A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 652 Opening

When the new two-tax law was implemented to replace the rent-to-tax system, the biggest losers were of course the aristocrats, bureaucrats and landowners like Wu Huaiyu.

As the prime minister and the Duke of the country, Wu Huaiyu was exempted from taxation, and no matter how much land he had, he did not have to pay taxes.As for the other powerful gentry, even if they could not be exempted from the tax, under the tax system, taxation was based on population instead of land taxation. With ten thousand acres of fertile land, each person still only paid two stones for rent, two feet of silk and three taels of cotton.

"I admire my husband very much for his selflessness." Zhao Renben said this sincerely. He heard that Wu Huaiyu had thousands of hectares of land, which was hundreds of thousands of acres. Originally, he didn't have to pay a grain of rent, so he just paid some free grain.But if the new law is implemented and Wu Huaiyu’s land is handed over on an acre basis,

Even if only the original tax amount is spread to acres of land, for example, if one hundred acres of land was originally taxed with two stones of millet, two feet of silk, and three liang of cotton, Wu Huaiyu's hundreds of thousands of acres of land would be equivalent to the original several thousand acres. rent transfer,
If it were all reduced to 3000 acres of land, it would be at least a thousand ding of rent, two thousand shi of millet, two thousand feet of silk, and 20 taels of cotton. [-] acres, then double that.

Isn’t it heartbreaking to spend so much extra money and food for nothing?

"In fact, as long as there is no chaos in the world and social stability, the powerful landowners from aristocratic families will always be the biggest beneficiaries," Wu Huaiyu also explained the basics.

Who ended the powerful family?

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Hou Jing, the general of the universe, overthrew the Jiangdong nobles, and then the old king Xieting Qianyan came to fly into the homes of ordinary people. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, there was a Huangchao, the inner treasury was burned to ashes, and the bones of public officials were trampled in the streets. .

Huang Chao completely eradicated the powerful families that originated from the Eastern Han Dynasty. Huang Chao's army went to fight all over the world. Huang Chao, who was a private salt dealer, was very happy with the officials and nobles. He killed and purged wherever he went. Finally, he killed a man from the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. In the era of military separatism, after the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, civilian politics began, but most of the prime ministers and ministers had come from the imperial examination, and there were no more powerful families.

The rent-sharing system of the Tang Dynasty was basically based on the land equalization system.

But the equal land system has long ceased to work. The foundation has been broken. How can the superstructure be preserved? Whether it is the new rich like Wu Huaiyu or the old nobles like the Five Surnames and Seven Families, they are all on the upper level of the pyramid.

The lower floors are all occupied, how can the upper floors be any better?

This is not only related to the fate of the Tang Dynasty, but also to everyone.

To put it bluntly, both Wu Huaiyu and Li Shimin wanted to reform the tax system and implement the New Deal, but they both saw that the building was unstable.

To put it more harshly, you cannot kill a chicken to get eggs. If you raise a chicken, it will lay eggs continuously. If you kill the chicken directly, you can get more eggs from the eggs at once, but there will be no more eggs.

As long as the world is not in chaos, the noble family will always be at the top.

If the people can have enough food and clothing, they will be satisfied with the present and will never take risks.
Only when there is nothing left to lose and one becomes completely proletarian, one has no flaws, no weaknesses, and cannot be controlled.

The pyramid is a very stable result. It is layered layer by layer. The bottom layer is all living beings, and the top layer is the emperors, generals, and powerful families.

"We are busy with the summer harvest, and we will start collecting taxes after the harvest. Don't rush to collect taxes now. We will start collecting taxes after the saint approves the Sanyuan pilot project.

At that time, the household registration will be based on the real household at that time, and corvees and taxes will be assigned according to the wealth and poverty levels. They cannot be based on the empty amount of the old registration account, nor can they be shared with neighbors. "

Tax booths and neighbor protection have always been an important means for the court to ensure tax revenue, but it is also a means that is very harmful to the people.

Four families are neighbors, five families are protectors, one hundred households are in one li, and five li are in one township.

The taxes collected by the imperial court were often shared layer by layer. For example, if a family defaulted on payment, its neighbors would have to make up the debt. If a family fled, its tax servants would have to pay the taxes to the remaining families. household.

The same is true for the villages above. The total tax amount of the township and village is there. No matter whose family fails to pay the full amount, the total amount must be made up in the end, and it has to be spread to other people.

Under this kind of policy, once someone fails to pay taxes, it will endanger the neighborhood, so it is very easy to cause a chain reaction. For example, if someone cannot afford it, they simply abandon their registration and flee to join a powerful landlord, or run into the mountains to work as a pawn. A gangster,

Then his neighbors will be doomed. If there is no way to make up for it in a disaster year, everyone may have no choice but to run away.

One family runs away, and the neighbors pay for it.If you run away, you will make up for it every mile.
Many poor people have little or even no land, and they still have to pay taxes based on their capita. In times of famine, it becomes even more difficult, and they end up having to pay taxes to others.

The worst thing is that the local households are relatively wealthy. They will rely on the large number of people or their influence to collude with the officials and spread the subsidies to the poor. The rich will not be able to pay. There are more stalls.

In the end, the actual tax bill may be doubled or even higher.

Everyone has no choice but to run.

Therefore, Wu Huaiyu now wants to try out the new law. The most important point is that no guarantees are allowed. Although the court may lose some taxes by doing so, if the guarantees are paid, the consequences will be endless.

"The military prime minister is righteous."

Zhao Ren's memorial was reported to Chang'an. Li Shimin was very satisfied after reading it, especially because it said that Wu Huaiyu was willing to set an example.

The Wu family has a lot of properties in Mihara Field. If he takes the lead, he can indeed set a good example.

"It will be tried out in Sanyuan County."

The emperor was very satisfied with Zhao Renben's courage to be the first in the world and greatly appreciated it. This year he will try out the methods he and Wu Huaiyu proposed in Sanyuan County.

Households are divided into nine levels, and households are divided into nine levels.

The household tax was collected from the ninth class households, and the rent was collected from the ninth class Ding. The landless people were classified as customers and were classified as good citizens.

Agree to move the Sanyuan County seat from Rencheng to Qinghe Longqiao.

Zhao Renben got the decree and took action happily. Rencheng had only been a county seat for a few years, and there was nothing to miss. Even the relocation of the county seat was very simple.
Longqiao is very lively, with many ready-made houses and courtyards.
Zhao Renben directly bought a compound on the north bank and became the Sanyuan County Government.He moved with the county magistrate, county lieutenant, chief registrar, and recorder, Si Gongzuo, Si Cangzuo, Si Huzuo, Judi Zuo, Si Shizuo, etc., and the move was completed in one day.

As a Ji County, Sanyuan is of a very high level.

Although it is not as good as Jingxian County, which has two county magistrates, two chief administrators and six county captains, it still has two county captains. The Liucao County is only one less than the Jingxian County.

The average county only has two to three Cao.

The new county government office opened,
All the powerful squires from the county came, and Wu Huaiyu even came in person to welcome him.

"Xianggong Wu is so young,"

"I can't believe that four years ago, Mr. Wu was still the money-catching commander of our Sanyuan County."

"I just put up a name and went to the Rencheng County Yamen to catch money. I received a set of crimson jacket and fifty guan of capital. I never came here again. In July, I went to Longyou and became famous all over the world in the first battle. , when you come back, you will be given a title and an official title."

Several small officials in crimson clothes took a break from their busy schedule and couldn't help but talk about Wu Huaiyu from a distance. Who knew that this prime minister had once caught money in the Sanyuan County government office.

A few years ago, they were petty officials in the government office, and they saw this person enter the government office with their own eyes. But a few years later, they were still petty officials, and they had already worshiped the prime minister three times.

"On this big day, you still have time to chat here, so hurry up and entertain." Zhao Lushi came over and interrupted a few people.
"No," they quickly shut up and went about their business. Although Zhao Lu was just a non-staff writer a few years ago, he was lucky. Back then, Zhao Lu served on the orders of the county magistrate. , to help Prime Minister Wu handle the land contract in Bailuyuan, running back and forth, and also forming a favor.

After Wu Xianggong became prosperous, he did not forget about Zhao Lushi. In recent years, Zhao Lushi has also been promoted from a non-staff writer to the main editor of the history of Hucao. The next year, he was promoted to Hucaozuo, and this year he was promoted to Lushi again.

Recorders, like assistants and historians, are all miscellaneous tasks with no rank. Although they have no rank, they are already the highest among the officials below in the county government.

The fifth caozuo of Sanyuan County is still under him.

To be more specific, the two recorders of Sanyuan County are both deputies to the chief clerk.The chief clerk is the prosecutor, equivalent to the director of the county office, and the two clerks are the deputy directors of the office, and their powers are quite large.

Sanyuan County is a Ji County with a population of tens of thousands of households. It is indeed not popular in the court, but in the eyes of the people, this is very impressive.

Zhao Lushi drove away a few nosy old officials, checked again, and then rushed to Wu Huaiyu.

"Master,"

"Old Zhao, the county government has just moved in. If you still need anything, just say hello to Zhao Yi and ask him to help buy it."

Wu Huaiyu was very kind to Lao Zhao. He remembered that Lao Zhao had helped Wu Huaiyu to abandon Zhao Tuozi's family and sell themselves into slaves to his home.
In the past few years, Lao Zhao has also come to the Wu family to give gifts during the New Year. Although the Wu family stipulates that no monetary bribes are accepted, it is okay to give some worthless local specialties. Besides, Lao Zhao is very smart and will find hunchbacks. Wu Huaiyu wants to say hello. Things, but to Zhao Lushi, this is equivalent to reaching the sky.

From then on, everything was smooth sailing in the county government. If it weren't for his low background, he would have had a chance to become an official.However, according to the current momentum, there is still a chance to get a ninth grade job in a few years.

Wu Huaiyu saw that Lao Zhao knew how to deal with people and was efficient in handling affairs, so he was willing to help him.

"Old Zhao, you bring someone to my house in the next two days. I will ask the steward to register all the Wu family's fields in Sanyuan with you. Later, I will have someone take you to Zhuangzi below to measure and verify."

"Please don't worry, sir, the little one will be taken care of."

"Now that the new grain has arrived, I will take the lead and set an example by handing over the summer grain first."

The Wu family has more than 3000 acres of fertile farmland in Qinghe Township. In addition, there are more than 2000 acres of irrigated land in the upper and lower reaches of Qinghe River. There are also about [-] acres of land in Fengyuan and Bailuyuan, adding up to more than [-] acres. Dian, Huaiyi also has about three to four thousand acres.
Wu Huaiyu asked Lao Zhao to take people to check and register the fields, determine the fatness and thinness of the fields, and then register and declare that he would pay rent per mu for this summer's grain.

One hundred acres of land requires two stones of millet, half a bolt of silk, and three ounces of cotton. If only one acre of millet is discounted at two liters, this is the key point in adjusting the silk. Now a bolt of silk costs two hundred cents, and half a bolt is worth one hundred cents.An acre of silk is worth one penny. In today's market where a bushel of rice only costs four or five yuan, the rent for silk is higher than the rent for millet.

But even so, millet, silk and cotton cost only about two cents per acre, which cannot be said to be very high.

The rent for one hundred acres is only about [-] yuan.

If you are not subject to compensation, additional taxes, all kinds of things like kicking the stems, burning fire, etc., it is indeed quite low compared to the regular tax. Of course, the premise is that you can get a hundred acres of land for one ding.

If a family has only two hectares and is allocated [-] acres of land, that is equivalent to doubling the tax rate. If both households only have [-] acres, then it has doubled again.

If there is not one acre of land but two, then the tax of four to five hundred yuan will be a huge burden for ordinary poor people.

Wu Huaiyu pays taxes to Sanyuan County for his land in Sanyuan County. The land below the plateau is good land, and some of the land on the plateau is mostly middle land. But even if it is calculated as [-] acres of good land, it is just a tax. For a rent of two hundred shi of millet, there is still two liters of grain per mu, which is only [-] shi.

An acre of good land can yield two shi, or at least one shi dou. Even if it is rented out, and the tenant pays half, the rent can be from one shi to seven or eight dou. The rent and tax and free grain paid per acre total four liters, which is one-twenty-thirty. .

Wu Huaiyu took the initiative to pay the food, which was not very distressing. After all, the payment was only a small part, and the Wu family's income was still guaranteed.

With the Wu family's status, of course the Yamen would not dare to take advantage of the Wu family, but Wu Huaiyu did not lack some of the surcharges and miscellaneous taxes that they should have.

Additional taxes are in addition to regular taxes, such as extra money, that is, transportation fees, which are divided into nine levels according to households. The higher the household level, the more they bear. Moreover, this fee is not fixed and is determined according to the difficulty of transportation and the distance of the journey. In order to pay for the rent and discount, the freight paid by the local government for renting grain is actually borne by the people and is charged extra.

In addition, there is an additional cost, which is equivalent to the fuel consumption. Generally, the additional cost for rent is [-]% to [-]%. There is no fixed rule. It is all collected by the local government. This part of the additional cost is actually multi-levied, and the remaining Of course, the benefits are the benefits of local officials and office entertainment expenses.

In addition, there are warehouse tax and wrapping fee. The wrapping fee is the packaging fee of mediocre silk cloth, and the warehouse tax is naturally the storage fee of rented grain.

Anyway, there are extra charges for packaging, transportation, and storage. These are official charges. There are many other charges that local officials privately apportion, such as registration account money, household registers are made every three years, and accounts are made every year. Basically, they have to be collected. One penny.

These extras, apportionments, and what was taken away by the subordinates by kicking the stems and other methods were still quite a lot, and there was no exact number of these things, and the collection was different in different places.

This is the link that is most likely to cause problems, and it is also the place where people are most easily exploited and squeezed.

For example, in the past, the imperial court had a history of money-grabbing orders, and there were public loans, and the interest earned was used for office expenses and even canteen meals, as well as some benefits for officials.

Later, the money-grabbing order and public house capital were cancelled. How to fill this hole?Li Shimin directly asked [-] wealthy households from all over the world to pay a sum of money, and collected the money based on the defense system. There was no need to give them capital, and they did not need to lend money. They paid directly.

It rotates every three years and is a disguised form of tax on the rich.

For another example, the additional rent money collected by the court is not actually used for freight, because transportation is also borne by the local people. This rent money, called transportation fee, is actually used for the official salaries in the capital. .

Wu Huaiyu asked Lao Zhao to bill the additional fees, and the Wu family paid them as usual. In fact, these additional fees were not corrupted by local officials, and they should be paid as they should.

After a final calculation, the Wu family had about [-] acres of land in Sanyuan County this year. They paid about [-] dan in land rent, [-] dan in free warehouse grain, about [-] bolts of silk, and about [-] kilograms of cotton. There was no need to pay for the exemption from labor service.
However, more than a hundred stones were paid for various additional assessments, as well as some silk cotton. Calculated, it was roughly equivalent to about [-]% of the original rent.

Fortunately, by canceling the amortization guarantee, there is no need to make up for the arrears owed by the county in previous years.

The Wu family held a very grand food delivery ceremony in front of everyone. At the county government office, the county magistrate Zhao Renben and a group of officials also specially made a plaque to commend the Wu family.

Fan Xuanfu said with a smile, "It took more than 600 stones of millet, more than 60 bolts of silk, and dozens of kilograms of silk floss to replace this plaque. This plaque is really worth a fortune."

Wu Huaiyu was quite indifferent. With more than 1 acres of land, it would cost ten thousand shi to collect rent. It was only natural to pay some rent and pay some taxes.

He can be regarded as taking the lead in the charge for the New Deal.
"Fortunately, we are only trying it out in Sanyuan first. Otherwise, if we add up to thousands of hectares of land in various places, we will have to pay an extra twenty or thirty thousand shi of food? It makes my heart hurt just thinking about it," Fan Xuanfu was really reluctant to give up.

"It's not that much. One acre of two liters of grain is the existing charity grain. Now it's just two liters of rented grain added to one acre. One thousand hectares of land only costs two thousand shi of rented grain..." ·”

Fan Xuanfu laughed at Wu Huaiyu for being too generous, "You are trying to introduce a new method in Sanyuan. Have you discussed it with Duke Dai? The Li family is a big family in Sanyuan and has more fields than ours. You, a student, suddenly cost the teacher's family money." Thousands of stones of grain are lying on a piece of silk."

"Don't worry, the teacher will definitely support me."

Wu Huaiyu, who has thousands of grains of stone, doesn't take it lightly, but actually the Li family's Danyangfang in Longxi doesn't take it seriously.

(End of this chapter)