Custom tax is actually "flower donation", no matter how euphemistic it is. This is a kind of tax that does not sound good, and it runs counter to "public order and good morality", and is quite politically incorrect. Therefore, when Lingao was in power, some elders
It advocates the "abolition of prostitution". However, the serious gender imbalance in the population in Lingao and even Qiongzhou Prefecture gives sufficient reasons to maintain this system.
However, when we arrived in Guangzhou, the matter became difficult-not to mention Guangdong, at least in Guangzhou, there was no serious problem of gender imbalance. After the main reason of "ensuring social stability" was lost, the abolition of prostitution in the Senate
The pie is active again.
There are not many elders who advocate the abolition of prostitution, and their motives are varied. Some view the issue purely from the perspective of women's liberation and human rights equality, such as Du Wen, Ji Xin, etc.; there are also those who view the issue from a health perspective, such as those at the health gate - sexually transmitted diseases.
This is a problem that has always been a headache for health clinics; and from a public security perspective, brothels have always been full of filth and are an important place for criminals to hide and sell stolen goods.
Although the Senate had different opinions on the issue of prostitution, for Wudaokou, whether to ban prostitution in Guangzhou was mainly an economic issue.
Although "yellow tickets" in the areas controlled by the Senate are currently heavily taxed, the total revenue from the "custom tax" is not high. Firstly, the number of women who voluntarily work as prostitutes is limited, and most of them are prostitutes from other places who have dispersed to Hainan for various reasons.
Secondly, the current economy in the area controlled by the Senate is booming, the male-to-female population ratio is seriously imbalanced, and women have very little employment pressure; the national police has also severely cracked down on traditional prostitution, such as personal debt repayment and human trafficking, in the process of rectifying social order.
Source channels, it is clear that those engaged in the custom industry must comply with the principles of "voluntariness" and "autonomy" of practitioners, which further reduces the source of prostitutes. Therefore, overall, the custom industry in Lingao, including Qiongzhou Prefecture, has developed greatly compared with before D day, but
The overall scale is not very large. It is just because the demand far exceeds the supply that the market is very hot.
But Guangzhou is different. This most famous city in southern China is very prosperous in industry and commerce, which naturally leads to the development of "smoke-free industry". The prostitution industry is large-scale, with many employees, and the annual consumption is immeasurable. Because of the Yamen in the Ming Dynasty
It does not collect flower donations like the National Government did. Therefore, the profits of this industry are extremely considerable. In fact, everyone knows that Ziminglou is essentially a "smoke-free industry" - in terms of the profitability of this enterprise, it is
The highest among the state-owned enterprises under the Planning Institute.
Even the ancients knew this secret very well. It is said that after Zeng Guofan conquered Tianjing, he went to Confucius Temple and proposed to organize a flower boat to prosper the market.
One year before the liberation of Guangzhou, Cheng Dong sent Cheka's Jin Zhijiao to Guangzhou on the pretext of "auditing the accounts." In fact, her main job was to secretly investigate Guangzhou's "financial resources." In this secret report within the department,
, there is a special chapter that mentions the prosperity of Guangdong's "flower industry" and the cash flow within this industry as well as the economic scale of surrounding industries. The report believes that the output value of Guangzhou's "flower industry" and its surrounding industries is likely to account for more than half of Guangzhou's "flower industry" and its surrounding industries.
More than a quarter of the tertiary industry is an important source of finance and taxation.
This important source of fiscal revenue has not only been noticed by Wudaokou for a long time, but also the elders of the local system, including Liu Xiang, are also eyeing it. Therefore, the proposal to "ban prostitution" was opposed by them.
Ai Zhixin knew that Liu Xiang would never support the abolition of prostitution. The reason was that it was a ready source of income. For the stretched local government, there was absolutely no reason to abolish it. However, the exploitation of the prostitution industry was cruel and vicious.
It is also an important reason for the "abolition of prostitution" faction - after all, the elders still have to be politically correct.
Therefore, Ai Zhixin estimates that Liu Xiang's "rectification case" is still the same as the reformism currently being promoted in Qiongzhou Prefecture and other places. It is roughly to implement the national police's "voluntary employment" and "personal ownership" in the management of custom industries.
The three principles of "freedom of movement" strictly prohibit any form of madam, housekeeper and pimp. We promote "free employment" and "self-employment" and completely prohibit "slave-style prostitution".
Sure enough, this was the tone at the beginning of the meeting. After Liu Xiang said a few words, Ai Zhixin interrupted him:
"I'm very pressed for time now, can I talk about the custom tax first?"
"I'm afraid not," Liu Xiang was interrupted by him, with a look of hesitation on his face. "The situation of the prostitution industry in Guangzhou is very complicated, and there are many types of businesses. If you don't explain it, I'm afraid you won't be able to formulate a precise
of taxes.”
Ai Zhixin made sense when he heard it. After all, his understanding of Guangzhou's customs industry was based on Jin Zhijiao's report.
Next, let Lin Baiguang introduce the specific situation. The prostitution industry in Guangzhou is roughly divided into two systems: public and private. The public one is Lehu. Lehu are untouchables and have official status. Their household registrations are
It is registered under the name of the ceremonial house at the prefectural and county levels. It is managed by a dedicated haiku chief.
Although not all Lehu are engaged in prostitution, the jobs they are allowed to engage in such as musicianship, singing, acting, etc., are all "low-level jobs" in this time and space, and they are both called "prostitutes", so the distinction is not strict. Because
They have "official status" and must undertake various government errands for free, from playing music at ceremonies to accompanying officials and gentry in banquets and singing songs.
From this, government-run brothels were also derived. The brothels in the northern and southern capitals were very large. There were also such brothels in Guangzhou, which were specially designed to receive officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants. Guo Yi could be said to be a must-go every month in Guangzhou.
Several times - this is an important place to socialize with officials.
Although Lehu belong to the "Leji" and have a monthly salary of five pecks of rice, in fact it has not been distributed for many years, and there is no such thing as "assignment of work". They basically make a living on their own, doing the music work that the government allows them to do.
, prostitutes, actors and other occupations.
Lin Baiguang said that the composition of Lehu is very complicated. Although they belong to the untouchables, are discriminated against by society, and are an oppressed class, they are not too bad at the economic level. Although there is no reward for accepting public errands, there are quite generous rewards;
Some Lehu opened their own brothels, acted as madams, led families, and quite a few made a fortune.
The private ones refer to various brothels and private shops. The employees in them include both Lehu and ordinary people.
In addition, there are a large number of Dan family water prostitute boats and flower boats in Baietan and other places. There are a huge number of these prostitute boats, ranging from high, middle and low grades. The situation is even more complicated.
"...The situation of practitioners is quite complicated, but most of the brothel madams, housekeepers, and turtle slaves were born in Lehu. Most of them have been engaged in these industries for generations, but the source of prostitutes is much wider. If they are not settled in Lehu
If you have the citizenship, you will be regarded as a good citizen after redeeming yourself."
"This system is really cruel." Mu Min frowned and said, "I remember that the Senate issued a legal order to abolish the status of untouchables. The status of untouchables in Lehu should also be abolished."
"This is not a problem." Liu Xiang said, "What we want to talk about is to clean up this industry." He stretched his waist and nodded at Lin Baiguang, "There is a lot of black material in Lao Lin's place. In short, it is a dark old society. I
There is no need to read the suggestions. If you are interested, you can take a look. Let’s talk about the specific purge plan now.”
Liu Xiang's words were very careful to avoid irritating Mu Min: Comrade Mu is of course a loyal and rational veteran comrade. Putting herself in her shoes, as a woman, she probably cannot calmly watch women being so cruelly ravaged and exploited. He must fully
Make use of her professional abilities without putting too much pressure on her.
The purge plan was formulated by Lin Baiguang and Mu Min. The first step is to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the city's customs industry. This work is almost complete now. Relying on household registration and social surveys, the police station has mastered the knowledge of the customs industry in addition to eliminating gangsters.
Apart from the brothels, the basic conditions of all the brothels in and outside the city and some semi-private brothels, as well as the conditions of some floating brothels moored in Baietan all year round, have also been roughly understood.
"...Now we are implementing the license registration system for the entertainment industry. Within one month, all brothels and related practitioners must register their licenses. After registration, business licenses and 'yellow tickets' will be issued. Those who do not register will be charged as 'illegal*
***'discuss it." Mu Min said, "This step is to force practitioners to come out and register as much as possible. Brothels cannot escape, but a large number of private shops are small in scale, have a small number of people, and their activities are very secretive. In a short period of time, we can
It’s difficult to master them all. Use this method to suppress them.”
"At this point, you can actually collect taxes." Liu Xiang said to Ai Zhixin, "What do you think?"
Ai Zhixin asked: "I think the current registration system should be short-term, and it does not have a specific policy."
"Yes. Registration is just to have a more comprehensive grasp of the situation."
"Since it is not a long-term plan, then we can adopt simple methods." Ai Zhixin said, "head tax and license tax"
Ai Zhixin explained that this head tax is very simple, and the tax rate can also be set lower. Because it will not last too long, there is no need to consider the reasonableness of the burden, so there is no need to formulate too complicated tax rates and collection rules. Each person is required to
A prostitute only needs to pay a certain amount of tax every month. As for the license tax, it is collected on a registered brothel basis. It does not even need to be divided into levels. Regardless of the size, a certain amount of yuan is collected every month.
The advantage of this is that it can adapt to the current low-level collection. There is no need for grading and accounting in advance, and there are not many loopholes to exploit in the collection process - you can collect as much as you send. As long as you can read and do basic arithmetic, you can collect.
"In this case, the burden of taxation will definitely be placed on prostitutes, and their exploitation will be more serious." Mu Min expressed concern. (To be continued.)