Chapter 86 People from the Capital (1)
Magistrate Meng simply didn't have the energy to pay attention to matters in the inner courtyard. With spring plowing just around the corner, he was far too busy. Since Li Xiaoxiao wasn't forced to farm by Liu Shi, he simply left it at that.
The yamen was already short-staffed, and then five of them were killed by soldiers from Luzhou Guard. Magistrate Meng had to recruit people on the very first day of the reconstruction.
According to custom, the official rank of a yamen runner who dies in the line of duty can be passed down from father to son or from brother to brother. However, while this is the custom, the actual practice is far more complicated.
Previously, Biyang County was poor, and the yamen runners were often owed wages. They had to find extra income on their own, and could make a living by knocking on the doors of shops to collect protection fees. But things changed after Magistrate Meng arrived.
He was punished by the imperial court for illegally sheltering refugees, but this brought the court's attention, and a batch of disaster relief funds and grains were allocated. Magistrate Meng did not care about his own losses and first paid the back wages owed to the yamen runners. After that, they were paid on time almost every month. The only downside was that the rules became very strict. They were no longer allowed to extort merchants. If anyone reported them, they would be dismissed immediately.
Although they would lose their extra income, the constables immediately perked up. With a fixed monthly income, who would risk extorting a pittance? So the constables changed their carefree attitude and became proactive.
The position of yamen runner became highly sought after.
Later, they were unfortunately killed. In addition to giving them the full amount of compensation, Magistrate Meng also secretly gave each of them ten taels of silver to their families. With two huge sums of money in their pockets, it was impossible for others not to be envious.
Of the five yamen runners who died, the youngest, who was twenty-five, had two daughters and a son. The son was only three years old and unable to inherit his father's position, so the job fell directly to his father's only brother, and no one in the family objected. The runner's wife received the runner's pension and the county magistrate Meng's subsidy, and lived off her parents-in-law and brother-in-law's family. It was estimated that they would not separate from the family in the future, so the succession of the yamen runner's position went smoothly.
But apart from him, the other four yamen runners either had sons of suitable age, or had many brothers, or their parents were biased and insisted on having their favorite son inherit the position... Since it concerned the future livelihood of their families, no one was willing to give in, and the quarreling became known to all the neighbors. In one family, the son was not yet an adult, and four or five uncles in the family were vying for the spot. The quarreling escalated into a fight, resulting in bloodshed. The yamen runner's parents cried and wailed, and finally, they went to Magistrate Meng to ask him to make a decision.
After learning the details of the incident, Magistrate Meng summoned Constable Shi to the county office and said sternly, "Just because of a job, blood relatives are fighting each other to the point of bloodshed, uncles are bullying their nephews, parents are favoring their youngest sons, and brothers are refusing to give in to each other. Although it is customary for jobs to be passed down from father to son and from brother to brother, there is no legal basis for it. If it weren't for my pity for your difficult lives, and my decision to dismiss you and hire new people instead, how would you have caused so much trouble!"
Upon hearing that the magistrate was going to dismiss them from their posts, the families of the yamen runners trembled with fear and dared not argue anymore.
The reason is simple: no matter whose job a yamen runner gets, it still belongs to their family. They know how convenient it is to have someone in the yamen to do their bidding. If the magistrate were to dismiss them and give the job to someone else, they would suffer a great loss.
The family members of the constable kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Lord Meng, please forgive us! We will never dare to do it again. Please, Lord Meng, have mercy on us this time, for the sake of our deceased brother/brother..."
"Please forgive me, Lord Meng..."
Magistrate Meng watched as they pleaded for mercy, but their subtle sparring continued. Officer Shi stepped forward and whispered, "Sir, whoever is vying for this position has their own reasons. Even if they return to their homes, the disputes will likely continue. I think it would be better if you, sir, appointed the successor. They certainly wouldn't dare to object."
Magistrate Meng nodded and said loudly, "This county can acknowledge that the positions of deceased yamen runners can be passed on to their own family members, but the successor must strictly adhere to the following principles: if the biological son is sixteen years of age or older, the son shall succeed; if there are more than two sons, the eldest son shall succeed; if the biological son is under sixteen years of age, the brother shall succeed; if there is more than one brother, the eldest son shall also succeed. However, the successor must not have a bad record of drinking, gambling, prostitution, or committing crimes, nor must they have a history of harshly abusing or abusing their wives and children. You are officials of the county yamen, representing the face of this county. If you cannot set an example, you are not worthy of wearing this uniform and receiving this salary."
The families of the yamen runners kneeling below the court to hear the verdict were a mix of joy and sorrow. One family's son had just turned sixteen, and several of his uncles were vying for the job. He, however, only had his widowed mother, younger brother, and younger sister behind him, so he couldn't compete with them at all. Unexpectedly, the county magistrate made the decision directly and gave the job to him.
With this job, his mother no longer had to worry about being bullied, and his grandparents no longer dared to look down on their family.
The other three families all had sons who were too young to be suitable, and there were several brothers in the family who were fighting among themselves. The parents also favored one of the brothers. Now that the county magistrate has ruled that the eldest son should inherit, there is nothing to say.
The eldest son in a family always bears a heavier responsibility, and the eldest son inheriting the family property is the quickest way to silence them.
Magistrate Meng told them to stand up: "The new yamen runners will have a three-month probationary period. The assessment criteria will include not only your work attitude but also the opinions of your neighbors. If you truly cherish this job, you'll know what to do. Alright, go home now. The successors, remember to come and report to Constable Shi tomorrow."
The family members of the yamen runners quickly agreed and left the county government office immediately.
Magistrate Meng called over Constable Shi: "Although we've filled five vacancies, our county office is severely understaffed and needs to recruit ten more."
He sold two paintings, and Zhao Jian brought back 1,700 taels of silver. With money in hand, he naturally didn't want to be as busy as he was last year, so he could delegate many things to the newly arrived bailiffs.
Last year, the rice delivered by the Si Nong Temple yielded a good harvest of nearly 300 jin per mu in Hexi Village. Apart from the seeds exchanged with the villagers, he stored all the remaining seeds in the granary. Now that spring plowing is imminent, it is time to organize the population to distribute the new seeds to the people...
Although a yield of 300 jin is only possible when grown in top-quality fertile land, good seeds can yield around 230 jin even when grown in medium-quality land, which is 40 to 50 jin more per mu than the old seeds. This is what makes them good seeds.
Magistrate Meng planned that once this year's new seeds were planted, the county government would no longer have to worry about a shortage of seeds by the summer harvest. Farmers could save their own seeds, and grain production was estimated to increase by about 20% to 30%, which should alleviate the grain problem in Biyang County.
As for taxes, a lot of lice won't bother us. The people are starving, and Biyang County's debt isn't a recent thing. Solving the people's food problem is the priority. If the tax revenue isn't enough, then let's follow the usual practice and let it be in arrears for now.
February arrived in the blink of an eye. The snow had completely melted, and the weather was getting warmer day by day. Spring plowing was imminent, and Magistrate Meng led a group of officials to the countryside every day to inspect the farmers' planting progress. As if awakened by the spring breeze, the spring grass sprouted overnight in the fields. Farmers from every household were in the fields with hoes, weeding and turning the soil to loosen and soften it in preparation for spring plowing.
Some quick-witted families have already started soaking rice seedlings. They heard that the new rice seeds distributed by the county government could yield nearly 300 catties per mu, which made their hearts burn with excitement. Even if they had little top-quality land, their food and tax grain depended entirely on medium-quality land. If they took good care of it, they might be able to get 230 or 240 catties. After deducting taxes, they might be able to eat their fill.
Just thinking about it gave them boundless strength. They raised their hoes high and shoveled down hard, turning over clods of hard soil...
The constables following behind Magistrate Meng were also moved by the thriving and bustling scene before them. Chief Constable Shi said, "Sir, once everyone switches to the new rice varieties next year, the problem of famine will surely be solved."
Magistrate Meng's brow remained furrowed. He looked left and right, and finally spotted what he was looking for. Pointing in one direction, he said, "Let's go take a look over there."
That must be Lord Meng's official land, right? Does Lord Meng want to chat with the tenants? Head Constable Shi quickly led his constables to follow.
When I got there, I found a lot of people in a few plots of land near the river, and there was an acquaintance among them.
Li Xiaoxiao released the plow from her hand and raised her eyebrows in surprise: "Sir, what brings you here?"
Magistrate Meng frowned slightly: "It's you? I heard from Steward Zhao that you asked for ten acres of land to cultivate. What's the deal with these people?"
He pointed to the strong, hardworking farmers in the field, and after a quick glance, he estimated there were about twenty of them. Was Li Xiaoxiao using his name to exploit these farmers?
Li smiled and said, "Oh, they want to borrow my oxen, so they came to help me plow the fields. Once I've finished plowing all ten acres, they can take turns using my oxen."
Magistrate Meng felt relieved; so that's how it is.
There are far too few oxen in the county. On average, there are only about three oxen per mile. They can only be used in rotation, and each household can only use them for three days. They can only be used once a year.
Even if you use oxen to plow the land for three days, you can only plow about ten acres. The rest of the land has to be plowed manually or with hoes. So, in addition to problems with seeds and fertilizers, the low rice yield is also related to the fact that the land is not thoroughly plowed.
Magistrate Meng's official land was naturally top-quality land, with black soil that looked fertile. He squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and carefully squeezed it. Unlike the soil in medium and low-quality fields, the soil did not crumble into fine sand and flow through his fingers. Only soil like this could produce high-yield rice.
He suddenly exclaimed in surprise, and stretched out his hand to measure: "Did you turn the soil particularly deep?"
Li Xiaoxiao nodded: "That's right. The deeper the soil is turned over, the deeper the roots can grow. Deep roots lead to lush foliage. If rice can only take root on the surface, how can we expect it to have a high yield?"
Magistrate Meng was stunned. He muttered her words twice before realizing what she meant and said, "You're right. If you can't even turn the soil deep enough, how can you grow high-yield rice? Take good care of these ten acres of land. If you can really grow rice with a yield of more than 300 catties per acre, I will reward you handsomely."
Li Xiaoxiao remained noncommittal and was about to reply to Magistrate Meng when she suddenly saw someone running towards her in the distance. She looked closely and realized it was Zhao Jian.
Zhao Jian ran breathlessly until he reached Magistrate Meng, panting, "My lord, someone from the capital has arrived. Madam wants you to go home immediately."
People from the capital have arrived? A knowing glint flashed in Magistrate Meng's eyes. Calculating the time, it was about time for them to come.
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