1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 290 The Honest Old Gentry of Jiangxia

"To remember something in one's heart and feel it in one's heart, but not to put it into practice, is not the way of a gentleman," Zuo Zongtang sighed and shook his head slightly.

"Is Ji Gao here today specifically as a persuader?" Liu Rong frowned.

"My role as a persuader was only part of what I was ordered by the Northern King," Zuo Zongtang said frankly, without trying to hide anything.

“Meng Rong is very talented, and your younger brother and those students are no ordinary people either. I don’t want to see such a bright pearl go to waste.”

You assisted Liu Rong and Zhu Sunyi in organizing the Xiangxiang County militia, simply hoping to make a name for yourselves in this chaotic world. Are you, your brother, and Wang Xin content to simply end your lives in this way?

Of course, these are all secondary. My main reason for making this special trip to visit Meng Rong and invite her to return to public life is for my own sake.

"For yourself?" Liu Rong asked, puzzled.

Zuo Zongtang came at the behest of the Northern King, not wanting Liu Rong and the other students from Xiangxiang County to live mediocre lives. Liu Rong understood and believed these reasons.

Liu Rong didn't quite understand this point, especially regarding Zuo Zongtang himself.

"The Northern King needs a large number of capable officials to equitably distribute the land under his rule. He is preparing to establish an administrative school. He knows that you are a capable and competent official, skilled in government affairs, and have rectified the officialdom of Xiangxiang County. He wants to invite you, Meng Rong, to come out of seclusion and serve as a lecturer at the administrative school, and to preside over the school." At this point, Zuo Zongtang paused, and continued.

"Although some of the members of the Jiangxia County Qingtian Team were students of the Northern King himself or Mr. Wang, most of them were my students. These disciples of mine will be granted official positions sooner or later."

A single dominant family or faction is always frowned upon by those in power. If Meng Rong is willing to step down and preside over the Administrative Academy, the students there will be both disciples of the Northern King and disciples of Meng Rong.

In the future, not all officials in the Northern Palace will be my protégés, and the Northern King will be more confident in using me. Everyone looks out for themselves, so I've come here not only to fulfill my duty, but also for my old friend, and most importantly, for myself.

"Ji Gao has considered things from a long-term perspective," Liu Rong said thoughtfully, slowly putting down her pipe.

"I have heard about the Northern King's land survey and redistribution of fields and ponds in Jiangxia County. But I have heard that the Northern King is now only distributing fields and ponds to the people of the Northern Palace. Is this true?"

"The Northern King also distributed land and ponds to the farmers of Jiangxia County according to the number of people they owned," Zuo Zongtang replied.

"However, most of the people of Jiangxia County were taken away by other palaces and incorporated into the palace. There were not many farmers who survived or managed to escape back to Jiangxia County, so the news was not loud. It was only said that the Northern King distributed land and ponds to the people of the Northern Palace, but it was not said that the Northern King also distributed land and ponds to the farmers of Jiangxia County."

After Jiangxia County, the next county to be subject to land redistribution was Hanyang County. During the battles of the three towns of Wuhan, Hanyang was captured swiftly in a single day, suffering relatively few casualties. After the "Land to the Tiller" was officially implemented in Hanyang County, no one gossiped that the Northern King was only distributing land and grain to those in the Northern Palace.

"The next county to redistribute land is Hanyang? The Northern King certainly has guts." Liu Rong said, slightly taken aback.

"Not to mention Hanyang County, even Hanyang Prefecture did not lose many people, and Hanyang is close to Wuchang. If Hanyang were to redistribute land, the three towns of Wuhan would inevitably be thrown into turmoil."

After being captured, Liu Rong stayed with the Northern Palace, which was stationed in Hanyang and Hankou for more than three months.

During these three months, Liu Rong was also settled in Hanyang City, and she knew more or less about the situation there.

Although the Northern Palace publicly tried and confiscated the large landowners and wealthy households in Hanyang Prefecture during its garrison period, the small and medium-sized landowners and wealthy households in Hanyang Prefecture still existed.

Redistributing land is tantamount to attacking the very lifeblood of these people. They will not sit idly by and wait to be killed; they will surely retaliate.

"If the land in Hanyang County is not clearly divided, how can the farmers of Hanyang County be used by the Northern King?" Zuo Zongtang said.

“In times of chaos, harsh measures are necessary. The war is not urgent now, which is a good opportunity to sort out internal affairs. If we are hesitant, seek comfort, and remain in the three towns of Wuhan, it will only be more difficult to redistribute the land in Hanyang County or even Hanyang Prefecture when the war becomes urgent in the future.”

Liu Rong became interested and, after pondering for a long time, said, "If Ji Gao is not busy with official business, would you two like to have a drink together today?"

"I couldn't ask for more." Zuo Zongtang readily agreed.

As the land clearing and redistribution work in Jiangxia County deepens, Donghu Town on the west bank of Liangzi Lake has also begun its land clearing and redistribution process.

During the Anqing Campaign, more than 300 people from Donghu Town risked their lives to escape from Dongdian and, after many hardships, fled back to their hometown of Donghu in Jiangxia.

Zhou Rucheng, Zhou Jihong, and Zhou Jishen, a wealthy family from the former Donghu Town, were among them.

After the war, the Zhou family, which was a large family of more than twenty people just half a year ago, is now reduced to only the father and his two sons.

The original six Zhou brothers were reduced to two.

The rest of his brothers either died in the war or disappeared without a trace.

As for the female relatives, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, apart from the North Hall, implemented a system of separate halls for men and women in other halls.

Most of the Zhou family's women were in the women's quarters of the East Palace and were unable to escape with them to return to Jiangxia County; their fate was currently unknown. Zhou Jihong, the second son of the Zhou family, went to the soup kitchen set up by the soldiers stationed in Donghu Town and got a bag of sweet potatoes. He also inquired with the soldiers about the specific policies of the North Palace towards the farmers of Jiangxia County.

The group leader in charge of the porridge stalls in Donghu Town was from Yongzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province. His family had been with the Beidian Temple for a period of time that was neither too long nor too short.

Their family had just been allocated over thirty acres of prime sandbar land near Baishazhou a few days ago, and they were in high spirits. They patiently explained the policies for local farmers in Jiangxia County to Zhou Jihong.

Zhou Jihong kept it in mind and thanked the soldier leader at the porridge stall. As he was about to leave, the soldier leader suddenly seemed to remember something, called him back, handed him a satchel filled with books, and gave him some instructions, telling him to read the books carefully when he got back.

We returned to the Zhou family residence, where the walls were crumbling, the houses were collapsed, and only two outbuildings remained, which were still barely habitable.

On his way back, Zhou Jihong ran into Wu Dezhu, a fellow villager who used to do odd jobs.

Wu Dezhu grabbed him and boasted excitedly that the land his Wu family had been allocated was originally the best land from the Zhou family.

Zhou Jihong was both anxious and angry, and raised his fist to strike.

When Wu Dezhu revealed that his eldest son had joined the Northern Palace and become a Holy Soldier, Zhou Jihong helplessly withdrew his raised hand.

Upon entering the courtyard, one could see his father, Zhou Rucheng, and his fifth brother, Zhou Jishen, bending down to tidy up the messy yard.

After months of hard work and travel, Zhou Rucheng had become so thin that he looked unrecognizable, and even his braids had turned gray.

Thinking of how his father had given the food he had begged or stolen to his two sons on their journey from Anqing to Huangmei County, while he himself often went hungry, Zhou Jihong felt a lump in his throat.

Zhou Jihong, carrying a satchel on his back, walked towards Zhou Rucheng: "Father, I'm back."

"Have you found out everything I asked you to inquire about?" Zhou Rucheng put down his work for a moment and looked up to ask.

"I found out that the original farmers in Jiangxia County also received land according to the number of people in their family, with each person receiving five mu of medium-sized land. Our family has three people, so we can get fifteen mu of medium-sized land," Zhou Jihong said indignantly.

"The Wu family, who used to do odd jobs for us during the busy farming season, were originally allocated land, but they were allocated a full 25 mu of land!"

The land they were allocated all belongs to the Zhou family! I ran into him on the road just now; he was so smug, saying he'd already had his eldest son enlist in the army as a holy soldier, and that his family was now part of the Northern Palace.

The Zhou family originally owned two and a half acres of land, five fish ponds, and a fish shop in Donghu Town. Although they couldn't compare to the extremely wealthy families in Wuchang, the provincial capital, they were still a well-off family with no worries about food or clothing.

Seeing that his family had more land for short-term work points than theirs, and that they were the ones being allocated land, Zhou Jihong felt very resentful and angrily added.

"This land isn't so easy to get; you have to cut off your queue before you can get it. Father, why don't we run away? We can't stand this wretch!"

Before Zhou Jihong could finish speaking, Zhou Rucheng slapped him across the face: "Run?! We have nothing left but this house. We're relying on the North Palace for food. Where can we run to? Where can we go?"

The only possessions left of the Zhou family are this house they live in. They even have to get their food rations from the soup kitchen that Beidian opened in Donghu Town.

The Zhou family's land was divided up, and Zhou Rucheng was understandably upset.

After all, this was the family business accumulated by the Zhou family for generations.

If it had been six months ago, and a rebel group had suddenly divided up the Zhou family's property among peasants, Zhou Rucheng would definitely have disagreed and would have tried every means to resist.

However, in the past six months, the Zhou family has suddenly encountered misfortune, and Zhou Rucheng has experienced many things, which has made him much calmer in the face of adversity.

The contrast between a wealthy family that owned two and a half hectares of land and one family that could only be allocated fifteen mu of medium-sized land was indeed huge and hard to accept.

However, after spending several months in the East Palace's men's quarters, Zhou Rucheng, who had managed to escape back to Jiangxia County, only sought peace and hoped that his two sons could survive in this chaotic world.

"I'm just so angry!" Zhou Jihong said, covering his left cheek, which was red from being slapped.

“Father, how about I sign up to be a Holy Soldier too? It would save the family some food and give the family a certain status so we won’t be bullied,” Zhou Jishen said after thinking for a moment.

"Guns and swords have no eyes, don't go! All of you stay home and behave yourselves!" Zhou Rucheng shouted sternly, stopping Zhou Jishen's idea. He then turned to his second son, Zhou Jihong, and asked.

"The proclamation says that next year's grain tax will be waived, and less land can be exchanged for some ponds. Have you asked the Holy Army about this?"

"I've asked, and it's true," Zhou Jihong replied.

(End of this chapter)