Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1851 New Tax System ([-])

"Director Huang, this way please." On March 1682, 3, in a certain farm outside Niuzhuang Port, some well-dressed officials were sitting on an Eight Immortals table in the yard, flipping through stacks of account books .

This is the self-operated farm of the Rabbit Hole Flour Mill Niuzhuang Branch. It has been in operation for some time. It uses steam plows, seed drills, horse-drawn harvesters, horse-drawn rollers (used to open up wasteland and clear shrubs), Many agricultural equipment, including steam pumps, threshing machines, and grain lifters, have a high degree of mechanization.

However, even with a lot of machinery, this farm still employs many non-national laborers. The factory spent a lot of money to import from the island of Comoros - although this island is under the control of the navy, it has actually become a slave distribution center. Yes, I have been working more or less for two or three years now, which is considered diligent.

"Director Gao, the farm in your factory is well managed. I have seen quite a few places. The farms on the Pampa Plain, except for those state-owned farms that are mainly exiled prisoners Outside the farm, you are the only one." A bespectacled official from the Ministry of Finance waved at Gao Jinzhong and said with a smile.

Gao Jinzhong has worked hard for many years, and now he is the director of Rabbit Hole Flour Factory. At the same time, he personally owns a lot of shares in it. It can be said that this company is the talker at this time.Therefore, when the officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Taxation Office came to various places to supervise the implementation of the new tax system, they directly approached him, Gao Jinzhong, the factory director, and planned to establish a model by completing the collection of flour unified tax on this large enterprise. case, so that the next tax work can be successfully completed.

Of course Gao Jinzhong was not very happy about paying taxes.However, as a member of the upper-middle class on the east coast, he also knows that the smooth implementation of the new tax system is crucial to the future development of the country, and it can be said that it is related to the national economy and the people's livelihood.What's more, the tax set by the East Coast government is "clearly priced", clarifying the tax types and tax rates, and not indiscriminately increasing taxes. The loss in the intermediate process is low, and the profit contribution of state-owned enterprises is also more, so there is no need to squeeze too much.Therefore, based on the above two reasons, Gao Jinzhong decided to cooperate with the tax office to pay taxes.I believe that as a typical example, their Rabbit Hole Flour Mill will not suffer losses, and they may be able to get some convenience in terms of loans in the future.

"No way, if we can't recruit people, we can only use machines. However, our farm is not large enough, so we just grow some wheat, beans, and vegetables for consumption by nearby wharves and factories. Our flour mill is absolutely Most of the source of raw materials is from the pioneers who farmed in the inland areas, and they are really powerful. Look, you can still see it from here, those pointed buildings are barns." Gao Jinzhong said with a haha.After finishing speaking, he ordered the two handymen to serve a big pot of tea for everyone. Everyone would sit under a pear tree, breathing in the scent of fields and green grass, and drinking the fragrant green tea. It was also a kind of wild fun.

"Director Gao, your Rabbit Hole Flour Factory, as the third largest flour production enterprise in China, has always attracted people's attention. Today I came to the Pampa Plain to inspect the work again. I hope your factory will cooperate with us, thank you." It is said that because of his outstanding performance in the tax reform work, Huang Hanhua, who may be promoted to the deputy director of the tax office next year (Chapter 89 of the previous article is wrong, Tang Moyu is the head of the Haizhu Island Commercial Station and Chief of the Gendarmerie, has been revised). He sat down on a chair and said with a smile.

"Director Huang, you are joking. Our small temple can invite you, a great god, to come here. It will really be full of splendor. Of course, I will cooperate with the work of flour taxation. Don't worry about this, I will help you." In a short while, the accountants and storeroom personnel will be sent to make books, so that every account must be clearly remembered, and every barrel of flour will be cleared." Gao Jinzhong said.After speaking, he subconsciously looked at the group of taxation and financial officials sitting in the yard, and at the same time felt some faint pressure on the five or six armed tax policemen standing outside the door.

The tax police is an organization established by the East Coast government last year, and it is affiliated to the Ministry of Finance—but it is said that the tax office will be separated from the Ministry of Finance in the future and upgraded to the State Administration of Taxation at the deputy ministerial level. The tax police will also be handed over to the General Administration for management—— It is tentatively designated as a reserve battalion, with about 1000 people.

The task of the tax police, as the name suggests, is to suppress smuggling and collect taxes!Since its establishment, the Tax Police Battalion has focused on deploying to Hejian, Patagonia, Chile, Jiaohe and other areas where smuggling is serious.The counties and townships in these places are bordered by Spain and Portugal, relatively remote, and the terrain is very complicated. Therefore, not only the smuggling trade between the local traders and workshops is very popular with the Spaniards, but also the things produced by the local workshops and factories. There are many tax evaders.Even in some places where the folk customs are tough, violent resistance to taxes is not uncommon. Therefore, after many years of shouting for the establishment of a tax police camp, it finally fell into place in the first half of 1681 and was formally established.

According to the words of Wang Yan, the Central Executive Committee member in charge of finance and taxation: "After the reform of the national tax system, due to the increased tax burden, there are many local resistances. However, our tax collectors are not many, and the tax collection system is also very backward. , the management system is full of loopholes, smuggling and tax evasion cases occur frequently, the national finance should be able to receive 2000 million yuan on the surface, but in fact it will burn incense if it can receive 500 million yuan, tax arrears, tax evasion, and tax evasion Seriously, it has a very bad impact on the development of the national economy and the operation of the government. Therefore, it is imperative to set up a tax police camp to strengthen tax collection, otherwise it may shake the foundation of the country.”

Although Wang Yan's words are somewhat exaggerated, it is also true that there is a huge gap between the tax payable and the tax actually collected in what he said.Over the years, tax arrears have long been the biggest headache for tax authorities on the East Coast. In the early years, local officials (mainly rural officials) were not too conscious, and would help the government urge villagers and citizens to pay taxes, but in Liguo Now that it has been more than fifty years, the number of people who are willing to do this has gradually decreased a lot.There are a lot of things for local officials, and urging taxes is a job that offends people, so naturally they can push and delay. Anyway, tax collection is not the job of township and village heads. Helping your tax department do it is a kindness, not doing it is a duty, there is nothing wrong with it.

Based on this consideration, the Executive Committee finally agreed to form a new tax collection force: the Tax Police Battalion.In theory, the Tax Police Battalion is a reserve force with all kinds of firearms and equipment. In principle, it will be stationed in various key points to investigate smuggling. In addition, due to the harsh environment in some places, ordinary officers of the tax bureau also need to be accompanied by armed tax police officers to collect taxes. , otherwise God knows what they will encounter, this has been learned.

Of course, only one tax police camp will definitely not be enough in the future. After all, there are more than 100 counties across the country, with vast territories and complex environments. Tax police camps with 1000 people will soon disappear.Therefore, the establishment of the second and third tax police battalions should also be a high probability event, depending on when the higher-ups finally agreed to form them.In addition, in addition to these tax police camps with muskets, cannons, and war horses, the tax department will also set up a tax police room in each township, and send several tax police officers to sit there.There is usually nothing to do on weekdays. It is just that they need to cooperate with the tax bureau officials to collect taxes. They choose more brave people who are well-known in the local area to act as tax policemen to facilitate tax collection.

There is such a ruthless man in the tax police office of Gao Jinzhong's hometown, Hekou Township. He was born as an immigrant from the Ming Dynasty, worked as a salt dealer, and joined the White Lotus Sect.After drinking two taels of small wine, he directly raised his saber and went to collect taxes. Most people are really scared when they encounter it.Gao Jinzhong had vaguely heard that Jiuxiang's winemaking workshops in the [-] villages under the jurisdiction of Hekou Country were frightened by this tax policeman's despotic power, and few dared not pay taxes, although there must have been a lot of leaks in it. It is not easy to pay less taxes, but it is not easy to collect more or less.

When Gao Jinzhong was in his hometown, he also invited the tax policeman to dinner twice, and the relationship between them was pretty good.On weekdays, this person with a deputy wanders around markets, restaurants and wine shops, and occasionally goes back to the tax police station to play mahjong with people from the tax bureau. Just arrived, the fighting power is awesome.It was also because of this that Gao Jinzhong, the director of Gaoda Factory, was still in awe of the armed tax police. When he saw these people, his heart beat, and he was really frightened by the man from Hekou Township.

"National taxation is taken from the people and used for the people. Now that the domestic construction is in full swing, all places need money. Therefore, the country has deliberately reformed the tax system and newly levied several new taxes including tobacco and alcohol taxes, unified taxes, and inheritance taxes. The purpose of this tax is to expand fiscal revenue to better build the country. After all, our country is very different from those backward countries in the old continent. We will not launch foreign wars with militarism, and we will not build useless things such as palaces and mausoleums. We don’t support moths that suck the blood of the country (such as the bannerman of the Qing Dynasty, the red-headed Turkmen cavalry in Persia, etc.), so these taxes are still spent on everyone.” Huang Hanhua picked up a cup of tea and said warmly: “So Director Gao You don't have to think about it, just cooperate normally, after all, we are not those tax collectors who broke the family in the old continent."

After hearing this, Gao Jinzhong chuckled dryly, then pleaded guilty, turned around and arranged for the people below to cooperate with the tax inspection and tax collection.At the same time, I was thinking in my heart that in the future, many business owners who are accustomed to tax evasion or tax arrears will be in bad luck, and I have to take time to go back to Zhenhai County (Pampa and Patagonia and East There are no wires and telegrams between the shore and the prairie), and asked those in the family not to cheat, otherwise they might look ugly if they were found out, and they would suffer huge economic losses.

"I heard that in the past, the government planned to collect 2000 million yuan in taxes. In fact, it was a good achievement to collect [-] to [-] yuan a year. A bunch of people evaded taxes, owed taxes, and there were even many incidents of beating tax bureau officials. The tax police camp set up this In the past year or so, it is said that such incidents have decreased a lot, and the tax police offices specially set up in the localities have also played a huge role in them. In short, the tax police battalions exchanged fire with smugglers, and the ordinary tax police punished the large local tax debtors. After this two-pronged approach, it is estimated that a large part of the tax arrears in the past can be recovered?" Gao Jinzhong thought to himself.

Basically, Gao Jinzhong, Huang Hanhua and others will not need to intervene in the next work.The accompanying cadres from the finance and taxation gates went into battle together with the staff of the Niuzhuang branch of the Rabbit Hole Flour Mill to count the barreled flour in stock that was ready to be shipped out, and each barrel was taxed at a rate of 5%.And when they learned that a considerable part of the flour was going to be exported to Spanish businessmen in Buenos Aires, the tax officials also reminded him that he could apply for a refund of the 2.5% unified special tax on flour at Niuzhuang Port Customs , this is the right granted to exporters by the state-although the food produced on the east coast is not as abundant as before, it is nothing to export part of it to foreign countries in exchange for cash or goods. Therefore, the current export of barreled flour can still apply for tax rebates. It can be regarded as a disguised encouragement to grain exports, but I don't know how long it will last.

Gao Jinzhong was naturally very grateful for the reminder from the tax bureau officials, and he used the excuse that it was almost noon to invite everyone to have a light meal together on the farm, but Huang Hanhua refused.He will rush to the pier in a while, take a 150-ton offshore steam steamer that departs in the afternoon, go to Nancun Port in Buenos Aires, and inspect the tax police camp there. and listen to their work reports.This is the itinerary that has already been set. For this reason, I have tried to ask the small steamer belonging to the state-owned inland water transport company to postpone the departure for half a day. I really can't wait any longer, so I can only tell the director Gao Jinzhong bid farewell, and rode back to Niuzhuang Port.

In the afternoon, Huang, the tax vanguard of the east coast, took six or seven entourages, boarded the deck of the ship, and then went all the way north along the coastal sea, and arrived at Nancun on the Bank of the Rio de la Plata the next day. Port, a place of greatest trade between East Coast and Spanish merchants.The headquarters of the Tax Police Battalion, which has already gained a reputation on the east coast, is located here. It is also suspected of infringing on the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Spain, but who will take it seriously?Not to mention Nancun Port, now even Buenos Aires has become the back garden of people on the east coast, who can go and come whenever they want, so what?

When Huang Hanhua arrived, the tax police battalion had just assembled about a company of troops, all armed, and they didn't know what to do.After Huang Hanhua inquired, he learned that this group of people was going to a relatively secluded small pier to catch smugglers. He was very interested and decided to go with him. The commander didn't want to agree at first, but whoever let him be his boss could only pinch it in the end. He responded with his nose.

(End of this chapter)