The wealthy Americans of the 21st century like to donate, because donations are tax deductible, so donations have become a reasonable means of tax avoidance.

For example, so many charitable foundations in the United States have basically been out of the category of donations, and the jurisdiction of the foundation is not in the hands of the government, but in the hands of private individuals, so the whereabouts of these donations are all decided by the board of directors of the foundation, and these council members are generally served by the family members who set up the foundation.

In this way, this kind of family trust-style foundation has become a legal means of tax avoidance, at least when Lao Tzu passes on the position of the chairman of the foundation to his son, the son does not have to pay inheritance tax.

In the nineteenth century, the United States did not have the provision of tax deductions for donations, so Li Mu did not pay much attention to donations, but this is better than raising taxes, donating this kind of thing, love donations, don't donate if you don't want to donate, and if you raise taxes, it is not a question of whether you want to or not, but must pay, otherwise the tax officer will block Li Mu's door.

However, since the idea was Li Mu's idea, there must be a way to solve it, killing or burying it is not Li Mu's style, especially for Arthur, Li Mu wants to live a more nourishing life in New York, so he can't ignore Arthur.

"It's very simple to increase government revenue, there are many ways, tax increases are the stupidest way, if you raise taxes, you can't just let the Junma Group pay more, and if all enterprises have to pay more taxes, you think about how much pressure you have to face, this is more violent than a few words of scolding in the newspaper-" Li Mu was not polite, and Arthur was so colorless that he saw that the fire was almost over, Arthur was about to smoke at all tips, and Li Mu began to get down to business: "If you want to increase wealth, it is nothing more than two things: open source and reduce expenditure, throttling is not the way, You are the mayor of New York, you can't be too ugly if you want to make money, at least you can't be as unscrupulous as our companies, you have to find a good way, it's best to make money, and your prestige will increase. ”

Li Mu talked for a long time, but he didn't talk about punctuality, Arthur remembered to scratch his ears and cheeks, but after all, he couldn't help but not speak.

"What's the most valuable thing in New York right now? House! If you look at how fast the city has developed over the years, three years ago there were only 1.5 million people in New York, and now it is 1.6 million, and at this rate, it won't be long before New York will be crowded, and you, the mayor, don't want to do something? "Li Muchun is a good seductive and wants to bring real estate in the 21st century to New York in the 19th century.

In fact, in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, almost all cities in the United States were expanding rapidly, and a large number of rural surplus labor flocked to the cities, similar to the situation in the newly reformed and opening up republic.

New York is a special city in that in the process of urbanization, the population growth of other cities is done by absorbing the surplus rural population, but the population growth of New York is mainly done by European immigrants.

The former New York Immigration Bureau was in Castle Clinton, Li Mu has seen the relevant information, from 1820 to the present, nearly 15 million immigrants entered the United States, two-thirds of which were disembarked by New York Harbor, although many people continue to travel to various parts of the United States, but there are still a considerable number of people staying in New York, in 1850, the total population of New York City was only 696115, by 1860, the total population of New York has increased to 1174779, and by 1870, The total population of New York City has risen to 1478102.

It's 1874, and it's conservatively estimated that the total population of New York is already over 1.6 million.

The current New York is not the New York of the 21st century, Brooklyn is still Brooklyn County, New York, not the Brooklyn district of New York, the Bronx is still a large area of arable land, and Staten Island is still an isolated island, and people have to take a boat to go up, so so many people are crowded in the narrow urban area of New York, and the degree of congestion can be imagined.

No wonder Li Mu wants to live on Governors Island, if he is also in Manhattan, then Li Mu can't suffocate to death.

"Two years ago, you could rent an apartment in New York for five dollars, do you know the price of renting a house now? A ten-square-meter apartment costs twenty dollars, and the horse construction company wants to build an apartment complex in Brooklyn for rent, but the news has just been announced, and all the houses have been sold out within three days. Li Mu didn't finish speaking, in fact, the community to be built by Junma Construction Company is only for the employees of Junma Group, and it is not open to the public at all.

Of course, if it is open to the outside world, then the degree of demand is about the same, and it may even be more popular.

"What kind of house did you build?" Arthur's heart was instantly moved.

Real estate is a monster, if the real estate of the 21st century is copied over, it is still possible to say whether it is good or bad, but public rental housing or low-rent housing is certainly no problem, although the reputation of public rental housing and low-rent housing in the republic is not very good, but the scriptures are actually good scriptures, but it is a pity that the crooked head monk is broken.

"The simplest small apartment, one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom, the living room can also be converted into a study, the total area is not more than 50 square meters, such an apartment, each set costs 30 dollars a month, is not much better than living in those 10-square-meter apartments? At the very least, living in such a house can protect your self-esteem. "Li Mu's asking price is not cheap, in fact, the things of the Junma Group are not cheap, but they are all worth the money.

It's not that New Yorkers don't have money, in fact, in New York, the income of $100 a month is not high, and the employees of the Horse Group only have to pay for food and housing, so this income is attractive.

For ordinary New Yorkers, it is normal to spend thirty dollars a month to rent an apartment, and the problem now is not that they can't afford to rent, but that there is no apartment to rent at all, Li Mu just wants to solve this problem, anyway, there is a lot of vacant land in the Junma Automobile Factory, and it is idle to be idle, it is better to build an apartment for rent, although there is a river between the Junma Automobile Factory and Manhattan, but as long as the problem of ferries and subways is solved, the transportation is still very convenient.

New York is really developing rapidly, the subway has not yet been built, the bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn is also on the agenda, and the construction task is still undertaken by the Horse Construction Company, and only the Horse Construction Company is qualified to undertake such a project.

"If the government takes the lead, will this matter be at a loss?" Arthur thinks a little too much, if the government builds public rental housing or low-rent housing, it will definitely help Arthur win his reputation, but the economic benefits are not easy to say, after all, this is a long-term project, and it is not easy to work in a short period of time.

"Why do you care so much? I just wanted to ask you, why do you want to pay the debt owed by the Tweed administration, and the debts of other cities are getting more and more owed, only the overall debt of New York is decreasing, do you think New Yorkers will pay attention to this? No, they won't care, they will only care if the environment of the city has improved, whether the quality of life has improved, and as for the rest, I'm sorry, that's a headache for the next Mr. Mayor, and it shouldn't be up to you, and it shouldn't be the people of New York. "Li Mu said in one sentence the true meaning of politics, the officials don't repair the government, the iron-clad battalion and flowing soldiers, they don't like it after spending their efforts, can they manage it?

Arthur was dumbfounded, and only then did he look at Li Mu with a strange expression and said: "It seems that you are more suitable to be the mayor than me, if I give you this mayoral position, I believe you will be able to do a good job." ”

This is nonsense, compared with white people, Chinese people are born to be officials, in fact, it is much more difficult to survive in Chinese society than in white society, so as long as a suitable environment is created for Chinese people in the United States, Chinese achievements are no worse than anyone else.

But as far as the current New York is concerned, nearly half of the population is Irish, and then half of the remaining half are Germans, and only about a quarter of the population of the entire New York City is of other nationalities, although Li Mu has worked hard to immigrate, but at present, the population of Chinese in New York is still not more than 50,000, and in the total population of 1.6 million New York, this population is very inconspicuous.

However, in general, because almost all Chinese are working, except in the Junma Group or in Springfield, the overall income level of Chinese in New York is very high, and they are in the middle and upper class in New York.

Of course, this income level is not the wage level, but because the Junma Group and Springfield Company both provide food and lodging for workers, the Chinese have a lot of surplus money in their hands, and the salary level is not high, which also means that they pay less taxes, so the living standards of the Chinese are generally very good.

Li Mu didn't want to be the mayor, but Li Mu couldn't bear to see Arthur so entangled, so Li Mu laughed: "My level is not even an average level among the Chinese - forget it, if you have the opportunity, I will help you hire a Shaoxing master, maybe I can help you a lot." ”

Master has a long history in this business, Li Mu was deeply impressed by Chen Daoming's "Master Shaoxing" starring at the beginning, so when it came to the staff, Li Mu immediately remembered the staff of the old man Chen on the sea, it should be regarded as Li Mu's first distress in this world, if it were not for the protection of the veterinarian Mike, Li Mu might not have survived to go ashore.

Li Mu wanted to help Arthur find his master, it was not a joke, the Qing Dynasty was the heyday of the master, and it was also the main era of the master's activities. In the Qing Dynasty, local officials in charge, from the governor and governor, down to the governor and county, generally had to hire a number of masters to help them deal with government affairs, and there were more than 1,500 prefectures and counties in the Qing Dynasty, and the vast majority of states and counties were hired masters. There are more than a dozen masters in each state and county, and there are two or three people at the least, and there are no less than 10,000 masters in the whole country.

The American scholar Fairbank put it in The Cambridge History of Late Qing China: "As the responsibilities of officials at the provincial or local level increased, so did the size and number of friends. By the end of the 18th century, the total number of these assistants was estimated at 7,500. Although there are no reliable survey statistics, it can be assumed that their numbers continued to grow in the 19th century. ”

So it's not difficult to find a master, just like finding a professional manager in New York at the moment, it may be a bit exaggerated to say that it is everywhere, but it is definitely not troublesome.