New Shun 1730

Compared to the British understanding of India's land system and grassroots taxation, people like Niu Er on the Dashun side actually understand it more deeply.

The situation in Britain is completely different from that of Dashun, and even different from that of the entire ancient empire in Asia.

It is easy to go wrong if you copy and paste.

The reason why Dashun took the initiative to attack, start aggression and colonization, at least it saw more thoroughly than the British on Asian issues, can be seen from an incident in history.

In the Bengal famine that began in 1768, the most common scenario was that the tax of a village was fixed, and after someone in the village fled, the land tax was all pressed on those who did not flee, and finally those who did not flee had no choice but to flee.

As a regime that experienced the famine at the end of the Ming Dynasty and rose from the famine at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Dashun was very familiar with this chain reaction.

In the records of many scholars and officials at the end of the Ming Dynasty, we can see that after fleeing, all the taxes were pressed on those who did not flee, which eventually led to a festering mass exodus of refugees.

At first, the British could not understand what the traditional Indian Zamindar was.

If we describe the governance and taxation system in Bengal since the Mughal Empire in a very simple way, it would be like this.

Because of its geographical location and trade, Bengal had the conditions to evolve from in-kind tax to monetary tax relatively early.

Bengal no longer levied in-kind tax, but began to levy monetary tax.

The last governor carried out land reform.

The local tyrants in Bengal were forcibly moved to the relatively barren Orissa region; the government increased the land in Bengal under its control, and then sent tax collectors to collect taxes instead of letting the tyrants who controlled the land pay taxes. This led to a rapid increase in government tax revenue.

Monetary tax replaced in-kind tax.

The class of bankers, usurers, and merchants began to rise.

Tax collectors, on behalf of the government, levied taxes in places where the original tyrants were expelled. Soon, some of these government officials replaced the original tyrants, because after all, there was no stable imperial examination system and a stable central government, and they took root in the local area.

The rising tax collectors, business class, usurers, etc. wanted to fix their own interests, so they united with Siraj's grandfather, and the emerging class cooperated with the military aristocracy to kill the original Jiedushi and came to power through a coup.

In order to reward their merits, the status of the original tax collectors, usurers, officials, etc. was determined, and a new ruling group of military aristocrats, financial groups, and original tax officials was formed.

Some of the original tax officials transformed themselves into hereditary local forces.

This kind of thing can be called an oligarch or a new powerful, which is not much different. They are all a group of people who have seized huge benefits in reform and chaos.

The previous fiscal revenue of Bengal was about 16 million silver rupees per year. Among them, the 15 newly emerged oligarchs in the reform and coup paid 11 million rupees.

Except for Calcutta, which was contracted to the British, of the remaining 14 oligarchs, 4 were feudal princes and old local forces of the old era; 6 were former government officials who embezzled land during the reform and then hereditary; 1 was a new military noble who won his own way and was rewarded for his merits; the rest were financiers and businessmen who succeeded in gaining power through lending, mortgaging the tax collection rights of Zamindar, pledging land, etc. in the reform and the chaos that followed.

These 14 oligarchs shouldered about 60% of the tax revenue. Their alliance with the military aristocracy was the basis of the rule of old Bengal.

In the late Mughal Empire, the two groups that benefited the most from a series of reforms in Bengal were former government officials and financial capital.

For Dashun, if they wanted to avoid such problems, according to tradition, they naturally relied on the imperial examination system, clear official selection, the system of taking office in different places, and sufficient reserve bureaucratic reserves such as students and scholars to solve these problems.

Bengal did not have this system. Officials could be replaced by the rulers at any time, so these people cooperated with the new military group to overthrow the previous Jiedushi. The price was that Siraj's grandfather had to recognize the legitimacy of the Zamindar tax collection area and the status of hereditary oligarchs obtained by these officials.

Because of the war between Aurangzeb and the Marathas, the treasury was insufficient, so a reformist governor was sent to Bengal for reform; the direction of the reform was to expel local tyrants, replace local old nobles with bureaucrats, and investigate the land; the Mughal exploded, the Jiedushi became independent, and the bureaucratic group wanted to change "being appointed" to "hereditary", and cooperated with the new military forces to overthrow the old Jiedushi and obtain the status of hereditary oligarchs.

The original small and medium-sized Zamindars were destroyed in this reform and chaos. The big fish ate the small fish, and finally 14 big Zamindars were created.

This process is that the small and medium-sized Zamindars have no voice, and they have no ability to avoid and evade taxes.

Those oligarchs have the ability to avoid and evade taxes, and the final result is that a large number of farmers choose to move to the capable hands of the Great Chamindar.

It is very simple to follow the local customs.

If Dashun only came to collect taxes, it would be very simple.

Even if there is no reform, the tax standard for inheritance is only 16 million rupees a year, which is actually a lot for a small Bengal. The silver content of the Kuping tael and the rupee is about half and half, more than 3 to 8.

Moreover, this is just Bengal.

Moreover, the climate conditions and amount of cultivated land here are actually much better than most areas in Dashun. Historically, in the 1800s, the standard for a poor farmer here was 15 bigia, or 60 acres of land per household; while the standard for a comfortable small farmer was 45 bigia, or 180 acres.

After all, the arable land area of ​​the Indian subcontinent is much larger than that of the core area of ​​Dashun, but the population is still far behind that of Dashun.

It should be said that the degree of squeezeability is still very deep.

But Niu Er obviously didn't want to simply go to the countryside and do as the Romans did, he just came to collect some taxes.

To a certain extent, Niu Er is more like some "real Confucian scholars" in Dashun, all looking forward to a bright future.

The only difference is that the scriptures recited by the Confucian scholars in Dashun are the Thirteen Classics. The conception of a beautiful world in it is based on the economic foundation of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

They tried it during Wang Mang's time but failed.

As for Niu Er's group, the future they see and hope for is a future that Liu Yu has subtly instilled in them over the years, a future that is completely different from the Thirteen Classics and adapted to the current level of productivity.

As for who this future subject is, there are naturally disagreements.

Is it the people of the entire world? Are they the basic people in the country? Are they the people of Zhuxia? A farmer? A businessman? Is it capital? Or something else...

There are differences among people like them, but most of them have vaguely constructed an abstract concept of "country".

In the future they understand, or in the "Three Generations Rule" they understand, India should look like what Liu Yu has been instilling in them all these years - providing cotton yarn, rice, and jute for Dashun; At the same time, it provides a market for purchasing goods for Dashun's industry and commerce.

The emperor wanted to collect taxes in India, no problem.

The question is, is simply collecting taxes in India closer to the vague future that has gradually taken shape in their minds?

True Confucian scholars have faith and have been pursuing the rule of three generations; just like true missionaries, they also have faith and have been pursuing the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Niu Er also has faith. Although he himself doesn't know what he believes in, it is actually somewhat similar to the rule of three generations and the kingdom of heaven on earth. It is a beautiful vision for the future.

The above-ground manifestation of this bright future is closer to Songsu after reform than to Dashun before reform.

As for the specific systems, laws, rights, people, imperial power, landlords, these institutional revolutions and cultural revolutions, they were vague and unclear in his mind.

But the rough, abstract idea, like a castle in the air, is clear.

For example, the number of industrial and commercial employees in Dashun continues to increase, such as allowing men to farm and women to weave to find other ways to make a living, such as exchanging cotton from Dashun for rice... roughly walking with only one leg, pure industrial revolution and world trade The conception of colonialism.

Even so, Niu Er's idea, from the perspective of the Dashun Empire, can be regarded as having "anti-thief" potential.

Because the emperor, or the imperial power, is afraid of the idea of ​​"having a better future."

If "Better Future" is right and should be done, what if one day in the future, someone discovers that it is better not to have an emperor?

The emperor led these people with ideas and rushed towards a better future. Of course, everyone praised the wise and powerful people.

But just in case, these thoughtful people think that the emperor with a bad mother can understand it? Wrong way! What to do then?

Niu Er's vision for the future is different from Liu Yu's.

But he has been influenced by Liu Yu for many years and has his own ideas.

This set of ideas includes India.

The existence of India should be like this:

A vast source of raw materials, providing raw materials for the industrial and commercial development of Dashun.

A vast consumer market, Dashun can accommodate at least about 10 million people in the related industrial and commercial households.

A huge tax source, with a large amount of rice and other output, it is guaranteed that the money collected from taxation can buy rice, Dashun cotton and other materials.

Then, provide Dashun with around 20 to 30 million taels of silver every year.

The Dashun court used this silver to build a fleet that "needs no arms, no cannons, no decorations, can accommodate goods and personnel to the maximum extent, and is cheap."

A fleet of about three to five thousand such thin-skinned, pot-bellied sailing ships.

Regardless of trade, profit, etc., using such a large fleet, controlled by the court, and funded by the court, millions of people immigrated to the Southern Ocean and North America every year.

Thus, the increasingly serious contradiction between man and land can be solved.

As for the rest, in Niu Er's opinion, there is no need to worry about it at all. If there is a disaster, overpopulation, or too many tenants, they will all be shipped to the Southern Ocean and North America.

Twenty to thirty million taels of silver a year can afford a fleet of three to five thousand pot-bellied ships. Of course, the premise is that India cannot just be a tax collection place, but should be a source of raw materials to promote the industrial and commercial development of Dashun.

Otherwise, if silver increases but production does not increase, such silver is not the concept of "wealth" that Niu Er understands and was instilled by Liu Yu.

In Niu Er's opinion, many contradictions can be alleviated through immigration and development. If the imperial court made up its mind and conquered India, and then settled down to immigrate for fifty years, wouldn't the country be better? If the people could have enough food and clothes, wouldn't there be no rebellion or refugees forever?