Only one can come out alive.
As a lawyer, Zhang Fei rarely makes harsh remarks, so this statement was definitely not a joke.
If tax revenues really fall precipitously, the central government will certainly be held accountable, and will conduct a thorough investigation because it will worry that this will trigger a chain reaction, in which case the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs will bear the primary responsibility.
Because it is the police station that chooses to report it voluntarily. If you don't come, nothing will happen.
This will directly lead to the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs going to war with the landlords.
Then both sides can only fight desperately.
Although Zhang Fei thought that it would not come to this, Xu Zhiqian was still very worried.
She followed Xu Zun to serve as an official in various places all year round, but no matter whether she was a county magistrate or a prefect, her primary responsibility was to collect taxes.
She is very clear about the situation here.
If self-employed farmers pay taxes based on land deeds and the total tax amount cannot be reduced, it will be tantamount to breaking the existing tax system.
Because often the big landowners do not pay taxes. They are powerful and can use various methods to evade taxes, but the government must receive enough land taxes, otherwise, they will not be able to report to the higher-ups. Therefore, this part of the tax will be shared by the second, third, and fourth-class households.
With so many people sharing the taxes of a small number of people, if it is a year of good harvest, the people can survive temporarily, and the key is that there is no way to object.
But once taxes are paid based on land deeds, the situation is reversed and taxes begin to flow upward.
Large landowners may have to pay many times more taxes than usual.
But it is extremely difficult to extort even a penny from the landlords!
On the way back, Xu Zhiqian was very worried and said, "Those big landlords are very powerful in the local area. If they conceal or lie about the situation, can we really defeat them?"
This is different from being in the capital, where we have the support of the emperor and Wang Anshi, so there is no need to worry.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "This possibility is not high."
Xu Zhiqian asked: "Why?"
Zhang Fei said: "In fact, those landlords are not above the law. They also have to abide by the law. They often have only one way to deal with the court, which is to incite the people to cause trouble. Whenever there are historical records about local riots and public resentment, the reasons are all shockingly similar..."
Xu Zhiqian said: "Increase taxes."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "During the prosperous times, the landlords colluded with the government and used their privileges to avoid taxes, and the people could help them pay the bills. As long as there were no financial problems, the court would not investigate strictly, and everyone would muddle through and prioritize stability.
However, once there are financial problems, the court will inevitably choose to increase taxes and at the same time increase supervision. As long as the landlords are not stupid, they will use the tax increase to provoke conflicts between the people and the court, stir up public resentment, and thus force the court to make concessions.
It can be seen that the root of this problem has never been the landlords, but the court itself, because the court always likes to bundle tax inspections and tax increases together. In simple terms, it is a law-making robbery, and no one can stand this. "
Xu Zhiqian nodded thoughtfully: "Yes, I heard that when Mr. Bao was the transport commissioner, he checked the taxes, and many landlords still paid taxes honestly. This time the court did not increase taxes."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "In fact, in a sense, it is still a tax reduction. If we conduct tax inspections under such circumstances, it will be difficult for the landlords to create unrest, so they can only circumvent it by legal means."
Xu Zhiqian smiled and said, "If we fight law with law, how can they be a match for our public security, procuratorate and courts?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "That's right. The professionalism of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs is also one of the key reasons. The officials before were very corrupt and did not respect the law. Even if there were no problems, they could create problems in the process of collecting taxes.
So my advice to the police is to collect as many as they want, and take whatever they say. We will settle the score later, and this is all to prevent them from inciting public resentment.”
Xu Zhiqian asked, "What if they incite the people to conceal or lie about the situation?"
The landlords don’t want to pay taxes, and the people don’t want to pay either!
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, because we only arrest them. We only catch the big fish and don't need to worry about the common people. This is a judicial issue, not an administrative issue. We can investigate whoever we want. If we don't find any, we can only say they are lucky!
But I don't expect them to take this gamble. After all, the taxation power is not in the hands of the public security, procuratorate or courts, but in the hands of the government, so they won't go too far. They are not completely sure now, so they will most likely choose to lie dormant and wait for an opportunity to strike back."
... ...
The fact was just as Zhang Fei had expected. In fact, the landlords had been secretly preventing the self-cultivating farmers from declaring their status, using various threats. However, because the royal police had previously helped retired soldiers register, they had won the trust of the people.
In addition, self-employed farmers are very clear that they can pay much less tax by declaring tax voluntarily, so instead of hesitating, they go to pay taxes in advance.
Once they run out, all the landlords will be exposed.
Those big landowners can only seek cooperation from the government first.
Guangji Temple.
But in a large room, there were more than ten people sitting, all of them had big bellies and were dressed in gorgeous clothes.
They are all well-known landlords and wealthy people in Hezhong Prefecture.
"This self-declaration is simply child's play. I have sent people to try it, but the Royal Police didn't ask any questions. They only looked at the title deed you showed them, and they would collect taxes based on the amount marked on the title deed."
"I know some people in the police station, and they all said they had never seen such a relaxed tax collection method. The police station reports whatever they collect."
"It's definitely not that simple. If that were the case, how could the government collect taxes? There must be a conspiracy."
"President Wei, do you know what is going on?"
At this point in the discussion, everyone couldn't help but look at Wei Yingfang who was sitting right above them.
Wei Ying was holding a cup, seemingly immersed in the fragrance of tea. When he saw everyone looking at him, he slowly put down the cup and said, "I have already found out about this voluntary declaration. It is not a conspiracy, but an open one."
"Open conspiracy?"
Everyone was stunned.
"Exactly."
Wei Yingfang said: "You may not know yet, but voluntary declaration originated from the exemption tax. It was once implemented in Bianliang City and achieved great success. It was no problem for large landowners who paid hundreds of strings of cash."
"Hundreds of strings of cash?"
Everyone couldn't help but gasp.
A landlord named Liu Changqing said, "How is this possible?"
Wei Yingfang said: "This self-declaration is exactly the opposite of the previous tax collection system. Before, everything was found out before collecting taxes, and then taxes were collected.
The difference between self-declaration and tax declaration is that you first pay the tax and then conduct random inspection. The former is less likely to be illegal, because if you do not pay the tax, you will be arrested and taken to the government immediately, so everyone will pay the tax.
However, in the latter case, some people will inevitably choose to take shortcuts, but once they are caught, it is illegal and they will be punished and fined. In Bianliang, some big landlords were directly sentenced to bankruptcy. "
Those big landowners just felt a chill down their spines.
In the previous method, when the yamen runners came to collect taxes, both parties could engage in bargaining and discuss anything. Generally speaking, it would not violate the law.
If it really doesn't work, then just pay it.
However, voluntary declaration is likely to be illegal.
Because voluntary declaration will be checked after tax, it is a foregone conclusion. Once caught, it is tax evasion and will inevitably be punished.
Cao Yi said, "It is said that this method is specially prepared for big landlords like you. First of all, ordinary people only have one land deed, so it is difficult to conceal it even if they want to.
Secondly, if I were a superintendent, I would also choose to spot check the big landowners first, as only the landowners have the money to pay the fines.”
After hearing this, everyone gnashed their teeth in hatred.
"How ridiculous! The police, procuratorate and courts are so cruel!"
"I knew they had bad intentions."
"No! We can't surrender."
... ...
When it comes to money, there is nothing to say.
It is deep-rooted hatred.
There must be no compromise.
Dry!
"President Wei. The collection of taxes has always been handled by the government. Why do the public security, procuratorate and courts intervene?"
"Also, what about those sub-offices? The investigation into the military pay issue is almost complete, so why haven't they left yet? Do we have to abolish the positions of chief and head of household here and just let their police station take charge?"
"Everyone, please be patient."
Wei Yingfang waved his hand, "Yes, we agreed to let the police station assist the government in collecting taxes, but the police station does not have this authority."
"Why?"
"Don't you know about the previous lawsuits?"
Wei Yingfang said in a slightly excited tone: "You are afraid of being sued, and so are we. Now that politics and law are separated, we may also be sued. If we use the old law to collect taxes, if we are found out by the procuratorate, we may be sued in the imperial court. Based on this, those clerks dare not collect taxes. In addition, many yamen runners in the government office have been transferred to the police station. How can we have so many people to collect taxes in the government office?"
Liu Changqing said: "In that case, Judge Wei wants us to surrender without a fight."
Wei Yingfang closed his eyes and sighed, "Fortunately, the terrifying tax commissioner has not yet come to Hezhong Prefecture. Currently, the police station does not have the power to collect and inspect taxes.
This part of power is currently in the hands of our government office, but you must ensure that this year's autumn tax is no less than last year. In this way, we will not conduct a detailed investigation. Otherwise, the procuratorate may intervene in the investigation, and the procuratorate and the imperial court have the power to sentence those who evade taxes."
Everyone was looking at Wei Yingfang.
It seems to say, that's it
You might as well not say anything.
Once the self-employed farmers pay the taxes, the rest will all be ours.
Wei Yingfang said, "I can only help you up to this point. If you don't want to, that's up to you. But if anything goes wrong, don't come to me."
One person suddenly said, "The Royal Court and the Procuratorate must also abide by the law. As long as we can avoid taxes legally, they can't do anything to us."
Wei Yingfang immediately said, "That's right. As long as you can legally evade taxes, I guarantee that the public security, procuratorate and courts will be helpless against you."
Cao Yi said: "But can you legally avoid taxes on all your land? You have seen the investigation methods of the procuratorate and the trial methods of the imperial court. Can you really not find out?"
Everyone looked at each other, with guilt in their eyes.
Temples can avoid taxes, and officials also have privileges, but they are all limited. Small officials can only be exempted from about 20 acres of land.
Normally, everyone turns a blind eye to it, but if they really check, how can they not find out
The land cannot be hidden!
Liu Changqing suddenly said, "President Wei, Judge Cao, this public security and judicial order is very uncomfortable for everyone. Shouldn't we help each other?"
They also know that Wei Yingfang and others hate the police, procuratorate and courts very much, but we are in the same boat!
At this moment, we should stick together!
"Of course."
Wei Yingfang said: "We have tried various methods before, and the lesson we learned is that using illegal things to compete with the public security, procuratorate and courts will only bring trouble to ourselves, so we can only find another way."
One person asked: "Stop the Green Seedling Method?"
"That's right." Wei Yingfang nodded.
Everyone couldn't help but look hesitant again.
We've talked about it before, but they were reluctant and kept it vague.
Wei Yingfang said: "You all should have heard that the judicial reform was presided over by Sima Xueshi, and the new law was presided over by Wang Xueshi, and most people in the court hope to use the judicial reform to deal with the new law."
Before he could finish, someone said, "But if we use low interest rates to deal with the Qingmiao Law, it would be like us dealing with the New Law. Isn't this just provoking another powerful enemy?"
Wei Yingfang said: "Do you dare to do this normally? To blatantly go against the imperial decree."
"We don't dare to do that now!"
"But the present is different from the past. Now the politics and the law are separated. As long as we don't break the law, why shouldn't they allow us to lend money at low interest rates? We can use the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs to protect our rights. In this way, isn't it the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs that are fighting against the Qingmiao Law?"
Everyone exchanged glances.
"But it is said that the Qingmiao Law is to combat usury among the people. If we all lend money at low interest rates, the Qingmiao Law will be successful."
"Ha ha!"
Cao Yi burst into laughter when he heard this.
"Why is Judge Cao laughing?"
"You are so naive." Cao Yi said, "The controversy over the Qingmiao Law has lasted for several months. If it was just to crack down on usury, would it be necessary to do this
The purpose of Wang Xueshi's Qingmiao Law was to collect money for the country. Why did the government use Wang Xueshi's reform? It was not for usury, but because the government's finances were in great deficit. Once the Qingmiao Law failed to make money, the new law would become a joke, and Wang Xueshi's reform would fail. How could Wang Xueshi be willing to fail? The two sides would definitely fight. "
"The court only sees usury, but has not thought about how difficult it is to collect debts. They even have to send someone to keep an eye on it. The court has set the monthly interest rate at 2%, which is just over 20% per year. If we lower it further, we won't make much money."
"You won't make much money, but the existence of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs is to make you earn several times more money every year. Think about it carefully."
These big landowners all looked conflicted.
Damn it!
It’s a loss anyway!
It’s so difficult to make them spit out money...!
In the end they didn't give an answer.
After leaving Guangji Temple and getting on the carriage, Wei Yingfang asked, "Do you think they will agree this time?"
Cao Yi said: "They have no choice. When the autumn tax is paid, they will definitely stand on our side."
They now realize that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have widespread support in the court and that they cannot defeat them. They can only unite with the big landowners and provoke a struggle between the new law and the judiciary in Hezhong Prefecture. In this way, they can win the full support of the ministers in the court.