Chapter 361: Some Thoughts on Equal Field

"Other people's daughters have flowers to wear, but this old man has no money to buy them; I'll tear off two feet of red head-rope, and tie it up for my Xi'er."

"Other people's daughters have flowers to wear, but my father has no money to buy them; I'll tear off two feet of red head-rope, and tie it up joyously."

On the grand stage, a sallow and thin little girl and a dark-faced, bony man in short shirts and bare feet, despite their joyous appearance, evoked too much resonance.

At this moment, a sycophantic voice emerged; it was the lackey steward: "As long as you marry our Master Huang Shiren, let alone two feet of red head-rope, even ten years of white rice and flour that you can't finish, and ten years of silk and satin that you can't wear out, are all available. Yang Bailao, have you thought it over?"

Among the commoners offstage who saw this person, some showed disgust and wished to beat him, while others showed envy. Some young girls watching the play asked curiously: "Father, why is Xi'er's family so poor, yet she is unwilling to marry the landlord? If she just married the landlord, wouldn't she and her father live better? She is too selfish."

As soon as she asked this, her father looked at her in disbelief, his heart pounding with fear: "How could you think that way?"

"I heard from the big sister next door that maids in wealthy families live better than young ladies in small households; they eat and dress just like their masters. Her family is going to be sold back, yet she still refuses."

This is a typical mindset where being a slave to others is glorious, and not being a slave is shameful.

This is also one of the obstacles to Xu Jia's Equal Field policy; landlords are easy to catch and kill, but those who protect the landlords are mostly their tenant farmers and hired laborers...

They have already regarded these people as the only sky above their heads, living by their breath for food and drink, unable to lose them for a single day, just like a dog raised by a wealthy family; once the home is gone, they become stray dogs.

Xu Jia also felt some frustration in his heart, because it was his own neglect of the "thought liberation movement" that prevented some commoners from disenchanting themselves from imperial power, and thus failed to nurture the soil for revolution, allowing the commoners to embrace the precious spirit of pursuing freedom in their thinking.

Just as the imperial examination is the maintenance of the feudal system, these slavish mentalities are also a great mountain of the feudal system. Behind these landlords are clans, noble families, and officials and petty clerks of all sizes.

Even those who were tasked by Xu Jia to confiscate property would sometimes secretly embezzle the proceeds, feeling that there is no reason not to take something when confiscating property; this is a lucrative job.

The result of such confiscations is merely creating a batch of new feudal landlords, or even a slave-owning class. They are not even as good as the original landlords; having suddenly become rich, their craftiness will be a hundred times worse. Coming from a poor background, they will know how to make things difficult for the poor more easily; this is the common ailment of petty clerks who have gained a little grassroots power.

Xu Jia happened to have cultivated such a group of confidants overseas, and now they have returned here by boat; for instance, Chen Gongming, who had already been overseas for three years.

The most basic construction in Luzon is almost complete: subduing the natives, absorbing refugees, reclaiming land, building houses, docks, mining ores, building bridges, and paving roads—all according to a one-year production plan. They did more each year than the last; a five-year plan was completed in three.

Returning now, they are just in time to preside over the work. In addition, the first batch of "overseas students" has also returned; they are naturally the first five hundred Daoist children who went up the mountain to learn the arts. The second batch of Daoist children remains overseas, and the third batch is currently being recruited.

Father Xu also returned to Yushan from Poyang at this time. He presided over the work there, but after all, the foundation was not yet very stable. The Equal Field redistribution required him to act as a mediator here. After all, he is a provincial graduate and comes from a landlord background; he can also represent a portion of the landlords—specifically the gentry class that maintains stability in the countryside, donates to schools, and repairs temples.

As soon as Father Xu arrived, he said to Xu Jia: "You asked those landlords to sell their land at a fair price to open factories and engage in business, but the court's ideology has always been 'scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant.' They consider business lowly; they have always focused on mastering land and property, studying with peace of mind, and striving for the imperial examinations to become officials. I came through that way myself, only as a concubine's son or a second son, acting as a chief steward to manage the family's commercial assets."

"These landlords have never had experience in business; on the contrary, these second sons and concubine's sons are willing. What you are doing is equivalent to splitting their clan system; the interests of the direct line will inevitably be damaged. You must give them a path—a path they consider to have more prospects than being a merchant, a path that can lead to becoming an official."

Xu Jia understood Father Xu's meaning, so he said: "I will open schools and let a portion of them have a sense of identity. We are not yet at the time for selecting officials, but you can hint to them to prepare in advance. It's just that what we will test is no longer the Four Books and Five Classics—that will still be tested, but only a portion. Others, such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, geography, biology, and history, will also become test subjects. Let their children study in the schools we open; we shall call it New Learning."

Father Xu said: "Besides New Learning? What they truly want is to become God Immortals. If they can become God Immortals, what glory and wealth cannot be abandoned? When people are poor, they only want to be full; when they are full, they want to be wealthy; when they are wealthy, they naturally want power; once they have power, they want to plan for their descendants, generation after generation, and they want longevity."

"You have manifested your power several times, showing divinity before people, and your Divine Abilities are various; even your mother and I have gained some supernatural traits. How could they not know? Who doesn't fantasize about having Divine Abilities, as if all difficulties could be solved once they have them?"

"Those shamans and spirit mediums were originally just the widowed, lonely, and solitary; how did they come to be respected if not for you passing them magic arts?"

"Throughout history, how many people have exhausted their family wealth just to learn magic and Divine Abilities?"

Although Xu Jia spread the Daoist teachings in America without any scruples—one could even say it was looser than a belt—he really dared not be too reckless here. His true foundation is here, and the merit of a Heavenly Immortal for a lifetime is here. Every time he passes on the Dharma, he requires people to make vows and oaths; if they violate them, they will surely face retribution.

Xu Jia thought for a moment and said: "So, learning the Dharma and cultivating immortality has replaced the imperial examinations and reading, becoming the new noble class."

However, Xu Jia did have expectations that more people could practice and combine immortal cultivation with industrialization. But cultivation is never something that can be achieved overnight; those that can be achieved quickly are all heterodox paths, and heterodox paths are those that overdraw one's foundation.

"Then let them seek immortality. We'll see whose heart is more sincere. The previous court had donated official ranks; now I will also donate immortality. Whoever donates the most will be accepted as a registered disciple, with a two-month crash course, guaranteed to teach one magic art."

Xu Jia was also quite abstract: "Actually, these Divine Abilities and magic arts are naturally nurtured in the process of solving problems for all living beings. Since I began my cultivation, apart from some heterodox methods I learned, the true Divine Abilities and wonderful methods were all realized from within my own heart. If one can see one's own nature and become enlightened, one is of the rank of Immortal Truth. But the masses are foolish, so let it be like this for now."

Father Xu nodded: "If they can learn a magic art, even if they have to exchange a thousand acres of fertile land for it, they would be willing. As long as they learn one, pass it on to their descendants, and the descendants learn another, and they learn a few more, they will become a cultivation family, right?"

Xu Jia's mind lit up when he heard this; he didn't think it was a bad idea. They cultivate their own cultivators, exhausting their family wealth to support one, and the result is that they end up working in his factories...

Xu Jia immediately began to plan: what magic arts should he teach?

What magic arts are most popular in immortal cultivation novels? That would naturally be the "Small Cloud and Rain Formula," a divine tool for farming.

Another one is "Turn Mud into Stone, Turn Stone into Mud"; this is a divine tool for civil engineering.

It's just that Xu Jia's style of immortal heroism is different from that style of immortal heroism.

To bring rain, one must open an altar and proclaim the Five Thunders Orthodox Method; to turn stone into mud or mud into stone, one must at least study one or two types of Escape Methods.

The rain is easy to handle; he has a Dragon God here. As for the earth and stone arts, he can obtain authorization from the Mountain God, which is Chang Yu.

Xu Jia thought about it; besides these two, something like "Geng Metal Sword Finger" could completely be used as "knife work." Hand-crafting precision parts, and that Zhurong Fire Qi Curse could be used for metallurgy, casting...

These could all be integrated into the Lingbao Daoist Citizen Register. After these people practice, going from barely being able to trigger it to continuous triggering, and then to eight-hour triggering, that would also be quite good.

If he also passes on some small magic arts for Taming Animals and Controlling Beasts, couldn't he engage in large-scale specialized breeding?

Actually, Xu Jia's normal academic-style recruitment of students and cultivation of compulsory education is good, but it produces results slowly. These people who come to the door for a crash course, transforming from landlords into urgently needed talents, can also fill some vacancies.

Although the effect of the "Speak Bitterness" meetings was minimal, Xu Jia still discovered some problems from them, namely the problem of thought. Children are the focus, but adults cannot be ignored; they teach by example and are more likely to influence the next generation.

Find some singers, playwrights, and storytellers to tell the story of *Journey to the West*. It is a classic novel of gods and demons, possesses a spirit of resistance and struggle, and includes many principles and philosophies, connecting the three teachings.

Besides this, he should also run newspapers and find some intellectuals to spray and scold each other, debating viewpoints. Commoners like to watch the excitement; although they don't have much culture, they have simple views on good and evil and philosophy. With a little guidance and some thinking, it is always better than being numb.

The wind of culture is like the rain of spring and the thunder of summer; the spring rain moistens silently, while the summer thunder shakes the sky.

Besides this, although Xu Jia cultivates deities, deities are not a panacea for superstition, responding to every prayer. He must also let the commoners disenchant themselves from gods, and even encourage commoners to "become gods." For those who have made special contributions, can they not "become gods through Merit"?

Of course, personality cults are not allowed, but leaving a name while alive and being remembered for eternity after death is what people of this era pursue most.

Xu Jia's great vow is the great desire of all living beings. Xu Jia has never thought about suppressing the desires of the masses; blocking is not as good as dredging. He must ensure that everyone has a way out.

(End of chapter)