Chapter 891 - 891 Never Levy Field Taxes
891 Never Levy Field Taxes
The crops in the Myriad World Continent had a very short ripening period. They could harvest at least four times a year, and the yield per acre was much higher than before. Most of the land belonged to the Dawn Dynasty. They only gave the civilians the right to use all the land, but they could not be bought or sold. That basically prevented land annexation.
Moreover, after becoming cultivators, common rations could no longer satisfy cultivators’ needs for nutrition and energy. The value would be greatly reduced if it were just to fill their stomachs.
Common rations were almost uneaten and piled up like mountains for a kingdom like the Dawn Dynasty, where all civilians could cultivate and step onto the path of transcendence.
Therefore, after the appearance of spiritual grains, the cultivators’ need for ration was alleviated.
However, the conditions required to grow spiritual grains were too harsh. First, there had to be spiritual fields. Second, the growth cycle had to be longer, at most two harvests a year. The yield also depended on the farmer’s control and management of the spiritual fields. There could not be any slack.
Therefore, the profits would naturally decrease.
“As for taxation, my plan is to never levy field taxes!”
Li Xiang had thought about that matter carefully. The operation of the Dawn Dynasty could not be supplemented by taxes. That was mainly because the dynasty had too many industries and profits, so they did not care about that.
Right now, it wasn’t that they didn’t have enough land but that they had too much land. Furthermore, the wilderness was still dangerous. So they couldn’t expand their farming to a larger area.
The commercial tax paid by thousands of cities was already an astronomical figure. They did not care about the rations produced by farmers at all.
“Never levy field taxes?”
As soon as those words were said, everyone in the hall was shocked. Their faces revealed shock, and then they fell into deep thought.
That was something that had never happened in any of the previous dynasties. It was definitely a subversive move.
Taxes were the foundation of a dynasty, but now they were saying that they would never levy field taxes. It would destroy their foundation if that were in a normal dynasty.
However, after pondering for a moment, everyone secretly understood.
“The King’s act is a blessing for the world. If we were to farm common grains, we could pile them up like a mountain. There will be no starving people in Dawn. With the price of miscellaneous spirit rice, we can have as much as we want. There’s no need to compete with the people for profits, and it’s just a small profit. Farmers can be encouraged to plant spiritual grains without taxes, so there’s no need to worry about the spiritual grains growing on common soil for too long and making a loss.”
Zhou Qing reacted fast. He instantly understood and said with a smile, “Moreover, I suggest that a special region be set aside near each Divine City to be used as official fields. The Castellans of the various Divine Cities will decide whether to plant spiritual grains or common rations in those regions. When farming, they can hire other civilians and give them a salary. The spiritual grains and rations harvested from the official fields will be stored in the granary as official ration reserves for emergencies.”
That method could completely rid the Dawn Dynasty of its reliance on rations and reduce its emphasis on farming. That was the civilization of cultivators, and the Luck Dynasty was the dynasty of cultivators. It was impossible, and there was no need to put most of the manpower and resources into farming. That would be waste and worthless.
What Li Xiang wanted to do was to free the minds of the civilians, not limit their minds to the fields. Instead, he wanted to focus on cultivating, developing civilization, innovation, and creating new things and ideas. Those with talent could walk the path of transcendence. Whether it was in the army or Hunter Hall, it was an excellent way out.
Constantly becoming stronger like a dragon. Those are the type of civilians that Li Xiang wanted to see.
“Approved!”
Li Xiang nodded, “The matter of each Divine City opening up a region as an official field must be carried out as a national policy. The official fields will hire civilians to farm, and the salary cannot be delayed. The price has to be in line with the market, and they cannot be exploited. The official granaries build in each Divine City must be filled with rations within a year and be fully prepared.”
In his vision, the official granary built in each city must be able to sustain millions of people to eat freely, and the reserves would not be exhausted even after ten years. Under normal circumstances, that method would only cause the rations to rot. They would be fed to the rats if they could not be eaten.
However, in the cultivation civilization, that was not impossible. There were spatial equipment and storage magic treasures. Not only would storing rations take up less space and be less eye-catching, but it would also last longer. As long as there were no accidents, the rations stored in the storage equipment would be able to maintain their freshness even after hundreds or thousands of years.
Such an official granary could be used anywhere. And its secrecy would be further ensured.
Their safety would be sufficiently ensured.
“Field taxes can be exempted, but other taxes cannot be exempted. Without the levy of other taxes, the dynasty has no income to speak of. Then how can the dynasty gather the wealth of the world? Building the tax revenue of the Dawn Dynasty is an indispensable part of ensuring the dignity of the dynasty.”
Huang Chengyan said seriously.
Field taxes could be exempted as it was beneficial to the civilians. It was a benevolent policy, but other taxes could not be exempted. Without taxes, it would be like water without a source, making things difficult to continue. No matter how big a family’s assets were, they would still be exhausted. If there were no taxes, how could the dignity of a dynasty be demonstrated?
Never levying field taxes was already a benevolent policy.
That was definitely not the case for other taxes.
“Of course, we have to collect the other taxes. However, how much to collect and what types to collect required careful planning. However, regarding taxes, I have some shallow views.”
Li Xiang said with a smile.
There were many types of taxes. Just like the Qing Dynasty back then, when they came up with a national policy of never increasing field taxes to show their benevolence and kindness to the world.
However, they didn’t consider that the policy of never increasing field taxes was carried out based on a relatively high tax rate back then. Moreover, it was fine to never increase field taxes, but other taxes were repeatedly increased. All kinds of exorbitant taxes were even heavier than the exempted field taxes.
The policy of never increasing field taxes was just a piece of loincloth that the Qing Dynasty hid behind. It was useless.
Li Xiang naturally did not want to implement the policy of never levying field taxes and had other messy taxes appear later. That would be a slap to his face. He could not afford to lose his face.
“We seek the King’s opinion!”
The ministers said in unison.
In ancient China, land tax was used for a long time, which included the household tax and population tax attached to the land. It was a tax system supported by commercial tax, which included tariffs and city taxes.
That tax system was initially formed during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period. During the Qin and Han Dynasty, it had gradually become complete. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasty, and Sui and Tang Dynasty, it was continuously reformed and perfected based on equal land. In the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty, with the destruction of the Land Equality System, land annexation became increasingly popular. The combined collection of land, household, and population tax was gradually realized based on continuously clearing the land and sorting out the cadastre. The collection system of commercial tax and goods taxes for salt, tea, wine, and others was strengthened. Thus, commercial tax and goods tax became important sources of national financial revenue in the late feudal period of China.
In fact, those tax systems were very complicated. Some taxes were even repeatedly collected.