Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 663 Working in Debt

Shanglin Garden is located between the Sijin Duwei Mansion and Chang'an.

A medium-sized fortress was built and put into use, and officials recommended from all over the place came every day.

Liu Ye will conduct the interviews personally, and accept seven or eight people a day if there are fewer, and more than ten if there are more.

The new Ministry of Agriculture is being built in an orderly manner under his leadership. The establishment of the Ministry of Agriculture also means that the grain supply system will be greatly changed.

As the population and land data of each county are compiled, many issues have come to a point where they must be resolved.

For example, the distribution of head tax. The Han emperors increased the head tax several times, which were all temporary tax increases to solve financial crises.

When each person's head tax is collected, the money is basically divided proportionally.

This problem cannot even be solved by the Office of the Grand Minister of Agriculture and the Office of the Grand Marshal. The structures of many offices of officials and ministers have not been restored, and these all require regular funding.

If it is decided first, money will be deducted from the established amount later.

It would be fine if the money was not distributed, but if it was really distributed, it would be very difficult to get it back.

There is also a second question, which is whether the population of the hundred-household units and the Heshuo military settlements should pay head tax; when paying, should it be calculated according to the civilians, or at twice the coefficient of hired workers, or at three times the coefficient of slaves.

These all need to be discussed and implemented, only in this way can we make the relevant budget for next year.

Even these are not a big deal. Some people also plan to collect taxes from the Hancheng mine, three shipyards, and the land and grassland cultivated and grazed by hundreds of households.

After all, the Grand Marshal is not the emperor, so why is he exempt from taxes?
It’s not that they really want to collect this money. If they really did, few tax collectors would dare to do so.

Instead, they wanted to force the other party to accept the throne through this method.

Not only the old ministers of the Han Dynasty were anxious, but also the new officials temporarily transferred to the Da Si Nong Yamen were anxious.

So in the cold wind of December, Liu Ye drove to Lantian to solve many key problems, otherwise it would be difficult for him to advance the next work.

The fundamental purpose of restoring and rebuilding the Da Si Nong Yamen was to inspect land on a larger scale and clarify national taxes.

If one wants to clarify national taxes, Da Sima is a hurdle that cannot be avoided.

If I don't understand this, how can I search for the counties?
On the Bashui River, inside the Yuanshi battleship.

Four crystal chandeliers are hung, and the cabins on the first floor are merged to form a relatively wide meeting space.

The steam engine in the cabin continued to burn, like a boiler, providing heat to various spaces in the cabin.

Hei Xiong flipped through the statistical books of the Ministry of Agriculture, and found that they basically matched the data of the shogunate's warehouse.

To clarify national taxes, one must first cut one's own flesh and blood... Black Bear was mentally prepared for this kind of thing.

But it feels a little twisted at the moment. It’s just accounting. What’s so difficult about it?
The poll tax coefficient within the Hundred Households system is three times, how much is that?
It seems like a lot, but a strong man or woman would earn 150 coins a year, which is nearly a month's salary.

But for the wealthy and powerful families and high-ranking officials who have the power to need slaves, this head tax is nothing.

Black Bear considered it again and again: "In order to set an example for the world, my servants should pay head taxes; all land, pastures, forests, and mineral deposits should also pay taxes and rents. In the future, the salt, iron, tea, and wine monopolies should also be subject to state taxes. In this way, the state will have abundant tax revenues. Then, should my servants who guard the borders and protect the people in the local area also be paid salaries?"

Liu Ye was stunned: "Grand Sima, is this really necessary?"

"I have had this idea since I restored the Ministry of Agriculture. It is only a matter of time. The sooner we figure it out, the better it will be to avoid being vague and criticized."

As Black Bear spoke, he also took out a booklet and handed it out. Yang Jun stood up and handed it to Liu Ye.

Liu Ye opened it and saw that it was the general ledger of military pay for various armies.

Guanzhong's finances were very healthy. Black Bear did not build many palaces, and the building specifications were common. Basically, local materials could be used, and the construction cost was the same as the food cost.

Even the salaries of officials were severely cut, and it was no joke to pay for work while tilling the land.

Over the past five years, the families of officials have been under restrictions and have been repeatedly troubled.

These people were restricted, and the efficiency of civil recovery was very gratifying.

The only problem was that Hancheng improved its production process and stopped supplying to other countries for half a year.

Liu Ye looked at the account book and his eyes fell on Heshuo. On the basis of the 14 thousand households in Hexi, nine thousand households in Shuofang were expanded in recent years, which is 23 thousand households. On average, each officer received 800 coins per month, 13 monthly salaries per year, including summer clothes, winter clothes, and salt. Due to regional reasons, horse feed subsidies were exempted, and each person received 18,000 coins per year.

When there was no military operation, each thousand-household unit had only 500 people on duty, and the military expenditure for the 23 thousand-household units alone was 270 million yuan per year.

As for the reproduction and breeding of horses, this is the personal property of Da Sima. As long as it is not sold, what does it have to do with national taxes?
You need to pay rent for the pasture, but how much is the rent?
These twenty-three thousand households also had to pay a poll tax, but faced with a military expenditure of 200 million, with a triple coefficient, 14 million able-bodied men and women were needed to cover the military expenditure.

There are also thirty-seven Xiongnu thousand-household offices. If the Grand Marshal recruits more Xiongnu volunteer knights, it is naturally impossible for the Xiongnu knights to help in the war for free, and they also need money from the Grand Minister of Agriculture.

This money was given to the Grand Marshal's Mansion. How it was distributed, how much was distributed, and how Liu Bao used it after giving it to him were not things that the Grand Minister of Agriculture's Yamen could investigate in depth.

It's not just Heshuo, there's also Guanzhong, the four counties of Hexi, Nanyang, Dai... The military costs could drain the office of the Minister of Agriculture dry.

As a result, the excess cattle and horses at the Grand Marshal's disposal could no longer be distributed to the counties for free. The counties would have to provide collateral or take out loans.

Liu Ye was not surprised at all.

Da Sima’s strongest point is fighting?
It’s the use of resources!
Is the annual military expenditure of 18,000 coins for a Heshuo garrison soldier high?

It’s not high at all. The food rations are close to four thousand, and the clothes are also close to four thousand. These are real expenses.

Ten thousand coins for military pay and expenses was not outrageous, as the money for horse fodder was not included.

The cost of fodder for the cavalry in Guanzhong area was not much, only 8,000 coins per year. Therefore, a standing cavalryman in Guanzhong needed 26,000 coins.

This does not include the cost of military equipment... When the army replaces its equipment in the future, you can see whether Da Sima will reimburse you for it.

Including disability pension, not a single one will be left out!
Not every member of a hundred households could receive military pay. Those who received the money were those who served on duty in turns and those who were conscripted to serve in combat.

Even so, the Ministry of Agriculture was burdened with a heavy debt when it was first established.

Liu Ye was not surprised at all, and the little concerns he had before completely disappeared.

I am not afraid of the high military expenditure, but I am afraid that Sima here is unwilling to pay taxes and rent.

No matter how much military expenditure was owed, the worst that could happen was that the shogunate's warehouse department would send people to move into the office of the Grand Marshal to directly take over the transportation and allocation of national taxes and grain, and give priority to repaying the military expenditure owed to the Grand Marshal's office.

As for other government offices, just don’t starve to death.

As long as the Grand Marshal is willing to pay taxes and rent, the Grand Minister of Agriculture's office will be able to smoothly carry out the land inspection and tax collection work.

After three to five years, when Liu Ye finishes these tasks and is transferred to other government offices, what does the military expenditure owed by the Ministry of Agriculture have to do with him?
It’s not Liu Ye who owes it, so the defense spending is like this.

From that time on, successive Grand Ministers of Agriculture would not have to worry too much. It was the Grand Minister of Agriculture's office that owed military funds, and the office could be handed over to the shogunate's warehouse department for management.

How much military expenditure can be recovered depends on the methods used by Cang Cao.

Anyway, the Ministry of Agriculture did not collect taxes directly, but collected taxes through county tax collectors.

A terrible idea came to Liu Ye's mind. He looked at the calm Black Bear and said, "May I ask the Grand Marshal, if our government has a large amount of military expenditures owed in the future and local taxes are in arrears, will we mobilize troops to collect taxes?"

"This is natural. Even I pay taxes and rent, so why shouldn't they? Once my warehouse officials move into the agricultural office, they will be assigned military officers. If there are those who are arrogant and resist paying taxes, we will dispatch troops to help."

Black Bear was helpless: "I really don't understand. After accepting my military protection and being protected from bandits, why won't he pay? Does he have to wait for me to withdraw my troops and let the bandits kill his entire family before he'll be satisfied?"

"Da Sima is joking."

Liu Ye smiled awkwardly, not knowing what to talk about. He had to bring the news of the heavy debt back to the office.

This is really a good thing. I am just worried that Da Sima will deliberately give in too much, which will stimulate other people's unrealistic fantasies and eventually cause many people to fall into a bigger pit.

Liu Ye then asked: "After the land inspection is completed within five years, will the Grand Marshal send troops to Hebei and Guandong?"

"There is no rush to inspect the land, but we need to inspect it thoroughly. Sending troops to Guandong and the like is not something the Grand Minister of Agriculture should be concerned about. But we have a deep friendship, and if I am not in a hurry to inspect the land, how can I be in a hurry about Guandong?"

Black Bear took a sip of tea and said, "Just focus on inspecting the land and don't ask anything else. You didn't betray me, so how could I betray you? But the Minister of Agriculture has a lot of debts in the future, and I'm afraid he will be entangled in a bad reputation and be slandered by the world."

"I am ignorant, so I don't care."

(End of this chapter)