Protect Our Clan Leader

Chapter 1042: Chapter 64: The Wind Rises in Shangjing! Shou Zhe’s Certain Death (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_4 Chapter 1042: Chapter 64: The Wind Rises in Shangjing! Shou Zhe’s Certain Death (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_4 But precisely because they grappled at society’s very foundation, constantly in touch with all sorts of people from different backgrounds, they always had access to secret channels of information and often possessed an extremely keen sense of smell.

Some skilled peddlers had a sense of smell that was by no means inferior to the shopkeepers of regular commercial firms.

In all of Longzuo County, Changning was undoubtedly the place with the most opportunities to make money, and within Changning, Ping’an Town and New Peace Town were certainly the richest.

The bulk of the Wang family’s purchases came from the Qian Family business, which was very good at land logistics. As for smaller and more expensive items, they were procured through Keep Achieving Commercial Firm.

Even so, countless peddlers sniffed out business opportunities.

The Wang family’s appetite for various seeds, metals, high-quality timber, strange minerals, oils, and other high-quality raw materials was virtually bottomless.

Although Qian Family business and Keep Achieving Commercial Firm handled most of the demand, they couldn’t completely clean the bottom of the pot. Peddlers, on the other hand, were adept at diving into the lower markets to dig out minor transactions.

They scoured the lowest layers of society for resources needed by the Wang family, then transported them to Ping’an Town to obtain a substantial return on their investment. With this “relationship,” they would then buy some of the Wang family’s specialty products and continue to explore their obscure niche markets. Quite a few peddlers did indeed get rich, and their operations grew larger.

The Wang family, both intentionally and unintentionally, supported some of the more successful peddlers to fill the growing gaps in their raw material needs. Thousands upon thousands of peddlers, like hardworking ants, foraged for resources and then transported them bit by bit to the Wang family.

Each time, the amount was not large, but the total volume of resources added up to a significant sum.

Among the comings and goings of the peddlers, there were two newcomers—a young and an old peddler. Although they were new, they were very knowledgeable about the Wang family’s needs.

They had an old horse cart loaded with rough iron ingots that the Wang family desired most, as well as quality fabrics, musk, refined charcoal, and other goods in high demand within the Wang family’s territory.

After declaring and inspecting the goods and their identities, they quickly passed through the checkpoint established by the Wang family and obtained temporary passes for both Ping’an Town and New Peace Town.

Afterward, like other peddlers, they boarded the ferry to Ping’an Town.

The old horse cart trundled along the smooth and wide roads of Ping’an Town, free from the sharp gazes of the Wang family’s soldiers who looked at people as if they were examining criminals. The two peddlers, both the elder and the younger, finally relaxed.

As they drove the cart, they looked around, as if admiring the unique sights of Ping’an Town that were different from other places.

Suppressing his curiosity, the younger peddler asked, “Master, I’ve heard that the Wang family has covered the sky with one hand in Longzuo County, and seeing it today, it’s truly so. Even their permits are highly unusual. Isn’t our secret investigation dangerous?”

“I’ve heard that there have been precedents of tax officials who went undercover and mysteriously died in the local areas.”

“Don’t worry, there are at least eight thousand peddlers coming and going daily in Ping’an Town, if not ten thousand. Let alone the fact that it’s impossible for them to thoroughly question everyone’s origins, our disguised identities are both genuine and reliable, ensuring a high level of safety,” the other responded.

“Besides, the tax evasion methods of prominent families are nothing new. I’ve been a tax officer for so many years; I’m well aware of such things. It will be easy to identify and report them. Before long, we’ll be able to complete our mission and retire successfully.”

Upon hearing this, the young man was instantly energized and began pestering his master to tell him about the different methods prominent families used to evade taxes.

With no choice left, the old tax officer explained.

“One method is ‘hiding land within a mu.’ The tax officer, disguised as an old peddler, explained, “This method is quite simple. One need only relax their grasp a few inches when measuring the land, and a plot that was supposed to be recorded as one mu and one fen can be registered as just one mu. The excess one fen of land is then ‘hidden.’ Multiply this by a thousand or ten thousand mu, and the amount of hidden land becomes significant. This hidden land doesn’t get reported in measurements, so naturally, it’s excluded from taxes.”

In the early stages of land development, prominent families held high prestige locally, and the government offices often turned a blind eye, so achieving this was not difficult.

“To address this, there’s a very simple solution. That is to remeasure the land. This time, I’ve brought the Engineering Section’s latest ‘portable land ruler,’ which can precisely measure land. Once we’re on the field, we’ll quiet measure it to see if the Wang family has played any tricks with ‘hiding land within a mu.’ Then, we’ll report it, and with a thorough joint inspection and re-measurement by the Three Departments, we’ll force the Wang family to spit out the hidden land,” he continued.

“The second method is the ‘late-cultivation method.’ The experienced old tax officer spoke clearly and authoritatively, “This method is also simple. It’s about reporting false timelines during land reclamation.”

“Let’s say a piece of land could be cleared and ready for cultivation in five years, but the prominent family doesn’t report it, instead dragging it out for over twenty years before registering the land. Plus, after land registration, there’s a fifty-year tax exemption period, effectively adding twenty extra years of tax-free benefits.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com