Chapter 1467 - 6: Training (Part 6)

They sorted through countless booklets today, transcribing numerous household names from the registers, calculating the data reported by each village, and determining the taxes each household needs to pay this summer. When it comes time to formally collect taxes, you just have to match the name, fill in the tax paid, and check it off.

The entire county government is busy with this task. Because Fan Lianyin and Zu Daosheng excel in arithmetic and are less experienced, they are always being borrowed for work.

In the past three days, Fan Lianyin was borrowed five times by the tutor from the Ritual Room, and Zu Daosheng had it even worse. The people from the arrest room are generally not good at math, so not only did he have to help their County Magistrate, but was also constantly approached by various arrest officers calling him brother, leading to sleepless nights and hard work as an ally.

Recently, both have been mentally exhausted and are somewhat dazed at the moment.

Zhao Mingming sympathetically glanced at them and said, "Every year during tax collection, the county government is short of manpower and needs to borrow outstanding students from various schools, and the strong young men in the county are also drawn."

She lowered her eyes in thought and pondered, "Ultimately, it’s because the tax is paid in grain, requiring a large amount of manpower for transport and calculation. After being put into storage, it still needs to be sent out to the Capital City. From here to Luoyang, the route is smooth, and you can take the waterway first and then the land route, returning in two months. But for farther places like Jiangdong and Lingnan, transporting it to the State Governor Mansion and Luoyang takes much longer and requires a lot of conscripted labor."

The escorting of grain tax consists of government officials, stationed soldiers, and conscripted labor from the people.

All need to supply their own rations.

Government officials and stationed soldiers receive travel allowances. Although it’s tough, the loss is minimal. However, it’s different for the conscripted labor. They must bring considerable rations for themselves, taking two or three months, consuming large amounts of grain and delaying the farming seasons at home.

Transporting grain is also troublesome, being vulnerable to water and fire, and it has low value, resulting in large bulk and weight.

Zhao Mingming said, "It would be great if the tax could be simplified."

Zu Daosheng blankly asked, "How to simplify? Collect less tax or completely let the court handle the transport?"

Fan Lianyin glanced at him disdainfully and said, "Fool, wouldn’t transporting by the court also require manpower and money? Simplify by collecting money instead."

Zhao Mingming slapped her thigh and said, "Lianyin, you are my confidant, I think the same."

Fan Lianyin grinned broadly.

Zu Daosheng, suddenly realizing, widened his eyes, "How much money would this take? It doesn’t seem beneficial for the people, right?"

He frowned and said, "If they have to convert grain into money first, what if the grain prices are low one year? Wouldn’t they need a lot of money to make up the grain tax? Besides grain, aren’t cloth and other items also to be converted to money?"

If so, there are too many things to consider, too complex, and fearful it’s not good for the people.

Zhao Mingming said, "Grain prices have always been under the court’s control. The silver spent by the state treasury every year to stabilize prices and grain warehouses is not for nothing. If there comes a day when the court cannot control grain prices, the downfall of the nation wouldn’t be far."

"Converting taxes from physical goods to silver serves two purposes: ease of collection and accounting, and convenience of transport," Zhao Mingming said. "Every year, the court reduces taxes and labors. My mother exempts many miscellaneous duties yearly for the people’s benefit. Still, the common people are troubled by main duties, village chief directed duties, etc., especially in households with only one adult male. If he is conscripted, farming at home will be delayed. Over time, such families become increasingly impoverished, with some going bankrupt."

Yes, permanent family lands cannot be sold, but if the only adult male is constantly conscripted and unable to work, leaving behind a weak mother and orphaned children incapable of producing taxes or surviving on grain, they would have no choice but to abandon the land and flee.

This results in new refugees.

Zhao Mingming is not an ignorant Crown Princess of the people’s sufferings. She learned much through her mother from a young age. Every year, she also travels incognito with her mother to see the people’s issues firsthand.

The court has good policies, and those who create policies have good intentions, but implementation can falter.

Each individual’s interpretation of policies differs, with public and private interests clashing, where private interests vary as well.

Hence, when a policy is implemented locally, it will generate various problems.

Take, for instance, service duties.

Service duties are diverse, from large projects like building bridges, roads, and waterworks to minor chores like carrying sedan chairs for the county government, night watches, or even sweeping. Even escorting grain tax used to be among these duties.

For large projects, the court decides the number of laborers, and the county government selects accordingly. Other miscellaneous duties are assigned by the village chief.

The village chief has considerable flexibility.

Most village chiefs are fair, even if they have personal motives, they won’t push it too far, but there’s always the fear of the exception.

In such a vast world with so many village chiefs, some will be daring and malicious.

They would just keep assigning a person to various duties to torment them.

If a family has one strong male who spends most of the year carrying sedan chairs, night watching, sweeping for free for the county government, escorting grain tax, it won’t be long before the family collapses.

This is why in the Seventh Year of Yuanzhen, with the national treasury growing ever richer, commerce flourishing, and industries thriving, and as county governments gradually accumulated wealth, she ordered the removal of grain tax escort from miscellaneous duties, categorizing it as a main duty, while abolishing all other miscellaneous duties.

So from the Seventh Year of Yuanzhen, the common people no longer had to carry sedan chairs, night watch, or sweep as miscellaneous duties.

Now, if the county government needs people to carry sedan chairs, night watch, etc., they have to pay for it.

Subsequently, the court also gradually exempted some main duties, circulating the relief.

For instance, if the court exempts Xuzhou from main duties this year, then for constructing bridges, roads, and similar tasks, the national treasury would allocate funds to Xuzhou to employ laborers for these projects, designated funds for designated tasks.

The following year would be Yu State’s turn...

Thus, in back and forth each year, exempting two or three states, the people of each state would be exempt from main duties once every few years, with varying degrees of duty reduction every year, mainly shortening the service period.

Originally requiring twenty-one days of service, the court might reduce it to just fifteen days in consideration.

In this way, escorting grain tax became the most arduous, difficult, and time-consuming main duty each year.

Zhao Mingming shared her mother’s view that having conscripted labor escort grain tax was too costly in terms of the people’s manpower and finances, and measures should be taken to resolve this issue.

But after pondering for a long time, aside from converting grain tax to silver to significantly reduce escort manpower, she couldn’t conceive a better solution.

However, she still felt this approach wasn’t good enough.

She gazed at the sky in distress, pondering for a long time without any resolution. But as she stared at the twinkling stars, she became somewhat inspired, "I may not have the answer, but it doesn’t mean someone else won’t."

Fan Lianyin: "Do you know who might figure it out?"

"I don’t, but I can search," Zhao Mingming said. "With so many talents in the world, I refuse to believe no one can come up with an answer."

"I’ve decided. Once I return to Luoyang, I’ll ask my mother for permission to personally oversee the national examination, create the questions myself, and I’m sure we’ll find someone." Zhao Mingming hummed, "Once we find the person, how can we not find a solution?"

Fan Lianyin gazed at Zhao Mingming with starry eyes, "Crown Princess, you’re amazing."

Then eagerly asked, "When will you return to oversee the national exam? Let me know so I can take the state exam in advance."

Zu Daosheng looked at her, shocked, "You’re actually attempting to sneak a peek at the questions."

Zhao Mingming glanced at them, saying, "I’ll order that neither of you are allowed to participate in the national exam when I oversee it. Considering I’m in charge, you must avoid suspicion, right?"

Zu Daosheng: ...

He turned to glare at Fan Lianyin, fuming at her loose lips. Can’t you just quietly make your fortune?

Fan Lianyin still tried to argue, "Your Highness, only parents and siblings count as close relatives needing to avoid suspicion. I’m merely a study companion, not very closely related."

"That won’t work either. I said no, so no it is."