Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 959: Summer Tax
"You guys think well!" Just as several people were discussing happily, a person whose clothes were of good style and texture but had several patches walked over, and one of them almost took up three-thirds of his wide and long sleeves. One-third, "How can there be such a cheap thing in the world!"

This patched "gentleman" is called Mr. Na by everyone.The ancestors of Mr. Na used to be a big family with considerable wealth. In his generation, because of disputes with others on taxes, he was framed by rich and powerful people and fell into a lawsuit. He became a penniless "man in clothes" "——When the family was rich in the early years, he also got a reputation as a "supervisor". Although he was dismissed because of the lawsuit, everyone knew that he was wronged, so he still called him "Mr."

That gentleman is a good man, and he is easy to fight against injustices. He has a little reputation in the local area. After listening to him, everyone invited him to talk about this "Summer Tax in the Great Song Dynasty".

"Since ancient times, how can anyone not pay the imperial rations?" The gentleman read the notice seven or eight times. The integration of taxes is not the concept of paying taxes according to the amount of land.Even though Mr. Da is poor, he has read a lot of miscellaneous books. He soon realized that the biggest advantage of this method is that he can clearly understand the population. Then there is no need for each household to conceal its real population.

The total registered population of Ming Dynasty has been decreasing since Yongle—this is a very abnormal thing, because after Yongle, Daming has been generally regarded as "stable", and it can be called "peaceful and prosperous age" according to low standards.As a result, the population in this peaceful and prosperous age did not increase but decreased a lot. Obviously, a large number of fugitive households and black households appeared.

There are also many "black households" without household registration in Qiongzhou Prefecture and many fugitive households who fled from the mainland.The purpose of the Australians coming here is probably to further understand the population of Qiongzhou.

When it comes to Lingao's large-scale "population check", Mr. Na suddenly feels that he has understood the Australians' intentions.

"This is not the summer tax of the Song Dynasty at all," said the gentleman, full of sourness, showing off as soon as he opened his mouth.First, I discussed the taxation system of the Song Dynasty in various historical books to demonstrate that "the Song Dynasty did not share the taxation system into the mu".Seeing the impatient expressions of the muddy legs around him, he couldn't help sighing secretly: "Play the piano to the cow!"

So he pulled the words back: "...In short, this is not the system of the Song Dynasty, but Kun... a new trick invented by the Australians themselves!"

A young man asked: "Mr., is it the style of the Song Dynasty or the style of Australia? We country people can't figure it out, so they ask whether the payment method of the summer tax is as stated in the notice, and the more land you pay, the more you pay. Fields are so rare, that less than [-] mu will not be handed over?"

"It's true in the notice." The gentleman waved a broken fan, "But since the day when the court came into being, it's only natural for the common people to pay food and work as errands, so you can say that you don't have it? You can say that you have less land." Those who pay less or not, I think it’s just talking.” He was very dissatisfied with the government at first, and he was even dissatisfied with all the government. In his opinion, no matter whether it is the Ming and Song Dynasties or Australia, all of them are the same. .Without exploiting the ordinary people, how can the officials be well-clothed and well-fed, and their husbands and wives be honored?
An old man said, "Mr.! I heard that Australians always keep their promises, and they will admit what they say..."

The gentleman snorted, "Since ancient times, the words of officials have not been reliable. For example, Wang Taizun in the past, when he was studying in Linpan, he talked about 'the principle of heaven and the heart'. It was his turn, and he was wiped out." I lost my desires, and made a lot of money in one go, and even tried to get women. Whatever the emperor said, they can do everything they want..."

The old man looked around in fear, and hurriedly shouted: "That sir! That sir!"

"It doesn't matter!" The gentleman said indifferently, "Australians don't have time to deal with my poverty! It's true that they have to take money out of the pockets of big households—the ordinary people have been disaster-stricken, where can they get money and food?"

Mr. Na's insight, the local rich people also have a similar awareness.Allotment into mu, progressive system, no matter how you look at it, Australians are going to "eat big families".The big households of each family became nervous. After a series of connections, the strong rebound that Liu Xiang had expected did not appear.Instead, a group of rich households dressed in ragged clothes came to the county office to "appeal", crying and complaining how much crops they had lost this year, and how much they couldn't pay the summer tax.Liu Xiang was joking with a charming smile, talking nonsense, but his teeth were tight and he would not let go.

Disappointed, everyone went to ask Hai Shuzu for advice. Hai Shuzu didn't have much pressure on himself - he gave all the land to Tiandihui for "full coverage", and even taxes were taken care of by Tiandihui, and he didn't care much about paying taxes.But due to everyone's hope, I had to go out again.

"Old Hai!" Liu Xiang said affectionately, "I know why you are here!" Then he said: "Sit on a firm chair, don't be so restrained!"

"Etiquette is the key, don't dare to be presumptuous." Hai Shuzu moved his body slightly to show that he respected the order of the superior, and he was still sitting very strictly.To be honest, he doesn't like the titles of "old X" and "little X" of the "chiefs". Although he knows that this is a kind of title that expresses intimacy, he is not used to it on himself.

"You come, it's just that the rich guys want you to come to me to cry poor, and want to reduce taxes?"

"The chief is right." Hai Shuzu nodded, "Students are also entrusted by others." He felt that such an answer was a bit inappropriate, so he quickly added: "Although the big families have a lot of land in their homes, they are not everyone. The family has a lot of wealth, and it has been hit by wind and flood, and life is not easy, please pay attention to the chief."

Liu Xiang nodded: "Of course, but most of the people in the family are 'rich'. Besides, although life is hard, it's not enough to have enough to eat, and they have to sell their children and daughters and wives." He stood up and took a few steps, "It's the ordinary people who can't live on..."

Hai Shuzu said: "Yes. What the chief said is true. However, since ancient times, owners and scholars have been the foundation of the imperial court. Please be respectful, chief." He stopped and thought for a while, "Please think again, chief." Hai Shuzu After hesitating for a while, he said again: "Now that the chiefs have decided on the overall situation, we still have to take 'stability' as the best policy, and we must take the position of the gentry and gentlemen into consideration..."

Liu Xiang thought to himself that the sense of superiority of this group of wealthy households was really strong.If it weren't for Qiongshan being poor and not a place of prosperous literature, I'm afraid the backlash would be very violent.But the latter sentence is obviously because Hai Shuzu has regarded himself as a member of the "New Dynasty" to be so frank.

After listening to him, Liu Xiang said, "Lao Hai, since you trust us so much, I can explain it clearly. What we need now is food—the common people didn't have much food, but now they have suffered a disaster. , it must be impossible to get it out, don’t you think? To find food, only big households have it.”

Hai Shuzu nodded.

"If I want to be simple, I can do it effortlessly. Invite all the big households, and then each big household will bring out hundreds of thousands of stones. Whoever refuses to take it out will be pulled out and beheaded. Do you think you can get it?" food?"

Hai Shuzu smiled wryly and said: "This is the act of a thief, not a gentleman. The chiefs are all ambitious..."

Liu Xiang said: "Even if you are right, this approach is too bandit. I still have things here that are not bandits." He pointed to a pile of account books on the table. "This is the list and amount of taxes owed by Qiongshan County over the years." He smiled, "I didn't expect that the people who owe the most taxes are not ordinary people, but the foundation of the imperial court."

Hai Shuzu's face flushed, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

"I'm going to use this account book to talk, and I want this group of big tax owers to pay off the taxes they owe and the interest for these years-even the emperor of Ming Dynasty can't say that I'm doing something wrong? You say they should Shouldn't it be paid?"

"It should be paid." Hai Shuzu didn't expect Chief Liu to have such a move.It is not surprising that the arrears of taxes by big gentry households has become a common practice in all parts of Daming.In the Jiangnan area, there are even owners who have owed their payments for decades.The imperial court never expected to be able to collect all the taxes owed.

Hai Shuzu got nothing when he went back, and Liu Xiang refused to make any concessions on the summer tax—even though the big households scolded him bloody in private, but the knife is tougher than words, not to mention the law and order war and Qingzhang Tianmu. They've been taught enough by the time of the [-]s to know that it's best not to try to antagonize the Australians. .

With the arrival of tax trainers trained by Chen Ce, the first batch of tax notices began to be distributed by special personnel.

There are two types of notices. The first type is notices, which are widely posted in the markets and villages of the capital according to the "du" as a unit.Taking the head of the household as the unit, how much land each household actually owns, how much it is equivalent to "standard mu", which grade it belongs to, how much it should pay, how much it will be reduced or exempted, and what the conditions for reduction or exemption are, all of which are listed on the notice - this is the so-called "public announcement".Anyone who disagrees can appeal to the tax bureau.

The second type is called a "situation household" notice.It was delivered to the door by a special person.The targets are large households with more than [-] mu of land.Because he is a rich person and a big taxpayer, he enjoys a special notice.Content items are the same as bulletins.However, each notification form of the situation household must have a receipt stamped and marked by the recipient.

Liu Xiang stipulates that if the delivery cannot be delivered for more than 45 days because there is no one to sign for it, the household will be regarded as not a "situation household" and all registered land will be confiscated.Under this strong regulation, the delivery rate of notifications for situation accounts reached [-]% within half a month.

　Situation household is a term in the taxation system of the Song Dynasty.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)