"Patriarchs of the Nine Dynasties"

Volume 3 "Sun's Gain"

Chapter 937: The Dawn of the Century

1.

The wheel of history has entered the gate of the year 2000, and mankind has entered a new century and opened a new millennium. The dawn of the new century is shining in China, the east wind is blowing in the land of China, the spring and the scenery are bright, thousands of miles of smoke and light, and thousands of clouds of sunset are flying. The Chinese people are working hard with full enthusiasm and positive enthusiasm for the great national rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new century on the basis of a prosperous, strong, democratic, and civilized socialist modern country.

At the same time, on 2 March, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued a "Circular on Carrying Out the Pilot Work of Rural Tax and Fee Reform." The issuance of this circular opened the prelude to the complete abolition of the "agricultural tax" by the state, and is also in line with the historical development trend of "industry feeding agriculture". For a time, the spirit of this circular quickly set off a heated discussion in the news media throughout the country, and became a gospel that more than 800 million peasants across the country were eagerly awaiting and the first dawn to usher in the arrival of the new century.

Agricultural tax, also known as land tax, land rent tax, and land tax, refers to a tax levied by the state on all units and individuals engaged in agricultural production and with agricultural income.

The origin of agricultural tax is very early, the agricultural tax recorded in history is the Spring and Autumn Period (594 BC) Lu State implemented the "initial tax", the Han Dynasty called "rent", the Tang Dynasty called "rent", the national government period called "Tianfu", Western countries called land rent tax or land tax.

In the feudal period, agriculture was the most important production sector, and agricultural tax was the most important tax revenue of feudal countries and the main body of state fiscal revenue.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the 96th Session of the Standing Committee of the First National People's Congress promulgated and implemented the Regulations on Agricultural Tax on June 3, 1958.

Subsequently, in 1983, the "agricultural tax on special agricultural and forestry products" was introduced, and in 1994 it was changed to "agricultural tax on special agricultural products"; pastoral provinces levied animal husbandry tax according to authorization; and the agricultural tax system actually included three forms: agricultural tax, tax on special agricultural products, and animal husbandry tax.

Agricultural taxes have been an important cornerstone of the nation's finances for decades. According to statistics, in the 52 years from 1949 to 2000, peasants across the country paid more than 700 billion kilograms of grain to the state, and agricultural taxes have always been an important pillar of the state's financial resources. For local governments like Hushan Town, which is located in a mountainous area and lacks tax support from industrial enterprises, the collection of agricultural tax is the foundation for the government's survival.

In accordance with the spirit of the circular, the current reform of rural taxes and fees initiated by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council will be carried out on a pilot basis in Jiangxi, and the reform of rural taxes and fees will be gradually implemented during the pilot project. In the pilot project, administrative fees and government funds and fund-raising that are specially levied on peasants, such as township overall planning and rural education fund-raising, will be abolished, slaughtering tax will be abolished, compulsory labor will be abolished, agricultural tax and special agricultural product tax policies will be adjusted, and the methods for the collection and use of village retention will be reformed.

Although the S province where the Huxian area is located is not within the scope of the national agricultural tax reform pilot project, the news that the state is about to abolish the agricultural tax has slowly spread from many news media and from the mouths of many well-informed people, and has soon become a hot discussion among the people in the streets and alleys of Huxian County.

Especially in a remote and impoverished mountainous area like Hushan Town, for a long time, there have been a variety of "three mentions and five unifications" (three village retains: provident fund, public welfare fund, and management fee; five township co-ordination: education surcharge, family planning fee, militia training fee, civil affairs preferential care fee, and private transportation fee) and agricultural tax (the common people in Hushan area also call it 'land contract fee'), etc., for many years, these heavy taxes have weighed on the shoulders of the people of Hushan Town like a heavy shackle.

Taking the Spring family as an example, Chun's father, Chun Shuli, contracted 13 acres of land from the village collective, which is divided into 1 types of land (irrigated land along the river), 2 types of land (plain land) and 3 types of land (mountain land). These more than a dozen acres of mountainous and thin land, Chun Shuli will plant wheat, corn, peanuts and soybeans and other crops according to the soil quality, water and fertilizer conditions. Under normal circumstances, if you plant two crops a year, the gross income will be about 10,000 yuan a year (at that time, the price of grain was low, the price of wheat was four or five cents, corn was more than three cents, soybeans were about one dollar, and peanuts were more than one yuan). The gross income of 10,000 yuan is only 6,000 or 7,000 yuan after removing water, fertilizer and labor, and if the various "agricultural taxes" paid are removed, there will only be about 1,000 or 2,000 yuan left after a year's hard work. The 2,000 yuan will have to bear the payment of children's tuition and miscellaneous expenses and living expenses, the daily expenses of the family, and all kinds of personal contacts. Therefore, many farmers in the Huxian area have earned more than they can make ends meet.

It is precisely because of this that the news of the imminent abolition of the agricultural tax by the state is no less than nectar falling from heaven for the farmers in the Toyama area, and the villagers are talking about this matter either by walking or walking. The fourth uncle of the spring calligrapher because of his literacy and love of reading and reading newspapers, for a time became a popular figure in the village, and the door of the store was often crowded with villagers who listened to the spring calligrapher's message that the state was about to abolish the agricultural tax policy.

2.

In July and August, the Toyama area is the season when there is abundant rain and crops are growing vigorously. The common people looked at the crops growing well in the fields, and thought about the agricultural tax that the state was about to abolish, and the kind of happiness and joyful expectations that filled their hearts were indescribable.

However, the kind of happiness and joy that spreads in the hearts of many villagers in Hushan Town has nothing to do with these teachers who eat imperial food and get salaries in the compound of Hushan Middle School, these teachers are concerned about matters related to their personal interests, especially those who are keen on "officialdom" and "official hats", and their eyes are always focused on power and interests.

As a result, a scramble for power is about to unfold in the compound of Toyama Middle School.