Tax Reform 3

Translator: Cinder Translations

...

"Ah! I still need to prepare some materials." Bernard checked his pocket watch and said, "You go ahead to the second floor meeting room and wait for a bit."

"Alright, you go ahead and be busy, see you later," Hansel replied, waving goodbye to Bernard.

He climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked down the west corridor to the meeting room, where he found someone was already waiting—Steve Fielding, the head of the tax bureau, who had only taken office half a year ago.

However, saying he had only recently taken office wasn't entirely accurate, as Steve had already been one of Alden's tax officials back when Paul's father, Old Grayman, was still alive. He had worked under the previous chief secretary, Old Ford. Since the establishment of the government council by the current lord, tax-related work had not been assigned to a separate department; it continued to be overseen directly by Old Ford, with Fielding and other tax officials still under his leadership.

It was only half a year ago that Earl Grayman felt the need for a separate institution for tax matters. Thus, the government council added a new department—the tax bureau. At Old Ford's suggestion, Steve Fielding stood out among many tax officials and was appointed as the head of the tax bureau by Earl Grayman.

"Good day, Sir Abbott."

Upon seeing Hansel enter the meeting room, Fielding immediately stood up to greet him, showing great respect for Hansel, who was from the royal capital.

"Good day, Steve. How many times do I have to say it? You can just call me Hansel; we are colleagues and friends."

Hansel responded with a bit of helplessness.

"Ha ha, I've just gotten used to it verbally, but rest assured, I've always regarded you as a friend."

Fielding said with a smile, slightly embarrassed as he scratched his head.

Hansel sat down beside Fielding and lowered his voice, saying, "Do you think this meeting might discuss financial issues?"

Fielding replied, "I think it's very possible. Perhaps you already know that the war at Horns Bay has greatly impacted our trade. From the tax data of Frand Port, our own merchant ships in Northwest Bay are holding up, but the number of merchant ships from Horns Bay has decreased by nearly one-third compared to last quarter. As far as I know, some have been ordered to stay at the port waiting for summons, while others have been conscripted to fight."

Hansel and Fielding chatted, exchanging information and opinions.

During this time, more people entered the meeting room: Chief Secretary Ford of the government council, Cecil, the head of the intelligence department, and Mark Palmer, the head of the forestry department...

Surprisingly, Chief Justice Thomas of the lord's court also arrived at the meeting room.

Finally, Earl Paul Grayman and Earl Malon Ganard entered together, with Bernard following them into the meeting room.

Everyone stood up and bowed to the two Earls.

Paul waved to everyone and took his seat at the head of the meeting table. Malon sat to his left, while Wackley Ford, the head of the government council, took the seat to Paul's right. Bernard sat at a small desk behind Paul as the meeting recorder.

"Everyone, the main purpose of bringing you all here today is to discuss how to balance fiscal revenue and expenditure."

Paul introduced the topic of the meeting, raising a stack of papers and saying:

"This is the latest report, and I'd like everyone to review it."

Then, each person present received a copy, and everyone quickly skimmed through it.

The report detailed the government council's revenue and expenditure situation for the most recent quarter, which, as everyone expected, showed a significant deficit.

The cause was obvious to everyone—the situation at Horns Bay.

The Earl wouldn't call everyone here just to redistribute budgets to various departments, everyone thought.

If adjustments were made earlier, some departments would undoubtedly see cuts in their budgets.

Everyone was quickly brainstorming in their minds, considering how to highlight the importance of their respective departments to avoid being on the receiving end of Earl Grayman's budgetary cuts.

"Ahem!" Seeing the worried expressions on the officials' faces, Paul cleared his throat and said loudly, "I've already discussed with Malon and Chief Ford that the current expenditures should not be changed."

Phew! Everyone sighed in relief.

"Since cutting costs is not suitable at this time, what we need to do is find new sources of revenue. We must expand the fiscal income of the government council."

Cecil, the head of the intelligence department, thought to himself, "This is easy; we can just restore those miscellaneous taxes abolished in recent years."

However, the Earl's next words shocked everyone in the meeting room:

"We have discussed at length and believe that the current tax system is no longer suitable, particularly the tax farming system."

The tax farming system is a tax collection method widely practiced among humans—kings or lords do not directly tax their subjects but delegate the responsibility to someone local, setting a target amount for taxes to be collected. This person is known as a tax farmer. The tax farmer collects taxes from the people in their area on behalf of the king or lord, then pays the agreed amount to the king or lord, keeping any excess for themselves as payment for their efforts.

This was how it should have been, but...

"I've heard a saying,"

A look of indignation appeared on Paul's face.

"Pay the lord's share, keep just enough for the people to survive, and keep the rest for oneself. My heavens, listen to this—keeping just enough for the people to survive; is this something a person would say?"

"It's easy to imagine how much profit these so-called tax farmers have been making in between."

Paul stood up, pacing beside his seat while waving his fist.

"So, what do you mean?"

Hansel asked.

Paul replied, "Abolish the tax farming system and let our tax bureau send people directly to the countryside to collect taxes."

Abolish the tax farming system? Everyone's heart sank in shock.

Cecil asked in astonishment, "Um... Earl, what if there's a backlash... I mean, what if those tax farmers resist your new policy? I doubt they'll sit idly by while their interests are harmed."

"They have no choice! What reason do they have to retain their privileges?"

Paul waved his fist in the air.

"The so-called tax farming was merely a compromise made under the conditions of a backward social structure."

"In our Alden, Baylden, and Emden, there is no need to make such a compromise."

"In recent years, the roads to the towns have been repaired, and we now have government officials stationed in the countryside; we can easily collect taxes ourselves without relying on others."

(End of the Chapter)

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Translated 4 Series, 1.65K+ Chapters and 2.01M+ Words.