Chapter 222 Paying Taxes
After the rice was dried, the tax collectors came.
The land tax in Dagan was mainly levied on land and population, which was the main component of the tax burden on Dagan farmers.
Taxes are collected according to the principles of "people have to contribute, land has to rent" and "one tenth of the taxes are collected, and the number of workers is calculated according to the land".
Land in Dagan was divided into government-owned and privately owned land, with different tax rates. Generally, the tax rate for government-owned land was 5 liters, 3 he, and 5 tsp per mu, while the tax rate for privately owned land was reduced by 2 liters. The tax rate for heavily rented land was 8 liters, 5 he, and 5 tsp per mu, while the tax rate for grass-covered land was 3 he, and 1 tsp per mu. Confiscated government land was 1 dou, 2 liters per mu.
Calculated this way, the taxes on Dagan were actually not that heavy. Furthermore, since the current emperor had repeatedly reduced or exempted taxes for remote areas, the villagers of Taohua Village only needed to pay one-tenth of their harvest.
However, every policy has its own countermeasures. Juzhou was far from the emperor, and Annan County was so remote that it wasn't even marked on maps. Thus, the Annan County magistrate acted like a local tyrant, unscrupulously increasing taxes on the people.
Complain to the Emperor? Haha, you'd starve to death on the way to Kyoto.
Besides, without a pass from the government, you can't even leave Annan County. Still want to file a complaint? Just think about it in your dreams tonight.
So when they saw the yamen runners driving their ox carts into the village, everyone sighed. "Hopefully, we'll have less fire consumption this year."
As Grandpa Gu spoke, he arranged for his family to jump over the rice and corn towards the banyan tree.
Gu Jiayue held her grandmother's arm and asked curiously, "Grandma, what is fire consumption?"
"Huohao refers to losses incurred during tax collection and the administrative expenses of local government. For example, if our family needs to pay one dan of tax, we have to pay an extra twenty liters of huohao. But in reality, much of this so-called loss and expense is pocketed by yamen runners."
So in the end, farmers work hard all year round and can't even make ends meet.
Gu Jiayue was extremely angry when she heard what her grandmother said.
According to the weight of the dagan, one dan is equivalent to about 150 jin, one liter is equivalent to about 1.5 jin in modern times, and 20 liters is 30 jin, which is already one-fifth of the tax.
And this is just the surface. There are many dark and harsh taxes and levies that squeeze the surplus value of the people.
This is the result of the current emperor's repeated tax reductions and exemptions. If it were the end of the previous dynasty, the taxes would be much heavier than they are today. No wonder the people rebelled.
However, the taxation model of Dagan was inherited from the previous dynasty. At the beginning of the new dynasty, there were no major problems. However, as time went on, land annexation became more and more serious, and the number of tax items increased. Dagan would always follow the old path of the previous dynasty.
Thinking of this, Gu Jiayue couldn't help but sigh. Alas, it was a pity that she couldn't enter the court and was powerless to change these things.
Seeing her frown, her grandmother patted her hand soothingly. "Don't worry too much. The new county magistrate seems quite good to me. Perhaps things will change."
Grandma Gu thought of Zheng Qinghe and couldn't help sighing in her heart. What a good child, why didn't Jiayue like him?
When the two of them walked under the big banyan tree, the village chief had already organized the villagers and started paying taxes.
"Gu Huangping has ten mu of paddy fields and twenty mu of dry land. The land tax is two dan of rice and two dan of corn. There are thirteen people in his family, eight of whom are over fifteen years old and need to pay a head tax of 960 wen; five of whom are under fifteen years old and need to pay 250 wen. The total is 1,210 wen."
The yamen runner held a booklet in his hand, which recorded how much land each family had and how many people were in the family.
But don't think you can get away with it. The government sends people to visit, investigate and measure the land every year.
The village chief bent down, put on a fake smile, and handed over the copper coins he had prepared long ago. "Thank you for your hard work, sir."
Chen, the yamen runner, took the copper coins strung together, threw them onto the scale beside him, and got a rough estimate.
Actually, the error isn't that big. Copper coins are different from silver. When people get silver, they use a knife to scrape off a thin layer. But copper coins can't be scraped off, and no one does, so the weight doesn't change. Once you know the weight of a copper coin, your result is generally accurate.
Chen, the yamen runner, picked up a string of copper coins, unwrapped it, and weighed half of it, throwing it on the scale. He then returned the remaining copper coins to the village chief. "There are too many. Take them back."
Looking at the copper coin handed back by Chen, the yamen runner, he was unable to react for a moment.
What does this mean? I pay this every year, so how could it be more?
The village chief thought about it and suddenly an idea struck him. This is not a lot at all. It's clearly a sarcastic remark about not having enough.
Humph, it was a waste of his time that he thought the new county magistrate was a good person. He didn't expect that he was even more greedy than the previous one.
Alas, but what can we do?
The village chief resigned himself to his fate and took out another string of copper coins. "Look at me, look at me. I can't even count when I'm old."
When Chen, the yamen runner, looked at the extra copper coins in his palm, he felt a pain in his throat.
He had explained this matter many times during this period, almost every time he arrived in a village.
"Village Chief Gu, I'm telling the truth. The county magistrate has instructed us to collect the exact amount of taxes and not a penny more. So pack up the money quickly and notify the villagers. They should calculate the amount in advance and don't take more than they deserve."
If he takes extra, he will have to pick it out, which simply increases his workload.
Village Chief Gu felt the copper coins in his hand were heavy. He didn't believe that such a good official could exist in the world.
I heard that the new county magistrate is a nobleman from Kyoto and his family is powerful.
Thinking back to the news his eldest son had brought back a few days ago, the new county magistrate had held several interviews with the county's merchants. He felt that he had discovered the truth.
It's not that the new county magistrate is not greedy, it's just that he looks down on their meager wealth.
But no matter what the new county magistrate thinks, they are the ones who benefit anyway.
After putting the money in his pocket, the village chief walked towards the place where the grain was weighed.
Looking closely, it is indeed different from previous years.
In previous years, the yamen runners in charge of weighing the grain would keep kicking the baskets with their feet and keep saying "not enough, not enough." The common people could only keep pouring grain into the baskets.
The common people could not pick up the food that he kicked down.
Who will it belong to then? It won’t belong to the common people anyway.
But this year, the yamen runners just shook the baskets gently to make sure they were full.
Then they will charge whatever is recorded in the booklet, not a penny more.
It's really rare.
When Gu Jiayue arrived, the yamen runners had already collected nearly half of the taxes.
Along the way, she had heard the villagers talking about how this year's taxes were different from previous years and that the new county magistrate should be a good official.
Ordinary people are actually very easy to satisfy. For example, if you take a few dozen kilograms less of food from them, they will be very happy.
When it was Gu Jiayue's turn, Chen, the yamen runner, took the booklet and flipped through it. "Gu Xuanhai's family?"
Grandpa and the eldest and second uncles came forward carrying food, "Yes, yes, yes."
"Gu Xuanhai and Gu Huangping own ten mu of paddy fields and twenty mu of dry land. They must pay a land tax of two dan of rice and two dan of corn. There are eighteen people in their family, fifteen of whom are over fifteen years old and need to pay a head tax of 1,800 wen; the three under fifteen need to pay 150 wen. Last year, Gu Huangtai participated in water conservancy construction, which exempted the two of them from head tax for one year, so they only need to pay 1,710 wen."
One thousand coins was roughly equivalent to one tael of silver, and the Gu family had to pay nearly two taels of silver in head tax alone. This was despite Zheng Qinghe's order prohibiting exploitation.
Gu Jiayue felt very uncomfortable when she saw her grandfather taking out the copper coins strung together with a hemp rope from his arms.
Grandma patted Gu Jiayue's hand and said soothingly, "It's already very good. In previous years, we had to pay at least a hundred more coins."
"But thanks to you, paying taxes this year won't be too difficult."
Because Gu Jiayue built a school this year and paid him a high salary, the children in the family ate at the school, saving on food. The men in the family also worked in the paper mill, earning a few hundred coins every month.
My aunt tugged at my grandmother's sleeve. "Mom, didn't we plant high-yield rice? The harvest is much greater than in previous years, and the county magistrate knows that. Why is he still collecting taxes based on previous production?"
My aunt spoke too fast and too loudly, and my grandmother didn't have time to cover her mouth.
Seeing that the people around her had strange expressions, the aunt-in-law finally realized that she had said the wrong thing.
She anxiously hid behind her grandmother, lowering her head and not daring to look at the murderous gazes of the villagers around her.
Even the yamen runners looked at her with indescribable eyes.
I have been a yamen runner for more than ten years, and I have never met such a person who is eager to pay more taxes.
If you and I don't mention this kind of thing, and the county magistrate tacitly agrees, wouldn't it be better to just let it go? Do you insist on bringing it up to show your cleverness?
Grandma just felt like she was not feeling well at all. This gossipy woman was really annoying.
But now she couldn't scold Su in public.
What was he scolding her for? She was talking nonsense? There was no such thing as high-yield rice. But the county magistrate knew about this.
But if she doesn't do something, the villagers will be taxed more because of Su's words. How will her Gu family survive in this village in the future?
She was in a state of panic, and Gu Jiayue squeezed her hand, signaling her not to worry, there would be a way.
Just as she was trying to think of something to say, Chen, the yamen runner, quickly covered his head with his hands. "Oh, the sun is so strong today! It's making my ears buzz and I can't hear anything. Please speak louder."
The other yamen runners also reacted immediately. "That's what's going on. My ears are buzzing too, I can't hear anything clearly. Gu Xuanhai, why don't you come over and watch your family's grain tax be weighed? Speak louder, I can't hear you clearly."
Gu Jiayue looked at the yamen runners standing under the shade of the trees and immediately understood. They were not going to pursue the matter.
Everyone was not stupid and they all reacted immediately.
The village chief was even happier. "Oh, it's because I'm not doing my job properly. I'm busy. I'll go get you some boiled water."
Gu Jiayue hurriedly took two steps forward. "Uncle Village Chief, I have some mung bean soup at home. Please go to my house and bring some over. Then we can kill a chicken and treat these officials to a meal at noon."
The incident was originally caused by her family, and if they don't care about it or pursue it, then they should also be humane.
The village chief nodded. "Alright, I don't think it'll be easy to collect taxes all morning. We need to provide lunch. Since your family has provided chickens, I'll ask your aunt to make two smoked fish and a few stir-fried vegetables, which will make a good meal."
After the two of them discussed it, they went to Gu's house.
Grandma also listened to the whole thing and then glared at Su.
It's all because of this woman who doesn't know how to talk. I lost a chicken for nothing.
My aunt-in-law also knew that she had done something wrong, so she just lowered her head and dared not say anything.
"Aunt, the salted duck eggs and preserved eggs I taught you to pickle last month should be ready to eat. Go get a few so we can have another dish."
The aunt-in-law quickly looked up and looked at Jiayue with gratitude.
My dear niece, thank you for the rescue.
"Hey, hey, hey, I'll go right away. I saw yesterday, the salted duck eggs were pickled very well." After saying that, he ran home quickly.
Grandma was dissatisfied again and wanted to hit her twice. "Why are you running? You're not a crazy woman, can't you walk slowly?"
Gu Jiayue looked at her grandmother with amusement.
Just as they were about to leave, Chen, the yamen runner, stepped forward and blocked their way. "Excuse me, young lady, is your last name Gu?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
