Wang Zhaomin talked about the problems that had arisen since the launch of the Liaoning Pay Collection. In his opinion, the court's collection of silver was completely harmful to a remote county like Lingao. On the contrary, every time the collection of silver came, there would be a fuss.
Flying dogs are extremely disturbing to the people.
"Lingao is not as good as Nanzhili, even Henan and Hebei! Where can the people in places like this get money to pay? They just sell grain and cloth at low prices and enrich the merchants in vain." Wang Zhaomin sighed.
Wu De listened and knew that this was another headache for the county. Lingao and Xuwen and Haikang across the strait were exactly two extremes. On the one hand, due to the production of sugar from sugar cane, the commodity economy was developed, and food was expensive and silver was cheap;
On the other hand, it is almost entirely a natural economy, and there is no money in the market.
"I heard that Xuwen across the strait is rich in cane sugar and rice is expensive and silver is cheap. Why not traffic the grain to Xuwen and sell it in exchange for silver?"
"How can it be so easy!" These words brought back Wang Zhaomin's complaints.
Wu Mingjin had this idea when he first took office, and even sent his family to Xuwen to inquire about the market. But to traffic grain, you must have a batch of grain on hand for turnover. This batch of grain has no place to come from - the annual grain supply in Lingao
Fu had to finish the class reluctantly, and there was no extra food in Changpingcang. Furthermore, transporting food across the sea involves the cost of trafficking. If the ship capsizes, no one can afford to compensate for the loss. Magistrate Wu
After the novelty of taking office as a new official wore off, I finally abandoned this idea with the thought that doing more would be better than doing less.
It is also much easier to pay taxes in Haikang and Xuwen than in Lingao. The local county government has gained a lot of income from the cane sugar trade. If you have money, you will not have to worry about not being able to buy food, but if you have food, you may not be able to buy it.
Silver. The worst thing is that the agricultural level of Lingao is not as good as that of Xuwen and Haikang, and there is no way to export grain on a large scale in exchange for the needed silver.
If the government wants to finish its work, it can only force the villagers to sell their products at low prices. Although the monetary collection of taxes has an important role in promoting the disintegration of the natural economy and the establishment of a commodity economy, it is not suitable for Lingao, a country with frequent natural disasters and low productivity levels.
It is very destructive locally.
Unexpectedly, there is only a narrow Qiongzhou Strait, and they are two completely different worlds. Wu De lamented that China is huge and its national conditions are complex, and for the first time he felt a little afraid of the big hat of "civil affairs" he was wearing.
However, when the conversation came to this point, Wu De felt that it was almost done. He accepted the full power of the executive committee and could show his cards to Wang Zhaomin.
He said: "Master Wang, actually, you don't have to worry about food and taxes-"
"Thank you very much!" Wang Zhaomin quickly thanked him.
"Slow down!" Wu De said slowly, "As for the matter of starting classes in Australia, I can promise it. There are five hundred acres of paddy fields, and there are a lot of grains. Not only that, this year's autumn tax in Lingao County, whether it is land tax or not
No matter whether you are a landowner or a low-income person, we will take care of all the payments."
"What?!" Wang Zhaomin was dumbfounded and didn't know how to react. "County's grain tax"! This was so unexpected for Wang Zhaomin - someone actually offered to pay the county's autumn tax on his behalf!
"The county's grain tax?" Wang Zhaomin asked in disbelief.
"Exactly." Wu De nodded.
Wang Zhaomin thought to himself that this group of Australians are too bold! The county's grain tax alone is nearly 8,000 dan in terms of grain, and there are also various expenses involved in grain collection and shipment. Even if all the people in charge of the county are clear
If the water is as bright as a mirror, it would take 10,000 shi of brown rice to cope with it, not to mention the salary of more than 8,000 taels of silver.
Australians are still levying "reasonable burdens" across the county after the Spring Festival this year. How come they have become so generous in the blink of an eye?
"This year we will be the general contractor of the county." Wu De said clearly, his tone unquestionable.
Wang Zhaomin was speechless for a moment. This was an outcome he had never expected. He thought that the Australians would refuse the request and not pay a cent of rice. He also thought that the price might be exorbitant, and that he might even ask for money.
The county government levied "reasonable burdens" on its behalf. However, the request to take over the entire county's taxes was too unexpected. Even when the Gou brothers were at their most powerful, they had never had such an idea.
"Do we really want to take over the entire county's tax revenue?" Wang Zhaomin couldn't help but ask again.
"Of course it is true." Wu De nodded and said calmly, "We always keep our word. When did we break our promise?"
Wang Zhaomin's mind was running rapidly. Is this good or bad for him and Wu Mingjin? For a moment, he couldn't make a judgment.
However, he instinctively felt that there was evil intention behind this request.
"The grain tax of this dynasty is innumerable, and there are many tricks in it, and Chen Minggang is an extremely evil person..." Wang Zhaomin began to use the method of "posing difficult problems".
"We know this," Wu De did not intend to discuss specific details with him, but simply stated his conditions:
"I think Master Wang knows exactly how much tax we should pay, and he won't bully me and other foreigners who are ignorant." Wu De stared at Wang Zhaomin closely, "How much is the tax amount, how much rice is consumed, and there should be yamen among them.
No matter how many benefits there are, you can tell me them all, no need to be polite."
"This, no need, no need..." Wang Zhaomin was already panicking, "This matter must be discussed with the proprietor before we can decide."
"Deliberation is natural. However," Wu De showed a threatening look, "Autumn grain is a major event in the county government. I think Mr. Wu will never fail to understand this truth."
This is a clear and direct threat: if they are not given the autumn gifts, there will be no need to think about Lingao's grain levy.
"Yes, yes, of course I understand this." Wang Zhaomin was sweating profusely.
"So, the thieves are determined to take over the entire county's tax revenue?" Wu Mingjin asked with a sad face.
"Exactly! Dong Weng, the bandit leader surnamed Wu, made rude remarks, and the implication is that if we don't give them everything, the county's autumn grain harvest will not be collected!"
"Old Master, what are you going to do?"
"Maybe he wants to take advantage of the opportunity to make money." Wang Zhaomin thought about it and came up with this possibility. "It just doesn't seem like it. It's very suspicious."
"Exactly," Wu Mingjin nodded, "What they want to gather is soft goods. What's the use of all this food? Besides, it's very easy for them to get food and money - if they ask the rich locals to give it, who would dare not to hand it over? Why bother?
Fei Zhouzhang, let’s do a tax-collection trick first.”
It is not an easy task to collect taxes. It is not only time-consuming, but also complicated. It would be unreliable to say that the cross-border group wants to make a fortune through this.
After much thought, the two couldn't figure out what their motives were. Of course, they agreed that the Australians had "bad intentions."
Whether he has good intentions or not, Wu Mingjin doesn't have many choices. Either he agrees to the Australians to take care of everything; or he doesn't agree and waits for the Australians to make trouble. It must be one of the two.
The result of the choice was obvious, so Wu Mingjin had no choice but to agree. Judging from the daily behavior of Australians, they have always kept their promises and kept their word. They said they would collect taxes, and they would never engage in a trick of collecting food without paying taxes. They must be able to collect taxes in a timely manner.
Qi, it is also a good thing for Wu Mingjin. At most, the Australians will increase the rice consumption rate in order to collect a few more kilo of grain - but this is also a matter for the common people and has nothing to do with him.
"I'm afraid the potential this year will be much less." Wang Zhaomin reminded his boss.
"This is something we can't do anything about." Wu Mingjin sighed, but he intuitively thought in his heart that it would probably be no less, but he still had to put on a helpless look, "It's better to do less than to do more. I just want peace.
After serving as county magistrate, I will immediately return to my hometown after retiring..."
Wang Zhaomin was speechless and had to say goodbye. He secretly changed his mind and Dong Weng said that he was "helpless". He still had to find ways to get enough benefits from this year's autumn grain - after all, this was also directly related to his income.
. He asked his concubine to make a pot of tea, and thought about the cause and effect in detail: No matter what kind of evil intentions they harbored about the Australians' tax collection, for now, it did not matter to Wu Mingjin or to himself.
harm.
The grain and tax can be paid in full in time, and I don't have to deal with the miscellaneous servants in the house every day. As for the "unruly people" in the county, there are Australians who are quick to grab bayonets to deal with them. Wang Zhaomin suddenly wants to travel through time.
Let's all deal with these guys who have been contemptuous of his authority in the past.
The next day, he met with Wu De again, and the two sides reached an agreement on this issue.
The Australians took over the entire county's taxes, including grain taxes, land taxes, miscellaneous taxes and wages. All taxes were paid in full and on time to the county government.
"The deadline for autumn grain is at the end of November." Wang Zhaomin reminded, "However, hurry up early rather than late. After collecting all the grain, the county has to hand it over to complete the class. The transportation of large quantities of grain and grain is difficult, and Lingao is very busy here.
It takes a lot of time to cross the sea and waves, so it is best to pay in full by the end of October, so that you can be more relaxed."
When money and grain are shipped to Beijing, the Cao Army is in charge of it in South Zhili, and there are many tricks involved. Wang Zhaomin has seen it. There is no water transportation task here in Qiongzhou Prefecture. The county is responsible for the transportation, and it is inevitable to deal with the transporters.
The earlier the shipment of money and grain starts, the cheaper the freight. When the deadline is approaching, the shippers know that the government cannot delay the deadline, so they will deliberately delay it to extort the freight.
"... At this time, if there is not enough 'rice consumption', the people will have to be conscripted to serve in the service and transport food. This is a huge drawback to the people and money. Please be careful!"
"Will the county's money and food be handed over to Qiongzhou Prefecture?"
"It's complicated to say the least." Wang Zhaomin said, "The autumn poems in this county have gone to several places."
Among the autumn grains totaling 7,686 shi, 7 liters and 9 hens, there are 6,489 shi of official rice from the imperial treasury. This is the part of the autumn grain that needs to be shipped.