For example, there have been successive disasters or locusts crossing the border.
Or local officials reported various unexpected disasters to the court.
All in all, it is true that agricultural taxes are high, but at the same time, the national treasury remains empty every year. And this also led to the beginning of the great Zhou Dynasty becoming poor and weak.
However, in fact, in the eyes of the people, it is a different story.
No matter how big a disaster they suffered, the government would always send people to collect food.
Anyone who dares not to pay will be beaten to death with a stick.
What makes the people most angry and dare not speak out is that these officials do not care about the lives and lives of the people at all, as if in their eyes, the most important thing is to collect enough food.
As for whether the people have food to eat and whether they have a way to survive, they don't care at all.
However... His Majesty's new policy seems to be different from the past?
Tian Yu coughed slightly, looked at the village elder and continued:
"The agricultural tax in the future will include all taxes and fees, including but not limited to various additional taxes and fees collected by the government. In other words, from now on, you only need to pay one tax and it will cover them all."
When the village elder heard this, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes. How could he not understand that the reason why so many taxes were designed was actually to line the pockets of officials.
Even many taxes with unknown names were set up privately by local officials, and the court did not even know about them.
However, these people at the bottom will only target the one on the throne with their resentment.
Thinking of this, a flash of horror flashed in the village elder's eyes.
This wave of policies is really wonderful! His Majesty has an expert by his side, absolutely!
However... the village elder still put away his excitement.
After all, whether it is collected by local officials or the court, there is essentially no difference for ordinary people.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ask:
"May I ask, sir, since this agricultural tax will include all taxes on agriculture, how much will the court set it to be?"
"Will it exceed...50%?"
Fifty percent?
When Tian Yu heard this, he looked at the village elder in front of him with a hint of surprise.
The village elder realized that he had made a mistake and quickly raised his hand to scratch his head. Smile sheepishly.
"Master, don't blame me. I'm just talking nonsense. But...if the tax exceeds 70%, the people may not be able to survive. Therefore, I boldly suggest that I hope the master can advise the court. Don't blame me." Raising the tax rate too high will make it difficult for the people to make a living."
As soon as these words came out, Tian Yu stood blankly on the spot.
What kind of tax do you dare to charge 70%?
Don't these push the people to death?
However, what he didn't know was that although the taxes in the Great Zhou Dynasty did not seem to be high, the empress had been cutting agricultural taxes as much as possible over the years.
But the problem is... the people's expenditure has not decreased at all, but has become increasingly intense.
Let's put it this way, at the end of the year, when all the miscellaneous taxes are added together, it is not an exaggeration to say 70%.
This bloody reality was placed in front of Tian Yu, who felt dizzy.
He glanced at the people present, but found that they didn't even have a complete piece of clothing on them.
As for the shoes, there is no need to say more. Most of the shoes they wear are made of wild grass...
At this moment, Tian Yu seemed to understand why the academy put these students in the countryside.
Perhaps if you don’t go deep into people’s livelihood, you won’t know how difficult it is!
Tian Yu took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
He stood up solemnly, his eyes stayed on the village elder for a moment, then passed him and looked at the ordinary villagers further away.
Skinny and skinny, face full of color...
Tian Yu didn't know why, but felt a little tight in his chest.
"Everyone, please listen to me!"
His voice was trembling, but it soon became calm.
"My surname is Tian, and my name is the word "Yu". I am the field officer of your Xiaoyu Village. The so-called field officer, as the name suggests, is in charge of everything related to field cultivation. This naturally includes agricultural taxation."
Speaking of this, the villagers immediately widened their eyes.
Now the matter of dividing the fields is basically a certainty. But if the agricultural tax is too high, then it is better to work as a long-term worker in the landlord's house. In this way, no matter how high the tax is, it will not have much impact on ordinary people like them.
"Now the agricultural tax set by His Majesty is 30% of the grain harvested that year."
As soon as these words came out, the villagers' eyes immediately shone with disbelief.
But at this moment, they heard two words: "But..."
Upon hearing these two words, the light in the eyes of the village elder and all the villagers disappeared without a trace in an instant.
They knew how could the imperial court be so kind?
Only harvest 30% of the grain? Go ahead and cheat!
Unexpectedly, Tian Yu said calmly:
"The so-called 30% refers to the tax in a good harvest year. If there is a disaster year, the tax will be reduced or reduced accordingly according to the disaster situation, and at most all taxes will be exempted."
"At the same time...if a war breaks out in the Great Zhou Dynasty, or a major natural disaster occurs, taxes will rise accordingly. However, the upper limit is 50%, and this is on the premise of ensuring that no one will starve to death."
"As for the 70% that the village elder said, that is absolutely impossible!"
When the villagers heard this, everyone was stunned.
Compared with that 50% or 70%, what they care more about is actually another sentence from Tian Yu's mouth.
That is... on the premise of ensuring that no one will starve to death.
Don’t you see, for thousands of years, these people have always been at the mercy of others.
Except for their families, even the people in their village don't care much about their life and death.
But in today's policy, His Majesty actually cares about the life and death of the people.
Your Majesty... seems to be a pretty good person?
…
At the same time that Tian Yu took office in Xiaoyu Village, similar situations also occurred in the villages around the capital.
Some of these so-called Sitian officials were selected from Lanxiang Academy, and some were selected from Jinshi.
Naturally, not all opinions on this policy will be unanimous. There were even many traditional students who fiercely criticized this behavior of dividing land.
However, these high-minded remarks were quickly washed away by the violent people.
The people don't care what the poet says or the way of the sage. What they care about is the benefits that fall into their hands.
At this moment, the people have become supporters of the New Deal.
If anyone dares to curse, I'm sorry, the people will be extremely polite and greet his ancestors for eighteen generations.
Ever since, Yang Dong promulgated this new policy with the help of the empress.
In just a few days, it became the hottest topic in the capital.
Even many businessmen began to take the initiative to discuss whether this matter was true or false.
