The Six Arts of the Gentleman in the Bright Moon of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1159: Bulldozing [Subscribe*Monthly Ticket Request]

"It's done. The rest is up to Master Li Yao!"

Li Si blew the contract document dry and looked at Li Yao with a smile.

"The land has been rented to Tonggu, what should we do specifically?"

Li Yao was also very curious about how Li Si made money by renting land.

After all, rent is required for leasing the land, and the income must be handed over to the fiefdom lord. Moreover, regardless of profit or loss, the government needs to pay a fixed sum of money to the fiefdom lord every year.

If it is a good year, they can make some money, but if it is a bad year, the government and the court will help the fiefdom lords bear the risks.

This is also the reason why the local fiefdom lords agreed so readily.

There is no difference between renting the land to the government or to tenant farmers. If they rent it to tenant farmers, they still need to share the risks with the tenant farmers, but if they rent it to the government, it is equivalent to transferring the risks to the court government.

"Lord Li Yao, please follow me!" Li Si smiled and brought Li Yao to the fields of the landlord's fiefdom and bowed his head.

I saw that the fields were uneven, with square ridges everywhere, and of varying heights.

As the top tax official, Li Yao has no one above him, so it is easy for him to recognize the difference between the upper, middle and lower fields.

There is no way around it. The fiefdom lords rented the land to tenant farmers, but there were differences among the farmers, some were diligent, some were lazy, and some knew how to take care of the land and some did not.

Therefore, even though the soil is the same, there are differences in quality between the fields.

"I say, if the nearly 100 acres of land here can be turned into good farmland this year, can Lord Li Yao believe it?" Li Si asked with a smile, pointing to the endless fields.

Li Yao frowned. It is not easy to cultivate a piece of land. Only an ordinary family or a family with a large number of people could cultivate a piece of land.

"Lord Tonggu, everything is ready!" Gongshu Chou came to Li Si cautiously and whispered.

"Flatten it!" Li Si pointed at the hundred acres of land, waved his hand, and said domineeringly.

"Okay!" Gongshu Chou nodded, and directed his family members to operate the bronze mechanical beasts of the Ground-Breaking series, lined up in a row, and flattened the uneven fields.

"Sir, no!"

The local people who came to watch could not help but run to Li Si and cry as they saw a group of mechanical beasts they had never seen before flattening the fields that their generations had worked hard to cultivate.

However, they were all blocked outside by armed soldiers.

"What is Lord Tonggu going to do?" The Viscount who sold the land was also very angry.

Although they have been discharged from production and no longer work in the fields, their fiefdoms were gained through the hard work of their ancestors and they have some feelings for them. However, they are now being indiscriminately flattened and trampled upon by the bronze mechanical beasts.

"Your Excellency the King, you have flattened the land. How can we live?" The people also complained and cried as they looked at the flattened land.

Although the land was not theirs, the fiefdom lords would lend it to them for farming, and they only needed to pay taxes on time.

But now, the imperial court indiscriminately flattened and destroyed them all at once, which would cut off their livelihoods.

"Let them in!" Li Si said to the captain of the guards.

"This... sir, it's too dangerous. I'm sorry I can't obey your order!" The captain of the guards shook his head.

He was a master sent by Xiaoshengxianzhuang to protect Li Si. Also coming were elite troops drawn from the Lishan Guards by Ying Zheng. Their first task was to protect Li Si's safety.

"It's okay. I am upright and just need to explain it clearly. Besides, we still have you and Lord Li Yao who has been looking for me to fight!" Li Si said with a smile.

"Ahem, there are too many people here. I'm afraid half of the county has come. I can't beat four people with my two fists!" Li Yao coughed dryly. "Then I'll go!" Li Si smiled and walked directly towards the crowd that was blocked by the guards.

The ruffians and the instigated people, who were originally quite excited, subconsciously stepped back a few steps and gave up their position in the middle when they saw Li Si being escorted by the soldiers.

"Father-in-law, I just heard you say that if I leveled the land, I would cut off your livelihood?" Li Si smiled and looked at the village elder who was in the lead.

Those who are pushed out to cause trouble are naturally the elderly who enjoy great prestige in the local area.

He was just an elder from a county town. The highest official he had ever seen was the county magistrate, or at most an official from the county town. When had he ever seen a big shot at the level of a Nine Ministers?
Therefore, when the old man saw Li Si asking him, he became a little panicked.

"These... these lands were obtained by the hard work of our ancestors like us, the untouchables, and you just flattened them like that..." the old man said stutteringly.

"That's right, that's right!" Other people also spoke up.

"I do not deny the hard work and efforts of our ancestors, but sometimes hard work does not necessarily pay off. If the method is wrong, no matter how hard you work, it will be in vain."

"Take this piece of land for example. It has an area of ​​237.4 mu, but the upper fields are only 52.3 mu, less than 20%, the middle fields are less than 100 mu, and the rest are all lower fields."

Li Si didn't even look at the document, but started by accurately describing the area of ​​the upper, middle and lower fields of the place.

"That's because some people are lazy and the land is wasted!" said the old man angrily.

"Yes and no!" Li Si shook his head.

"After I level this land, the government will issue a document to hire you to farm for the court. Farm tools, seeds, and fertilizers will all be provided by the government. The agricultural officials will also be responsible for reviewing and guiding you on how to farm, and your work will also be uniformly quantified and evaluated."

"There is only one goal. This place must be turned into farmland this year. Otherwise, all the farmers will be beheaded!"

Li Si said seriously.

"Ah!" All the people were frightened.

Beheading is not an ordinary crime.

Is Ueda so easy to make?
If it was really that easy, the area wouldn't be so large, only about 50 acres of farmland.

"Isn't this a bit too much?" Li Yao also frowned.

"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures!" Li Si shook his head.

It’s not that he doesn’t know that this is a bit one-size-fits-all.

But it has to be done.

He knows human laziness and worldly affairs better than anyone else.

If there is no unified standard, these farmers and officials will try to take shortcuts, appoint their relatives to engage in passive work, or even embezzle the farm tools, seeds, and fertilizers issued by the court.

But don’t think that these things are worthless. When they reach a certain amount, they are worth a lot of money.

Li Yao did not speak again. As one of the Nine Ministers, he also knew what Li Si could think of.

And this is the first stop, so we must set an example.

"We are willing to sign a military order. If we cannot turn these 200 acres of land into good quality farmland this year, we will commit suicide!" The farmhands also took the initiative to stand up and sign a military order.

They were all outstanding clerks selected by Li Si from all over the country. As long as they did their job well, they could be promoted from clerks to officials, truly having official status, wearing high-ranking official robes, wearing sashes and carrying seals.

(End of this chapter)