1. "It is really surprising that the fire of the third tax reform has actually burned to us. Shao Yaoguang, who has been sitting in the position of commissioner of the Baoding District Administration for more than ten years, said with emotion.

This year is already his last time in the position of commissioner in Baoding. From March 1 of the next year (1681), he will go to Xinhuaxia Island to serve as the leader of the pioneer team. There is no doubt that this was a leap forward in his political career, for which he defeated his main opponent, Peng Yuanzhi, commissioner of the Zelu District Administration and garrison commander of Xinhuaxia Island, in a fierce competition, and successfully sat on the throne of the top position in the region.

In other words, Shao Yaoguang will leave the Baoding area for almost two more months, and then take a boat to Xinhuaxia via South Africa to take up his post, which is also a relatively difficult thing for Shao Yaoguang, who has worked all the way from the director of military management of Baode County, the county magistrate, the deputy commissioner, and the commissioner. After all, his youngest, most enthusiastic, and most memorable period of time has stayed here, people are not grass and trees, who can be ruthless, how can they not be full of feelings for Baoding?

And Shao Yaoguang's departure also made the old subordinates who had been following him for many years sad. There is no other reason, he went to take up his post on Xinhua Island, except for a very few cadres who are really inseparable, most of the rest are impossible to take away, and the national policy does not allow it (if it is allowed, it will not create an independent kingdom), so they are destined to stay in the local area and adapt to the new leadership, which always makes people feel a little insecure.

However, there are some interesting rumors in the officialdom that the central government may abolish the Baoding district administration after abolishing the administrative offices of many districts in the south, and the eight counties of Baoding will also be directly under the central government. In this way, the counties under the direct jurisdiction of the Government Council include a total of 45 counties (including Yancheng County in Patagonia) in the area of the East Coast Prairie, Yazi Lake Basin, and Dingjun Mountain, accounting for almost one-third of the total number of county-level administrative units in the country, and population, economy, education, and transportation account for the vast majority.

And such a move from above has indirectly confirmed the conjecture of many people: Maybe in ten or eight years, the central government will set up a province, right? Otherwise, not only would it be inconvenient for the Government Council to manage too many counties directly under the central government, but there would also be not so many official positions to accommodate so many ambitious civil servants, so no matter from which point of view, the establishment of provinces is inevitable, and the difference is only in the time node.

According to one of the most widely circulated versions of the message, in the future, the eastern savannah may set up a separate province, the interriver area may set up a province, the Yahu Lake basin, south of the Dingjun Mountain, and the east of the Wujiang River (roughly similar to the later Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul) will set up a province, and the southern and northern Patagonia may be combined to set up a province, and other areas still need to be studied, because the degree of development is limited, there is a lot of wasteland, and it is not easy to resolve the province, and there is not much need for the time being.

Once the Baoding District Administration is abolished, it is really difficult to say whether these local officials will be good or bad. Some people feel that they are jubilant and have a promising future, while others are eager to merge the eight counties of Baoding into the neighboring Jiangbei region to form a super-large regional-level administrative unit, of course, this is just a thought. In today's context, it is unlikely that the central government will allow the existence of such a large area with more than 10 counties.

"In the tax reform work, Dingjun County is also one of the pilot counties, and the central government has expanded the 15 pilot counties to 25, which seems to be really short of money and wants to collect more accounts. Unfortunately or honored, Dingjun County was chosen, and the new tax rate will be implemented from January 1 next year, and the implementation of the tax-sharing system reform will be delayed a little. Shao Yaoguang slapped a document in his hand on the table, and said in an unpredictable tone: "What do you think about this?" ”

"It's nothing more than more unified taxes, tobacco and alcohol taxes, inheritance taxes, etc., which will have a certain impact, but it shouldn't be too big, and it won't cause any major turmoil in society, which we are still confident in. Commissioner, don't worry, I'll take care of this matter myself, and nothing will happen. After everyone was silent for a while, the unshirkable magistrate of Dingjun County came out to speak, only to hear him continue: "Our county is deep inland, and the handicraft industry is relatively developed, but to be honest, it is not a major grain producing area, nor does it produce salt. ”

"Okay, you are the county magistrate, you are here to catch it personally, and if you have any problems, report to me directly. This is the last major event of my tenure, and nothing can go wrong. Well, I'll take a stroll around the streets in the afternoon and see how it goes. Shao Yaoguang slapped his thigh and finally said.

In the afternoon of the same day, he took a few entourages, dressed in civilian clothes, and walked around the county town of Dingjun. Because the county seat is not large, a large part of the merchants on the street know him, and when he saw the biggest official in the region walking around the street with his hands behind his back, and from time to time he asked someone a few words, thinking that there must be something wrong. After hearing that Commissioner Shao inquired about the turnover of workshops or shops and the thickness of profits, some smart businessmen or business owners suddenly chuckled in their hearts, and considering the faint rumors in the south (the government has imposed new taxes again), many people are already wailing, guessing that Dingjun County is afraid that it will also raise taxes, which makes everyone happy.

"At present, there are less than 10 workshops in the county that can be called factories, and there are more than 700 small workshops, many of which are located in the countryside and do not employ people or do not employ many people. But it is with the efforts of these massive large and small workshops, our county has become the main production base of more than 300,000 people in 12 counties in Baoding and Jiangbei, especially after the railway extends north to the counties in Jiangbei and many scattered settlements, our market is larger, so it has created a lot of rich and influential workshop owners, they are our main tax objects, of course, not everyone has to be taxed, or according to the law. The magistrate of Dingjun County, who followed behind him, said.

Shao Yaoguang nodded when he heard this, then pointed to the several carriages carrying planks and grain that had staggered past them just now, and said: "According to the guiding spirit of the new tax law, the unified special tax on timber is levied on the spot in the place of origin, that is, it is levied in the logging camps, and once it is collected, it will be passed through the whole country and will not be levied again. These wagons were loaded with planks of various sizes processed in the wood processing plant, and were logically exempt from taxation. As for the grain that is transported, there is naturally no need to pay taxes, but there should be a few breweries and a machine flour mill in the city, and you must understand the spirit and collect taxes scientifically. Liquor must be levied, all winemaking workshops apply for licenses in a unified manner, pay tobacco and alcohol license tax, and the liquor brewed is levied according to weight. The flour milled by the machine must be taxed, and the flour milled by the machine is not taxed, which should be remembered, just like the cotton, linen, and woolen cloth woven by the people at home cannot be taxed, don't be mistaken. ”

The county magistrate of Dingjun nodded again and again after hearing this, and then, as if he had thought of something, he said with a wry smile: "Commissioner Shao, I'm afraid this brewery will not be easy to do business in the future." There are so many in our county, I'm worried that at least half of them will be lost. ”

"What?" Shao Yaoguang was stunned for a moment and said strangely.

"Because the flour tax is now levied, and it is levied on the place of origin, many grain-producing counties in the south are likely to block the export of grain from their own counties, and instead require investors to set up machine flour mills in their own counties and keep the tax as much as possible locally. In this way, how can a county like ours, which has many mountains and little land, still be able to import a lot of grain to make wine? It's a pity that some factories have just purchased large-scale equipment and are preparing to mechanize the production of spirits, I'm afraid that they will go bankrupt, they are all villagers, and they don't look up and look down, so it's pitiful. The county magistrate explained softly.

"That's true." Shao Yaoguang slapped his thigh and said loudly: "It is very beneficial for them that the grain does not leave the country, it can not only make up more for the flour tax, but also attract people to set up more wineries. Damn, it's really true, the people in the grain-producing areas of Hejian, Yahu Lake, and the prairie on the east bank have developed, and the financial strength of each county will jump to a new level, this thing is a trouble, alas! ”

"There are a lot of breweries and noodle mills in our county, but if they are going to go out of business, there are indeed a lot of people involved. Alas, many of them were old factories developed during the Portuguese War, with strong financial strength and a large scale, and if they failed, it would not be surprising that the income of workers would be affected or even directly unemployed. And these workers have no money to spend, so the income of other walks of life will be more or less affected, which is really a trick. Shao Yaoguang was also a little depressed at this time.

On both sides of this long street, which stretches into the suburbs – many of the county towns on the east coast now have no walls, or if they do, they were built in the early years, and the city limits have long since been greatly extended—and on both sides are many workshops, shops, and craftsmen, such as butchers, gardeners, vegetable farmers, fishermen, cooks, carpenters, stonemasons, bricklayers, leathermen, shoemakers, hemp weavers, weavers, weavers, weavers, dyers, coopers, rope kneaders, tailors, blacksmiths, and even jugglers. Once the new tax policy is formally implemented, it is conceivable that the machine flour industry, brewing industry, and tobacco industry in Dingjun County will be greatly impacted, and the cost of living for residents will also rise.

Of course, just as the magistrate of Dingjun County said at the meeting in the morning, they can still take these shocks, and they will not have any major impact on the normal social order in the county. Shao Yaoguang does not believe that the income from the timber tax can make up for the loss of bulk consumer goods such as tobacco, alcohol and flour, not to mention the worry of losing people. In today's Pampa Plain, the development of the Pampa Plain is in full swing, and if these skilled industrial workers have a difficult life, they will find a way to sign up in the county and go to the south of the Río Plata River to beg for a living, which is a loss for Dingjun County, and Shao Yaoguang is a little difficult to accept. You know, this is likely to involve the whereabouts of hundreds of workers and craftsmen, not to mention their families and children, and if you count it carefully, there are no less than 3,000 people, which is going to be an old death.

Now, Shao Yaoguang realizes how a change in the country's tax policy has had a huge impact on the local economic pattern and what a tortuous change it has brought to the personal fate of thousands of workers and small businessmen.

"The Pampa Plain has taken a big advantage, hehe, an important grain-producing area. In the future, the machine flour industry, the brewing industry, the leather industry, the cured meat industry, and the agricultural machinery manufacturing industry will develop greatly, and the siphon effect on the population will be even stronger, and some industrial counties in the country that have relied on early policies or other factors to develop will be affected to a greater or lesser extent, and the natural competition without comparative advantages will not continue. It seems that I was still thinking too simply, this impact is long-term and will prompt a round of economic reshuffle. In addition, the scope of the unified tax collection is still small, but in the future, a unified special tax will also be levied on cloth, linen, coal, lime, rice, beef, and other goods. And what kind of impact will it have? Shao Yaoguang shook his head and thought with a sigh.

He continued to walk on the not very wide county street with his hands behind his back, and the strong midday sun shone on his body, which made him feel even more anxious and hot. The enthusiastic chatter and laughter on both sides of the street, the clanging sound of striking iron and pounding copper, and the harsh and unpleasant sound of machining were endless, if Shao Yaoguang had felt extremely pleasant in the past, but now he only felt a burst of annoyance, and his emotions were obviously not so high.

At this time, he was already thinking carefully about how to help the few small wineries and flour mills in the county to tide over the difficulties they might encounter, and let them stay in the county as much as possible, because this is very important. Of course, if it really can't be done, he Shao someone will also have to find a way to adjust the industrial structure in the county, so that those industrial workers or craftsmen who may lose their jobs will change careers and take up other jobs in order to support themselves and their families. In short, it is absolutely unacceptable for him to let these people go to other counties (such as the Pampa Plain) to settle and live, and every effort must be made to stop them!

"It's a pity that I don't have a lot of time, it's only been two months, and I don't know if I have time to solve it." Shao Yaoguang thought with some regret: "It would be nice if it took more than a year and a half, I can also think about it carefully, and I can always come up with a way, but the current time is too tight, and I can't do anything." ”