Overlord!

Chapter 232 Implementation of Household Tax
Jiangdong's central financial allocation was used to directly build a large-scale water conservancy project in Wu County, irrigating tens of thousands of hectares, thereby laying the foundation for Jiangdong's infrastructure. This is a matter related to Jiangdong's hundreds of years of foundation.

Construction will start this winter, and all-out dredging will be carried out next year. The results will basically be seen the year after that, which is enough to gather Zeguo dredging in Piling County into a large-scale water conservancy project, and then connect tens of thousands of hectares of paddy fields with ditches.

There is no doubt that aristocratic families and wealthy families will be the biggest beneficiaries of this move.

It should be said that under the policy of not establishing a land system in Jiangdong and encouraging industry and commerce, the aristocratic families in Jiangdong have benefited one after another. From Sun Ce's founding of Jiangdong to the present, after five years of recovery and development, the fields of Jiangdong's wealthy families are connected to the poor.

Although it has not yet reached the period of Wen and Jing's rule, it is warm, well-clothed and well-fed, with fresh food stored, cloth and silk available for use, and herds of cattle and horses.It was a prosperous time when farmers used horses to plow their fields, and everyone rode them.

However, the powerful and powerful merchants are all very wealthy, with hundreds of millions of households, tens of millions of slaves and maids, hundreds of hectares of land in large counties, and more than a hundred hectares in small counties.

This is obviously not conducive to Jiangdong's stability.

So the last topic Sun Ce convened today was about this aspect.

After confirming the agenda of building water conservancy facilities, Sun Ce took the initiative and said: "In today's Jiangdong territory, we have been recuperating for several years. There are hundreds of wealthy people's houses, plastered fields and fields, thousands of slaves and maids, and thousands of slaves."

"Ships, carts, merchants, and merchants are all over the place; abandoned dwellings and hoards fill the city. Qi bribes treasures that cannot be accommodated in a large house; horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs cannot be tolerated in valleys; demon boys and beautiful concubines fill the entire house; prostitutes concubines The music and music are arranged in the deep hall. The meat of the three animals is smelly and cannot be eaten; the pure and pure wine is rotten and cannot be drunk."

"And the poor and humble people are their slaves, and they have no place to stand, and no job to support their wives. Especially in the north of the Yangtze River, the princes have risen together, and the people have lost their jobs, and there is a high rate of famine. If everything is regulated and the taxes are equal, there may be Unfair.”

"Therefore, I want to levy a household tax to bring wealth to the whole world, to ensure that the officials are safe in their positions, the people are happy with their jobs, the livestock accumulation increases with each passing year, and the household registrations are dormant. The atmosphere is strong, and the forbidden net is wide."

After listening to what Sun Ce said, the expressions of all the civil and military officials in the palace changed, especially the scholars from the Jiangdong family, who suddenly lost their countenance.

Although Sun Ce quoted classics and had great literary talent, what he said can be completely summed up in one sentence: "I am sick, rich and poor, but now I am equal to you!"

To be more precise, it is to impose a tax on wealthy and powerful households to provide large-scale relief to the poor.

The civil and military officials immediately thought of restricting powerful powers and inhibiting annexation, which they had been afraid of before.

Gu Yong, as the head of a large clan in Jiangdong, immediately and resolutely objected, saying: "When the general came to Jiangdong, he hired talented people and cared for good people. His orders were strict and he did not commit any crime wherever he went. He also made a three-part agreement with the elders of Jiangdong to refrain from exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. The land system was established to reward development, so many powerful people and poor people came to join them. Tens of thousands of people returned within a few months. The army opened its doors to counties and counties and accepted them. Wherever the message was sent, no bases were completed. The people of Jiangdong returned to where they wanted to be. The three counties will be decided in ten months."

"If the general rashly breaks his trust with the people, won't he cause instability in Jiangdong? If he seizes the wealth of a wealthy family by force, he will even lose the hearts of the people!"

"Emperor Xiaowu issued a notice and issued an order. The merchant houses above the middle level were in ruins. The merchants were few and valuable, and the people were in turmoil and uneasy about their livelihood."

"This is a lesson learned from the past, and we must be alert."

Obviously, the wealthy families in Jiangdong were extremely opposed to the Han Dynasty's laws that suppressed industry and commerce and restricted land.

They are as afraid of them as tigers, and their expression changes when they talk about restricting industries.

Sun Ce was not in a hurry. After Gu Yong finished speaking, he calmly explained: "Gu said in the beginning that he would not restrain development, and it is the same now. Household tax has been in existence since ancient times, and it is called household tax. The princes are granted fiefs according to their households. The tax is calculated at two hundred yuan per household. Because the household tax is collected by counties and counties, it is directly lost to the princes and princes, so it is not included in the national tax."

"I plan to follow this example, not based on the individual, but only on the assets. The powerful can still flourish, and the household tax is determined based only on the amount of assets."

As Sun Ce said, household tax has already existed.During the Qin Dynasty, there was another serious crime called the crime of concealing one's household, which meant that one was not allowed to work as a corvee or envoy, and was not ordered to leave one's household to pay taxes.

The household tax that Sun Ce mentioned does not yet exist in the world. The household tax will begin when Cao Cao defeats Yuan Shao and conquers Jizhou, and levies 2 pieces of silk and 2 pounds of cotton per household.

It was not until Liu Yan implemented the Two Taxes Law that it officially became the official national tax. The household registration of the country was determined by the local governor and county magistrate according to the actual household at that time, and the grades were assessed according to wealth and poverty.User tax replaces the taxation methods of rent, Yong and Tiao.

In just one year, he received more than 200 million yuan in household taxes.As a result, the Tang Dynasty was successfully revived, and its old enemy Tubo was wiped out before its demise.

At the same time, it also made Jiangnan's finance and taxation the center of gravity in the world.

So Ouyang Xiu commented on him: "Liu Yan, because of his ability to regulate the law, control the mountains and seas, arrange merchants, and control all things, always commanded the world to win money to support the prosperity of the army. Although he had held troops for decades, he could not collect as much as the people and spent enough. Tang Zhongyu And Zhen, Yan has worked hard, it can be said that he knows how to take what he has given."

Sun Ce has been reforming in this direction. Since ancient times, the reform direction of the Central Plains has been 'not based on people, but only on assets'.

Therefore, there is absolutely no problem with Sun Ce's reform direction.

As for the original agreement?
Can politicians trust their verbal agreements?
At the beginning, Emperor Gaozu made a three-part agreement with the elders in Guanzhong to end the harsh rule of Qin. Then came the Han Dynasty and inherited the Qin system.After three years of the Chu-Han War, the old, weak, sick and disabled in Guanzhong were mobilized by Xiao He to continuously deliver supplies to the front line. Only after Liu Bang was defeated again and again did he finally turn defeat into victory and bulldoze Xiang Yu.

It took nearly five years for Sun Ce to finally improve the tax system, and he was already regarded as a model of integrity among the princes.

Of course, Sun Ce's courage to promote the household tax system was not without confidence, that is, strictly speaking, Sun Ce did not break his promise.

Because from the beginning, Sun Ce had no intention of taxing the common people. The bustling general public in the world were not qualified even if they wanted to pay this household tax.

The original agreement to eliminate excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes remains the same for ordinary people.

Sun Ce explained to everyone: "I want to order the people of the world, the rich and the poor, to pay taxes equally. I order every household in the world to be divided into three classes according to their assets, and each class is further divided into upper, middle and lower classes."

"A middle-lower household or above with a thousand acres of land or ten servants and a thousand-year-old family must pay household tax. The middle-lower household pays 1500 cash, the middle-middle household pays 2000 cash, and the upper-middle household pays 2500 cash."

"For households with more than ten thousand yuan of wealth or thousands of servants, the assets will be regarded as the clan, and the tax will be calculated and taxed. Each coin will be calculated. The princes and officials will also pay taxes."

Calculation of taxes is a property tax.If you have a family fortune of 1000 yuan, you have to pay an asset tax of [-] to [-] yuan, and this happens every year.

In order to make this point clear, Sun Ce continued: "It is allowed that all people in the world who sell themselves into slavery due to hunger will have their citizenship restored."

This decree was the beginning of the government's forced implementation of the law to cut off powerful tribes and guests.

With the cooperation of this law, those large households with tens of thousands of people can reduce the number of slaves, thereby lowering their household level and reducing the amount of tax paid.

The term "big family" is not so easy to use in Jiangdong where the household tax is implemented.

The household tax system will definitely be implemented.

Cao Cao imposed a household tax on everyone in the world, but no one dared to resist.

Sun Ce believed that as long as he was determined, the household tax would be implemented in Jiangdong.

The civil and military personnel in the hall quickly made calculations.The group of people targeted by this law is too obvious.

Those with more than a thousand acres of fertile land, aren't they the powerful and aristocratic families?

The generals naturally supported this proposal very much. The powerful counties in the Han Dynasty were all violent and violent for a long time.I would like to divide the Zi of one surname into one, and calculate that his assets are enough to serve as the county's tax and rent for one year.

County magistrates who have ruined their families and prefects who have exterminated their families, as long as these officials are willing to strictly inspect and tax the powerful, they will be able to have a large amount of assets for military needs.

Why is the army so stretched as it is today?
Just building water conservancy projects in two counties will almost empty the treasury.There is nothing to give to the crowd of chariots and disciples.

Nowadays, the household tax levied has no impact on the common people and does not affect the reputation. On the contrary, it can greatly enrich the treasury.

Whether it is expanding the size of the army or increasing the number of soldiers, it is a good thing for the army!

The generals are naturally extremely supportive.

Among civil servants, the most powerful officials at the top are also inclined to implement it.

After all, even after Suan Min was implemented, there was a hero like Bu Shi. He was very good at shepherding sheep and had a lot of property. He took the initiative to write to the emperor and expressed his willingness to donate half of his family property to finance the border war. He also said: "The emperor will punish the Huns." , The fool thinks that a wise man should die on the sidelines, and a wealthy man should be lost to the government. In this way, the Xiongnu can be destroyed."

Many people pursue an ideal in life, whether they pay more taxes or pay less taxes. Ministers like Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu don't care much.

What Zhang Zhao cares about is the actual power of the government and the implementation of his ambitions.

The problem he faced now was that he couldn't straighten his chest and be strong in front of Sun Ce.

There is no way, even if the emperor or ministers have no money, they will inevitably lack confidence.There is no way to feel confident.

Since the rise of the military, Jiangdong's wealth has relied heavily on Sun Ce's subsidies.

From the initial raising of military rations, Sun Ce's wife Chen Yue and her three clans sold off their property, and then collected more than [-] stones of food and grass for Sun Ce's army to cross Zhejiang and march south to Kuaiji.

Later, Sun Ce founded the Wuxian Weaving Department and the tidal flat salt field in Haiyan, and the wealth in Sun Ce's hands was extremely huge.

Even now, after the large-scale water conservancy project in Wu County was built, Sun Ce was still required to use the internal treasury to subsidize the state in order to distribute rations to the generals and military officials so that the chariots and disciples could conquer Jingzhou.

Without the Wuxian Weaving Department and the 300 acres of salt fields of Haiyan, without the more than [-] million bolts of silk in the government treasury, and the more than [-] million stones of sea salt accumulated in the salt fields, how could the civil and military officials sitting in the Chui Gong Hall sit peacefully?
Finance, wages, and salaries all depended on Sun Ce, so the ministers naturally couldn't be tough when facing Sun Ce.

After all, there is a big difference between the state's official tax and Sun Ce's internal treasury.

If the ministers received regular national taxes and salaries from Taicang, they could confidently reject some of Sun Ce's proposals.

But now they are receiving the wealth from Sun Ce's inner treasury, which is like the relationship between a master and a guest.

Which guest can confidently resist the master's order?
Isn't it true that the Lord raises a scholar just to make him die loyally?What is the behavior of a guest who accepts the stipend given by his master but refuses to carry out his orders?Simply disloyal and unjust.

If the ministers want to be tough, they can only increase the official tax rate of the treasury. It can be said that they are serving the state of Wu.

Just like the Han Dynasty has been raising scholars for 400 years, the scholars can say that they do not obey the emperor's orders, but they can never say that they disrespect the Han Dynasty.

Zhang Zhao quickly calculated that a thousand acres of fertile land or ten servants would be considered a middle-class family. There are more than ten households in a county for such a powerful family with ten guests.Even in a prosperous place like Wu County, there is no open land, and there may be thousands of households with thousands of acres of fertile land.

After all, even if there are thousands of households, there are thousands of hectares of fertile land.For the big tycoons, this may only be the asset of one or two companies.

However, even based on this figure, the 110 nine counties in Jiangdong can collect household taxes of at least more than [-] yuan.

If you add in the calculations against the powerful, there are still more than [-].

There may be more than [-] yuan in household taxes in Jiangdong. In the future, the income from household taxes alone will be in the millions.

With this scale, the ministers are much more confident.

So after a brief silence, Zhang Zhao said: "Today, the country has been devastated by disasters and wars, and the poor and unemployed have been recruited and moved to the vast and rare land. The generals have lost food and saved money, and used the inner treasury to revitalize the Yuan Dynasty, but the people have not come out in full. In Nanmu, merchants feed the people. The poor have no livestock and they all rely on the county magistrate. The rich are cunning and extravagant, and their wine and meat are rotten."

"Since ancient times, people have not worried about scarcity but inequality. The general implements the law of household tax and follows the way of heaven to make up for the surplus and make up for the deficiency. This is good governance."

"I believe that cooperating with Jiangdong Tongbao and implementing it locally will alleviate the resentment among the people and win the hearts of the officials."

Sun Ce also nodded directly and said: "The general will take half of the income from the household tax to increase the salary of the generals."

As Jiangdong gradually stabilized, all industries prospered, and the people's livelihood and hunger eased. From the common people down to the officials and generals, they were no longer satisfied with the initial needs for food and clothing.

The salary of 180 yuan a month, which can buy six shi of food, already seems to be relatively poor.

A small official who was fighting for food wanted to buy a piece of cloth for his wife, but he was unable to buy a pound of meat.Insufficient labor supply naturally breeds corruption.

And the household tax of nearly [-] guan was allocated to [-] soldiers and [-] officials. Even a small soldier could get a guan of money.

The soldiers will definitely support this decree!
Sun Ce wanted to see whether Jiangdong's heroes were more powerful or the professional warriors who recruited soldiers.

With the support of more than 2 troops and more than [-] officials, Sun Ce did not believe that the powerful men could make such a big splash.

After hearing Sun Ce's words, Zhou Yu, Lu Meng and others immediately understood that this was the time for them to express their attitude.

The two men immediately cupped their hands and said, "I think this is the best way to do it."

Lu Meng even said: "The foundation of life is food and goods. If you know how to take it, people will not complain; if you know how to give it, people will not be lacking. Dao controls it and makes the king, and uses power to dominate. This is the same in ancient and modern times. Generals use this Government to relieve the depleted treasury and revitalize the poor people's livelihood is the foundation of hegemony. Forty thousand soldiers, tens of thousands of officials, and millions of people will benefit from this, and they will support it with all their strength. The general has nothing to worry about."

Sun Ce's attitude was firm, and the army and officials supported it. The household tax system was officially extended to eleven counties in Jiangdong in October.

(End of this chapter)