Chapter 689 Tax Included Person System

"My lord, this is the tax record of the wool merchant in Eel Lane."

Early in the morning, a tax officer under Vilas brought a thick record.

The Iron Throne has been advancing economic reforms, but at a slower pace than others.

Jon Clinton can be regarded as a former Prime Minister with excellent comprehensive ability. He can unite the front in wartime and govern the country in peacetime. During his time as the former Prime Minister, he quelled the rebellion and aggression of the Quartet, and in terms of economic reform, Jon Clinton has always advocated that stability should be the main thing, and try not to cause too violent turmoil.

So in Jon's era, economic reforms have always been tepid, and wars have been raging, which is also a characteristic of him.

However, the period when Jon was in charge of the Royal Council was not without economic achievements. For example, he advocated the abolition of the taxpayer system that had lasted hundreds of thousands of years in Westeros.

The taxpayer system is a person who is indirectly entrusted by the royal family to receive tax. The contractor pays the tax in advance, and then obtains the royal tax right, and then collects the tax from the taxpayer.

And Jon Clinton believes that the taxpayer's system is full of loopholes, chaos, evil, violation of honor, and even nourishes the residue of many societies, forming an evil force in King's Landing.

Because many taxpayers have obtained the right to tax from the royal family, they will take some extreme measures to blackmail the merchants, beating, smashing, robbing, burning, threatening people, picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and disrupting the normal business order.

Even in the end, the money extorted from the merchants is far higher than the normal tax, and these poor merchants still need to pay a protection fee to the golden robes at that time, otherwise they will encounter the golden robes. trouble.

However, the normal and legal businesses of King's Landing faced these layers of exploitation, and basically their profits had been squeezed dry, so they were forced to raise prices and transfer the pressure to ordinary people.

This is also the reason why once the Baratheon Dynasty and even the old Targaryen Dynasty, once encountered wars or other changes, other things have not happened and prices have taken the lead to soar.

Because the royal family was in desperate need of money, they immediately levied taxes from the taxpayers for the next few years, and the taxpayers levied more taxes on the merchants. In the end, the price of King's Landing suddenly took a plane to the sky.

The taxpayer, a very 'special' legitimate businessman who once belonged to the Minister of Finance, collects money from both ends. On the one hand, he receives the preferential taxation of the royal family as a reward for them, and on the other hand, he eats more oil and water from the merchant, which is naturally earned. of pours.

However, merchants who have no background or backing in normal operations and ordinary people in King's Landing are full of scars.

Since the first time Jon Clinton served as Prime Minister during the reign of the "Mad King" Aerys II, he has hated the evil forces of King's Landing.

How could he, who hates evil and hates sand in his eyes, just watch this group of people do bad things?

However, although Jon Clinton was the former Prime Minister of the Mad King at that time, he had little chance to show his strength.

Because he did not have the support of a master, but in the era of Viserys he returned to King's Landing and got this opportunity to show his strength.

Therefore, in terms of economic reform and national internal affairs, Jon is the first to abolish the tax-inclusive system, but the tax-inclusive system is after all a convenient way for the royal family to collect taxes.

The taxpayer system was abolished, and the tax officials of the empire became busy all of a sudden. From now on, there will be no hooligans to help them collect taxes. They can only rely on their lip service to make those greedy businessmen bit by bit. They pay the taxes they should pay.

Every time they broke their legs because of work, the tax officials couldn't help but miss those old hooligans.

Unfortunately, they have all been sent to prison by Lord Jon Clinton, and some of them have even gone north to the Great Wall or have died.

Velas's tax officer handed him a copy of the tax records of a wool merchant in the city.

It was written by a tax official during the Baratheon dynasty, but now the tax official is already guarding the frontier with the cold wind blowing on the Great Wall.

Although Jon Clinton abolished the taxpayer system, and the internal cleaning of the capital garrison was trained for a year by the commander of the Unsullied Legion Black Bug, now 'Sir Blackfish' Brynden Tully is commanded, with strict military discipline After a lot, the business operation of the merchants in Jun's Landing is no longer as difficult as it used to be.

But a businessman is a businessman, and there is no profit or business, and every cent of profit will be fought desperately. Therefore, although there is no exploitation of taxpayers and golden robes, taxes are even more difficult to collect. They will find various All sorts of reasons and sophistry of the tax officials of King's Landing.

Now this wool merchant in Eel Lane is a tough opponent. Vilas has visited twice in person, but to no avail. The other party claims that his taxes have been paid during the time of King Robert. Thirty years later, so now there is no tax to pay.

"Sir, do we still have to go today?"

"This old guy doesn't listen to what we say at all, he is completely messing around."

One of Velas's tax officers asked indignantly leaning against the table.

"What does it mean that his taxes have been paid thirty years later?"

"Can King Robert and His Majesty the Emperor be the same thing?"

"King Robert is reckless and squandering money, while His Majesty the Emperor is diligent and thrifty, and his government is upright and clear."

"I suggest to notify Lord Brynden Tully directly and send someone to seal up his shop!"

Although the tax officials of the empire can't beat, smash, loot, coerce and lure like the former hooligans, they still have an ultimate killer, and that is to notify the capital guard team and let them send someone to seal up the businessman's shop. .

"Not for now."

And Vilas Tyrell, who was sitting behind his desk and flipping through the tax records, finally finished it at this time. He thought for a moment, then shook his head and said.

Then the brown-haired young man raised his finger and pointed to several records on the book, all of which had taken place a few years earlier during King Robert's reign, when the White Walkers' invasion of war broke out.

"Old Linman didn't lie."

"He did pay his taxes thirty years later."

At that time, the Iron Throne was heavily in debt, but in order to gather all the soldiers to fight, it repeatedly borrowed money and squeezed the people's fat and oil, and the people were miserable. This wool merchant from the north was also a victim.