Confiscating the hidden fields of the aristocratic families
Chapter 91: Confiscation of the Hidden Land of the Aristocratic Family
After Chu Huaibei returned to the northern border with more than 500 palace maids, he took them directly to Liang Song and arranged for all of them to register as households, regardless of whether they were male or female, or androgynous.
This was also the promise made to the more than 800 people. In the end, 523 people remained, and 430 palace maids chose to live in the north.
Liang Song already knew Chu Huaibei's plan, so he naturally wouldn't use the law in Daxia that didn't allow women to establish household registration to counter it.
The King of Zhenbei said yes, and this clause will be added to the laws of the northern border.
After these more than 500 people have registered their households, those who are interested in entering the various workshops will be given priority to stay in the workshops.
The others will be arranged to stay in the village temporarily and will soon be allocated their own land.
After returning to the military camp, I first looked for Jin Hongye to find out the situation in the northern border after she took the troops away.
"Your Highness, the prefect Zhou Ming came to the military camp in person to look for you, but he didn't explain his purpose and was stopped and persuaded to leave by my subordinates."
"Okay, is there any movement in Mongolia?"
"No."
"Is there unrest in the North?"
"Not yet, it's pretty quiet."
"Well, you've worked hard recently. I heard that your family has moved to the northern border. I'll give you a day off tomorrow so you can spend some quality time with your family."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Jin Hongye grinned, and the words of thanks he shouted were so loud that people passing by outside the tent thought it was too loud.
Chu Huaibei rubbed his forehead, let him go on with his business, and then gave instructions to Xue Zhan and Qin Feng.
"I will take over the administrative power of the northern border and replace all the disobedient prefects and officials in the prefectures and states."
"Pick a few capable individuals from your families, and I'll assign them directly to the positions when the time comes. Let me make this clear: if I find anyone cheating or oppressing the people, they will be dismissed and never hired again."
"These are extraordinary times. I think you should understand."
"Yes, Your Highness. Please rest assured, Your Highness, we know the seriousness of the matter."
"Well, now, gather five thousand men and go out with me."
Of course, Chu Huaibei’s trip was not to go outside to enjoy the snow scenery.
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"Surround the Zhou Mansion for me."
"Yes! Your Majesty!"
After receiving the notification from the housekeeper, Zhou Ming hurried out to greet him.
"Your humble servant greets His Majesty. I was unaware of your visit and am sorry for not welcoming you. Please come in."
"I have a lot to do, so I won't delay you any longer. You should already know some things. After all, Zhou Zhili is your relative."
"Now, I will give you two options. One is to pack your bags right now and move to Jianye with your family. If you have served as an official for several years and are honest, I will not kill you."
"Secondly, if you choose to stay in the Northern Territory, you will no longer be able to hold this position and will have to surrender all of your family's hidden fields. We will then consider whether to allow your younger generation to participate in the Northern Territory's scientific expedition."
"I'll give you half an hour. Go in and discuss it with your family. I'll be waiting for your answer at the door."
Chu Huaibei didn't even enter the gate of Zhou's mansion, and directly threw the choice to him outside the mansion.
Of course, doing this also sends a message to other officials, allowing them to think it over in advance and save everyone's time.
Seeing the look on King Zhenbei's face, Zhou Ming knew there was no room for negotiation.
"Your Highness, please wait a moment. I will discuss this with my family right away."
Chu Huaibei waved his hand, indicating that he would handle it himself.
Before half an hour had passed, Zhou Ming appeared at the door.
"Thank you for waiting, Your Majesty. I will take my family and move to Jianye."
"Okay, then pack up and leave today. As for your house and land, I will confiscate them."
“·······”
Chu Huaibei's words made Zhou Ming's mind blank for a moment. He thought that at least he could be allowed to set off tomorrow. It was almost noon now, and he had originally planned to use this time to sell the land deed at a lower price.
"Your Majesty, can you please extend it until tomorrow?"
The two looked at each other, and Chu Huaibei sneered.
"You're still making demands at this point? If it weren't for your dedication over the past few years, your entire family would have been wiped out long ago based on what the Third Prince did."
"I dare not. Thank you, Your Highness, for sparing my family. I will have them packed up right away and will leave by dark at the latest."
"Okay, as long as you understand."
Chu Huaibei turned around and instructed Xue Zhan.
"Select five hundred men to guard here. After you send them out of the city, come back and seal up the Zhou Mansion."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Let's go to Tongzhi Wang Jing's house now."
Four thousand five hundred people marched towards the Wang family in a black mass.
"Go in and bring Wang Jing out to me."
Qin Feng brought twenty people and personally entered the mansion to drag out Wang Jing who was sitting in the study.
"Your humble servant greets His Majesty. What do you mean by this?"
"There's no need to play dumb with me. You actually had a hand in Fan Liang's incident earlier."
Chu Huaibei stretched out his hand to interrupt Wang Jing's words that were about to be quibbled.
"I know what you want to say, but I don't want to hear it."
"I will not touch your female relatives. They can move to Jianye or stay in the northern border. It's up to you. Just hand over half of your land and hidden fields. Don't wait for me to send people to confiscate them. If that happens, it will be a big deal."
"As for the men of your three generations, they will naturally be sent to build fortifications on the border for me."
"Your Majesty, I caught someone trying to escape through the back door."
The accompanying personal guards were dragging a man in brocade clothes.
"Still want to run? Your crime is even more serious. Qin Feng will lead his men in and arrest all the men."
Hundreds of people rushed into the Wang family like wolves and tigers, and soon pulled out all the people hiding everywhere. It was like playing hide-and-seek with people who had been on the battlefield, and their brains were not very good.
Thirty or so people were tied together and fifty soldiers were assigned to lead them to the border fortification camp.
The last person left in the northern prefecture is Zheng Wenxiao, the magistrate.
After hearing the news, this person stood at the gate of Zheng Mansion early waiting for the arrival of King Zhenbei.
Chu Huaibei saw the man from a distance and sneered in his heart. After all, he was born in a common family but was able to sit in the position of Tongpan with his own talents.
When Chu Huaibei was still five meters away from the gate, Zheng Wenxiao came forward to greet him, holding up his skirt.
Calculate your stride and the horse's speed just right.
The place for saluting is just to the left of the gate.
"Your humble servant Zheng Wenxiao greets His Majesty."
He bowed all the way down, his body almost parallel to his legs.
Chu Huaibei raised his eyebrows when he saw this.
"Lord Zheng always opens my eyes."
"This king gives you two choices. One is to pack up your things and go to Jianye, and the other is to resign your official position and stay in the northern border. However, you must hand over the land that you were forced to buy and sell five years ago and your family's hidden land."
"Your Highness, I, a humble servant, choose the second one. I will go into the house and get the land deed right away. Please wait for me for a moment, Your Highness."
After he finished speaking, he saluted and quickly turned around and ran into the house, as if he was afraid that the King of Zhenbei would go back on his word.
Xue Zhan and Qin Feng were amazed by the skill of being able to bend and stretch.
"Your Highness, so this is what the top student in high school looks like?"
Xue Zhan is not very good at studying. He gets a headache when he sees the Four Books and Five Classics. He has always admired people who can become the top scorer in the imperial examination, but now his filter is shattered and he is beginning to doubt his life.
"Maybe he's a little special. You should use Du Jiping's appearance as a reference."
Chu Huaibei casually comforted his left arm.
Xue Zhan and Qin Feng are her right-hand men, so naturally she has to take care of their emotions.
Less than half an hour later, Zheng Wenxiao came hurriedly with a wooden box in his hands.
Holding the wooden box in both hands, he bent down and raised it above his head.
"Your Highness, here are the deeds to most of the Zheng family's land. Please accept them."
Chu Huaibei reached out to take it and opened it casually. It was a thick stack of land deeds with a piece of paper folded into four at the bottom.
Chu Huaibei took it out curiously and unfolded it. The ink was fresh and it depicted the location of the land plot corresponding to the land deed. Xue Zhan and Qin Feng also came over to take a look.
The two looked at each other and thought, wow, this is really great, the top scholar really has a good brain, even his flattery can make people feel comfortable.
"Very good. The Northern Territory will hold a spring examination soon. I will allow your grandchildren to participate now. If they pass the examination, I will naturally arrange for them to be selected as officials."
Chu Huaibei immediately booked a place for the Zheng family in the imperial examination.
"I thank you, Your Highness, for your kindness. Your Highness is a man of great vision and has forgiven past grudges. I am deeply grateful. From now on, my family will swear to follow Your Highness until death."
Zheng Wenxiao's words were full of emotion. Regardless of whether Chu Huaibei believed it or not, he believed it first.
"Okay, go back now. I have something else to do."
Chu Huaibei just listened to it and treated it as flattery.
"This humble commoner respectfully sends His Majesty off!"
He bowed deeply again. He didn't stand up until the voices faded a bit, then he exhaled deeply. This time, he was betting on the King of Zhenbei.
Chu Huaibei turned his horse around and traveled through the six prefectures one by one. Except for Liang Song, all other prefects had withdrawn.
He was busy until the hour of Xu before returning to the military camp.
After returning to the camp, the three of them took stock of the vacancies and discovered that they simply did not have enough manpower.
There are not many children in the Xue and Qin families who can concentrate on studying. Most of them would rather be scolded by their fathers and brothers every day until there is not a single piece of good meat on their bodies than go to private school.
There are only five people from the two families combined who can be in charge, and at least three are missing.
Chu Huaibei pinched his chin and thought for a while, then decided to pull out several of Jin Hongye's uncles to do the work. His uncles were almost equivalent to her uncles!
As for how to get my uncle to agree to become an official, it would be most appropriate to leave this to Hu Zhi!
-
"Huzhi, the Northern Territory is short of officials right now. I'd like to ask your uncles for help. What do you think?"
Every time Chu Huaibei was with Sun Mingsi, he felt extremely relaxed. He said whatever he wanted to say without beating around the bush.
Sun Mingsi had long anticipated that if Chu Huaibei wanted to control the northern border, none of the emperor's men would be useful.
There aren't many people who are trustworthy and capable. As for the few generals I'm currently on good terms with, the younger generations in their families may not be very fond of reading.
Originally, he hadn't intended to keep the secret from his uncle's family for long, and now that the Zhu and Jin families had all moved to the northern border, it was even more convenient.
"Okay, you'll accompany me to the Zhu family tomorrow, and take Hengheng with you."
"Oh, okay!"
Now, when the two of them talk, there is no more polite thank you, and they replace it with kisses.
Early the next morning, Chu Huaibei and Sun Mingsi brought Hengheng to pay a visit.
He sent the visiting card a day in advance. There was no other way. There were too many things to do and he was in a hurry, so Chu Huaibei didn't care about too many formalities.
Of course, it was unexpected for the Zhu family to receive the visiting card. As for what it was about, they would find out when they arrived.
This was Sun Mingsi's first time out since arriving in the Northern Territory. It was to visit relatives, which was a bit strange.
Because the master had already met the King of Zhenbei, he was pushed out by the remaining four brothers to be received at the gate.
"I, Zhu Zhengmao, pay my respects to His Majesty."
"Master, you are too polite. Let's go inside and talk."
"Yes, Your Majesty, please come this way."
He led the three people into the gate, then thought for a moment before speaking.
"Your Majesty, please let Madam take the Crown Prince into the inner courtyard. I have arranged for the women in my family to accompany them."
Chu Huaibei smiled at him, ready to scare them when the time comes.
"No need, just follow me into the main hall in the front yard."
Although the lawyer felt that it was inappropriate, since the prince had spoken, he had no choice but to agree. After all, there were only five old men in the main hall, so it would not be too rude.
"Yes, Your Majesty, this way please."
Sun Mingsi's appearance naturally made the other four people stand up collectively. They looked at the person who stepped into the main hall with disbelief in their eyes.
"Your Majesty, Madam, and Crown Prince, please take your seats."
Chu Huaibei was not polite and took Sun Mingsi's hand and sat in the main seat.
"uh-huh!"
The master had no choice but to remind him.
"Your Highness, please forgive me. I am a humble servant and I have offended you!"
After the four men realized what was happening, they immediately bowed and apologized, staring at the prince's wife, thinking that their lives might be a little too long.
"No need to be so polite. Perhaps I should address the five of you here as uncles?"
Looking at the five people who were already confused, Chu Huaibei felt happy!
When Sun Mingsi saw her playing such a prank, he felt helpless and amused. How could she be so naughty and tease her elders?
"Uncle, I'm Sun Mingsi. Perhaps you can see my past self in Hengheng."
The moment the two entered the house, Zhu Zhengde was wondering if it was true. It turned out that the person the third brother was talking about was really his nephew!
"Hey, I saw it, it looks a lot like you when you were a child. Uncle is a little confused, Huzhi, you are a boy!"
The remaining four people were naturally delighted to see that their eldest brother had confirmed it. But their joy suddenly stopped. Yes, what was going on?
"Uncle, I am naturally a boy. Hengheng is indeed my biological son, born to Huaibei."
"ah?"
"ah??"
"ah?"
"What?"
"What?"
Hengheng looked at the five people who should be his uncle, with an expression as if he suspected he had heard it wrong. He pursed his lips tightly, for fear that he would accidentally laugh.
He only found out a few days ago that his father is his mother and his mother is his father.
But he had already had some guesses, after all, his mother's chest was as flat as it could be, and she had an Adam's apple, although it was not very obvious.
I didn’t understand much before because I was young, but after studying with my master for five years, I have some idea about some things.
A few days ago, his parents took the initiative to inform him of the situation, but the mother's identity still needs to be kept confidential.
Chu Huaibei signaled Hengheng to go outside and see if there were any servants nearby and drive them away.
"Uncles, I am a girl, and there are no more than ten people who know about this, including you."
"Uncles, please keep this a secret."
"Ah! Yes, yes, we will definitely keep this secret, Your Highness, please rest assured."
After the five people came back to their senses, they immediately assured that this incident was as shocking as the Prince Xian, who was supposed to be imprisoned in Longzhou, appearing in the Zhenbei Palace in the northern border.
When Hengheng saw that everyone had accepted it, he walked in and called the five of them "Uncle Grandpa".
Naturally, he received all kinds of love from the five people and accepted the things they usually wore. There was no other way, as the incident happened suddenly and he had no gift prepared for the child.
"Uncles, Huaibei has an unwelcome request. I hope you can help him."
"The North is currently lacking three officials to stabilize the political operations of the North."
Chu Huaibei went straight to the point and announced the main purpose of today to the public.
"Uncle, my grandfather's last words are that we don't have to guard the northern border anymore."
Sun Mingsi then added a sentence.
The news that the King of Zhenbei had led his troops to withdraw the main officials of the northern border a few days ago was widely spread, so they naturally knew about it.
The five people looked at each other, and the master said that he had to help Jin Hongye manage the military camp and could not go.
There were four people left. The eldest brother thought about it and decided not to go. His health had not been very good since last year. He was already sixty-three years old and it was probably difficult for him to withstand the high intensity of government affairs.
The remaining three people expressed their understanding and suggested that the eldest brother should stay at home to guard the place.
However, the decision was made in a cup of tea. The second, fourth and fifth sons were appointed as the prefect, the associate prefect and the assistant magistrate respectively.
Chu Huaibei bowed and thanked his uncles sincerely, then turned around and started urging them to go to work.
The first task was to confiscate the hidden lands of the noble families. Those who were willing to pay fifteen years' worth of taxes could keep them. Those who were unwilling would have their land confiscated directly.
Why do they care so much? The hidden fields of the aristocratic families are already so numerous that they affect the overall taxation, and the taxation will be the main source of finance for the northern border in the future.
Is it possible that he still relies on the palace to make money from business? That is bound to be a drop in the bucket.
When the three newly appointed Northern Border officers heard this, they felt a dull pain in their foreheads.
This has never been accomplished in hundreds of years of history!
"Don't worry, uncles. Since I dare to say this, it means I have already prepared a strategy. I will send you 3,000 troops. As long as the verification is accurate, I will bring them directly to your door. Reason is not as fast as fists."
"If you don't obey, all your land will be confiscated. I don't need these people anymore."
The three of them looked at each other. Wow, this is indeed simple and crude, and highly feasible.
After making all the arrangements, Chu Huaibei took his men back to the palace, and did not go to meet the women of the Zhu family. Sometimes it would be troublesome if you accidentally let something slip.
I originally thought that things should proceed smoothly, but I didn't expect that the aristocratic families were closely connected. After the chief official took office, the minor officials under him did not obey orders, or even pretended to obey but actually disobeyed.
This greatly increased the workload of the chief officer, and he looked much more haggard.
Chu Huaibei made up his mind and ordered that all the uncooperative clerks be expelled and those who made mistakes be taken to the fortification camp.
Without you, the earth will not stop spinning! Are you kidding me?
All the students studying at Qingzhu Academy were sent out to serve as middle-level managers, and 200 personal soldiers were selected to serve as low-level clerks.
Under the personal guidance of the chief officer, the middle and lower-level officials grew rapidly and were able to get government affairs running in just half a month.
After this incident, they had originally hoped that the noble families would leave more land for them if they were sensible, but instead they confiscated all the hidden land that was found.
The first group of people to receive land were the five hundred or so palace maids who had been given their own land. The women, who had just received their own land, cried and laughed like crazy, but no one laughed at them.
Seeing this, the others also became active in opposing the establishment of a female household. Since King Zhenbei encouraged everyone to establish a female household, it was naturally not wrong!
There was an unexpected reversal here. In the early days, when independent female households were established, Chu Huaibei had expected that there would be more female merchants, but unexpectedly, there were more females from aristocratic families!
The aristocratic family really knows how to pursue fame and fortune better than anyone else.
Chu Huaibei divided the confiscated hidden fields according to their distance from the villages, so that every household in the village would receive an equal amount of land.
Nowadays in the northern border, the people only recognize the King of Zhenbei.
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