Chapter 2602 Raid
This village was too large and was organized in its opposition to the redemption of the land. It was impossible to achieve the goal through careful and considerate persuasion like the previous villages.
So they had to resort to other means.
They all woke up before dawn. Now was the time of the day when people were most relaxed. Bai Shan and the others got up, avoided the people who were staring at them, and left quietly.
When the two village heads arrived as promised, only Lord Tang and his companions were left.
They were slightly stunned and were about to ask when Tang He stood up and said, "Let's go back quickly. I haven't bathed in three or four days."
The two village heads followed hesitantly, and only found the opportunity to speak after walking a long way. "Master Tang, where are the other two masters and the officials?"
Tang He waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "They went to the next village."
He glanced at them and sneered, "You guys in Qizhou have caused enough trouble. These fields originally belonged to the imperial court. You bought them at a low price, and now Your Majesty is buying them back at the original price. You've been getting a bargain for so many years. What else are you dissatisfied with?"
The heads of the village changed their expressions slightly. Before they could say anything, Tang He curled his lips and said, "However, if it weren't for the instructions from my superiors, I wouldn't be willing to do this thankless task. The court is worried about these tenant farmers becoming mobs, so as long as you can appease the tenant farmers, it's not impossible for the higher-ups to show some leniency and turn a blind eye."
The two village heads' hearts felt like they had flown up to the sky and then fallen back down. They almost couldn't bear the ups and downs.
At this time, Bai Shan and his men had already circled to the end of the village and hid in the woods.
Censor Ren reached out and pressed the big black mosquito on the back of his hand, his face darkening. "It's like a war."
Bai Shan said, "Yesterday's situation was almost like a war. In this entire village, there are only eighty-nine households that own their own land, and the largest plot of land is twelve acres, while the smallest is only two acres. The rest are basically tenants who rely on rent. This situation led to the situation yesterday."
Censor Ren thought for a moment and said, "When we get to the village later, Lord Bai will have to persuade the villagers. You will sound more approachable."
Bai Shan nodded, but he did not leave immediately. Instead, he said, "Last night, Master Ren still did not say what to do with these tenants in the future."
Censor Ren glanced at him and said, "Master Tang has told you to act accordingly, so Master Bai should obey."
Bai Shan raised his eyebrows slightly, and knew what was going on.
Brother Tang asked him to make his own decision, but isn’t your censor here?
He made a promise to appease the people. If you don't fulfill it, won't he be the one who gets scolded?
What about impeaching him for not following the rules?
After getting the promise from Censor Ren, Bai Shan led his men out. He decided to do as he wished.
The officers and soldiers went back and forth, and began their sweep from the least noticed end of the village, calling people out from house to house and bringing them all to the center of the village.
They only gathered people from the end of the village, and stopped when they gathered about eighty or ninety households. The rest came after hearing the noise.
When the more active people from the village arrived with sticks and hoes, Bai Shan and Ren Yushi were standing on a platform made temporarily from several tables.
He nodded to the guard beside him, who then drew his sword and chopped it off a nearby wooden stake, shouting, "My Lord, there is something to say, be quiet—"
The noisy voices quieted down, and Bai Shan finally looked at them and said, "Do you know that just by attacking the imperial officials yesterday, you can already be defined as a mob and a rebel, and you can be killed without mercy?"
Everyone panicked. "But you saw that there aren't as many people here today as there were yesterday. Do you know why?"
"W-why?"
"Because your village head went to the city to apologize on your behalf," Bai Shan lied with his eyes wide open. "What happened yesterday was not your village head's intention. He also said that you were afraid that your land would be redeemed by the government and you would have nothing to farm. Lord Tang took pity on you and, considering that this was your first offense, decided to forgive you."
"But there are some things I feel I must explain clearly to you," Bai Shan said. "Did you know that all this land was originally government farmland?"
Everyone naturally knows this. Even if they didn't know it before, they all know it now. This matter has made such a big fuss recently. Everyone says that the government office is not moral and that they were short of money in the past few years, so they sold the land to their boss.
As a result, now that they are no longer short of money, they have changed their minds and want to buy the land back by force.
They have been farming on the land for so many years, and have already planted the seeds this year. Now if they want to take back the land, the officials will force them to death.
As soon as everyone thought of this matter, their emotions were aroused again.
Bai Shan said loudly: "These official fields were all sold at low prices by the former Qizhou Governor in collusion with local powerful families and noble families. The price of the fields is less than one-third of the market price!"
No one moved, so Bai Shan continued, "And you should have had a share of these fields!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone couldn't help but make a noise.
Bai Shan raised his hand slightly and said, "According to the laws of the Great Jin Dynasty, every adult can be allocated 20 mu of permanent farmland. How many people in your village became adults last year and were allocated farmland? And how many people became adults the year before last and were allocated farmland?"
"These official fields were originally intended to be distributed to adult males. However, because they were sold, the registered official fields in your village and town are scarce. When it's your turn to become an adult and receive land, you'll find that there's no land to go around!"
Everyone couldn't help but whisper, "It seems to be true. The third son of the Zhuzi family didn't get any land when he came of age last year, and he hasn't gotten any in the past few years."
"Your Excellency's words are all very nice. It's not certain whether you will divide up the land after you take it back. Besides, how many households in our village have not received land? What about the others?"
"Yes, we have no land to divide and no land to farm. We starve to death in one year."
"Can all this land be divided up?" Bai Shan said, "Of course not. The remaining land still needs to be cultivated. You have simply gone from being tenant farmers of other families to tenant farmers of the imperial court. Moreover, I can make the decision. The rent collected by the imperial court from you will never exceed 40%."
Censor Ren couldn't help but turn his head to look at him and began to wink at him, saying, "Don't brag. It's no more than 40%. That's 40% at most. If the new governor of Qizhou finds out, he will tear Bai Shan to pieces, right?"
Bai Shan continued, "The imperial court has already issued an edict, and the notice is posted on the city wall. It has already stated that this year's harvest from the rented land will still belong to you. The court will redeem the land this year and will not take over the land until the autumn harvest. I don't know where you heard this rumor, but you actually destroyed the crops. Do you know that destroying crops is also a serious crime?"
After Bai Shan finished speaking, he gave Censor Ren a look. Censor Ren then stepped forward and sternly explained the crime of destroying the young crops and the crime of attacking the officials. Then, pointing at the few people below who were still quietly stirring up trouble, he said, "Master Bai will not bother with you, but you can't just bully them. Arrest these ringleaders. I suspect they are involved in the recent rumors!"
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(End of this chapter)
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