After the harvest comes the slack season.
Of course, this didn't exist in Qinghe County. Traditionally, the slack season referred to the pause in farming after the harvest, and with winter approaching, there wasn't much else to do, so farmers, who made up the vast majority of society, finally had their rare free time of the year.
After all, in this world, the grain production far exceeds the world that Lin Hai is familiar with, so as long as the government's taxes are not too outrageous, most people can actually have a peaceful winter.
The bad news was that the newly announced tax rates for the four kingdoms were beyond ridiculous. The good news was that Lin Hai hadn't raised the tax rate in Qinghe County. Since Qinghe County didn't have to submit its taxes to the Ministry of Revenue for the time being, Lin Hai said, "We'll have to find a place to store the collected taxes anyway, so why not just leave them with the farmers?"
Since Lin Hai promised everyone that during the three years when Qinghe did not need to pay taxes to the empire, the people of Qinghe would only need to pay taxes to the county government according to the minimum tax standards that the empire had once required, the market in Qinghe County finally flourished at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Lin Hai was very pleased to see such changes. Last month, he went to the market outside the east gate of the county town. There was only an ironware store opened by the county government and a few small stalls scattered around. What they sold were nothing more than their own eggs or dried mushrooms, and there were very few buyers. After all, in Qinghe, there were not many people who were completely separated from agricultural production. Even for those who worked in the Qinghe Industrial Zone, 80% of them still had a lot of arable land at home and could be completely self-sufficient. In the end, Lin Hai couldn't bear it any longer and had to buy all the eggs and mushrooms with his own money and have them delivered to the canteen of the county government. After all, there were still many brothers with limited mobility who were recuperating in the backyard of the county government, and buying them back would be like a snack for them.
Twenty days ago, Lin Hai went to the market again and discovered that Qinghe County's first post-war inn was under construction. Technically, the inn's owner was from the Chen Dynasty. Before the Chen army retreated, he had run the largest inn in Shangba County. Upon learning that the imperial army was abandoning the area, he sold his property, took his wife and children, and followed the army all the way to Zhaoyang.
A few years passed, and his business did not recover in Zhaoyang. Instead, it almost went bankrupt due to xenophobia. Fortunately, one day when he was on the street, he saw a caravan from Qinghe. When he heard that Qinghe County was the former Shangba County, and now not only has the bandits been eliminated, but also ironware can be produced, he once again sold his few belongings in Zhaoyang, took his wife and children and retraced the path they had left, and returned to Qinghe.
After receiving the report, Ling Yang didn't know how to deal with this matter. Even the four countries did not have clear laws to define which country this person belonged to. Many people even thought that the innkeeper should be arrested, or at least strictly investigated to prevent him from being a spy sent by the Chen Dynasty.
Fortunately, Lin Hai stopped this in time.
"I don't care whether he was sent by the Chen Dynasty or not. As long as he is willing to invest in Qinghe, we should protect him."
"As for Qinghe's secrets? What could he have seen in the market outside the East Gate? As long as he doesn't go into the Qinghe Industrial Zone to see, it's up to him. He's free to move. Even our baojia system had to be abolished at a certain point, let alone a businessman like him."
"Tell him to obey the laws of Qinghe and pay taxes on time. The Qinghe County Government will guarantee the safety of his life and property. As for whether he can make money in business, that depends on his ability."
Lin Hai's three sentences laid the foundation for Qinghe's subsequent investment promotion. However, Lin Hai also told Ling Yang that he had to come up with an immigration management regulation as soon as possible, otherwise there would be more and more subsequent immigrants. He couldn't worry that they were all spies and then arrest them all for trial.
As for ten days ago, when Lin Hai went to the market again, there were already many small stalls here. Although they sold some needles and thread things, it showed that the local people had more confidence in living a safe life.
When Lin Hai returned to the county government office, he reorganized the three shifts of yamen runners again, selecting some of the smarter ones who knew a few words and could do accounting, and established the Qinghe County East Gate Market and Taxation Management Office.
Although everyone thought Lin Hai's name for this new department was odd, it was actually quite simple and easy to understand. As for the division of responsibilities, it was simple. Lin Hai explained, "There's so much work to be done now, so there aren't many complications. The county government can't afford to support so many agencies. Everything that happens in the Dongmen Market, from petty theft to public urination and defecation, will fall under the jurisdiction of this management office. Good management will result in rewards, and lessons will be shared for everyone to learn from. Bad management will result in disciplinary action, and again, lessons will be shared for everyone to learn from."
So, for the next few days, the ten brothers from the management office marked out a piece of land for themselves in the market, used the funds approved by Ling Yang to buy materials and build a house. Well, no matter what, they should build the management office first. After all, they are also members of the government, so they can't have no government office at all.
Well, anyway, the continuous construction of the inn and the management office, coupled with the demand for raw materials, made the entire market look more prosperous in the short term. Although it was far from what Lin Hai expected, it made the brothers headed by Wang Liang smile from ear to ear, and they said that Xiao Linzi was still the best, and the old captain was right in choosing him, and that Xiao Linzi should be in charge.
"Remember, the market is not a charity. All transactions here are subject to tax." Lin Hai said viciously to Zhao Zan, the first director of the management office.
Facing Zhao Zan's confusion, Lin Hai explained, "We must get everyone into the habit of paying taxes right from the start. After all, we have the final say on how much to collect. But we can't let people think that transactions can be done without paying taxes. Once such a habit is formed, you will face huge obstacles even if you want to collect a penny in the future."
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