After the Han army marched from Chang'an City, Liu He began to implement the third round of new policies with lightning speed.

The focus of this round of new policies is tax reform.

The taxes of the Han Dynasty can be divided into three major parts, namely land tax [land rent, etc.], poll tax [calculation and mouth tax, etc.], and miscellaneous taxes [customs and city tax].

Among them, the main position in the miscellaneous taxes is the property tax and the commercial tax, which have a variety of names.

For the above three types of taxes, the land tax is paid directly to Dasi Nong; Half of the poll tax was paid to Shaofu, and half to Dasi Nong; Miscellaneous taxes are paid to the Shaofu.

Dasi Nong is the treasury of the Han Dynasty, and Shaofu is the private treasury of the Son of Heaven, and the two must not be confused.

In addition to the above three taxes, the Captain of the Water Balance had to mint a new five-baht coin every year, which was equivalent to a seigniorage, which also belonged to the Son of Heaven.

All of the above constitutes the money bag of the Great Han and the Son of Heaven.

Of course, taxes are not only about money, but also about many things in the world.

Human beings are profit-seeking animals, and the superior can regulate people's behavior by adjusting the tax system, so as to regulate the national policy of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, as long as Liu He completes the reform of the Han tax system, he will also indirectly complete many political and economic reforms.

For a long time, from the pre-Qin to the Han Dynasty, one of the biggest basic national policies was to "emphasize agriculture and suppress business".

Although during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, there was a strong support for commerce, but for more of the rest of the year, merchants occupied a lot of wealth, but their status was extremely low.

The reason why the rulers of successive dynasties emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce was that they were worried that commerce would impact agriculture, resulting in a situation in which everyone pursued profits and no one engaged in agriculture.

But it turns out that the rise of commerce does not necessarily affect agriculture, and the importance of agriculture does not necessarily mean that it will suppress commerce.

Emperor Xiaowu scavenged a lot of wealth for years of foreign wars by supporting commerce, and agriculture was not harmed.

Nowadays, Liu He has implemented a large number of new agricultural tools and new farming methods, and the productivity of Dahan agriculture has been developed, and it is even less likely that it will be easily impacted.

Therefore, the current Han has the conditions to change the "emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business" to "agriculture as the mainstay, supplemented by business".

It turns out that there are two means of maintaining "valuing agriculture and suppressing business": one is the state's violent means, and the other is the means of taxation.

Take the current Han Dynasty as an example, a considerable part of the miscellaneous taxes exist for the purpose of "suppressing business".

The "booth fee" and "transaction tax" levied in the market - the municipal tax.

Customs duties are levied on goods at the time they pass through a customs pass.

An "interest tax" levied on the interest on money and grain lent - the loan tax.

A "property tax" levied on the property of the whole people - a tax on the whole people.

……

These miscellaneous taxes are only taxes levied on business activities themselves.

Although they are not registered in the city, as long as there is a transaction, they must pay the above-mentioned taxes.

In addition, those real merchants who are registered in the city register have to pay an additional "property tax" - the calculation of money and the calculation of car money.

[The previous article mistakenly wrote the property tax of the household Qi people as counting money, which should be a tax, and the property tax paid by merchants with city registration is the calculation of money and car money]

As a result, businessmen who have made a lot of money will either try their best to get out of the city or not be city in the first place.

In this way, the merchant will eventually become a landlord, and how can it be possible for commerce to develop in real terms?

In the end, it was the small and medium-sized merchants who were suppressed by these commercial taxes: they were the main force that promoted the prosperity of commercial activity.

Whether it is to activate business or to crack down on the giant family, Liu He must make good use of tax collection methods.

Liu He's first move to reform the tax system was to introduce a progressive tax rate in the land tax and property tax.

For example, land rent, the most important tax, has many benefits after the progressive tax rate is introduced.

According to the existing system, no matter whether the land is more or less, the land rent is generally thirty taxes and one.

However, after the reform, families with less land can be exempted from land rent or pay less land rent; If you have a lot of land, you have to pay more rent, and you can't pass it on to the tenants.

Less than one hectare is exempt from land rent, one hectare to five hectares is paid at the rate of 60 tax, 5 to 10 hectares is paid at 30 tax, and 10 to 30 hectares is paid according to 15 tax......

Thirty to 100 hectares shall be paid according to ten taxes and one rent, and more than 100 hectares shall be paid according to five taxes and one rent. [One hectare = 100 Han mu ≈33 city mu]

According to this tax rate, the common five-hare house can get 1,000 stone of grain a year, and the original year has to pay 33 stone valleys, and after the restructuring, only 16 stone valleys need to be paid.

The Baiqing family can get 20,000 stone of grain a year, and the original year has to pay 666 stone valleys, and after the restructuring, more than 4,000 stone valleys have to be paid.

The more land you have, the higher the tax rate: Expanding tax sources while also curbing land annexation is a good thing to kill two birds with one stone.

In addition, the new military merit title system only gives land, and cannot be exempted from conscription and taxes, and Liu He pushed the boat down the river and abolished the privilege of tax exemption and exemption from military service in the old military merit title system.

It is equivalent to completing the process of the official gentry receiving grain in disguise.

In today's Han Dynasty, the military merit group has collapsed, and the scholar and civil official group has not yet been formed, so it is the best time to implement the integration of officials and gentry to pay food.

Liu He's second measure to reform the tax system was to refine the various commercial taxes.

Originally, no matter what goods were traded, the proportion of transaction tax was relatively fixed.

It is obviously unreasonable to pay fifty taxes on expensive silk and fifty taxes on ordinary corn.

After Liu He's reforms, the tax rates for goods of different prices were different.

Corn and linen are not taxed on items that the people cannot do without, which can play a role in stabilizing prices and reducing the burden on the people.

Livestock, poultry, fruits and vegetables, iron tools, farm tools and household utensils are subject to low tax rates.

Ordinary farmhouses and general silk brocade silks are subject to the medium tax rate.

Large tracts of land, luxury granges, fine silks, luxury carriages, gold, silver and jewellery and other high-value goods are subject to high tax rates – up to more than 30%.

The last category of things is a luxury that only the big families can afford, and the tax on it is actually the luxury tax of later generations - commonly known as the tax of the rich.

The imposition of heavy taxes on these commodities will eventually be reflected in the price, which can not only allow the Han people to form a social atmosphere of frugality and simplicity, but also allow the main force of consumption of these commodities to contribute more money.

In this way, not only can the Shaofu collect more taxes, but also suppress the giant family, which is simply a good means to kill two birds with one stone.

The third measure of tax reform is to reduce the population tax, or more accurately, to adjust the population tax.

The population tax has existed since ancient times, and it is very heavy because it is easy to collect and low tax costs.

After all, land can be hidden, but population is not hidden.

But the disadvantage is also obvious, and that is the unfair burden of taxation.

The population tax of the Han Dynasty can be mainly divided into calculation and oral tax.

Zhuangkou who is over 15 years old has to pay 12 yuan per year.

Youngsters between the ages of three and fourteen have to pay twenty-three dollars per year.

It seems that the money is very reasonable by mouth, but in fact there is a lot of cattiness

A family of five in the prime of life can cultivate about 100 acres of land and get 200 stone of grain, which is converted into 20,000 yuan.

According to the old tax rate of thirty taxes and one, the land rent had to be paid about 700 yuan; If you calculate the endowment, you have to pay 600 yuan.

In this comparison, the burden of land tax and population tax is about the same.

However, there is another problem in this, that is, the land rent can be paid directly to the grain, while the calculation of the levy needs to be paid directly.

Therefore, if the people want to pay the calculation, they must first take their own grain to the market and sell it, and then exchange it for money.

When the harvest is good, the price of grain falls, and the calculation of the tax increases in disguise; When the harvest is bad, there is no money to settle the payment, so you can only borrow usury, and eventually you are crushed by the high interest.

Not to mention that when selling rice, there is also the possibility of encountering cunning and plundering, which is a huge loss.

The giant family often occupies an area of several hundred hectares, but the family population is not too large, and the calculation of a few hundred yuan a year is very light for them, so they are afraid of land rent instead of calculation.

The poor people with less land are different, and the expenditure of calculating the tax is the same as the expenditure of land rent, and the burden is actually heavier.

From time to time, successive rulers would reduce the rent, but the endowment was never willing to be reduced.

The reason is that it wants to protect the interests of feudal landlords: the slogan of lightly retrieving the meager endowment is loud and loud, but the benefits and benefits are not on the heads of ordinary people.

On the other hand, the heavy endowment also suppressed the people's desire to have children and slow down the rate of population growth.

Just like in China thousands of years later, if you have to pay an extra poll tax for every child you give birth, I am afraid that people who are not willing to have children will be even more reluctant to bear this shackle.

Now, Liu He wants to run the Western Regions, develop the south, and colonize the New World, and needs people everywhere.

Whether it is to reduce the burden of the people or to increase the number of people, this calculation and mouth money must be properly changed.

Because the relationship between the calculation of endowments and the money is too great, it is impossible to reduce all of them at once.

Therefore, Liu He stipulated in the edict that the calculation and mouth money would continue to be collected, but the collection unit changed from a mouth to a household.

No matter how large the population of a family is, the annual poll tax is only 120 yuan.

In this way, the people will have one less worry when giving birth to offspring.

In fact, this is also the "paving into acres" of semi-finished products.

The calculation of the sum and the money of the mouth have decreased, and the money of the Shaofu and the Dasi Nong has also decreased, which is the "evil result" that Liu He absolutely does not want to see.

So his eyes naturally turned to the big families and wanted to scrape the money back from them.

So in addition to the property tax, a slave tax was levied on them: for each slave and maid they possessed, they had to pay three thousand six hundred denarii a year.

A slave tax can top up to the calculation and mouth money of thirty good families, and the slaves and maids of the Han Dynasty are at least one million, which can just make up for the shortfall in the calculation and mouth money.

Such a business is very cost-effective.

However, for the wealthy in the giant room, it is actually not too heavy, and they can afford to pay this money, so they will not object.

Even if it is opposed, it is useless, the tens of thousands of new troops trained are not vegetarians.

Raising taxes on the family is like getting stuck in the neck, making them uncomfortable without stucking them to death.

In addition to the above three measures, Liu He also reformed some other miscellaneous taxes.

There are two general principles: one is "agriculture is the mainstay, business is supplemented", and the other is "cracking down on giant rooms and helping the poor".

In addition, Liu He also added a new government office to the court, the Taxation Temple, and its chief was the chief tax officer with a rank of 2,000 stones.

Chang'an City has a tax temple, and the county road has a new tax office - the tax guard at the county road level and the tax office at the county level.

These tax guards and tax offices should be under the jurisdiction of the local county guard and the Chang'an Tax Temple at the same time, which can avoid corruption and corruption to a certain extent.

The taxes received are no longer directly kept by the local government or the big sinon, but are directly under the jurisdiction of the local water balance money banks and water balance governors.

Before the completion of the restructuring, from taxation to custody to dispatch and use, the local government and the big Sinong (Shaofu) were in charge, and there was a lack of checks and balances.

But now it's different.

The tax collector is responsible for the collection, and the custody is under the jurisdiction of the Shuiheng Qianzhuang and the Shuiheng Governor's Office, and the specific use is handled by the local government and the Dasi Nong.

Each of the three parties has an account, and at the end of the year, they will check and compare, and it will be clear at a glance where something went wrong.

This simple financial and tax system is still very primitive compared with later generations, and there will even be many loopholes.

But it's a good start, at least much smarter than the current system.

Liu He still adhered to his principles, he only gave an initial impetus, and then he had to rely on the wisdom of his subjects to constantly improve these systems.

Tax reform is the highlight of Liu He's third round of reform and new policy, which requires a huge amount of material and manpower mobilization, and it cannot be completed overnight.

From September to November, Liu He and the entire cabinet were almost busy around the matter.

However, even if there was no one to stop the trouble, it still took a lot of experience.

And these two months happen to be the busiest time for Chang'an City.

Not only did they have to assess the county's plans as in previous years, but they also had to collect this year's taxes in accordance with the old law, and the first national examination of the imperial examination system was also held in full swing.

In addition to these things, the court also had to constantly provide military food and grass to the Han army, so the entire Chang'an City and even the entire Han Dynasty entered into busyness and chaos.

This kind of busyness and chaos is unprecedented in the Han Dynasty, and the officials up and down are too busy to take care of going home to rest the soup and bath price, and some people are even sick directly in the government office.

But it also shows a thriving scene.

Liu He, who was standing at the top, saw all this clearly, and felt extremely relieved and comfortable, this is what he looked like in his heart to change the law.

With this sense of achievement, all the previous struggles with the DPRK and China opposition were worth it.

After several rounds of new policies, many things are in the ascendant for the time being, and this tax reform will not bear fruit until next year.

However, the first new policies implemented a few months ago have already brought good results to Dahan.

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