Chapter 264 War Tax
Kevin took the tax that he had to pay and reluctantly went out, and within a few steps he reached the tax payment point in the center of the village.
A large group of people had gathered there, and on the temporary high platform, a man was shouting something loudly.
"Folks, this time, in addition to the usual poll tax, we have to pay an additional tax?"
The crowd exploded with a bang.
"Why do we have to pay one more tax?"
"It's too much. We don't have much money in our hands."
"This is going to push us to a dead end. !”
The villagers were furious and expressed their dissatisfaction.
“That’s it! That’s it! Listen to my explanation!”
The people who came to collect taxes shouted loudly, finally making the villagers quiet down.
“Aren’t we at war with tyrants? As soon as this war started, gold coins flowed out like water. The soldiers on the front line needed to eat and drink, and their weapons needed to be polished. The armor needs to be repaired, all of which cost money!"
"So, the newly added tax is called [war tax]! It will stop collecting it as soon as the war is over. But during the war, We still have to pay! Life is not easy for everyone. Master Baden understands that, so he mercifully lowered the war tax to 20 copper coins per person."
"You have to eat it! Human?"
Kevin shouted in the crowd, "We don't want to be friends anymore!"
"Yes, my family simply can't afford so much money! We won't pay it either!"
"If you don't pay it, you won't pay it! If you pay it, you will starve to death!"
Under his leadership Next, more and more people say they will not pay taxes.
"You...how can you do this? Master Baden personally ordered this collection."
As soon as they heard Master Baden's name, the villagers' morale suddenly dropped. cut.
Mr. Baden is a well-known big landowner in this area. Many people regard him as the tax collector appointed by the lord, representing the authority of the lord. However, Kevin knows that Mr. Baden is just a [rural tax collector] 】That’s all.
Kevin stepped onto the high platform: "It's useless for Mr. Baden to personally order it. Only the lord can decide whether to add new taxes. Let me ask you, do you have a decree issued by the lord's palace to prove it?"
"Lord's Mansion Decree?"
Several Baden family servants were immediately confused by the question, obviously they did not have such a thing.
Seeing that the other party was being questioned, Kevin snorted and shouted to the villagers in the audience: "Folks, if they can't come up with the decree from the Lord's Mansion, then Baden is setting up a private miscellaneous tax. We can report him to the lord."
"Ouch!" The crowd in the audience started to commotion.
"Absurd! Nonsense! Total nonsense!"
Several servants of the Baden family became anxious and immediately fought back.
"Master Baden's words represent the will of the Lord! He is the representative of the Lord's Mansion here!"
Kevin asked: "Has the Lord agreed to his increase in taxes?"
"Since Lord Baden said it, it must have been agreed by the lord!"
"We must see the decree!"
"You can't read a word, even if I give you the decree I don't understand."
"Unfortunately, I know some words, please show them!"
"You... don't refuse to pay the tax!"
The villagers became more and more agitated when they saw that the servant of the Baden family, Zhizhiwuwu, would not come up with the law that Kevin said.
"Vampire! Vampire!"
"Get out of our village!"
I don't know who took the lead, and some garbage was thrown at the servants. "You bunch of unruly people, just wait for me!"
The servant of the Baden family took a hateful look at Kevin, a thorn in his side, and fled in a hurry amidst the garbage sent by the villagers, not even collecting the poll tax.
......
In a large house, the landowner Baden was chatting with several squire friends, bursts of laughter from time to time.
His butler rushed in hurriedly and said with a sad face: "Master, it's not good!"
The chubby Baden pulled his face and said, "It's so unreasonable to panic. What’s going on? Is the sky falling?”
"We encountered some problems when collecting taxes..."
As soon as Baden raised his hand, the housekeeper immediately shut up.
"You guys are talking here for now, I will be back soon. You! Come with me."
Baden stood up, apologized to the guests, and led the servants to Another room.
“Say! What’s going on?”
"The newly added [war tax], the salt people said they will pay it only after seeing the decree issued by the lord's palace."
"Isn't this simple? Find someone with a lot of ink to make a random one to fool them. Isn’t it enough to fool us?”
“It can’t be done, sir, there seems to be some knowledgeable people in that village. If it is discovered that the lord’s decree is forged by us, then...”< br>
The housekeeper gestured to his neck in fear and made a beheading motion.
“Hmph! You came up with this idea, but now you are so afraid!”
"Uh...I didn't expect those illiterate salt people to ask about this."
"Where's the head tax? How much was it collected?"
"Uh...then the salt people The people were a little scared and ran back. "Trash! Trash! Get these people out of here right away. I don't want to see them again." >Baden was furious and vented his anger.
Finally, he ordered:
"Immediately send a team of people to that village, bring more sticks, and give a good lesson to those who dare to shoulder the tax and refuse to pay. Huh, I don't believe in these untouchables. Disobedient!”
“Yes, sir!”
The steward turned and left.
Ever since the new lord took over and started to carry out [agricultural reform], Baden has accumulated a lot of resentment.
Because in addition to the cultivated land registered in the lord's mansion, his family also secretly occupied a lot of public land.
Public land is land directly owned by the lord. Ordinary people can collect firewood, occasionally graze, etc., but large-scale planting of crops is definitely not allowed unless you ask for permission from the lord. To purchase the management rights, you have to register within the lord's mansion. Once registered, you have to pay taxes to the lord's mansion based on area or output. In addition to paying taxes to the lord's mansion, you also have to pay ten percent of the output. Once given to the church.
However, if you plant on public land secretly without letting the lord know about it, then you don’t have to pay any taxes, and 100% of the harvested food belongs to you.
The Baden family is not alone. Many squire and landowners have done this for generations, and the lords of all generations have also turned a blind eye.
Unexpectedly, Minister of Agriculture Hansel came last year and advocated [cultivated land consolidation]. The first thing he did was to inventory the amount of cultivated land in various places.
Hansel took people to visit various places in person, and large areas of common land that had been invaded were exposed. After consulting the current lord, he took action against this phenomenon.
For those who admit to encroaching on cultivated land, as long as they pay a fine of three times the land price, then the land is yours, and you will just have to pay taxes in the future.
For those who cannot pay three times the fine, the fine will be doubled and the farmland will be taken back.
There are also occupied cultivated lands that are not claimed, so they will be taken back directly.
During this process, the landowner Baden's family suffered heavy losses in real estate and was forced to pay a large fine.
Mr. Baden, who was in great pain, thought about how to make up for his losses all day long. His butler gave him an idea - to use his status as a tax collector to launch a war on the pretext of the recent war between the two lords of the Northwest Gulf. Tax】.
(End of this chapter)