The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 609: A Mild Version of Sheep Eating People

Shandong, Linqing Prefecture.

This is currently the second largest city in Shandong Province, and its total economic output even exceeds that of the provincial capital, Jinan.

Even in the entire north, Linqing is a very important city, and its prosperity exceeds that of ancient capitals such as Luoyang and Kaifeng.

The reason is that while sea transportation still involves considerable risks, the Grand Canal is still the first golden waterway for north-south transportation.

At the same time, the Wei River, which flows from Henan from west to east and empties into the Bohai Sea, has not yet been paralyzed by the Communist Canal.

Thus, the north-south Grand Canal and the east-west Wei River meet in Linqing Prefecture. With the support of these two east-west and north-south rivers, the prosperity of Linqing Prefecture can be imagined.

So last year, Linqing was upgraded from a prefecture to a state, and directly swallowed up Dongchang Prefecture (Liaocheng) in the south. Linqing Prefecture and Dongchang Prefecture merged into Linqing Prefecture.

Wu Renjing, the first Linqing prefect who took office last year, was looking out from a small official office at the Linqing Wharf of the Grand Canal, waiting for the arrival of the emperor's dragon boat.

Wu Renjing was from Jiading Prefecture, Xingtang Province, and he was not from a high-ranking family in Jiading Province. Instead, his ancestral home was Xinyi County, Gaozhou, Guangdong. He was a genuine descendant of the emperor Gao, Lei and Lian in the three states of western Guangdong, and he was also a native of Mingxiang.

This is the true confidant of the dynasty.

Wu Renjing himself is also very capable. Historically, he was a founding hero of the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam, a famous writer, and the eldest of the three sons of Gia Dinh.

In this time and space, he won the third place in the first class of the competition in the sixth year of Guangzhong (1781).

Then, according to the convention of the Dayu Dynasty that the prime minister must be appointed from the prefectures and counties, he first served as an intern in the inner court for two years, and then was transferred to important prefectures and counties for training.

In just two years, he became the fourth-rank official and the extremely important prefect of Linqing, a promotion speed that could be described as rocket-like.

"Let's go, sir. It seems that you will definitely not come today." The staff beside him whispered.

Wu Renjing nodded and left with a group of confused yamen runners behind him.

As a true confidant of the dynasty, Wu Renjing, a native of Jiading Mingxiang, only knew that the emperor was going south, but he did not know, nor did he dare to know, when he would set off or when he would arrive.

Monitoring the emperor's residence and spying on his carriage are serious crimes that the whole clan must face.

Of course, in the Qing Dynasty, because Emperor Qianlong’s travels were so grand, officials could know the emperor’s itinerary accurately.

However, in the Great Yu Dynasty, the emperor was, at least on the surface, the father and ruler of all people in the world, not just an emperor of the bannermen like the Qing emperor.

Therefore, there is no need to mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers and horses for protection, in case local forces rush over and take care of them. The scale of the trip should be much smaller.

From what Wu Renjing knew, when the emperor traveled, he was usually accompanied by only three hundred Jinyiwei Palace Guards, one thousand Royal Guards, and two thousand Beijing Camp soldiers.

With such a scale, if the emperor did not notify in advance and only let the Jinyiwei secretly advance in advance, it is possible that they would arrive suddenly.

Linqing County Yamen. When Linqing was a directly-administered prefecture, there was no Linqing County. The prefecture directly governed the county, and the prefect served as the county magistrate of the prefecture where the Yamen was located.

But now Linqing has become a prefecture, and the prefect has to manage such a large area, so it is naturally impossible for him to do the work of the county magistrate. So a new Linqing County was established to handle miscellaneous matters.

The current Linqing County Magistrate is named Bao Zhihe, a native of Kaili, Guizhou. He was a fellow Jinshi graduate as was the prefect Wu Renjing, ranking ninety-first among the third class in the sixth year of Guangzhong (1781).

As a fellow Jinshi, he ranked ninetieth, which is still a bit too low.

You should know that the number of admissions for the top three and Jinshi exams will not exceed one hundred and ten, and in many cases it will not even exceed ninety.

He is ranked so low, on par with Sun Shan, so his future is not comparable to that of the top one.

Those who ranked similarly to Bao Zhihe in the same exam were either still serving as minor officials in idle departments of the court or were sent to other remote places.

Being able to be the chief official in a big city like Linqing is a treatment that many second-class Jinshi scholars do not even have. I wonder how many people envy Bao Zhihe.

However, Bao Zhihe, the magistrate of Bao County, who should have been envied by everyone, was not happy at all, because the complexity of the situation in Linqing County was completely beyond his imagination.

Many things even went beyond the teachings of the sages he read.

"Master, here he comes again, Mr. Wang is here again!"

In the back hall of the county government office, it was getting late and it seemed that the day's hard work could be over, but the foreman of the county government office came running in shouting.

When Bao Zhihe heard the three words "Mr. Wang", a look of discomfort appeared on his face.

This man was a wealthy man in Linqing County and ran a huge pig farm and sheep farm on the outskirts of the county.

Due to the prosperity of Linqing County, the pork and mutton produced by Mr. Wang's family are extremely popular. Not only are they easy to sell, but they can also be sold at a good price.

So Mr. Wang began to frantically acquire land, wanting to expand his breeding business.

As for Bao Zhihe, decades of hard study taught him that a good official should suppress merchants, encourage farming and weaving, curb mergers and acquisitions, and protect the poor.

However, according to the current laws of Dayu, even though Bao Zhihe was the county magistrate, he could not stop all this, so he was extremely distressed and felt that he was an accomplice of Mr. Wang and others.

Mr. Wang stood at the gate of the county government office with a swagger. He was tall and handsome, looking like a talented man in a play, but in fact, the people of Linqing secretly called him Wang Dachong.

It doesn't mean that he is as fierce as a tiger, but it means that except for the tiger that won't eat its own cubs, he is very cruel to everyone.

Of course, this was the common people's misconception, because Wang Lao Hu Wang Juren knew how to win over and treat people of the same class with courtesy. He was only cruel to the common people who were targeted by him and could not keep their property.

So at this moment, it was not only Mr. Wang who came to the gate of the county government office, but also a group of leading figures in Linqing County to support him.

Of course, there were also those people who were coerced by him and chose to go to the county government to plead.

"I think if Bao Zhihe dares to shirk his responsibilities again, he will have to resign as county magistrate. Your Majesty and Prime Minister Lin Ge Lao have repeatedly ordered that officials in prefectures, counties and districts must not obstruct normal economic activities.

Today I will bring the imperial edict and the imperial decree to see if he dares to behave like before."

Mr. Wang was filled with righteous indignation when he spoke, and the gentry and wealthy businessmen around him also echoed him. Some of them even cursed loudly outside the county government office, showing their considerable courage.

At this time in the Dayu Dynasty, the equal distribution of land in various provinces was actually very different.

In the Lingnan provinces such as Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, there was no equal distribution of land at all.

Firstly, in these provinces, even in Guangdong and Guangnan, only a few places have good farmland, and the rest of the places are very barren, so it doesn't make much sense to distribute the land evenly.

Secondly, as the place where the emperor was born, the people in these provinces have too many options for their future. Every family has produced a few heroes who followed the emperor to the throne, a few relatives of the emperor, and wealthy merchants.

Therefore, they did not care much about the harvest from the land, and there were quite a few of these people. After they left, large areas of mountainous land in the junction of Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi were abandoned. It was difficult to find people to work as tenants in the land, so naturally it did not matter whether to merge or not.

If you want to merge, go ahead and merge. Farming won’t kill you.

In places like Jiangnan, where handicrafts are extremely developed and maritime trade is thriving, a large textile factory employs thousands or even tens of thousands of machinists.

There are countless people who can't farm and sell their land to go to the city to work. They actively ask for mergers, as long as you pay according to the market price.

Huguang and Sichuan are not only vast and sparsely populated, but also the places where the equal distribution of land is most effective. The top powerful people have almost been dealt with, and most people can still make a living. The brutal period of annexation has not yet arrived.

Only in the four provinces of Shanhe was the territory basically taken over peacefully, and a large number of powerful gentry were not liquidated.

At the same time, the commodity economy was not so developed, there were few channels and many people, so the brutal land annexation began in these four provinces and their surrounding areas.

Of course, the Dayu Dynasty still imposed restrictions on mergers. The upper limit for each person was fifteen acres of land. If you owned more than that, no matter what method you used, the country would not recognize it and you would not be able to hold on to it at all.

But every policy has its own countermeasures, and there are too many loopholes in the laws at this time.

For example, regarding the issue of the 15-mu land limit per person, Mr. Wang’s solution was not to buy land at all, but to follow the trend and become an agricultural company or agricultural cooperative.

For example, if he gets the signatures of 100 people, he can own 1,500 acres of land, and then convert the land into equity based on 15 acres per person to become a shareholder.

This seems to be okay, and the people can benefit from it.

But in fact, Mr. Wang can use financial accounting methods to turn huge profits into slight profits, and slight profits into losses. These common people who are given the title can hardly read and write, so they can't get much money at all.

In the end, he basically just admitted that he would have to let Mr. Wang give him a fixed amount of money every year, just like the qualification certificate in later generations, and contributed his share of the land.

This is simply a problem of the law not keeping up with the development of reality. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Mr. Wang is breaking the law by doing this.

But from a legal perspective, as long as his account books can make sense, he has not violated the law.

As for a commoner who has become a shareholder by holding a share of land, if he can check the account books clearly, then... that means you are qualified to be in the same class as Mr. Wang.

Mr. Wang will try to get you to join him in a proper way, or give you all the copper coins he deserves, and then ask you to withdraw your shares while he looks for someone else to take advantage of.

"Wang Lao Hu, the county magistrate is a great judge. He will not forgive you. You have violated the law and will be exiled to Ningguta."

At the steps of the county government office, Song Yougen and several other poor people gnashed their teeth and looked at the arrogant Mr. Wang and started cursing.

"Hmph, you poor bastards are just dreaming!" Before Mr. Wang could answer, an old fat man in a brocade robe next to him started yelling.

"Let me tell you, according to the new imperial court regulations, all prefectures and counties must complete their tax payments on time. Any prefecture or county that fails to do so will have its quota of scholars and students reduced proportionally.

If Bao Zhihe doesn't follow the law, we'll shut down all the factories and farms, preventing Linqing County from collecting even half of its tax revenue. I wonder how Bao Zhihe can justify himself to his superiors and subordinates."

"That's right. Is this Guizhou barbarian still stuck in his old ways from 20 years ago? Lingnan and Jiangnan are about to implement republican parliaments, but he's still clinging to the old ways."

"Brother Wang, you're young and smart. How do you think this councillor compares to a Juren or a Xiucai? Is it really necessary to get one?" Hearing someone ask, Wang Juren, a new-age capitalist who was only 24 years old, coughed, nodded, and replied:
"From what I understand, this Republican congressman is quite powerful. He doesn't kneel before an official and can regularly request to meet with the chief and assistant officials of the prefecture and county to offer his opinions on issues ranging from taxation to people's livelihood.

If they are really angry, they can also ask the heads of states and counties to explain certain issues. Elections are held every four years, and being elected is like a layer of protection.

I feel that this congressman has mixed the local celebrities and scholars of the past together, which is quite promising.

As for the Juren and Xiucai, they are just the threshold for becoming an official. If you don’t want to be an official in the future, you basically don’t need to take the exam.”

It can be said that although Mr. Wang had never really come into contact with the Republican Parliament, he actually had a pretty good idea of the role and status of the members of parliament.

Of course, there was one thing he hadn't said, which was that he had a feeling that the emperor seemed to be constantly pushing people like him to move up through the parliament, but he hadn't figured out what exactly he was going to do.

"Oh, if this happens, then the chief officials and assistant officials of prefectures and counties won't be as carefree as they are now.

For example, if we were all council members, we could go in right now and ask him to give a reasonable explanation."

"Will the officials in the court agree to this?" Someone with a keen sense of smell couldn't help but ask in surprise.

"I heard." Mr. Wang lowered his voice. His mother's surname was Yuan. She was a branch of the Zouping Yuan family of Yuan Shoutong, who had just passed away and was posthumously awarded the title of Prince Taibao. Therefore, she could get access to things that others could not.

"Your Majesty, because state affairs are becoming increasingly complex, intends to restore the position of Prime Minister, which was abolished by Emperor Hongwu. In the future, it is very likely that the positions will no longer be Chief Minister or Deputy Prime Minister, but Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister."

Mr. Wang smacked his lips and said, "Prime minister, he hasn't appeared for hundreds of years."

The person asking the question understood that the emperor had made such a big concession and returned the power of the prime minister to the highest-level civil servant.

If the emperor pushed for this and the central ministers of the court agreed, the county officials below would have no room for resistance at all.

'Squeak! '

Just as they were arguing, the door of the county government office finally opened. County Magistrate Bao, wearing a slightly wrinkled green robe and with a sad face, sat in the main hall of the county government office.

It doesn't look like he's here to try a case, it seems like he's being forced to do something stupid.

"Master, please help me. My family depends on these few acres of land for survival. My mother is sick and needs medicine every day. If we lose these acres of land, our whole family will have no way to survive."

The yamen runners had not yet finished their mighty shouts, and the crowd at the yamen gate had not yet stopped chattering, when the anxious Song Yougen rushed over and shouted his complaints.

"No way out?" Before Magistrate Bao could say anything, Mr. Wang roared, "How dare you! Now that the Holy Emperor is in power, we've driven out the Tartars and reclaimed our lost territory. With a vast and peaceful land, how could you possibly have no way out?"

Mr. Wang's tone grew increasingly stern as he spoke. "Even if there's no way to make a living here, you can go to Shaanxi, Gansu, Liaoyang, or Southeast Asia. There, each person can own dozens of acres of land, and life will be good. How dare you say there's no way to make a living?"

Bao Zhihe quickly waved his hands, humming, "I'm just an ignorant commoner, speaking without thinking. Even a saint would just laugh it off if they heard it. Brother Songnian, there's no need to get so excited."

“Song Yougen, I remember your family consists of six people and you own nine acres of land.

Although it has been dry in recent years, Linqing is close to the Wei River and still has water for irrigation. Life is better than that of ordinary families. How did they end up having to borrow money? "Zhixian Bao asked in confusion.

It would have been fine if he hadn't asked, but when he did, Song Yougen's eyes welled up with tears. "We have the land, but the price of these grains is low because there is so much rice coming from the south through the Grand Canal.

It would be fine if the food itself was worthless, we could just eat it ourselves, but now in Linqing, even cloth is worthless.

A lot of Songjiang cloth came from the Grand Canal. The price was incredibly low and the quality was much better than that of small households.

The cloth woven in the common people's homes this year can't be sold much at all, at least 70% to 80% less than in the past."

As he spoke, Song Yougen sobbed, "I've worked hard all year round, but the food is worthless, the cloth I weave can't be sold, and there's a shortage of soy sauce, vinegar, tea, oil, salt, and everything else.

My mother got seriously ill due to anxiety, and the medical expenses and medicine were even higher, so I had to find a way to borrow some money.

I didn't know that the pawnshop I was borrowing money from belonged to Wang Lao Hu. Not only was the interest rate high, but the demands for repayment were getting more and more intense day by day, clearly wanting the land."

As soon as these words were spoken, ordinary people outside the yamen began to talk about it. Because Linqing was well connected, it was the first to be impacted by the commodity economy.

The relatively cheap rice has impacted the local rice market. Of course, the most fatal impact comes from the textile industry in Jiangnan, where production has increased fivefold.

They knocked all the local women weavers to the ground, smashing their weaving machines to pieces. Song Yougen's family was not the only one that went bankrupt.

"Men farming is not enough to feed themselves, and women weaving is not enough to sell." County Magistrate Bao muttered with empathy. He looked at Mr. Wang, who had no sympathy on his face.

"Wang Songnian, you've also read the books of sages. You must understand the importance of suppressing mergers and acquisitions among scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans."

Unfortunately, before he could finish his words, he was rudely interrupted by Mr. Wang Songnian.

"Sir, what era are we in now? We still have scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. The current emperor comes from a family of maritime merchants. Be careful with your words!
Besides, curbing annexation was a thing of the Han and Tang dynasties. Now, our Great Yu is rich and powerful, and we are in need of people everywhere. If everyone stays at home and has no food to eat, and does not go out to expand the country, who will protect this great country?"

"That's right. If you can't make it at home, then go to the northwest, the northeast, or even Southeast Asia. Who's still tying your legs to Linqing?"

"Mr. Bao, you've been dragging your feet on the Song Yougen case for quite some time. You must make a judgment today.

Wang has done nothing illegal, and there has been no coercion. Repaying debts is a matter of course. If you still dare to be partial, I will go to the government office and the governor's office to sue you!"

"Yes, corrupt official, if you don't do anything, I'll go to the governor's office and sue you!"

As soon as Mr. Wang finished speaking, the local gentry who followed him in started to make a loud noise.

The people they brought with them were also making a commotion outside, and in no time they coaxed the poor people, who had sympathetic expressions on their faces, out.

However, when a thug was about to push a guy who looked a bit effeminate, a pair of big hands clamped his neck tightly. The thug was pinched so hard that he saw stars and couldn't speak. He almost fainted.

The others then realized that a group of people with very strange temperaments had come to the lobby of the county government office, but they felt they could not afford to offend them.

Then, the thugs became quiet, looking at them with some fear, not daring to continue pushing others.

In the lobby, both parties and Magistrate Bao did not notice this because their focus was on the case.

Magistrate Bao flipped through the already worn-out files again and again. The dynasty did not prohibit annexation, and people like Mr. Wang had plenty of ways to solve the problem of land ceiling.

More importantly, County Magistrate Bao at least knew one thing: the emperor and the prime minister wanted to drive the surplus population from the mainland to the northwest, northeast and Southeast Asia, and the current situation was exactly what they wanted to see.

But all this was completely contrary to what Bao Zhihe had learned for decades, and he felt extremely uncomfortable.

After a while, County Magistrate Bao slowly asked, "Song Yougen, the court is now recruiting people to go to Liaoyang Province. His Majesty wants to build large-scale coal and iron bases in Shenyang, Tielingwei, and other places, and they are short of manpower.

If you don't want to work, you can go to Southeast Asia. Each person is given dozens of acres of land, and the natives have been subdued, so there isn't much danger."

Song Yougen burst into tears. He had never even left the county, let alone Liaoyang or Nanyang. Coming to the county government office was considered a very long journey for him.

Now the thought of going thousands of miles away makes me scared to death. How could I be willing to do that?

"Master, I heard that going to Nanyang is a life-threatening experience. Going to Liaoyang, there are more tigers and bears than people. There is even a nine-headed monster snake in the Liaoxi swamp. If you go there, you will never come back alive!"

These words made Mo Zibu, who was watching outside, so angry that he almost fell down.

"You ignorant common people, what nonsense!" Mr. Wang looked at Song Yougen with disdain, "Going to Southeast Asia is not a life-or-death struggle, nine lives and one death is more like it.

There is no Liaoxi Lake anymore. There is nothing left. Your Majesty's coal and iron base is right next to Shenyang.

That was Fengtian, the former Qing dynasty. It was a well-known place hundreds of years ago. Where the hell did this nine-headed monster snake come from? You must have read too much Journey to the West."

Although County Magistrate Bao sympathized with Song Yougen, he was speechless after hearing these remarks.

He could no longer "cover up" for them, otherwise people like Mr. Wang would accuse him of supporting and slandering the country's major policies, and he would be in big trouble.

Hearing what Mr. Wang said, Song Yougen burst into tears again and said, "Even if I am willing to go, my mother is old and sick. How can I go so far away?"

"Stop pretending like that." Mr. Wang pointed at Song Yougen's face and cursed, "You're only twenty-two this year, and your mother is only thirty-seven. How can you be called my mother?
Besides, you have five brothers and sisters. Even if you leave, doesn't your mother still have your brother to take care of her?"

Song Yougen wanted to refute, but County Magistrate Bao knew that it was irreversible, so he waved his hand.

"Song Yougen, go back and raise money. If you can't pay off your debts, then sell your land and go out and make a living."

After making the judgment with great pain and feeling that he was aiding and abetting the evil, County Magistrate Bao looked at Mr. Wang again.

"Wang Songnian, you took someone's land and sent them thousands of miles away. We are all neighbors, so you should show some humanity.

If Song Yougen's mother can't come over, you need to take care of her and provide an additional 300 kilograms of food every year."

Mr. Wang gritted his teeth. Song Yougen's nine acres of land was right between his several plots of land, and he had to have it.

"Two hundred catties, no more!" Mr. Wang said firmly, "Consider this grain as a gesture of kindness. As long as his mother is alive, I will definitely give it to him."

County Magistrate Bao nodded. A woman doesn't eat much, and taking into account other expenses such as oil, salt, and cloth, 600 kilograms of food a year is basically enough to sustain her.

Now that he has these 200 kilograms, with the help of Song Yougen and his brothers, his mother is not old either and can still find some needlework to do, so there will be no problem with food.

Thinking of this, County Magistrate Bao finally signed, sealed and signed the case file he had been hesitating about for several months.

If Song Laogen fails to come up with the money within five days, the family’s land will be lost.

(End of this chapter)