Signing in to Datang: Rebellion at the beginning

Chapter 55

The man who collected the bridge tax was also angry when he saw that Li Ke did not pay the tax and continued to pester him, and said directly:
"Boy, in short, if you don't pay taxes today, you can never cross the bridge here. And let me tell you, if you continue to entangle here, be careful that I will send you to the yamen."

Li Ke laughed angrily when he heard this.

Only then did I understand why no one around me had been to this bridge for so long.

It turns out that there are people like this who forcefully collect bridge tax here, who is willing to spend this money?

He hesitated for a moment, and felt that there was a big problem in it, so he decided not to tear his face.

So he said to Jin Yan: "Give him ten pennies!"

Jin Yan nodded, opened her purse, took out ten coins and handed it to the man.

When the man saw the money, he smiled and said:
"It's almost there!"

Then he glanced at Jin Yan, and said again: "Young lady is beautiful, do you want to follow our county magistrate?"

Jin Yan's face changed, revealing a hint of anger.

She used to be a princess, but now she is the concubine of the Dragon Kingdom.How can I be teased?

But Li Ke gave her a look, but did not get angry.

So he took Jin Yan across the bridge and walked on this side of the bridge for a while.

Li Ke asked a few more people about taxation, but at the beginning, no one was willing to talk to him in detail.

So he changed his method.

stopped a young man and asked:

"Brother, I'm a foreigner, and I was charged a bridge tax when I crossed that bridge just now. I want to ask what's going on?"

The young man was willing to stop and say a few more words after hearing Li Ke say that he was a foreigner.

He shook his fan and said, "You don't know, do you? In our place, taxes are very strict, and there are many types of taxation.

As long as you go out, anything you encounter may involve tax collection.For example, the bridge tax you collected before, and some places have road taxes.

And there will be additional business taxes in some shops, including the firewood cutting tax for woodcutters going up the mountain to cut firewood, and heavy taxes for farming farmers, as well as labor fees for workers.

By the way, if you want to marry a wife in this place, you have to pay the wife tax, and if you marry a concubine, you have to pay the concubine tax.

In addition, if you do not marry a wife, do not marry a concubine, and you have not married a wife when you are ten years old, if you are not married, you will have to pay single tax.

If you have any pets in your family, you must also pay pet tax.In short, this tax, that tax, can be involved in anything, and once it is involved, you have to pay it. "

After listening to his words, Li Ke was stunned.

To be honest, whether as a modern person or an ancient person, Li Ke has never heard of so many taxes.

Some of them sound so ridiculous, but they still have to pay taxes?

He sneered and said, "Everything is taxed, so if you are poor, don't you have to pay poverty tax?"

"Hey, you're right. Some families are too poor and pay so much. It's a good name. You can only put pressure on them, and they will be motivated..."

Li Ke was dumbfounded.

Then Li Ke said: "If I remember correctly, the Dragon Kingdom has not promulgated so many tax items, right? And I have never heard of these tax items in other places."

Hearing what he said, the young man asked with some doubts:

"Really? Where are you from?"

Li Ke said, "I came from the imperial capital."

The young man was a little dubious: "Not so good, didn't the Yamen say that these taxes are unified across the country? How come the imperial capital didn't collect these taxes?"

Li Ke said: "It's not just the imperial capital. I have traveled all the way. There are no such taxes in other places, but there are personal taxes."

The young man shook his fan and said:
"Then I don't know. In short, it is probably the case in several counties near us. Moreover, the Yamen has always said that it was an order from the Dragon Kingdom court, and even posted a notice. There should be no falsehood.

As for the personal tax you mentioned, we also have to pay it here, but relatively few people pay it. The Yamen never cares about personal tax, but other taxes are very serious. "

Hearing this, Li Ke inexplicably realized something.

After the young man left, Li Ke said to himself:

"Except for personal tax, all other taxes must be collected strictly...and very seriously."

He took a deep breath, looked at Jin Yan and said:

"I probably understand what's going on. From the perspective of several counties, there are tricks, and they are playing tricks with the imperial court!"

Jin Yan still didn't understand.

Li Ke then analyzed his guess with her. According to Li Ke's thinking, this yamen is indeed collecting individual taxes according to the order of the court.

It's just that the tax is collected more casually.

Because the money was to be handed over to the imperial court, several counties in Shun'an Prefecture didn't take it seriously, and just collected a tax to perfunctory the imperial court, which resulted in less tax revenue.

Moreover, accurate accounts were made, so that the court and the Ministry of Households could not find any problems.Because the individual tax was indeed collected, they paid all of it without any corruption.

But the problem is that they not only collected a tax, but also collected other messy taxes, and these taxes must have not been handed over to the court, and were swallowed up by these corrupt officials.

Thinking of this, Li Ke sneered:
"Sure enough, the Emperor Shangao is far away. The place that is too far away from the imperial capital has really become the world of magistrates. Fortunately, I have come here to visit it myself. Otherwise, I really can't believe that such a thing will happen."

Jin Yan asked: "Your Majesty, what are you going to do?"

Li Ke thought for a while and said, "Continue to observe, and we'll talk about it after we find out!"

Jin Yan nodded, so Li Ke took her to continue wandering around the county, and learned about all kinds of strange but real taxes.

(End of this chapter)