxes?"

Wei Shuyu asked again: "But, what if the merchants object? Brother Du's move will make some small merchants happy, but it will also harm the interests of many people!"

In this sentence, he was not wrong at all.

Before the words were finished, Li Ke, who had been standing by the side without opening his mouth, laughed and said, "Why do you need to worry about anything? With the Guancheng Brigade here, I want to see who dares to oppose who is not afraid of death!"

Du He said earnestly: "Brother Wei, why don't we set up a tax bureau to take care of the collection of taxes, so we don't have to worry about merchants playing tricks on it. The tax bureau conducts random checks every month. The minimum fine is [-] guan, and the maximum fine is [-] guan... Let’s train a group of professional account inspectors, and encourage the people to file complaints, and within a few months, the situation can be stabilized.”

In this era, it is difficult to achieve the transparency of future generations because there is no technological means, and it is too complicated at the beginning, which is not conducive to promotion.

So what Du He told Wei Shuyu was the easiest to operate.

Wei Shuyu, Du He, Du He's words, he firmly believes, and he unconditionally believes in Du He.

The next day, the county government issued a notice to recruit a group of accountants, as many as 50 people.

In less than a few days, the recruitment is over.

The county government established a taxation bureau, and at the same time, notices were posted.

From then on, those who do business in the county government of Hu County, whether it is a store or a transaction in a market, who earn more than ten guan a month, need to pay taxes, the ratio is one-twentieth.

All matters are handled by the tax bureau.

The Bureau of Taxation conducts spot checks every month and checks based on the operating conditions of the merchants. If anyone dares to make false accounts to avoid paying taxes, once it is verified, the minimum penalty is [-] guan, and the maximum penalty is [-] guan, depending on the severity of the situation.

At first, people didn't take it seriously, but when they heard the news that the Guancheng brigade sent a team of 50 people to station in the Taxation Bureau, everyone knew that the county government was playing for real.

For a while, people talked about it, and their reactions were different.

The people of Hu County were overjoyed, because according to the promise made by Prince Du, the people of Hu County didn't need to pay taxes within this year, that was a matter for outsiders.

Those merchants who can't make a couple of dollars a month don't worry, they don't have to worry about taxes.

The big merchants began to worry.

Of course, some people jumped out to object, but unfortunately, they were arrested by the Guancheng Brigade before they were ready. After entering the camp of the Guancheng Brigade, they came out. What about taxes?

……

The news reached Chang'an.

Naturally, it also caused a lot of discussion.

This can be said to be the beginning of the reform of the taxation system in Datang.

Sikong House.

Many people gathered here.

"My lord grandson, in order to win us over, Du He voluntarily sold all the shops and houses in Hu County to me at a low price. I sent people from my family to buy the shops and land. In business, it is true that he has earned a lot of money from the very beginning... I don’t know, it hasn’t been long before he encourages Wei Shuyu to set up a tax bureau, and it is really unreasonable to start collecting taxes every month. Is it a way to get rich?"

"That's right, Du He's move is really disgusting!"

"My lord Changsun, you can't ignore this matter. As far as I know, the Changsun family also has a lot of business in Hu County. If the tax bureau really starts to collect taxes every month, the Changsun family will suffer a lot! "

Everyone cried and complained, asking Changsun Wuji to stand up and make decisions for everyone.

……

(End of this chapter)