The efficient taxation and confiscation work presided over by Chen Xingkai fully guaranteed the various expenses of the Baoxiang Army, and it is still extremely wealthy.
In this regard, when Huang Chengxuan, the Minister of Finance who is responsible for spending money, began to introduce the recent financial situation, he also expressed his kindness to Chen Xingkai: "Because of the excellent and efficient work of my colleagues in the Taxation Department, our military's money and food income has increased significantly recently."
"Since our army left Lushan County in March, our army's financial situation has begun to improve greatly. Although our expenditures have doubled, our income has increased even more!"
"Especially after the Battle of Zhaozhuang, our army successively conquered Nanyang City, Xiangyang City, and a large number of cities such as Xinye, Zhenping, and Yuzhou. When we captured the above-mentioned areas, we received help from the local Ming government, the vassal clan, and some recalcitrant officials. Gold, silver, copper coins and other cash worth a total of about three million taels of silver were confiscated from the recalcitrant elements such as the gentry and wealthy gentry."
"In addition, there are a large number of various antiques and treasures with a total value greater than cash, as well as other easily liquidated materials. This batch of easily liquidated materials, even if sold at a discount, can earn at least four million taels of silver.
We are currently selling these treasures and common supplies that are easy to sell. We have collected more than 1.8 million taels in cash so far, and the remaining supplies are still being sold. "
"It is initially estimated that all the realization of this batch of materials will be completed within three months!"
"As a result, our army confiscated cash, treasures and easily realizable materials with a total value of more than seven million taels of silver in a series of battles southward."
"In addition, we also confiscated a large number of real estate, shops and other fixed assets, as well as commercial banks and restaurants and other industries. Some of the small number of confiscated buildings were directly used for the offices of various official agencies, and some shops were taken over by the Ministry of Commerce and Trade for continued operation. There are also some The residences were awarded to meritorious soldiers and civil servants as residences, and the remaining residences and shops are currently being sold."
“But the largest fixed assets are not these residential buildings, but land, massive amounts of land!”
"The amount of land we have successively confiscated far exceeds our initial estimate. The various types of cultivated land we have confiscated so far have accounted for more than 20% of all cultivated land in the areas controlled by our army. In addition, we have also confiscated a large amount of temporarily abandoned land. or land that is easily developed.”
"Adding the two together, the various types of land currently confiscated by our army will account for about 30% of the arable land in the jurisdiction, and this figure will continue to expand with the progress of taxation work and suppression work, and it is expected that it may eventually reach 30% About five!”
When Luo Zhixue heard that the cultivated land data was not in units of acres, but directly in the percentage of all arable land in the control area, he couldn't help but open his mouth...
He had already expected that a large amount of land would be confiscated, but he never expected that so much land would be confiscated.
Thirty-five percent... This is only the confiscation of official land, vassal clan land and some of the land of the recalcitrant gentry. There are also more wealthy gentry who did not resist and paid taxes honestly or evaded taxes. , has not been discovered for the time being, and their land has been preserved.
The amount of land in this part is temporarily unknown. Even the land tax data from the Ministry of Taxation cannot be calculated in detail, because many wealthy gentry households still evade taxes, and people do not know how to resist taxes, but do not actively declare what they own. All land is basically as long as it can be concealed. Once discovered by the tax officer of the Baoxiang Army, he will actively repay it and never resist tax...
This is why the tax department of the Baoxiang Army is helpless. After all, these people are just evading taxes. They are not at the level of direct tax resistance. Directly killing people and confiscating their homes is a bit excessive. This is not to confiscate their homes and exterminate their clans. These people are stubborn and can evade taxes. One liang will never leak nine qian...
In response to this situation of tax evasion and tax evasion that appears to be good and sincere in admitting mistakes, but remains unrepentant, the Ministry of Taxation is already preparing to introduce relevant punishment policies specifically for tax evasion. This punishment policy is very interesting, and its characteristic is high fines. Supplemented by the death penalty and imprisonment.
The death penalty and jail time are easy to understand, but what is worth mentioning is the high fine!
In a series of clauses with fines, the minimum penalty starts at five times, and for more serious cases, the penalty is ten or twenty times. If the amount is huge and the situation is bad, the penalty starts at hundreds of times, and there is no limit on the fine until bankruptcy.
Not counting the fine, this person will still have to go to jail or even be sentenced to death.
Not long ago, Huang Chengxuan summoned a large number of dishonest gentry in Nanyang City and said in front of hundreds of gentry and wealthy households: "If you dare to deduct one tael from me in taxes, I will fine you a hundred taels! If you dare to deduct one hundred taels from me, I will fine you a hundred taels." Two, I dare to make you go bankrupt! If you dare to short me ten thousand taels, I dare to kill your whole family!"
This group of gentry was frightened half to death by these remarks that were unabashed and even eager to confiscate their homes and exterminate all their families!
Speaking of which, the Baoxiang Army's current reputation for harsh governance and even most of its bad reputation... are mostly caused by the Department of Taxation. Some people outside say that the Baoxiang Army's harsh rule is as fierce as a tiger.
Even many people within the Baoxiang Army are dissatisfied with the tax department's harsh and shameless way of acting.
Guo Quanshu has repeatedly said in semi-public occasions that the tax department must pay attention to its work methods and cannot be one-size-fits-all...
Chen Xingkai laughed at this, then investigated the Guo family's tax evasion situation, and then presented detailed evidence to fine the Guo family nearly half of their assets...
As a result, these two ministers and bosses have completely fallen out...
——
However, even if the Baoxiang Army has such a strict tax policy, it cannot completely eliminate the concealment of land. Many of them are not deliberately concealed, but are not counted in some remote areas.
According to the data currently available to the Baoxiang Army, the land confiscated by the Baoxiang Army and the land still controlled by the landlords (paying land tax) account for 80% of the identified arable land. About five.
So here’s the problem. There are so many farmers in the entire jurisdiction, and together they only own about 15% of the land... This also includes a large number of farmers who only own a small amount of land, but still rent the land to tenants. Small landowners and rich farmers.
Pure yeoman farmers and tenant farmers held very little land.
After learning about these situations, Luo Zhixue couldn't help but sigh. It's not unreasonable for refugees to be everywhere these days. Land annexation is so serious. Coupled with high rents and layer upon layer of tax increases, most of them go into the pockets of officials. Fus and heavy corvee.
The ability of farmers in this era to resist risks is simply too poor to bear witness to.
If you want anything, you will have to sell your children, sell your daughters, or even starve to death.
Under such circumstances, it is inevitable that a large number of farmers will become refugees and then evolve into rogue bandits.
Luo Zhixue believes that in order to solve the large number of refugees under the control of the rural protection army and eliminate the breeding ground for bandits, in addition to various emergency measures such as work-for-relief, it is more important to reduce the burden on farmers and increase their risk resistance.
The whole family will not starve to death if something happens to them.
While Huang Chengxuan was still introducing the amount of confiscated land in various places, Luo Zhixue was already thinking about how to use this huge amount of confiscated land to completely reverse the people's livelihood situation in the Nanyang Basin area.
Divide the fields directly?
This is not advisable. When he was still in Funiu Mountain, Luo Zhixue had already tried the free direct land allocation policy, but the effect was unsatisfactory and even aroused internal opposition.
Many officers and soldiers of the Baoxiang Army believed that they had fought hard to conquer so much land, and that only by virtue of their military merits could they get the land, while ordinary people could get the land for free without doing anything.
This isn't fair.
Effort and reward are not equal!
Even the landless and landless peasants who were given free land were obviously not grateful to the rural protection army. At first, they felt that these thieves could not take away the land, so they divided it. Moreover, many people thought that the officers and soldiers Sooner or later they will come and kill them, and the land they have been allocated will no longer be available.
Furthermore, after being allocated land, they had to pay land tax. Many people felt that the land tax imposed by the Baothief Army was too high and was completely harsh.
Their argument is that the land tax of the Baoxiang Army accounts for almost 30% of the land output.
Throughout the dynasties, there has never been such a high land tax.
Of course, the people who said this completely ignored or deliberately failed to mention that Baoxiangjun’s tax policy for farmers was only land tax, and it was based on physical collection. At the same time, it abolished Ding tax, all assessments, corvee, etc.
If a farmer only farmed the land honestly under the rule of the Baoxiang Army, he would not need to pay anything except land tax.
If he is a tenant, it is even easier, because he does not have land, and even the land tax cannot be levied on him, which means he does not have to pay anything...
The land tax policy of the Baoxiang Army ensured that the actual burden on farmers under the Baoxiang Army was far less than that of the Ming Dynasty.
Unfortunately, even so, many people are still dissatisfied with it.
Through things like land tax and free land allocation, Luo Zhixue has completely woken up. Many people are cheap. Not only will they not appreciate free benefits, but they will talk bad about you everywhere, and even stab you at critical moments.
Therefore, the free land allocation policy is completely over. Currently, under the rule of the Baoxiang Army, there is only the military merit land allocation system. All other official land is mainly rented, and at most the rent is less.
Luo Zhixue plans to continue to deepen and increase the policy of renting official land, and strive to lower the rent ratio. In addition, he also needs to find ways to limit the amount of land owned by landlords and avoid continued land annexation.
While Luo Zhixue was thinking about the land issue, Huang Chengxuan had already finished talking about the confiscation of land and started to introduce other confiscated proceeds.
In addition to cash, high-value curios and soft goods, and ordinary sellable materials, the items confiscated by the Baoxiang Army were actually more important and extremely valuable cloth, food and other livelihood supplies.
Especially for food, even if the Baoxiang Army had money, it would be difficult to purchase it on a large scale from other places.
