"Then tell me, do you, your peers and friends think that the people from this other world, that is, the 'Central Government of the Elta Empire' as you call them, think that their governance standards are better than before, or worse than before?"

"Isn't spicy nonsense?" The coachman smiled heroically. "Not to mention anything else, the tax burden of exacting taxes is much lighter! For example, the poll tax, which everyone has to pay, regardless of income, is given by the central government on the first day," the coachman made a head-cutting gesture as he said this, "Click! That's a thrill! Damn the poll tax, it's a terrible end of life from now on! Do you think that's good? Great! ”

For urban residents, this worst and most brutal form of taxation lies not only in its "efficiency", but in its specific local implementation. Compared to income tax, which requires certified income and is subject to a uniform progressive rate, the poll tax does not matter whether you are poor enough to shiver in a thatched house or a super-rich living in a hanging garden, fifty silver coins a year is fifty silver coins, from a child who is still nursing to an elderly person who is already in bed and cannot take care of himself. In other words, as long as your head is still well glued to your neck, you have to pay this tax.

As a local tax, it is not inefficient. The merchants of South Elta only had to pay a kickback of 5 to 10 percent (even if it was less than a tenth) in exchange for a license from the lord of their area, and they were able to pay taxes to the mayors of the lower neighborhoods, villages, and towns. And this apportionment can be fully collected in 90% cases.

And in the eyes of the merchants, they only reclaim the wealth that belongs to them: almost the whole of South Elta revolves around their business practices, and there is no money that they do not handle; As for the poor, as long as they are fed and continue to provide them with sufficient labour. Delusional about turning over? There are only a few business league positions, and who wants to reach out a stool leg from below to kick someone over and sit on it? You know, this person could be yourself. Until then, it is safe to directly strip the assets that the poor may have left, and then exploit them, just need to measure them carefully and make sure that the amount of exploitation does not exceed the amount that may lead to unrest.

These businessmen who are determined to win only need to send their competent men or family members to the villages and towns and neighborhoods to count the number of houses, and then they can come up with a number of eight or nine that is not far from ten. Then these errands only need to multiply a number between 1 and 2, which is the amount they have to see with the grassroots officials.

In the midst of the tug-of-war, the bloodsuckers on these people will make a slight concession and then agree on how much of it will be used as a rebate; Acquaintances at the grassroots level will immediately agree, even if the number of people who collect taxes is higher than the actual number of heads.

What if it is not allowed? Do you want to tell these bloodsuckers truthfully that there are not so many people in the villages and towns? Fart, just spread the extra poll tax evenly on everyone who exists, where did so much come about? These grassroots officials know very well that if they do not allow it, their interests and those of the merchants will be wasted, and the citizens who have been charged a little less poll tax will not be grateful at all -- those who should scold the street still curse the street, and those who should curse should still sew their eighteenth generations of ancestors and the eyes of the next ten generations of their descendants, who likes to do things that are not pleasing to both sides?

And the businessman's errand runners must have paid up, definitely not multiplied by the correction of the money. And the merchants at the end of the spectrum were of course satisfied enough with what they had done to have no intention of demanding a tenth of their greed. After all, if the tenth is still stingy, it may be difficult to collect even the remaining nine-tenths.

In this chain of interests, whether it is the businessman or their errand runner - we may call it a tax contractor; Or the local lords in the official face, as well as the grassroots officials, all of whom are full of brains, who would not support this policy? What the? Are you for the people? Do you have compassion? Well, you can go and be with them!

Ah, you say the people at the bottom who have been over-scratched? They're a piece of. Grass-roots officials who could not even receive the basic quota would take away their houses "in accordance with the law", plunder their bedding and the last bit of their family property, and even ruthless grass-roots officials would directly take away their children and infants, and even sell young and middle-aged people into serfs to deduct taxes.

No one will pity these poor children who end up as serfs, or even slaves, because the grassroots officials will not receive money, and they will receive intimidation and pressure from tax contractors; If the tax contractor does not receive the money, the upfront investment in the lord will be wasted; Uniting together to pick up the flesh and blood of the people, and then get together to share and eat them, is their only choice.

But that's not all. Horse-riders were required to pay an additional "horseshoe tax" to "cover the cost of damage to the city's roads", but the fact is that most of the roads in Kamla were filled with mortar and mud, and the stone pavements built decades ago were not repaired, but the residences of the merchants who were in charge of the tax agency and the pavement in front of the merchant houses were always in good condition. For example, rural and rural farmers who own privately owned land are required to pay a fixed amount of land tax, which exploits the land itself rather than the harvest, resulting in a tax burden on farmers to maintain land ownership with or without output...... It's just as brutal, but it's just as effective for those who want to get rich.

What is even more unacceptable is that these taxes, gold, silver, coins and grain needed by the empire eventually converge all the way to the south, all the way to the port city of Kamra, and then become the wealth of some people, instead of going north to the central coordination of the Elta Empire. Of course, this is also the reason why Emperor Charles repeatedly removed the governor of the southern region: a region that can only obey the rule, but cannot pay the taxes due to it, is really a headache.

The current Elta Empire is no longer the rotten wood it used to be - before this sentence turns from empty words to facts, the first thing to do is to pull up the shortcomings of the old Elta one by one. Of course, the first to receive the reform was the city of Kamra, the heart and brain of El Sul. As long as the heart of this monster is crushed with one hand, then it is very logical for the entire power structure of South Elta to disintegrate and reconstruct.

In any case, if the poll tax continues to be collected, it will hardly be able to turn it into a fund that can really support the construction of the South Elta, and the grassroots enforcers will still regard the business alliance side as a kind father, rather than seriously implement this policy, and treat the tax as a job rather than a means of accumulating money - the same is true of the land tax. As long as this point is clear, the tax policy of "starting again" is easy to understand, anyway, it is better to directly ban the money that cannot be collected, in short, it is beneficial and harmless, and the central government of Elta has nothing to lose.

From this point on, "the poll tax and the land tax were severely abolished, and those who collected such taxes without authorization were to be hanged." When Neuesas saw the words on the banners hanging in the streets, he truly felt that the power of the people of the other world to control this place was not tentacles, but thick and powerful palms, so powerful that they could press the heads of the local heroes into the water tank and drown them alive.

In fact, the new central government of Elta was more tough than the business alliance had expected: the anti-guest faction held the barrel of a gun in their left hand and a pen in their right hand, kicking down all the uncooperative forces at first, and then completely shattering. The gun is as sharp as thunder, the pen is heavy, and there is a light pole at the city gate as a deterrent, so that they dare not take a step beyond the thunder pool.

However, the "poll tax" that was abolished was also one of the important taxes of the Bimonthly Church, but it was replaced with a more pleasant-sounding name - "clergy tax". As a living god who is not concerned with household matters, Noesas is well aware of the role of the clerical tax; Even in the richest bi-monthly churches, the income from the squads tax accounts for at least 30 percent of the total income.

"Won't they tax it?" Neuesas was genuinely scared. He's been to almost every country on the planet, but that's one example of not taxing. Did their money come out of nowhere?

"Levy—" replied the coachman leisurely. "All those who work under them are taxed, but the vast majority are covered by the 'exemption', i.e. their wages are not enough to be taxed. Then, starting beyond a certain amount, the tax rate will gradually increase...... Is that what it means? Clyde? ”

Clyde, who was walking behind him, nodded.

"Other than that, they don't seem to have any intention of taxing anyone for the time being. If so, you'll see it in the Kamla City briefing. ”

"And what about other than taxes?"

"Actually, I think it's strange for people to come to the new government here. Whether it's the people from another world, or the people who were born and raised in Elta, they are very conformist, and they are a little too conformist, and they seem to be a little un......kind," the coachman said, scratching his head, puzzled.

"If you look at the front, for example, the poor people who work for them are getting their lunch. They repair roads and remove garbage for Kamla City, but they don't have to pay a penny from the citizens. These poorest people are fed, although they are not paid for anything else...... I think it's just a good deed. ”

Neuesas was equally puzzled by what was in front of him. In addition to money, is the food of people from other worlds also conjured out of thin air? Or is that not to be eaten at all? But looking at the poor people wearing red, green, and green vests under the street sheds, they drank the noodle soup with relish, so the noodles shouldn't be fake, right?