In Germany, there is a special museum. It is the only one of this kind in the world and only very y few people know it. Every year, the number of people who come to visit the museum is only about one thousand. What kind of museum is it?
It is a museum about taxes (税收). In this museum, you can see the history of taxes and all kinds of taxes in different countries in the world.
After visiting the museum, people can draw a conclusion (得出结论). That is from 3000 B. C. (公元前), the kings, dictators (独裁者) and finance ministers (财政部长) could tax people freely. They taxed people heavily because of such things as wars, weddings (婚礼) or road building. They needed money and they got money by taxing their citizens (公民).
In the early times of Egypt, farmers had to pay heavy taxes if the water level (水面) of the Nile River rose. The kings said that if the water level rose, there would be much more earth in farmers' fields. So the farmers could get a good harvest and they should pay more taxes.
A strange kind of tax 一 Window Tax appeared (出现) in England. It lasted more than one hundred years. How? If there were more windows in the wall, the people must pay more taxes. So in those years, people built windows in the wall as few as possible.
Russian people once paid a tax for their beards (胡子). The people who had paid this tax would get a special piece of paper. But what about the people who didn't pay for their beards? Of course, their beards would be cut. But without a beard for a man is a way to scorn (蔑视) God. He would also be punished.
