This dual jurisdiction puts a tightrope on the Department of Commercial and Taxation.

The practice of arbitrarily collecting miscellaneous taxes and creating new miscellaneous taxes to supplement expenses, as was done in the Ming Dynasty and other dynasties, simply does not work.

Xinming's main focus is control.

"Okay, there are exactly ten villages in the county, two for each person. The tax must be paid within seven days. It will be shipped to the capital at the end of October, so there can be no delay."

The officials immediately allocated quotas.

There are rich and poor people in each township. Under normal circumstances, one is rich and the other is poor. If the relationship with the officials is not good, then the two are poor. If the relationship is good, the two are rich.

The rich are in the plains and the poor are in the mountains.

It is obvious that Zhang Zhu is neither good nor bad, one is poor and the other is rich, Zhaojia Town, Zuohoubao.

In the stable, he brought a mule and two donkeys, and led ten white servants out of the city.

Only Zhang Zhu was riding a mule, and the remaining two donkeys were riding empty.

The large group of people attracted the attention of passers-by and they did not dare to say anything.

"Go to Zhaojiazhuang." When Bai Yi asked, Zhang Zhu said casually.

Zhaojiazhuang is located next to the official road, with convenient transportation and numerous plains, so it can be rich. However, Zuohoubao was built as a guard station and is located in an important place, but it is poorer.

When the group arrived in the town, the three village elders had already greeted them at the roadside.

After chatting for a while, they went to the restaurant to wait.

After having enough food and wine, before anyone could react, the village stuffed some local products into the waists of all the white servants.

No more, no less, ten silver coins.

When they arrived at Zhang Zhu's place, there were two silver notes worth one hundred silver dollars.

"This is a note from the World Bank, you can cash it at any time."

Holding the banknote, Zhang Zhu was noncommittal and squinted his eyes: "This is against the rules!"

In previous years, it was one hundred silver dollars, but now it has doubled, which is surprising.

He just looked directly at the mayor without any scruples about etiquette.

The village elders and policemen on the side wanted to speak, but were stopped by the township chief.

He was wearing a satin robe, and there was still a smile on his square face:

"The village has grown more corn in recent years, and most of it is on the mountains. This is not to make the servants travel less..."

In response to this, Zhang Zhu chuckled: "As far as I know, Erxiang has 37,000 acres of land, nearly 3,000 acres of paddy fields, 30,000 acres of dry land, and 3,000 to 4,000 acres of mountainous land."

"Last year, it was about 10,000 acres. How many acres are now planted with corn?"

"Twelve thousand acres," the mayor said.

"Don't think I don't know. Most of your villages have planted corn, at least 70%, that's 23,000 acres!"

As he said that, he stood up and said: "Henan is the central province, and the levy for an acre is two cents, which is 20 cents, so 23,000 acre is..."

"Two two makes four, two three makes six, that is 460,000 yuan, or 460 silver coins."

"I'm still short, only 70%. If it's 90%, that's incredible. It's six to seven hundred yuan!"

This does not include land not included in the yellow list.

Over the years, large households have spared their energy to cultivate land, while small households have gritted their teeth and used their savings to cultivate land, at least six to seven thousand acres of land have been concealed.

If that were all considered, a thousand silver dollars would have been lost.

It is normal to conceal information, and no one wants to collect more royal food.

Likewise, the imperial court did not spare any effort to find the land that had been concealed.

Let Zhang Zhu and the dozen or so people fight against the whole village, and they have to search for the ground, which is harder than heaven.

If you are not careful, you may easily be attacked by wild animals, which may put your life in danger.

"Then how much do you think it is?"

The mayor asked softly.

"Two hundred yuan is not enough. Three hundred yuan is required. In addition, the quantity must be reported as 20,000 acres."

Zhang Zhu said calmly: "The first master (the county magistrate) wants political achievements, and our second master (the judge) also wants political achievements."

This cutting of flesh made the third elder extremely painful.

The township chief gritted his teeth and said, "It can only be fifteen thousand acres."

It feels uncomfortable to give up an extra three thousand acres.

"OK!"

Zhang Zhu also knew what was appropriate and responded with a smile.

Seeing the ugly expression on the San Lao's face, he continued: "Although this money is in my hand, it can't all fall into my pocket. There are officials above me, and above me there is Master Tongpan. If I can get three melons and two dates, it will be good."

"

"Although this money is in my hands, it is for your business!"

These words made the three elders relax a little.

As for commercial taxes, they are collected by the merchants in the town and are collected by the three elders. They are also an important source of money for the three elders.

There are dozens of shops and restaurants, as well as vegetable shops and meat shops, as well as grass markets and markets scattered in various villages.

In accordance with past rules, he paid business taxes for seven, eight, and nine months, totaling one hundred and fifty silver dollars.

Zhang Zhu couldn't tell how good his business was, so he could only follow the old routine and not increase or decrease it.

With that said, the banquet ended.

Immediately, the tax on 15,000 acres of land, which was three hundred silver dollars, was collected.

The white servants carried eggs or chickens and ducks, while Zhang Zhu's two donkeys carried a large amount of local products, which was a good harvest.

Bai Yayue's monthly salary is only half a piece of silver and half a stone of food, barely enough for food and clothing. These extra money are the basis of their nourishment.

The village even had to send people to help transfer the money to the county.

The three elders breathed a sigh of relief and immediately entertained the twenty-five village chiefs:

"I tried my best to prevent the tax collector from going to the countryside to investigate the hidden fields. However, this time we collected nearly 500 yuan. Each of you will contribute 20 yuan to each village."

Upon hearing the number five hundred, the village chiefs immediately started making a fuss.

"Isn't it three hundred in previous years? Why is there two hundred more?"

The Xiang Lao was a local and relied on the recommendation of each village. He looked embarrassed.

The township chief remained silent, and only the township police came forward: "Aren't there too many corn farmers? I'm not blind, so why don't I harvest more corn?"

"Each village will collect 90% of the land."

The village chiefs gave up and reluctantly took out the money.

Then there is the land tax.

Compared with the tax collectors, the three elders were much more lenient and allowed the villages to deliver the goods before the end of the month to maintain the feelings of relatives and friends, and the village chiefs' expressions became somewhat relieved.

When the village chief returned to the village, he said: "The whole village has to pay taxes, and Yintian can only pay half of it..."

The people were happy to pay half of the tax to protect hidden fields, improve their lives, and save more to survive famines and other disasters.

And this hidden field is the benefit divided among villages, townships and counties.

Due to financial pressure, the imperial power could not go to the countryside and had to compromise.

On the contrary, it is a commercial tax. The shops subject to the tax are fixed, but the customs duties are narrow and cannot be escaped at all.

ps: Many people say that agricultural taxes are low, but two cents and twenty cents are a lot of money. Trivia, and the three wages that force the people to rebel, add up to only one cent or two cents, and the Liao wages were only three and a half cents at the beginning.

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the three rates were merged, and the monthly levy was divided into one to three points, so there were still six to seven thousand taels.
Chapter completed!