Because the homes of the returning population were basically destroyed by the previous rebels, or were destroyed by natural disasters.
Now these people have left the powerful families and returned to the government's household registration. Although it is a good thing for the government, how can they feed so many mouths?
Some people have suggested that taxes be levied on these wealthy families as a punishment for concealing their household registration.
Some people think that this is not possible, because it takes time to recover taxes, but food cannot wait for a moment. This money needs to be spent immediately, and who will spend it is a question.
Some people think that overstimulating powerful powerful people and turning them into complete opposition to the state government is not something that should be done, and it will have an impact on Liu Bei's status in Liangzhou.
Liu Bei comprehensively considered everyone's opinions and decided to temporarily let the state government pay for the excess food expenses to solve people's urgent need to eat. The tax recovery will be dealt with later, and it will be recorded in a small notebook, which is indispensable for them.
At present, problems that can be solved with money are not problems. Problems that cannot be solved with money are real problems.
Liu Bei had no intention of arguing with the county and county governments over these trivial matters, so he decided to pay and settle the accounts slowly after the situation stabilized.
So Liu Bei ordered all counties to gather all the people who had returned their household registrations to Hanyang County for food, so that he could make arrangements nearby. After the war, they would be mixed with the Han and Hu people captured in the war, reorganized into households, and resettled.
At this time, the land status statistics of the ten counties and two vassal states of Liangzhou, led by Zhen Yan, Yin Da, Sun Qian and others, were almost complete. According to the previous written records of the government, some important data were obtained.
After Liu Bei took a look, he found that due to long-term wars and poor management, the amount of taxable land registered by the government was decreasing year by year. This was the case in almost every county, but the average annual decrease was more or less.
This is what the official statistics show on the surface, let alone the actual situation?
Because Hanyang County has the full assistance of Gai Xun, the figures are relatively real.
Gai Xun gave Liu Bei the lowdown and let Liu Bei know that the land that could still be produced in Hanyang County was less than 60% of what it was before the war started. A large-scale war would have a huge impact on agricultural production.
In particular, Hanyang County, Jincheng County and Longxi County were the most severely affected.
"The direct losses are not too much, but the impact of the war on people's hearts is really great. Many people abandoned their land and houses to escape in order to survive. They have never returned. The government has no way of counting this group of people, and they don't know exactly where they went. Where, unless they come back on their own initiative.
Land that no one cultivates will be abandoned after a year. It will take time to reclaim it after it is abandoned. It will take at least three years to restore the original production. For a place with barren land like Liangzhou, it is really harmful. too big. "
Liu Bei continued to look through the land records of Hanyang County and found that the agricultural tax situation was worse every year during Wang Xiaoer's New Year. He pointed to these records and asked Gai Xun, and Gai Xun also sighed.
"In our tax system, although there is an agricultural tax of thirty to one, it is based on the number of acres, regardless of the output. In good years, the harvest is large, and we can still survive. In disaster years, the harvest is small, but the tax is still the same, and the people suffer more from it. In a disaster year, a large number of farmers abandon their land and flee for their lives.
…
Most of these peasants who fled were taken into their homes by powerful families and became tenants, or they simply took the initiative to sell their land to powerful families and joined them to survive. As a result, the rich became richer, and even survival became a problem for the poor. , the government's tax revenue is also getting worse year by year. "
"There are always ways for powerful families to avoid taxes, right? For example, they refuse to admit how much land and property they have, and they don't allow the government to send people to farm the land. The government doesn't know how much property they have, so they can't charge more. agricultural tax.”
Liu Bei flipped through the official files and sneered: "Look at these big households, how much land they had thirty years ago, and how much land they have now. The amount of land remains unchanged, and the tax payment remains unchanged. They are all good people. There are good people everywhere in Liangzhou. This loss of land should be caused by wars and disasters, and there are no other man-made reasons, right?"
Gai Xun had nothing to say about this.
To be honest, his family may not be completely clean. He knows this to some extent. After all, it is an open secret in the entire Han Dynasty.
"These problems are not problems that can be solved overnight. It is not a simple matter to completely solve them. It requires coordination from many aspects to take action. I understand your concerns, but now is indeed not the right time."
Gai Xun saw Liu Bei's anger, thought about it, and persuaded Liu Bei.
"You have just come to Liangzhou as a state shepherd. At this moment, it is not the time to deal with these problems. There are many abandoned wastelands in each county. The most important thing is to reorganize the manpower to reclaim these wastelands. All these lands With farming resumed, these people who have nowhere to go can now be properly resettled.”
Liu Bei raised his head and looked at Gai Xun.
"And then wait until the disaster years, these farmers are once again forced by government taxes to abandon their land and invest in powerful families. The powerful families do not need to pay anything, but they occupy the land that the government spent money to cultivate?"
Gai Xun was speechless again.
After a while, he still sighed.
"If you really want to make changes in this area, it will be very difficult. One is the tax system, and the other is the resistance of powerful families. I can guarantee that Gai will respond to you, but Liangzhou is not only the Gai family. , this can affect the whole body. You have not yet effectively governed the counties in Liangzhou, so it is too early to take action at this time."
"I know what you mean."
Liu Bei shook his head: "At this stage, I will not do anything. I will definitely follow your suggestions to organize the people to reclaim wasteland and reorganize households. Moreover, the root of the problem is not the powerful families, but the government and the government's tax system. If you don't change, no matter how you kill people, it will be useless.
Moreover, the problem of the tax system is not only agricultural tax, but also the calculation of taxes and oral taxes. This is also a long-standing problem. If these problems are not solved, the population problem cannot be solved. Adults have labor and can produce. Calculation of taxes is a matter of more and less. Okay, this question is really too much. "
"Oral Fu has been around since Emperor Xiaowu, and for more than 200 years now, it's still a matter of more or less."
Gai Xun said slowly: "These matters are all extremely involved. At present, there is no need to touch them. Liangzhou is seeking stability at the moment."
Of course what Gai Xun said makes sense, and Liu Bei admitted that it was right.
However, there are some things that should be disliked or not.
For example, these unscrupulous arithmetic gifts and oral gifts.
