Chapter 20: The Worry Is Not Poverty but Instability

Leaving Yang Tong and the two women to guard the watchtower, Wang Dou and his men rode to the Dongfang Riverbank.

They circled along the riverbank. Before them, the Dongfang River wound its way northwest. Along both banks, winter wheat recently sown by some military households or civilian households was just sprouting. It was clear that the cultivated land along the river was still far too little; not far from the banks lay vast stretches of bare, parched earth.

The group spurred their horses across the shallow water to the opposite bank, where the situation was exactly the same.

Wang Dou made a rough estimate: from Zhouzhuang to Dongjiazhuang along the river, the wasteland available for reclamation on both banks amounted to several thousand mu.

In truth, the soil quality of this land was quite good. Unfortunately, the irrigation works had fallen into disrepair and watering was inconvenient, so these originally fine fields had all gone to waste. Such was the case across the northern lands of the Great Ming: dry with little rain, farming relied entirely on irrigation. Where there was water, the land was fertile; where there was none, it became desert. The dependence on irrigation systems was extreme.

Riding along the river, one could see traces of former canals and ponds by the banks. But these channels had not been dredged for many years, water no longer flowed through them, and most were silted up, shallow, and abandoned. This forced fields even slightly farther from the river to be left desolate, for those deep brick-and-stone wells capable of irrigating fields were not something ordinary households could casually dig and construct.

If the government office or the guard battalion were to dredge and repair these canals anew, this entire area could absolutely be turned into fertile farmland.

But this could only remain a thought. Severe disrepair of irrigation works everywhere was a common condition throughout the entire Great Ming at present. The imperial court lacked the financial resources to attend to irrigation maintenance, and what limited funds existed were embezzled by officials for private gain. The Bao'an Department and Guard likewise had neither the resources nor the inclination. He could only find a way himself.

Spurring his horse and looking around, Wang Dou saw the terrain was open and broad. What fine land this was. "A thousand li of Sanggan, only Zhuolu is rich." In later ages, Zhuolu County would be a famous commercial grain base, yet the land before him now could only lie helplessly barren. Raising his eyes, to the northeast and south lay Luanzhuang, which belonged to Wubao; to the east was Wubao itself, under the Rear Battalion of the Bao'an Guard. The land there was even better than that of Shunxiang Fortress — rice could even be planted there.

Wang Dou was lost in thought. Among the group, Qi Tianliang was the most skilled farmer, though naturally the worst rider. Struggling to control his horse, he came up beside Wang Dou and called out, "Chief Wang, this whole stretch is fine land. If we dig some ponds, build some canals, and recruit soldiers and civilians to reclaim it, this entire area could become fertile fields in the future."

Wang Dou nodded. In fact, the Great Ming had always offered incentives for soldiers and civilians everywhere to reclaim wasteland. Not only did the reclaimed land belong entirely to them, but after three years, once the land matured, only a tiny amount of cattle-and-plow silver was levied per qing. In many places, the tax grain due was even exempted for ten years or more.

Regrettably, the higher-ups had their policies and the lower ranks had their countermeasures. The national treasury was empty and vast amounts of tax grain needed to be collected. The official-gentry and powerful magnates shifted their own tax grain obligations onto the common people. Reclaiming wasteland required heavy initial investment, yet as soon as the first harvest ripened, the government offices and guard battalions often could not wait to press for payments, leaving the settler-farmers unable to cover their costs. If the pursuit of taxes and grain continued, the settler-farmers would be forced to flee, causing the land to go barren again. This vicious cycle made regional famines ever more severe and also made the common people unwilling to reclaim wasteland.

In truth, the end of a dynasty never lacked for land. After calamities and wars, some places saw entire villages and cities abandoned, even a thousand li without human habitation. The Great Ming actually had no shortage of desolate land, but without a stable environment for the common people to live and farm, it was all for nothing!

People often say, "The worry is not scarcity but inequality." Yet there is an even more important line that follows: "The worry is not poverty but instability!" War and chaos are more terrible than poverty!

Wang Dou calculated how to recruit soldiers and civilians to come farm. If he could make these people feel secure, the fortified settlement still held much promise. Historically, when Lu Xiangsheng served as Viceroy of Xuanda, he vigorously promoted garrison farming and stockpiled two hundred thousand dan of grain. The Chongzhen Emperor decreed that the Nine Frontier Garrisons should take this as their model. There were also many other successful examples.

From Qi Tianliang and his own mother, Wang Dou had also seen the ancient Chinese peasant's longing for land. A stable environment, coupled with granting each person a plow ox and several dozen mu of land to pass down through generations, was enough to make many impoverished and bankrupt commoners' hearts pound with excitement.

Then, by having all these people join the military households, the grain supply would be secured, and at the same time, the source of soldiers would be guaranteed. They would also form a powerful, cohesive collective. In the future, farming while waging war, he could make his power grow steadily like a rolling snowball, successfully replicating the experiences of Cao Cao and the Ming Taizu.

Wang Dou sat on his horse, gazing around at the land on both banks of the river. Heroic ambition filled his chest. His own tomorrow would begin right here.

……

After inspecting the land, the group excitedly returned to Jingbian Watchtower to discuss the affairs of the fortified settlement. As soon as they touched on the subject, they realized the multitude of tasks. First, garrison farming required able-bodied young adults. Beyond that, there was much preparatory work to do, such as needing plow oxen and farming tools for future land reclamation, timber and bluestone for building the fort, and rations for the settlers.

If they could dredge and construct some irrigation channels this year, they would need to rush to sow in the spring of next year, which would also require seeds. Sowing winter wheat this year was certainly too late; they would have to wait until next spring to plant some sorghum, millet, beans, and the like. Then, in the summer and autumn of the following year, they could plant wheat.

A multitude of threads — the foremost need was population, which was also the most difficult aspect of starting a fortified settlement.

The Bao'an Department and Guard was a vast place. Historically, since the department's founding, the civilian households of Bao'an Department had never exceeded one thousand, with the population always around five to six thousand. As for military households, since the guard's founding, history recorded over eight thousand military households with a population of tens of thousands. By the Wanli era, this had plummeted to just over three Battalion Commander; no one knew the current number. Now, the military and civilian households of Bao'an Department and Guard were fleeing in droves. Coupled with the recent military disaster, the population had shrunk further, especially the able-bodied young adults.

Recruiting refugees, however, depended on luck. The flow of refugees was unpredictable; sometimes a large wave would surge into a place, other times one could travel a hundred li without seeing a soul. For the time being, he also lacked the financial means to conduct large-scale recruitment campaigns across various regions.

Still, with the Later Jin invasion last month and disasters striking everywhere, quite a few refugees had appeared in various parts of the Bao'an Department and Guard. Perhaps he could recruit from among them. He could also think of ways among the locals. After all, with each person granted several dozen mu of land, even some local military and civilian households with large families could certainly spare a few able-bodied men to come receive land. The key was to make them believe in the future prospects of the fortified settlement.

……

Having concluded their discussion, Wang Dou and his men decided that Yang Tong would remain to guard the watchtower. Wang Dou prepared a gift and, taking Han Chao and a few others, first went to Dongjiazhuang to seek an audience with the unit commander, Zhang Gui, hoping he would provide some population, plow oxen, farming tools, and the like.

Upon hearing Wang Dou's request for an allocation of thirty households, ten oxen, and materials such as bluestone and timber, Zhang Gui's face showed difficulty. The vacancies in the guard battalion were becoming ever more severe; the various fortified settlements around Dongjiazhuang all suffered from insufficient population. He too had his troubles.

Patting Wang Dou on the shoulder, he sighed and said, "Brother, your elder brother here has his difficulties too. You'll have to think of more ways yourself."

In the end, he summoned his trusted aide, Hong Qiu, the Platoon Leader in charge of provisions and supplies within Dongjiazhuang Fortress, and ordered him to allocate to Wang Dou ten military households, five oxen, one dan of rice, and fifteen hoes. For the remaining materials, Wang Dou would have to find his own solutions.

However, he could issue a notice and help Wang Dou publicize within Dongjiazhuang Fortress, to see who was willing to go farm at the as-yet-nonexistent Jingbian Fortress.

Seeing that Zhang Gui had indeed done his utmost, Wang Dou took his leave and followed Hong Qiu to collect the people and supplies.

But Wang Dou was soon disappointed again. Those ten households were all old and weak, whereas what he needed were able-bodied young adults. The five oxen were likewise scrawny and feeble, far from what he had hoped for. Still, Wang Dou accepted them. Though the meat on a mosquito's leg is meager, it is still meat; once it entered his mouth, there was no reason to let it go.