Double-Cut During the War of Resistance: My Wife Came from 1937

After a long time, Ma Hongwei and Xia Weiwei finally finished counting all the Yuan Shikai silver dollars.

There are a total of 88 Yuan Shikai silver dollars from the third year of the Republic of China, 10 from the eighth year of the Republic of China, 21 from the ninth year of the Republic of China, and 19 from the tenth year of the Republic of China.

In addition, there are 3 Soviet-era Yuan Shikai silver dollars and 2 Gansu-era silver dollars with inscriptions.

Looking at the Yuan Shikai silver dollar placed in the middle, Xia Weiwei couldn't help but purse her lips and say, "So many Yuan Shikai silver dollars, yet only five are special!"

"Don't be ungrateful. Picking out five out of more than a hundred is already quite good."

Ma Hongwei said with a smile, "There are so many Yuan Shikai silver dollars in the country, but only a few hundred of each of the Soviet and Gansu versions still exist."

"Besides, there's a big box next to it; you're sure to find some special silver dollars inside."

Xia Weiwei asked, "So how will we sell them? Will it also be online?"

"Online shipping will definitely be slower; if you want to sell quickly, you still need to go offline."

Ma Hongwei said to Xia Weiwei, "Let's go! We'll head to Ancheng now. It's a prefecture-level city, much bigger than our Lincheng, and the antique market is even bigger!"

"A city bigger than Lin City?"

Xia Weiwei immediately became interested.

During her last time travel, she stayed in Lincheng.

To be honest, Xia Weiwei really wanted to see if other cities were just as prosperous.

"Wait a minute!"

Ma Hongwei ran ahead, grabbed a few plastic bags, packed the Yuan Shikai silver dollars into separate containers, and then put them into a small box.

As for the five special Yuan Shikai silver dollars, he carried them with him at all times.

"You hold me, I'll go get the car!"

Ma Hongwei handed the small box to Xia Weiwei, found the car keys, and went out.

He opened the garage door, drove the bread truck out, and beckoned Xia Weiwei to get in.

After locking the door, Ma Hongwei drove his car, turning left and right through the village, until he reached the road behind the village.

Ma Hongwei explained, "This road leads south to our county-level city, while to the north it connects to the expressway."

"highway?"

This was the first time Xia Weiwei had ever heard this name.

"On ordinary roads, there are speed limits, generally not exceeding 60 kilometers per hour. In urban areas with many people, the speed limit may even be 30 kilometers per hour."

Ma Hongwei explained: "On highways, there are no pedestrians, bicycles, or electric vehicles, and the minimum speed is 60 kilometers per hour, and it can even reach 120 kilometers per hour."

"How can it run that fast?"

Xia Weiwei was somewhat surprised.

She recalled that when she took a train during the Republic of China era, the train would only travel 30-40 kilometers in an hour.

The roads there were rough and uneven, and cars couldn't move very fast, so they were quite slow.

After passing through the toll booth, the car finally entered the highway.

"Wow, that's fast!"

Xia Weiwei noticed that all the cars were accelerating.

The scenery on both sides of the road is rushing past us at high speed.

This wide and straight road has no bumps or unevenness, and the car drives on it steadily without any jolting.

On the highway, Xia Weiwei saw many huge trucks, something she rarely saw in the city.

In less than half an hour, they came off the highway.

Looking around, the scene was just as bustling, but the buildings here seemed to be much shorter.

At the very least, the buildings on both sides of the road they were traveling on were quite low.

As they drove into the city, Xia Weiwei saw some cars marked with numbers.

Ma Hongwei said, "Those are buses. Lincheng used to have more than a dozen bus routes, but in recent years the economy has not been good and the government has no money, so they have been cut. That's why you can't see many of them."

"But Ancheng has been developing for a long time, with many bus routes, and many urban residents travel by bus. Senior citizens can ride for free with their senior citizen cards."

"free?"

Xia Weiwei hurriedly asked, "I can ride the bus without paying?"

"Yes, this is a welfare benefit for citizens over 60 years old."

Ma Hongwei said, "They not only ride public buses for free, but they also go to tourist attractions for free. They can buy train and high-speed rail tickets at half price. In addition, they can receive pensions."

"pension?"

Xia Weiwei asked curiously, "How much can I earn in a month?"

"This varies from person to person."

Ma Hongwei said, "Generally, civil servants and employees in public institutions in the city receive the most. A grassroots staff member in Beijing can receive about 8000 yuan a month after retirement. Cadres can receive more, while ordinary employees receive several thousand yuan."

"Our small county town can't compare to those richer places, so we can receive less. Rural pensions are only a few hundred yuan. If you contribute more, you can get more, but it's still not comparable to others."

"The gap between rural and urban areas is just too huge!"

Xia Weiwei felt it was somewhat unfair.

"Sigh, what can you do when farmers own the land!"

Ma Hongwei said, "Although farming doesn't make money, land is a form of security, and the gap between urban and rural areas has existed since ancient times, but it is now narrowing."

"Fortunately, the agricultural tax has now been abolished, and there are still subsidies for farming, so farmers no longer need to spend extra money."

"Agricultural tax?"

Xia Weiwei was also unfamiliar with this term.

Before 2006, farmers were required to pay agricultural taxes, which meant paying grain taxes and other levies.

Ma Hongwei said in a deep voice: "Since the reform and opening up, the whole country began to divide the land and cultivate individual farms, and then the scope of agricultural tax collection was expanded. Every year, the amount of agricultural tax revenue has been increasing."

"At that time, the national average tax rate was about 15.5% of grain, and it could not exceed 25% at most."

"In addition to agricultural tax, there are two other taxes (retention and pooling) and three other taxes (collection and apportionment)."

"Of these, the amount payable under the two taxes is approximately less than 5% of the average net income per capita in the previous year."

"I remember seeing my maternal grandfather's collection slip from 2000. The average net income per capita in the village last year was 1300 yuan, and the set average payment per capita was 50.9 yuan. At that time, my aunt was not yet married. Based on a family of five, they would need to pay 254.5 yuan."

"I heard that in some places at that time, in order to make farmers pay more taxes, they deliberately overstated the per capita income. In 97, a certain village reported a per capita net income of 2500 yuan and a per capita tax payment of 125 yuan. However, the investigation team found that the actual per capita income was only a little over 1000 yuan."

"These two taxes also have figures. The three taxes are illegal charges, illegal fundraising, illegal fines, and illegal settlements. In a joint investigation by five ministries, a certain junior high school required each student to pay an education surcharge of 240 yuan per year, a private school teacher coordination fee of 30 yuan, and primary schools also had to pay a tutoring fee of 50 yuan and a new school sports field fee of 15 yuan."

"Because of these arbitrary charges, farmers say that the first tax is light, the second tax is heavy, and the third tax is a bottomless pit. In many places, there have been violent resistance to taxes."

"After investigation and research, the central government eventually abolished the agricultural tax, and farmers no longer had to pay these bottomless taxes."

"Although our country is not a perfect utopia, it is constantly improving and getting better."

From the past when various agricultural taxes had to be paid, to the abolition of agricultural taxes, and then to the increase of farmers' pensions, things have indeed been getting better.