Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 655: Zhong Yao Disputes Over Taxes
Hancheng, Zhong Yao drove to the mine.

I saw that the original road had been prepared, with sleepers laid and wooden tracks installed.

These wooden rails are covered with a layer of wrought iron.

On the way, Zhong Yao saw six horses divided into three pairs, front and back, pulling five carriages coming towards him.

Yang Guang, the chief clerk accompanying the vehicle, whispered: "After the track is laid, the horse's pulling force will be so strong that one horse can be as powerful as five horses."

Zhong Yao turned his head to observe, and after watching the five carriages carrying the crushed iron ore leave, he looked back and said, "If the tracks were built throughout the counties... it would be unimaginable."

"Yes, I have also heard of such ideas, but the track is expensive and will cost a lot of money. If it is laid out, it will be stolen by the common people."

"Thief?"

Zhong Yao shook his head: "You still don't understand the Grand Marshal. If he wants to build tracks in Guanzhong, he will have a good plan."

As the two were chatting, the carriage turned around the foot of a mountain and they heard the noise of a steam engine running in the distance.

Fortunately, we didn't need to go deep into the ditch. We just got off the car at the mouth of the ditch and followed a guard to see the black bear.

When they arrived, Black Bear was just about to take a break from get off work.

They enjoyed lunch together, and Zhong Yao explained his purpose: "Grand Marshal, most of the people released from Hancheng are the breadwinners of their families. Should they be sent back to their hometowns and registered as households, or should they be treated as tenants of government land?"

In name, all civil affairs in the counties of Sizhou were under the management of the Sili Xiaowei Yamen, which even had the authority to supervise the discipline of all officials.

The number of people to be released in Hancheng is not large, but their families will also be freed from slavery. The population is 220,000.

Currently, the total population of the Three Auxiliary Areas is only 1.7 million.

In Black Bear's plan, the population of Sanfu is set at 3.5 million. This number can be expanded to 5 million after the grain transported from Guandong is available.

For the time being, these more than 200,000 people can directly affect the regional economy.

Black Bear asked without hesitation: "Do you think it is better to send them back to their hometown and register them as households? Or should they be resettled nearby and registered as tenants?"

"In response to the people's wishes, I believe that they should be repatriated to their hometowns so that they can reunite with their families and relatives."

Zhong Yao changed the subject and said, "Now that the capital is in need of people, we might as well register them as tenants to enrich the three prefectures."

When they returned to their hometowns and were registered as households, they would be granted land based on the size of their family; it would either be allocated from government fields or designated as wasteland to support these people in reclaiming and cultivating the land.

This kind of wasteland was abandoned due to war, not a wild place.

Now, in the counties where these people come from, the population, from officials to ordinary people, has increased to a considerable scale.

According to the current "Household Division Law", sons who have military service experience will be able to be granted land after the household is divided in the future.

Therefore, these people who are about to be released and gain freedom are not welcomed by their fellow villagers.

The prosperous core cities of the Three Auxiliary Prefectures required a large number of hired workers, and the large tracts of government land around them also needed to be rented by tenants.

With the dredging of rivers and canals, the irrigation system in Guanzhong was gradually restored, and the county and prefecture levels really did not want to divide the land.

The minimum rent for renting government land is 30%; if you lend cattle, horses, farming tools and seeds, you can get 50% of the tax rent.

This is much higher than the 15%, 130% or 10% tax.

The hundred households occupied the fertile land in each county, and after deducting the arable land owned by civilian households, the amount of official land actually managed by each county was not much.

Relying solely on farm taxes, fodder, head taxes, and commercial taxes, the counties could only live a tight life.

Therefore, the income from leasing these government-owned fields is currently the bulk of each county’s revenue!

If it were distributed, the counties would starve.

The finances of the counties were exhausted, so naturally they could not squeeze out any extra money and grain to hand over to the Sili Xiaowei Yamen... This money and grain was not directly delivered to Zhong Yao, but was allocated and used by Zhong Yao.

Naturally, he urgently needed these freed people to work as tenants, rent government land, or open up new land under government employment.

As long as the land is cultivated under an employment relationship, it is naturally government land.

Black Bear had no interest in being king, which meant that a large number of government offices would not be established, and Zhong Yao would have to serve as the Inspector of the Imperial Capital for a long time. Only by ensuring the basic finances of the Inspector of the Imperial Capital could he have some status.

But when Black Bear heard the old man’s bad idea, he suddenly lost his appetite.

He put down his chopsticks, picked up the tea to rinse his mouth, and then said, "No, no matter if it's the mine, the smelter, or somewhere else, these men and women have made contributions but they have worked hard. In my opinion, their contributions are even greater than those of the common people in the counties. The common people can get land, so why should they become tenants?"

"Grand Marshal, if this happens, the rents of the farmlands in the counties will drop suddenly, and it may be difficult to operate."

"If you can't support so many people, you can lay off employees. If you don't want to lay off officials, you can work as a hired worker in your spare time. Under my rule, you won't starve to death, right?"

Black Bear pretended to be puzzled: "Each county has a registered population of at least 10,000 people. With 2,000 households in a county, can't it support a county government with more than 20 people?"

Zhong Yao was speechless, and then he heard Black Bear say: "County officials have always been lazy and always wanted to recruit more subordinates, but subordinates are also lazy and hate work, so they just look for idlers. The country set up counties and townships to govern the people and collect taxes. If the taxes collected cannot support the officials, and there are still arrears... What is the point of having these officials? It would be better to follow the example of the pseudo-dynasty, confer titles on marquises and vassal states, and pay taxes to the court every year."

Seeing that the black bear was angry, Zhong Yao lowered his head, and the guards and officials around him held their breath, not daring to breathe deeply.

Black Bear took two deep breaths and said, "Mr. Yuan Chang, you have to figure out whether you want to speak for the common people or for petty gains. If you insist on making them tenants, I can give you a chance. They are right here, you can go and persuade them in person. If they agree, I won't object."

Zhong Yao lowered his head. If he really went to confront these people in person, they would definitely tear him to pieces.

After being transferred to various places for five years, many people worked honestly, just hoping to be treated as civilians after their release.

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tenant?

Being a tenant in a county is not as good as being a soldier or a slave for the Grand Marshal.

Having said that, now that I don’t have any special skills and want to sell myself into slavery, Black Bear doesn’t want me.

In terms of living conditions and stability, the more than 200,000 people who are about to be released will be considered to have fallen in social class even if they are registered as residents and have access to 50 acres of land.

During these five years, their food and clothing were guaranteed, they worked in a relatively closed environment, and were not bullied by outsiders.

Zhong Yao was silent for a long time, and then a secretary came forward and stretched out his arms to invite him to leave.

Zhong Yao asked: "Grand Marshal, if the counties are so exhausted, how can we repair the cities, roads and canals?"

In addition to county and township officials, those who collected taxes also included criminals and prisoners.

Black Bear frowned and looked at Zhong Yao. "All the corvée laborers in the counties have to bring their own food. Can't the prisoners work one day in exchange for two meals a day? Dredging the canals is not cheap, and the followers of the Taiping Dao organization also contribute labor and money. I don't understand what Yuan Changgong said."

Zhong Yao lowered his head again and said nothing. He would rather not have these more than 200,000 tenants than let them divide up the government fields in various counties.

But Black Bear had no sympathy for the county official's difficulties. It was not until two secretaries helped him up that Zhong Yao bowed to Black Bear and said, "Since the Grand Marshal has made a decision, I will urge the counties to make proper arrangements."

"Well, this winter, we will do a good job of allocating and measuring the land. Each piece of land will be numbered, and I will send people to check. When the people return to their respective counties before the spring plowing, I will send people to follow up."

Black Bear looked at the trembling Zhong Yao and added: "Each county should retain official land. Leaving too much official land will compete with the people for profits. Tenants will live in misery, have no one to rely on, and find it difficult to get married, which is not conducive to the growth of the country's population."

"I am short-sighted."

"After all, they have served me for five years, and I don't want to see them suffer. This matter has been settled. If the counties don't do a good job, I will take the official land and distribute it myself, and build more hundred-household offices."

Now Zhong Yao looked even more bitter. This part of the government land was turned into a hundred-household unit. There was no more taxes, no more corvee labor, no more land tax of one-tenth, and even no more head tax.

Think about it from another perspective. More than 200,000 people were distributed among the counties in Guanzhong.

The annual income from oral allowance alone is about 1.1 million.

Zhong Yao had no choice but to take action in advance and start with the newly added tax to get more office funds for his office.

Guanzhong also redefined the head tax, which was fifty coins for those over seventeen years old and ten coins for those under seventeen years old.

Four times for merchants, twice for professional workers, three times for retainers and slaves... and five times for unmarried women between the ages of fifteen and thirty!
There is no practical significance in punishing unmarried men. When the chaotic times are just beginning to settle, there are more men than women.

We need to start from the source. Women who are of marriageable age but do not get married currently bear the highest rate of head tax.

If a woman does not marry after the age of fifteen, the head tax for that year will be the same as that of an adult, which is fifty coins.

If you are still not married at the age of seventeen, you are an idiot.

(End of this chapter)