Chapter 2541: Allowing Enjoyment, Perfecting the Legal System

Of course, the household registration statistics report does not only contain records of the number of territory residents and prospective residents, but also the types of work in the territory, personnel division, number of households granted land, and so on, which Xia Duo cares about more.

Currently, all prospective residents of the territory have been organized into the Development Department, continuously expanding north from Code Plaza along the 【Daxia-Saville Passage】.

As for the official residents, those who have already been granted land go without saying; they have long been living a comfortable and easy life. Some of them continue to participate in the expansion to earn double wages; others are content to farm their own land and enjoy the bountiful harvest of every season.

Some entrust their land to the village collective while they join the territory workshops to learn a craft and strive to improve themselves; others have developed an ambition to learn Magic, something they never had before, and study diligently alongside their children or at the territory's Night School.

Some actively exercise to join the Territory Guard to protect this hard-won, happy Homeland; others continue to study the legal codes, seeking an opportunity to join the Government Hall.

Of course, there are those who live actively and those who indulge passively, but this "active" and "passive" is merely from Xia Duo's perspective.

Residents who have been granted land are rewarded with a certain amount of Gold Coins at the land-granting ceremony based on the merits they accumulated during their participation in the expansion. Some people have never seen, let alone truly possessed, so many Gold Coins before, and in their sudden wealth, they have forgotten themselves and begun to indulge without restraint.

Regarding this, Xia Duo is not prepared to intervene. To be honest, the conditions that those pleasure-seeking residents can enjoy now are actually not as good as the basic welfare he could enjoy as a member of the general public back in his Homeland!

I just feel a bit regretful that these people did not seize the opportunity of the territory's great development to actively participate in territory construction or self-improvement; indulging now will inevitably lead to regret in the future.

But that is only my personal opinion; I am not prepared to force my own thoughts onto everyone. I have already provided the choices that should be available; whether to choose them or not is a personal matter.

After considering it carefully, Xia Duo still feels it is necessary to improve the laws. It is not just about consumption tax; other things that were previously limited by the territory's development and could not be added can also be added together now.

As long as it does not violate the Great Xia Code, the territory can fully accommodate those who want to "lie flat." In fact, just lying flat is actually very simple.

I am more inclined to believe that those people in the territory are just experiencing a retaliatory rebound after sudden wealth. Once they get used to the current enjoyment, that is actually also very interesting.

For instance, regarding the emerging trend of indulgence among residents who have been granted land, Saville suggests increasing the consumption tax to force that portion of residents to sober up and calm down, plan their new lives, and avoid eating through their savings.

For instance, regarding residents who entrust their land to the village collective, Saville suggests conducting cooperative pilot programs in villages with more entrusted land.

Because there are too many things in this world more interesting than simple sensory-stimulating pleasure, such as the wonders of Magic, or the vastness of the Main Plane and even the boundless Universe.

As the territory Administrator most trusted by Xia Duo, Saville's work is undoubtedly very competent. In the household registration statistics report, he not only recorded in detail the current living status of the residents who have been granted land but also put forward many suggestions regarding this.

These residents who have the opportunity to see true prosperity are only content with a small amount of sensory or vanity stimulation; how can this not make Xia Duo feel bitter and regretful?

At that time, it will not be so easy to intervene directly. It must be coordinated with appropriate economic laws to carry out macro-control in the general direction; otherwise, meddling blindly may cause the influence to go in unexpected directions, making the territory's development a mess.

After seeing the signs, Saville has already begun to promote cooperative pilot programs in the territory.

However, seeing this, Xia Duo did not make a decision directly. He is considering the impact of establishing a consumption tax. The current state of territory development is still far from reaching the era of a commodity economy; there is simply no need to use consumption tax to guide the direction of consumption.

Now is a good time to lay a solid foundation! Some of Saville's suggestions that do not involve current legal changes have already begun to be implemented, such as cooperatives. This was something Xia Duo mentioned in the "Agricultural Book" a long time ago; many territories in the Inner Land have already organized cooperatives, and the Great Xia Territory only refrained from doing so under Xia Duo's instructions.

For a civilization or a society, if the individuals within it do not even have the right to enjoy themselves, then that civilization or society is truly somewhat low-level.

And adding a new tax category undoubtedly requires modifying the tax law section of the current code. This, of course, is not something Saville can decide; only Xia Duo has the authority to amend the law.

Now, many residents are unwilling to farm and entrust their land to the village collective to learn a craft and become workers. When there are many such people in the same village, it is naturally simple to organize cooperatives to carry out cooperative production; of course, this is in terms of agriculture.

Rashly increasing taxes might give residents a feeling that life is unstable and development is insecure; to a certain extent, it is destroying the hearts of the people.

Of course, the public also awakens to higher-level enjoyment bit by bit. In this process, what the territory needs to do is not to force them to do anything, but necessary Guidance is indispensable.

Consumption tax, however, is a new tax category. Saville's Government Hall can only formulate administrative regulations under the law. Although it is not a matter of changing orders every morning, compared to the Code, regulations are still much more flexible.

For instance, regarding residents learning Magic, Saville suggests establishing a formal Primary Magic School in the territory. In addition, the Night School can also be expanded to increase daytime courses, rather than just teaching law or literacy.

The higher the level of civilization, the fewer restrictions there are on the freedom of individuals within it, and this, of course, includes the freedom of enjoyment. The legendary "distribution according to need" undoubtedly corresponds to a very high-level state of civilization.

But this consumption tax must also be implemented. Currently, the territory's economic structure is very simple and can be said to be completely under his control, but with the development of the territory, especially after the popularization of Magic Civilianization, the territory's economic volume will expand rapidly, and the structure will also become more complex.

For instance, the formal Primary Magic School and full-time schools—the Department of Culture and Education has also begun related work, but due to factors such as manpower and teaching materials, the new schools are still in a pilot state.

When there are more people learning crafts in the village, industrial cooperation attempts can also be carried out.

If it were in the past, for unfamiliar laws with no concept, the residents might feel that there were traps inside, but since the Great Xia Code has been implemented, the residents' recognition of the Great Xia Code is extremely high.

He does not care whether ordinary residents are greedy for enjoyment; many times, the more they enjoy, the more they can stimulate a desire for higher-level pursuits in the future.

Just like the upcoming Art Festival, perhaps it can inject a trace of humanistic vitality into the mechanical and impetuous atmosphere of the territory.

A single word from him might be more useful than a law written on paper.

At present, Xia Duo's territory is far from being able to talk about distribution according to need. Looking at the things those residents are content to enjoy now, Xia Duo feels a bit bitter—is this it?

If these people were to sprout ideas of artistic creation, even if it were just casually making up folk songs or doodling, Xia Duo would instead think more highly of them.