Chinese New Year

Chapter 1464 Uncle and Nephew
"What's the logic behind having fields but no one to tend them?" In the misty drizzle, Yao Yizhong walked along the ridge of the field, slipping and sliding with each step, muttering to himself.

His son, Yao Xiang, stood by his side, ready to help him at any moment.

He didn't get a position in the inner circle, and no one paid him a salary. He was just following his father around to gain experience and get to know the Crown Prince. Maybe he would have an opportunity if he was remembered in the future.

Today is the third day of the fourth lunar month. They have been in Yingyin County for several days, measuring land and clearing up household registrations.

However, the fields are still there, but there aren't many people left.

“Father, you may not know this, but many members of the Xun clan migrated south in the past, spreading throughout Yangzhou and Jingzhou. In recent years, some more Xun descendants have gone south to establish estates. Sending the servants from the old manor in Yingyin across the river to support them for a short time is not difficult. Relatives can borrow some grain, seeds, farm tools, and oxen from each other, and repay them slowly over the next few years.” Yao Xiang said, supporting Yao Yizhong’s arm as they leaped across a ditch.

Yao Yizhong shook off his son and said with dissatisfaction, "I'm not old yet. I've had more children than the emperor. Do I need your help? I'll give you some more younger brothers and sisters this year."

Yao Xiang chuckled silently.

A "duoduo" sound came from ahead. Yao Xiang looked up and saw a clerk leading two soldiers hammering wooden stakes.

Each wooden stake is engraved with words, representing the boundary of each family's land.

The Xun family of Yingyin took most of their people with them, leaving behind some households with larger families—mostly the elderly, weak, women, and children—or those who were not physically strong. They were all given land, and they were all overjoyed, expressing their gratitude profusely.

What to do with the rest of the land? Heh, with land, there's no shortage of people. Plenty of people from the neighboring Left Valiant Cavalry Guard and Left Golden Guard want to come, and even people from the slightly farther Right Valiant Cavalry Guard, Left Flying Dragon Guard, and Left and Right Feathered Forest Guards are interested. There's no way around it, we have too many family members. We should be secretly happy if we can get land in Yingchuan.

"Keep the land deed safe. It covers a total of forty-six mu and twenty steps and can be passed down to your descendants." After Xiao Shi finished registering the land deed, he made two copies. One copy was given to the family, and the other was taken back to be submitted to Wen Yi, the Registrar, for compilation. At the same time, he also took the opportunity to promote the Crown Prince's reputation. He continued, "This is the kindness of the Envoy of Encouraging Agriculture and the Crown Prince Jin. Do not forget it."

"We will never forget the Crown Prince's great kindness," the people who had just received the land shouted, following the instructions of others.

"Your Highness's kindness is unforgettable." The voices echoed one after another, carrying far and wide.

Yao Yizhong stopped and watched silently. Finally, he said to his son with a sigh, "The Emperor has given His Highness the opportunity to bestow favors. That's truly admirable. At his age, it's not easy to control suspicion."

"Father, please say less," Yao Xiang advised, looking around.

Yao Yizhong chuckled and remained silent.

After walking for a while, a convoy appeared on the side of the road ahead, braving the rain and mud.

In the middle of the car, a middle-aged man lifted the curtain, looked around, and after meeting Yao Yizhong's gaze, he smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, but did not get out of the car, and continued to move forward.

Yao Xiang did not recognize this person, but secretly guessed that he must be someone from the Xun family.

Yao Yizhong didn't say anything, but nodded to him as a greeting.

Why did he, as the Left Sima, come to Yingyin? Wasn't it because he feared something unexpected might happen? The Crown Prince had two guards from the Eastern Palace, and he also brought five hundred Qiang soldiers from Nan'an, paying for it himself; the court only needed to provide food. With so many people stationed here, the Xun family couldn't cause any major trouble militarily.

As for the political consequences, Yao Laoqiang had no say in that; that was a matter for the emperor and the crown prince, who were clearly prepared to bear those consequences.

"Keep counting, hurry up, His Highness checks it every night." Yao Yizhong waved his hand and continued forward.

******
The cleanup work on the fields in Yingyin continued until the end of April.

On this day, Chief Secretary Yu Liang returned from Hedong and met with the Crown Prince.

"Uncle, how is Hedong?" The Crown Prince, who was listening to Wen Yi's report, got up and stepped forward to welcome Yu Liang in.

“It’s all done.” Yu Liang sat down and said, “From the prefect down, all the officials cooperated. Even the Pei family dispersed on their own. Those from the Pei, Liu, Xue, Wei, Jia, Dong, Qiao, Wang, and Liu clans who have land in Hedong either follow the land occupation law or find their own way to make a living and go elsewhere.”

"How did it break up?" Shao Jin sat down and asked.

“These families can still leave some people in Hedong, and their old houses can be preserved. The rest will be divided into two groups, one going south and the other going west,” Yu Liang said. “Taking the Pei family as an example, one group stayed, about two thousand people. One group went west to Gaochang, about fifteen hundred people. And there is another group going south, which is more numerous, no less than five thousand people.”

"Is this all the Pei family has?" Shao Jin was somewhat surprised. "They have fewer people than the Shu Xue family."

“I heard that the Pei family sent a group of people south six years ago, and they should have settled in Danyang,” Yu Liang said. “Four years ago, they sent a second group, which settled in Linhai County. It seems that they went with the Liu family at that time. Besides, it’s normal that the Pei family doesn’t have as many people as the Xue family. They can dominate Hedong because they don’t have as many people or soldiers.”

After listening, Shao Jin nodded and said, "I see. The Pei clan members who went west to Gaochang should make things much easier for Third Brother."

Yu Liang was momentarily speechless, unsure how to respond. He could only say, "I've heard that the Pei family is still encouraging the people of Hedong to go to Gaochang. If they do, it shouldn't be difficult to find the two thousand garrison soldiers in Jinman and Pulei."

“The garrison troops of Jinman and Pulei towns are all assembled,” Shao Jin said. “They should have already started clearing land this year.”

Yu Liang was taken aback; he hadn't paid attention to this matter before. But it wasn't a big deal; even with families, it would only amount to two thousand households, and in fact, most of those who went were bachelors.

“King Zhao is quite efficient,” Yu Liang said with a smile. “When we transported grain to the Western Regions last time, we stored more than 300,000 bushels in Yiwu, but we haven’t sent them to Kucha yet. They must have been left for King Zhao.”

Shao Jin nodded and said, "If Third Brother can gain a foothold in Gaochang, it will be a great joy for the court. The trouble in the Western Regions is not in the south, but in the north." Yu Liang was speechless. His nephew had become even more cunning, and he couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth or not.

But that didn't matter; he didn't really value the Western Regions much, so he changed the subject and asked, "How is Yingchuan?"

"With my eldest uncle's handwritten letter, everyone was quite happy. More than 400,000 people and 44,000 hectares of land have been identified." When he said this, Shao Jin was also somewhat incredulous. It had more households than Henan Prefecture and Wei County, second only to Chenliu. It was almost the second most populous prefecture in the country, which was very frightening.

Yu Liang glanced at his nephew, thinking to himself that even the last bit of their secrets had been dug up. Your father knows better than you do; he won't be surprised at all, otherwise he wouldn't have put Yingchuan last.

However, this time they truly offended the scholars of Yingchuan. Even if land in Jiangnan were allocated to them, not everyone would be satisfied.

But then again, Yu Liang himself was a scholar from Yingchuan, and he knew everyone's character all too well. In ten or twenty years, they would all forget, or rather, they wouldn't forget, but rather accept reality. In the end, they would still have to honestly and desperately try to become officials.

"I heard someone came to our door?" Yu Liang asked again.

The smile on Shao Jin's face gradually faded when this matter was mentioned.

After a moment, he waved his hand and said, "They're quite capable. I barely arrived at Green Willow Garden, and people came knocking on my door, surrounded by a whole bunch of people speaking on my behalf. It's really—"

Yu Liang remained silent.

Previously, the Crown Prince and the scholars of Yingchuan were on friendly terms, so there were no problems. Now that he's directly assessing the land, and interests are involved, the atmosphere is naturally less harmonious.

At the same time, he was somewhat helpless. He had written letters and even visited them in person before, but in the end, a large number of people still came to the Crown Prince.

The smarter ones would simply stand tall and righteous, expressing their cooperation with the major policies; the less clever ones would cry and play the victim, hoping to arouse the prince's sympathy; and the least clever ones would try to bargain.

As the saying goes, "A large forest has all kinds of birds," and the various actions of the scholars of Yingchuan did not actually achieve good results.

Even Yu Liang, let alone the crown prince, was somewhat angry at his lack of ambition.

To salvage her image in the Crown Prince's eyes, she'll have to find a solution later.

"After completing the field survey in Yingchuan, where will Your Highness move your troops?" Yu Liang asked.

Shao Jin, regaining his composure, said, "Let's return to Green Willow Garden and investigate the household registrations and land records of all the prefectures in Yuzhou. His Majesty has said that all land since the Taishi era of Emperor Wu of Jin must be investigated. If this is not done well—"

He looked at Yu Liang and said softly, "The consequences could be very serious."

Yu Liang sighed and said, "This matter is of great importance and must be handled slowly. Your Highness is the Imperial Envoy in charge of promoting agriculture and expanding farmland. You should have the Registrar draft the documents and send them to the prefectures of Yuzhou, so that the governors, prefects, county magistrates and even the military departments can assist you."

Shao Jin nodded and said, "After investigation, the land registers of the local soldiers are the clearest. They pay taxes according to regulations and rarely cheat or evade taxes. Many wealthy people hide their household registrations, falsely report their land holdings, and fail to pay taxes and corvée labor."

Yu Liang felt somewhat embarrassed.

It's normal for the Crown Prince to feel resentment towards those who refuse to pay taxes and corvée labor, given his own perspective. The problem is that the Yu family has actually been hiding household registrations and land holdings.

His nephew had been investigating for a month; it was impossible for him not to know. But he didn't mention it, which left Yu Liang somewhat puzzled.

Brother-in-law and nephew, this father and son...

"The first step in investigating the land and households is to appoint the right people. I wonder if, after a month, any of your subordinates have caught Your Highness's eye?" Yu Liang asked again.

Shao Jin seemed oblivious to his uncle's inner thoughts, his smile returning as he said, "The Chief Clerk Mao Xiu is upright and capable, just like his father. The Registrar Wen Yi is diligent and meticulous in his duties, leaving no room for error, which is truly rare. The Gatekeeper Xie An is of noble character and great magnanimity, not bound by mundane affairs, yet his thoughts are profound and insightful. The Attendant Wang Zhi is simple and honest, and his words are often meaningful."

Yu Liang's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.

In just one or two months, so many people have gained the Crown Prince's favor...

He carefully considered these names.

Although Wen Yi is not from Henan, he watched him grow up.

Although Xie An registered his residence in Kuaiji, he was ultimately a native of Chenjun, which was very close to Yingchuan.

We should try to win these two over more often in the future.

As for Mao Xiu and Wang Zhi, he didn't know much about them. The former was from the martial arts school and the latter was from the Wuhuan. He subconsciously disliked them, but when he thought of what Song Qian had said before, he sighed.

Those who aspire to be prime ministers or even the next prime minister should not be too prejudiced. They should take some time to meet with these two younger men and see if they are sensible or not.

(End of this chapter)