"And the children and the elderly are all helping with chores around the house to the best of their ability. And...aren't you also learning to do farm work? You just said that you see everyone around you working very hard, they're not lazy, are they?"
Li Bingchen shook his head at Yun Duo, indicating that she was right; these people were all lazy. But… after thinking for a moment, Li Bingchen couldn't help but ask Yun Duo, “Then why… why can't others be like you and your grandparents?”
Yun Duo smiled at Li Bingchen and said softly, "Because there is no additional income, all expenses, including taxes, have to be generated from grain production. There is only so much land, and the grain yield is fixed, so there's no way to come up with any extra variety."
"You have to pay taxes, buy necessities for life, or even just to survive, and save money for social obligations, such as weddings and other important events..."
"These days, the biggest expense for most people is still taxes. There's population tax, national debt tax, land tax, and even raising a pig or a dog requires paying taxes..."
"These all cost money."
"You can't make money from the land; the only way to get money is to sell your grain."
"We sell some of the grain to get money, and then pay some grain tax. The rest, mixed with coarse grains, can last for more than half a year. The second half of the year is better. Sweet potatoes have a high yield, and whether they taste good or not, they can always fill our stomachs. But in the first half of the year, especially shortly after the beginning of spring, when food is scarce, the sweet potatoes stored in the cellar start to rot, and we have nothing to eat."
"This is still in a good year. In a bad year... people can starve to death."
"So, families with a good budget would usually eat rice bran and wild vegetables together, and they would store some up, otherwise, if a disaster really struck, who would they rely on?"
"As for us, as I said before, because you put in a good word for us with the county magistrate, and with the county magistrate as our backer, we not only got a household registration that doesn't require paying taxes, but we also avoid a lot of trouble. We're not afraid that anyone will do something bad because they're too envious... I've also been lucky and got a few unexpected things, sold them for some money, and even got a swarm of bees, so I can make some money steadily."
"The main problem is that grain prices are too low, taxes are too heavy, there are too many places to spend money, and people don't have any side jobs to make money, so they are poor."
At this point, Yun Duo couldn't help but think of her past life. Back then, farming not only didn't require paying taxes, but also received all sorts of subsidies. Even so, not many people were willing to farm. Because no matter how many subsidies were given, they couldn't compare to the benefits of going out to work.
Thinking about it, Yun Duo pouted and said, "In the end, isn't it because the country is placing too heavy a burden on the people? If taxes could be reduced or exempted, and some side businesses could be developed for everyone, the lives of ordinary people would be much better."
Li Bingchen's face turned red again, this time even more so. He looked at the clouds and whispered, "It's not that the country's burden on the people is heavy, it's just that the country's burden is heavy. The invasion of the Japanese army has caused almost devastating damage to many places. Repairing these war wounds will require a lot of money."
"In order to resist aggression, our country applied for a lot of international support and borrowed a lot of national debt, all of which must be repaid. If we don't repay them, our country may only belong to us in name."
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