Chapter 23 Taizong Chapter 23 Tax reform entering the deep water area
Struggles within the imperial court almost never stopped, between monarchs and ministers, between ministers, and between nobles and common people. And the grand festival on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival seemed to be just a pause for rest, allowing everyone to take a break.
Fang recharged his batteries and looked for opportunities to plan in preparation for the next confrontation.
No, just three days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the smoke of fireworks in the air of Luoyang has not completely dissipated, the lanterns and colorful silks everywhere are still bright, and more than ten memorials have been presented to the emperor Liu Yang's case.
These are some chapters that Liu Yang had to pay attention to. Among them, there are memorials, remonstrances, impeachments, and secret reports. No matter what form they are submitted in, they are all related to the tax reform of the Han Dynasty that is still in progress.
Counting from the time when Zhao Pufu paid homage to the prime minister, took charge of state affairs, and formally promoted tax reform, it is already the seventh year.
For any reform, under the strong promotion of the central court, seven years is enough to produce some results, whether they are good or bad.
It can be said with certainty that by the autumn of the first year of Yongxi's reign, the tax reform of the Han Dynasty had been completely rolled out, and the results of land clearing and measurement were the most obvious sign. Even Bian Biru Gaochang Dao also reported the latest land clearing data. Of course, this was only
Symbolically, it shows respect for the central authority.
For Gaochang Road, which is vast and sparsely populated, land and pasture data are of little significance. For a long time, population has been the core issue of its governance, including finance and taxation.
Different from the Daozhou in the Han Dynasty, after two or three years of exploration before the tax reform, the imperial court also made timely adjustments to the tax policies of the northern Daozhou states, abandoning the original practice of using grassland division as the basis for tax payment. After practice, that
This approach is completely unreliable and almost unfeasible.
Therefore, for the border areas, especially the nomadic tribes, the imperial court finally decided to collect taxes on a per capita basis. It even adjusted the taken-for-granted policy of "distributing land to households" that completely destroyed the tribal system.
By the twenty-seventh year of Kaibao's reign, the imperial court's taxation of Gaochang, Hexi, Yulin, Shanyang, and Yanbei Provinces had basically returned to levying cattle, sheep, horses, and camels based on the tribal population. Of course, the new tribes and tribes were in
The tribal form that was reorganized under the imperial household registration system, at least in the early years, and was completely maintained by clans, has transformed into the miscellaneous gatherings it is today.
This is the conclusion reached after the court summarized it. For the Hu and Han subjects who were engaged in nomadic production, they still had to maintain a certain organizational scale, set up ministers and chiefs to manage, organize production, and pay taxes. This was also convenient for the court to rule and manage.
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The north adapts measures to local conditions, and the same applies to the south, especially in the vast southwestern region. Not to mention, the specialness of the chieftain system means that the tax system should be targeted.
Fortunately, because the court has been keeping a steady pace on tax reform matters, it made timely adjustments before it had time to expand in the southwest.
For the southwestern Daozhou, the court's plan was simpler. It directly collected a certain amount of tribute from the chieftains from various places. As for how the chieftains managed and exploited the mountain people and barbarians under their rule, that was their own business.
Something happened.
They are not afraid of causing trouble. The power of the imperial court is enough to suppress the rebellious and barbarian people. This is a balance that has been developed over the past 20 to 30 years after the chieftain system was popularized in the southwest region.
And if the imperial court wants to implement tax reform and land clearing on the territory of the chieftains, then big trouble will occur.
Special circumstances require special treatment, but similarly, whether in the north or southwest, there are also Han people engaged in traditional farming in Bizhou and counties. There are also bureaucrats and landlords occupying land. For these situations, they will naturally be subject to the new system and be unified into local taxes.
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So here comes the question. First of all, how to distinguish landlords from chieftains is almost unsolvable. The tax reform in Southwest Daozhou has only been less than three years old, but since it was launched, there have been constant riots.
Chieftains rioted, landlords complained, and the two even joined forces to resist the imperial taxation policy, and some bureaucrats also intentionally muddied the waters. As vested interests, it was normal for them to take any action to protect their own interests.
As a result, in a short period of time, riots continued and conflicts occurred in the southwest, and even tax officials dispatched by the imperial court were killed. Those who were ultimately affected were, of course, local security and the authority of the imperial court, as well as those who simply accepted it peacefully.
Exploited common people
In view of the depressing situation in the southwest, the imperial court was also furious, especially at the inaction of local officials. For this reason, Liu Yang, who was still the prince at the time, personally issued orders, replaced, dismissed, and even killed chickens on a daily basis.
Many officials from Jiannan, Qianzhong, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Annan provinces ordered the Taoist priests to suppress the riots.
It was not easy for the local governments to resist the pressure from the imperial court. After all, the authority of the central government was still very strong, and the local forces of various factions were restrained. However, within a month, the riots stopped. However, the major chaos stopped, but the minor chaos continued.
, amidst constant involvement and confrontation, the process of tax reform has naturally been delayed.
Even if the Central Committee is not fully aware of the chaos that has occurred in the southwest, it is somewhat aware of it. How to break the situation is embarrassing. It's not that we don't have enough strength to do it, but it's just not worth it.
Therefore, at Zhao Pu's suggestion, the imperial secret envoys went to the southwest to get some information, especially in those places where Han and barbarians were mixed and where clan landlords had strong influence.
Tax reform is a major policy of the imperial court, and the attitude is firm and consistent. There is absolutely no compromise. Each state must complete the land clearing, and the imperial court will use this to collect taxes.
Although there is a huge disparity in power, what is happening in the southwest is still a game between the local government and the central government. The "rural sages" do not dare to really mess with the court, and the central government still has to give some face.
Therefore, after about a year, each state in the southwest successively reported the results of land clearing to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Then, through the suggestion of Han Hui, the financial envoy at the time, the tax was calculated by increasing the amount reported by 20%.
Of course, the political leaders also understand that even if this is the case, there is still water in it, but this can be regarded as a compromise reached between the imperial court and the southwest province. Similarly, similar operations are carried out in the north. After all, as a border area, in order to maintain stability
, there are some special policies to treat it, and it is also normal operation.
Of course, the fundamental reason is that neither the north nor the southwest is the focus of the imperial court's tax reform. In those places, whether it is the results or the negative consequences, it is difficult for the Han Dynasty to shake it.
If we look at the first two years of the tax reform, Gyeonggi, Henan Province and other places, which were just pilot areas, were in constant turmoil and resistance, causing many fights, which was eye-catching.
So looking back seven years later in the first year of Yongxi's reign, after entering the deep water zone of reform, the situation will be like a chaos of demons and chaos.
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