Chapter six hundred and eighty-eighth taxpayer system
"My lord, these are the tax records of the wool merchant in Eel Lane."
Early in the morning, a tax official under Vilas brought a thick record.
The Iron Throne has been promoting economic reforms, but the speed is slower than other aspects.
Jon Clinton is a prime minister with excellent overall abilities. He can unite the war in wartime and govern the country in peacetime. During his time as prime minister, he suppressed rebellions and invasions from all directions. In terms of economic reform, Jon Clinton has always advocated stability.
For the sake of the Lord, try not to cause too much violent turmoil.
Therefore, in Jon's era, economic reforms have always been tepid, while wars have been fought in full swing. This can also be regarded as a personal characteristic of him.
However, the period when Jon was in charge of the Royal Council was not without achievements in the economic aspect. For example, he strongly advocated the abolition of the tax collector system that had lasted for hundreds of thousands of years in Westeros.
The tax contractor system is a person who is entrusted by the royal family to collect taxes indirectly. The contractor pays the taxes in advance, and then obtains the royal taxation rights, and then collects taxes from the taxpayers.
Jon Clinton believes that the system of tax collectors is full of loopholes, chaos, sin, violation of honor, and even nourishes many social dregs, forming a dark and evil force in King's Landing.
Because after many tax collectors obtained taxation rights from the royal family, they would take some extreme measures to extort merchants, beat, smash, rob, burn, physically threaten, pick quarrels and cause trouble, and disrupt the normal business order.
Even in the end, the money extorted from the merchants was far higher than the normal taxes, and these poor merchants still needed to pay a protection fee to the golden robes at that time, otherwise they would still encounter the golden robes.
trouble.
Faced with these layers of exploitation, the merchants operating normally and legally in Junlin have basically been squeezed out of their profits, so they are forced to raise prices and pass the pressure on to ordinary people.
This is why during the Baratheon Dynasty and even the old Targaryen Dynasty, once there was war or other changes, prices soared before other things happened.
Because the royal family was in urgent need of money, it immediately levied taxes for the next few years from the tax collectors, and the tax collectors levied more taxes from merchants. In the end, the price of goods in King's Landing suddenly took off and soared into the sky.
And tax collectors, who were extremely 'special' legal businessmen who were once subordinate to the Minister of Finance, collect money from both sides. On one side, they receive preferential tax treatment from the royal family as their reward, and on the other side, they eat more money from merchants. Naturally, they make money.
The bowl is full of water.
However, merchants and ordinary people in Junlin who operate normally without any background or backing are left scarred.
Ever since Jon Connington first served as Hand of the King during the reign of 'Mad King' Aerys II, he has deeply hated the evil forces of King's Landing.
How could a person like him, who hates evil so much and has no room for sand in his eyes, watch these people commit evil acts?
However, although Jon Connington was the Mad King's Prime Minister at that time, he did not have much opportunity to show his talents.
Because he did not get the support of a wise master, but in the era of Viserys, he returned to King's Landing and got this opportunity to flex his muscles.
Therefore, in terms of economic reform and national internal affairs, Jon was the first to abolish the tax collector system, but the tax collector system was ultimately a convenient way for the royal family to collect taxes.
The tax collector system was abolished, and the tax officials of the empire suddenly became busy. From now on, there are no ruffians to help them collect taxes. They can only rely on their words to make those greedy businessmen little by little.
They pay the taxes they should pay.
Whenever their legs are broken due to work, tax officials can't help but miss those former ruffians.
However, it is a pity that they have all been sent to prison by Lord Jon Connington, and some of them have even gone north to the Great Wall or have died.
The tax officer under Villas handed him a tax record of a certain wool merchant in the city.
This was written by a tax official during the Baratheon Dynasty, but now this tax official is guarding the border while blowing the cold wind on the Great Wall.
Although Jon Connington abolished the tax collector system, and the internal purge of the City Guard was trained by Black Worm, the commander of the Unsullied Legion, for a year, now "Ser Blackfish" Brynden Tully is commander in chief, and the military discipline is strict.
A lot has changed, and the business operations of merchants in Junlin City are no longer as difficult as before.
But businessmen are businessmen, and they will fight for every penny of profits without treachery. Therefore, although there is no longer the exploitation of tax collectors and golden robes, it is even more difficult to collect taxes. They will find all kinds of ways to do so.
He argued with the tax collectors of King's Landing for various reasons.
Now this wool merchant in Eel Lane is a difficult opponent. Willas has personally visited twice, but to no avail. The other party claims that his taxes have been paid during the reign of King Robert.
Thirty years later, there is no need to pay taxes now.
"Sir, do we still have to go there today?"
"This old guy doesn't listen to what we say at all. He is just messing around."
A tax official under Villas leaned on the table and asked angrily.
"What do you mean his taxes have been paid thirty years later?"
"Can King Robert and His Majesty the Emperor be the same thing?"
"King Robert was dissolute and squandered money, while His Majesty the Emperor was thrifty and upright."
"I suggest informing Lord Brynden Tully directly and sending someone to seal down his shop!"
Although the tax collectors of the empire cannot be like the ruffians of the past who smashed, looted, burned, burned and threatened, they still have an ultimate weapon, which is to notify the capital garrison and ask them to send people to seize the merchant's shop.
.
"No need for the moment."
Willas Tyrell, who was sitting behind his desk and flipping through the tax records, finally finished reading it. He thought for a moment, then shook his head and said.
Then the brown-haired young man raised his finger and pointed at several records in this account. These all occurred during the reign of King Robert a few years ago, when the White Walker invasion war broke out.
"Old Linman didn't lie."
"He has indeed paid his taxes thirty years into the future."
At that time, the Iron Throne was heavily in debt, but in order to gather soldiers for the war, it repeatedly borrowed money from everywhere and squeezed out the people's wealth and anointment. The people were miserable, and this wool merchant from the north was also a victim.