"It sounds like the results are good!" Feeling the affirmation in Zhao Pu's words, Emperor Liu also smiled and asked. point
Zhao Pu reported: "Based on the reports from Zhengzhou and Gyeonggi Province, the results are in line with the court's expectations. Last year, the tax was divided into autumn, and the original price of the money and grain that Wu County should collect was 21,000 yuan. But this year, according to the new system, the tax was changed to land tax. The tax amount has reached 22,400 yuan, which is about 56 yuan per mu of land."
Zhao Pu simply reported a number, but it gave Emperor Liu a hint of doubt: "1,400 strings seems to be a lot for a county. But I always feel that the increase in tax revenue is not very obvious. , I originally thought that even if it is not doubled, it must be 30% or 50%, but by calculation, it is less than 10%!"
Hearing this, Zhao Pu explained calmly: "Your Majesty, the two tax systems have completely different collection principles, so they cannot be simply compared. The new taxes come from those who have a lot of land, those who have no land, and those who have little land. The tax source of the taxpayers has been greatly reduced, and these people were the main taxpayers in the previous two taxes. This increase and decrease are offset to some extent, so compared with previous years, the overall gain is not particularly obvious.
In addition, Yuanwu County is the first to implement the new system. Although it is the first in the country, it is only a rough outline. Various regulations still need to be implemented and improved. Yuanwu County still has potential to be explored..."
After hearing what he said, Emperor Liu finally nodded, accepting the statement. After thinking about it, he continued to ask: "In addition to improving fiscal and tax revenue, my most fundamental purpose in implementing the new tax system is to reduce the burden on the people." burden, and try to achieve a fair tax system as much as possible. In this regard, what is the result of Yuanwu County?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Pu handed over his hand again: "Your Majesty, comparing the autumn taxes of the past two years, there have been relatively intuitive changes!"
"Let's talk!" Emperor Liu immediately became interested and pretended to listen carefully. point
Zhao Pu paused for a moment, and then calmly reported: "After calculation, last year's autumn tax in Yuanwu County was about 524 cents per den. Under the new tax system, those who own less than 10 acres of land will only have to pay 140 cents per den; 10- For 30 acres, the tax per den is 210 cents; for 30-60 acres, the tax per den is 336 cents; for 60 acres to 100 acres, the tax per den is 466 cents; for over 100 acres, the tax per den is about 746 cents...
Although these data are not completely prepared and the calculations ignore many other factors, they can already reflect some situations. Under the new tax system, the burden on farmers with little land is greatly reduced compared to before. If the family has enough people, they will have to share more land. The real increase is for landowners with more than 100 acres. The more land they own, the heavier the burden. But these people are the targets of the tax reform! "
"What was the response from the people?" Emperor Liu asked, "How did the people of Yuanwu react?"
Zhao Pu replied: "Of course there are mixed reviews, the poor are happy about it, and the rich are angry about it. However, generally speaking, the people are happy. For small and medium-sized landowners, they have to pay less tax, which is beneficial to them, so they naturally support it. .As for the interests of a small number of people being harmed, it does not harm the fundamentals. Under the general trend, we have to obey the overall situation!"
After hearing what Zhao Pu said, Emperor Liu said slowly with a calm attitude: "But the few people Zhao Qing mentioned control most of the power and wealth in the world. They control more than ordinary people in Guizhou. They have the right to speak, and they are even the cornerstone of the rule of the Han Dynasty. Can the court completely ignore their demands? "
Emperor Liu suddenly said such a word. Zhao Pu was embarrassed and couldn't help but raise his eyes to look at Emperor Liu. There was a hint of surprise in his eyes. What does this mean? The old emperor wouldn't give up just now.
However, Emperor Liu's next words still calmed Zhao Pu's heart, and he said coldly: "Since you occupy so many resources and enjoy privileges that ordinary people cannot have, you still have to parasitize on the body of a big man and suck blood. We must strive for profits with the people. We intend to be close to the country, but do not think about rewards in actual actions, and are unwilling to assume basic responsibilities. What is the use of such a cornerstone of governance?
Obviously, human nature is always greedy, and it is difficult to achieve this by relying solely on their self-awareness. The binding force of morality is always limited, or even useless. Really effective moderation must rely on the court, as the arbiter, to adjust and redistribute it through authoritative means, so as to achieve what I often say, relative fairness. ....
"
"Your Majesty is wise!" After Emperor Liu said this, Zhao Pu immediately complimented him.
Zhao Pu didn't care about the others and didn't want to think too much, as long as Emperor Liu didn't change his mind, otherwise his situation would be embarrassing.
"Are there no other problems with the new tax system?" After pondering for a while, Emperor Liu suddenly asked again.
No problem, obviously it's impossible. Zhao Pu was silent for a moment, and then said: "The strongest reaction is probably that it only counts the number of acres of land, regardless of rich or poor.
In the Zhengzhou report, it was highlighted that many farmers have complained about the equal taxation of poor land and rich land. After all, different fields have different yields, but they pay the same tax. Naturally, it is difficult to calm down. Those who hold fertile land are happy, but those who hold poor land are dissatisfied. "
"This is something that is conceivable! We are not worried about scarcity but inequality! This is probably all these people can see, even though taxes have been greatly reduced compared to previous years!" Emperor Liu sighed with emotion. , still couldn't help but ask: "Can't we really pay taxes according to the rich and poor of the land?"
In the new tax system of the Han Dynasty, land was fully reflected as the core tax basis, and the most core one was the classification according to the quantity of land.
In previous discussions, many people also proposed that in addition to the quantity, the wealth and poverty of the land should also be one of the tax calculation criteria. After all, the grain yield per mu of Han Dynasty still varies greatly from place to place. The yield of poor fields is only one stone per mu, while the yield of some rich fields can reach as much as three stones. Therefore, for the sake of fairness, it is also very useful to divide the land quality into planning standards. necessary.
However, Zhao Pu firmly opposed this aspect. The reason is also very clear, that is, it is not so easy to distinguish between fertile and barren land. If this is used as a reference, the workload and difficulty of the reform will be greatly increased, which is not conducive to implementation.
What's more, just clearing the number of acres of land is full of difficulties. If the quality of the land is added to it, the troubles become prohibitive. In Zhao Pu's view, policies must not only consider their fairness, but also their feasibility.
If it is made too complicated, it will also give the bureaucrats and landlords an opportunity to get their hands dirty, giving them more room for maneuver. Zhao Pu even gave Emperor Liu an example of taxing taxes based on the number of acres. Landowners may just try to hide the amount of land, but if you add a land rich and a poor land, it is foreseeable that the rich land will be treated as poor land to evade taxes. , and once this happens, it is difficult to check.
For ordinary farmers, if they do not judge the officials and turn barren fields into rich fields, it will be a disguised increase in taxes. Although it was only Zhao Pu who put forward some hypotheses, Emperor Liu also knew that once implemented, they would likely come true.
There is no absolute fairness, and it is very rare to be relatively fair. point
At this time, when Emperor Liu asked again, Zhao Pu's attitude was still firm: "I still said what I said, it's not feasible!"
Looking at Zhao Pu with a serious face, Emperor Liu smiled, waved his hand and said, "Then I won't raise this proposal!"
"So far, it seems that the tax reform in Yuanwu County has been basically successful. Can we summarize and promote the experience?" Emperor Liu asked, staring at Zhao Pu.
"Right now, the imperial court has only received a report from Daozhou. For the specific situation, we need to wait for the envoy to conduct in-depth investigation, collect the information, continue to discuss and improve it, and then expand the promotion!" Zhao Pu said somewhat conservatively.
In this regard, Emperor Liu thought for a while and nodded: "Your consideration is correct! I am still a little impatient. Since this matter cannot be rushed, let's proceed according to your ideas!"
"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty!" Zhao Pu said immediately.
"I know that as the tax reform has advanced to this point, the biggest problem is still the clearing of the land. If you need help in this regard, I can ask the Imperial City and Wude Division to cooperate!" Emperor Liu mentioned again a little. point
In response, Zhao Pu frowned slightly, and then refused vaguely: "Your Majesty, I believe that with Si's current ability, the situation is still under control!"
"Haha..." Emperor Liu smiled and didn't mention it any more.
