A caravan with a large group of horses stopped outside a certain mule and horse shop on the south bank of Wuding River.
The mule and horse shop was obviously newly built and very large, almost like an inn.
There is a shop inside the store, with more than ten cooks, and two kunfazhang masters at the door to help the guests look after the cattle, sheep, mules and horses.
"He's Old Shop." Xie Tong looked up and read the name of the shop from the plaque that was partially obscured by the snow.
There are really too many mule and horse shops in Xiazhou! Almost every shop that operates accommodation, wine and food has a large pasture, and there are dedicated people to help take care of the livestock, and the fees are not expensive.
Maybe this is a local characteristic.
"How can a customer buy so many horses?" An elderly shopkeeper came out to receive the customer and was amazed.
Selling horses has always been a big business in Lingxia. Yinchuan in Yinzhou, Yongqingzha in Fengzhou and the newly established Xishicheng Ranch in Huizhou are all government-run. It is difficult for ordinary people to buy the war horses raised there, unless you
There is a special way.
Outside of the three major pastures, you can only buy horses from the grassland tribe. But this depends on luck. Their horses usually have regular regular customers to buy them. If you come rashly, they will be picked by others.
Needless to say, the quantity may not be able to meet the demand. This caravan bought sixty or seventy horses in one go, which surprised the well-informed shop owner.
What good luck!
Xie Tong and Xie Yanzhang didn't speak. Naturally, the others didn't dare to say much and just negotiated casually with the store.
"With the little money given by the guests, we can only feed it with hay."
"Why are babies so expensive? Can't you feed me some wheat bran or beans?"
"At most, add some turnips, dig them out before it snows, and you can still eat them."
"Then hurry up."
The entourage and the shop owner went to the open grassland behind the shop. A gust of cold wind blew, mixed with large snow particles, and went straight into people's necks.
There are some cowsheds and horse houses set up next to the pasture, with dedicated people cutting grass and feeding them. Basically, they are runaway slaves who came from the grassland. They work in these shops for a year or two, and then wait patiently for the government to register them as households. As long as they are registered,
Once they have a household, they have an identity, and the leader on the grassland has nothing to do with them.
"There is no more Xia Sui Town, and there is no certainty of an army." Another group of merchants came to the store, and as soon as they sat down, they started chatting.
"With the four towns unified, the exorbitant taxes on merchants should be reduced, right? The Dingnan Army, Zhenwu Army, Tiande Army, Shuofang Town, so many Guanjin, should be cut off. If there were fewer tax cards, we would
Business can also be more prosperous."
"Hu San, I heard that next year the tax cards for traveling from Yeomju to Gyeongju, Tongseecheon, Chechaigyo and other places will be withdrawn."
"Qingzhou's tax card must also be withdrawn? Xingning Town is not..." At this point, Hong Shang decisively shut up.
Some things can be understood but cannot be expressed in words. Whoever listens to the origin of Li Yanling, the commander-in-chief of Xingning Festival, will understand.
"If you ask me, it is a good thing that the king of Lingwu County is in charge of ten states. We who do business are not afraid of paying money, but we are afraid of extortion. If we can combine the tax customs of all states and towns, we can avoid paying unjust money many times.
How many more livestock can be sold? In Suizhou East City and Xiazhou South City, you can collect more than 10,000 yuan more just by asking taxes in one year, which is not much more than the amount of money on the tax card?"
"Can it be the same? The tax collector's money belongs to the tax collector, and the tax collection belongs to the commander-in-chief. Why should the tax collector consider the commander-in-chief?"
"So Shuofang Town is well designed and saves a lot of trouble!"
Xie Tong listened silently and remained silent. Xie Yanzhang was extremely irritable and got up and went outside the store.
"Good guys, I finally caught you!" A shout suddenly sounded, and before Xie Tong could react, she was grabbed by several pairs of iron arms.
"Tell me, where did you buy these horses? Have you paid taxes?" A middle-aged tax collector ran over panting and pointed at Xie Tong and asked.
"If I buy it on the grassland and take it to Henan, what's the tax?" Xie Tong asked, feeling a little dizzy.
"I won't ask which grassland or so. The commander-in-chief has ordered that in the ten prefectures of Shuofang and the three prefectures of Xingning, all internal taxes will be cancelled. Only cards will be set up at Guanjin on the highway leading to other towns to collect taxes. You have not left the country yet.
"You haven't paid taxes, but have you paid the money to get rid of the stranger?" the tax collector asked loudly.
According to the system of the dynasty, the envoys of various disciplines and observation envoys collect taxes on merchants at the key roads of Jinji and Jilin. If the amount reaches more than one thousand, they will be taxed at the rate of 11 to use it for military supplies and miscellaneous purposes.
To put it bluntly, a feudal town can be understood as a country. When a merchant passes through two feudal towns, if the goods he carries are worth more than one thousand yuan, he will be charged a 10% overtax, which is actually a customs duty.
Some vassal towns go too far. They not only collect taxes once, but also pay 50% of the tax as soon as three or five tax cards are set up. In addition to paying taxes, they also face unwarranted extortion from tax collectors, which is an extremely heavy burden.
Taxes will eventually be spread into the cost, leaving the final consumer to foot the bill.
Now that the four states in Guanbei are integrated into one, the ten states can be regarded as a whole, and the internal taxes can indeed be cancelled, which is obviously not conducive to business. Moreover, Shao Shude has also included the three bordering states of Yingning. These ten states can be regarded as a whole.
The land of three states is a unified market. There are no tariffs between states within the country. Only taxes need to be paid when "entry and exit". Well, Marshal Shao even changed the name of "taxation". From now on, it will be called tariffs.
In addition to Mo Qian, it is actually a transaction tax. Initially, it was collected at 20 Wen each time. During the Jianzhong period, it increased to 50 Wen, and later it was reduced to 20 Wen.
In fact, it is difficult to collect this kind of money. It is usually only possible to collect it between stores. For example, when Zhao Cheng's caravan sold things in the countryside of Huizhou, it would definitely not be able to collect the money. But if they go to the city
If you sell it in the market, you can't get away with it, and the 2% tax rate is appropriate.
In addition to this tax, there is another tax in the market, which is opposite to the overtax. It is called the residence tax. It is calculated as 30 per thousand yuan, which is a tax rate of 3%. It is charged to merchants who sit on the ground. It is usually charged when transporting goods into the market.
It was collected at that time.
"Sixty-eight horses, I will give you thirty pieces of silk for each horse, totaling two thousand and forty pieces of silk. To pay for the removal of the stranger, I will charge you forty pieces of silk and eight feet." The tax collector grabbed Xie Tong's hand.
Clothes, he sneered and said: "If you dare to hide the goods, you will be caught by the lawsuit and lose one-third of them. Those who sell vendettas instead of following the official route will be punished. You didn't buy a horse at the market and escaped to get rid of the stranger's money. I will fine you now."
Twenty-three horses, do you have anything to say?"
A group of businessmen in the store were stunned and felt guilty. Almost everyone had done tax evasion. If we were to investigate carefully, no one would be able to escape. Who has never gone to the grassland to buy cattle and sheep secretly? People in the grassland do not understand the market and can lower prices at will.
After buying it, smart people will not take the official route, but take the mountain trails and resell it, and the profit will be astonishing.
This group of Henan businessmen were quite unlucky, so why were they arrested?
"We will accept the punishment!" Xie Tong reacted and signaled Xie Yanzhang with his eyes not to act rashly: "I am willing to use money and silk to redeem the confiscated horses. These sixty-eight horses will be taken away. I hope you can be lenient."
The tax collector pondered for a while and then said: "That's okay, but you still have to pay the money to remove the stranger."
******
"Commander, the commercial tax collected by the shogunate is mainly tax on five major items, excluding salt and profit, namely tea, bamboo, wood, lacquer, and iron, and the annual tax is more than 13,000 yuan." said Kong Muguan, the Field Secretary.
Liang Zhixiahui reports from Liang Zhixia, who has been promoted to the position of judge of the Division of Mutual Markets.
"Today, if you want to find a way to deal with tariffs, eliminate foreign money, and residence taxes, you must do three things." Liang Zhixia continued: "First, attract more businessmen to enter the country. When there are more people, there will be more tariffs. Thirteen Prefectures
There are more than a million registered residents in this place, and there are a lot of livestock, medicinal materials, and leather goods. Every year, many businessmen from other towns enter the country. The current inland state and county tax cards have been abolished, which greatly facilitates business. Word of mouth spreads, and it will definitely attract more people.
come over."
"Both of them, build more markets, let merchants enter and trade, and collect money to get rid of strangers and residence taxes. If you don't comply, you can be arrested with the approval of the department, which will definitely make them frightened."
"Third, the tax collectors who have abolished their tax cards should be given horses and equipment to patrol the mountain roads to deter those who try to bypass the official roads."
Shao Shude nodded silently after hearing this.
The former shogunate of the Dingnan Army, in terms of commercial income, mainly came from salt ponds and government-run horse shops. You can say that they are "state-owned enterprises", and this part of the income is regarded as the profits and taxes paid by state-owned enterprises. Salt profits are about
Around 200,000 pieces of silk. In theory, the horse shop's sales amount to more than 300,000 pieces of silk. However, since we spend a lot of money on immigration and other aspects, it would be good to have 200,000 pieces of silk left in a year.
This part of the income was also kept in the accounts by the concubines in the mansion, and Shao Shude classified it as "public income".
The money earned from selling land every year is classified as "public property income".
The real business tax, for now, is still the tax revenue of 13,000 yuan. In addition to foreign money, residence tax, overtax and the like, evasion is serious, the income is very little, and it mainly comes from Suizhou East City
, the two major markets in Xiazhou South City.
In order to make this part of the income increase significantly, it is necessary to reorganize the market system that has been dilapidated for many years and build more markets. And you have to find a way to let more people enter the market to trade, otherwise how will you collect money?
"Commander" Liang Zhixia couldn't help but said: "Actually, the money is not much, and the energy consumed is too much..."
"No!" Shao Shude stopped Liang Zhixia and said: "Judge Liang, there are more than 1.8 million people under the rule of a certain country. Their lives are stable and there are no robbers and robbers. They are still attractive to merchants. Whether they are doing business or being a businessman.
, we will not give up our business. We need to take a long-term view. In the future, the lives of the people in the town will get better and better, and they will have more money to buy things. The business tax will gradually increase, and it will be as much as you
unbelievable."
"There are some rules, it's best to establish them at the beginning. After businessmen from other towns or even Hu merchants come over, it will be unsightly to set up rules in a hurry, full of mistakes and omissions." Shao Shude added: "Just rely on monopoly to negotiate taxes.
, is not a long-term solution. It is not easy to raise an army. There are more than 70,000 soldiers, and there are still wars to come. If we don’t take care of finance and tax matters, and there is insufficient military resources, how can we fight a war?"
This is what I mean by planning for a rainy day. Shao Shude feels that if we do some things now, the interests involved are not too complicated and the difficulty is not high. If we really wait until the commodity economy becomes prosperous, it will be much more troublesome.
There are more than ten states in Shuofang Town, and he is confident that he can attract more businessmen.
Internal tariffs were eliminated and a unified market was established, which was a great benefit to merchants.
The environment is relatively stable and there is no war, which is also a big plus for businessmen.
It is located in a key location connecting the grasslands, the Western Regions, and the middle of Shu, which is even more beneficial to merchants.
He remembered that the financial backbone of the Song Dynasty in later generations was commercial tax revenue, so this matter must have a big head start, although it may not have shown signs of this yet.