Chen Qiming simply refused to believe it!
He might be a heaven-blessed Young Master, but could he really be Marquis Zhuge Liang reincarnated?!
Everyone present had suffered a setback. This was a difficulty, but also an opportunity!
Since this man knew military supplies so thoroughly, surely he could not understand state finances too?
State finances it was!
Chen Qiming drew his brows tight, his gaze probing like a needle:
"Can you explain the changes in rent and levy from antiquity to the present, Young Master?"
Wang Yang smiled:
"Why not? Rent is collected from land, levy from households. The Han had rent but no levy. Under Emperor Gaozu, land rent was one-fifteenth of the harvest; by Emperor Jing's reign, it became one-thirtieth, and the Eastern Han retained that rate. This was a tax in kind. Besides taxes in kind, there was poll money, collected according to population. When Emperor Wu of Han waged war, each person from seven to fourteen paid twenty-three coins, which later became the established rule. Those fifteen and older paid assessment tax, assessed once each year. The amount sometimes rose or fell, but the standard remained one hundred and twenty coins.
"Thus, in a household of five, with a husband, wife, and three children, two paid assessment tax and three paid poll money, for an annual total of three hundred and nine coins. At ten coins per dou of rice, that was worth three shi of grain. An ordinary household's seventy mu of land, taxed at one-thirtieth, yielded an average annual rent of seven shi, twice the poll money and assessment tax combined. Hence land tax formed the mainstay of revenue, with population tax secondary.
"When Emperor Wu of Wei secured Hebei, he abolished poll money and assessment tax, replacing them with two bolts of silk