"Brother, you don't go to so many declaration points, but you come here. The high officials of the imperial court live nearby. Look at how many officials are watching around here. It's impossible for there to be a problem here."
Ma Xiaoyi wandered around and found that the nearby tea shops and taverns were full of people, almost all of whom were court officials. The key was that there were many officials living nearby, so he couldn't help but complain to Cao Dongdong.
Cao Dongdong said: "Go and look elsewhere, brother is staying here."
Ma Xiaoyi wondered: "Why?"
Cao Dongdong said: "What do you know? My brother deliberately brought Zhang San here to let him deal with those uncles and uncles. My brother can't be separated from Zhang San now, otherwise, he will definitely be captured by those uncles and uncles." , how do I know the explanation?”
Ma Xiaoyi was also smart and immediately said: "Then I won't leave Third Brother."
Cao Dongdong said: "You are a squad leader, who will ask you? If they ask you, you just say you don't know. Go and look elsewhere quickly, and don't make mistakes."
Ma Xiaoyi thought about it and said, "Okay, brother, I will take people to see other places."
"Go quickly."
...
"Brother Li, how are you doing over there?"
A young man, sweating profusely, ran towards an older man and asked slightly out of breath.
The man scratched his head and said, "I'm not sure. I just said that my family also raised two hens, but the policeman drew a cross on the paper. I don't know what this means?"
"Really? I was just about the same. Normally, the court would count all the silk quilts in the house when calculating household status. But the police didn't even ask. I was afraid that he didn't ask on purpose and would accuse me of lying, but I took the initiative to do so. Tell him, he said you don’t need to remember these things, it seems like you just remember the house, the fields, the carriages and the horses.”
"If we remember it this way, our family won't have much money."
"Yes! I won't have to go to the house for another inspection then!"
"Probably not. It seems it's too late."
"Let's go and ask others to see if they are the same as us."
"That's right, ask a few more people to ask, not just the two of us, it must be a scam."
...
When the people came, they were nervous and apprehensive, but when they left, they felt like they were in a dream.
too fast!
too easy!
There is no prelude, no climax, and the only interaction is very boring. The tone of the police is the same as asking you "have you eaten?"
Incredible!
After the people declared, they did not leave. They gathered together and asked each other what they had declared, for fear that they were different from others.
This is actually ironic, and it proves that there must be a lot of tricks in the calculation of households.
A lesson learned, and the common people will not be fooled again.
But when asked, everyone is the same.
There were several white-haired old men sitting under a tea shed by the roadside. They listened silently to the exchanges between these people, with questions on their faces.
These old men are Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, Lu Gongzhu and Zhao Bian.
This is the northwest corner of the left wing, right next to Pan Tower and very close to the Imperial City. Most of the prime ministers live near here. They made an appointment to come here early this morning to see what this voluntary declaration is all about. .
They had been looking forward to it, it had never happened before.
However, in their eyes, the police station's reporting method was not a surprise, but a surprise!
Mr. Lu frowned and said, "It seems that their goal is very clear."
Wen Yanbo nodded and said: "They didn't ask about any of the household items, farm tools, or tea utensils stipulated by the imperial court before. They only asked about houses, fields, carriages and horses, but ordinary people don't have these."
Fu Bi shook his head and said, "That's not all. They also asked about the taxes they have to pay every year. I guess they may deduct this part of the tax when they make statistics."
Lu Gong wrote: "If you calculate it this way, most citizens will become tax-free households. According to the regulations of the Recruitment Law, most of this will be borne by wealthy households and official households."
Zhao Pian nodded and said: "Then this recruitment method is a good method and will not increase the burden on the people."
Fu Bi and Lu Gongzhu looked at each other with a hint of worry.
After all, power is not in the hands of the people. If you are so targeted, the other party will be very vicious when they counterattack.
If everyone is so obedient, the Qingli New Deal will not fail.
...
Pan Lou!
"That's unreasonable!"
I saw an old man with mixed black and white hair and a dignified appearance. He slapped the table and said angrily: "How is this different from Yameng? With such a simple and hasty inquiry, in the end, the tax exemption will still be shared equally among the rich. No, I have to submit a copy to the police station."
This person's name is Zhao Wenzheng, he is a relative of the emperor and Miaohong. He is also the head of Zongzheng Temple and knows the temple affairs, and he is also the doctor Zuo Jianyi. Of course, this doctor Zuo Jianyi is only a fifth-grade official with a salary, and he is a welfare official. of.
This Zongzong Temple not only manages the clan members, but also the monks and Taoist priests. Many monks and Taoist priests complained to him. He was already very unhappy. But now that he saw it, it was even more outrageous. After today, there will be more people. Come complain.
“Governor Zhao, please don’t be impulsive, wait and see.”
A younger old man beside him hurriedly persuaded him.
This person's name is Li Daojing, and he is a member of the Ministry of Ceremony.
Zhao Wenzheng looked at him doubtfully.
Li Daojing said: "Currently, the police department is just making statistics and has not yet given a specific calculation method. If we file an impeachment petition now, it is because we have learned from the unknown!"
Meng Qiansheng, who was sitting opposite Li Daojing, said: "But the facts are already in front of us. Aren't houses, fields, carriages and horses all aimed at government households and wealthy households? Ordinary people don't have these things. They just want to win over the people, and then All this tax will be borne by our official households. Poor wealthy households who foolishly went to Zhang San’s office to calculate household status, not knowing that they were already lambs waiting to be slaughtered.”
"That's not necessarily true."
Xie Yun, deputy envoy of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said: "I have heard that many of my colleagues will not repay according to the truth. They will only repay their own salaries and not their family's fields and houses."
Li Daojing asked: "Isn't this too risky? If we are really accused, we will lose more than we gain."
Xie Yun said: "Many of their fields, houses, and businesses are all in other people's names. Even if they are found, it will be difficult to trace them."
Zhao Wenzheng said: "Deputy Ambassador Xie, the Taxation Department is under the name of your Household Department. How much do you know about the Taxation Department?"
Xie Jun sighed bitterly: "Everyone has asked me about this issue recently, but I really don't know. Although the Taxation Department is under the name of my Ministry of Household Affairs, the appointments of officials are all directly appointed by the superiors."
After saying this, he paused for a moment and said, "But I definitely don't think the tax department has the ability to know everything. They have little power, so how can they investigate. I think 80% of it is just to scare people."
Meng Qiansheng said: "But many people are still frightened by the Taxation Department, but if someone takes the lead, I guess everyone will ignore the Taxation Department."
Zhao Wenzheng and Li Daojing looked at each other, and then said: "Then let's find some people to test whether this tax department is trying to scare people."
Xie Jun added: "But I think the Taxation Department is likely to use tactics to scare the monkeys."
Zhao Wenzheng chuckled: "So what if we just lose some money? Let's see how much the tax department can find. If they can't find much, then their independent declaration is just a joke."
Meng Qiansheng immediately said: "Yes, I don't believe that a small tax department can do everything. They don't have such great ability."
...
Today, almost all officials are making inquiries at various declaration points, because this law is really related to their rights and interests. When they learned about this situation, they were all very angry, and they all thought it was Wang Anshi's idea.
Little did he know that Wang Anshi was also wronged. This was not his plan. Now he had to win over people in the court, and he could not offend all the officials.
Moreover, he wants to make money for the country, and the people will not be counted, so he will not get much money.
At this time, he, Sima Guang and Han Jiang were interrogating Zhang Fei.
"The imperial court has special regulations for counting households, why don't you use them?"
Han Jiang asked Zhang Fei with the declaration form.
Zhang Fei said sarcastically: "I'm sorry! I'm just an employee. This... this is a rule set by the Department of Taxation."
Didn't Wang Anshi know that this was all Zhang Fei's idea, but he didn't point it out and asked: "Then do you know why the tax department decided this?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "This official knows that because of the previous statistical method, it is difficult for the tax department to investigate. In order to prevent someone from exploiting the people and fishing in troubled waters, this rule was set."
Sima Guang asked curiously: "How do you say this?"
Zhang Fei said: "According to the previous statistical method, all the people's furniture, farm tools, and tea utensils had to be counted and then converted into money. But this was based on sending subordinates to people's homes to count, but now they are reporting independently.
And these items are all small items. When the people come to declare, they may not have them at home, but when they are randomly checked, they buy them. However, there is no need to sign a contract to buy a teacup, so there is no way to prove that it was purchased before the declaration. , or you can buy it after applying.
Once this kind of misunderstanding occurs, people will think that the tax department is taking the opportunity to exploit them, and some people will inevitably do this.
On the contrary, houses, fields, carriages and horses are all very easy to investigate. "
Sima Guang suddenly understood and nodded slightly.
really!
The previous calculation method is not suitable for self-declaration or random inspection. After today’s statistics, you will not be able to buy cups this year. This is simply not feasible!
But the house, the carriages, the horses, and the fields, these three major items are very easy to check, and under normal circumstances, they cannot be concealed.
Han Jiang said tactfully: "But with your plan, I'm afraid it won't be easy for this household to wait!"
How did these fourth-class households and third-class households come from? Isn’t it just calculated by various calculations? A teacup counts as one hundred cents, and a quilt counts as your total money. Anyway, it’s all kinds of additions. After adding up, you will find out. He is a rich man.
The recruitment law in history encountered this situation. Those officials didn't know whether they were trying to curry favor with Wang Anshi or framed Wang Anshi. Anyway, the villagers from the fifth-class households were directly counted as third-class households. This is really terrible!
But they don't calculate with their eyes closed. They also calculate with evidence. Who gave you a cup and a wardrobe at home?
With this current calculation method, it is true that households in the fifth category cannot be assessed arbitrarily, but the problem is that the number of fifth-category households will increase dramatically.
This is really going from one extreme to another!
Zhang Fei sighed.
Han Jiang asked: "Why do you sigh?"
Zhang Fei said: "Actually, this method was forced out of me!"
"how do I say this?"
"Didn't some people impeach this law before? Wouldn't it increase the burden on the people?"
"People are here."
Wang Anshi immediately pointed at Sima Guang.
Sima Guang ignored Wang Anshi and said, "That's why you changed your plan to avoid increasing the burden on the people, right?"
Zhang Fei nodded: "Yes."
Sima Guang said: "In other words, the previous plan will indeed increase the burden on the people, right?"
Zhang Fei nodded: "Yes."
Sima Guang glanced at Wang Anshi provocatively.
Wang Anshi was unconvinced and said: "Then tell me, why is this?"
Han Jiang glanced at these two people. Am I not in charge here?
Zhang Fei explained: “The previous plan included all hoes and tea sets, but these do not represent the current living conditions of the people, because they cannot be bought for much money.
Many people have many appliances in their homes, but they are all very old and worthless. Their monthly income is just a tiny bit. As a result, they are classified as third-class households. Can the people not complain? After paying the tax, I can’t even eat.
But the three major items, carriages, horses, houses, and fields, are enough to represent the wealth of the people. If you go out in a carriage every day, even if you say that you are poor, you will not believe it. Raising horses is more expensive than raising people.
And income is the key factor in classifying households. If divided by income, the court can accurately calculate how much money to collect from families with any income, without affecting the normal living conditions of the people.
For example, if some rich people earn tens of thousands of dollars a year, even if they are levied two to three hundred dollars, it will not affect them. But if the people's annual income is only 30 guan, and levying two or three guan money may cause the people to miss a few meals, but if you only levy 20 or 30 guan money, it will not have any impact.
Therefore, this plan also includes the annual taxes. If the annual taxes are deducted, the remaining money can be divided according to food and clothing, which is unlikely to cause public resentment. Those who are below the subsistence line are fine, but if they are above the subsistence line, the people will not complain if they charge more than ten cents. "
Sima Guang nodded repeatedly after hearing this, "That makes sense!"
Wang Anshi also thought it was good.
If the calculation can be accurate, it would be fine just to charge less and rely on the number of people to make up the amount!
The question is here, can you calculate it accurately?
Han Jiang asked: "How much people earn each year depends entirely on the people themselves. Can you guarantee that people will not conceal or make false reports?"
Zhang Fei quickly shook his head and said: "I can't guarantee this. This is a problem belonging to the Taxation Department. The Taxation Department said they can do it."
Wang Anshi didn't believe it, "Is this true?"
Zhang Fei said: "The Taxation Department told the police station so. I don't know exactly what they did."
Wang Anshi, Han Jiang, and Sima Guang looked at each other in shock.
The more I asked the tax department, the more mysterious it became.
There is such a powerful department hidden under this hand, and we don't even know it.
How can this be?
