Chapter 192 Tax Adjustment

The advancement of textile technology has affected the meat supply in the Harland territory, causing some people to get rich by hunting and breeding.

Richard would not pay too much attention to such a small matter. He is not the kind of stingy lord who prohibits people from hunting and cutting trees, and he wants to grab all the coins.

After entering April, Roger found Richard and decided to talk to him about taxation.

In general, the Harland territory temporarily implements a light tax policy, and the land tax of free people is only about 30%.

Although it is far less than the thirty-one tax of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, the Harland territory does not collect Ding tax, does not require free people to perform corvée, and does not have any messy miscellaneous taxes. The actual living standard has exceeded that of the Han Dynasty people during Emperor Wen's period.

The free people in the Harland territory are already richer than the citizens of the royal capital.

Because the tax is set low and the tax type is also very simple, only 3,500 gold coins of land tax revenue can be collected from 14,000 free people every year.

Compared with the expenses of the territory, this money is far from enough.

The main income of Harland Territory is not taxation, but commercial income from various monopoly commodities. Together with the income from exploiting contract slaves, these two incomes are the bulk of the territory's finances.

Rogge is the civil official of Harland Territory. He carefully studied the territory's expenses and felt that the territory's tax policy could not continue like this, so he came to talk to Richard, hoping to persuade the lord to formulate new taxes.

According to the laws of the Kingdom of Grant, noble lords do not need to pay taxes to the kingdom, but they have the obligation to organize the army and fight for the kingdom.

Although they do not pay taxes to the king, they need to pay tithes to the Seven Gods Church.

It is okay not to pay, but there are no priests of the Seven Gods Church stationed in the territory, and the army also has no priests of the church to cooperate in combat.

Without the treatment of priests, the combat effectiveness of the lord's army is greatly reduced. In conflicts with other nobles, they are often not opponents.

Moreover, if you do not pay tithes, you will be on the blacklist of the church, and when you need treatment for injuries and illnesses, the priests will not provide help.

So most lords pay tithes.

The situation in the northern border area is special, and war breaks out every three to five years.

Because of the long-term war and the pressure of maintaining the army, most lords have a heavy financial burden and are unable to pay taxes to the Seven Gods Church.

However, the Seven Gods Church must provide assistance in the war between humans and orcs.

Orcs do not believe in the Seven Gods.

If a large area of ​​​​territory is annexed by orcs, the power of faith will be greatly weakened. Not only will the church's income and influence decrease, but it will also affect the recovery of the gods' injuries.

After the Seven Gods fell into a deep sleep, the operation of the kingdom of God and the artifacts depends entirely on the power of faith.

Resisting the invasion of the Orc Empire is another responsibility that the Seven Gods Church must bear.

Therefore, the church exempted tithes in all war zones fighting against orcs.

Even the powerful Duke Edward and Duke Jonathan did not need to pay tithes to the church.

In the Grant Kingdom, the authority of the noble lords is very large. They can not only train the army and make laws, but also set taxes.

For this reason, there are often different tax rates in adjacent territories.

A qualified lord needs to formulate a tax policy that suits the development of the territory.

Roger is Richard's brother-in-law, and he speaks more casually than ordinary officials. He found Richard and said straight to the point: "I think we should expand the tax source and impose new taxes."

"What do you think?"

"There are more than 14,000 freemen in the territory now. Last year's tax revenue was 3,500 gold coins, an average of three silver coins per freeman. Compared with other lords, the tax burden is relatively light.

If the tax system is not changed and the population is not increased, in a few years when all the contract slaves become freemen, the tax revenue of the territory will only be 15,000. Gold coins or so.

Fifteen thousand gold coins, relative to the population of more than 60,000 in the territory, the tax is at a relatively low level.

The current income of the territory is heavily dependent on various new products, which is dangerous and unstable.

I heard that Viscount Xisai has begun to brew liquor, and a small amount of liquor is sold on the market.

Once there are serious problems with the sales of liquor and steel, it will be difficult for the territory to balance its income and expenditure. "

Rogge's words moved Richard's heart. In fact, Richard has had the idea of ​​tax reform since this year.

In January this year, Viscount Xisai accidentally found out the method of brewing liquor by sending spies. In March, Viscount Xisai had begun to sell liquor to compete with the liquor produced by the Harland family.

Although Richard has formulated strict confidentiality rules, the process of distilling liquor is too simple. Beijiang already has mature fermentation technology. Baijiu can be made by adding a distillation process. It is easy to restore the process by finding out a little bit of details.

The leakage of the liquor brewing process has become inevitable. Richard thought he could keep it secret for ten years and monopolize the income from liquor, but he didn't expect that there would be problems in the third year.

Liquor income is a very important profit for Harland Territory. The annual income of more than 10,000 gold coins is enough for Richard to provoke a war between lords.

But the Kingdom of Grant is still a stable kingdom, and the Viscount Richard and the Viscount Sisse are in two provinces.

Even if Richard wants to attack Viscount Sisse, he has to pass through the lands of seven or eight lords along the way, and it is very difficult to start a war between lords.

Since they are not adjacent lords, it is difficult to destroy the Viscount Sisse by violence, so Richard can only face the competition of liquor.

Because the liquor is just beginning to be brewed, the craftsmanship is not as mature as that of Harland Territory.

The liquor brewed by Viscount Xisai tastes average, and it cannot compete with Harland Territory liquor on a large scale. The monopoly of liquor market can last for one or two years.

In one or two years, Richard will choose to sell at a lower price, reduce the profit of the liquor industry, and sink the market.

In this way, the profit of the liquor business may fall sharply.

The territory invented hemostatic ointment and captured the flame spider. The new industry can bring in 4,000 gold coins every year.

Once the profit of liquor falls on a large scale, it may not be able to make up for this deficit.

"How are you going to collect taxes?"

"Since the lord has promised the freemen to collect 30% of the land tax, we will not try to solve the land tax problem, but add new taxes. I think property tax is the most suitable.

There are about 3,400 freemen in the territory now. If the property tax is collected from each household with one gold coin, the tax will be equal to the land tax. When all the contract slaves become freemen, the property tax plus the land tax will be enough for us to maintain the balance of income and expenditure in the territory."

After listening to Rogge's idea, Richard shook his head and said, "One gold coin is not enough. The burden is still too heavy. Besides, some freemen are still paying their mortgages. If the tax is so heavy, it will drive people to death.

I think property tax can be levied. One room Houses can be taxed at ten copper coins.

The standard courtyard we built has three houses and one silver coin is collected, which is neither light nor heavy for a family.

Although property tax cannot make up for the deficit, we can use other methods to increase finances, such as salt and iron monopoly. In addition, tariffs and business taxes can also be levied. Every store on the street will be taxed one gold coin for business tax, and the tariff will be 10% of the value of the goods. "

After listening to Richard's advice, Roger calculated carefully and said: "If calculated in this way, the tax collection can only be increased by six or seven hundred gold coins this year. It is still a drop in the bucket. "

"Wait a while, the tax revenue will gradually improve. "