Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 216 Land Allocation and Registration
Next, He Shilie successfully captured three more county towns in a row using the same method.

If the Weiwu Guards hadn't been exhausted from their journey, they probably could have easily conquered three more cities.

However, Heshilie also remembered his clan leader's admonition. Every time he entered the city, the first thing he did was to send people to post notices and spread the word that the poll tax and tax would be exempted. He also blamed the previous debts on the big landlord families in Longxi, claiming that the court had already issued such an order, but these noble families in Longxi had deceived the people for their own benefit, which was why the land of Longxi was in such a state of hardship!

Then, He Shilie suddenly left an outer disciple of the White Stone Immortal Sect in each city, together with a minor official brought from Chang'an, to thoroughly investigate backlog cases. He even set up "Injustice Drums" so that anyone with a grievance could beat the drum to appeal for justice and seek a reversal of the verdict.

For the next two days, Heshilie remained motionless, seemingly content with his lot and unwilling to leave. He held onto the three cities and did not advance westward, which greatly relieved the powerful families of Longxi.

With the death of Wang Chengsi of the Jinyang Wang clan, the Wang family suffered a major blow.

Originally, the Wang family abandoned Jinyang and chose to come to Longzhong with the intention of getting together to accomplish something—moreover, among these former noble families, the Li and Wang families were the most prosperous.

But who would have thought that the hothead leading the army on the other side had no sense of martial ethics in battle? Knowing that Wang Chengsi was the young master of the Wang family, he still showed no mercy and clearly looked down on the Wang family and had no intention of negotiating with the noble families of Longxi!
This worried everyone. However, when Heshilie suddenly stopped after taking only three counties, the noble families and officials saw a glimmer of hope again. Letters begging for peace and groveling to Heshilie arrived in Heshilie's hands like snowflakes. Some even promised gold, silver, jewels, beautiful women, and fine horses. Even a woman named "the graceful Du" sent a private letter saying, "I have heard of the general's great reputation but do not admire him much."

"Honey trap?"

Upon seeing this so-called "private letter from a young lady in her boudoir," Murong Ruyan subconsciously smelled the floral stationery.

It smells quite nice, probably from being scented with sandalwood.

She pursed her lips and couldn't help but complain, "Isn't this a bit too rough?"

He Shilie, who was flipping through the "Elementary Qi Refining Book" nearby, didn't even look up when he heard this: "Believe?"

Murong Ruyan shook her head and said, "No, I mean the methods they used are too crude. How could they possibly succeed?"

He Shilie still didn't look up, and casually said, "Whether it works or not, let's give it a try. We won't lose anything anyway. We've been staying here for several days, which probably gives them the illusion that we can negotiate."

Bored, Murong Ruyan picked at the pattern on the stationery with her fingernails and asked, "Then why aren't you continuing?"

He Shilie suddenly turned a page and replied, "The land hasn't been cleared yet, so taking it won't do any good. It will only scatter our manpower and easily alert the enemy."

Murong Ruyan tore the pattern on the letter paper to shreds, then threw the letter aside, propped her cheek on her hand, and tried to persuade He Shilie to make a quick decision, saying, "Actually, it's the same to conquer it all at once and then divide the land. At worst, we can just ask Master to send more people over!"

He Shilie suddenly raised his head, glanced at his second senior sister whose face was full of murderous intent, and shook his head helplessly: "Haste makes waste. It's better to do things perfectly. Subduing the enemy without fighting is the best strategy in warfare."

"Fine, fine, you're in charge. You're the General anyway!"

Murong Ruyan pronounced the three words "Great General" slowly and deliberately, gritted her teeth in resentment, and simply lay down on the table, where she began to cultivate her internal energy. Three days passed in this "peaceful" manner before the hidden fields of the three counties were gradually clarified. Suddenly, He Shilie even went so far as to conduct a "census," modeled after the policies of the Xiao Kingdom.

Of course, the term "population census" did not exist in this era; the correct term should be "registered households".

According to the old customs of the Xiao Kingdom, registration was done every three years. In areas inhabited by the Mohe people, the "village head" was responsible for household registration. In areas in the Central Plains, the "village head" was in charge. Names, ages, genders, and even whether someone was an adult or disabled were all recorded in detail. Even whether someone was a servant or not had to be clearly stated, and the information had to be reported within three months.

A foolish ruler like the former emperor of Xiao, who was always causing trouble, once changed the registration system from once every three years to once a year. In reality, this was just to collect taxes—Xiao's poll tax and tax were much higher than Zhou's.

As outsiders, simply registering a household registration would inevitably present numerous difficulties.

In the mountains, in the fields, underground—wherever people can hide, that's where ordinary people can hide. Over the years, many of the hidden households controlled by the Guanzhong aristocratic families have been concealed in this way. Of course, there are also cases where local officials protect them, completely ignoring the matter of hidden households and simply fudge the household registration to get by.

But this time it's different.

As a region of Heshilietu that possessed the land redistribution method personally passed down by Zhang Chengdao, the method of registering households was to promote land redistribution.

The fields hidden by local tycoons far exceeded the fields registered by the government. The top-quality farmland measured by Heshilie Tudi in just a few days was more than enough to give each person 20 mu!

"Regardless of gender, as long as an adult can be allocated land, a total of 30 mu, of which 10 mu are permanent land and 20 mu are allotted land... However, each household can only allocate land to two adult adults; if more than that, it will not count..."

The so-called "perpetual land" refers to land that can be passed down through generations but cannot be bought or sold, according to the announcement made by Heshilie Tudi.

"Fen Kou Tian" refers to land that cannot be passed down to future generations or bought or sold; it is to be confiscated by the government after the person's death.

This type of land is quite similar to the cattle tax land in Xiao State, and it was something that Zhang Chengdao specifically told Heshilie before he left.

The most crucial point is that "only adults can divide the land" and "each household can only divide the land into two parts," while "regardless of gender"—meaning that people are forced to divide the land as soon as they reach adulthood, otherwise they will not even be able to get a share of the land!

As soon as the news came out, families in the three counties suddenly started celebrating weddings with gongs and drums, and there were endless celebrations every day. Many families that had been forced to stay together because of filial piety decided to separate in order to get a few more acres of land.

Once the "small family" is broken up, the "large family" is much easier to deal with.

Under the pretext of investigating wrongful convictions, the clan elders who led private punishments were dealt with and punished. The position of "village elder," a local customary law position, was abolished. Low-ranking martial artists from non-adjacent areas were replaced by local headmen and able-bodied men to maintain local order. The local clans and private laws that were above the national law collapsed.

(End of this chapter)