Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1826 Baoding Area ([-])

"It's really surprising that the fire of the third tax reform has reached us." Shao Yaoguang, who has been a commissioner of the Baoding District Administration for more than ten years, said with emotion.

This year is already the last period of his work as Baoding commissioner.From March 1681 next year (3), he will go to Xinhua Island to serve as the captain of the pioneering team.Undoubtedly, this was a leap forward in his political career. For this reason, he defeated his main opponent in the fierce competition, Peng Yuanzhi, the commissioner of the administrative office of the Xinhua Island Zelu District and the commander of the police, and successfully sat on the throne of the top leader of the region. .

That is to say, Shao Yaoguang will leave the Baoding area in about two months, and then take a boat to South Africa to take up his post in New China. For Shao Yaoguang, it was a difficult thing to say.After all, his youngest, most enthusiastic, and most memorable period of time has been left here. People are not grass, and how can they be ruthless, so how can they not be full of affection for Baoding?

And Shao Yaoguang's departure also saddened the old subordinates who had followed him for many years.There is no other reason. When he went to Xinhua Island to take office, except for a very few cadres who were really inseparable, most of the rest were impossible to take away. The national policy did not allow it (if it was allowed, wouldn’t it create independent Kingdom), so they are doomed to stay and adjust to new leadership, which always feels a little insecure.

However, there are some interesting rumors in the official circles now, that is, the central government may revoke the administrative offices of the Baoding area immediately after revoking several regional administrative offices in the south, and the eight counties of Baoding will also be brought under the direct control of the central government.In this way, the counties under the direct jurisdiction of the Government Affairs Council include a total of 45 counties in the East Coast Prairie, Duck Lake Basin, and Dingjun Mountain (including Yancheng County in Patagonia), almost accounting for the total number of county-level administrative units in the country. One-third of the population, economy, education, and transportation account for the vast majority. It can be said that the elite areas have been swept away and all have been captured.

And the actions above have indirectly confirmed the conjectures of many people: Maybe in ten or eight years, the central government will set up provinces, right?Otherwise, not only would it be inconvenient for the Government Affairs Council to manage too many counties directly under the central government, but it would also not have so many official positions to accommodate so many ambitious civil servants. Therefore, no matter from which point of view, setting up a province is inevitable, the difference is only in the timing. .

According to the most widely circulated version of the message, in the future, a separate province may be set up in the eastern prairie, and a province in the Hejian area. The Duck Lake Basin, the south of Dingjun Mountain, and the east of Wujiang River (roughly similar to the later Brazil South Rio Grande State) to set up a province, South Patagonia and North Patagonia may be combined to set up a province, and other areas still need to be studied, because the degree of development is limited and there are many wastelands, it is not easy to resolve the province, and there is no too great a necessity.

And once the Baoding District Administrative Office is revoked, it is really hard to say whether it will be good or bad for these local officials.Some people think that they are cheering and have a promising future, while others wish to merge the eight counties of Baoding into the neighboring Jiangbei region to form a super large regional administrative unit. Of course, this is just thinking about it.Under today's general background, it is unlikely that the central government will allow such a large area that manages more than ten counties to exist.

"For tax reform, Dingjun County is also one of the pilot counties this time. The central government has expanded the 25 pilot counties to 1. It seems that they are really short of money and want to charge more. Unfortunately or honored, Dingjun Jun County has been elected, and the new tax rate will be implemented from January 1 next year, and the reform of the tax sharing system will be implemented slightly later." Shao Yaoguang slapped a piece of paper in his hand on the table, and said in a somewhat unpredictable tone: "What do you guys think about this?"

"It's nothing more than the addition of unified tax, tobacco and alcohol tax, inheritance tax and so on. There will be a certain impact, but it should not be too big, and it will not cause any major turmoil in society. We are still confident in this point. Commissioner Don't worry, I'll catch this matter myself, and nothing will happen." After everyone was silent for a while, the magistrate of Dingjun County, who was duty-bound, came out to speak, and he continued: "Our county is deep inland, and the handicraft industry is comparatively relatively small. Developed, but to be honest, it is not a major grain-producing area, nor does it produce salt, because it is collected locally at the production area. I am afraid that we cannot collect too much tax here, so we can charge more for the abundant timber. So-so help with finances, so be it.”

"Okay, you are the county magistrate, you are here to arrest yourself, and report to me directly if you have any problems. This is the last major event in my tenure, and no mistakes can be made. Well, I will go shopping in the street in the afternoon and have a look How is the situation?" Shao Yaoguang patted his thigh, and finally said.

In the afternoon, he took a few followers, put on casual clothes, and wandered around Dingjun County.Because of the small size of the county, most of the merchants on the street know him. When they see the biggest official in the area walking around the street with his hands behind his back, he asks someone for a few words from time to time. , I thought this must be something.And after hearing that commissioner Shao asked about the turnover and profit of workshops or shops, some smart businessmen or business owners suddenly felt a little bit in their hearts. tax), many people are already wailing, guessing that Dingjun County may also increase taxes, how can this make everyone happy.

"At present, there are less than ten workshops in the county that can qualify as factories, and there are more than 700 small workshops, many of which are located in rural areas and employ no or not many people. But it is in these massive Thanks to the efforts of large and small workshops, our county has become the main production base for more than [-] people in [-] counties in Baoding and Jiangbei. After that point, our market got bigger, so we created a lot of rich and consuming workshop owners, they are our main tax targets, of course not everyone will be taxed, we should follow the law." The magistrate of Dingjun County who followed behind said.

Shao Yaoguang nodded when he heard the words, and then pointed to the several carriages transporting planks and grain that passed by them just now, and said: "According to the guiding spirit of the new tax law, the unified special tax on timber is collected locally at the place of origin, that is, at the place where the timber is produced. The levies are calculated in the logging camps. Once collected, they will pass through the country and will not be re-levied. These carriages are all wood boards of various specifications processed in the wood processing factory, so there is no need to collect taxes. As for those Naturally, there is no need to tax the grain shipped, but there should be several winemaking workshops and a machine flour mill in the city. You must understand the spirit and collect taxes scientifically. Wine must be levied, and all winemaking workshops must apply for a unified license. Pay the license tax for tobacco and alcohol, and the brewed alcohol is levied by weight. The flour that is machine-ground is taxed, and the flour that is grinded by your own stone mill is not taxed. This must be remembered, just like the cotton, linen, and Cloth cannot be taxed either, make no mistake."

The magistrate of Dingjun nodded repeatedly after hearing this, and then he seemed to think of something, and said with a wry smile: "Commissioner Shao, I am afraid that this wine making workshop will not be easy to do business in the future. There are so many in our county, I am worried that it will collapse." Drop at least half of it."

"What's the matter?" Shao Yaoguang wondered for a moment.

"Because the unified flour tax is now levied, and it is levied on the place of origin, many counties in the south that are rich in grain are likely to prevent the export of grain in their counties, and instead require more investors to set up machine flour in their counties. factories, and keep tax money locally as much as possible. In this way, how can a county like ours with many mountains and little land be able to import a lot of grain for wine making? Poor some factories have just purchased large-scale equipment and are preparing to mechanize the production of spirits , I'm afraid they will go bankrupt, they are all from the villagers, it's poor if you don't look up and look down." The county magistrate explained softly.

"What you said is really true." Shao Yaoguang slapped his thigh and said loudly: "It is of great benefit to them not to leave the country. I know that tobacco and alcohol taxes are also collected based on the place of production, because it is more convenient. Damn, it’s true, people in Hejian, Yazihu, and the East Coast Prairie are well-off, and the financial strength of each county will jump. A new level, this matter is so troublesome, alas!"

"There are quite a few breweries and noodle mills in our county. If they are about to close down, it will indeed involve a lot of people. Alas, many of them are old factories developed during the East-Portuguese War, with strong financial strength. , the scale is not small, if they fail, the income of the workers will be affected or even directly unemployed. It is not surprising that these workers have no money to consume, then the income of other industries will be affected to a certain extent, which is really deceitful Ah." Shao Yaoguang also became a little depressed at this time.

The long street in front of me stretches all the way to the outskirts—now many counties on the east bank don’t have city walls, or even if they do, they were built in the early years. Numerous workshops, shops, and artisans, such as butchers, gardeners, vegetable farmers, fishermen, cooks, carpenters, stonemasons, bricklayers, cobblers, shoemakers, linen weavers, weavers, weavers, dyers, hoops Coopers, ropemakers, tailors, blacksmiths and even jugglers and more.Once the new tax policy is formally implemented, it is conceivable that the machine-made flour industry, wine making industry, and tobacco manufacturing industry in Dingjun County will be greatly impacted, and the living costs of residents will also rise.

Of course, as the magistrate of Dingjun County said at the meeting in the morning, they can still bear these shocks and will not have any major impact on the normal social order in the county.But how to put it this way, it is always depressing. Shao Yaoguang does not believe that the income from the unified tax on timber can make up for the loss of large consumer goods such as tobacco, alcohol, and flour, not to mention the worry of unemployment.Beware that the development of the Pampa Plain is in full swing. If these skilled industrial workers have difficulty in living, they will find a way to register with the county and go to the south of the Rio de la Plata to discuss life. This is a great deal for Dingjun County. Such a loss was somewhat difficult for Shao Yaoguang to accept.You know, this is likely to involve the whereabouts of hundreds of workers and handicraftsmen, not to mention their families and children. If you calculate carefully, there may be no less than 3000 people.

Now, Shao Yaoguang has realized how much a change in the national taxation policy has had a huge impact on the local economic structure, and what tortuous changes it has brought to the personal fate of thousands of workers and small business owners.

"The Pampa Plain has a big advantage. Hey, it's an important food producing area. In the future, the machine flour industry, wine industry, leather industry, cured meat industry, and agricultural machinery manufacturing industry will develop greatly, and the siphon effect on the population will be even greater. Strong, some domestic industrial counties that rely on early policies or other factors to develop will be more or less affected, and those without comparative advantages will not be able to compete. It seems that I was thinking too simply before, and the impact is long-term. It will lead to a round of economic reshuffle. Moreover, the scope of the unified tax collection is still small. In the future, once a unified special tax is imposed on commodities such as cloth, linen, coal, lime, rice, and beef? What will happen? Influence?" Shao Yaoguang shook his head, thinking with a sigh.

He continued to walk on the narrow county streets with his hands behind his back, and the strong midday sun shone on his body, which made him feel even more anxious and hot.The enthusiastic chatting and laughing on both sides of the street, the clanging of iron and copper, and the harsh and unpleasant sound of mechanical processing filled the ears. If Shao Yaoguang used to find it extremely pleasant, but now he only feels a bit of annoyance, and his mood is obviously not so good. High up.

At this time, he was already thinking carefully about how to help the small breweries and flour mills in the county overcome the difficulties they might encounter, and keep them in the county as much as possible, because this is very important. important.Of course, if it really doesn't work, he, Shao, will also find a way to adjust the industrial structure in the county, so that those industrial workers or craftsmen who may lose their jobs will change their careers and engage in other jobs in order to support themselves and their families.In short, it is absolutely unacceptable for him to let these people go to other counties (such as the Pampa Plain) to settle and live, and he must do everything possible to stop it!

"It's a pity that I don't have a lot of time. It's only been two months, and I don't know if I can solve it in time." Shao Yaoguang thought with some regret: "It would be fine if it took more than a year or a half. If you can think about it carefully, you can always come up with a solution, but the time is too tight now, and it’s too late to do anything.”

(End of this chapter)