Survival countdown

After the appointment was made, Zhao Baiyu took office and visited the new yamen.

The Department of Metropolitan Taxation is not far from the Yamen of the Kyoto Prefecture, just two streets away. To Zhao Baiyu, except that the assigned Yamen is even more dilapidated, it is not much different from going to the Yamen of the Kyoto Prefecture every day.

Because it is a yamen opened up today, the official ranks are a bit confusing. For example, there are three tax envoys in the capital. Ninth Grade Sesame Official.

Under the envoy, there are deputy envoys and capital supervisors, which are eighth rank and ninth rank respectively, which can be said to be the lowest official positions in Kyoto.

Each tax envoy is also assigned four officials and ten ministers for dispatch, but tax collection requires a lot of manpower, and these few people alone are not enough, so people can only be hired privately to be responsible for daily taxation.

And this extra expense naturally requires the three divisions to pay off.

The taxation department belongs to the third department and is regarded as his own family, so Zhao Baiyu doesn't have to worry about the difficulty of filing sales.

The new yamen is a courtyard with three entrances. The front hall is the main office space. The left and right wing rooms of the front yard and the atrium are respectively occupied by the other two tax envoys. Buy a house.

The little official who led the way first took Zhao Baiyu through the main entrance, and introduced them one by one: "They collect taxes, residence taxes, and other miscellaneous taxes from merchants in Kyoto Prefecture. They have been in operation for decades, and they have their own mature system. The foundation of good relations with businessmen and court officials in Kyoto prefecture is not comparable to our management of water transport taxation. The newly created department can't collect a few taxes in a quarter, but owes money to the court. Fortunately, the third division is my own family. Otherwise, there is really no way to get rid of old bad debts."

Zhao Baiyu was suspicious, but he didn't show it all. He stood still and watched the servants who came from nowhere carrying the gift boxes in and out. Just on the way to the back room, there was a long queue outside. , could not help asking curiously: "Are they here to pay taxes?"

Little official: "Here's a gift."

Zhao Baiyu hissed, and asked quite modestly: "Why are you still giving gifts? Could it be tax evasion?"

The little official reacted greatly: "I don't want to talk about it! You are taking office today, and you have just arrived in the new yamen, so it is inevitable that you can't understand some traditional relationships. When you get used to it, you will naturally understand."

After saying that, he buried his head and walked forward, muttering in a low voice: "It's a pity that he is in charge of water transportation, and he doesn't have much oil and water. A fifth-rank official is not as good as me, who has no rank and no rank."

Zhao Baiyu: "What did you say?"

Little official: "My little one congratulates you on your promotion. You have climbed steadily and made great progress."

Zhao Baiyu smiled, and let the little official lead him to the back room, a main room and two side rooms on the left and right. Withered water lilies are planted in a big open vat.

The little official pointed to the veranda connecting the left wing room and the main room and said: "There is a small door there. If you feel that the distance from the door to the back room is too long, you can come in directly from the back door and ask someone to get the key later." here you are."

Pushing open the door of the main room, the main hall is the Eight Immortals Table and two Taishi chairs, and three Taishi chairs are placed on each side. Going deep to the left is the place where a large number of account books and files are placed, and going deep to the right is the office of the yamen. The deepest part is against the wall. There is a mahogany desk in the place where Zhao Baiyu works.

There were three or five sparse people inside who were setting up the abacus and looking at the account books. As soon as the petty official entered, he said loudly: "The new tax envoy is here. Everyone, come out and recognize him, and listen to your words!"

As soon as the words fell, there was a lot of noise inside, but after a while, five people stood in front of the main hall in a hurry, looking at Zhao Baiyu cautiously.

Zhao Baiyu looked at the five people calmly, two of them were about 35 or six, one with a goatee and one with a mustache, and the other three were men in their prime, wearing ordinary government uniforms made by the Metropolitan Taxation Department.

"Your official/I have met Mr. Zhao."

The five people bowed their hands in unison.

The leading official turned around and said, "My lord, I still have a job to do, so I will leave first."

"Go."

Zhao Baiyu was wearing a dark green official uniform, with delicate features, and when the little official left, he smiled and said warmly: "Get to know each other first, I am your new boss, Zhao Baiyu. Regarding taxation, please bear with me if I am not familiar with it.”

This was spoken politely, and there was a respect that petty officials had never been given, which made the five of them feel apprehensive and apprehensive, and at the same time felt a sense of satisfaction that they were valued.

The middle-aged man with a goatee said: "The lower official is the Dujian, and the superior can call me Liu Dujian."

Ba Zihu is a masi official, and the other three are ministers, all of whom have no rank and cannot be regarded as court officials.

Zhao Baiyu: "Why didn't you see the deputy envoy and others? But go to the pier to collect taxes?"

Liu Dujian and the others looked at each other, rather reluctant to mention other people, and only said vaguely: "It's to deal with official business."

Any yamen has complex relationships and quarrels will occur, which is quite common, so Zhao Baiyu skipped this topic and asked about daily business affairs.

Liu Dujian: "Our yamen is still relatively free. We just go to the river pass to inspect passing merchant ships or intercept merchants, and collect taxes from them."

"Leisure?" Zhao Baiyu was suspicious: "The four canals of the capital gather merchant ships from the north and the south of the world, connecting the two rivers with Shaanxi, Jingdong, and Huainan, flowing through the capital, and all over other provinces. There are no less than a hundred tank ships entering and leaving every day. I remember Guang There were more than [-] water boats built last year, so water transportation should be the busiest yamen, so how come it is still idle?"

Several people showed embarrassment and embarrassment.

Zhao Baiyu: "But it's okay to say."

Liu Dujian: "I and others speak lightly. In order to protect myself, I can only obey orders. I hope you will not be surprised."

Zhao Baiyu: "Small officials and officials can't help themselves. I understand, and I won't blame you."

Liu Dujian looked to the left and right, and made sure no one told him: "Your Excellency, you should know that the Dushang Taxation Department has not been established for a long time. It seems to be independent, but it is actually under the jurisdiction of the three departments. The water transport was previously managed by the Ministry of Households, and it was split out five years ago. Although our yamen is in charge of the water transportation within the government, the Ministry of Households’ penetration of water transportation is deeply ingrained, and when water ships enter and leave Beijing, they only need to inform the Ministry of Households to enter and exit freely.”

Zhao Baiyu frowned, sat on the grand master's chair behind him, and signaled Liu Dujian to sit down as well: "Speak slowly...how did the Ministry of Households exceed its authority to control the water transport of the Taxation Department? No matter how deep his power penetrates, he has no right to decide the entry and exit of water ships. .”

"It should be so." Liu Dujian looked distressed: "But does your lord know how we collect taxes from passing merchant ships? We stop tank ships at bridgeheads, water gates, ferries or river wharves, and collect taxes by counting the goods, but we are short of manpower. , only a few checkpoints can be set up, even if the checkpoints are randomly selected, or the checkpoints are set at the bridges where the tank ships must pass, it is impossible to guard there at twelve hours a day, and there will always be times when the tank ships catch people and are not there. Sneaking in and out of Kyoto. There are also tank boats that will speed up and pass through the customs when we go to collect taxes. The boat will pass through the water without a trace, and we can neither catch up nor pursue it, so we can only "look at the boat and sigh" on the shore!"

Zhao Baiyu: "Has it been like this for five years?"

Liu Dujian nodded.

Zhao Baiyu: "This is tax evasion...what does it have to do with the Ministry of Household Affairs?"

Liu Dujian: "In the past, water ships only needed to pay [-]% of the tax to the Ministry of Households to freely enter and leave the capital. Some people have tipped them off and helped them escape the checkpoints set up by our water transport. If there are greedy ship owners If you refuse to pay the tax, you will be watched by the people in the household department, and you will use the hands of the tax department to make the ship owner obediently pay the money."

Zhao Baiyu probably had a guess as to who the "self-informed person" was.

Zhao Baiyu smiled: "It's a collusion between government and business."

Liu Dujian hurriedly said, "Shh! My lord, be careful what you say, because walls have ears. The original tax envoy, Du Zhi envoy, Mr. Du, had the intention to rectify it. However, the Ministry of Household Affairs is powerful, and Mr. Du is a minister of the DPRK and China who manages every day. Powerless."

Zhao Baiyu was thoughtful: "I really think it's not difficult to rectify the taxation of the water transport in the government. If you feel that there are too few people, you will hire a few more people. Mr. Du is the third envoy, so you don't have money to spend? I'm worried that someone has tipped off the news and made the water ships flee. ...It's not impossible to cure it."

Liu Dujian was surprised: "What can I do?"

Just as Zhao Baiyu was about to speak, he suddenly saw a shadow standing at the door, so he smiled knowingly, and asked without answering: "Speaking of which, the tax on tank boats is all earned by the household department, where does your quarterly tax come from? "

Liu Dujian said helplessly: "The household department will not kill them all, they will let the civilian boats and fishing boats go."

Zhao Baiyu: "When you're full with big fish and big meat, let's give out some porridge and side dishes through your fingers."

Liu Dujian: "Who said it wasn't?"

"Understood. How many old accounts are still waiting to be processed in the yamen?"

Liu Dujian pointed to Zhao Baiyu's desk and said, "The ledgers and files that need your review are all on your desk."

Zhao Baiyu came to the mahogany table and picked up the ledger to look through it, and threw it down after a while: "It is indeed a leisurely yamen, this officer is right."

After finishing speaking, he stretched his waist, yawned and walked outside with his hands in his mouth.

Liu Dujian was stunned: "My lord, are you going?"

"Ah, yes, I will hand over the pile of ledgers to you, or the deputy envoy...anyone, and you can handle it. As soon as I see the pile of money and taxes, I have a headache. Anyway, before the official came, you would It’s been dealt with in an orderly manner, so what happens in the future.”

"..."

Liu Dujian traveled to and from various Qingshui yamen, and was used to meeting his bosses who came here in a hurry. It was expected that the new Mr. Zhao acted like this. Dayong rolled up his sleeves and went on stage fearlessly.

It's just that I heard that the new boss is an upright and upright Master Qingtian, but the reality is just the opposite, and Liu Dujian is inevitably a little disappointed.

"Your Majesty understands."

When Zhao Baiyu walked to the door, he suddenly turned around and asked, "You won't have surprise inspections here, will you?"

Liu Dujian: "My lord, you are joking. You are on a job. Where did you get the surprise inspection?"

Zhao Baiyu smiled, "That's good. I'm right, it's a leisurely office."

After saying that, he left through the back door and didn't come to order for four or five days.

***

"I haven't been to the tax department for five days?" The deputy tax envoy of Water Transport asked again: "Are you sure?"

The little official who led the way for Zhao Baiyu that day nodded affirmatively: "I swear, everything is true, and there is no lie! Our new boss didn't show up again except for the first day. .I didn’t look at any of the account books in the yamen, and threw them all to Liu Dujian, leaving everything alone, as if I was really going through the motions.”

"Hiss...not unusual." The deputy tax envoy of Water Transport couldn't figure out Zhao Baiyu's way, and his heart was scratching like a mouse, feeling helpless.

Little official: "My lord, why are you bothered? It's not good for us to be stupid and stupid? If he stays stupid until the end of his term of office, we should sing praises! This is God helping us and making us rich!"

"You know what a fart!" The deputy tax envoy of Water Transport patted his head and worried: "Zhao Baiyu is not simple. The fifth prince has repeatedly instructed us to pay attention to him and be on guard against him. We must not take it lightly. If he Without two brushes, how can the fifth prince be so cautious? He even told us to restrain ourselves recently, and even stopped the tank boats. How could there be such a battle in the past? Even when the Duzhi envoy came in person, the fifth prince didn't stop the tank. Boat!"

Little official: "Are you so smart?" He was confused: "I saw that the new boss was gentle and tempered. On the day he came to hand over, he asked some questions about the situation, and repeatedly lamented that he was a leisurely yamen, and he was right. , who obviously came here to dawdle... and haven't come to do anything for a few days in a row, so lazy, how can he be a good minister and official?"

The deputy tax envoy of Water Transport hated iron but steel: "You don't know about the Huainan case? Didn't you hear about Zhao Qingtian in the restaurant?"

The little official said awkwardly, "Young one, I don't have money to go to restaurants."

The deputy tax envoy of Water Transport glared at him: "Come on! You go to the casino every day to spread money!"

The little official smiled awkwardly, not ashamed to admit it.

"Then... are you still staring at our superior?"

"No one came, why are you staring at him? Where did you find him?"

"Then, what should we do? The merchants in the mansion are all urging, there is no need to delay any longer. One day of this embargo means one day less money, and the wasted money flows into the four canals. The little thing is really painful."

"I don't feel distressed?" The deputy tax envoy of Water Transport also felt strange, completely confused by Zhao Baiyu: "What's going on? Is it true? Is it really blue sky? Why is there no movement? Could it be that the fifth prince was frightened, Alarmist?"

Turning around, the deputy tax envoy of Water Transport beat his palms and said, "I'll ask the Fifth Prince before making a decision."

***

The four canals of Bianhe River, Caihe River, Wuzhang River and Tonghui River run through Kyoto. There are seven water gates and [-] bridges in total. There are frequent boats and boats every day. Prosper and prosper.

On the river bank not far from the west water gate of the Bian River, wearing a bamboo hat and dressed in common clothes, Zhao Baiyu, who looks like a fisherman, is fishing. He has been sitting all morning, and there are only two or three small fish in the fish basket.

Yan Bing, who was serving plain tea with his left hand and meat pie with his right, came to Zhao Baiyu and said, "Wu Lang, you have been fishing everywhere in the past ten days, and the stocky black cat in the county prince's mansion has already vomited from eating fish. Are you still here?" How long will you be fishing for?"

After receiving the meat pie, Zhao Baiyu said, "Just wait until the big fish I want to catch is hooked."

"Ah?" Yan Bing looked at the calm river: "What kind of big fish are there in this river?"

Suddenly, layers of ripples appeared on the surface of the river, visibly trembling, and then there was a shout from the other side of the water gate: "Open the gate—"

The water gate rumbled open, and huge tank boats loaded with cargo entered the capital one after another, passing through the arch bridge opposite the water gate, but no one stopped the tank boats to collect commercial taxes at either the water gate or the arch bridge.

Yan Bing had a flash of inspiration, and quickly squatted down and said in a low voice: "Wu Lang, do you mean these tank boats by the big fish?"

Zhao Baiyu: "It finally appeared."

Yan Bing was puzzled: "I have guarded other water gates before, and they were all civilian ships and fishing boats. However, there have been more than a dozen official ships that have passed through the customs. They all paid commercial taxes and customs duties. I didn't feel that there was a problem. Why did so many come in at the West Water Gate today? Official ship?"

Zhao Baiyu: "Think about it again, what is the difference between the previous tank boats and today's tank boats?"

After hearing the words, Yan Bing stared carefully at the passing tank boats for a long time, and suddenly realized: "——It's cargo! The previous tank boats didn't have much cargo, but today's tank boats are full of cargo!"

Zhao Baiyu: "Taxes are calculated based on the weight and type of goods. Salt, iron, silk, tea and wood have the highest tax rates, followed by the rest. The official ship a few days ago was used to test me, and it lasted for more than ten days. I finally couldn't bear it anymore. After all, if I don't open for a day, I will lose a lot of snowflake silver, and I can bear it for ten days, I really think highly of me."

Yan Bing counted with his fingers: "The imperial court stipulates that the minimum size of a tank boat is 250 materials. I see that there are currently [-] tank ships passing through the water gate, each of which is at least [-] materials. If they are all non-duty-free goods, just look at the Weight is a big tax."

Water boats are official ships, and the material is the weight unit of the big scene. 250 materials are equal to 35 tons, and [-] materials are approximately equal to [-] tons. Merchant shipping taxes are divided into tariffs and Shengqian, and tariffs are calculated according to the weight of the ship.

Tariffs are not the biggest part of commercial taxes. A 35-ton large tanker can charge up to four or five taels of silver.The real big one is winning money, that is, a tax rate of [-]% is drawn based on the value of the goods carried by the merchant ship.

If a tank ship transports goods worth 1 taels, it will have to pay 200 taels of winning money.Kyoto Prefecture can receive 2 taels of tax when hundreds of tank boats come and go in a day, which is at least 700 million taels of silver tax a year.

Of course, this is a rough estimate. Most of the grain transported by tank boats is in the ranks of tax exemptions.

"However, it is estimated that 500 million silver taxes can be collected every year."

However, the total annual income of the imperial court is only 3000 to 30 million taels. Last year, the tax on water boats in Kyoto Prefecture was only [-] taels.

"Hiss——" Yan Bing gasped, "A lot of money. The merchant ship is right in front of us, let's hurry up and stop it with the official seal!"

"What's the rush? Have to unload? Have to go to Beijing? There are also docks and the next water gate to catch them. What's more, this kind of thing will develop for a long time, and it won't happen overnight."

Yan Bing: "Don't care about today's merchant ships?"

"Why don't you care? Thousands of taels of tax a day."

"Notify the envoy?"

"More than half of the people in the Water Transport Yamen of the Taxation Department have colluded with the Ministry of Household Affairs, and now they are going to report the news." Zhao Baiyu put away the fishing rod and basket and said, "Let's go, go to the Yachang to hire someone."

***

The deputy tax envoy of Water Transport was pacing back and forth in the room, and when he saw the little official running back from the pier, he hurriedly asked, "How is it?"

The little official was out of breath: "The weather is calm and everything is going well! A total of 120 tank boats entered Beijing today, 7 of which carried tax-free grain and other goods, and the remaining [-] tank boats carried jade, porcelain and salt tea. According to [-]% of the tax rate of Dajinglu, at least [-] taels can be collected."

The deputy tax envoy of Water Transport had sharp eyes: "I know you are good at calculating accounts, but some words should be rotten in your stomach."

The little official shivered, bowed his head and replied, "I understand." He should have said it in slang.

If Zhao Baiyu was present, he would probably be surprised that his estimate was too conservative.

His calculation is that each ship carries about 1 taels of goods, but in fact these ships going north and south will carry precious things such as jade, salt, tea, and even gold. The total price of a ship is at least 10 to [-] taels .

Of course, the tax rate is not so high every day. This is because the merchant ships that have been suspended for more than ten days in water transportation have all accumulated to this day, and the water transportation is only started when they are sure that there is nothing wrong.

In a year, there are at least three hundred days of winning less than 500 taels of silver in the account, but in general, there are also four hundred and nearly five million taels of silver in the account.

Deputy Tax Envoy of Water Transport: "I came back from His Highness earlier and asked you to keep an eye on the county palace...is there something wrong?"

The little official was in a dilemma: "Xiaojunwang is the invincible general in the northwest... Our people were found too close and were sent to the government. However! Every intersection three streets away from the Junwang's mansion has our people Keep an eye on it, and make sure not even a fly can fly past it!"

"..."

How dare you guarantee that flies can't fly over three streets away?

The assistant tax envoy of Water Transport pressed his temples and said with difficulty: "Forget it. It's not reliable. I'm not very stable, and I'm jumping suddenly. No, I have to make two preparations—you hurry up and get the total price of the goods corresponding to those merchant ships. Give me the name of the merchant and the merchant, and I will go to Sansi."

The little official didn't understand the anxiety of the deputy envoy, so he just followed suit.

***

Seventy merchant ships docked at the seven piers in the mansion to unload their goods, and they were busy until dusk. The stalls, restaurants and inns not far from the piers all set up lanterns, and they hawked loudly in the cold wind accompanied by the heat of food. The business was booming.

From time to time, the owner of the ship yelled loudly: "Hurry up—move faster! Watch out for your hands and feet! Watch out for what's in your heart! Those are precious treasures. If one or two pieces are damaged, you won't be able to pay for them if you sell them!"

The wharf tracker yelled to pull the merchant ship to the shore: "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!"

At this moment, a group of people passed through small stalls and restaurants, and quickly surrounded the pier. Although seven or eight ship owners were frightened, they have been safe for many years, and they have long been confident. people?"

"Du Shang tax envoy Zhao Baiyu!"

The crowd with the torches dispersed, and Zhao Baiyu in official robes walked out from the middle, looked at the captain and said with a smile, "He is in charge of water transportation and collects taxes."

As soon as the words fell and the smile faded away, Zhao Baiyu shouted, "Bring me all the people back!"

The owner of the ship didn't move, but the unloading person behind them took a step forward with a full face of dissatisfaction.

Zhao Baiyu's eyes darkened: "What? Do you want to be a chaotic party and disobey the court order to perform official duties?"

The owner of the ship stopped the people behind and moved forward one after another: "We will go with you, my lord, but my lord must think clearly, who is it that you are blocking right now!"

Zhao Baiyu smiled gently, like a scholar who can only hold a pen but has never seen blood: "Don't worry about it."

"take away!"

***

The same situation happened at the other six docks at the same time. The goods of [-] ships were detained at the docks, and the owners were all taken back to the Metropolitan Taxation Department. The rear house that had been silent for many years was bright as day.

On the other side, the spectators who witnessed the arrest of the boat and the arrest of the officials rushed to open the gate of the Fifth Prince's Mansion and told them about it.

At that time, the deputy tax envoy had informed him of his intention, and he stood up in surprise: "What happened? I knew that the new tax envoy was not a vegetarian. He kept holding back and waited for the opportunity to catch the action today!" "

Immediately, he looked at the Fifth Prince: "Your Highness, let's hurry up and ask the Ministry of Accounts to issue a certificate of customs clearance, saying that this batch of goods has already been taxed elsewhere."

The fifth prince glanced at him: "Do you need to say it? This king expected that Zhao Baiyu would find trouble as soon as he took office, and it didn't happen. Fortunately, he made two preparations early, and someone—"

The fifth prince's staff came in with a box, and the fifth prince signaled the deputy tax envoy to take the box away.

Deputy tax envoy: "This is?"

The fifth prince closed his eyes, gritted his teeth with a pained expression, "The collapsed house tax! Let's say that all the goods have paid the collapsed house tax!"

The so-called collapse tax refers to the long-distance merchants transporting goods. When they arrive at the place, they cannot get rid of them in time, and they cannot pay for the long-term lease of large tank ships. They cannot be stored in the cabin for a long time, which is likely to cause large losses. Build a warehouse, which can be leased to merchants to store goods.

Merchants can choose to pay customs duties and winning money during the sailing process, or they can choose to pay a tax rate of [-]% of the total price of the goods when they are stored in the warehouse, which is called the house collapse tax.

If you pay the collapsed house tax, you don’t have to pay the winning money. On the contrary, you only need to pay a small amount of money for renting the warehouse after paying the winning money. Therefore, the collapsed house tax is essentially a customs clearance diploma.

The deputy tax envoy was overjoyed when he heard the words: "Your Highness, take precautions against rainy days and be as smart as Zhuge!"

"Wait." The Fifth Prince would not just let it go, and ordered a few words: "After tonight, I will write a booklet to participate in Zhao Baiyu's reckless behavior, and neglect of duty. He has not been at his post for more than ten days in a row."

"Humble and understand!"

Watching the deputy tax envoy leave, the fifth prince couldn't hide his heartbroken expression. Not to mention that the 7 taels of silver couldn't be credited, he had to pay 10 taels back!

Zhao Baiyu, Zhao Baiyu, are you really at odds with him?

He was told to lose his money only ten days after arriving in Xinyamen.

People say that money can be used to eliminate disasters, but why can't he lose money and avoid disasters?

--------------------

The author has something to say:

1,

Cao ship official ship.

Taxation method: tariff + win money.

Tariff: The fee is charged when the ship passes the checkpoint according to the weight of the ship, similar to the current high-speed station fee.

Winning Money: Taxes are collected according to the amount of goods.

The taxation method is my own setting, because I have checked a lot of information and it is not very detailed.

The tax on merchant ships in the Northern Song Dynasty was called Shengqian, which was a miscellaneous tax, and there were two main types of regular taxes, called the passing tax and the residential tax.Residential tax is a tax on businesses with shops at a rate of 3%.Excess tax is to collect tax on the goods in circulation, and the tax rate is 2% of the total price of the goods.

I checked the merchant shipping tax, and there was no specific detailed information, so I combined the tax collection method of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Ming and Qing Dynasties to set it up: merchant shipping cargo transportation tax tariff + Shengqian.

Tariffs and taxes are not high, and winning money is 2% of the total price of goods, accounting for the bulk.

This setting can be understood a little bit, and it is related to Liang Jiang's case.

2,

In addition, the settings of government offices and court officials in this era are actually set according to the needs of my plot. The real history is that some court officials and court offices did not exist at the same time, some were only set up in the Southern Song Dynasty, and some were set up in the Northern Song Dynasty. set at different times.

3,

The collapsed house tax was only available in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but not in the Northern Song Dynasty.

The Northern Song Dynasty was the era when the commercial tax was just raised, and it was not perfect in the early stage. The local tax collection was chaotic, and miscellaneous taxes were also messy.