svetikya Chapter 96 Farm Tax Act
Chapter 96 Farm Tax Act
The Viscount with the iron sword hanging high also struggled to speak.
"Raise taxes!"
"Your Excellency, all you need to do is increase taxes on those lowly people!"
Viscount Iron Sword then began to explain his strategy.
Increase taxes.
Ordinary farmers pay 70% of their harvest as tax.
Farmers who used fertilizers had to pay 90% of their harvest as tax!
After all, fertilizers increase yields, so if their land produces more produce, then the taxes they need to pay should naturally also increase.
A very reasonable rule.
That's utterly unreasonable!
Luo Ang immediately understood why those farmers were so afraid of fertilizers that could increase yields.
Based on profitability, a typical farmer can retain about 30% of their harvest.
If they use fertilizer, they will only be able to keep 10% of their harvest!
Unless fertilizer is added and the grain yield triples, the farmer's remaining income will definitely not be as high as it was originally.
There's a saying that some people will do a business that could cost them their lives, but everyone avoids a business that loses money.
When applying fertilizer becomes a purely unprofitable business, naturally no one will use fertilizer in an attempt to increase production.
Most importantly... Luo Ang could clearly see that the villagers along the way had lived in extreme poverty and hardship.
—It seems that after paying taxes, the output they have left is barely enough to keep their family from starving.
Those who used fertilizer, after paying taxes, found that the remaining land yield was barely enough to support their families.
No wonder the farmers who received the fertilizer looked so devastated.
That's not fertilizer.
That was clearly a dead draw!
"I see." Luo Ang nodded, then asked the next question.
"The output of the land has value."
"Even if you don't pay taxes, the more the land produces, the more taxes you will receive—and the more wealth you will acquire."
"But why would you use increased taxes to make your farmers fear fertilizer?"
Luo Ang asked, puzzled.
This is something he still finds hard to understand—the reason why the war two hundred years ago, as the orchid wizard said, was able to leave behind "fertilizer" as a result of the war was because the nobles who participated in the war, even if they were conservatives, would not refuse the extra wealth brought by the fertilizer.
They also promoted the fertilizer in private.
But now, this Viscount Iron Sword in front of me is actually able to suppress his greed for the extra output from the farmland?
How is that possible?
"Your Excellency Wizard, fertilizer is made from all sorts of filthy things."
"The grain produced using these filthy things is also filthy grain."
"How can such filthy grain be worthy of being eaten by nobles?"
"Moreover, it wasn't me raising taxes—it was a tax rate uniformly set across the entire kingdom."
Viscount Iron Sword then uttered another "concept" that Loon did not understand, and his words revealed a deep-seated aversion to "tax increases."
"If nobles don't use it, wouldn't it be perfect for farmers?" Luo Ang suppressed his murderous intent and continued to ask.
"More cheap grain can feed more farmers, more farmers can cultivate more wasteland, and produce more grain."
"It can also bring you more benefits."
"How could you possibly resist the temptation of even greater profits?"
"How is that possible!" Viscount Iron Sword exclaimed. "Of course I want more profits, but it's not allowed, Your Excellency."
"Those lowly people are all lazybones. If they were allowed to save up enough cheap food to feed and clothe themselves, they would all turn into lazybones!"
"Moreover, these lowly people reproduce like pigs and dogs; if you're not careful, they'll be rolling around on the ground giving birth."
"At that time, they will eat everything in my territory."
"A uniform tax rate?" Loen looked at Viscount Iron Sword with suspicion. "You mean, when you nobles collect agricultural taxes, you strictly follow the kingdom's tax rate and don't secretly add any?"
How is that possible!
The territory belongs to the nobles, and in the nobles' territory, the will of the nobles is far more effective than the laws of the kingdom—how could the kingdom possibly control the tax rate in a noble's territory?
How could the nobles possibly abide by the tax rates set by the kingdom without increasing their taxes?
Are you kidding me!
This was the era of feudalism!
"Your Excellency, perhaps you have been cultivating for too long and have not come out to see the changes in the world."
"In the past, the tax rate in each place was naturally determined by the local nobles."
"But after a turmoil a hundred years ago, the countries jointly signed an agricultural tax treaty—the treaty stipulated the bottom line for agricultural taxes: 70% natural grain and 90% manure-fed grain."
"All nobles must abide by this covenant—if a noble fails to do so, he will be stripped of his noble title."
"If a kingdom fails to abide by this covenant, it will be destroyed by the combined forces of the other kingdoms."
"This is a blood oath forged with the destruction of three kingdoms. Your Excellency, please do not test us. We, the Iron Sword Territory, have absolutely not tampered with the agricultural taxes!" Viscount Iron Sword said, panting heavily.
Upon hearing this, Luo Ang understood completely!
So that 70% tax rate was specifically calculated, right?
The nobles now believe that there are already enough mortals on earth—any more would pose a threat to them.
Therefore, they specifically calculated the death lines of these mortals and controlled the number of ordinary people through tax rates, thereby ensuring a more stable rule.
At the same time, in order to prevent some minor nobles from being greedy for the profits from producing more grain, the nobles further divided the grain into unfertilized, pure natural grain and fertilized, dirty grain.
Since nobles only ate natural grains, using fertilizer in the fields naturally became something that was not profitable for them.
What a twisted system!
Luo Ang lowered his gaze, and a flame suddenly ignited in his heart, as if he wanted to burn everything to ashes.
He can guarantee that this tax system was not solely designed by the nobles.
The wizards of these central kingdoms must also be involved—otherwise, the death line wouldn't have been so precisely timed.
Otherwise, this tax rate would not have become a "routine" that all nobles abide by, preventing them from easily raising taxes.
As for the reason...
Luo Ang could guess that too.