Chapter 292 Advanced Tax Farming System
As for how to develop the Matabele Plateau (Zimbabwe), the first thing is to increase the popularity of the local people, so the East African government held a government meeting on this matter.
Of course, it was more of a brainstorming process among government officials, and the final decision was made by Constantine and Ernst.
Von der Leyen: "From an economic point of view, the Matabele Plateau is currently a blank area. Apart from the army, there is no population, but there are a lot of local indigenous people. We can first use the indigenous people to develop some local resources. Moreover, the Matabele Plateau is very far away from East Africa, and there is Zambia in between. So if we only consider land transportation, the distance to develop the Matabele Plateau is too far, and administrative management is also very inconvenient. In this regard, I propose to communicate with Mozambique and let them open up the seaport. If we can use maritime transportation, it will greatly improve the environment of the Matabele Plateau."
Yarman: "For security reasons, the Portuguese in Mozambique probably won't agree to our request, so it's better not to have too much hope for Mozambique."
Siwei Te: "The right thing to do is to solve the communication problem first. The telegraph line in Zambia is almost built to the Southern Frontier Province. After completion, the telegraph line will be directly introduced from Zambia to the Matabele Plateau. In this way, we can keep in touch with the local garrison in time, make decisions quickly, and respond to emergencies and potential risks."
Constantine said: "The indigenous economy can be considered. The Matabele Plateau is now in a colonial state, so we can use the garrison to get these indigenous people moving first, let them roughly organize the land and plant some crops, preferably high-yield potatoes and cassava, so that the land can be initially developed. Later, it will be much easier for us to let immigrants receive the developed land. As for the transportation problem, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will contact Mozambique first and communicate with them. If they are unwilling to provide an outlet to the sea, it doesn’t matter. We will develop the Matabele Plateau and the telegraph lines step by step. After the Zambia main line is completed, we will immediately invest in the construction of the Matabele Plateau section. The Zambia branch line can temporarily delay the construction time."
Siwei Te: "Your Majesty, when it comes to transportation, we must not forget to level the roads in the Matabele Plateau and Zambia, especially the bridges on the Zambezi River and many tributaries of the Congo River. In some river sections, boats are also needed to facilitate orderly and smooth transportation."
Von der Leyen: "We have experience in this regard. We happen to be mobilizing and organizing local indigenous people to develop agriculture. Transportation infrastructure construction can be carried out at the same time. During the busy farming season, they can go to the fields to work. During the slack season, we can organize indigenous people to build bridges and roads. Agricultural development can also solve the problem of indigenous people's food rations. As long as we manage the problem of food distribution well, we can temporarily turn the indigenous people into hired workers in East Africa. When we no longer need them, it will be convenient to kick them out."
Felix: "It is not easy to manage the natives, especially in undeveloped areas, which are generally sparsely populated. Our troops are scattered like sesame seeds. So it is best for us to use the tribal chiefs to assist in East African rule before the immigrant population is replenished. I have an idea. In addition to the hard means of military suppression, we can also control the natives through the soft means of economy, which can at least reduce some of the resistance of the natives. That is, we use industrial products to improve the quality of life of the high-ranking officials of these tribes and let them fall into luxury. In this way, they can't do without East African industrial products. We use industrial products to exchange for food other than taxes, and then use this food to invest in transportation construction. This will form a closed loop and greatly improve management efficiency."
East Africa also collects taxes from indigenous people, especially in newly annexed areas, most of which are in this form. This is also the reason why East Africa can minimize local indigenous resistance.
The taxes collected from the indigenous people in East Africa are more like the Ottoman tax farming system. Under strong military suppression, most indigenous regimes and tribes temporarily accept the management of the East African government as subordinate forces. Then East Africa gives priority to guaranteeing the interests of the indigenous ruling class and shares the tax revenue with these people on a 50-50 basis. However, the work is done by the indigenous rulers, and East Africa only needs to share the money.
Temporarily supporting the continued existence of these indigenous regimes greatly reduced the chances of indigenous resistance in the vast area east of the Kwango River and north of the Limpopo River in East Africa. Of course, if there were indigenous forces that did not even accept the "advanced" system of tax farming, East Africa would not show mercy and would directly wipe them out to set an example.
In order to make an example of someone else, other indigenous kingdoms and tribes unconditionally supported the tax farming system in East Africa. As a wise man, he is the one who knows the times. The top leaders of these indigenous forces can also enjoy better treatment than before.
Because most of the indigenous forces were in the slavery stage and their productivity was extremely low, the tax farming system in East Africa actually had the characteristics of a feudal system.
At the same time, with the help of technology promotion, these indigenous people were forced to enter the farming era and settle down so that taxes could be collected. The original indigenous rulers could also enjoy the support of taxes after the increase in productivity. The living standards of the indigenous upper class improved, and they no longer organized the indigenous people to resist East African rule.
Of course, the indigenous ruling class is enjoying the dividends now, but they will certainly not be satisfied with this in the long run. After all, the temptation of keeping the tax revenue for themselves is much stronger than the 50-50 split in East Africa.
However, East Africa had already taken this into consideration. When the natives were dissatisfied with East African rule, it was almost time for East Africa to clear out the local population and make room for East African immigrants.
Constantine: "Under the tax farming system, the ruling class of these indigenous peoples will also accumulate a large amount of grain. We can use industrial products to buy these grains back from them, and then we can hire indigenous people to improve the infrastructure during the slack season. The improvement of infrastructure will provide convenience for East African garrisons and immigrants, further strengthening our local ruling ability. When the immigrant population reaches a certain level, we will take action against these indigenous peoples. Felix, is this what you mean?"
Felix: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
Felix's strategy is very good. As for whether the natives will obediently accept East Africa's arrangements, that is inevitable.
Under the tax-farming system in East Africa, in addition to the share that East Africa takes through military strength, the indigenous high-level officials actually take the lion's share. They will collect more taxes from their own forces in the name of the East African government.
The output left for indigenous slaves and civilians may only be enough for them to barely survive, and East Africa obtains resources from slave owners and chiefs through industrial products and invests them in the slack season. In order to have more food, these indigenous peoples have to accept employment from East Africa.
Because East Africa had confiscated grasslands and forests and did not allow the lower-class indigenous people to hunt, they could only feed themselves by farming, and the heavy tax pressure forced these indigenous people to take on more jobs to feed themselves.
In fact, when the tax farming system was first enforced, the happiest people were the indigenous slaves. They had been working for the slave owners for free, but now they could get something of their own. Although it was pitifully little, it greatly satisfied the spiritual needs of these slaves.
In this way, the resistance of slaves was reduced, and the slave owners who reluctantly accepted the tax farming system also found that their rule was more stable. In addition, as the enthusiasm of slaves increased, their own income also greatly increased.
The most important thing is that they will be able to enjoy the convenience of industrial products through the East African Industrial Products Exchange Program, and their quality of life will continue to be greatly improved.
East Africa can use the tax farming system to reduce indigenous resistance, complete infrastructure construction, and reduce garrison costs. Finally, after the immigrant population increases, it can turn its back on the indigenous people without any burden and confiscate the land, roads, and houses developed by the indigenous people.
Therefore, the current tax farming system has satisfied the three forces: the indigenous lower classes, the ruling class, and East Africa. Everyone thinks that their future is bright.
(End of this chapter)
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