The Knight's Journey to the Empire

"Now, let's discuss the third issue - mobilizing the people of the territory to reclaim the wild wasteland."

"Ramos, you were the first to raise this question. You should tell us what you think about it first, and then we can add to it." Soran said directly to Ramos.

This actually has the meaning of testing Ramos.

Ramos stood up from his seat, rolled his eyes, thought for a while before speaking: "There are only three things I can think of now:

The first is the issue of taxation. The tax rate we set must not be too high, otherwise the people will lose their enthusiasm for reclaiming wasteland.

The second is the issue of safety. There are many wild animals living in the wild wasteland of Flanders Town, and there may even be traces of magical beasts. We must protect the safety of the people who are reclaiming the wasteland;

The third is the issue of distribution. After the land is reclaimed, it must be distributed properly, otherwise it will easily cause conflicts and disputes among the people."

"Well, that's good. It's great that you can think of so much!" Soran expressed his praise at the right time.

Ramos sat back in his seat pretending nothing had happened, but he was actually very happy.

There is a saying: The corners of the mouth are harder to suppress than a combo AK!

Sauron saw everything and felt helpless.

"Now, regarding the first question raised by Ramos, how much tax should our White Bear Territory collect?" Soran asked everyone.

Everyone then began to think hard.

Because this is a relatively sensitive topic.

If taxes are levied too high, it will seriously dampen the enthusiasm of the people in the territory, thus affecting the White Bear Territory's wasteland reclamation plan and hindering the pace of White Bear Territory's construction and development.

It may even affect the Baron's prestige or authority and cause public dissension.

Of course, as the hereditary lord of White Bear Territory, Sauron is very concerned about the people’s sentiments in the territory!

As long as it doesn't get to the point where the people are forced to leave their homes and go out to make a living, or that riots occur.

In fact, public opinion doesn’t matter much to him.

Because he represents everything in White Bear Territory.

If the tax is levied too low, it will damage the interests of the lord, or even one's own interests, and reclaiming the wasteland will be a loss.

If a person does not serve himself, he will be destroyed by heaven and earth.

Everyone here thinks that they have not yet reached such a noble level in doing good things for the people and seeking welfare for the people.

According to the traditional agricultural tax collection ratio of the Kingdom of Midburg, agricultural tax is generally around three or four tenths.

But in fact, if various regulated or unregulated taxes and levies are added, such as seed tax, crop growth tax, land use tax, sunlight tax, etc., the actual tax burden on farmers will have to double.

In other words, the tax revenue finally handed over to the lord would reach five or six tenths, or even more.

Moreover, in the hereditary territories of the nobility, the hereditary lords can set their own tax rates.

"Master, you promised those followers who followed you from Connacht that you would only collect 30% tax on the newly reclaimed land. Does your promise still count?" Javier suddenly asked Soran.

Soran thought quietly for a long time before saying, "It counts. What I said definitely counts."

This has something to do with whether the White Bear Territory can continue to recruit more subjects from Connate City in the future.

If this commitment were suddenly changed now, it would certainly have an impact.

Only with more people under his rule can he create more wealth. Sauron must not lose the big picture for the sake of small gains.

"In that case, young master, I think we should set the tax rate at three-tenths!" Javier expressed his thoughts.

As the treasurer of the territory, he manages the income and expenditure of the territory's finances, and taxation is the main source of the territory's finances, so it is necessary for him to express his suggestions.

But at the same time, he is the young master's personal valet and the mansion's butler, a loyal defender of the young master's interests, and he needs to consider safeguarding the young master's interests.

"And yesterday, Master, you also announced a new notice to the people: From now on, the White Bear Territory will exempt its people from all taxes and will only collect land tax and population tax."

"If we overturn this announcement right now, it will cause serious damage to your authority as a lord!" Javier continued to add to his suggestion.

"Master, when you assigned me the task just now, didn't you ask me to conduct a general survey of the arable land in White Bear Territory? Then, according to the fertility of the arable land and the output in previous years, divide it into three levels, 'upper fields, middle fields, and lower fields' and make statistics." Adam suddenly added.

Soren nodded.

"So, I suggest that White Bear Territory adopt a tiered taxation system."

"First, for the cultivated land, we can collect 40% tax from the fertile and good harvest land, 30% tax from the middle land, and 20% tax from the lower land."

"Then, the newly reclaimed fields will also be divided into three levels. The upper fields will be taxed at 30%, and the middle fields will be taxed at 20%. The lower fields should not be reclaimed. There are so many fertile wastelands in the territory, it is not worthwhile to reclaim the lower fields."

"Finally, we will collect a tax of one-tenth of the forest land or farmland used to grow other cash crops."

"Of course, land that can be used to grow food is not allowed to grow other crops without approval. Only food can be grown."

"As for the remaining private plots of land owned by some farmers, we will no longer collect taxes on them."

Finally, Adam added: "We can continue to implement this hierarchical taxation system for ten years. After ten years, when the raw land is cultivated into mature land, we will uniformly collect taxes according to the standards for mature land."

"Besides that, we will no longer collect any other taxes related to the land!"

Soran's eyes suddenly lit up, and he felt that this was indeed a good idea.

Although it is somewhat troublesome to implement, we try to be relatively fair and take into account the interests of the people.

At the same time, as a lord, he did not break his promises, and his interests were also protected to a certain extent.

After all, he did not say at the beginning that he would only collect 3-tenths of the tax for a continuous period of years.

And, to be honest, the proportion of agricultural tax collected by White Bear Territory now may be higher!

But there are no various exorbitant taxes!

This is collected directly under one name, which is definitely more straightforward than those who use various exorbitant taxes to deceive the people and make them pay unwillingly without knowing it.

Let’s cut it off. What’s yours is yours, and what’s mine is mine. We have no entanglement with each other.

Therefore, Soran did not dare to say that he was a benevolent and kind lord, but the tax level of his territory was definitely lower than the average tax level of the entire Midburg Kingdom.

"Okay, this is a great suggestion. Let's do it this way!" Sauron couldn't help but applaud and cheer.

This was the first very pertinent suggestion he had heard since the meeting started.

"It's a bit hard for you guys in charge of statistics. You need to do a thorough census and classification of the arable land!" Soran looked at Adam and Gubellini with satisfaction.

The two looked at each other, smiled, and answered in unison: "It is an honor to serve the Baron!"

Soran laughed out loud!

Jiejiejie~Jiejiejie~

ah! wrong!

Yes:

Hahahahahahahaha~