Fenghou

Chen Qing also realized that it was imperative to collect taxes, otherwise he would not be able to support 37 troops on Sichuan Road alone.

But even if the tax is collected, a lot of research needs to be done, and a lot of data is obtained. What is the current household registration, annual income, and food production? What are the consequences of collecting [-]% of the tax and [-]% of the tax?

In addition, there are different ways of collecting taxes, whether to directly collect land tax and household tax, or to collect indirect taxes more tactfully. Liquor tax and business tax, the gap of 500 million can barely make up.

Another great advantage of collecting indirect taxes is that the common people don’t feel disgusted. For example, the sheep tax collected by Chen Qing on the nomads in the territory is an indirect tax. Xixia directly collects sheep taxes. Every year, [-]% of the newborn lambs must be paid, which makes the herdsmen extremely disgusted.

But Chen Qing does not collect taxes directly, all the newborn lambs belong to the herdsmen, but the herdsmen need to sell the sheep and sheepskins to the government every year, and the price is [-]% lower than the market price, which is the sheep tax.

Everyone is not a fool. The herdsmen also know that this is an indirect tax payment to the government, but they are willing to do so. It is very convenient for them. First, they can sell it at any time. They don’t have to go to the market twice a year in spring and autumn. It costs a lot of money, secondly, they can avoid exploitation by profiteers, and more importantly, they are psychologically comfortable. All the lambs are their own, and they only sell a little profit. The feelings of the herdsmen are completely different.

Therefore, relatively speaking, Chen Qing is more inclined to levy indirect taxes, because the collection of direct taxes involves a political credit issue. Chen Qing publicly promised that Xihe Road and Shaanxi Road will be tax-free for ten years, and now there are still four years left to expire. There is no promise, and the levy can be launched next year.

But even if indirect taxes are levied, it will affect the affordability of the people, and it is not possible to collect them if they want to.

At noon, Chen Qing brought a few of his men to the Southwest District of Jingzhao. The Southwest District of Jingzhao is a place where low-level people live. The house has only a small yard at most, or even no yard, and there are rows of mud-walled and tiled houses, so the rent is cheap, and a house can be rented for [-] yuan a month.

If you go to other districts, they are basically big courtyards. Even if several families rent together, each house will cost at least [-] Wen per month. The price difference is three times. district life.

The entire Southwest District covers only [-]% of Jingzhao's area, but [-]% of Jingzhao's population is concentrated. Of course, this is just a play on words, and it is not that exaggerated. In other areas, there are shops, warehouses, government offices, military camps, school grounds, Scenic spots, etc., these are all uninhabitable places, occupying at least [-]% of the area of ​​Jingzhao City.

A soldier named Li Sheng said with a smile: "Your Highness, I have an uncle who lives here. His family is quite representative. Why don't you go to his house to learn about the situation?"

Chen Qingxiao asked, "What's the situation with your uncle?"

"My uncle's family escaped from Ruzhou last year. He was shot in the leg by an arrow and was not treated in time. He became disabled and crippled. He couldn't survive in his hometown. The family first went to Shanzhou to make a living. Within a few months We regained Shanzhou, and they came directly to Jingzhao."

"They're lucky!" Chen Qing said with a smile.

"It's luck. If they didn't happen to go to Shanzhou, they wouldn't be able to make it."

"Then, what's the situation now?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Then! He's lame, and it's hard to find work. Our family borrowed 13 pennies from him, saying it was a loan, but we didn't expect them to pay it back. They rented two houses, a shop in the front and a house in the back, and opened a A small grocery store, the family lives on the small grocery store, two children, a son and a daughter, the son is nine years old, and the daughter is [-] years old. The daughter has gone to a rich family to work as a maid. After scolding, I sent my son to school to study."

"How much can you earn a month from opening a store?"

"I don't know the details, but it's definitely not much. How much money can you make a month by selling needles and brains?"

Chen Qing was somewhat interested. It was indeed more typical, and it was a little worse among the low-level people. At least the peasants still had land, and the limbs of other low-level people were still healthy.

Not long after, they came to a noisy slum area. Groups of children were playing on the street. On both sides were low mud-walled tile-roofed houses, which used to be thatched houses, but gradually changed to tile-roofed houses in recent years.

There is a coal stove at the door of almost every household, burning honeycomb coal. Honeycomb coal is the biggest benefit Chen Qing gave to the residents of Sichuan and Shaanxi cities. Firewood is too expensive. With very cheap honeycomb coal, you can burn a few pots while cooking Boiling water, everyone knows that it is not easy to have diarrhea when drinking boiled water. In the past, conditions did not allow it, but now it is possible to boil water. Even every ten days and a half months, the whole family can boil a large bucket of water for a bath.

"Every time it rains, it's muddy here. It's hard to walk, and the smell is so bad. Last year, the county government organized manpower to dig the sewer ditch. The ditch was paved with stone slabs, and the sewage was discharged outside the city. It's much cleaner now!"

Chen Qing nodded. The magistrate of Chang'an is Wei Qing, Yang Yuanqing's brother-in-law. Guan Qian bought a batch of old stone slabs and solved this big problem that has plagued me for many years. The key is not how much experience you have, but whether you have the will to do it. You may not think of some things, but your subordinates will give you advice.

"Your Highness, this is it!" Li Sheng pointed to a small grocery store next to him.

Chen Qing took a closer look, the store was really inconspicuous, and it was still in the alley, so I don’t know if it’s not a local resident, but then again, outsiders wouldn’t come here to buy groceries, which shows that the owner is smarter and doesn’t spend more The money rents the street shop.

"Auntie, where's uncle?"

Li Sheng entered the door to say hello, a woman in her thirties looked over her head and said with a smile, "Ah Sheng is here!"

She turned around and shouted, "His father, Ah Sheng is here!"

A middle-aged man came out from the small door next to him, limping, with a small nose and small eyes, and his face was covered with wrinkles. He glanced at Li Sheng, and said worriedly, "A Sheng, what's the matter with you?"

Li Sheng smiled and said, "Uncle, I'm not here to ask you for money, I just accompany my general to understand some people's livelihood."

Hearing that he didn't come to ask for money, the man immediately had a smile on his face, "Please come in quickly! Please come in!"

Li Sheng asked Chen Qing to walk into the small gate. Inside was a small courtyard of more than ten square meters, with two houses next to it, but the yard was full of groceries, and there was only a small corner for them to stand. Chen Qing still wanted to enter the house. But I soon discovered that it was better to be in the yard. The house was not only dark, but also full of groceries, and there was no place to stand.

"Damn it, boil some water!"

Li Sheng immediately said: "Uncle, don't boil the water, we have something to do, we have to leave now!"

"Let's go now! Damn the child, then there's no need to boil the water!"

Chapter 887 Research

Li Sheng's uncle is called Zhang Ping, a very common name, and he has no skills. He has worked as a restaurant waiter in Ruzhou for more than ten years.

Chen Qing found a small stool in the yard and sat down. Li Sheng said from the side: "Uncle, this is my boss, a general. He came to investigate the people's livelihood, just to understand the lives of the common people. Just tell the truth, no There's going to be trouble."

"Hey! You all know my old background, there is nothing to hide."

"Is the child not here?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

"I went to school. He went to the literacy class. He didn't need money. After studying for half a year, he knew a lot of words."

Of course Chen Qing knew that the literacy class was a literacy class. It was free for one year and required to know [-] characters. It is required to learn the most basic listening, speaking, reading and writing, and a small tuition fee is charged.

If you still want to learn, you can enter the formal classes of government schools. You will study in elementary schools for five years, and then in county schools for another five years. Imperial examination.

Zhang Ping has a disability, and he wanted his son to help him, so his son finished the literacy class after only one year, saving money.

Chen Qing nodded and asked again: "How much is the monthly rent for this house?"

"It's rented from the government's shop house, so it's relatively cheap, [-] Wen a month. If it's a private house, this kind of house that can open a shop is at least [-] Guan a month."

Housekeeping is equivalent to today's housing management office. It was very common in the Song Dynasty. Almost every county has one. It specializes in renting out public housing. The rent is cheap and it is not easy to evict people. Therefore, it is very popular with the people at the bottom. The rental income obtained is used to supplement the county. expenses.

"Then how much money do you make a month from opening the store?"

Zhang Ping said casually: "It's a loss! How can I make money! I don't even have money for food."

"Uncle!"

Li Sheng's face darkened, "My general is here to investigate the public sentiment, you have to tell the truth."

How could Zhang Ping tell the truth!To be honest, what if the nephew asked him to pay back the money?

He hesitated and said, "Actually! It's just enough to make ends meet. If you have one or two hundred Wen a month, it's not bad."

Chen Qing knew the cunning of the lower class people, and would never tell the truth if there was no benefit, so Chen Qing smiled and said, "How about it! Tell me the truth, since this is a public house, I can save you [-] yuan every month. Wen Rent..."

Chen Qing stopped his ecstasy, and said again: "But the premise is to tell the truth, and there must be no false words. If you dare to lie to me, I will let the county government take your house."

"I tell the truth! I must tell the truth."

Zhang Ping was overjoyed. He saved [-] Wen a month, [-] pens a year, and could pay back his sister's money in five years. He didn't have to worry about his sister coming to ask for money all day long.

Li Sheng added: "Uncle, the magistrate must also listen to my general. If you don't tell the truth, the consequences will be very serious."

"I know, what does the general want to ask?"

"Actually, I just want to know your family's monthly net income and expenses, how much can you save?"

Zhang Ping thought for a while and said: "Opening a grocery store here, the business is relatively stable, and I can make a net profit of about [-] Wen a month. Then my daughter works as a maid at Yang Yuan's family, and the owner manages food, clothing and housing. Earn [-] Wen, leave [-] Wen for her dowry, and [-] Wen to subsidize the family, so that the monthly income is [-] Wen, and then remove the [-] Wen for rent, [-] Wen and so on. Expenditures, food and clothing, about [-] yuan a month, but the premise is not to get sick, there is not much left when one gets sick."

"Is fifty Wen a day enough?"

"Enough is enough. We buy flour at thirty cents a bucket. A family of three is about five buckets a month. Coarse cloth is also cheap. Each person can wear a few coarse clothes and a fine cloth for several years. We use honeycomb coal for one hundred yuan a month. There is also [-] Wen per day for food, which is a big head. You can eat fish every five or six days, plus other money for soy sauce, vinegar and oil, and buy furniture and bedding. Money is enough."

The accounts were calculated very meticulously, which allowed Chen Qing to come into contact with the lives of the people at the lowest level for the first time. Of course, widowed elderly and orphans are another matter. The government has a nursery home, which can guarantee their minimum living standards.

If the household tax is collected, it will be equivalent to the living expenses of their family for one month. If the commercial tax is collected, the small shop will be [-] Wen per month, and their family will only have [-] Wen per month left in the end. , on the verge of collapse at any time.

Chen Qing sighed secretly, the household tax and business tax were too cruel to these low-level people.

"How much salt, wine, tea and sugar does your family eat every month?" Chen Qing asked again.

"No wine or tea, no sugar, our family only has salt."

"Then let's talk about salt! How much do you eat every month?"

"About a catty a month! Seventy cash."

"A catty of salt every month?" Chen Qing was taken aback. It is equivalent to eating half a tael of salt every day, which is too much!

"The main reason is that pickled vegetables need salt. For example, there are no vegetables in winter. We buy more in summer when there are a lot of them on the market. After pickling, the meat is the same. In autumn and winter, there are more fat pigs for slaughter, and the meat is slightly cheaper. We buy more meat for pickling. If It’s not for pickling vegetables, a catty of salt takes months.”

Chen Qing asked a few more questions, and the other party answered them one by one, and they could tell the truth, Chen Qing smiled at Li Sheng: "About the rent reduction of his house, I will write you a note, and you will go to the county government to handle it tomorrow. "

"Understandable!"

Zhang Ping next to him heard that writing a note could reduce the rent by [-] Wen. He was really moved, so he pulled Li Sheng and said in a low voice, "Can you tell your general that I can also sell briquettes here."

Briquette is generally sold in flat stores, but in a metropolis like Jingzhao with a population of over one million, it is unrealistic to rely entirely on flat stores, so the county government will select some large shops in various neighborhoods to sell honeycomb coal. license, but salt and sugar are not, and must be sold in unwinding shops.

Some people will wonder why briquettes are allowed to be agents, but salt and sugar cannot be agents. This involves a tax issue. It is a good way to crack down on private salt and sugar, monopolizing channels.

If Zhang Ping’s small grocery store sells official salt on behalf of others, then he will also secretly sell private salt, and it will be difficult for the government to find out whether the salt he sells every day is official salt or private salt, and it is difficult for others to report.

Honeycomb coal has no tax, it is actually a kind of welfare that the government gives to the people, it is sold at a low price and does not make money, the cost of any individual to make honeycomb coal will be much higher than that of the government, and it cannot compete with the government at all, so the government only needs to limit the price for the agent, If you dare to sell at a high price, people will naturally report you.

Chen Qing heard it clearly, turned back and smiled and said, "This request is not too high, I can act as an agent for you!"

Li Sheng clicked his tongue secretly, the prince still didn't understand the situation, this request is not low!There are also a hundred shops in Jingzhao City that have been qualified to sell briquettes, but Zhang Ping is his uncle, and it is a good thing to be qualified to sell briquettes, so he will not talk too much.

Zhang Ping just mentioned it casually, without any hope at all. How could a small grocery store like his be qualified to sell honeycomb coal? Everyone else is a big store, so I didn't expect this general to agree.

Zhang Ping was so excited that he almost fainted. He was too aware of the profit inside. The profit of selling ten briquettes for two Wen from the government seemed small, but it couldn't cover the huge amount!

There are thousands of households around, and every household uses honeycomb briquettes, and they have to sell at least 5000 yuan a day. He can make a profit of [-] yuan a day, and [-] yuan a month.

Zhang Ping pulled his wife and knelt down, desperately kowtowed: "Thank you, General! Thank you, General!"

Chen Qing was taken aback, and asked Li Sheng with a smile, "Is it profitable to sell briquettes?"

Li Sheng said with a wry smile: "The main reason is that the brand is hard to get. Once you get it, there are many people around, and they can earn twenty or thirty yuan a month. Their family has completely turned around."

Chen Qing nodded, "I keep my word. Since I promise you, it will not change. The rent will be reduced for you, and the briquettes will be sold to you, but I have a condition. Let your son continue to study and finish the literacy class. Go to primary school for five years."

Chapter 888 Money

Chen Qing was greatly touched by today's investigation. He at least knew the life of the people at the bottom. The family's monthly income was about [-] Wen, and they had to pay rent and various expenses. I can't go to restaurants, teahouses, or theaters. I'm frugal, and I can only have two or three hundred cash left over every month. Life is very difficult.

Of course, they are not the worst. The worst people are even more miserable than them, but there are very few people like that and they don’t have much reference value. You can’t use the rich or the poorest people to make decisions, you must use the bottom. Zhang Ping's family is the most typical sample.

But even so, the people in the Central Plains and Hebei are very envious. At least there is no war, at least they can eat enough and wear warmth. The Bianliang in Tokyo during the Xuanhe period was nothing more than that.

Once the war came, all businesses would immediately wither, and the wealthy and businessmen would be slaughtered by the Jurchens like pigs. Without production and employment, the majority of people at the bottom would lose their source of livelihood and struggle to survive.

But there are also gains. Chen Qing knows that there is still room for tax increases in indirect taxes. If salt is increased by ten yuan per catty, the impact on the cost of living for the lower class people is almost negligible, but the population base is huge, and every household cannot live without it. It is no wonder that salt tax has become the largest tax in all dynasties until the appearance of tobacco.

Leaving the Southwest District, Chen Qing returned to the government office. Chen Qing’s official office is still the same team, with two boards. It is not only the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shanxi, but also the Yongwang Mansion. It is a palace that originally covers an area of ​​180 mu. , the 120 mu behind is Chen Qing's mansion.

But now the government office is not enough, so another government office covering an area of ​​[-] mu was built on both sides, one is the military department department, and the other is the planning and financial transfer department. Now the construction is almost completed, including the expansion of the city wall. At the end, a tall new city wall was erected, which increased the circumference of Jingzhao City from more than [-] miles to more than [-] miles, and suddenly increased the land in the hands of the government.

As soon as he arrived at the gate of the official office, a soldier came to report, "My lord, Madam said something urgent, please go back."

"I'm going back right now!"

Chen Qing also happened to be looking for his wife and Zhao Qiaoyun in the afternoon. During the six months he was away from Jingzhao, they both reviewed important memorials, and he still needed to hear reports on many important matters.

Chen Qing turned around the alley and went directly to his house. Chen Qing's family members still live in the Qifeng Pavilion. During Chen Qing's absence in Jingzhao for half a year, Lu Xiu attached great importance to safety and insisted that all his family members live in the pavilion.

Just as Chen Qing walked into Qifeng Pavilion, his wife Lu Xiu walked up to her husband. Seeing her husband's nervous face, she smiled and said, "I shouldn't be in a hurry to let my husband come back. In fact, it's not too late to talk about it at night."

"Now tell me! What happened?"

"Yingluo is pregnant."

"what?"

Chen Qing was stunned, and immediately asked anxiously: "Is it true?"

"Dr. Liu has just been diagnosed. She said that Ying Luo should be three months pregnant. Didn't your husband find out?"

Chen Qing thought about it, and when he came back to Chengdu, Zhao Yingluo was really not feeling well, and he thought she was sick.

"Where is she? I'll go see her."

"She was a little uncomfortable. Just after she fell asleep, Dr. Liu said that she needed to preserve the fetus. If she found out later, the fetus might not be preserved."

Chen Qing felt guilty, Ying Luo was already pregnant, and he and her were still so crazy, really shouldn't!

"How did you find out?"

"She was not feeling well yesterday and today. Qiaoyun and I asked her and found that she was behaving like she was pregnant, so we hurriedly asked Dr. Liu to come. It really was a happy pulse."

Chen Qing was both happy and ashamed, and said: "Let her rest! I'm going to the study, you let Qiaoyun see me, there are two things I want to ask her."

"Am I coming too?"

Chen Qing nodded, "Come together!"

……