Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 353 The Great Clans Are Taking Action

In the beginning of the first lunar month, the weather in Daming was a mixture of cold and hot.

What was chilly was the atmosphere: the civil service examination, the imperial examination, the academic supervision, the censors of the Censorate who were frantically looking for trouble because the provincial, prefectural and county heads would soon be replaced by officials from the Censorate, and those stupid and restless gentry during last year's war.

At a time when the Ming was victorious and the emperor's prestige was at its peak, the first thing that was felt by the government and the people was his indifference and determination to return his attention to domestic affairs.

What is hot is hope: the official system that is about to be greatly changed will bring endless opportunities. The newly expanded territories are being studied by the Administrative Council, the Privy Council, and the Clan Court, where to deploy defenses, where to grant land to clan members who have moved to the border and hand it over to the Zongminghao for management, and where to sell to the public.

People say the northern border is barren, bitterly cold, but after all, there are thousands of miles of mountains, fields, rivers and lakes that appeared out of nowhere.

The next issue of the "Xueyong" morning newspaper will be very crucial. It is said that it will publish regulations on how to bid for many fields such as Chengde Prefecture, the newly developed land in Liaoning Province, and even the Kaiping Military and Civil Prefecture areas in Xuanfu Town, the Daning Linhuang areas in Liaoxi Town, and the Tongliao, Fuzhou, and Liaoyuan Military and Civil Prefectures in Liaodong Town.

At the same time, a policy was launched to encourage migration to the border: the land purchased and rented by the people who migrated to the border were exempted from taxes for five years, and they could also use the money they contributed to the construction of cities and forts, roads, bridges and other labor services in the border areas to buy land.

The new prefect of Chengde Prefecture, Shu Baiqing, has already set off to take up his post, but he will stay in Tongzhou first.

Because the Chengde Prefecture City that was planned to be built on the east side of the Luan River in the Halahetao area did not exist at all, Shu Baiqing did not have many people under his command.

Tongzhou is a good place. Countless people come and go from the south and the north, and gather here with a lot of wealth.

He has a lot of resources and a lot of power.

Wearing a scarlet official robe, he set up a stall in front of an inn near Tongzhou Wharf, with a notice written by himself next to it.

Of course, Shu Baiqing himself did not sit at the stall, it was his master who did.

"With the approval of Your Majesty and the approval of the Jinxian Academy, Chengde Prefecture has been newly established, and the prefecture governor can recruit talented people. Now there are still vacancies in the prefecture and the county and state offices as follows..."

Shu Baiqing’s power is to directly interview some minor officials of the eighth and ninth ranks.

In fact, a group of new low-ranking officials from Chengde Prefecture had been appointed after the students from the Imperial College and the Hundred Schools Garden left.

But their social experience is not enough, Shu Boqing needs to find some more from among the older scholars and juren.

Now Shu Baiqing was sitting in a private room in the inn reading the letter.

Of course, many colleagues wrote to recommend some people. If there is a vacancy, how can there be few people who want to take it?

The purpose of publicizing it in Tongzhou with great fanfare was simply to let the government and the public know that Chengde Prefecture was full of energy and efficiency, and to use the precious land of Tongzhou to connect with those officials, gentry, and even ordinary people who were interested in developing in Chengde Prefecture.

When he arrived in Chengde Prefecture, he would take many people and a lot of wealth with him.

The first thing to do when they arrived was to build the city of Chengde Prefecture. At the same time, they had to organize people to survey the land, make preparations for selling land rights and many other things, and establish the Yellow Book and Fish Scale Atlas belonging to Chengde Prefecture.

The news spread quickly, and many common people, merchants, and wealthy families in the Liaoxi Corridor were the most willing, after all, they were familiar with the area.

Also heading south along the canal, the prefectures of Shandong, Northern Zhili and Henan provinces are also very eager and are rushing here.

"Prefect, the Kong family of Qufu wishes to see you..."

Hearing the housekeeper's announcement, Shu Baiqing looked up in astonishment: "Kong Family of Qufu?"

"That's right." The housekeeper said strangely, "It is said that Shandong was originally a province with a strong horse policy. The imperial court reclaimed the border and educated the barbarians. The lineage of Duke Yansheng also had an obligation to do so. Shandong had no shortage of manpower and money..."

Shu Boqing showed a meaningful smile on his face: "Big deal, if you want to meet, please come in."

It sounds very upright, but it is indeed a response to the call of the court.

After seeing the people, Shu Boqing heard them introduce themselves and looked at the middle-aged man among them: "It turns out to be Shopkeeper Qin, your name is well-known!"

Qin Yongtai's heart tightened and he bent down with his head down: "My humble name is an insult to the prefect, your Highness, your Highness..." The two biological sons of Duke Yansheng Kong Shangxian died early and left no descendants. Now he has adopted a son from his cousin.

Kong Yinzhi was just eighteen years old. Although he had the title of the Crown Prince of Yansheng, Shu Baiqing spoke to Qin Yongtai first, which seemed to show lack of respect for Kong Yinzhi.

"Your Highness, are you going out to gain experience?" Shu Boqing just smiled, and after asking them to sit down, he said to Qin Yongtai, "Manager Qin, don't be so modest. After I came to Beijing to work as a clerk in the Inspection Office, I heard a lot of old stories. The Duke of Yansheng sent Manager Qin to accompany the prince, so if you have any advice, feel free to speak up."

"How dare I..." Qin Yongtai was now more certain that the Chengde prefect knew about their attempt to raise the grain price in the capital. "Lord Yansheng only ordered me to obey the orders of the prefect. Chengde Prefecture is newly established and needs people, grain, bricks and wood. The main branch of the Yansheng Prefecture and all the prefectures in Shandong are willing to help."

"There is Changming Grain Store for grain." Shu Baiqing said this first, "For the construction, this time the Ministry of Works sent an assistant minister to inspect and supervise the construction of castles in the new border. What I am worried about here is people and money. The large-scale construction and land reclamation require a lot of manpower, but according to the imperial decree, priority will be given to the people registered in Chengde Prefecture, regardless of Han or Yi. To be registered in Chengde Prefecture, you must have some land and shops, or be a hired worker with a master who has moved to your home."

"…Register as a resident?" Qin Yongtai asked in surprise, "Does the court intend to recruit refugees first?"

The so-called "attachment" is a way of dealing with the situation of people who lost their land and property due to disasters or various man-made factors and had to have a household registration because of the need for government management. Generally speaking, the refugees were incorporated into the local area nearby. Whether they first rented government land or became hired workers, "slaves" or even adopted sons and daughters of wealthy families, they always had to have an identity.

So Shu Baiqing said, "Since there is new land, it would be the best choice to arrange for some resettlement of refugees. It doesn't have to be limited to this, hiring workers or adopted sons and daughters will also work." Shu Baiqing looked at him, "There are many such people in the Kong family in Qufu, right? Once the registration is completed, the government office will organize people to apply when the major construction begins."

"I see..." Qin Yongtai nodded and asked, "Just now the governor said that he was still worried about money?"

"That's right." Shu Boqing sighed, "The court exempted Chengde Prefecture from taxes for five years, but the money allocated was for city defense, water conservancy, roads and bridges, and official salaries. However, there are many things to be rebuilt, and there are more places to spend money. Therefore, Your Majesty has given me grace. After issuing an edict to define the land rights and other mineral rights, mountain rights, and lake rights that can be sold, the government office will host the auction of the rights within Chengde Prefecture. 50% of the proceeds will be sent to the national treasury, and 50% will be used in the local area."

He paused and looked at Qin Yongtai: "If you want to bid, you must also register in Chengde Prefecture, and there is a limit based on the number of people in your household. Shopkeeper Qin, do you understand?"

"...I understand." Qin Yongtai glanced at Kong Yinzhi, took out two silver ingots from his sleeve, and placed them on the table in front of Shu Baiqing with a smile, "It's just a small gift, not worthy of respect. Don't worry, I will ask Lord Yansheng to make a decision and see how many people from the main and branch branches of Shandong families can settle in Chengde. If there are not enough workers, please let me know. I dare not say anything else, but I don't know how many workers I can get in Linqing..."

Shu Boqing looked at the two ingots of silver for a while and then smiled happily, "Okay! The Qufu Kong family bid for the Chengde Prefecture's private land as a deposit of fifty taels of silver. This prefecture will record it in the account first!"

After saying that, he stood up and bowed: "Wait for good news!"

Qin Yongtai listened to Shu Baiqing's words in astonishment, and seeing that he wanted to see him off, he could only say goodbye first.

Of course, Kong Yinzhi and Shu Baiqing first exchanged a few polite words between the seniors and the younger students.

Shu Baiqing watched them leave with a smile, then thought for a moment and picked up a pen to write a letter to Shen Lixian.

He was well aware of the situation of the Kong family in Shandong.

After the strict implementation of preferential treatment and exemption, Kong Shangxian did not want to be the first to do so, so of course he took the lead in carrying out the responsibilities.

This means that the entire Kong family's main and side branches, as well as many of their related local in-laws, surrendered slaves, and wealthy merchants have "declared" many hidden fields and hidden people.

After many years of annexation, except for the sacrificial land of the Confucius Temple in Shandong, which was granted to Duke Yansheng by the imperial court, which was definitely not taxed, how many tens of thousands of hectares of land did the Kong family, a big interest group, own? No one knows.

But in the past, a large number of hidden fields and hidden people did not pay taxes. After the strict implementation of preferential exemptions, whether it was the local taxes allocated to those people or the land taxes that had to be paid after deducting the preferential exemption amount from the huge land area, it was a huge burden for the Kong family.

The reason why they are so active now is simply because the new border has been tax-free for five years. They can resettle a large number of hired workers and adopted sons and daughters who cannot break away from their vassal relationship there, saving a lot of taxes and easing the conflicts between people and land within their own borders.

It seems that Kong Shangxian has already sensed the danger and wants to kill two birds with one stone by responding to the court's call.

However, if the Kong family were to move tens of thousands of people out at once, would the Shandong region agree?
Needless to say, those who moved out must have no achievements, and most of the rest were exempted. In addition, the population suddenly decreased, and the prefectures and counties that were most affected would probably see a sharp drop in local taxes and savings.

Shu Baiqing felt that there might be something interesting to watch.

He doesn't care about those things, now he only has one identity.

The Lord of Chengde Prefecture!

(End of this chapter)