Chapter 367 Reform
In fact, it is not difficult to attract people to move back and grow cotton.
For them, the most important thing is to have land.
The dream of many people is to own their own land. However, under the system before the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was difficult for ordinary farmers to own their own land.
A large amount of land is in the hands of the aristocratic families.
If a system similar to that in Lingnan was implemented, allowing them to own their own land, she believed they would be willing to go to either southern Xinjiang or the northern plains.
However, places like Southern Xinjiang were very different from Lingnan. Lingnan had a small population and a large amount of wasteland. Several of the local wealthy families in Lingnan had also been dealt with by them, so it was very easy for them to implement the new policy.
In places like southern Xinjiang, a large amount of land is controlled by aristocratic families.
However, Jiang Tang felt that now was the best time to take the land back from these aristocratic families.
Jiang Tangtang was planning to reform the previous land system. Similarly, the aristocratic families were also trying their best to preserve their own land.
Unlike many refugees who fled to places like Cangwu in Lingnan and were reluctant to leave, many aristocratic families were eager to capture their slaves and return to farming.
However, Lingnan has a policy that all people who enter Lingnan and are issued new household registration are legal citizens of Lingnan and are protected by the law.
Several aristocratic families openly arrested people on the streets, claiming they were slaves who had escaped from their homes. After they were sentenced to forced labor, the common people felt protected.
When they were being chased by their former masters, they would go to the government to file a lawsuit.
After several such incidents, many aristocratic families no longer dared to arrest people in Lingnan and instead switched to hiring people for money.
But many refugees already have land in Lingnan, and there are so many farms and workshops in Lingnan that need to recruit people. They would rather stay in Lingnan than work for these wealthy families.
The main reason for this situation is the lack of trust in these families.
Many aristocratic families were condescending and never treated common people as human beings. On the one hand, they also believed that only slaves with indentures in their hands could be trusted.
Based on the above two reasons, many wealthy families will use any means necessary to turn their workers into slaves.
How could someone who has enjoyed freedom be willing to be a slave?
Because they could not catch the escaped slaves and had difficulty recruiting workers, many families had great difficulties in moving back to their ancestral lands to farm.
On the other hand, Jiang Tangtang selected dozens of people from the results of this exam, appointed them as local officials, and sent them to various places.
Along with these official appointment letters, there was also a new land system.
Jiang Tangtang imitated the present and implemented public ownership of land on this land.
As soon as this policy was announced, it immediately aroused unanimous opposition from all major families.
"This is simply outrageous! How can she do this? That is the land accumulated by our Hu family for generations. With just one word, she distributed our land to those refugees. What's the difference between her and bandits?" The master of the Hu family slapped the table, breaking the newly purchased square table in the main room into pieces.
The Hu family's sons were also very angry, but compared to Master Hu, they were a little calmer.
And the sons had an extra layer of worry in their hearts.
Uncle Hu said, "Dad, should we quickly take our men and leave Lingnan? If the Jiang family finds a reason to detain us, our Hu family will be finished."
"Let's go back to Southern Xinjiang now." Mr. Hu was furious. "Find a way to contact the old people from before. I'm going to fight them."
Uncle Hu sighed helplessly, "Dad... Jiang Shi had clearly planned this long ago, gradually dismantling our family's power. Just think about the series of actions she's taken since we arrived in Lingnan."
Mr. Hu didn't say anything. Mr. Hu sighed and said, "What a scheming woman."
Uncle Hu said, "Now, even some of the old people who are loyal to our Hu family often envy the lives of those untouchables outside. Moreover, all the textile workers of our Hu family have been won over by that woman. Let's go back now..."
Mr. Hu refused to admit defeat and said, "What are you afraid of? Our Hu family's most important secret skills are only known to us, the Hu family. Those untouchables only know the basics. Jiang Clan only controls those untouchables, so do you think they can control the lifeblood of our Hu family?"
…
Situations like the Hu family's happened to many other aristocratic families. Some families were even more agitated than the Hu family. To protect their own interests, they even united with several other families, not hesitating to make things difficult for Jiang Tangtang and prevent her from ascending the throne.
Jiang Tangtang had anticipated this situation.
If the interests of the aristocratic families were affected, they would definitely resist. But Jiang Tangtang was not worried at all.
If it were two years ago, she might have thought carefully before considering reform.
But now, the situation is different.
Because of the continuous disasters, most of the aristocratic families were severely damaged. Jiang Tangtang felt that they should take advantage of this period of damage to reform them quickly and decisively.
At this time, some official families were as angry as the aristocratic families.
Ling Yanli looked at the appointment letter in her husband's hand and almost fainted from anger. But she didn't dare to say much in front of her husband, so she could only quietly leave the house and look for her sister Ling Yanzhu.
"What does she mean? Is she deliberately taking revenge on me?" Ling Yanli said angrily, "She definitely did it on purpose. She knew Siyuan was my husband, so she deliberately issued him an appointment letter, sending him to that remote place to be the county magistrate."
Her brother-in-law was only sixteen years old, younger than her husband and had no experience in being an official. However, the place assigned to him was actually better than where her husband went.
How could this not be intentional?
Ling Yanzhu was also feeling annoyed. Unlike her brother-in-law, who had already received the appointment letter and learned the outcome, her husband still hadn't received the letter.
Could it be that her husband was a fourth-rank official, but when it came to her, he was not even qualified to be a seventh-rank official?
But if she were really given a seventh-rank official position, she would feel insulted like Ling Yanli.
"Is my brother-in-law going to take up the post?" Ling Yanzhu asked.
Ling Yanli shook her head.
She shook her head not to say that her husband would not go, but that she did not know.
At this moment, Qu Siyuan was very hesitant.
Is he going to take such a small official position?
Go, I feel too embarrassed.
But if he didn't go... wouldn't that be a blatant offense against the new emperor? Then he might never be able to serve as an official again in his life.
Finally, Qu Xiuyuan made a decision for his son, "This is a good opportunity for him to go to the local area and gain some experience."
Qu Siyuan nodded in agreement and began to prepare to take up his post.
But Ling Yanli was unwilling to give up and decided to secretly go to Jiang Tangtang to plead for mercy.
Jiang Tangtang had been busy these days considering appointments to local officials and working on reforms, so she had no time for idle people. So when someone from her lower ranks reported that a sister from her time in the capital was coming to visit, she declined without a second thought.
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