Tax Reform

Tax Reform

Requires

  • Arts:

Enables

  • Buildings:
  • Arts:

Effects

  • +5% bonus to clan-wide tax rate

Description

Farming is a harsh, unrelenting and threadbare existence, particularly when you are taxed on your harvest, the land you work, and the home you live in. Sometimes, you are expected to pay special taxes charged to support the aristocracy. A daimyo, however, cannot tax his subjects for long before they have nothing left, or turn rebellious. Tax reform allows rice, gold, physical labour or, indeed, almost anything else, to be used to pay a tax account. All are equally valid, and everyone can now pay properly!

In medieval Japan the peasantry were subject to crippling taxes on the land they worked, their produce and their homes. They also paid "emergency" taxes on top as they were required for special projects. Takeda Shingen (1521-1573) introduced tax reforms that applied to nearly everyone from religious temples to samurai families. He also replaced corporal punishment for minor offences with a system of fines. Everyone had to pay something, which was at least a little fairer. He was not, however, a man over-blessed with kindness or fairness, and was infamous for owning two large cauldrons, used when needed to boil those who crossed him!