The census of the population, economy and people's livelihood in 1636 was not completed until late February 1637. As of December 31, 1636, the registered population of the country was 346726, and the ethnic composition was 64.5% Chinese, 31.6% European, 3.3% Indian, and 0.6% mixed-race, with a total of about 90,000 families and an average family size of 3.85 people.

Compared with 1635, the country has a net increase of 52,866 people, of which 19,400 are native newborns. There are 35 town-level administrative units (including overseas governors, overseas territories and concessions), of which 11 have a population of more than 10,000 and 13 have a population of more than 5,000 but less than 10,000.

The annual quota of new immigrants should not exceed 15% of the national population in the previous year, and gradually reduce the proportion of new immigrants, which is the main guiding ideology of the country's population expansion, and it has been a phased decision of the Senate since 1633. Seek progress while maintaining stability, prevent the financial pressure of too many new immigrants from influx, and the dilution of the results of social localization.

Although the population has increased significantly, due to the impact of the war in England and Brazil in the first half of last year, the overall economy of the country has not yet fully recovered, even though the business development of the OUCC Group has remained strong. GDP totaled $94.6 million in 1636, an increase of 5.5%, well below pre-war growth expectations.

Although compared with the continuous wars and livelihood crises in the entire Eastern and Western worlds, the overall economic situation of the country is still very benign, but it is still a model of "small people carrying heavy burdens". Import and export trade still accounts for nearly half of the country's total economic output, and the economy with domestic demand in the broad sense accounts for only 54 percent, of which a considerable amount is supported by public financial expenditure, and national consumption accounts for less than one-third of it.

Under the further popularization and application of modern agricultural machinery represented by steam tractors, the cost of grain production in the country continued to decrease, and the average market price fell again. The domestic market retail price of wheat had fallen to US$36 per tonne in 1636, and last year's bumper rice harvest on Butterfly Island and the arrival of rice from Southeast Asia by the OUCC Group had brought the once-high price of rice to US$55 per tonne. As for the prices of other miscellaneous grains, hay silage, and other agricultural and sideline products, they also fell by more than 15 percent.

In order to ensure that the decline in the domestic market price of agricultural products did not harm the interests of agricultural households, in 1636 Huamei annual grain exports to Europe and Central and South America reached a record 25,000 tons. For quite some time, the fleets of state-owned ocean shipping companies going to Europe were loaded with agricultural products such as grains and livestock, and for a time they were dissatisfied with other production companies.

The average annual household income fell from $330 in 1635 to $305 in 1636, and the average annual household expenditure was $115. In addition to the external economic environment itself, the number of new migrant families is also an important factor in the dilution and decline of this figure. However, the average bank savings of ordinary households continued to rise to $130, which is one of the few economic indicators of ordinary households that have risen in the livelihood survey.

The total personal savings of ordinary citizens in various banks have reached $11.7 million, which means that more than 290 tons of silver are theoretically "idle" on the books, not counting the asset reserves of this special group. But at least the people are still pouring a lot of money into the agricultural and industrial sectors through various investment channels, and the "national saving" behavior of ordinary citizens seems to be almost incorrigible.

Some legislators do not think that tens of millions of ordinary household bank deposits are idle assets in society. Banks, including personal savings, are also using these financial savings assets for various financial operations. In particular, Banco Nacional Ultramarino, the only state-owned bank, has also revitalized a lot of idle funds in its domestic counterparts for the purpose of large-scale lending to European countries.

However, these international financial activities are, at best, a kind of financial risk industry that makes money out of money, and they cannot promote the production, manufacturing and consumption of local commodities at all, cannot increase industrial output value and jobs, and also change the problem of domestic currency circulation. For Huamei, which is in full swing for industrialization, the prosperity of the bank's international financial business is a hidden danger.

calculated. A piece of goods on the local shelves with a retail price of $1 in the market, from raw material procurement, transportation, processing, logistics to terminal consumption, the state can get up to 38 cents in the process! If the annual consumption expenditure of ordinary national households reaches 200 US dollars, it means that the national treasury will have at least 2.8 million US dollars more tax revenue a year! And in this chain of capital circulation. All walks of life are benefiting, and the benign stimulus to the economy is self-evident.

But consumption and income are a pair of twins that cannot be separated separately, and this era, especially the Eastern concept of consumption. It is still in the stage of "preparing for war and preparing for famine." The pain of natural and man-made disasters makes those life experiences that exceed their own needs for food and clothing a symbol of a loser.

And there is only one spending project that can most impress these ordinary national families, especially Chinese families. It is the purchase of private land that has been officially opened since 1626. Make money and save money in order to buy a batch of land of your own in this new world of fat and oil.

The sale of land is certainly a means of getting money into the hands of the government, but it does not have the link of commodity economic circulation. Working in the factory saves money for a few years, buys land, saves money for a few years, buys land again, and then one day the worker becomes a farmer again......

In the process of purchasing land that usually hides money in a bedside table or bank for several years, and then buys and sells it with a hammer and benefits for life, the living standards of the people have actually been in a tight state of artificially hard saving, and there is no demand for commodity production and consumption. This ancient feudal concept of small-scale peasant economic land wealth made the traversers who knew the importance of monetary flow in the commodity economy gnash their teeth.

……

Farms in the suburbs outside the city have just set off the steaming heat of spring sowing, but the cold air currents of the late spring have once again poured into the streets of Porter. The central city of northern Songzhou, with a population of more than 24,000, has huddled in a ball, and the number of citizens walking on the streets has been greatly reduced.

As a construction engineer and university lecturer who enjoys the national senior talent allowance, Tang En and his son Tang Xian deliberately changed into new clothes today, and walked into the office hall of the Porter City Government with a red face, intending to fill in the land purchase voucher at the window of the Municipal Land and Resources Bureau, which specializes in land purchase. Before, the father and son had already gone through the preliminary land inspection procedures, and they were waiting for the final payment to get the certificate today.

The hall was warm, and it seemed that there were quite a few people. But in front of the window of the Land and Resources Bureau, many people gathered around a sign with sad faces and whispered, and even many people argued loudly in front of the window.

"Hehe, this gentleman, what is it today?" Tang En saw a middle-aged man with a closed expression retreat from the window, pinched a copy of the text and walked out, and hurriedly greeted him with both hands.

"Old man, now the city government doesn't sell land! Wait until April. The middle-aged Chinese man shook his head, the blush from the previous argument had not yet faded from his face, and he was still a little excited. Hey, you know the tax increase, the tax increase...... What kind of world is this! The family has worked hard to save hundreds of dollars over the years. ”

"Huh?! Why didn't it sell out? Although Tang Xian was almost forty years old, as soon as he heard the news, he immediately became anxious, and he held his old father's hand a little hard, and almost dragged his father Tang En down.

"There's a notice there, see for yourself!" The middle-aged man rolled his eyes and muttered. Without looking back, he walked out of the hall.

Helping the old father to walk to the notice where many people were watching, Tang Xian saw the big title at the top of the notice at a glance, "Interim Regulations on Land Purchase".

“…… With immediate effect, the Interim Regulations on Land Acquisition will be adjusted as follows:

1. In addition to enterprise land, private land purchase is based on national identity card (official residence certificate) and household registration. Conducted as a family unit. The minimum amount of land purchased in a single transaction is 500 mu, and if there is a record of private land purchase and it is less than 500 mu, a one-time purchase of the difference in mu is allowed.

2. A single purchase of land, in addition to the purchase of land. It can be accompanied by 5 'patriotic consumption contribution coupons', and the benchmark price per mu will be reduced by 50%. There is no 'patriotic consumption contribution volume', and the benchmark price per mu has risen by 50%. An additional 50% 'land purchase tax' will be imposed.

3. The term of land transfer and sale is increased to 5 years, and both parties must each attach 5 'patriotic consumption contribution coupons' before they can go through the land resale procedures, and the minimum number of resold land is based on 100 mu.

4. If the private land owned by national households has exceeded 1,500 mu, the purchase tax on newly purchased land shall be increased by 50%, and the annual "land appreciation tax" shall be levied in a progressive manner, and the specific collection grade shall be announced separately.

5. The preferential policy for land purchase for families of military dependents on active duty, families of retired military personnel, and families of martyrs shall be implemented in accordance with relevant state provisions.

6. The price of land in each region shall be determined by the land and resources bureau of the local government and reported to the Ministry of land and resources for the record.

7. These Regulations shall suspend the purchase of private land from the date of promulgation, and shall come into force on April 1, 2478 (1637 in the Western calendar). ”

After reading the content of the notice, Tang Xian was already dumbfounded, while Tang En was touching his beard and pondering.

"Dad, what is the 'Patriotic Consumption Contribution Volume'?" Tang Xian was stunned for a while, and finally came back to his senses, pulling the old father's sleeve and muttering.

"Let's go, go and ask."

Tang En saw that there was a vacant seat in front of the office window of the Land and Resources Bureau, and hurriedly took his son to go up. After a few inquiries, he hurried to the window of the Porter City Tax Office at the other end of the hall.

"Uncle, from today onwards, you can ask the merchant for an 'ordinary commercial invoice' when you shop in the market, and for every $120 invoice you can get in exchange for a 'patriotic consumption contribution coupon' valid for 10 years at the tax bureau window." The little girl at the window of the tax bureau handed over a document with a smile, "This is the latest temporary bill of the country's "Patriotic Consumption Law", you can take a look first, and then ask me if you don't understand anything." ”

The father and son didn't say a word, and hurriedly dragged Wen Jiàn to the side, pondering word by word.

As the name suggests, the Provisional Bill of the Patriotic Consumption Act is a bill submitted by the Cabinet to the National Assembly to encourage national consumption, and it is directly linked to a number of rights and interests of the people. The temporary bill is valid for ten years, and it is the top priority to exchange for a "patriotic consumption contribution coupon" with a consumption invoice, and according to the provisions of the temporary bill, you can exchange for a patriotic consumption contribution coupon.

Using 1 patriotic consumption contribution coupon, you can apply for a "family medical security card" at the local health bureau, and family members can enjoy a 7% discount on all medical items, while the previous national medical security plan implemented by the Ministry of Health is only a 7 to 9% discount for some projects.

If you provide 5 patriotic consumption contribution coupons, you can buy land at a three-fold discount to the local land price, but the minimum amount of a single transaction for private land purchase has been increased to 500 mu, and those who have purchased land and are less than 500 mu are allowed to make up the difference at one time.

Besides. With the patriotic consumption contribution coupon, you can also apply for a five-year low-interest "patriotic loan" at a state-designated bank, each of which can be loaned for $500, and the cumulative loan is allowed, but the limit is $5,000.

After going around in a big circle, in fact, it still allows the people to spend money to obtain the original national rights, but with some additional benefits.

Is it cost-effective? Towne just pinched his fingers and showed an excited expression.

The Tang family has bought 300 acres of land in Porter City over the years, that is, even if they don't have the money to buy another 500 acres. This time, there is also the qualification to buy 200 acres at one time. The land price of the land that the Tang family fancies this time is $15 per mu, and if the previous calculation is not counted, they will have to pay $3,000 for the purchase of land, and Tang and his son have only saved more than $4,000 even if their status and income have continued to rise over the years.

If you find a place to spend $600, you can exchange the invoice for 5 patriotic consumption contribution coupons, and then you can buy 200 acres of land at a price of $7.5 per mu, and the total cost is only $2,100. The cost of land purchase is directly reduced by 900 US dollars, and the land purchase tax is also preferential. Not only can you consume some things that you were reluctant to do before, but you can also reduce the money to buy land, which is completely cheap!

Families with low incomes are not afraid. As long as you are tired of invoices, you can still make up 5 patriotic consumption contribution papers in a few years, and those who consume more will make up faster, and those who consume less will naturally make up slowly. As long as it's not a pure illiterate person whose brain can't turn a corner. It is definitely much more cost-effective than simply saving money for a few years and then buying land. Besides, if you don't have the money to buy land, won't you still be able to get a low-interest "patriotic loan" from the bank?

As for the significant increase in land value-added tax after the number of private land owned by families exceeds 1,500 mu, there is almost no need to consider it for the Tang family. A family can have thousands of acres of fertile land. It was already unthinkable before. It's a big deal that the grandchildren will be able to get new qualifications for land purchase in the future.

"Xian'er, can we decorate our house?" Towne stroked his gray beard and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling of the hall.

"Well, the plumber used by Mr. Rudolph's house in the winter is very real! We've got a set too! Tang Xian thought more carefully than his father, and he had been thinking about how to spend a sum of money for a long time.

"Tang Bao and the second girl are going to take the university entrance examination this year, and Tang Quan and Siniu are also going to middle school...... And your daughter-in-law, it's time to change a few sets of clothes to show off her façade. Towne thought of his daughter-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter again, and a smile appeared in his old eyes.

"We can also build another steam mill on our farm, last year the Zhou family made a small one, all of which cost only more than 300 yuan, and we don't have to spend money to rent a mill on a state-owned farm in the future, we can also collect some money for other people to grind noodles, and it will return to its capital in a few years!" Tang Xian snapped his fingers, and the more he calculated, the more refined he became.

"Good, good! You can go home and take care of these things, and I'll go to the tax office to inquire. ”

After some summing up, Towne couldn't wait to bring his son home, while he continued to walk to the tax office window with his hands behind his back.

……

In the days that followed, after a brief period of initial dissatisfaction, the national families who could count soon discovered this huge "loophole" in the "Patriotic Consumption Law".

The domestic consumption index has begun to rise rapidly for several months, and land sales in cities and towns around the country are even more brisk. Even the newcomers who have just arrived have made plans in advance with the resettlement money they have in hand under the appearance of their new neighbors.

From the perspective of great development, today's beauty lacks everything, but there is no shortage of land. Isolated land that was once uncared about, such as the north and south banks of the White Horse River in Jiangkou Town and Baimayi, the west bank of the Schulkkill River and the east bank of the Delaware River in Binzhou Yacheng City, is now cheaper under policy stimulus.

This measure of exchanging consumption for cheap land purchase qualifications may seem to make the country's land sales a bit "loss-making", but because of the increase in the threshold for purchase scale and the progressive land tax, the disorderly expansion of private agriculture has been restricted, and the construction of private farms in various places has become more standardized and conducive to large-scale operation.

More importantly, behind the qualifications for large-scale cheap land sales, more national income has flowed into the market consumption link, and a large number of commodity consumption that was once "a little reluctant" in the eyes of the people has been rushed out of a big mouth, especially the consumption of household bulk commodities has directly doubled. The people are willing to eat and use, the actual quality of life has increased substantially, and the act of asking for invoices has also in disguised to promote the more formal and rational operation of merchants and vendors in various places.

A large number of newly reclaimed land will inevitably greatly increase the demand for the purchase or rental of related agricultural machinery, only in April, the number of orders for various types of steam tractors issued by the branches of the state-owned agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry group exceeded 150 units, and the follow-up intention orders are more than 300 units, so that the maximum monthly production capacity is only 30 units, and the state-owned heavy machinery companies that have pressed the production contract for nearly a year are like a dream. (To be continued......)