There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 58 The River Declines and the Sun Rises
As the Chinese New Year approached, Nie Jieren was walking along the canals and ridges of the fields with a group of officials from the General's Mansion. Everywhere they looked, they could see the busy farming scenes.

This was during the Qianlong period of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty. The economy was not as developed as in modern society. As the New Year approached, the farmers would become busier preparing for the next year's harvest.

"Now that the New Year is approaching, wars are raging under the rule of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty, but in the territory of our great Han Dynasty, there is good weather and the people are living in peace and happiness. This is all the credit of the general and the old man!" Wei Yao, the magistrate of Jiangling who accompanied him to inspect agriculture and sericulture, flattered Nie Jieren.

Nie Jieren waved his hand. "There's no merit to it. I used to farm for the landlord, but now I farm for myself. The situation is naturally different."

These words were spoken so bluntly that County Magistrate Wei didn't know how to respond to his subsequent flattery.

When the other officials around him saw this, they all looked down on Wei Yao, who looked embarrassed. Many of them were young scholars who had just entered the General's Mansion, and many were poor students from the county school (rich people generally did not go to the county school).

Regardless of whether he has pride or not, at least he has not been dyed as black as a crow by the big black dye vat of the Qing Dynasty officialdom, so he naturally despises and looks down on flattering officials like Wei Yao. He also had youthful heroism and wanted to make some political achievements to benefit the people under his rule.

As for how long this heroic spirit can last, no one knows.

The Nie Jie people continued to walk and stop. Some farmers naturally saw these people, but they ignored them because they were not wearing official uniforms.

This was Nie Jieren's request. As the former richest man in the countryside, he understood the psychology of farmers much better than these bureaucrats. He knew that once he showed off his official uniform, the farmers basically wouldn't have to do anything.

The land and wealth accumulated by the Nie family for generations had all been divided up by Nie Yu in a single word, so now half of Jingzhou was all that was left of his Nie family.

Nie Jieren naturally had to be careful. He might not be able to truly manage national affairs, but managing the farmers' production in the towns was a specialty of the wealthy landlords. "I've been walking around, and it seems that some of the canals in this village haven't been repaired for a long time. There's still plenty of rain now, but what should we do next summer and autumn? We should start digging and rebuilding new canals as soon as possible. Why are the canals on the ridges in some places so messy? Is there a village secretly digging and stealing water?"

After a few simple walks, Nie Jieren basically understood the general situation of this piece of farmland and came up with a definite plan and plan.

Digging canals, occupying roads, and fighting for water sources are very normal and common in rural areas, and are often difficult to deal with once they occur.

But no matter how difficult it is to handle, it has to be handled. Otherwise, it may lead to a fight between two or more villages. These are all population productivity. If a fight breaks out, how many villages will be destroyed?
Nie Jieren looked at this field, then left and went to the next one. He didn't feel tired at all. He had walked a lot in Yangjinfan before. When he was young and his family business was not well developed, he was forced to go to the fields by his old father.

"Oh right, I've seen that the canals and irrigation systems in the countryside of Jingzhou Prefecture are like this. The canals and irrigation systems in Yidu and Zhijiang should be similar. My son once told me that if these towns want to become prosperous, there are only two things they need: building roads and irrigation systems."

Nie Jieren gestured with his finger, saying, "This is a profound truth. Take Yidu County, for example. It's mostly mountainous and forested, and the towns are divided. If we could build a government road, we could connect the markets in each town, making it much more convenient for the townspeople to pay taxes and transport agricultural products. The people would also have more ways to make money, and the government would collect more taxes. Why not?"

"Let's talk about water conservancy. Water conservancy is the foundation of farming. Even if there's no drought, with canals for irrigation, farmers can avoid detours and irrigate a few more acres, which can increase the harvest next year. If an acre of land yields an extra acre, then tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of acres will yield hundreds of thousands of acreages, which, when converted into grain taxes, is enough to feed an army."

Upon hearing this, the accompanying officials instantly understood that the three sentences were inseparable from raising troops. There was no need to guess, they knew that someone must have taught the old man to say so.

However, even though I think so, there is nothing wrong with what I said.

In the current Han army territory, the township as an administrative unit is basically in name only. Nie Yu did not abolish the township, but the newly built town reintegrated the rural areas.

In particular, a large number of migrant workers were allocated land and settled, and the landlords and powerful families with big families were all divided up their land and property. The once closed clan system in the countryside is gradually disintegrating, and new secondary administrative divisions of villages and towns are being rapidly established.

The large influx of refugees from other families in a short period of time and the dismemberment of local clans with major surnames can indeed cause the power of clans to decline, but if the newly built villages and towns cannot communicate with each other, they cannot even guarantee close ties with the county seat.

It won’t be long before these villages and towns will evolve into new clan forces.

This is quite normal. In ancient times, the society was economically backward and even farming and digging canals could lead to disputes. How could one defeat others by fighting alone? In order to survive and protect themselves, people would naturally stick together for warmth.

People with the same surname will form a clan for mutual support and use clan blood ties as a bond to form a huge local power.

Now Nie Yu holds the knife in his hand, and he has weakened the clan by dividing the land, but it is impossible to really destroy it, so building roads and water conservancy projects has become a necessary policy.

To be rich, build roads first!
As long as the official roads to villages and towns are built, people can go directly to towns to sell goods and make money.

It's said that Yongzheng's policy of equalizing the land tax with the land tax reduced the burden on the people because he abolished the head tax and added it to the land tax, meaning those with more land had to pay more, while those with less or no land had to pay less or nothing. However, the reality was that ordinary people under Qing rule were extremely poor, with few opportunities to make money. They could only work as tenants for landlords, and if they had some free time, they had to do odd jobs for the landlords. The landlords passed on all the extra taxes they paid to the tenants.

Especially during the Qianlong period, Qianlong abolished the unified tax payment system for officials and gentry, and restored their tax-free privilege.

How is this considered lightening the burden?

The happiness of the people that Nie Jieren saw at this time was indeed genuine, because Nie Yu had distributed land to them, and they no longer had to bear the heavy rent and taxes they had once had as tenants.

Even if Nie Yu still collected taxes according to the Qing Dynasty's tax rates, the people would only praise the general for his benevolence and righteousness!
"You're right, building roads and water conservancy projects is the foundation of our country!"

A young clerk immediately volunteered, "Student Li Chen is willing to go to Shanzhen Town, Yidu County, in the spring of next year to supervise the repair of official roads and the excavation of water conservancy irrigation canals."

With Li Chen taking the lead, other clerks of similar age also reacted instantly and rushed to speak.

"Student Xie Yanchen is also willing to go to Yidu to build canals and ditches!"

"Student Gu Jingyuan is willing to go to Yidu and Zhijiang..."

"Student Zhao Zhijie..."

All of a sudden, several young clerks came forward to ask for orders. Even Wei Yao, the magistrate of Jiangling County who was standing next to them, nodded secretly when he saw this.

As a veteran official, how could he not see the twists and turns here? It can be said that it is the scholarly spirit in the hearts of young scholars, but at the same time, the scholarly spirit is not really that of a fool.

Maybe there are a few, but more importantly, we value the long-term interests involved.

Yidu is the birthplace of the great general. It may seem poor and remote, and it may be really difficult to go there now, but as long as things are done well, it will be a definite political achievement.

There was no other way. The Han army was still in its infancy and was extremely short of talented people. In order to prevent the local area from exploding, the administrative system was barely maintained. Even the pseudo-Qing officials who surrendered were not all killed, and some were left behind.

Currently, Wei Yao is leading the new with the help of the old. In addition to his previous contribution in reporting the Tongzhi, as long as he doesn't make any big mistakes, a safe retirement due to illness is guaranteed.

This is also Nie Yu's strategic bargaining chip. As a great man once said, you should make more friends and fewer enemies.

"Okay, okay!" Nie Jieren wasn't stupid. He knew everything. He smiled, twirling his short beard. "My son's great cause is just beginning. Half of Jingzhou is in ruins. We need everyone in the General's Mansion to work together to overthrow the Qing and restore the Han Dynasty, and reclaim the world!"

"We will do our best!"

The accompanying officials hurriedly bowed in response.

Even Wei Yao, the demoted county magistrate, felt excited at this moment. It was not because of Nie Jieren's words that he was excited, but because of the official atmosphere under the rule of the Han army.

There is no corruption or bribery, everyone works hard and conscientiously, even if they are driven by the primitive desire to get promoted, but who becomes an official not to get promoted?

If you can do your job well in order to get promoted, you can be considered a good official.

On the Han side, the bandit officials worked together to benefit the people, while on the pseudo-Qing side, they were despicable, engaged in dirty deeds, and were corrupt and perverted the law.

The Qing Dynasty was on the decline, while the Han army, as rebels, was on the rise!

　I'm finally back, and I have to eat dinner tonight.
　　Don't misunderstand the proverb "When Huguang is ripe, the world is full." The "ripe" here doesn't simply refer to ripe grains. It encompasses all agricultural and sideline products related to life, including grain. These products encompass the five industries of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline products, and fishery. They can be subdivided into several major categories, including grains, cash crops, bamboo and timber, industrial oils and lacquers, poultry and livestock products, silk cocoons and silk, dried and fresh fruits, dried and fresh vegetables and condiments, medicinal materials, local by-products, and aquatic products. Each major category is further divided into several subcategories. These encompass all essential products essential to human life.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)