Chapter 982 Discussion on civil affairs


    In the Pingyang government office, Fei Qian looked at the civil servants and military generals gathered in the main hall, and seemed to be in a trance for a few seconds.


    Once upon a time, with only three or five hundred soldiers, I managed to **** a piece of land here in Pingyang, Bingzhou, with some small tricks, and now more than three years have passed in the blink of an eye...


    Now in the hall, not only these civil servants and military generals are gathered, but more importantly, in the area of ??Pingyang, from scratch, from small to large, a large number of people have settled down now, and these people are Fei Qian himself The most important foundation at present.


    All the way back from Diaoyin, what I saw was a busy and warm scene, which made Feiqian feel very comfortable.


    For the people under the current rule, perhaps this is the beginning of a year of hope, and it is also the most energetic time of the year. The young crops begin to ripen and grow quickly at a suitable temperature, and it seems that they can feel the changes in the crops every day. , and at this time point, there will be no conquest of various kinds of corvee, and under the rule of Fei Qian, including Pingyang, a lot of hard labor is shared by the arrested Hu people...


    There are less taxes and less corvee. Although the proportion of land rent is relatively large, it will be reduced by 50% after five years of continuous farming, and the land you have cultivated can be obtained after ten years. This is very important for farmers who have never had a foothold. It is undoubtedly a matter full of hope.


    In addition to these farmers, many people under Fei Qian''s rule fought with Fei Qian and were wounded on the battlefield, but luckily they did not die because of their injuries, either because of their health or age, they could no longer go to the battlefield After all, these people can read a few words and numbers in the army, and they have no problem dealing with some superficial civil affairs.


    Of course there won’t be too many people like this, only around a hundred, but it’s enough to become a model of ordinary soldiers, to become someone else’s so-and-so...


    Of course, there are more soldiers who died in battle, or soldiers who were wounded and died. In addition to being recorded under the stele of heroic spirits, besides enjoying the incense offerings that the people of the Han Dynasty attached great importance to, their families can also receive a pension , the most important thing is that the county government can also provide an ordinary job, or an errand, so that these families can continue.


    This is enough.


    Ordinary people are always easy to be satisfied. If they can come back alive, they are lucky. If they are not disabled, they are lucky stars. The smoke is rising, and as for the unfortunate death on the battlefield, the family can also be taken care of by the government. For soldiers, there is nothing more reassuring than this.


    And Feiqian is also preparing to promote a measure...


    In the hall, looking at the civil servants and military generals who looked a little beaming on the left and right, he said slowly: "...All lieutenant officers and soldiers in the army will be awarded land according to the law this winter according to their merits!"


    As soon as this remark came out, all the civil servants and generals present were a little surprised.


    The righteousness of helping the community can stand up among the gentry, but it can''t resonate with the common people. For ordinary people who are constantly farming every day, perhaps they will be happy and proud when Fei Qian is strong, but when these excited emotions recede like waves, these people still have to face day after day. Working, still have to worry about the last meal and the next meal.


    Passion is just a momentary thing, but toil is a lifetime thing. It is obviously unrealistic to let the people shout slogans every day, and then forget all the bad reality and endure all the oppression and exploitation. It works, but sooner or later there will be problems.


    In the early Han Dynasty, there was also land granting. According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, according to the title system left by the Qin Dynasty at that time, from the ninety-five hectares of the Marquis of Guannei down to the one and a half hectares of the public, the public soldiers, the soldiers, and the common people were the same. They are all one hectare, but this kind of law was not implemented well at the beginning. As the time passed, this law became more and more unfeasible. From the initial reduction in the number of acres of land, it eventually became two-handed. Stand, there is no wood...


    In addition to the subsequent land annexation of the Han Dynasty, the public land controlled by the court became more and more scarce. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, even before the Han Lingdi period, there was no land to reward at all...


    However, Feiqian has a lot of land now, not counting the area of ??Pingyang, but just taking out the area of ??Yinshan Mountain for distribution, and there can be quite a lot of land.


    Now the number of soldiers following Fei Qian to fight is also gradually expanding. Even if the recruited Hu Qi are not counted, there are nearly 10,000 people, and behind these 10,000 people, one person is a family. The entire population, but it involves all aspects, so many people naturally become the most direct basis for supporting Feiqian.


    Zaoyi was the first to express his approval. As a person who basically deals with farmers all day long, he knows how much farmers desire for land, so he said happily: "Your Majesty, this is a great move!"


    The rest of the people present also agreed, because they actually knew that although Fei Qian only mentioned ordinary soldiers, could the people present be missing?


    So everyone was inevitably a little happy, and they all praised.


    So the first civil affairs item was finalized, and it went very smoothly...


    However, Fei Qian knew that granting land was not a good thing.


    Once the land can be bought and sold, it is like opening Pandora''s box, and many things will fly out.


    But it is unrealistic to ban land sales.


    It''s like in later generations, while leaving a huge back door, it is covered with words such as "transfer", "rent", "use", etc., but in essence it is like "transfer in place", it is still a kind of Euphemistically worded deal…


    If it is stipulated in the Han Dynasty that land trading is not allowed, first of all, whether the gentry will riot as a whole, whether it will lose the enthusiasm and initiative of production is a very serious problem.


    A regime that maintains social stability through force suppression will cause problems sooner or later. If it wants long-term peace and stability, it must choke the throat of the ruled class below, and then put a rope on it, so as to command and control the ruled class .


    And for the Han Dynasty, or for the vast majority of feudal dynasties, what is the most important magic weapon?


    is land.


    The more land controlled in the hands of the imperial power, the greater the authority of the imperial power, and the more land controlled in the hands of the big clans in various places, the greater the power of the aristocratic families. Sooner or later, they will be disrupted again and brought together into the hands of the big clan, then the old routine from peace to chaos will be repeated again and again...


    So how to control, or prevent, or regulate such a situation?


    Actually, Fei Qian also had some headaches, but he had to face it.


    This is a big project, and it is also a structure that must be gradually established at this stage. Otherwise, when the gentry gradually invades in and takes control of the countryside, it will increase the difficulty and bring Come to unnecessary trouble.


    But Fei Qian knows that there is a ready-made regulation, which seems to be a reference...


    "From the beginning of this year, all taxable taxes will be calculated on the basis of acres of land, and there will be no separate collection and calculation..." Fei Qian looked around and said slowly, "...what do you think?"


    "Exemption, calculation, this... I''m afraid it will reduce a lot of taxes..." Du Yuan squinted his eyes, and began to estimate how much impact it would have if the tax was reduced. For him, after all, he manages the logistics of Pingyang and even the entire Bingbei area, and he is naturally the most clear about the word of mouth...


    There are mainly three types of taxes in the Han Dynasty, land tax, also known as land tax; calculation tax, or oral tax; and corvee service, also known as shift service or labor tax.


    Among them, the land tax is very low, no more than one-thirty taxes, and one-fifteenth of the high tax, and the additional stalk tax is only 55 yuan per hectare per year, which can be said to be the lowest land tax in ancient times, but in comparison, The poll tax in the Han Dynasty and other taxes converted from the servitude are relatively heavy, especially at the present time.


    For a normal peasant household, in addition to the "household tax" of 200 qian per household, each adult man needs to pay another 300 qian If it is necessary to spend money to exempt the "dead soldier" from serving as a substitute for going to the border, it will cost 2,000 yuan, and the Han law also stipulates that this responsibility, even if it is disabled or old or weak, such an item is It can''t be exempted, "stop the insomnia and salty out".


    In terms of population tax, at the very beginning, children under the age of 14, regardless of gender, had to pay the oral tax before 23 every year. Among the 23 qian, 3 qian went to Da Sima as special military expenditure, and the remaining 20 qian It belongs to the Shaofu, that is, the emperor. The adult population tax has to be paid until the age of 56, and each person pays 120 yuan per year. The merchants and slaves are doubled. The adult population tax is all attributed to the Dasinong to manage.


    This kind of population tax caused many farmers to be unable to bear children, and even deliberately killed the children born, causing many human tragedies. This extreme situation attracted the attention of the Han Dynasty, and finally changed it from 7 The levy begins at the age of…


    In order to collect more population tax, it is also to encourage childbearing. If a woman reaches the age of 15 and is not married, she must start to collect a heavy tax. The tax will be increased every three years, and the highest tax will be five. That is to say, in the Han Dynasty, women wanted to upgrade To become the highest level of "Dead Without Han", the first condition of the family is to have enough money, otherwise the first level of "leftover fighters" is enough to collapse an ordinary family...


    Of course there are also rewards, but if a woman is pregnant, her husband will be exempted from the tax for one year.


    Even so, the taxes levied still cannot meet the huge expenses, so the so-called "contribution fee" was added later, which means that the people of the whole world are voluntarily donating, so all adult men and women, each year It is necessary to "dedicate" an additional 63 yuan to the emperor for his court expenses.


    Secondly, local corvee is also the heaviest burden on farmers.


    Every male who has reached the age of 17 with household registration must serve one month of unpaid labor in the place of household registration every year, engaged in civil engineering, building bridges and roads, regulating rivers and canals, transferring grain and grass, and other basic construction or labor.


    The levy of corvee is limited to 30 days, but as long as the quality of the project is unqualified, it needs to be reworked. At this time, it is called "do not count it as corvee", that is, it is not counted in the fixed period of service, so in practice, the time of corvee Usually more than a month...


    Under the rule of Fei Qian, it was an exception.


    Why are the farmers in Pingyang now thinking that Feiqian is very good and a good official, and even spontaneously come to welcome Feiqian''s return? A very important reason is that many of the local corvee workers are captured by Xianbei people Instead, the burden on farmers near Pingyang was reduced, so basically there was no phenomenon of farmers fleeing due to corvee.


    Although the appearance of refugees is strictly prohibited in the Han law, whether it is a county guard or a county magistrate, as long as there are refugees under the rule, they will be punished with serious crimes.


    "It''s possible to avoid talking and counting..." Xun Chen nodded and said, "...if you reduce the taxation and use it to recruit people, you can gather people around you... If you eliminate the counting, it will benefit business and promote people''s livelihood..."


    Linghu Shao and Wei Liu on the side also nodded their heads in agreement.


    Jia Xu, who just joined in, looked at his nose and nose and mouth silently, making it clear that you are free and I don’t have any opinions...


    In the Han Dynasty, refugees were often given preferential treatment such as exempting oral taxation and changing service, etc., and then attracted them to resettle. Therefore, everyone including Xun Chen was no stranger to such measures. , Ship owners, that is, like the fuel surtax of later generations, it is only taxed on people above the middle class, and it is also a measure that can promote commerce.


    Taxing vehicles and boats is a pioneering work of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.


    The fuel surcharges of later generations are more or less civilized money grabbing, and consumption only when driving, while Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty plundered shamelessly. As long as there are cars, boats, livestock, and slaves in the family, they must be taxed, regardless of whether they have it or not. If it is used, all taxes will be paid, and those who do not pay taxes or pay less taxes are allowed to report to each other among the people, and the order of prosecution is issued, and the whistleblower is rewarded with half of the property found. As a result, the effect is naturally quite ideal...


    This matter, in fact, the most important thing is to weaken the development of many middle classes in the Han Dynasty, which led to the entire Han Dynasty finally making great strides towards extreme polarization.


    Regarding these matters, people like Zaozhi, Xun Chen, Jia Xu, and even Du Yuan, Wei Liu, Linghu Shao, etc. who belong to the gentry who are more or less familiar with people''s livelihood and political affairs are more or less understandable, but as for Huang Xu, Zhang Liao, etc. , but some half-understood, a little at a loss, so they didn''t have any opinions...


    Fei Qian looked at Xun Chen and the others, and knew that these people probably regarded what he said just now as an expedient measure, the same as a temporary measure to attract refugees, so he coughed twice and emphasized: "Everyone! , what I mean is not to exempt the oral tax and counting money for a while, but to start from this year and never collect it!"


    Jia Xu, who looked like a woodcarving, suddenly raised his head, his narrowed eyes widened, staring straight at Fei Qian.


    But no one noticed Jia Xu''s strange behavior, because the other people also looked surprised, and they all found it incredible...


    ah?


    Permanent exemption?


    Everyone in the hall looked at each other.


    This is easier said than done, let’s not talk about the tax reduction caused by it, if it is really implemented, and then because the money is not enough to spend, the reputation will be completely collapsed...


    This Fei Qian, could it be that he just became the Marquis of Pingyang, so he lost his head?


    (end of this chapter)