To put it simply, if the county magistrate wants to complete the tax task of the county, he has to rely on these secretaries to run the officials, and Qin Bingyan, as the prefect, although he does not need to face the officials directly, he also knows that the taxes of the whole government depend largely on these people, no matter how much you hate them, there is nothing to change this situation. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Now the Qiongzhou battalion has taken the initiative to take over the taxes of the three counties, which is equivalent to taking these troubles over, so Master Qin said that it was a good thing.

Zhao Yue was worried: "If there is no profit, it will not be early, the Qiongzhou battalion will inevitably make a profit from it, if it is paid in full, and it can't bypass these treacherous officials, I am afraid that it will be a big deal to exploit the people." ”

Master Qin disagreed: "What do we have to do with the life or death of the mud legs, besides, it was the Qiongzhou battalion that bullied them, not us." ”

Qin Bingyan coughed dryly twice and said: "You can't say that, they are all the people under the rule of Qiongzhou, and as a parent official, this official can't bear it." However, in order to save the lives of the people of Chengmai, I can't care so much. ”

Zhao Yue was silent, standing in Qin Bingyan's position, he was able to successfully resolve the Chengmai crisis, and the cost was only to exchange the taxes of the three counties for individuals to pay, and these taxes were not lost, and it was a good thing to throw out a big burden to some extent. As the second officer, he had no reason to object, so he could only remain silent.

South Park.

In the summer, Nan summoned everyone to discuss the issue, and the topic was to collect taxes.

"Covering the taxes of the three counties?" Sun Yuanhua couldn't believe it.

Xia Nan nodded: "This is in my plan, but it is also a windfall." I'm not sure if the prefect's yamen will come to me because of Chengmai, and I don't know if they will agree to my conditions, so I didn't tell you before. ”

Sima De was not surprised: "The general wants to implement the rule of paying grain per mu to the three counties?" ”

"Exactly. The scale of the Qiongzhou battalion has expanded, and the number of troops will increase in the future, and food is indispensable, so I want to turn all the surrounding three counties into the granaries of the Qiongzhou battalion. ”

Sun Yuanhua frowned and said, "This is understandable. But how to pay enough taxes and ensure that you have enough food? In addition to the regular grain, the annual salary apportioned by the imperial court is a large amount, and the Qiongzhou battalion can't use the silver earned from its own business to pay it, right? If this is the case, it is enough to buy grain directly with silver, so why bother? ”

Xia Nan didn't answer directly, but asked Qian Youyu: "What is the annual tax in Lingao County?" ”

Qian Youyu, as Xia Nan's clerk, is still the first time to participate in a formal meeting. At this moment, he is recording everyone's speeches in the form of text according to Xia Nan's request, which is called "meeting minutes" according to Xia Nan's words.

Hearing Xia Nan's question, Qian Youyu put down the brush in his hand and replied: "Lingao's annual summer tax and autumn grain are a total of 8,000 stone of grain and 8,000 taels of liao salary. ”

"What about loss, floating income, etc.?"

Qian Youyu was stunned, the general even knew this?

"Counting only the loss, the grain collection and transportation costs a lot, at least 10,000 stone brown rice and 9,000 taels of silver are enough. If you add the floating income...... Qian Youyu hesitated for a moment, "at least 15,000 stone of grain and 10,000 taels of silver." ”

He explained: "The exploitation and consumption of the "grain poor" and "contracted households", as well as the income benefits of the county officials, must be obtained from the requisition of grain, which is called "consuming grain pile", that is, the so-called "floating harvest".

"Grain consumption pile tip" is not "indiscriminate charge", is the Ming tax system has a clear provision, in some places, each stone additional rice and sharp rice 7 buckets of 6 liters, more than half of the positive amount. This extra income is the largest and most considerable "gray income" of local officials, which is much safer than the black money made by corruption and bending the law, which is a tacit rule of the Ming tax system.

"So much?" Xia Nan was not surprised, but Sun Yuanhua was really surprised. He has been in a high position for a long time, and he doesn't know much about the unspoken rules at the grassroots level, and he thinks that the Ming Dynasty is good from the root, as long as the Holy Son of Heaven is in power, everyone is in the dynasty, and Zhongxing is just around the corner. I didn't expect that Lingao County, the small capital of Qiongzhou, was already so dark, and it was no better to come to other places.

"Exploiting the people in this way to enrich their own pockets, are you worthy of the saints and the books of the sages that you have read?" Sun Yuanhua was quite excited and scolded Qian Youyu.

Qian Youyu's head shrunk, and he felt a little aggrieved, he was just a little master, and he was not a Qipin Zhixian County, so it would not be his turn to be scolded.

Xia Nan persuaded: "Mr. Sun doesn't need to be excited, this is also the way for the magistrate to survive." You must know that a Qipinzhi County, as well as the large and small officials in the county government, if they don't have these incomes, I'm afraid they will have to drink the northwest wind. ”

"That is, the county Zunyue can't serve seven stones and five buckets, and you have to ask for money and food, the famous master of the punishment, the registered officials, and the officials and officials have three taels of silver per year, and the white body who is not registered only takes the money, and I don't want to do anything, how can we live?" Money has more than enough to defend himself.

Sun Yuanhua was stunned, he only knew that it was natural for the small officials and officials to "serve the public", but he didn't think about how to ensure survival by relying on these symbolic money, food, and silver.

"Although floating income has great drawbacks, it is an important support for counties to maintain their operations and cannot be replaced in a short period of time." Xia Nan defined this phenomenon, "And the purpose of our tax collection is to reserve grain for the Qiongzhou camp and plan for the future, how to make the two go hand in hand, we need to use our brains." ”

Sima De said: "But if the road of floating income is cut off, and I have to pay taxes and grain in full, I really can't think of any other way than to continue to squeeze the people?" ”

The rest of the people nodded in agreement.

Sun Yuanhua frowned and said: "But the burden of the people is already heavy, and if you pay additional taxes, isn't this forcing them to die?" ”

Xia Nan shook his head and sighed, this is the limitation of the times, why don't you jump out of this box?

"Don't just stare at the three melons and two dates in the people's bowls, the pattern is bigger. Think about it, excluding the floating income, has the annual tax of the imperial court been collected sufficiently, and where does the excess money and grain go? ”

There is more money than thought. He has been in the curtain for more than ten years, and naturally understands the dark side of the grassroots better than everyone present. Seeing that no one could answer Xia Nan's question, he boldly said: "What the general said, the student knows a little bit about it. ”

Xia Nan encouraged: "Very good, you can talk about it." ”

"Actually, I was born in a criminal name." Qian Youyu first explained his livelihood skills, "However, I have also learned money and grain, and I can cope with the money and grain of ordinary small counties." ”

But whenever the county order takes office, the two masters of the criminal name and money and food are the most important. The former assists the county magistrate in hearing criminal cases, and the latter specializes in cooperating with the proprietor to handle such businesses as the sale of money and grain, the population of the land, the inventory of house numbers, the measurement of land, the opening of warehouses for relief, and the collection of miscellaneous taxes. The specialty is not only familiar with all kinds of doors in this area, but also good at calligraphy. (To be continued.) )