Lord Moyu was forced to open

"Brother Hexi, look here, why do I feel like something is wrong with this tax?"

Herfordshire.

Haiford County Customs and Excise Department.

Zhou Zhongren, director of the Customs and Excise Department, and Wang Minghua, deputy director, are checking the tax details of last quarter.

When they saw Jindao Anjia's tax situation, both of them couldn't help but frown.

Wang Minghua put Anjia's goods in and out of last quarter and this quarter in front of Zhou Zhongren, and said with a puzzled look.

Zhou Zhongren picked up the details and looked at it. During the spring and summer of the third year of Xingwu, the number of Anjia's merchant ships entering and leaving various ports in Haifu County was about 30, and the total number of ships among them reached 60,000. Lots of stuff.

The total amount of taxes paid in spring and summer also reached a huge 800,000 taels.

However, in autumn and winter, the number of ships entering and exiting the port was still about 30, but the tax revenue plummeted by a full 200,000 taels, leaving only about 600,000 taels.

Looking at this detailed list, Zhou Zhongren asked: "Have Anjia's goods been replaced?"

Wang Minghua shook his head: "Anjia's goods this year are still tea, and even the varieties have not been changed. According to the road map they submitted, they are also going to Malliya to trade with the group of red-haired fans.

No different than before. "

"Is it possible that they evaded taxes?" A sharp light flashed in Zhou Zhongren's eyes.

Although he looks like a weak scholar, only these businessmen who often deal with the Customs and Excise Department know how ruthless the Director of the Customs and Excise Department is. As long as you dare to evade a penny of customs duties, this person will Immediately mobilize the surrounding garrisons to surround your home and force you to pay taxes.

Are you stubborn enough not to hand it over?

you can!

He won't kill you, he just won't let your family members come out. He will leave a group of garrison troops to surround your home tightly, and no one is allowed to leave or enter.

I'll starve you to death!
And he also has a rule: if you refuse to pay taxes, and if you don’t make up for it more than one month after being called, he won’t give you another chance.

No matter how much you regret later, he won't care anymore, he will starve your whole family to death, and then confiscate your family's property to make up for it.

There was once a family of eunuchs who took advantage of the fact that they had officials in the capital. They did not take the officials of the Customs and Excise Department seriously and refused to pay the taxes despite repeated reminders.

Finally, the matter was reported to Zhou Zhongren, who went directly to Haifu County's garrison and borrowed 500 soldiers to surround the eunuch family tightly.

The officials at that place didn't take it seriously at first, and even shouted arrogantly about who in their family was an official in Bianjing, and told them to leave as soon as possible! Otherwise, he will be stripped of all his official skin!
However, they regretted it seven days later. There was some food stored at home, but not much. Their granary was elsewhere, not in the house.

There were more than 200 people in the family, including servants, and the food in the family was eaten up in less than seven days.

The owner of that family sent someone out to buy it, but they were blocked and refused to let it go.

Break in by force?

Directly give you the Mafengwo package that will send you thousands of arrows.

Even if someone delivers a message, they won't be allowed in. If someone doesn't let the goods in, they won't be allowed in either.

In short, it is to isolate the inside and outside.

Finally they realized the seriousness and hurriedly sent a message to Feige, who relied on Feige in Bianjing. At the same time, they also began to beg for mercy and were willing to pay taxes, but Zhou Zhongren ignored them.

As for their support in the capital, the doctor from the Ministry of War interfered with Zhou Zhongren's wanton behavior in the court, and privately deployed troops to surround his own home, preventing his family from entering and exiting, etc. In short, he wanted to punish Zhou Zhongren.

Zhao Jun directly blocked it with one sentence.

"My property has to pay taxes, why can't your family's property not pay taxes?"

The doctor was dumbfounded on the spot.

Why? Is it possible that he is more powerful than the emperor on his own? Moreover, Zhao Jun also gave a reasonable explanation for the deployment of troops by the Taxation Department. When the Customs and Excise Department was established, it had already given the Customs and Excise Department authority. When encountering problems that are difficult for the Customs and Excise Department to solve, the Customs and Excise Department has the right to second the local garrison to assist. Collect taxes.

Everything complies with the regulations and there is no problem at all.

In the end, the doctor had no choice but to relent and said he was willing to pay the tax.

But Zhao Jun sneered:

"If you resist the tax and just pay the tax, then why do you need the Customs and Excise Department?"

The doctor's family also ran into trouble. Their family was the first to resist decline, so they were regarded as a model.

They were surrounded by five hundred soldiers for a whole month, and the whole family starved to death. The doctor was deprived of his official position and fame because he protected the family's tax resistance, and returned to the ranks of civilians.

As for their family's property, except for the money that needed to be paid tenfold, all was given back to the doctor.

In the end, the doctor took the remaining property, looked at the corpse lying on the ground, and fainted from crying.

After that, the respected monkeys finally understood the importance that the imperial court attached to taxation, and at the same time they also had a deep understanding of Zhou Zhongren, the director of the Customs and Excise Department who ordered the doctor and his family to starve to death.

Seeing that his boss wanted to kill someone again, Wang Minghua smiled bitterly and shook his head: "That's not true. All the goods they imported and exported have paid taxes according to the tax rate, and there is no arrears."

"Where did the missing two hundred thousand taels go?" Zhou Zhongren frowned deeply, with a puzzled look on his face.

Wang Minghua pointed to the item that entered the customs and said: "The main reason is that there is something missing here. Director, you see, in the past, the Ji Anjia always left and returned with a full boat. After selling the goods, the Anjia would fill the spices locally and come back. In this way Only in this way can the profit of each trip be maximized.

But this season, Anjia didn't know why. The boat was full when he left, but only 70% when he came back.

This resulted in the tax we could collect being reduced by a full two hundred thousand taels! "

"The boat was full when we left, but only 70% when we came back?" Zhou Zhongren asked in surprise.

Wang Minghua nodded heavily, and said with some doubts: "But what I don't understand is that the only one in our county who takes the Malliya route is Anjia. The entire spices on the market are provided by Anjia. This is the Anjia's most important thing besides sea trade." A profitable business.

Logically speaking, Anjia's spices are in short supply every year. They only pack 70% of the spices when they come back, which is absolutely not enough. Not only will Anjia's income decrease, but the market demand for spices will also increase.

But what is strange is that the demand for spices in the market this quarter is the same as in previous years. There is no more and no shortage. It is as if Anjia has sent back a similar amount of spices as in previous years. "

Zhou Zhongren thought for a while and then asked: "Have you investigated Anjia's shipment quantity and is it consistent with our customs entry quantity?"

Wang Minghua nodded heavily: "I have already asked the secret guards to help investigate, and found that the quantity shipped by Anjia is exactly the same as the quantity we put in."

"Is that weird?

Anjia's purchases are less and there are no problems with shipments. So why hasn't the market demand for spices expanded?

Is it possible that they suddenly no longer need spices?

But this is impossible. Over the years, there have been many recipes for the delicious dishes of Feiyun Restaurant, some of which require the use of a large amount of spices.

The rich local gentry cannot live without those delicious foods every day, and the demand for spices will only increase, not decrease! "

"Unless..."×2
The two looked at each other and said in unison:

"Unless there are other trading channels under the market that we can't see, the spices that are in short supply on the market have been replenished from there, so that can lead to the current situation."

Zhou Zhongren immediately ordered:
"Immediately investigate whether there are other channels for secretly selling spices, and focus on those families who use a lot of spices on weekdays. If there is a problem, they should be able to receive some information."

Wang Minghua nodded when he heard this, responded respectfully, and then left quickly.

...(End of chapter)