The Rise of the European Emperor

By the time they attacked the southernmost and westernmost Fanshe villages in the Taipei Basin, the 500 recruits who had either peed their pants, wanted to escape, or had a blank mind had basically adapted to the atmosphere of the battlefield.

The last two villages did not use the help of Marin's veterans. These recruits who had been trained rushed forward with rattan cards and wooden sticks wrapped in cloth strips to fight with the aborigines. .

Of course, not everyone can adapt. After observation, Marin found that there were nearly a hundred recruits among them, who were always timid and could not adapt to the atmosphere of the battlefield. Although the comrades brought them, they did not have any problems. But if you really encounter a hard battle, something big will happen.

This is one of the core shortcomings of the ancient conscription system, that is - some people are naturally timid, and they are not suitable for soldiers at all...

Being a soldier requires blood and bravery, and you can't be cowardly when you encounter danger. But there are people in this world who are naturally cowardly. Even if you insult his wife and daughter in front of him, he will not have the courage to resist. Such a person cannot be supported by mud. Even if you give him a weapon, he can throw it away and run away in fright. No matter how many army sticks you hit, it won't be able to arouse his blood. Because, he was born without blood.

Therefore, the kind of army composed of "every strong man will not let go" has great hidden dangers. If there is a smooth battle, the problems of these cowards will not be exposed. Once fighting against the wind, these people who are born without blood will decisively put down their weapons and run for their lives. Even if they know that running for their lives is death, they just can't help but run away.

And once these naturally cowardly people take the lead in putting down their weapons and fleeing for their lives, it will easily cause a chain reaction and lead to the defeat of the army. Therefore, although the ancient Chinese army was very large, it affected its combat effectiveness because too many cowards were forcibly recruited. Such an army either wins or loses. And the source of the great defeat is often those who are naturally timid take the lead in putting down their weapons and fleeing, which then leads to the collapse of the army...

Therefore, in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the army, those who are naturally timid must be eliminated. In this way, there will be no collapse at the critical moment.

After completing the occupation of the Taipei Basin, Marin reorganized the army. The hundreds of naturally timid people were listed by Marin alone and formed a civilian team, which was mainly responsible for transporting supplies for the army. The other 400 people were organized as formal troops.

...

As for the more than 6,000 aborigines in the dozen or so Fanshe villages captured alive by Marin in the Taipei Basin, all of them were dispersed by Marin, and they were rewarded to Kong Tai and the 100 Beihai soldiers brought by Kong Tai on a family basis. As well as the newly recruited hundreds of Han sergeants, as well as Zhang Cai's family, as serfs under their family. Kong Tai, Zhang Cai, and the soldiers were called the first landlord class with serfs in Dongfan Island.

However, there is a difference between these landlord classes and European manor owners.

Because, Marin stipulated that even senior officials like Kong Tai and Zhang Cai had to pay 10% of the harvest every year as a tax for the arable land in the family of senior officials like Kong Tai and Zhang Cai.

In addition, all people who own land in Dongfan Island must pay another 10% of the harvest as a construction tax. What is Construction Tax? This is the cost of building infrastructure such as roads and reservoirs. As for the initial 10% of tax revenue, it was used to pay government expenses and military expenses. The construction tax is mainly used for infrastructure construction, and the government cannot embezzle it without authorization. Of course, the families of officials and active soldiers can be exempted from paying the construction tax, but the basic tax must be paid.

In addition, if there is a war, a 10% war tax can be added temporarily to subsidize the huge military expenditure. But without war, this tax is not allowed. Moreover, Marin clearly stipulated in the general outline of the Dongfan Island Law that it is absolutely not allowed to levy more than 30% of taxes, even during wartime. Once you cross the line, you will be dealt with immediately. At the same time, government servants are strictly prohibited from extorting people. Once found, they will be fired immediately.

...

In fact, the ordinary people stipulated by Marin have to pay 20% of the income as tax, which is relatively high in this era. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, the land tax was only 30 one, that is, only one-thirtieth of the grain was paid as land tax. It seems that the tax rate is very low. And this is also an important reason for the low fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty.

But in fact, the land tax was only one of the taxes borne by farmers in the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the land tax, there is also the head tax. This tax was not really abolished until the Yongzheng period. In addition, there are various corvee apportionments. Even, some tax officials and government servants responsible for tax collection will raise taxes without authorization under clever names. Then, these cleverly named tax increases were all embezzled.

Therefore, on the surface, the people of the Ming Dynasty had very low taxation, but in fact, the people below were responsible for a heavy burden.

But the Ming Dynasty implemented a stupid system of "officials not going to the countryside", and the county magistrates just sit in the county seat. Those who go to the countryside to collect taxes are all tax collectors and local villagers with local strength. These people colluded to oppress and blackmail the people, and the officials didn't even know it. Or, some simply join forces and share the spoils together.

Obviously, Marin would not make this kind of mistake. He directly implemented the policy of "sharing the income per mu" in Dongfan Island, apportioning all taxes to the fields, and abolishing the poll tax. At the same time, he strictly stipulated three kinds of taxes, and publicly declared that except for these three kinds of taxes, other taxes do not exist. If there are tax collectors who collect taxes that exceed these three taxes, report them directly...

...

Marin's practice of fixing tax rates is highly respected by experienced officials like Zhang Cai. Because this tax rate looks high on the surface, but in fact, farmers pay up to 30% of the tax, but keep most of the income of more than 70%. With the output per mu of the Ming Dynasty, if more than 70% of the harvest is retained, farmers will definitely be able to live a good life.

In addition, this tax policy has also been welcomed by immigrants from the Ming Dynasty.

These Ming immigrants who became landless refugees were actually victims of exorbitant taxes. If they had not encountered exorbitant taxes, they would not have been able to go bankrupt or even sell their land.

Marin clearly stipulates that no tax increase is allowed to exceed 30% of the harvest, which is equivalent to retaining at least 70% of their income. With 70% of the land income, anyone can live well. Those who have experienced exorbitant taxes will understand the happiness without exorbitant taxes.

...

In order to prevent officials from acting positively and violatingly, Marin even ordered to set up a reporting mailbox, which was set up at the gate of the county government. The public can post a report letter to the mailbox without showing up, mainly to prevent tax collectors from raising taxes without permission.

In addition, Marin ordered that if someone sued the tax collectors for collecting taxes indiscriminately, the government should not kill Wei Bang (in ancient times, the officials should be beaten first before they were called to kill Wei Bang, so that the people would not find fault with the officials), so as to facilitate the people to report violations tax issues.

...

"Hehe, I'm copying fourth master's method!" Marin shook his head and laughed. After all, the historical achievements of Emperor Yongzheng were "split into mu" and "abolition of poll tax"...