The imperial court officially issued an edict, approving Du He's actions in Chang'an City, and affirmed Du He's newly issued commercial tax policy in Chang'an City, which was a good thing that benefited the country and the people, from officials to the people.
We must give our full support, and whoever dares to stop him will be punished at the least and punished at the most serious.
As soon as the edict came out, the whole city praised it.
The small businessmen are the happiest. In the past, they had to pay taxes. But as soon as the new tax policy was announced, they can openly and openly do not have to pay taxes.
Big businessmen have been looking for various tax avoidance methods, and then found that under the new tax policy, they can perfectly avoid various tax collections and pay more than 80% less tax.
The court officials, princes and nobles are all the backers of the big businessmen and have vested interests, so they are naturally very happy.
It is said that some people held a big banquet for this reason, inviting relatives and friends to celebrate together.
For a time, the whole city of Chang'an was discussing the new tax policy.
…
early morning.
Du He just arrived at Wannian County Government Office.
Then Dai Jinyun walked in hurriedly and said, "Teacher, someone has sent us a plaque."
Um?
Du He was stunned: "What's going on?"
Dai Jinyun explained: "It's all because of our new commercial tax policy. Fan Bingbing, a famous cloth merchant in Chang'an, made a plaque and delivered it to the door in person, saying that he would hand it over to you."
Fan Bingbing is a famous cloth merchant in Chang'an City, and even Du He has heard about it.
Du He said: "Go and have a look!"
When Du He and Dai Jinyun arrived at the gate of the county government office, they saw that the gate of the county government office was already crowded with people watching. There was a sea of people.
At the front of the crowd, there was a group of people beating gongs and drums.
The gongs and drums are noisy!
Warm atmosphere.
After Du He appeared.
I saw a fat middle-aged man about forty years old walking forward, followed by several strong men, carrying a plaque covered with silk.
The middle-aged man stepped forward and bowed slightly: "Fan Bingbing, a common man, has met the county magistrate!"
Du He stepped forward and said, "You are the cloth king of Chang'an City, Fan Bingbing. I heard that you are going to give me a plaque. What do you mean?"
Fan Bingbing smiled slightly: "Sir, please take a look!"
He turned around and uncovered the silk on the plaque, revealing a well-made plaque.
I saw a few large gilded characters written on it: Wisdom of Ancient and Modern Times.
This means that Du He has gathered the wisdom of the past and present.
It is the highest compliment.
Du He looked at it and said with a smile: "Shopkeeper Fan, I can't afford this plaque of yours."
Fan Bingbing said: "Don't be polite, County Magistrate. The new tax policy you promulgated is obvious to everyone in the world. You have benefited the people and the country. You are worthy of these words. Please accept it."
Du He nodded and said: "Okay, since Shopkeeper Fan has good intentions, there is no need for me to refuse. Someone... hang this plaque below the county government plaque so that the people of Chang'an City can take a good look...
…”
Several government officials came over and immediately took the plaque and hung it below the county government plaque according to Du He's instructions.
When the people saw it, they clapped their hands and praised Du He.
Fan Bingbing exchanged pleasantries before leaving in a carriage.
When the carriage came to the corner of the street, he opened the curtain of the carriage and glanced at Du He, who was being supported by the people in the distance, and suddenly let out a sigh.
Fan Bingbing said coldly: "Everyone says that Du He is smart. In my opinion, this guy is just a fool. He didn't even know that I gave him a plaque to humiliate him, and he happily hung it under the county government office. It's really
Extremely stupid..."
An old man beside him said: "Sir, Du He is the county magistrate after all, and he is still the consort. We humiliate him like this. What if he reacts one day?"
"So what if he reacts? Now, everyone in the world knows that Du He can't collect taxes. In a few months, by the end of the year, Chang'an City's commercial taxes will not be paid, causing the treasury to be empty. You can see how much it will be by then.
People want him to die..." Fan Bingbing analyzed.
Then he turned around and said to the old man: "Old Qin, how is the matter I asked you to do?"
Lao Qin solemnly said: "Sir, please rest assured. I have hid all our previous account books according to your instructions. From now on, all our business operations will have two account books, one with true records.
We keep it ourselves, so we can fool the people at the tax bureau."
Fan Bingbing nodded: "You did a good job."
The carriage drove through the streets and soon disappeared.
…
A month passed by in a hurry.
According to the new tax policy, all merchants in Chang'an City must voluntarily go to the Wannian County Taxation Bureau to pay taxes at the beginning of every month.
Paying taxes is also simple. You just need to take your business account books for last month to the tax bureau to check them thoroughly, and then pay taxes according to the profit earned.
Dai Jinyun was also busy.
Although Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty had developed commerce, this work was actually not complicated, and in this era, there were not many merchants.
After working hard for a few days, I finally collected and paid all the taxes for last month.
Dai Jinyun immediately took the collection list and met Du He.
He looked a little unhappy: "Teacher... the situation is not optimistic. The commercial taxes collected last month. In the entire Chang'an City, there were a total of 130 merchants who paid commercial taxes, and a total of 33,000 guan was collected.
, If this continues, I am afraid that the tax for the whole year will only be only a hundred thousand guan, while the commercial tax of Chang'an City last year was as high as 500,000 guan... What should we do? "
Du He asked: "There are only more than a hundred merchants that pay taxes. Do you think this is normal?"
"It's definitely not normal! According to the previous investigation by the Wannian Taxation Bureau, there are at least 500 merchants in Chang'an City who should pay taxes." Dai Jinyun said with certainty.
Du He asked: "Jin Yun, what do you think the problem is?"
Dai Jinyun knew that the teacher was intending to test himself, so he thought about it seriously and then said: "Teacher, the students thought that the merchants were cheating. They obviously made a lot of profits, but the account books were fake and the profits in the account books were small.
A lot has been paid, some people don’t have to pay taxes because of it, and some people have paid a lot less taxes because of it…”
boom.
Du He slapped the table: "Yes, what you said is exactly the key to the problem."
"Teacher, how should I solve this problem?"
Du He smiled and said: "Continue according to the policy we promulgated before."
Dai Jinyun was surprised: "Teacher, what you mean is that we still follow the policy and publicize the taxes collected throughout the city?"
"That's right!"
Dai Jinyun looked embarrassed: "But... in this way, doesn't it tell the world clearly that our new tax policy has failed?"
The purpose of the new tax policy is to solve the difficulties in tax payment and collect more taxes for the court.
But now, instead of solving the problem, the taxes collected are even less than before.
In this way, it is nothing but failure.
And once outsiders find out about this, they will definitely laugh at Du He and Wannian County.