Chapter 455 Tianbao's Verification
The beginning of the fifth year of Xuanjing was a day worthy of being recorded in history for the exile city.
It is also a carnival for the tenant farmers.
The Twelve Wharfs announced that starting this year, all contracts with tenant farmers would be terminated, and the outer city land would no longer be privately owned by the Twelve Wharfs. Everything would be done in accordance with the laws of the dynasty, and ordinary people could reclaim the land.
All the wasteland that has been reclaimed must be reported to the government for registration, and taxes will be paid to the court according to the tax rate in the future!
Before the Lantern Festival was over, the news had spread throughout the entire exile area. Everyone rushed to tell each other, and the inner and outer cities were in an uproar.
When the news was delivered to the government office in the border town, Xiang Qian was sitting with his legs crossed in the back office, drinking tea and eating snacks. He was so frightened that he almost choked to death.
His eyes widened like bells, and the fat on his belly trembled along with his body. "Really? Are they really the people from Pier 12 here to deliver this message? Did I hear it right? Did I see it right?"
The yamen runner dared not lie, "Sir, it's absolutely true! The one who brought the news is the head of the Twelve Piers. He said that all the land that was once rented at the Twelve Piers has been distributed to the tenant farmers. The yamen can send people to register now! From now on, the income of farmers in the exile area will be taxed to the court according to the imperial law!"
Xiang Qian's breathing was rapid, his face flushed with excitement, and he kept twirling his hands behind his back. "The new emperor has been on the throne for five years, and the three-year amnesty period has expired. According to Dai Viet law, if prisoners in exile reclaim land in their territory, they will be taxed one-thirty..."
That's not the point.
The key point is that no matter how much the grain tax is, this time it is truly received by the government and into the hands of the money man!
How many years had Yongzhou been under exile? Ever since he was demoted to serve as an official here, he hadn't received a single grain of food from the exile!
At least two officials before him had also confiscated it!
Now that it's done, the exile area was actually well-behaved while he was still in office! Reporting this to the higher-ups will be a real political achievement! A promotion and a raise are just around the corner!
Thinking of this, Xiang Qian immediately straightened his official hat, lifted up his robe and walked out, "Go, take the people with you, and go to the exile place to register now!"
After he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Something suddenly occurred to him, but he cleared his throat, walked back, and sat back in his chair. "Tell my advisor right now to personally lead a group to the exile area and register the number of farmers and the amount of paddy and dry land owned by each household. Then report back. My advisor is my right-hand man, so it's most appropriate for him to handle this matter."
When the yamen runner passed the master's order to the legal advisor, the legal advisor immediately slammed the table and threw the stool, his eyes looking as if he was ready to kill anyone.
Great! He himself dared not step into the dangerous and treacherous place of exile, and yet he was told to go and die?
The lives of subordinates are not lives?!
"Go find the bookkeeper right away and have him take care of this! Keeping the books is his job, so have him be meticulous. If something goes wrong, no one will dare to plead for him when the Lord blames him!"
Yamen runner, "..."
Oh.
What can he do as a small fry?
The people above were kicking the ball at each other, and he was running around following orders, picking up the ball and passing it on!
Anyway, he is not the one to take the blame in the end!
…
At the end of the first lunar month, the ice and snow had not yet melted, but the outer city of the exile area had already begun to show the bustle and bustle of spring plowing.
The tenant farmers had been oppressed by heavy shackles for more than ten years or even dozens of years, and never dared to imagine that one day they would be able to stand up straight and breathe the air of freedom.
The ecstasy came too violently and too quickly, sweeping away the decadence that had accumulated in them and bringing out powerful vitality and motivation.
From disbelief when they received the news, to tears of joy after confirmation, and crying with their loved ones, after they recovered, countless tenant farmers picked up their farm tools and rushed into the fields, working with all their might.
Can’t wait!
Can't wait a moment!
The frozen ground was as hard as stone, and each swing of the hoe required more strength than usual, but this did not dampen their enthusiasm.
From now on, every drop of sweat shed here will be for yourself!
Happy!
The people of Tubei Village were liberated earlier, but that did not prevent them from joining in the fun.
The villagers went out of the village in groups to see the scene of land reclamation in the snow and ice. They squatted at the edge of the fields and chatted with their former tenants for half a day without feeling tired.
Many people also gave some grain seeds from their own homes to people they knew.
Every day after the New Year is extremely lively.
In the main hall of the Su family, the women sat together, warming themselves by the fire and doing some handicrafts, with smiles on everyone's faces.
"I wasn't very moved when I heard about it, but when I saw it with my own eyes, the feeling was really different." After the eldest princess became familiar with the ladies of the Su family, she loved to come here, mainly because her son spent more time here.
She laughed and teased, "Every day when I ride up and down the road in my carriage, I see the roadside being cleared of wasteland. There are so many people, like at a market, and some are even working shirtless! I just learned that your son-in-law used to be a big landowner. I'm curious how such an honest and decent man in your family ended up going with Gang Leader Hu."
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Su couldn't help but laugh. "That's true. Hearing you ask that, I think back to the past. I really don't know how we became a family, hahaha. When we first arrived here, we only knew that there were three major factions in the exile area. Each one was extremely domineering and unreasonable, controlling the inner and outer cities. Ordinary people couldn't survive here without real skills. My son-in-law is in charge of the Twelve Piers. You definitely don't know how we met."
Looking back, that happened more than ten years ago.
But the past is still vivid in my mind and my memory is still fresh.
Liu Yuelan and He Daxiang listened to their mother-in-law reminiscing about the past, and their emotions fluctuated with the past, with laughter, tears, emotion and sighs.
"We just settled here when the Twelve Piers came looking for trouble. They came many times in a row. Luckily, there were people who helped protect our family each time, so we were able to escape danger without any danger."
"Later, Du Lao and Broken Blade also came to Tubei Village. They fought with the Twelve Piers quite a bit, but in the end, the Twelve Piers suffered all the losses."
"The feud grew bigger and bigger. I thought it was unsolvable, but then a lot of things happened and we just kept getting entangled."
"In the end, Kuan even helped the kids back home a few times, and eventually, he and our Xiu'er fell in love. It all came together, and if I had to pinpoint the reason, it was probably fate."
The eldest princess listened with fascination.
Her son's shadow can be seen everywhere in these stories.
Although the children have heard those stories once, it feels different when someone else tells them.
She loves to listen to them all.
There were bursts of laughter in the main room, and the sound drifted across the wall to the vegetable garden.
The girl squatting in the vegetable ridges in the yard, busying herself, would occasionally curl up the corners of her lips as she laughed.
Bai Yu was still dressed in a white robe with tight sleeves. He squatted beside her, not caring that the hem of his robe would get dirty by rubbing against the ground. "Are two wooden boxes enough?"
"That's enough, I just did the verification." There were two square wooden boxes in front of Tianbao.
Each wooden box was filled with soil, half of which was vegetable garden soil and half was space soil.
The soil in the two boxes is the same.
After filling the soil, sprinkle the vegetable seeds evenly.
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