Chapter 118 Looking at the future, shuddering
In the reception room of Skar Village, the surrounding walls are painted white, making it look particularly bright.
This is completely different from various architectural styles of the same era, showing a simple and powerful beauty.
The surrounding houses are even more elegantly built, with an air of uprightness compared to traditional Middle Eastern residences.
The more elegant the house was, the more uneasy Tariq felt.
After all, it takes money to repair a house, and for the lords of Skaar Village, where does the money come from?
Is it what those mud-legged people plundered? Of course not.
In Tariq's opinion, the new lord's money for building houses, digging for water conservancy, and training the army must have been confiscated from the houses of Ahmed's tax collectors.
Unlike other tax collectors, Tariq was originally a businessman. He spent a lot of money to buy the tax rights from Leonard last year, and then this year he saw the emergence of "Elsa's brother".
Before he could do anything too bad, he was startled.
And Tariq also witnessed Ahmed's public trial.
When he noticed the charisma displayed by Garris and his ability to inspire the people, he also discovered that Garris might not have the backing of the royal power behind him.
Tariq knew that in this land in northern Transjordan, things were going to change.
Therefore, during this period of time, he kept his tail between his legs and was kind to others. Even some of the extra money he had collected earlier was returned with excuses.
As expected, just two or three months later, Garris became the supervisor of this territory.
In addition, after careful study of the model of the constituency council near Skar Village, Tariq found that Garris did not need a group of tax collectors to help collect taxes.
After all, the bulk of the money has actually become caravans. If Garris needs food, he will choose to buy commercial food directly from farmers instead of levying crude taxes in kind.
After farmers have money, they will buy iron tools from Garris to improve their production efficiency.
The entire territory has entered a positive virtuous cycle. Compared with the previous rough tax collector system, I don't know how advanced it is.
Since Garris does not need tax collectors to make money, and Garris will have absolute prestige in the territory, then in Tariq's view, the wealth originally controlled by tax collectors... has become the tax collectors' take. The way to die.
Tariq, in particular, also noticed the team led by Simon and Khalid. In the past few days, that team had traveled all over the territory, interviewed all the farmers, and investigated blood debts...
This time, Tarik was startled. He quickly took out another sum of money from his treasury and sent it to Skar Village in the name of giving it to the lord.
I am afraid that I will be taken out as a fat sheep and slaughtered.
To be honest, after a few days of peace and quiet, Tariq thought that this matter could be solved.
But suddenly, a messenger came and told him that Garris wanted to talk to him.
Tariq was quite flattered by this, well, the frightened part accounted for most of it.
In the past, when he saw those arrogant and domineering tax collectors, he would drool a foot long.
Relying on the money he had saved for many years, he was able to secure a position.
But he didn't expect that before he could get back his money, he had lost all his money, and now he was afraid that he would be slaughtered as a fat sheep.
When he saw Garris walking into the conference room with a kind smile, Tariq looked forward to the future and shuddered, as if he had already seen his bleak future.
After sitting down, Garris called out cordially: "Tariq."
"I'm here, sir." Tarik said with fear.
"You know me, right."
"You, you are the emir here." Tariq stuttered when he spoke.
He didn't quite understand the word steward, but the equivalent was almost emir.
In many places in later generations, the emir has evolved into a title of nobility or the meaning of a head of state, but in the 12th century, when the Seljuk Empire had just collapsed, the emir roughly meant "the person in charge."
"Don't be afraid."
"I, I'm not afraid."
That's what he said, but his trembling expression had revealed all the thoughts in his heart.
"Today, I came to see you because I want to discuss something small with you."
"S-Sir, please tell me."
"I think this tax collector system is somewhat outdated."
As soon as Garris said this, Tarik was stunned. What he had expected for a long time had completely become a reality. The money he had previously paid to Leonard was really in vain.
As a new tax collector, Tariq naturally understands the shortcomings of the tax collector system. For tax collectors, the right to tax is actually an investment, and businessmen will inevitably pursue short-term investment returns.
This forces the tax collectors to force farmers to sacrifice long-term development and instead engage in various short-term income-generating activities. Moreover, due to the cruel squeeze of the tax farm system, the grassroots population cannot make a balance of wealth at all, making it difficult to effectively improve the production model spontaneously.
Let Gareth give an example. He would say that at the end of the 15th century, the Ottomans completely conquered Asia Minor, which had a population of about ten million.
After three hundred years of intensive cultivation by the Ottomans, by the end of the 18th century, the population of Asia Minor was still about 10 million.
In three hundred years, there have been no large-scale wars... The population under the Ottoman Empire has remained at the same level, and even population decline has occurred in many areas. This shows what consequences the tax collector system will lead to, and how much trouble it will cause at the grassroots level. God is angry and people are angry.
Gareth said that the tax system was inappropriate, and Tariq really understood what he meant.
Seeing Tarik's expression on the verge of tears, even Garris was a little moved. The tragic loss in business had brought untold mental pain to Tarik.
"However, considering that you have always been kind to the people and helped Leonard collect taxes, which is within the reasonable scope, I can give you a way out."
"Huh?"
Listening to Garris's words, Tarik's mouth opened wide for a moment.
“I think it’s time for the Muslim Zakat in this territory to be rectified.”
"I think you should also know my identity."
Tariq on the side nodded quickly. He was aware of Garris's public declaration, and regardless of whether it was true or false, Tariq did not dare to express any doubt in front of others.
"Prophet Muhammad is indeed extremely intelligent and has a compassionate heart that treats Muslims all over the world. The purpose of setting up Zakat is to help the downtrodden among Muslim brothers."
“But now, some imams in mosques are suspected of abusing zakat.”
"As a prophet who has inherited the aspirations of the Holy Prophet, I naturally want to correct those illegal activities."
"But now I am too busy to do anything, so I need someone to supervise the situation and help me rectify it. Naturally, this responsibility cannot be handed over to the Franks..."
The hint in Garris's words was already quite obvious.
“Tian, Zakat?”
"Yes."
As soon as he heard this word, Tariq immediately came back to his senses. Now he was fine and felt at ease.
[It is not good deeds for you to turn your faces toward the East or the West. Good deeds include believing in God, believing in the last day, believing in angels, believing in scriptures, and believing in prophets, and giving your beloved property to relatives, orphans, poor people, travelers, beggars, and redeeming slaves, and observing prayers and paying zakat. He kept his promise and endured poverty, tribulation, and war. These people are indeed loyal; these people are truly fearful. 】
——"Quran" 2:177
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. According to Islamic regulations, when a Muslim's personal assets exceed a certain limit, he must pay tax at a certain rate.
This zakat is used to give alms to the poor and needy, and only in this way can the wealth it possesses be pure.
Theoretically speaking, Zakat should only be given to eight categories: the destitute, the poor, the Zakah administrators, those whose hearts are united, those who are unable to redeem themselves, those who cannot repay debts, those who strive for the Lord, and those who are poor on their journeys.
But theory is theory, and in actual operation, the use of Zakat by Zakat managers is often difficult to supervise. It may even happen that rulers directly impose zakah and use it to satisfy their personal interests.
At the same time, Zakat can be said to be an important source of income for imams, mullahs, imams and other grassroots Islamic scholars.
Imams, as administrators of Zakat, allocate Zakat to him based on the salary he deserves, even if he himself is not short of money.
When Gairis mentioned Zakat, Tariq felt that Gairis was trying to rip off someone else, not himself.
In the territory, Garris has indeed abolished the harsh taxes from the world, retaining only a "royal tithe".
But this Zakat comes from Islam's own religion, and Qairis was not able to help the Holy Prophet and abolished it.
Moreover, in Garris's view, although Zakat has the meaning of religious tax, its collection method and amount are more reasonable than the Catholic church tithe.
He gave examples and systematic reasons for various situations in which it was inconvenient to pay Zakat.
Why should we abolish such a good thing?
However, Gairis feels that the right to collect zakat should not continue to be placed in the hands of the imams of each mosque.
After all, he is also an Imam who has returned from seclusion and serves thousands of peoples in the world.
As a prophet who has inherited the will of the Holy Prophet, Gairis feels that he is qualified to express his views on the overall development of Islam at present, and to help the Holy Prophet rectify certain unscrupulous descendants.
Of course, Garris is not very versatile and needs someone to help him manage it. No, someone will give him a pillow when he happens to doze off.
Tariq, who is quite self-aware, didn’t just come to his door?
(End of chapter)