Although the imperial court promised a large number of preferential policies for land reclamation, such as three years of tax exemption, five and a half years of tax exemption, and even the distribution of seeds, etc.
But Yun Panpan felt that this was still not enough.
Because the people who need to reclaim land may not even know what they will eat tomorrow, even if the conditions are good, they are unable to do it.
For those powerful families who have the power to do so, it is far cheaper to annex existing fertile land than to reclaim wasteland.
At worst, we can just wait for a year of famine. That way, we can not only get the land, but also find people to farm the land.
So she believes that it must be advocated to a greater extent.
For example, if landless households wanted to reclaim wasteland, they could report to the local government. After verification by the imperial court, they could provide funding, which would be repaid after the harvest the following year.
There are also assistance such as five-household joint guarantee, providing oxen and seeds, etc.
Although the ideas are not yet mature, Zhao Xin thinks it is a good thing to have the government as a foundation to encourage public participation.
However, Zhao Xin couldn't help but raise some questions about her policies.
For example, is it possible for ordinary farmers in this era to do something like reporting to the government?
You have to know that this era is not the future. Dealing with the government is something that ordinary people will almost never experience in their lifetime.
The highest-ranking officials they have ever met may be village elders and village heads. Even if they want to do it, they are afraid that it will be difficult for them to complete the reporting process.
In addition, if everyone reports, does the court have the ability to verify each one, and how long will this process take?
In addition, after borrowing money, what if there is a poor harvest next year? Where will the government get the start-up funds? And so on.
"I have thought about these matters. First, I believe the problems reported can be solved. Although they cannot be promoted, they can be solved under my rule because I will personally lead people to supervise them. There is no need for farmers to come to the government on their own initiative. The government can take the initiative to investigate.
The same goes for verification issues.
In addition, I think we can gather these people together to reclaim the land together. After the reclamation is completed, we can distribute them uniformly and let farmers cultivate the land.
In addition, the issue of loan repayment can be collected in the form of land rent. Before the cost is paid off, these lands are considered government land, and the people only rent them for cultivation. The rent and taxes they pay will be used to pay off the loan.
After the repayment is complete, the land will be completely owned by the people."
After hearing this, Zhao Xin finally understood her idea. What she was doing was equivalent to conducting civilian settlements in a government-organized manner, but in the process the government would recover its costs and distribute the land to the current cultivators.
That's a feasible idea.
However, as Yun Panpan said, this method is not applicable unless the county magistrates of other counties are willing to go down to the countryside like her and organize the people personally.
Then, after the costs are recovered, it can be truly implemented. Otherwise, it will eventually become a compulsory government settlement.
The people were simply enslaved once again.
He thought for a moment, then said, "This method is acceptable, at least in Dahuang County. With you here, it should be possible. However, we can add one more condition: the annual rent payment can be determined by the households themselves."
Yun Panpan pondered for a moment after hearing this, then nodded and said, "Okay."
At this time, Nan Luoying interjected for the first time, "If that's the case, what if those households maliciously default on rent?"
"Won't."
Zhao Xin chuckled and said affirmatively.
Yun Panpan also smiled and said, "Don't worry about this, my lady. The people's desire for land far exceeds our imagination. As long as we can convince them that after they pay back the principal, the land will indeed belong to them.
Every farmer will save money and prioritize paying back their rent.”
Nan Luoying nodded as if she understood what he said.
Even though she was smart, she didn't understand much about this aspect, because as a noble lady of the Nan family, the lowest class of people she could really come into contact with was her maid Xiao Cui.
The others are the servants in the house. Unless they are housekeepers or above, they don’t have much communication with each other.
The difference between Yun Panpan and her in this respect is that, as the saint of the natives, the former may sound high and mighty, but in fact she is really down to the grassroots.
"Finally, there's one more question: where does the government get its money?"
Zhao Xin raised this question again.
Although he has confiscated a lot of supplies and money these days.
But he has already used part of this money to pay off Zhang Yuan’s previous debt.
After all, Zhang Yuan almost gave up his entire family to help him at that time, so it was impossible for him to let him go bankrupt.
In addition, there was food and drink for thousands of people, rewards for military merits, etc.
Although there is still a surplus.
But these are still too little for a large-scale land reclamation on a county scale, and can even be said to be a drop in the bucket.
Because such land reclamation is not a matter of one or two days, but takes years and months.
From clearing the land to sowing and then to harvesting, it takes a very long time, not taking the season into consideration. During this period, not only do these people not get any harvest, but the government may have to provide them with food and drink.
What a huge expense this is.
If the government had the ability to do this, it would not have watched the people become displaced or even flee and become savages.
However, Yun Panpan obviously had an idea about this a long time ago.
Hearing this, he said without hesitation: "This comes from the Great Wilderness Mountain."
"Dahuang Mountain?"
Zhao Xin was stunned when he heard this.
Then he immediately understood what she was thinking.
In fact, he had this idea, but he didn't expect that Yun Panpan also had his sights set on the Great Wilderness Mountain.
"But if you do that, I'm afraid those wealthy merchants in Dahuang City will hate you to the core."
Zhao Xin chuckled.
Of course he was just joking.
He doesn't care what happens to those wealthy businessmen.
And with Yun Panpan's influence among the natives, those wealthy businessmen can't even think of competing with her.
"That's out of my control."
Yun Panpan couldn't help but laugh when she heard what Zhao Xin said, because it was obvious that Zhao Xin already understood her intention.
Actually, it is simple to say. Just don’t let the middlemen make a profit from the price difference.
In other words, the government can act as the middleman.
Most people may not know that although Dahuang Mountain is called Dahuang Mountain, it is actually not desolate at all, and it is even rich in resources.
We can see this from the fact that it can feed so many natives.
These products are not just miscellaneous items that can only feed the locals, but also precious furs and valuable medicinal herbs.
After these things were shipped out of Bingzhou, many of them were worth thousands of gold.
However, the prices these wealthy merchants offered to the natives were shockingly low.
For example, after a complete fox skin leaves Bingzhou and falls into the hands of wealthy people, it is possible to get it for thousands or even tens of thousands of coins.
But those wealthy merchants only exchanged them for a bag of corn or a handful of salt.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
