Chapter 47

Listen (This chapter is more challenging, as I haven't seen any book that has accurately depicted the tax collection process in rural areas during the Ming Dynasty. Please vote, and there will be another update tonight.)

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The system design of the Ming Dynasty was entirely determined by the will of the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang. For example, regarding tax collection, he believed that corrupt officials would take the opportunity to oppress the people, causing them great suffering. Therefore, he devised a method of "good people governing good people." Counties were divided into several grain districts based on the level of taxation, and the wealthiest and most reputable households in each district were appointed as grain officers, responsible for the full collection and delivery of taxes.

Typically, a grain officer was responsible for collecting between several thousand to ten thousand dan of grain, but in some cases, it could be as little as a few hundred dan. This mainly depended on the geographical environment of the state or county. For example, in places like Fuyang County, where "eight parts are mountains, half a part is water, and half a part is fields," the population is scattered, and arable land is scarce. A grain officer usually handled the tax collection for one township, covering about a dozen li and a thousand dan of grain.

During the tax collection season, the grain officer and his deputy would inform the village heads to organize the villagers to pay their taxes at a designated location on a specified date. During this period, the government would send clerks to act as accountants and supervisors. This semi-official collection method was not very efficient; at most, two or three li of households could complete their taxes in a day, and it would take about a week to finish the collection, which was considered quite efficient.

Actually, it wasn't a small number. Two or three li meant two to three hundred households, and the meticulous work of verifying each household's taxes was indeed very labor-intensive. Therefore, during the tax collection period, the grain officer and the county clerks would arrive at the riverbank before dawn, set up tables and spread out the registers, waiting for the villagers to come and pay their taxes.

As the sky just began to brighten, a dozen open boats broke through the morning mist and approached the riverbank of Shangxin Township. The boats were covered with straw mats, pressing the hulls low, and inside were new rice grains... These were the villagers from the nearest li, coming to pay their taxes.

A long-term worker of the Chao family loudly reminded the village head to park the boats as closely as possible to make room for the later arrivals.

The Ming Dynasty implemented the Li Jia system, where each li consisted of ten jia, with a total of 110 households. Among them, the top ten households were called the village heads, and their household heads took turns serving as the village head. The remaining 100 households were called the jia heads, and they took turns serving as the jia head. Therefore, under each village head, there were always ten jia heads, each managing ten households.

The village head instructed each jia head to follow the procedure, then jumped onto the dock and walked to the end of the narrow wooden bridge. He saw a long table in front of him, with account books and writing materials on it. Behind the table were two chairs. On the left sat Chao Tianjiao, wearing a dark purple robe and a six-sided hat, and on the right sat a young man in a white robe, wearing a clerk's cap, who was likely a clerk from the county.

The village head bowed deeply to both of them and said to Chao Tianjiao, "Sir, the autumn grain from our eighteenth li has arrived. Please inspect and accept it."

"Hmm." Chao Tianjiao stroked his beard, looked at Wang Xian, and after he nodded, said, "As usual, let's start with the top households."

"Sir, you must have forgotten. Our eighteenth li has no top households," the village head said with a smile.

"Ah, that's not true. You need to pay according to the newly verified register." Chao Tianjiao flipped through the account book and said, "There are three households in total, one each in the upper, middle, and lower categories."

"Ah..." The village head was taken aback. "I haven't heard of this before."

"Didn't you just hear it now?" Chao Tianjiao said slowly. "Also, there are ten more middle households. Here is the list. Tell these thirteen households that they can either pay a portion today and the rest tomorrow, or pay everything tomorrow." He coughed and added, "Let the others come and pay their taxes first."

"How can I explain this to them in such a short time?" The village head held the list and looked distressed. "The households that have been upgraded will surely curse me to death."

In the Ming Dynasty, the people were divided into three grades and nine categories based on their land, wealth, and population. The lower the grade, the lower the tax rate, and the higher the grade, the higher the tax rate. The lowest tax rate for the lower households was one in thirty, while the highest for the top households was one in ten, a difference of three times. It's no wonder the people were so humble and modest, claiming to be middle households even if they had a thousand acres of good land, and lower households even if they had a hundred acres.

Of course, the classification was determined by the government, which created a significant space for rent-seeking. During the registration period each year, it was a feast for the household clerks, village heads, and坊长 (ward heads). With their personal interests at stake, no household dared to save money on this. Once they paid, the officials had to do their job. Now, telling them that the job couldn't be done not only meant losing the money but also the risk of uneven treatment.

Why should it be my household and not someone else's? Those unfortunate households would surely curse him to death.

"Just tell them directly!" Chao Tianjiao's brother, Chao Dijiao, standing beside him, rolled his eyes and said, "No matter what, they have to pay according to the new numbers this year. If they don't want to pay, they can wait for the government to collect, and then they can argue with the officials."

Although the first half of the tax collection process was non-mandatory and based on "good people governing good people," once there was a delay, the government would show its ugly face and send people to the countryside to collect. The harassment would be chaotic, with people screaming and crying. If they still didn't pay, the government would enforce the collection, using beatings, standing in stocks, and other methods to force them to pay, even if it meant bankrupting them...

Seeing that there was no way to reason, the village head had no choice but to turn back and let the first jia's villagers pay their taxes first, but he kept one of them aside and said, "Your household has been upgraded to the middle category."

"Why?" The man's reaction was the same as the others, shocked and asked, "Wasn't it agreed to be in the lower category?"

"That's the rule!" The village head spread his hands and said, "I've also been upgraded to the middle category. Where can I go to complain?"

"That's not right, I also paid money!" The villager was straightforward, his anger bursting out, "Why should only my household be upgraded and not others?"

The other villagers looked at him with sympathy.

"Would you be happy if everyone was upgraded?" The village head was angry and said, "The county magistrate thinks the standards are too loose and wants to tighten them. This year, your household pays more, next year, another household pays more. It's a ten-year cycle, so why are you making such a fuss?" He then scolded the others, "Hurry up and pay your taxes. Do you want to be upgraded too?"

The villagers' sympathy turned to anger, and they no longer paid attention to his argument with the village head. They hurriedly unloaded their boats and carried their loads to the queue to pay their taxes.

The first villager to pay his taxes reported his name to Chao Tianjiao. Chao Tianjiao found his household in the register and announced, "Eighteenth li, first jia, household head Ji Dajian, lower category, three dou six sheng of rice, seven liang two qian of silk." He used a private register, not the official one.

Ji Dajian responded and handed over a bundle of silk to the tax collector, who weighed it and said, "It's too damp, so it's heavier. I'll take a 20% discount. You should pay nine liang!"

This was a lie, but the villagers were used to it. Ji Dajian smiled and said, "Please weigh it again, it's exactly nine liang." If he dared to object, the tax collector would play tricks with the scale and make him pay even more.

The deputy grain officer weighed the silk and announced, "Silk tax paid!"

Ji Dajian's two sons also encountered the same problem when paying their grain. Chao Dijiao grabbed a handful of rice and said, "It's too damp, so it's heavier. I'll take a 10% discount. You should pay four dou!"

Ji Dajian's sons didn't dare to argue and carefully poured the white rice into a container marked "four dou"... The container was the standard measuring tool used by the government to collect grain, eliminating the need for weighing. Different containers were used to measure different amounts.

According to the rules, the container had to be filled to the brim and even form a small mound on top... Ji Dajian's sons filled the container as required, just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, they saw Chao Dijiao roll up his sleeves, take two steps back, focus, and then shout as he kicked the container!

The excess rice spilled out, and Ji Dajian's sons hurried to pick it up, but Chao Dijiao shouted, "Don't pick it up, it's loss. Didn't you hear? If you pick it up, you won't be allowed to pay!"

Ji Dajian's sons had no choice but to refill the container...

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Wang Xian, who witnessed this, was speechless.

Chao Tianjiao, standing beside him, said with a hint of pride, "This kick is called 'kicking the container and spilling the mound.' Kicking the container makes the rice more compact, allowing more to be added. The spilled mound is considered loss."

"Will the villagers accept this?" Wang Xian swallowed and said, this kick would make them pay at least half a dou more.

"If they don't accept it, they can refuse to pay, but when the government comes to collect, they'll pay more than just the loss." Chao Tianjiao said indifferently, "This has been the way for centuries. What can they do if they don't accept it?"

"Ah, it's really unnecessary..." Wang Xian thought, making the container slightly larger would have the same effect and look better.

"Ha ha..." Chao Tianjiao smiled and said, "The rice that falls on the ground, half of it belongs to the young master..."

"Um..." Wang Xian coughed, his father had told him not to take money that was against his conscience, but he didn't need to refuse "stupid gains" because if he didn't take it, it would all go into someone else's pocket, and they would call him a fool...

The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty was considerate of the people, setting the tax rate very low. Even with these additional charges, the villagers could still afford it. This was one of the benefits of having grain officers collect taxes. They were locals and wouldn't over-exploit the people, causing unrest, and generally wouldn't exceed the villagers' ability to pay.

After a busy day, they collected taxes from 330 households in three li, totaling 1,500 people. In reality, after forty years of rest and recuperation, the population in these three li had already exceeded 2,000, but to avoid taxes, they all hid and became unregistered residents. So, despite the apparent weakness of the tax collectors, there was a constant battle of wits between them and the villagers...

As for Chao Tianjiao, he kept two sets of accounts... He collected according to the standards of the Hongwu era and delivered according to the official register. The difference, about 20%, was kept. This 20% was split 20-80, with 20% going to Chao Tianjiao and 80% being taken back to the county by Wang Xian and handed over to the household department.

As for the rice on the ground, the government never saw it; it was privately divided among the tax collectors, making it a lucrative job.

As the sky darkened, the collected grain was stored in the warehouse, and the retained portion and the loss were sold to grain merchants and transported away overnight...

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