There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 95 Taxation
It is now early summer in April and time to prepare for collecting taxes.

Since the Tang Dynasty, the collection of land taxes in all dynasties has basically been concentrated in summer and autumn.

The Old Book of Tang, Daizong Ji, records: "In the summer of the fifth year of the Dali reign, the tax rate for upper-class fields was six liters per mu, and for lower-class fields it was four liters. In the autumn, the tax rate for upper-class fields was five liters per mu, and for lower-class fields it was three liters."

Summer taxes are mainly levied on wheat and barley, while autumn taxes are mainly levied on rice and corn.

After the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, which can be considered five dynasties of reform, the summer and autumn tax system was officially abolished in the 13th year of Yongzheng's reign and replaced by a two-period tax system.

The previous period started in February and ended in May, and the next period will start in August and end in November.

Nie Yu did not deliberately change the tax law because the people were already accustomed to the two-period tax collection period. If the tax period was changed arbitrarily, it would easily cause waste of time and money for the local people.

Linxiang County, Niejia Town.

It is really called Niejia Town. It was originally called Niejia Market. Because the Han army changed the local administrative divisions and wanted to merge and build a new town, Niejia Market was set up as Niejia Town.

It's possible that his subordinates were trying to please him, but Nie Yu didn't take it too seriously.

It is normal for these officials to have their own ideas. As long as they do not engage in corruption, harm the people, or cause financial losses, there is no need to worry too much about them.

As for Niejia Town, it has no relative relationship with Nie Yu. It’s just that the landlord there has the same surname as his.

Old man Nie was using a rented cart to transport a large amount of grain to the town. His two sons were following him. The eldest son was called Nie Da and the younger son was called Nie Yao. It was a bit casual, but that was also the norm for farmers.

You can't expect a farmer who can't read a single word to give his son a fancy name!

Nie Yao was halfway through the journey when he was exhausted and couldn't help complaining, "Dad, why are we transporting so much grain to town? Didn't the new government notice say that we don't have to pay so much grain this year?"

Old Man Nie scolded him harshly, "What do you know, kid? How can we, as common people, just believe what the official says? If we don't get more food, what if the official doesn't keep his word? Will we even be alive this year?"

Nie Yao fell silent instantly, not because he was convinced, but simply because his father was a chatterbox all the time. He could never make sense out of anything and could go on for half an hour without even feeling his mouth was dry (I've really seen that, but my grandma...).

Because he was busy transporting grain to the town to pay taxes, Old Man Nie didn't talk for too long this time.

In fact, he himself was also somewhat suspicious. Before the new Han army government came, the old officials collected taxes quite arbitrarily. One tax collection could often take away most of the harvest of an ordinary farmer's family for half a year.

In order to survive, they either had to exchange their surplus grain for bran at the landlord's house, or sell their land and borrow money from the landlord.

Old Man Nie's surname Nie is the same as that of the local Mr. Nie, but they are from the same collateral branch of the family. My grandfather's generation only got a few acres of land. I heard that Mr. Nie would provide some financial assistance during the holidays.

By the time he was born, the relationship was basically severed. In addition, the taxes imposed by the officials became heavier and heavier. His father had no choice but to sell land and borrow money, and quickly became a tenant farmer from a self-employed farmer.

In the past, when his family paid taxes, they had to go to Mr. Nie's house in advance to exchange all the grain for silver.

Because I heard that the emperor's father had changed the head tax to the harvest from the fields, so the landless people didn't have to pay taxes, but from then on all taxes had to be paid in silver.

I really don't understand. Their family didn't own any land originally and was just a tenant of Mr. Nie's family. Why do they still have to pay taxes?
I don’t know how far I walked, but I finally arrived in town.

Before Old Man Nie could ask anyone for directions, two militiamen guarding the gate looked at him and the grain cart behind him with helplessness.

One of them stepped forward and said, "You are here to pay taxes! Follow me."

"Ah... oh."

Old Man Nie looked confused and followed him.

The two sons behind, plus a militiaman who came to help, pushed the grain cart and followed.

Nie Da was fine, he worked hard and didn't say anything, but Nie Yao was quite surprised, as he had never seen officials helping the common people with their work.

"Why are you just standing there? Why don't you put in some effort?"

Seeing Nie Yao let go, the militiaman couldn't help but say with a dark face. "Oh oh!"

"Gulugulugulugulu..."

The wheels rolled and they didn't go far before they arrived at a simple government office.

Well, it is really simple, as if it was built temporarily, if there was not a sign in front that read "Temporary Office for Summer Tax Collection" and two clerks sitting at the door.

Old Man Nie was illiterate, but he had paid a lot of taxes in the past, so he recognized that "yashu" meant the government office and "xia tax" meant the grain they had to pay.

The clerk seemed to be used to seeing Old Man Nie and the grain cart behind him. He picked up his pen and asked while writing down the details.

"Which village?"

"Nie Village."

"Which Nie Village?"

"It's in that corner of the mountain."

"...What's your village chief, the head of the village or the head of the grain department, called?"

"Uncle Nie."

"Uncle Nie... I checked and found it. It turns out he's from Shanqian Village."

"Master, I'm from Niejia Village, not Shanqian Village."

"Okay, I get it! Also, why are you bringing so much food into town?"

"Please forgive us, sir. We know the rules. This tax must be exchanged for silver. But the local master Nie is gone, and we don't know where to exchange it for silver. Please, sir, please be kind and don't let us go back. It will take a long time to go back and forth, and we have old parents at home. Please give us a way to survive!"

Before he finished speaking, Old Man Nie knelt down and even started crying, obviously he was very skilled.

You have to be proficient at it!

Doing this may not necessarily be effective, but not doing this will definitely be useless. If the grain is really sent back intact, there will be a lot of loss in the round trip. Given the nature of the officials, they will definitely impose additional taxes and levies. These poor people can forget about living a good life this year.

When the clerk who was questioning him saw Old Man Nie kneeling down, he was so scared that he stood up on the spot. He had received many ignorant men and women before, but none of them knelt down at every turn.

Although Old Man Nie was very old, he was still frightened. He quickly stepped forward to help him up and said, "Don't be afraid, old man. I'm not a master, and I'm not angry. Since this grain is tax, then put it down! It's just that the new tax law has made it clear that this year's tax is not that high, so there is no need to hand over so much grain."

"Ah?" Old Man Nie was a little confused.

But the youngest son, Nie Yao, couldn't help but say, "Dad, I've already told you. The new government notice and Uncle San (the village chief) and the others said there wouldn't be that many miscellaneous taxes this year. As long as we pay the taxes on the legitimate land, there won't be anything else. You insisted on coming here yourself, and even brought so much grain, and even rented a grain cart."

When Old Man Nie heard this, he subconsciously scolded: "What do you know, kid..."

A clerk nearby interrupted with a smile, "Haha, old man, your son is right. This year, the General's Office has issued a new tax law. Not only this year, but every year thereafter, the tax will be lower. Besides the regular tax, all other taxes, such as the capitation tax, forced labor, living tax, death tax, and the guarantor tax, have been eliminated. So you really don't have to pay so much tax grain."

In fact, not only these overt taxes, but also various harsh taxes including tooth tax, pawn tax, land tax, cattle and horse tax (horse and donkey tax), deed tax, and miscellaneous taxes have been unified and merged, and will all be changed to industrial and commercial taxes in the future.

To be honest, it was not until Nie Yu occupied three states that he realized how outrageous the Qing Dynasty's heavy taxes were.

Have you heard of the fight tax?
The literal meaning is that in order to compete for land and water resources, two clan villages will agree on a time and place to engage in a gathering and fight, and whoever wins will get the land and water resources.

The Qing government would not care, and not only would it not care, it would also impose a fighting tax. Otherwise, it would be considered an illegal fight, and all illegal fights would be subject to additional taxes.

It’s so outrageous that his mother opened the door for outrageous things. It’s so outrageous.

The miscellaneous taxes and levies that Nie Yu banned were basically of this kind. It truly lived up to the "golden age" of our Qing Dynasty. It was truly amazing!
(End of this chapter)