Chapter 234 The Kingdom of Athens Begins Collecting Taxes

In this era, usually only the local royal family or nobles had the financial resources to do business.

Of course, the privileged royal family and nobles did not pay taxes, so there was no concept of commercial taxation in this era.

Seeing the curious expressions of Procne and Philomela, Roy continued.

"Now that the city of Athens has replaced the city of Knossos as the trade hub, I plan to establish an import tax and a commercial tax in the city of Athens at the same time. The import tax is one-twentieth of the value of the goods collected, and the commercial tax is based on the income level of the operator. Taxation. Households with an annual income of less than 10,000 kilograms of grain are not required to pay taxes. Households with an annual income of more than 10,000 kilograms of grain are taxed one-tenth of the annual income of 10,000 kilograms of grain. A family with an annual income of 30,000 jins of grain needs to pay two-tenths of the tax, which is 4,000 jins of grain. A family with an annual income of 40,000 jins of grain needs to pay a tax of three-tenths, which is equivalent to a household with an annual income of 50,000 jins of grain. , you need to pay a tax of four-tenths, which is 16,000 kilograms of grain. Those with an annual income of 60,000 kilograms of grain need to pay a tax of five-tenths, which is 25,000 kilograms of grain. The higher the income level, the higher the tax level. The higher.”

After hearing Roy's words, Procne and Philomela both widened their eyes in surprise.

After coming back to her senses, Philomela couldn't help but say.

"Brother Roy, your business tax is too scary. A family with an annual income of 60,000 kilograms of grain is taxed by you on 25,000 kilograms of grain. Aren't you worried that they will leave the Kingdom of Athens?"

Roy shook his head without hesitation and said.

"Even a thousand years later, a family with an annual income of 60,000 kilograms of grain will still be the first-class citizen of the city of Athens. This aristocratic class is the biggest enemy of the royal family, and even if they are taxed two-thirds, they should be taxed. Because the higher the financial resources of these aristocrats, the greater the threat they pose to the royal power."

In the history of another world, King Charles I of the British Kingdom was not only deprived of his royal power by the new aristocratic group, but was also sent to the guillotine. In the final analysis, it was because the aristocratic group was too rich.

If the new aristocratic group did not have the financial resources to recruit an army to fight the king, Charles I would neither need to surrender power in exchange for the support of the new aristocratic group, nor would he be executed by the rebels.

What does it mean for a family to have an annual income of 60,000 kilograms of grain?

In just twenty years, the wealth accumulated by this family can support two thousand people for one year.

Just ten such families could recruit 20,000 soldiers to fight for a year.

If such a family accumulated a hundred years of wealth, just one family could recruit an army of 10,000 to resist the king's power.

Roy's taxation standards only hurt the aristocracy, so Roy would never make any concessions to his taxation standards.

Port of Piraeus.

After having lunch with Procne and Philomela, Roy came here and told Chione, who was responsible for managing port trade, about taxation.

"Chione! Starting tomorrow, merchant ships entering the port will be charged one-twentieth of the import tax. Only merchant ships in the duty-free zone can be exempted."

Roy said patiently.

"If those merchant ships have any objections, tell them that we collect taxes to develop the Athenian navy to fight against pirates. After they pay taxes to the city of Athens, they will also benefit from the safety of the waterway."

Chione nodded and said.

"Since the city of Knossos could collect taxes in the past, there is no reason why our city of Athens cannot collect import taxes now. Except for some unreasonable people, no one should object to our tax collection."

At this moment, a shepherd driving ten sheep at the port caught Roy's attention.

Because Roy recognized this shepherd as Pererieus, the king of Sparta.

Seeing Perieris observing Piraeus Port like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, Roy took the initiative to walk over and said.

"Peryrius, why did you come to my port disguised as a shepherd?"

"Loy, King of Athens——"

Perieris obviously didn't expect to meet Roy here, and said with some embarrassment.

"The goddess Hera told me that we Spartans can conduct duty-free trade in your Kingdom of Athens, so I came to see what the scale of trade in your city of Athens is."

Roy teased with a smile.

"Then after your observation, do you think the scale of trade in our city of Athens is large?"

"It's big!"

Perierius nodded and said.

"Although the trade scale of the city of Athens is not as good as that of the city of Knossos, it can already meet the trade needs of our city of Sparta."

"The city of Knossos——"

Hearing Perieres compare the city of Athens with the city of Knossos, Roy shook his head and said.

"Perieres, haven't you heard that the city of Knossos has been destroyed by the tsunami? The city of Athens is already the only trade hub in the Aegean Sea, and the scale of trade in the city of Athens will soon exceed that of Knossos. The city’s heyday.”

“City of Knossos destroyed by tsunami – when did this happen?”

"Just the day before yesterday! The volcano erupted on the island of Thera - you may not understand what a volcanic eruption is, nor the relationship between a volcanic eruption and a tsunami. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to check the city of Knossos yourself Case."

Perierius said with a solemn expression.

"Since you told me an important news, let me tell you an important news too! The Mycenaeans have conquered the city of Arcadia guarded by the goddess Artemis in the Arcadia region. King Lu of Arcadia Caon and his sons were all killed in the battle, but the whereabouts of Lycaon’s daughter, Princess Callisto, are unknown and may still be alive.”

Hearing the news, Roy didn't care.

Because although the Arcadia region covers an area of ​​4,400 square kilometers, it is an area with poor land and a small population.

Even if the Mycenaeans ruled the Argos and Acadia regions, they would not be able to shorten the strength gap between them and Loy.

"Perieres, the Mycenaeans conquered the Arcadia region, which is not good news for you. Maybe the next target that the Mycenaeans want to conquer is the fertile Sparta region. and the Pylos region.”

Perierius nodded and said.

"In order to confront the Mycenaeans, we Spartans have formed an alliance with the Pylos. King Loy of Athens, do you Athenians want to join forces with us to destroy the Mycenaeans?"

Roy shook his head without hesitation and said.

"I have an agreement with King Acrisios of Mycenae, so while Acrisios is alive, the Athenians cannot take the initiative to attack the Mycenaeans."

This is of course a superficial reason.

Roy did not want to become allies with the Spartans and Pylos because Roy would definitely conquer the Spartan and Pylos regions in the future.

"Perieres! Since you have come to the city of Athens, and now I extend an invitation to you as the host, are you willing to be my guest?"

Perierius shook his head and said.

"We were fighting a war just a few days ago. How can I be your guest now? In order to thank you for the invitation, I will give you these ten sheep now."

After saying that, Perierius handed his shepherd's whip to Roy.

Roy also shook his head and said.

"We are not friends, I can't accept your gift."