Chapter 1136 Tax Grain Deposit
After seeing off the candidates, Sun Shan returned to the county government office.
He looked at the tax collection submitted by County Magistrate Wang, trying to find the mistakes.
Rice is widely grown in Yuanlu County, with two harvests a year, which also means taxes are collected twice a year.
The early rice has been harvested and the late rice has been planted.
As a result, the government immediately launched the first tax collection and quickly completed the tax collection task.
The so-called grain collection is carried out in two ways.
One is that farmers personally deliver the grain to the designated place, and the other is that yamen runners collect taxes personally.
The first kind is classified as obedient people, which reduces a lot of work for the government. The second kind is rebellious people, and violence must be used when necessary.
In Daqian, if ordinary people wanted to resist paying taxes, the cost of violating the regulations was very high.
Being injured is a minor matter, but being beaten to death is a common occurrence.
This year's early rice tax collection can be said to be quite smooth, because the weather was good, the crops in the fields grew well, and both the obedient and the unobedient people were very cooperative.
Strong resistance to taxation only occurs when there is no other way out, and no one wants to be beaten by violent organizations.
Sun Shan frowned and looked at the grain taxes he had received. They were all tax grains from small households or ordinary self-cultivating farmers. The situation of large households evading taxes and not paying taxes was very serious.
Sun Shan specifically looked for the grain tax paid by the Wang family. It cannot be said that there was none, but it could be said that there was almost none.
It is obvious that the entire county has the largest area, but pays the least taxes.
These are the so-called "Brahmins" of small counties, the parasites of small counties.
Sun Shan checked carefully and found that the Wang family's account books for tax evasion were very perfect, and they also used the magic rules in a reasonable way.
For example, when measuring land, two acres might be divided into one acre, or small amounts of money might be used or officials might collude to falsely report the number of acres.
Sun Shan looked at the Wang family's land that was subject to tax. Excluding the tax-exempt portions of County Magistrate Wang and Scholar Wang, the remaining land was as small as that of a small country landlord.
Sun Shan didn't believe that the Wang family had so little land.
There is only one way to solve this problem: remeasure the fields.
Alas, this is not a good solution.
One step forward is an abyss, one step back is a cliff.
Not to mention Sun Shan who had just arrived, even Sun Shan who had worked in Yuanlu County for many years would not dare to take such a risk.
Cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing his parents. Let's not talk about whether the officials below are willing to cooperate with Sun Shan. Even if they do, Sun Shan may have been murdered by County Magistrate Wang before they even start.
No, it should be said that not only County Magistrate Wang, but also Chief Secretary Wu and some powerful wealthy families wanted to put Sun Shan in a pig cage.
Sun Shan was a very timid person. He was not a reformer who acted swiftly and vigorously. Before doing anything, he had to save his life first and then plan slowly.
Seeing Sun Shan frowning and staring at the tax grain without moving, Master Zhang asked, "Master, is there a problem here?"
As Sun Shan's assistant, County Magistrate Wang was responsible for grain, horses, and tax collection.
After the collection is completed, it will be handed over to Sun Shan.
Sun Shan first asked Master Zhang to filter it. If he found any problems, he would point them out immediately and then review it himself.
Mr. Zhang looked at the account books submitted by County Magistrate Wang and found no problems. They were exactly the same as before.
Sun Shan shook his head and said, "No problem, but the tax we received is a little low. Alas, we in Yuanlu are still poor."
The wealthy families and gentry families like the local Wang County Magistrate could not be easily moved, so Sun Shan could only follow the principle of "new people, new methods, old people, old methods", ignore them and create more fields from scratch.
Sun Shan thought of Lord Wei again, and used the time he had been in service to reclaim some wasteland, bit by bit. After many years of cultivation, the wasteland became fertile farmland.
Now that Sun Shan is in Lord Wei's position, he also plans to follow Lord Wei's path.
Increase revenue and cut costs. Increase revenue is very important.
Bypass the native gentry, develop more land, and make the county government the largest landlord.
There are no middlemen, and the tax is collected directly by the manufacturer.
Master Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he did not mess up such an important matter for the first time. He consoled him and said, "Sir, although Yuanlu is a middle county with vast land and sparse population, it is all mountainous. Alas, the mountains cannot grow more food, so the taxes collected will naturally be less."
After a pause, he continued, "Sir, the first half of this year is pretty good. We have a lot more food than last year."
Sun Shan hummed and asked again, "Has all the grain been stored in the warehouse? Have you sent anyone to inspect it?"
The first inspection was done by a yamen runner, the second was done by County Magistrate Wang, and the third time was naturally done by Sun Shan's trusted confidant, Mr. Zhang, who led the Sun family's younger brothers to inspect.
Sun Shan couldn't afford to be careless. What if the people below colluded with each other and embezzled the money? By the time they found out, it would be too late and he wouldn't know where to cry.
Sun Shan didn't trust the people in the yamen at all, and he had to have his own people to keep an eye on it personally.
Master Zhang nodded and said, "Sir, Anan and I went to check it out in person and confirmed that the actual amount is exactly the same as the amount in the account book."
Of course, this is just an estimate, and it cannot be accurate to the millimeter.
Sun Shan ordered: "We need to conduct spot checks in the warehouse from time to time. We must not be careless."
Master Zhang nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Master."
There are two modes for people to pay taxes. One is to convert grain into silver and pay the silver first. The other is to pay grain directly.
The imperial court stipulated that the ratio of silver to physical objects, especially physical objects, should not be less than two-thirds.
Sun Shan also followed this rule. Although silver can buy anything and is convenient to carry, physical objects are the real things. With physical objects in hand, one feels more at ease.
Regardless of whether they were wealthy or ordinary families, Sun Shan required them to pay in kind rather than in silver.
Some farmers had no money and gave all their money in grain, and Sun Shan welcomed them with open arms and feet.
Sun Shan counted the taxes collected this time and believed that it would not be long before the higher authorities would send an official letter demanding payment of taxes.
After the taxes are paid, the rest is used to pay the officials' salaries, and the rest is used as grain and silver in the government's treasury.
Thinking of this, Sun Shan sighed again like the five-year-old boy standing alone in the Xiaojin River.
The bulk of the money is submitted to Chenzhou Prefecture, the bulk of the money is used to pay officials’ salaries, and the remaining surplus is the small portion.
What can you do with such a tiny surplus?
There was no deficit, thanks to the previous county magistrate's conscience, and the locals like County Magistrate Wang did not dare to be too greedy.
Being able to have a surplus, in the eyes of his colleagues, Sun Shan was considered to have a good script and a good start.
Sun Shan reconciled the accounts with Master Zhang once again, and after making sure there were no problems, he personally led his younger brothers to the warehouse for random inspection.
When the county warehouse ambassador saw Sun Shan approaching in a heroic manner, he immediately nodded and bowed, and greeted him flatteringly: "Sir Sun, you are here."
This Lord Sun is different from previous county magistrates. He is particularly able to get a stingy wealthy family to donate 300 taels of silver. This is truly admirable.
So don't underestimate this young official in front of you, there are many "conspiracies" behind him.
I must serve him well, or Lord Sun will stab me in the back.
Sun Shan nodded and said, "Come and check it out. Could you please open the door?"
In name, Sun Shan had the final say in the entire county government, and he also brought his younger brothers with him. Ambassador Liangcang did not dare to play tricks and refused to open the door for him.