for the next few minutes. [No pop-up novel website] He slandered Chen Minggang - strictly speaking, it was not slander, it was just telling the truth. It can be seen that the office clerk of this house and Mr. Wang have not complemented each other in the past few years.
Wang Zhaomin did not know that his words were recorded - of course he did not realize this - the Political Security Administration was extremely interested in this kind of information about each other among the indigenous people. Sometimes a few words or a sentence can bring out a lot of useful information.
After Wu De listened carefully for a while, he said in a very embarrassed tone: "Master Wang is right, but we are unfamiliar with our connections in Linggao. If we don't rely on such people, I'm afraid we won't be able to stay here." …”
If Wang Zhaomin had not produced so many "Han Jin" to help you work and fight, you would definitely not be able to stay. But I had to say this in my heart, but Kun Thief was really cunning, and the meaning of his words was obviously that he wanted to ask for the conditions first.
Wang Zhaomin put forward the conditions discussed with Wu Mingjin: when the Chuanchuan people began to collect autumn grain, they would take the initiative to pay grain taxes to the county government in the name of Bairen Village. The taxable area was 500 acres of paddy fields, and each mu was not divided. For fat and thin fields, the price of brown rice is three buckets and five liters, and the rate is nine cents. The capitation fee is three hundred coins per person, which is collected based on the household registration of about fifty people in Bairen Village.
In return. Wang Zhaomin promised that for every 100 yuan of autumn grain, one dou, two liters and five tons of "rice consumption" would be levied, and all this income would be given to the Chuanchuan Group. That’s about one thousand shi of grain. As for the "reasonable burden" that the crossing group collects on its own, the county government does not interfere. They can collect whatever they want - in fact, they cannot interfere even if they want to.
Wu De did some calculations and found that according to this condition, their actual income after deducting the taxes paid was about seven to eight hundred stone meters, which was basically a net income that could be obtained without any effort.
However, this is different from their purpose: Chuan Chuan Group is not precious about this little rice now - not counting the warehouse in Lingao, but only in the granary in Vietnam, they still have seven or eight thousand kilograms of brown rice that has not been shipped, and they need to buy more. A few thousand dan is a piece of cake.
The Chuanchuan Group is preparing to take this opportunity to break the Ming Dynasty tax system that has been chaotic and full of shortcomings for hundreds of years, and establish an efficient and orderly tax system, thereby penetrating and controlling Lingao's county administration. In other words, it is preparing to Consider Lingao as a testing ground for the new administrative system. For this purpose, the Crossing Group is prepared to spend a lot of money, and there is nothing that can be beaten with only a thousand stone meters.
Wu De did not answer, but asked: "Master Wang, we really don't know anything about the autumn grain collection. Can you explain it to us?"
Wang Zhaomin said: "What's so difficult about this? It's just that there are all kinds of tricks and shortcomings. It would take three days and three nights to talk about it all."
"Please enlighten me!"
Anyway, I had nothing to do, and judging from what Chief Wu meant, he didn't feel like he was rejecting people thousands of miles away. Things still need to be discussed. To win the trust of Australians. Wang Zhaomin then selected some of the bad policies and tricks in the grain collection and told them to Wu De.
"Actually, I am from a criminal background." Wang Zhaomin said, "However, I have also learned about money and food, and I can handle the money and food in an ordinary small county."
Whenever the county magistrate takes office, the two masters of punishment, money and food are the most important. The former assists county magistrates in hearing criminal cases. The latter specializes in cooperating with the boss to handle such business as money and grain sales, land residents' population, house number inventory, land surveying, warehouse opening for relief, and miscellaneous tax collection. His specialty is that he is not only familiar with all kinds of methods in this field, but also good at calculation.
Wang Zhaomin's profession is criminal justice, but his academic skills are not good, and he has never been able to find good employers - most of them are lords or "Tongjinshi" who work in remote small counties. The small county has a small population, so there are naturally few lawsuits. It would be a waste to hire two masters, so I learned about money and grain. Although I am not very proficient, I can hold two jobs for one person. Not only does I get more income, but I also have fewer employers. One person's expenses are covered, and everyone is happy.
In addition to abacus, Master Qianliang's ability lies in his ability to understand the situation and be good at dealing with clerks. This is because the Ministry of Household Affairs only asks for the total amount of money and grain, not the details. Who in the local area has how many fields and land, where is it located, and what is the family background? Only the clerk of the county government office knows everything. What they rely on is a secret book passed down from generation to generation, called the "Fish Scale Book". Without this booklet, even with great ability, I would not be able to collect money or food.
The Yulin volume is a public property, drawn up and revised by the government. However, over time, the county archives have been destroyed or lost, and have long since disappeared. The "public volume" revised by the government has become the private property of the book office. Regardless of whether they are the county magistrate or the money and grain master, they are often hijacked by the book office if they want to smoothly handle the official affairs of summer and autumn each year.
Generally speaking, after the county magistrate takes office, Master Qianliang will go to negotiate terms and balances with the secretary of the household to form a tacit understanding and collude to get what everyone needs. There have always been some knots between Wang Zhaomin and Chen Minggang. The reason is that Lingao is a very remote place, with the sky high and the emperor far away, and the secretary's office is much less wary of officials.
Because the "household book" has a Yulin register, not only can official affairs go smoothly, but I can also use it to make a lot of money. Over the years, the collection of money and grain by landowners has been a bastard. Those who have paid money and grain may not receive it from the government. The "grain string" of grain, but those who do not pay grain have proof of grain payment. Some people have no place to stand but have to pay grain. Some people have thousands of hectares of fertile land but don't have to pay a grain of rice. Anyway, as long as the "higher authority" levies a sufficient amount, it doesn't matter how they show off.
As for the tricks, there are many names. Wang Zhaomin mentioned the two methods of "deceitful sending" and "removing grain from production". Wu De knew the latter from Zhang Xingjiao, and he also knew a little bit about "Gui Ji".
"When it comes to imperial exemptions and exemptions, isn't there always a quota?" Wu De "sold" a little of the knowledge he had heard, lest Wang Zhaomin really think that they knew nothing and were talking nonsense.
Wang Zhaomin was really startled, thinking that this was probably what Chen Minggang said, so he explained: "The imperial court's exemptions and exemptions originally had a quota." This quota was stipulated in the Hongwu period. Generally speaking, the first-rank official in the capital can be exempted from 30 shi, and the second-rank official can get 24 shi. Stone, and so on. The exemptions and exemptions for foreign officials are half of those for Beijing officials. As for those who supervise students, promote people, and educate talents, they will be exempted from 2 stones as usual. In addition to the grain-free share, other self-purchased acres must be reported to the official and paid for grain.
"Actually? Those who could be exempted from two dan were exempted from dozens of dan. When Zhang was in power, he first checked his own acres. It was estimated that he would be exempted from more than 80 dan. In fact, he was exempted from nearly 900 dan."
Wu De listened very carefully, and he guessed that Prime Minister Zhang was probably talking about Zhang Juzheng. When Yu Eshui taught about the land tax system of the Ming Dynasty, he specifically mentioned that Zhang Juzheng had engaged in land ownership during his reign - it was not too far away from now.
"In addition to the exemptions and exemptions from the court," Wang Zhaomin said with a wry smile, "there is another type of people, the so-called 'guilty mail'." Every county has a group of "special characters" who are domineering and difficult to deal with. They are either powerful landowners or rural scoundrels. It must be perfunctory. The portion is insufficient and the beige color is rough, so you have to accept it as it is. Sometimes they even give "grain strings" - proof of grain payment - to buy peace on the ground. Many small civilian households pay less for food. He will "bring the land to contribute". This is one of them.
The second is that some people will ask them to "guarantee payment", and over time, so-called "guaranteed households" are formed. These households are either "grain poor" themselves and collude with the officials, or they are local powerful people who can blackmail the officials, and small households If you entrust them with "guaranteed payment", the "floating fee" part is of course indispensable, but it is much cheaper than paying it yourself.
"The two Gou brothers you killed were originally the two largest contractors in the county." Wang Zhaomin said, "But if they hadn't colluded with Chen Minggang and worked as 'grain men', they wouldn't have been able to become such contractors. "
Wu De nodded, this "householder" actually meant a "tax collector".
Naturally, the work of the "contractors" was not in vain. As usual, they had to scratch their skins. The daring ones among the "contractors" simply accepted the grain instead of paying it, and just defaulted on it, waiting for the final "exemption" from the court. This situation flourished in the Jiangnan area in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
Some people pay less, while others pay more. County taxes still have to be borne by the county residents. In addition, all kinds of exploitation and consumption, as well as the benefits of county officials, are all borne by the common people. This is called "grain consumption at the top of the pile", which is also the so-called "floating harvest".
"Grain consumption and tipping" are not considered "arbitrary charges" and are clearly stipulated in the tax system of the Ming Dynasty. In some places, the additional consumption of rice and tipping rice per stone is as much as 7 buckets and 6 liters, which is more than half of the regular amount. This additional income is the largest and most valuable “grey income” for local officials. It is much safer than the black money gained through corruption and bending the law.
"Grain consumption Duijian" nominally pays for the freight and loss of taxed grains. In fact, there is no standard at all and it is very arbitrary. Wang Zhaomin dared to propose that each stone be levied at 1 dou and 2 liters for the crossing group, and he took advantage of this loophole.
Wang Zhaomin was vague about the "floating harvest", saying only that it was used to pay for the freight and losses of grain taxes. Of course, he doesn’t want Australians to know too clearly about this income.
Wu De thought to himself: No wonder Luo Duo said at that time that the real tax burden in Lingao County was more than 15,000 dan. From this point of view, it is entirely possible.
"The customary rice consumption in this county is how much per stone?"
Wang Zhaomin was shocked. He quickly said: "Well, you only need to pay the full amount of food, and all the floating payment will be waived."
Wu De thought it doesn't matter if you don't say this, we will investigate it naturally.
"Isn't it difficult for the county to pay extra taxes?" Wu De asked.
Zhaomin was worried about this matter and nodded involuntarily.
"What's the difficulty?!" Wu De held on to this question.
Wang Zhaomin hesitated for a moment and said: "Yingui." (!)! ~!
