nucmednet Chapter 39 Seizing Land (6)
Chapter 39 Seizing Land (6)
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Thanks to the efficient work of the county government, the largest landowner in Lingao County emerged—in just over a month, Liu Ye set a record in Lingao with a total of 1,120 mu of fertile land. In any dynasty before the seventh year of the Chongzhen reign, Lingao County had never had such a large landowner. Qiongzhou, in terms of both population and cultivated land area, was incomparable to places like Jiangnan. Having several hundred mu of land was the result of generations of hard work and accumulation.
Inside Tangjiazhuang, after Liu Ye announced the result, everyone cheered. Li Ergou was so excited he could barely speak, "Master...Master, is it really...this much land? This will ensure your descendants will never have to worry about food and clothing!"
Li Fu said to Liu Ye, "Congratulations, sir! Congratulations! Now you don't have to worry about not having enough food to feed the workers and soldiers. Your grand ambitions are just around the corner."
"Hey, I didn't know you, Li Fu, could even spout a few literary phrases!" Liu Ye teased him, in a good mood.
Yan Guang stroked his beard and said slowly, "Gentlemen, we have obtained the land and changed the contract. However, the key to keeping our gains lies with ourselves. If we are not strong enough, what we have seized will eventually be seized back."
Li Ergou, Li Fu, and the others glanced at Yan Guang with dissatisfaction. This scholar who joined halfway through his studies always tried to show off his uniqueness, and his cold water on him at this crucial moment was truly a spoilsport.
Liu Ye was unfazed: "Mr. Yan is absolutely right. Although we used Lin San as a cover, and ordinary people don't know the truth, some people certainly do. Ultimately, this doesn't change the fact that these properties were seized. It's like rowing against the current; if you don't move forward, you fall behind. If we are strong enough, these things will be ours. If we are not strong enough, landlords, gentry, or even the government will definitely try to take them back. Over a thousand acres of prime farmland—who wouldn't be envious?"
Liang Xiaoming nodded in agreement: "As the ancients said, 'A common man is innocent, but he is guilty of possessing a treasure.' Even one's own treasure will be coveted, let alone something we stole."
Liu Ye tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair: "So what we need to do now is to completely take over this land."
The reason he said he had "completely taken over" the land was because these fields were scattered across the surrounding villages and had previously belonged to different owners. The land deeds were merely ownership on paper. Without someone to manage them, the tenants would not voluntarily hand over their grain. Liu Ye did not want to work so hard to conquer the land only to end up with very little grain and have it all for nothing.
Liu Ye already had a plan in mind regarding how and who should manage the land. He said to Li Ergou, "Li Ergou, these fields need a trustworthy person to manage them. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you!"
Li Ergou was one of the earliest followers of Liu Ye. Seeing that Li Fu, Yan Guang, and others were highly regarded by the master, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Now, hearing these words, he was overjoyed. Even without Liu Ye saying it, he knew the importance of grain. Entrusting him with such a heavy responsibility showed his trust and high regard for him.
Li Ergou quickly replied, "Thank you for valuing me, sir. I'm not good with fancy words, but I promise to do this job well."
"Select a few people from Lijia Village, take the land deeds, and have them travel around all the places, explaining the rules along the way." Liu Ye organized his thoughts and said, word by word, "First, even if the landlord changes, the rent will still be paid, regardless of the previous rent or any additional taxes levied by the government. It will be two shi per mu per year, only grain, no need to exchange it for cash. We will handle the government's grain tax; second, anyone who cheats, shirks responsibility, or refuses to pay will be handed over to the county government, put in shackles, and displayed in public for three days. Then the rented land will be taken back, and the whole family will be kicked out."
These two rules can be said to have overturned the previous traditions. Li Ergou and the other people who came from farming backgrounds looked at Liu Ye in surprise, while Yan Guang fell into deep thought.
Because of its abundant rainfall and warm climate, Qiongzhou could theoretically produce three crops a year. Even if the yield per season couldn't compare to the rice-producing regions of Jiangnan, three crops a year would still yield five or six shi per mu. If three crops a year wasn't possible, two crops would still yield around four shi. The rent was set at two shi, accounting for nearly half of the harvest. This seemed high, but in reality, it exempted all other levies and miscellaneous taxes, thus reducing the burden on tenant farmers. What truly burdened the farmers was the ever-increasing taxes imposed by local officials at each level.
Compared to the landlords of the past, Liu Ye's situation is worlds apart.
As for the second rule, punishing tenants who don't pay rent is not unusual, but using the government for punishment is unheard of. According to the first rule, even if a tenant refuses to pay rent, it's the landlord's rent, not the imperial tax. Using public resources for private gain is something only Liu Ye, who currently controls the government, could do. Furthermore, ordinary landlords, even if they resort to intimidation, coercion, and beatings when faced with tenants who can't pay rent, wouldn't easily take back the rented land. If they did, who would farm it? The landlords couldn't exactly farm it themselves.
Li Ergou and the others found it incomprehensible, but since Liu Ye committed suicide after Master Tang, he had never made a wrong decision, and they dared not question him.
Yan Guang, who saw himself as a strategist and advisor, was perplexed and felt it necessary to advise Liu Ye to avoid detours. He asked, "I have three questions, and I hope my lord will enlighten me. First, if we pay taxes for the tenants, wouldn't the rent of two shi per mu be too low? Second, although Lingao is small, the terrain and soil vary from village to village, so the yield of the land will certainly be uneven. Why not set the rent according to the actual harvest? If we uniformly set it at two shi, those with fertile land will inevitably benefit, while those with poor land will be dissatisfied. Third, punishing those who don't pay rent is understandable, and sending them to the county office in cangues and public display can serve as a warning to others. But why must we take back the rented land? If everyone is treated this way, even if we have a lot of land, it will be useless if no one cultivates it."
"Good question!" Liu Ye looked around. "I'm sure many of you have similar questions, right?"
Li Ergou and the others scratched their heads sheepishly, tacitly agreeing with his words.
“If you all have doubts in your hearts, especially Li Ergou, who also has to manage these tenants, you probably won’t have the confidence to do things if you don’t explain things clearly,” Liu Ye said calmly.
"Let me begin with Mr. Yan's three questions. The first question is that, as far as I know, the annual taxes levied by the imperial court are passed on to tenant farmers by landlords, and county officials add to them at each level. Since the Wanli era, an additional Liaodong tax has been levied, and it is still being collected now, reaching nine percent. In addition to paying the government's silver ingots, there are also the losses from selling grain, and after paying all of these, rent still has to be paid. All this means that after a year of labor, tenant farmers cannot even guarantee enough food for their entire families. The reason these tenant farmers can still endure it is because Qiongzhou has a mild climate all year round, abundant rainfall, no major natural disasters, and relatively stable harvests. Even if they are not full after paying rent and taxes, they will not starve to death. If they were in Shaanxi, Gansu, or other places, the land would be barren and the yield would be very low. If they could not pay their taxes, they would be forced to their deaths, and if they paid them all, they would starve to death, leaving them with no choice but to kill officials and rebel."
Upon hearing this, Yan Guang nodded repeatedly: "What you say is very true, my lord. Shaanxi and Gansu have suffered from drought for years, and the fields have been abandoned and the land has turned barren for thousands of miles. I heard that some people even ate Guanyin clay. Later, when there was no clay left to eat, people started eating each other."
Li Ergou and the others thought they had suffered enough, but they never expected that the Central Plains were even more miserable than this place. They sighed and shook their heads repeatedly.
"If we want to establish a foothold in Qiongzhou, we can't be short-sighted. We must ensure that the tenants are well-fed and can survive so they can farm with peace of mind, and only then can we have enough food to feed our workers and soldiers. If we exempt them from all levied taxes on this two-shi rent, their lives will be much better. As for whether we will lose money, hehe, I'll pay whatever amount I want to the county government. Paying is giving them face; if I pay less, or even not at all, what can the county government do to me?"
Everyone smiled knowingly. Not to mention that they had already taken control of the county government, even if the county government were to operate as usual, they would be trying to avoid such a tough opponent, let alone dare to force the payment of taxes. So the key to the profit and loss lies in the portion collected by the government. If less is paid or even no is paid, wouldn't the profit be squeezed out?
"The second problem is that if the rent is set at 40% or 50%, then we'll inevitably have to verify the yield to prevent any concealment. We don't have that many people and time to spend on that. The land we've acquired this time is all good land. The difference in yield between plots is at most three to five bushels. We'll uniformly collect two bushels, and the rest, no matter how much, belongs to them. This will also increase their enthusiasm, and we won't have to verify it acre by acre." As Liu Ye spoke, he secretly sighed, grateful to his ancestors for devising the household contract responsibility system, which he could learn from.
Yan Guang suddenly realized that stepping away from the meticulous calculations was the simplest and most effective management method. It ensured rent collection without the need for expending manpower and resources to verify output from each household, and indirectly boosted productivity—after paying rent, the rest was all theirs, a tempting prospect for tenants who were constantly hungry. Sima De was filled with admiration; such a seemingly simple method achieved multiple benefits—truly a brilliant plan.
"As for the third question, it's no longer a problem once the first two questions are explained. If you were in their shoes, going from working hard all year round without enough to eat or wear to now being able to eat your fill and even have surplus grain, would you resist paying rent? Anyone who still resists rent can only be described as lazy, useless, and cunning. We don't need such tenants; we can just drive them away. I'm sure there will be plenty of people willing to rent from us."
Although the others didn't understand as thoroughly as Yan Guang, they all saw the benefits of this rent collection method and praised it highly. The rent of two shi per mu was thus settled.
Liu Ye's actions in Liujiazhuang determined the fate of most of the tenant farmers in Lingao, and as time went on, the impact gradually began to manifest.