There’s No Escaping Taxes
Who says this dynasty only has corrupt officials? There are also many honest and upright officials who wholeheartedly serve the people.
I guess Song Quanzhao and the Prefect have been too busy with this matter lately to attend to her reward; it was her who was limited.
Immediately, she didn’t worry about the one hundred silvers anymore, and earnestly said, “Thank you, Master Song.”
Zhao Da just smiled and waved his hand, talking about the land in the small low-lying land.
“Last time we went to see, the land in the small low-lying land is very difficult to reclaim. You have only reclaimed more than two mu of land. So many people cultivate more than two mu of land; I estimate that their daily grain is insufficient.
But the household registration still needs to record the situation of the cultivated land, and taxes will be paid in the future.”
Jiang Yimian: …
She knew that those lands could not escape the fate of paying taxes.
Seeing the other party’s silence, Zhao Da continued, “However, because you have the merit of reclaiming wasteland, we will only collect thirty percent tax from you.”
Reclaiming wasteland is not an easy task. Although the Imperial Court encourages the common people to reclaim wasteland, no one is willing to do this thankless job.
Therefore, the Imperial Court has set up some encouragement policies, and only a thirty percent tax is levied on the reclaimed wasteland.
It sounds like less than the usual tax, but whether wasteland can produce grain is unknown, so basically no one gambles on this thirty percent tax.
Except for some refugees who have no land and no silver, the rest are landlords.
Now, in order for the Imperial Court to hold all the land in their own hands, there are fewer landlords.
In the past, there were many landlords in every town, and almost all the land was in the hands of landlords.
Those common people without land could only become tenant farmers for the landlords, renting the landlords’ land to cultivate, handing over most of the grain after harvest to the landlords, paying part of the tax to the government, and the remaining grain was not enough for their own family to eat, completely at the bottom, in a state of exploitation.
Fortunately, there are far fewer landlords in various towns now, and such tenant farmers have basically disappeared.
Now, those without land can directly rent land from the government, pay copper coins to cultivate, and then pay fifty percent tax; the rest is their own.
Although not much grain is left, it is still much better than being a tenant farmer.
Jiang Yimian didn’t have many objections to the fact that the land on the mountain had to pay taxes; at least they didn’t have to pay for the next two years, which was pretty good.
When Jiang Yimian went to meet up with Liu Dayong and the others, they were repairing the roof of a dilapidated thatched hut.
Gousheng saw her coming and smiled, “Sister Yimian, the Village Chief said that these houses can be left for us to live in, but if we want to rebuild houses or cultivate land, we need to buy the land.”
The grain grown on their mountain land is barely enough for several families to eat. Even if it’s not enough, they can completely clear out several more mu of land, so they don’t have to bother buying land from the foot of the mountain.
Jiang Yimian nodded, looking at the three thatched huts in front of her. Although they looked dilapidated, each thatched hut had at least four rooms, which was quite spacious.
Moreover, it was close to the foot of the mountain, making it convenient for them to go up the mountain every day.
The Village Chief allowing them to live there temporarily is pretty good.
Repairing the holes in the roof and windows is fine for storing things or temporarily staying when the weather is bad and it’s difficult to travel on mountain roads.
She looked at several other houses nearby. The closest one to them was at the foot of the mountain, only seven or eight meters away. The roof had a large hole, and the door was wide open, presumably unoccupied.
Just as she was thinking, a family across the way opened the door.
An old man with gray hair came out, walking tremblingly with a cane; it was the old man who was standing beside Ma Ming at first.
The old man didn’t seem surprised to see them, nodded, and walked down to the foot of the mountain.
Jiang Yimian looked for a few seconds before withdrawing her gaze and followed Gousheng to the Village Chief’s house to carry straw.
The Village Chief knew that their houses were temporarily uninhabitable and specially contributed his own straw for them to use.
Although she didn’t know if it was because of Zhao Da, Jiang Yimian still noted this kindness.
When everyone had finished repairing the roof and returned, it was already noon.
On the way back, everyone’s steps were lighter. With the household registration issue resolved, they felt relieved.
It took more than an hour to go there, but only half an hour to come back.
Old Man Liu, Zhao Erhei, and Wang Xiaohei had just returned from outside. Seeing that several people had already returned, the three of them quickly put down the sacks in their hands.
Old Man Liu curiously asked, “How is it? How is the village? Did Zhao Da say anything about what to do with the land in Apricot Flower Village?”
These days, he has been thinking about how the village land will be handled. Although there is also land in the mountains, several families in the village together have seven or eight mu.
Jiang Yimian only mentioned that someone wanted to buy the land and that the government would convert their land into silver and distribute it to them, and Old Man Liu was relieved.
“That’s good. We can rest assured about cultivating these few mu of land in the small low-lying land.”
They were originally worried that they would lose those lands in the future; now that they can be exchanged for silver, it is good news.
Liu Xiaoyun also nodded, “Then we can reclaim a few more mu of land this year, so we don’t have to worry about the grain for several families; this is about enough.”
Zhao Dashu also nodded repeatedly. The three brothers had no land. The land deeds were lost somewhere along the way during their escape from famine, so they relied on the grain from the small low-lying land.
Last year, if they hadn’t dug enough konjac early and dried it into powder, and dug a lot of taro, their grain wouldn’t have been enough.
It is necessary to reclaim more land this year.
Wang Fengqin worried, “Then what about the tax?”
In the past, every household in Apricot Flower Village had to pay nearly sixty percent tax. If it’s the same in the future, they won’t have much grain left.
At the mention of taxes, everyone fell silent.
They didn’t pay taxes last year, so they had a good year, but they had forgotten about it.
Seeing everyone’s low spirits, Jiang Yimian told everyone about what Zhao Da said about taxes.
Upon hearing that they didn’t need to pay taxes for two years, everyone’s eyes widened in surprise.
Old Man Liu was even more excited, grabbing Liu Dayong’s arm and twisting it hard. A cry of pain rang out before he said, “It’s not a dream, Yimian, we really don’t have to pay taxes for two years?”
He didn’t dare to think about not paying taxes. Last year, they didn’t pay taxes, and he was afraid that the government would make them pay it back this year. Unexpectedly, they didn’t have to pay taxes for the next two years.
Jiang Yimian nodded, “The prefectural city affected by the war will not have to pay taxes for the next two years. Other places will pay an extra ten percent tax.”
Upon receiving confirmation, everyone was overjoyed. Even though they knew that these wastelands would also have to pay taxes after two years, they were still very enthusiastic. Even Liu Dayong, despite the pain in his arm, had a smile on his face.
Old Man Liu said to everyone, “Let’s reclaim more wasteland these days and try to plant it this year.”
It’s best to also reclaim a paddy field in the small low-lying land. Then they can dig ditches and draw water from the stream for irrigation, and they can grow more grain.
Last year, more than one mu of land yielded more than one thousand catties of grain, which surprised them. Apart from God’s favor, he couldn’t figure out why.
This year, they probably won’t be so lucky. If they want to harvest more grain, they have to cultivate more land.
Everyone responded one after another. The main reason why they didn’t reclaim more land last year was that there weren’t enough seeds.
This year is different. Besides the seeds they have at home, they can buy some more in town.
Also, Zhao Dashu’s three brothers helped with the work. With these three extra people, the work will be much faster.
Seeing everyone’s enthusiasm, Jiang Yimian also smiled. After dinner, she saw Old Man Liu and Zhao Dashu and several others working in the field.
I don’t know what they are sprinkling in the field.