Chapter 564
Sun Shan read the notice carefully and found it was roughly the same as "taxation per acre".
In short, the head tax is spread over the land, and taxes are paid according to the land. All corvée and taxes are included in this category. They can be collected once and the burden can be lifted in a year.
There is a slight change in the way of paying taxes, you can choose grain or silver.
The tax collection process has been greatly simplified, with each household being taxed only according to the amount of land they own.
For example: Guangnan Province has 1 million acres of land and 1 million people. The tax is 100 yuan per acre and 100 yuan per person. The total land tax and capitation tax is 20 billion yuan.
While keeping the tax revenue at 20 billion unchanged.
After the tax was distributed among the acres of land, 200 yuan of tax was collected per acre of land. The head tax, or Ding tax, was abolished, so the total land tax collected was 20 billion yuan.
If a landlord owns 1000 mu of land and has 10 people in his family, before the land tax is calculated, the tax he pays is 10 + 1 = 10.1.
After the land tax was distributed among the land, the tax payable was 20 yuan.
If a peasant family holds 10 mu of land and has 5 people, before the land tax is calculated, the tax paid is 1000+500=1500.
After the land tax is calculated based on the land area, the tax payable is 2000 yuan.
If a peasant family has no land and has five people, they have to pay 5 yuan in taxes before the land tax is calculated.
After the land tax is calculated based on the land area, the tax payable is 0 yuan.
If taxes were collected per capita in the past, a family of five shared a piece of land. If they had a child or married a wife, the family would become six and they would have to pay an extra tax, but in fact the land did not increase.
After the new policy is implemented, it doesn’t matter if there are a few more people in the family, as long as the amount of land remains unchanged, the required tax must still be paid.
In summary, people with more land paid more taxes, while people with less land paid less taxes.
The new policy bypassed the difficult household registration issue. The court only needed to find out how much land there was before it could levy taxes.
Sun Shan was lost in thought when someone suddenly called out, "Mr. Xu has taken some people to measure his land."
Song Junhua, who had finally squeezed in, pulled Sun Shan and asked in surprise, "Brother Sun, let's go take a look too."
Sun Shan asked in confusion: "Brother Song, where should we go? Do you know where Duke Xu's land is?"
But then I thought, Duke Xu was the largest landlord in Jinling, and wherever he went, all the land was his.
Song Junhua looked at Sun Shan speechlessly, thinking that Sun Shan was a bit of a fool. He said unhappily, "Brother Sun, I definitely know where Duke Xu's land is. Even if I don't know, I can find out by following the crowd. With such a sensational event, the people of Jinling will definitely come out to watch the fun."
Sun Shan felt embarrassed, thinking that he was troubled by the content of the new policy. He was so engrossed in reading the notice that he could not come back to his senses for a long time.
Song Junhua was right. Even if we didn't know where Duke Xu's land was, we could just follow the crowd. Or we could just grab a bystander and find out where Duke Xu was measuring the land.
A student nearby asked: "If we don't go to class and go to watch the fun, will the professor scold us?"
Song Junhua rolled his eyes at the student and said fearlessly, "Just scold me if you want. It won't hurt. If you miss this kind of excitement, you won't have another chance in the future."
Sun Shan and the student looked at each other. Song Junhua was indeed a well-known gossiper in the academy. Whenever there was gossip, he would be the first to eat it.
Sun Shan looked at Song Junhua's excited and throbbing expression. When he came to his senses, he would definitely cry to death.
The imperial court was cutting the flesh of the landlords, and Song Junhua was undoubtedly one of the landlords.
But this is not what Sun Shan should remind him of. When he comes to his senses, he will naturally be worried.
The group hurried out of the academy and met many professors on the way. It seemed that no one wanted to miss this once-in-a-century event.
Everyone wanted to see whether Duke Xu would really sacrifice himself to help the emperor.
I followed the crowd, not knowing how long I had walked, until I finally reached a place where the flow of people stopped.
There were people maintaining order along the way.
It was not the officials from Yingtian Prefecture who maintained order, but the army of Duke Xu.
Sun Shan's heart trembled. The army had been dispatched, and it seemed that the new policy was inevitable.
The crowd was crowded together, and Sun Shan was short and thin, so it was impossible for him to see what was happening in front of him.
The students from Chongzheng Academy who were traveling with him couldn't see it either.
Then everyone looked at a low hill not far away, and finally climbed up and found a high place to look down.
Everyone found the best spot and watched from a distance.
The native Song Junhua pointed at a man in a scarlet robe and said, "Look, it's really Duke Xu. I didn't expect it to be true."
Sun Shan looked steadily towards the bottom of the mountain. There was a large gathering of people at one place, and Duke Xu could be seen at a glance.
There were quite a few people around him, probably officials from Yingtian Prefecture.
After waiting for a while, suddenly someone came with a rope and someone came with paper and pen.
Song Junhua added: "Look, they are starting to measure the fields."
Then he asked Sun Shan, "Brother Sun, why do you think Duke Xu measured his own land? You can find out how much land he has by checking the account book."
Sun Shan looked at Song Junhua suspiciously. Logically speaking, he shouldn't be so naive.
He was already a juren, why was he still asking such a naive question? How did he pass the exam to become a juren? Did he pass by sheer luck?
How could the imperial court allow the landlords to report their own land? They would certainly send officials to register them one by one.
Another student answered for Sun Shan: "Brother Song, Duke Xu is measuring his own land, but he is actually measuring the land of the whole world. Alas, it seems that the new policy is bound to be implemented, and no one can stop it. Duke Xu is leading the way, and the others can only follow."
Sun Shan nodded and said in agreement: "As soon as the new policy came out, Duke Xu immediately arranged for someone to measure his own land. It seems..."
Sun Shan pointed to the sky and said, "The new policy will definitely be implemented. Lord Xu is taking a risk."
I was thinking that the implementation of the new policy would inevitably be hindered by opposition forces, and I didn't know how much bloodshed would occur.
There may be a lot of turmoil, and Sun Shan is a little uneasy.
Another student asked, "Duke Xu has finished measuring his own land, who will be the next? I don't know when my land will start?"
He looked at Song Junhua again and asked, "Brother Song, your family must also prepare. You can't avoid it."
He looked at Sun Shan again and asked, "Brother Sun, when will your Guangnan implement it? I heard that it started from Yingtian Prefecture and then spread to the nearby prefectures. Your place should be the last batch."
What Sun Shan actually wanted to tell him was that his family was just a small landlord and it didn't matter to him at all.
But I dare not say such words, as it seems like I am gloating over someone else’s misfortune and I am afraid that if I say it out loud, I will get beaten.
Sun Shan shook his head and said, "I don't know either. But since Yingtian Prefecture has already started, we will also slowly start over there."
One student whispered, "I heard that many families in Jinling with officials have united to write a letter to the emperor."
Sun Shan had expected this situation and whispered, "The new policy may seem to be proposed by Duke Xu, but it is actually implemented by His Majesty. Even if we submit a petition, it will not have much effect."
Everyone looked at each other. The fact was just as Sun Shan said. Anyone with a discerning eye knew that it was the emperor's idea.
Duke Xu was just a tool.