Chapter 261： war tax

Kevin took the tax that his family had to pay, went out reluctantly, and walked to the tax payment point in the center of the village within a few steps.

A large group of people had already surrounded there, and on the temporary high platform, a person was yelling something loudly.

"Folks, this time, in addition to the usual poll tax, we have to pay an additional tax?"

With a bang, the crowd exploded.

"Why pay an extra tax?"

"It's too much, we don't have much money in our hands."

"This is going to force us to a dead end!"

The villagers were furious and expressed their dissatisfaction.

"It's like this! It's like this! Listen to my explanation!"

The people who came to collect taxes shouted loudly, which finally calmed down the villagers.

"Aren't we fighting the usurper? When the battle started, gold coins flowed out like water. The soldiers at the front had to eat and drink, their weapons had to be polished, and their armor had to be mended. They all need money!"

"So, the newly added tax is called [War Tax]! It will stop collecting as soon as the war is over. But during the war, we have to pay it! Life is not easy for everyone, and Master Baden understands it, so he Mercifully reduced the war tax to 20 coppers apiece."

"20 copper coins! Are you going to eat people?"

Kevin yelled through the crowd, "We're not paying!"

"Yes, my family simply can't afford so much money! We won't pay either!"

"If you don't pay, don't pay! If you pay, you will starve to death!"

Driven by him, more and more people said they would not pay taxes.

"You... how could you do this? This was confiscated on the order of Master Baden himself."

Upon hearing Master Baden's name, the villagers' aura suddenly dropped a little.

Lord Baden is a well-known big landlord in this area. Many people regard him as the tax officer appointed by the lord here, representing the authority of the lord, but Kevin knows that this master Baden is just a [village taxpayer] ] That's all.

Kevin boarded the high platform: "Master Baden's personal order is useless. Only the lord can decide whether to add new taxes. Let me ask you, is there a decree issued by the lord's mansion to prove it?"

"The decree of the Lord's Mansion?"

Several servants of the Baden family were stunned by the question, obviously they didn't have such things on hand.

Seeing the other party being questioned, Kevin snorted and shouted to the villagers in the audience: "Folks, if they can't come up with the decree of the lord's mansion, then Baden is setting up miscellaneous taxes privately, and we can report him to the lord. .”

"Hey!" The crowd in the audience went into a commotion.

"Absurd! Nonsense! Nonsense!"

Several Baden's servants were in a hurry and immediately fought back.

"Master Baden's words represent the will of the lord! He is the representative of the lord's mansion here!"

Kevin asked: "Does the lord agree with him to increase taxes?"

"Since Master Baden said it, it must be agreed by the lord!"

"We must see the decree!"

"You don't know a single character, even if you are given a decree, you can't understand it."

"Unfortunately, I know some characters, please show them!"

"You...don't refuse to pay taxes!"

The villagers became more and more agitated when they saw that the servants of the Baden's family refused to show the decree from Kevin's mouth.

"Vampire! Vampire!"

"Get out of our village!"

I don't know who took the lead, some garbage was thrown on the servants.

"You gangsters, wait for me!"

The servants of the Baden family gave Kevin a thorn in his eyes, and fled in a hurry amid the villagers' garbage farewell, not even collecting poll tax.

…

In a big mansion, the landowner Baden was chatting with some squire friends, and bursts of laughter from time to time.

His butler rushed in hastily, and said with a mournful face, "Master, it's not good!"

The chubby Baden pulled his face, "It's outrageous to panic! What's the matter, is the sky falling?"

"Having a problem collecting taxes..."

As soon as Baden raised his hand, the butler immediately shut up.

"Everyone talk here first, I'll be right back. You! Come with me."

Baden got up, apologized to the guests, and led the servants to another room.

"Say! What's the matter?"

"The newly added [War Tax], the salt people said that they will only pay it after seeing the decree issued by the Lord's Mansion."

"It's not easy? Just find someone with a lot of ink and just make a fool of yourself?"

"It can't be helped, master, there seem to be some knowledgeable people in that village. If it is found out that the lord's decree was forged by us, then..."

The butler gestured towards his neck in fear, and made a beheading motion.

"Hmph! You came up with this idea, but now you're so scared!"

"Uh... I didn't expect that group of illiterate salt people would ask this."

"What about the poll tax? How much has it been collected?"

"Uh... At that time, the salt people were quite emotional, and they ran back with some fear."

"Trash! Trash! Get these people out of here immediately, I don't want to see them again."

Baden was furious and vented.

Finally he commanded:

"Send another team to that village immediately, bring more sticks, and give a good lesson to those who dare not pay taxes. Hmph, I don't believe that these untouchables are disobedient!"

"Yes, sir!"

The butler turned and left.

Ever since the new lord succeeded to the throne and started some [agricultural reforms], Baden has accumulated a lot of resentment.

Because besides the cultivated land registered in the lord's mansion, his family also invaded a lot of public land in private.

The public land is the land directly owned by the lord. Ordinary people can collect firewood and occasionally graze in it, but large-scale planting of crops is definitely not allowed unless you buy management rights from the lord. In this way, it has to be registered in the lord's mansion, and once registered, it has to be taxed in the lord's mansion according to the area or output. In addition to paying taxes to the lord's mansion, one-tenth of the output has to be handed over to the church.

However, if it is secretly planted on the public land without letting the Lord's Mansion know, then there is no need to pay any taxes, and 100% of the harvested food belongs to oneself.

It's not just the Baden family, many country gentry and landowners have done this, and it's been like this for generations, and the lords of the past have also turned a blind eye.

Unexpectedly, Hansel, the Minister of Agriculture, came here last year, advocating [cultivated land consolidation] everywhere. The first thing he did was to check the amount of cultivated land in various places.

Hansel took people to visit various places in person, and large areas of encroached public land were exposed. After consulting the current lord, the operation was performed on this phenomenon.

For those who admit to occupying cultivated land, as long as they pay a fine three times the land price, then the land will be yours, and you can obediently pay taxes in the future.

For those who fail to pay three times the fine, the fine will be doubled and the cultivated land will be taken back.

There are also occupied cultivated lands that are not claimed, so they will be taken back directly.

In the process, the landowner Baden's family lost a lot of property and was forced to pay a large fine.

Master Baden, who was extremely heartbroken, thought about how to make up for his losses all day long. His butler gave him an idea - to use his status as a tax collector to levy [war tax] on the grounds of the recent war between the two lords in the Northwest Gulf 】.