boyutpedia Page 44
Page 44
Even if fifty acres of land yields only two tons a year, it will never actually amount to three tons in storage, but the government's tax exemption line can only be this low.
This tax-free red line symbolizes the hope that Chinese farmers will have enough to eat and wear in the future; crossing this red line means that the people below risk rising up in rebellion.
In reality, a family that owns fifty acres of land can be considered a landlord, but in those days, even landlords could not necessarily have enough to eat, let alone eat rice and white steamed buns every meal!
In the eyes of the central government, the so-called small landlords were actually just poor people who couldn't be squeezed out of anything.
The central government doesn't have high expectations for the future of Chinese agriculture; it simply hopes that people won't starve. Agriculture has never been about making money, but rather about serving as a ballast for national stability.
But the Republic was so poor that it couldn't do anything about the poor. It couldn't touch the poor, but it absolutely couldn't let go of the rich and powerful. It would squeeze every last bit out of them.
Soon, taxpayers in Lantian County with more than ten mu of land per capita were gathered at the grain storage area. Soldiers of the National Defense Army, armed with guns, imposed martial law around the grain storage area, creating a scene no different from the Imperial Army entering a village.
The wealthy and powerful were puzzled and began to question why they were being taxed again this year when there was no tax exemption.
The poor folks were also watching the spectacle from the sidelines. This year, the head of state exempted the whole country from taxes, so they could barely make it through the New Year. But who would want to miss the chance to see the wealthy families suffer?
The tax official on the high platform cleared his throat and then said loudly, "That's right, the head of state is kind-hearted and has indeed exempted this year's agricultural tax, but he has not exempted other taxes!"
"The head of state has instructed the central government to exempt the following taxes: agricultural tax, regional retention funds, public funds, county and city pooling funds, management fees, sanitation fees, preferential treatment fees, special product taxes, education surcharges, militia training fees, slaughter taxes, fixed asset taxes, water resource fees, flood control and drainage fees, livestock disease prevention fees, and film screening fees."
The tax official took more than a minute to finish reading out the tax categories, and then continued, "None of the above taxes and fees are exempt, so they must all be paid!"
The crowd below fell silent, and even the poor people outside the threshing ground were shocked. This was terrifying; it was almost as if there was no tax on farting!
The taxpayers at the grain threshing ground were quickly in an uproar. Many of the taxes were unheard of, and everyone was asking what was going on.
A fee for flood control and drainage? Are you serious about charging this kind of fee in a place like Northwest China?
The tax official nodded and said that the absence of floods this year does not mean there won't be any next year. Collecting money now means the government will help with flood control and disaster relief if there are floods tomorrow!
Some people are questioning what the movie screening fee is. They clearly didn't even watch the movie, so what kind of fee is being charged?
The tax official said that once the fee is collected, there will be movies to watch next year!
The official representatives just gave all sorts of explanations and ramblings, some of which were irrelevant. They said that things that had already happened must be collected, and things that hadn't happened yet were being collected in advance.
Taxpayers are fed up and are simply asking tax officials directly how much they're supposed to collect, demanding a clear figure instead of all this complicated stuff.
The tax official announced, "This year, the Republic will implement an eleventh-of-ten tax standard!"
After hearing this, the taxpayers calmed down a bit. The elevenths tax was acceptable. During the Qing Dynasty, the theoretical tax rate was only about five percent, but in reality, when other exorbitant taxes and levies were included, it could reach about twenty percent.
The 10% tax seems much cheaper and perfectly acceptable.
Someone tentatively asked, "One-tenth tax? Really?"
The tax official reiterated: "It's elevenths of the tax, not one-tenth!"
Taxpayers were bewildered: "Eleventh-month tax? You mean..."
The tax official nodded approvingly: "That's clever, it's ten percent tax, eleven percent! In short, eleven percent tax!"
The crowd erupted into chaos, scrambling to escape.
"Boom boom boom tap tap tap"
This is when the soldiers came into play. Under the threat of gunfire, the taxpayers had nowhere to escape!
The tax official continued, "Of course, His Majesty understands everyone's difficulties and has also provided preferential policies. For tax payments exceeding the equivalent of one hundred taels, five percent will be returned in high-interest government bonds; for one thousand taels, ten percent will be returned; and for ten thousand taels, twenty percent will be returned. These government bonds can be freely traded and used for next year's tax payments!"
"His Majesty the President said that this year is a difficult time for the country, so the eleven-tax system will be temporarily implemented. Once the country recovers, the tax rate will definitely be reduced or even waived to compensate everyone!"
"For taxpayers, the state adopts a preferential policy of adding points to the college entrance examination. The more taxes you pay, the more points you will receive in the college entrance examination. Those who pay more than 100,000 taels of tax can be admitted to school without taking the exam and will be given a permanent position!"
"However! Those who resist taxes will be regarded as remnants of the Qing Dynasty, their property will be confiscated, and their entire families will be sent to reformatories to receive reform education from the republican government!"
With a slap on the wrist followed by a sweet treat, plus the intimidating presence of the Imperial Army... oh no, I mean the National Defense Army's guns, taxpayers had no choice but to obediently pay their taxes, no matter how unwilling they were.
The eleventh tax means that this year's harvest will be completely wasted, and I will have to pay an extra 10%. Although it is hard to accept, it is still much better than resisting taxes and being treated as a remnant of the Qing Dynasty, having my home confiscated, and being sent to a reformatory.
The fate of the entire city of Xi'an was a bloody spectacle, and everyone knew that the National Defense Army was always ready to strike.
The tax official continued to add insult to injury: "After the New Year, the land will be re-measured and fixed asset tax will be levied. Don't even think about hiding your land. Any land that has not been registered and confirmed is illegal, and the state will never recognize its legal ownership."
And there's a reward for reporting! Anyone found concealing unregistered farmland will receive half the reward, and the state will receive the other half, once the report is confirmed!
Don't even think about abandoning the land to avoid taxes. Regardless of whether the land is productive, the owner must pay taxes according to the average yield!
Land less than ten mu per capita is exempt from tax; land exceeding ten mu is taxed at 1/10; land exceeding fifty mu is taxed at 2/10; land exceeding one hundred mu is taxed at 3/10, increasing progressively until it caps at 1/10!
The taxpayers were furious. At that moment, the tax officials went down to the streets, and the party representatives stepped forward.
After the party representative stepped forward, he said directly, "Minister Wu Zifu said that rebellion is not a crime! Our revolutionary party started by rebelling."
"So we encourage everyone to resist. If anyone doesn't want to pay taxes or resists taxes, then just start a rebellion. Don't worry, there's no crime in starting a rebellion; you'll just be suppressed and your property confiscated!"
"And those who participated in the suppression all had the right to divide their family property. The state encouraged the wealthy to rebel and revolt, and it also encouraged the poor to suppress revolts."
Those who meet the tax threshold are all people who wear shoes. The tax rate is high and outrageous, but they can still afford it and have other ways to recover their losses.
The party representative's hurtful words completely extinguished any hope among taxpayers. This party representative was truly outrageous, actually encouraging everyone to rebel. What the hell was he thinking? Who is this Minister Wu Zifu?
Chapter 81 Zhao Yan's Helplessness
"Ridiculous! Don't think I don't know what Wu Zifu is up to! It's utterly absurd!"
"Even extremists aren't this extreme. He's just stirring up trouble. I...I want to..."
Inside the Imperial Study, Zhao Yan was furious and threatened to punish Wu Zifu and his faction of party members. However, after hesitating for a long time, he still couldn't say anything harsh. In the end, in his impotent rage, he smashed the cheapest and most unbreakable porcelain steel cup.
Zhao Hao wanted to laugh but dared not, and could only advise from the side: "President, please calm down. If you don't like them, just dismiss them!"
Zhao Yan glared at him coldly and said, "You little brat, you want to go against me too?"
Zhao Hao quickly lowered his head: "I wouldn't dare! I wouldn't dare!"
Zhao Yan sighed helplessly, picked up the dented porcelain cup again, placed it on the table, and sat down with a touch of heartache.
The number of members in the Revival Party has now grown to over 7,000. With this increase in numbers, factions have emerged within the party, and currently there are mainly three factions.
Led by Zhang Xinghua, Wang Dingyun, and Qiu Xingxun, the radical faction inherited Zhao Yan's nationalist revolutionary thought. Their ideas were radical but not outrageous, and they prioritized the interests of the Han people and the nation above all else, advocating nationalism!
The radicals were Zhao Yan's capable lieutenants and the group of people he used most easily.
The second faction is the conservative faction led by Liu Shangsheng. They inherited Zhao Yan's capitalist ideology and acted in a conservative but reliable manner. However, they were too weak and relied entirely on the support of the Jiangnan salt merchants and other financial groups.
The last faction was the extremist group led by two veteran party members, Wu Zifu and Jean Sinor. They inherited the proletarian revolutionary ideals taught by Zhao Yan and acted in an extremely extreme manner. This group of people typically had a diode-like mentality: either right or wrong, with no option to compromise or compromise.
The radical faction has the fewest members, but their strength is by no means weak, because their leader, Wu Zifu, is a genius. Wu Zifu's abilities are too outstanding!
This time, Zhao Yan instructed the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Taxation to jointly collect domestic taxes and simultaneously promote the sale of national bonds. Zhao Yan's motive was simply to increase fiscal revenue.
But the extremist party members just had to seize the opportunity to cause trouble, using the guise of strictly following the head of state's instructions to start mixing their own agendas in.
They're just collecting taxes, yet they've already started thinking about launching a land revolution. They've even come up with such despicable methods as forcing wealthy landowners to rebel. Zhao Yan is ashamed of himself for not being able to do that.
In Zhao Yan's view, this group of wealthy gentry and rich people wearing shoes were simply the perfect fat sheep at the moment. They could just be harvested when they were short of money. Was it necessary to completely eradicate them?
The state apparatus will always bleed people dry. It's not that you can achieve communism just by defeating the landlords. Does communism stop exploiting peasants?
Without landlords, the state apparatus simply changed its target for exploitation to poor peasants. It still had to collect taxes as before, otherwise how could the state apparatus function?
But these extremists are unwilling to think about these things; they always want to instigate a new revolution to experiment with or practice their beliefs.
Zhao Yan was at his wit's end; he had absolutely no way to deal with this group of diodes.
"Sigh, Ah Hao, do you think I did something wrong?" Zhao Yan slumped onto the kang (a heated brick bed), a rare look of helplessness on his face.
Zhao Hao panicked upon seeing this: "Your Excellency, please don't be like this! There's always a solution. Please don't give up so easily!"
Zhao Yan shook his head slightly: "There's a solution to everything, and room for compromise on everything, but this kind of conflict of beliefs and ideological differences is destined to end in conflict."
Zhao Yan didn't say what he was going to say next, because he didn't want to face that kind of thing either. They were both his children, whom he had raised with his own hands. It would be a lie to say that he had no feelings for them.
Zhao Yan could be ruthless to anyone, but he couldn't bring himself to be cruel to these young people who had risked their lives for him when he was at his lowest point.
Wu Zifu's ideas were too radical and extreme, and Zhao Yan dared not place him in the central leadership. However, even though he was not in the central leadership, his influence still extended through the party.
If any of the lower-ranking officials or generals dared to do this, Zhao Yan would have made sure he was almost seven days past his deathbed by now, but he was completely helpless against Wu Zifu.
Zhao Yan sent Wu Zifu south so that he could experience the grassroots level and see the actual situation. Zhao Yan would also take time every week to write to Wu Zifu to communicate, hoping to bring him back to his senses.
But it was all for naught. Wu Zifu continued to do things his own way. On the surface, he meticulously carried out Zhao Yan's instructions and orders, but in reality, he always liked to mix in his own personal agenda.
These things would have killed most other people eight times over, but for Wu Zifu it was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
The reason is that Zhao Yan simply couldn't bring himself to hurt him, and didn't even punish him or publicly deny his actions.
Zhao Hao, standing to the side, also voiced his doubts: "Sir, why do you spoil Wu Zifu so much? The brothers are all a bit confused. Out of so many colleagues, Wu Zifu is the one you favor and care for the most. Many people say you are biased."
Zhao Yan raised his head: "Zhao Hao! Don't say things that are detrimental to unity anymore!"
Seeing that Zhao Yan was serious, Zhao Hao dared not say another word, but he was still unconvinced and harbored some resentment.
Of the five ministers who served when the party was founded, only Wu Zifu was unaware of Zhao Yan's favoritism; the other four all felt it.
Indeed, the five fingers on one hand can be of different lengths, but you can't go too far. The rest of the people are all working diligently and never overstepping the bounds, hoping to gain Zhao Yan's attention.
But Wu Zifu was an exception. He seemed to follow the rules, but in reality he was unconventional and dared to do anything. Wang Dingyun was also a full-fledged party representative, guarding the southwest, and always acted like a good boy.
Look at Wu Zifu, he's turned himself into the King of the Southeast, controlling both military and political affairs, and making decisions unilaterally! Yet Zhao Yan hasn't even given him a single public reprimand, but he keeps writing letters to criticize him in private, and Wu Zifu still hasn't changed.
Even after all this, Zhao Yan still showed no intention of harming him, leading everyone to doubt whether Wu Zifu was Zhao Yan's biological son!
No, even a biological son wouldn't do that. Which emperor would dare to allow his prince to hold military and political power over three provinces? Zhu Biao couldn't do that.
The real reason is probably only known to Zhao Yan himself, because everyone else calls him president or head of state, but only Wu Zifu calls him "teacher" from beginning to end.
Even now, Zhao Yan still values this master-disciple relationship to the extreme. Wu Zifu never worries that Zhao Yan will harm him, and Zhao Yan never worries that Wu Zifu will betray him. Although the two have great differences, they still fully trust each other.
Both of them placed their most important hopes on each other, but their ideologies were too conflicting.
"Sigh!" Zhao Yan sighed and looked at Zhao Hao, saying, "Let me make some things clear to you. I brought them all up, and I don't want to show favoritism."
"You ask me why I'm biased? I can only tell you four words: Zifu is like me!"
"If I am no longer here one day, the only one who can lead you all on is Zifu. No matter what, he is the most capable among you."
It's okay if you have conflicting ideas, but always remember your brotherhood. You've weathered the toughest times together, so don't turn against each other when things are at their best.
Remember, no matter what, never let brothers kill each other!
Zhao Hao walked over and squatted down in front of Zhao Yan, like a child facing his father: "Head of State, why are you saying this? You were only in your early thirties, how could you be gone?"
Zhao Yan, his back hunched, looked like an ordinary person: "You are all seeking my confidence, hoping that I will lead you to victory."
"But from whom can I seek confidence? I don't really know how to achieve victory; I just know to keep moving forward with all my might."
"If someone were to appear now who is stronger than me, I would be willing to entrust my life to them, I just hope they don't throw me away like cow dung on the roadside."
With such a fledgling new regime facing so many brutal challenges in the future, Zhao Yan simply couldn't predict his own success or failure. He could give others confidence in their inevitable victory, but he couldn't give himself peace of mind to sleep.
Every man harbors the ambition of "being ordained by Heaven and enjoying longevity and prosperity." It wasn't until Zhao Yan truly reached this point, holding the lives and deaths of countless people in his hands and using these lives and deaths as chips to sit at the world's gambling table, that Zhao Yan felt immense pressure.
He has now completely changed. Before, he still thought he was an insignificant fraudster, believing that it was just a game and that the deaths of many people were just a number.
But it wasn't until Zhao Yan saw those young people who believed in him charging headlong into the heavy machine gun on the battlefield, trusting him even in death, that he realized the responsibility he carried.
This is not a game, and I am no longer the con artist I once was. What I will face in the future are countless hardships and obstacles.
Behind those death tolls are not NPCs, but living, breathing people and their families.
Chapter 82 Transportation and Northeast China
Do heroes emerge from the times, or do heroes create the times?
The tide of history propelled Zhao Yan to his current leadership position, but it also left him with no way out. He can only create the next era; this is the mission of a hero.
They either succeed in creating the next era, or they fail and perish.
For the first time in front of others, Zhao Yan revealed his confusion and helplessness. At this moment, as the only witness, Zhao Hao also realized for the first time that Zhao Yan was also a person, a person with flesh and blood.
For a long time, they had worshipped Zhao Yan as an omnipotent god, never imagining that one day even a god would have a helpless side.
Everyone pinned their hopes on Zhao Yan alone. The Restoration Party hoped that Zhao Yan could realize their ideals, the officials hoped that Zhao Yan could lead them to power, the merchants hoped that Zhao Yan could lead them to profit, the soldiers hoped that Zhao Yan could bring them merit and land, and the people hoped that Zhao Yan could pacify the country and bring stability.
Everyone can place their hopes and their lives in Zhao Yan's hands, but Zhao Yan himself cannot have any hope, much less place any trust in him.
Because believers can have faith in gods, but gods cannot have faith in anyone.
"Teacher, we were wrong!" Zhao Hao couldn't hold back anymore, his eyes welling up with tears as he knelt before Zhao Yan, regretting his words of doubt.
He addressed Zhao Yan as "teacher," just like Wu Zifu had done, which meant he no longer regarded Zhao Yan as a god, but as a human being.
Zhao Yan was very pleased. He didn't like being a god and having to bear everything; it was too tiring. If possible, he would rather be an ordinary mortal.
Zhao Yan looked at his disciple and comforted him, "There's no need for this. Between you and me, why should we be like this?"