Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 62: About collecting taxes

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As for you, ‘the kingdom has a large population and a lot of land, so there should be a lot of land tax’. You are really wrong! Did you know that when Mesapi and Pucheti were conquered, the decree issued by the Senate was ‘three-year tax exemption’. "Speaking of this, Merses glanced at Daves with a slight dissatisfaction, because this proposal came from the king's mouth: "The land tax in the Puchetti area was not levied until last year, and now the Dawneys It was conquered by us, but not only did we have no benefit, we had to spend a lot of money to build roads, bridges, temples, military camps... Every day the money from the national treasury was spent like running water, you said I don’t have any more. More money to pay the veterans! "

"Well, Melses, don't complain. A few Tarrant's money, I believe you can squeeze out of the treasury with your ability." Davers smiled and looked at him. .

Melses muttered a few words and stopped talking.

"It seems that you all have no major opinions on my proposal just now. I am just a rough suggestion. You still need to conduct careful consultation and discussion, and come up with a detailed and executable proposal. Give it back to me for review. But—"Davers raised a finger and reminded: "There is a principle to remember, like the salary of an ordinary official, you have to work more!"

"You should work more and earn more, so that there will be fewer elders who have nothing to do. They should fight to take up positions." Sesta clapped his hands and applauded. There are indeed some senators in the Senate, except for the decision. Except for raising your hand, you can't feel their presence at other times.

"You will be responsible for discussing and formulating this proposal. It will be handed over to me for review tomorrow morning. I will take it to the Senate in the afternoon." Daves said seriously.

Cornerus looked at the others and got a positive response from everyone, and then seriously answered: "There is no question, Your Majesty."

"Next, let me talk about another idea of ​​mine." Daves said slowly with a heavy expression: "Meercis has mentioned just now that the kingdom’s territory is expanding and the kingdom’s population is increasing. But at the same time the consumption of the national treasury is also increasing. In the past two years to the end of the year, the national treasury has almost no surplus, which is dangerous for a country. In the event of a major disaster or war, we do not have enough reserves of gold and silver. I can’t deal with it better...

The kingdom’s commercial tax revenue is increasing every year. This is related to the expansion of the territory, and it is inseparable from the efforts made by Mariji. "

In the face of Daves' praise, Mariji accepted it.

"However, the growth of commercial tax is a slow process. It is impossible for ten talants today to increase to one hundred talants tomorrow. The income from land tax is relatively fixed. For the long-term consideration of the kingdom, you don’t have to worry about Merses. In a few years, the land tax will have a big increase, but the land tax is not too much, and you don’t expect it to be able to solve the financial distress. .

If it hadn’t been for the development of the “Tino’s Favor” a few years ago, and an extra income for the treasury, today’s finances would be even more difficult. "

Speaking of which, Cornelus and Lycias are a little ashamed. They strongly opposed the implementation of "Tino's Favor" back then, thinking that it was a kind of gambling that would corrupt the morals of the people. In fact, this situation did not occur, but instead allowed the treasury to have more revenue.

"But the income of "Tino's Favor" is only about 100 tarients per year, and there will be no more changes... Now we should consider adding more financial resources!" Daves aggravated The tone made everyone's hearts jump.

Cornerus asked carefully: "Your Majesty, do you want to increase taxes?"

Daves squinted his eyes, glanced at him slantingly, and said, "Is there anything wrong with increasing taxes? You used to say that the Greek city-states did not have the tradition of collecting direct taxes. Now look at the other strong Greek states in the Mediterranean. Which one does not charge higher taxes than Dionia?

In the past, Syracuse collected taxes as high as 30% during the time of Dionysius. They now charge a 5% special war tax every year, claiming to the outside world to guard against Carthage. Who knows who they are guarding against? !

Needless to say, Sparta’s land is completely concentrated in the hands of the state. Only food that is barely enough to eat is usually allocated to citizens, and all other money is used for armaments.

And Athens, I believe you all already know. At the end of last year, they implemented a special tax system—property tax. One-fifth of the actual property of every Athens citizen is registered in the register, and one to two percent of this part of the property is collected every year, which is comparable to what we charge. The land tax of citizens is much higher!

Corinth, Argos, and Megara are all raising taxes. Needless to say, Thebes is completely controlled by Sparta, and the tribute paid far exceeds the taxes paid by its citizens. The direct taxes collected by these city-states are much higher than Dionian’s land tax. Citizens of Dionian should feel very thankful!

As the king of Dionia, I have to consider both the governance of the kingdom and the lives of the people. Of course, tax increases cannot be increased at will, and I must be cautious. But there is a kind of tax, I found that it will not affect people's lives, and it should be collected. "

Davos stopped talking, and everyone fell into thinking.

"Your Majesty, what kind of tax are you talking about?" Melses asked eagerly.

"Legacy——Property——Tax." Daves spit out a word in a deep voice.

Inheritance tax? The five rotating chairmen and Sesta are a little confused, but Melsis and Mariji are thoughtful.

"If Ancitanos were here, he would understand." Daves looked at their expressions, teased, and then explained: "This tax has been in effect in Egypt for hundreds of years. When the owner wants to transfer the property to relatives or other people, the court will also take 1/10 of the property as a tax to the state while acknowledging that the transfer is valid.

I think we can also implement an inheritance tax in the kingdom because it has many benefits. First, it can increase taxes in the kingdom. Second, it can adjust the gap between the rich and the poor among citizens.

This is particularly important. If the first citizens of a kingdom continue to accumulate meritorious services, they may have dozens of acres by the age of 50. If he were a successful kingdom businessman, he would be even more powerful. He could save dozens or even hundreds of talents in his lifetime. Compared with the new citizens who have just joined the kingdom and are working hard for survival, the children of these old citizens can live comfortably without having to work hard to contribute to the kingdom. Even if they are passed on for several generations, they can easily become the country. The big landlord and rich man. If things go on like this, it will arouse the hatred of ordinary citizens and is not conducive to the stability of the kingdom, so we need to use inheritance tax to adjust. "

"Don’t citizens work hard for merit and wealth, so that they can live a good life and be able to pass on to their children and grandchildren?! The implementation of inheritance tax, I am afraid it will dampen their enthusiasm!" Lucias asked doubtfully road.

"Work hard to get meritorious deeds so that you can live a good life, and the Kingdom fully supports you. Didn't we give various material and honorary rewards! Places, medals... and even provide excellent learning for the children of citizens And training places. But too much wealth left to the next generation will only cultivate the arrogance of the next generation of citizens, making them lack the motivation to struggle, and become greedy for pleasure and unwilling to contribute to the kingdom. So we can set Some conditions for the collection of inheritance tax are used to guide wealthy citizens to use their wealth reasonably. For example, donating to build public buildings can reduce the rate of inheritance tax... This will also allow ordinary citizens to treat these rich people in a friendly manner, which is also the collection of inheritance. The third benefit of taxes." Davers explained patiently.

"But your Majesty, some citizens have not much wealth and still have to charge inheritance taxes. Is it too harsh?" Cornelus said cautiously.

"You have raised this question well!" Daves praised, and solemnly said: "I don't think that all citizens of the kingdom are subject to inheritance tax. How much property is not subject to inheritance tax? How much property is owned Of citizens receive a 5% inheritance tax? How much property a citizen receives a 10% inheritance tax? How much property a citizen receives a 20% or 30% inheritance tax?... The five rotating chairpersons go down Afterwards, we discussed with Melsis and Mariji and came up with a rough draft, and we went to the Senate to raise the bill. I think this will be a long and intense discussion, but in the end it will be established. I am very confident about this, because every citizen of the kingdom hopes that his child will be a hero who is aggressive and can create more glorious deeds than himself, not just a waste of eating, drinking, and having fun! And our elders hope that the kingdom will be in the future. It is a stable and harmonious society rather than a bad situation where the rich are rampant, the civilians have nowhere to stand, and may cause riots at any time!"

"Your Majesty, I think the elders will appreciate your painstaking efforts, and the bill to collect inheritance taxes will definitely be established!" Anta Auris immediately expressed his attitude.

Others have also expressed their support. Among them, Melsis was the most active.

"Next, let’s talk about the All-Hellenic Scholars Conference." Speaking of this, Daves’ face also showed a solemn and excited look: "With the current strength of the Kingdom of Dionian , Is already the most powerful in the entire Mediterranean Greek country. But in many places, especially in the Greek mainland, the people there do not think that Dionia is a Greek city state, but despise that Dionia is just a group of barbarians. It’s just a big tribal alliance formed by, backward, and ignorant barbarians. We need to let other Greeks understand us, and understand that our Dionian kingdom is not only powerful, but also advanced and brilliant! If it was a few decades ago The example that the Greek world wants to learn from is Athens, so today Dionian Turíy is the center of Greek culture! Let the people of the Greek world know us and get close to us. This is why I specifically propose to hold the "All Greece Academic Conference" "The true purpose!"

Everyone was a little excited after hearing Daves' impassioned words.

Lysias said immediately: "Your Majesty, although the "Annual Meeting of All-Hellenic Scholars" is mainly held at the Dionian Academy, it is also the glory of Turri. Our Turri City Hall will do it. Do my best to assist Dionian Academy in hosting this scholar-gathering conference."