Chapter 519: How the Corvée Labor Was Launched

Time flew like a white steed glimpsed through a crack — in the blink of an eye, it was the spring of 1631. By this point, four full years had passed since Cao Chuan's first Crossing Over in 1627.

In these three and a half years, give or take, the Transmigrators had built their enterprise from nothing, from weakness to strength, establishing the early foundations of their cause.

At the same time, the Transmigrators' work of infiltrating the Great Ming had not paused for a single moment — after all, the population and raw materials industrialization required all depended on the Great Ming to supply.

In fact, starting this year, the word "infiltration" had become somewhat inaccurate. As their muscles grew increasingly powerful, the Crossing Regime was now more and more impatient with concealment; their actions began to turn forceful, and their posture gradually shifted from infiltration to "devouring."

The Corvée Labor in Zengcheng County was the beginning.

This corvée, to put it plainly, was actually a large-scale official migration operation.

This was the Transmigrators usurping the public authority of the Ming Dynasty to organize a social activity for the first time within a regular Ming county — the implications behind it were very profound.

If one traced it back to the root, this was actually a dividend that had continued uninterrupted since Cao Daque first sought Recruitment and Amnesty and surrendered to the Ming court. This dividend had kept growing in value along with Cao Zong's steady rise within the Ming system, and for the foreseeable future, the dividend would keep flowing in endlessly — right up until the day Cao Zhongchen formally raised the banner of rebellion.

Time rewound to shortly after the Bandit Suppression Campaign, when Ding Liqiu, Head of the Guangzhou Special Zone, entered Zengcheng.

Regarding Zengcheng County's early conscription of the 1631 Equalized Labor this time, Ding Liqiu had also done some meticulous work on the County Yamen side.

Although they had the tacit pressure from high-level official circles and the hard power demonstrated through the bandit suppression, corvée labor was, after all, a major policy for a county and had to be carried out through the County Yamen. So Ding Liqiu's side would certainly need to negotiate properly with the Zengcheng County Office — they couldn't force it through.

Moreover, corvée labor was only one aspect. Regarding the next steps of social reform in Zengcheng County, there was still a great deal of content, all of which required the County Yamen's cooperation.

Therefore, after Ding District Chief stationed himself in Zengcheng, he seized the moment at the end of 1630 to pay a visit to Gu County Magistrate.

On the matter of the Bandit Suppression Campaign, Gu County Magistrate, who had reaped rich political achievements without paying any Sacrifice, was now full of goodwill toward the faction of Cao Zong. Learning this time that the Great Master Adviser under Cao Zong had come to visit, Gu County Magistrate naturally dared not be neglectful. Both Sides then launched a round of cordial and highly productive "negotiations" in the Flower Hall of the County Yamen.

After two rounds of tea and a few mutual words of commercial flattery, Gu Tai, Master Gu — though somewhat unqualified in the matter of being a feudal bureaucrat — had very high skill points in dealing with people and social interaction, so the atmosphere quickly became harmonious.

At this point, Ding Scribe did not waste time and first put forward the request: the Zengcheng County Office needed to cooperate with Lord Cao's strategy, conscript the Equalized Labor of the Chongzhen Fourth Year ahead of schedule, assemble the corvée laborers at Huangpu Military Port, and double the corvée silver according to instructions.

Before Ding Liqiu came to the County Yamen, he had naturally notified Gu County Magistrate in advance; both Sides roughly knew today's Agenda, so Gu County Magistrate had actually discussed it with his own Adviser beforehand and was mentally prepared.

Now, after hearing Ding Scribe state the request, Master Gu exchanged a glance with Ma Adviser, who was participating in the negotiations beside him, lightly stroked his beard, and a smile of "just as expected" appeared in his eyes.

Immediately after, Ma Adviser asked with an ingratiating smile, "If so, what benefit is there for the County Yamen, and for my master?"

Ding Liqiu nodded.

He was a Transmigrator. When he had previously worked as an Adviser in Fujian, he had come into contact with many Ming Dynasty bureaucrats who were full of moral platitudes, so he now very much liked Ming People like Master Gu who put interests on the table — everyone's time was tight; following the Rhythm of Later Generations, wasn't it better to speak plainly?

Now that Master Gu was a sensible man, Ding Scribe directly stated the terms: as long as Master Gu cooperated, then on the matter of corvée labor, Lord Cao would not only fully compensate the County Yamen's losses in corvée with cash silver, and provide benefits to the private individuals throughout the County Yamen, but there would also be special returns... Once Gu County Magistrate's term was complete, the Beijing side could help maneuver within the Ministry of Personnel, assigning Gu County Magistrate to an Upper County or Upper Prefecture as an official, and very likely with a promotion of One Level.

Upon hearing these promises, Gu County Magistrate was first slightly dazed — he knew the other party had great influence, but such a blatant promise that they could handle the Ministry of Personnel still surprised Master Gu for a moment.

However, Master Gu still did not nod in agreement. Instead, he raised another concern: "If done this way, in two or three years, Zengcheng's taxes and grain will no longer be collectable."

It was no secret that Cao Zong's enterprise in Taiwan lacked people and was recruiting labor everywhere to reclaim wasteland, so Master Gu was very clear in his heart about the background behind this corvée conscription.

So he raised this question: if corvée was conscripted on a large scale, and then the Tenant Farmers were all taken by you to Taiwan and never returned, from whom would the County Yamen collect taxes in the future? One must know that Master Gu still had several years to serve in Zengcheng; coveting these small immediate benefits, only to be unable to deliver the tax revenue to the provincial treasury two years later — that would mean being reprimanded by his superiors and having his face slapped and his backside beaten!

This was Master Gu's Largest worry all along. Compared to this, Master Gu was instead not too concerned about the promotion Ding Liqiu had promised earlier: he was by nature someone who took things as they came; perhaps after this term, if he found it meaningless, he would return to his Old Home to enjoy his Blessing. This lukewarm official post in the Great Ming — it was no great loss to give it up.

Although Ding Liqiu did not know Master Gu's inner thoughts, this current problem was one he had to answer: "Very well. As long as Master Gu remains in this post of Zengcheng for a single day, for every year's summer and autumn taxes, Lord Cao's side will advance the payment for you. Would this be acceptable?"

"Is this true?"

Hearing Ding Scribe's earth-shattering Local Tyrant words, Master Gu and Ma Adviser were instantly dumbstruck and could hardly believe it.

"Heh, my master's wealth spans the four seas. The taxes of a single county are probably not much of a difficulty."

Ding Scribe, at this point, elegantly tapped the handle of his fan in the winter air: "It only requires Gu County Magistrate's nod. Tomorrow morning, cash silver and grain will be delivered into the county treasury... As for the quantity, it shall follow the County Yamen's accounts from last year — full amount, full ten-tenths. The silver will all be newly minted silver coins, the grain will all be new rice shipped from Taiwan, and an additional ten percent for wastage will be added for the County Yamen. How about that?"

To be honest, the greatest — and also most difficult — political achievement for a local official in the medieval era was precisely how to collect taxes in full and deliver them to the higher authorities. All the rest, like encouraging agriculture and sericulture or presiding over court cases, were incidental; it didn't much matter whether they were done or not.

So once the Local Tyrant made his move, Gu County Magistrate, his face swollen from being slapped by silver, naturally nodded in agreement — to receive the full year's summer and autumn taxes right at the start of the year, what more could a county magistrate have to say?

However, was Cao Jiangjun's money and grain so easy to take?

After concluding the first deal, Ding Scribe smoothly brought up the second deal: since Lord Cao had advanced the tax revenue for the next several years, then naturally, should not the collectable taxes of Zengcheng County also be handed over to Lord Cao to handle?

Yes, this brought out the next step Ding Liqiu was Intending to implement in the days to come: tax farming, debt collection, tearing down houses, and leading away cattle and sheep.