Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 401 Egyptian Taxation
When Amin heard Idris talking about morality, he couldn't help but want to laugh.

Egypt, officials, morality, how did these three words come together? !
What time is it now? Now is the Frankish Crusaders, ruling Egypt.

Who are these officials?

He was a traitor who betrayed the Ayyubid dynasty and worked for the Crusaders as a Muslim!
What's more, Egypt has always emphasized Legalist thought since ancient times, which emphasizes humility, restraint and obedience to superiors.

When did the farmers' talking animals become a moral burden?
Even if we take a stab at it, were the peasants really that good when they were under the rule of Saladin?
It's just a little more humane than the end of the Fatimid dynasty.

Taking the most basic tax rate as an example, a Muslim farmer who grows crops along the Nile River would have to pay at least one-third of the land tax.

It doesn't seem like much, right? But it's just a start, because the water they need to grow food comes from river irrigation or rainwater, and the Sultan is the owner of the land and the highest authority.

Therefore, farmers need to pay a 10% tithe for this. Correspondingly, if it is artificial irrigation, they only need to pay 5%. After all, this means that his land is not in good condition.

In addition to the tithe on grain, other cash crops or cattle and sheep livestock also had to be converted into gold dinars for payment.

Then there are many miscellaneous taxes such as bridge tax, forage tax, and fishery tax.

However, this is just the beginning, because in addition to the taxes paid to the state, there is also the rent that needs to be paid by the landlord group...

Even though Amin has gotten used to being treated as a nobody, he still often feels that the Egyptian farmers are even less human than he is.

After all, even a dog knows how to protect its food.

But these old farmers in Egypt, who are guarding the most fertile land in the world, will also starve to death.

The Nile River nourishes many lives, but it cannot bring even a glimmer of hope.

In this situation, Amin naturally cares more about his boss's opinion than the farmers' anger.

"Really? If the masters want to raise taxes, they can do so. Why make things difficult for us?"

Idris complained subconsciously.

Taking the situation in Egypt as an example, if the rulers want to increase taxes, can the ruled resist?
You know, at the end of the Fatimid dynasty, when Saladin first came to power, he abolished 88 kinds of miscellaneous taxes in one go.

Then, with various natural disasters, man-made disasters, and the needs of war, those taxes slowly came back.

Cows that plow the land have to pay taxes, chickens that farmers raise have to pay taxes, and bees that raise bees also have to pay taxes...

If the person paying the tax is not a Muslim, then there is also a jizya tax waiting for that person.

According to the standards of Jizya, any adult non-Muslim male is required to pay Jizya until he becomes disabled, dies or converts to Islam.

The standard is 4.25 dinars for the rich, 2.2 dinars for the middle-income earners, and 1.3 dinars for the poor.

Even at the funerals of many people, their heirs are asked to pay the jizya owed by the deceased.

In this situation where Egypt is facing huge taxes, why bother making things difficult for these two minor officials who are just checking the water level?

"That's fine, but I think we'd better get ready to run away. Cairo is a troubled place. We never know when it will cause more public outrage."

Idris finally agreed with Amin's point of view.

To be honest, it doesn't mean that the old Egyptian farmers won't rise up in resistance.

But most of those resistances were short-lived, or in other words, before they could make any progress, they were faced with thunderous suppression by the army.

The total area of ​​the Nile Delta is only about 2 to 3 square kilometers. Together with the Nile River Valley, it is just close to the size of Hainan Island, and is not as big as Tongliao.

Outside this oasis island is the vast desert. In the situation where there is no rain all year round, the desert is an uninhabited area.

The book of Numbers records this: When the people had no water to drink, they gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said, “Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, to kill us and our livestock here? Why did you bring us out of Egypt to this awful place? This is a bad place for planting, with no fig trees, vines, or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink!”

All I can say is that for many people, escaping from this cage may be more difficult than climbing to the sky.

……

Damietta is the capital of Egypt's Damietta Governorate, located about 200 kilometers north of Cairo, at the confluence of the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile River.

The city was founded in the Greek period and was conquered by the Arabs during the period of the Caliphate.

From then on, Damietta remained under Muslim control.

"Damietta!" Oliver, a German priest, wrote when he left his hometown: "She is famous in all the nations, the pride of Babylon, the mistress of the sea."

What a rich, prosperous and busy city this is.

It was the jewel of Islam until 1191.

Accompanied by the howling sea breeze, the British and French troops of the Third Crusade, led by King Lionheart, set sail from Cyprus and headed straight for this place.

From that time on, Damietta’s elegy was played.

The British and French Crusaders broke through the city walls with the help of artillery, looted the city and almost slaughtered all the Muslim men in the city. Those who were still alive always had a suitable market and fate waiting for them.

As the landing place of the Egyptian Crusaders, Damietta naturally has a special status in the Egyptian Kingdom.

The Egyptian Damietta Third Legion was stationed here, firmly controlling the land and drawing nourishment from the blood and sweat of the farmers.

Although the Egyptian Crusaders claimed that they inherited the military system of ancient Rome, in reality it was just a mess.

In the eyes of many outsiders, it is more like a monster born from an awkward mixture of the Muslim iqta constitution.

Although Egypt does have eight legions at the moment, it is different from Jerusalem, which is making great strides in establishing a central finance and has a rapidly developing economy.

Egypt really doesn't have the money to support eight legions of full-time soldiers.

Therefore, it is bound to refer to some systems that are more adapted to the times to reduce the maintenance costs of the army.

As the saying goes, people are shaped by the land and water they live in. Now that we are in Egypt, why not make more use of the iqta system!
Iqta was a system whereby the government granted land to military generals, officials or loyalists as payment for their service.

The holders of these lands had the right to collect rent and land taxes, but were required to provide military support or administrative services to the state.

The iqta system established by Saladin was much more reliable and stable than that of the Seljuk period.

And now the Eighth Regiment is actually doing the same.

On the legionary lands, they were to manage the land and collect taxes, although ownership of the land still belonged to the Kingdom of Egypt, they only had the right to use and levy taxes.

The legion's duties included maintaining local order, recruiting soldiers, and paying part of the taxes to the central government.

This system will definitely change with the development of the times.

But it has only been established for a few years, so even if you want to take advantage of loopholes, it is not that easy. Within the Third Legion of Damietta, the land near Damietta was divided into more than a dozen parts.

Basically, each battalion has one piece of land. These lands are mainly used to accommodate the families of the legion soldiers and are leased to local Egyptian farmers, so that they can obtain food and some logistical supplies to maintain the legion's garrison training nearby.

Under such circumstances, Egypt was able to successfully maintain an army of nearly 50,000 people.

When news came from Cairo that the water level of the Nile River had reached 16 cubits this year and there would be a good harvest next year, the legion's senior leaders celebrated and bumped fists with each other.

Egypt's current tax system has not changed significantly compared to the Ayyubid period.

After all, the Crusaders had to adapt to local customs.

Therefore, their model of collecting taxes was not like the Jerusalem area where taxes were collected all at once around the harvest time.

Instead, the first collection begins when a good harvest is predicted for the coming year.

These taxes are basically divided into three parts.

The first levy will be made after Cairo issues its production forecast for the coming year, and regions will collect taxes totaling about 50% of the annual total.

Therefore, once Amin and Idris had given their reports, the Second Corps set about preparing for taxation.

In Egypt, long-standing traditions and experience provide a complete set of tax collection procedures.

Moreover, unlike the Celestial Empire, Egypt measured its land once a year when its government was functioning well.

After the Nile recedes, around October, local officials will conduct the first measurements and provide preliminary reports on the size and type of each field.

At this time, record the cultivated area, suitability and crop conditions of each piece of land.

A second field check is then carried out towards the end of the farming season (usually from February to April of the following year) to provide a final estimate of production based on actual harvests.

Surveyors and witnesses measure the land according to designated procedures and record the results in detail in account books, ultimately forming a report that includes information such as each farmer's name, land area, crop type and yield estimate.

The state retains one copy for taxation and gives the other copy to the local grassroots for archiving.

The second tax is collected during the second land inspection, accounting for about 25%. Farmers are required to pay the remaining part before May.

This entire process ensures that the Egyptian authorities have relatively stable fiscal revenues at all times of the year to support national spending.

Under such circumstances, Amin and Idris naturally had no pressure to tamper with the data.

After all, they are not the two who are actually responsible for collecting taxes.

But the supervisors, accountants, inspectors, Alhachar and others.

It would be better to say that the two of them were spreading the message and instructing the lower-level tax collection officials to work harder and thoroughly implement the instructions from their superiors at the grassroots level.

In short: the above has said that there will definitely be a good harvest next year.

Do you guys dare to refute?

If the taxes collected are not enough, it is definitely not the fault of the higher-ups, but rather that you, the staff, have not done your job properly.

As the saying goes, shoot the arrow first and then draw the target, that's it.

……

The sunlight poured into the fields through the gaps between the reeds on the riverbank, and the autumn soil still carried residual moisture from the receding flood.

Ali ibn Mahmud strolled slowly along the path in the field, looking down at the black fertile soil beneath his feet.

"Once the report comes out, this land will produce twenty Ardabs of wheat." He muttered to himself, quickly calculating this year's tax figure in his mind.

He was the accountant of the area, the man who squeezed the money out of the old peasants for the Sultan, the lord, and himself.

His duty is not to farm, nor to read scriptures, nor to preach.

His duties were to keep accounts, measure, estimate property, collect taxes, and then work with others to get the money.

When he reached the door of a farmer's house, he shook the corner of his robe and kicked away a skinny dog ​​that was standing at the door with disgust.

“Ibrahim, it’s time to pay taxes.”

The farmer came out of the house, bent over, with a smile and fear on his face, and replied repeatedly: "Yes, yes, sir."

Behind Ali, two followers carrying short spears walked in with ease.

They used their fingers, sticks, and noses to determine the quality of the grain bags, roughly estimating and counting them.

"Last year, your land was worth three aldabs of wheat for every feddan. This year, the river water is higher than last year. Shouldn't you give four aldabs for every feddan? Why are you only giving this much?"

Ali sighed and said in a tone like a loving father teaching his son, "Look, I didn't collect this halaji personally. It was a decree from the higher-ups, the regulations of the army, and the command of Allah. If you dare to evade taxes, you are disrespecting your higher-ups, the army, and Allah."

As soon as he finished speaking, the follower behind him hit the ground with a "swish", and the tip of the gun was only an inch away from the farmer's toes.

"Take away the three Ardabs," he said calmly.

The farmers knelt down and kowtowed in a hurry, leaving marks on their foreheads in the mud.

"Also, your son is fourteen this year, right?" Ali suddenly remembered, "What about the poll tax? Remember, it's the adult taxpayers."

This farmer was actually a Muslim, and during the Ayyubid dynasty, they should not have had to consider such a poll tax.

But who can blame the Frankish Crusaders for being in charge now?

Then the Jizya, which was originally directed at Christians and Jews, was turned around and directed at Muslims.

As a harvester, Ali was not qualified to handle jizya, but during the Ayyubid period, there was no need to collect jizya from Muslims.

So this has become a confusing matter, but since it has come to this, let's just deal with it.

"Yes... it was saved by his mother... and hidden in the crack of the stove." The farmer got up and rushed into the house. After a moment, he knelt in front of Ali, holding a few blackened silver coins and two oil-stained gold dinars.

Ali picked out the two gold ones, bit them, and nodded: "Good quality."

But soon, he sneered again: "But this is probably only enough for him, what about you!"

"Ah?! No, this has always been like this in previous years!"

"No, the rules were changed a few days ago. The higher-ups think you paid too much in taxes, so from now on, all male head taxes will be two gold dinars, regardless of whether you are rich or poor!"

(End of this chapter)