The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

After seeing off the candidates, Sun Shan returned to the county government office.

He looked at the tax collection submitted by County Magistrate Wang, trying to find any mistakes.

Rice is widely grown in Yuanlu County, with two harvests a year, which also means taxes are collected twice a year.

The early rice has been harvested and the late rice has been planted.

As a result, the government immediately launched the first tax collection and quickly completed the task.

The so-called grain collection is carried out in two ways.

One is that farmers personally deliver grain to designated places, and the other is that yamen runners personally collect taxes.

The first type is classified as obedient, which reduces the workload of the government. The second type is rebellious, which requires the use of violence when necessary.

In Daqian, if ordinary people wanted to resist paying taxes, the cost of violation was very high.

Being injured is a minor matter, but being beaten to death is a common occurrence.

This year's early rice tax collection can be said to be quite smooth because the weather was good, the crops in the fields grew well, and both the obedient and the unyielding people were very cooperative.

Strong resistance to tax only occurs when there is no other way out. No one wants to be beaten by violent organizations.

Sun Shan frowned and looked at the grain taxes he had received. They were all tax grains from small households or ordinary self-cultivating farmers. The situation of large households evading taxes and not paying taxes was very serious.

Sun Shan specifically looked for the grain tax paid by the Wang family. It cannot be said that there was none, but it could be said that there was almost none.

It is obvious that the entire county has the largest area but pays the least taxes.

These are the so-called "Brahmins" of small counties, the parasites of small counties.

Sun Shan carefully checked and found that the Wang family's account books for tax evasion were very perfect, and they also used the magic rules in a reasonable way.

For example, when measuring land, two mu might be divided into one mu, or officials might collude with each other to falsely report the number of mu using small amounts of money.

Sun Shan looked at the Wang family's land that was subject to tax. Excluding the tax-exempt portions held by County Magistrate Wang and Scholar Wang, the remaining land was as small as that of a small rural landlord.

Sun Shan didn't believe that the Wang family had so little land.

There is only one way to solve this problem: remeasure the land.

Alas, this is not a good solution.

One step forward is the abyss, one step back is the cliff.

Not to mention Sun Shan, who had just arrived, even Sun Shan, who had worked in Yuanlu County for many years, would not dare to take such a risk.

Cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. Let's not even talk about whether the officials below are willing to cooperate with Sun Shan. Even if they do, Sun Shan might have been murdered by County Magistrate Wang before they even start.

No, it should be said that not only County Magistrate Wang, but also Chief Secretary Wu and some powerful families wanted to put Sun Shan in a "pig cage".

Sun Shan was very timid and not a reformer who acted decisively. Instead, when doing anything, he had to save his life first and then plan slowly.

Seeing Sun Shan frowning and staring at the tax grain, Master Zhang asked, "Master, is there a problem here?"

As Sun Shan's assistant, County Magistrate Wang was responsible for grain, horses, and tax collection.

After the collection is completed, it will be handed over to Sun Shan.

Sun Shan first asked Master Zhang to filter it. If he found any problems, he would point them out immediately and then review it himself.

Mr. Zhang looked at the account books submitted by County Magistrate Wang and found no problems. They were exactly the same as before.

Sun Shan shook his head and said, "No problem, it's just that the tax we collected was a bit low. Alas, we in Yuanlu are still poor."

The local gentry and wealthy families like the native Wang County Magistrate could not be easily moved, so Sun Shan could only follow the principle of "new methods for new people, old methods for old people", ignore them and create more fields.

Sun Shan thought of Lord Wei again. He used the time he had been serving in the army to reclaim wasteland bit by bit, and after years of cultivation, the wasteland became fertile farmland.

Now that Sun Shan is in Lord Wei's position, he also plans to follow Lord Wei's path.

Increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Opening up sources of revenue is very important.

Bypass the native gentry, develop more land, and make the county government the largest landlord.

There are no middlemen, and the tax is collected directly by the manufacturer.

Zhang, the lawyer, breathed a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, he hadn't messed up such an important task for the first time. He said comfortingly, "Sir, although Yuanlu is a central county with vast land and sparse population, it is all mountainous. Alas, mountains can't grow much food, so the taxes collected will naturally be less."

After a pause, he continued, "Sir, the first half of this year has been pretty good. We have a lot more food than last year."

Sun Shan hummed and asked, "Has all the grain been stored in the warehouse? Have you sent anyone to inspect it?"

The first inspection was done by a yamen runner, the second by County Magistrate Wang, and the third time was naturally done by Sun Shan’s confidant, Mr. Zhang, who led the Sun family’s younger brothers to inspect.

Sun Shan couldn't afford to be careless. What if the people below colluded with each other and embezzled the money? By the time they found out, it would be too late. He wouldn't know where to cry then.

Sun Shan didn't trust the people in the yamen at all, and he had to have his own people to keep an eye on it.

Master Zhang nodded and said, "Sir, Anan and I went to check it out in person and confirmed that the actual amount is exactly the same as the amount in the account book."

Of course, this is just an estimate, and it cannot be accurate to the millimeter.

Sun Shan ordered, "We must conduct spot checks in the warehouse from time to time. We must not be careless."

Master Zhang nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Master."

There are two ways for the people to pay taxes: one is to convert grain into silver and pay the silver first; the other is to pay the grain directly.

The imperial court stipulated that the ratio of silver to physical goods, especially physical goods, must not be less than two-thirds.

Sun Shan also followed this rule. Although silver can buy anything and is convenient to carry, physical objects are the real things. With physical objects in hand, one feels more at ease.

Whether it was a wealthy family or an ordinary household, Sun Shan always required them to pay in kind rather than in silver.

Some farmers had no money and handed over all their grain, and Sun Shan welcomed them with open arms.

Sun Shan counted the taxes collected this time and believed that it would not be long before the higher authorities would send an official letter demanding payment of taxes.

After the taxes are paid, the remaining money is used to pay the officials' salaries, and the remaining money is used as grain and silver in the government's treasury.

Thinking of this, Sun Shan sighed again like the five-year-old boy standing alone in the Xiaojin River.

The bulk of the money was submitted to Chenzhou Prefecture, the bulk of the money was used to pay officials’ salaries, and the remaining surplus was a small portion.

What can you do with such a tiny surplus?

There was no deficit thanks to the previous magistrate's conscience, so the locals like County Magistrate Wang did not dare to be too greedy.

In the eyes of his colleagues, Sun Shan had a good script and a good start as he was able to make a profit.

Sun Shan and Master Zhang reconciled the accounts again, and after confirming that there was no problem, he personally led his younger brothers to the warehouse for random inspection.

When the county ambassador of the warehouse saw Sun Shan approaching with a heroic spirit, he immediately bowed and greeted him in a fawning manner, "Sir Sun, you are here."

This Lord Sun is different from previous county magistrates. He is particularly able to get a stingy wealthy family to donate 300 taels, which is truly admirable.

So don't underestimate this young official in front of you. He has a lot of "conspiracies and tricks" behind the scenes.

I must serve him well, or Lord Sun will backstab me.

Sun Shan nodded and said, "Come and check it out. Could you please open the door?"

In name, Sun Shan had the final say in the entire county government office, and he also brought his younger brothers with him. Ambassador Liangcang did not dare to play tricks and refused to open the door for him.