Chapter 363: Are You a Commoner?

"I am a scholar of the seventeenth year of the Yuanfu era of the Great Ning Dynasty; you cannot ransack my home! Xu Zhiyuan, back when you were taking the scholar examinations, you came to me for articles, and I even let you stay the night!"

Scholar Lu was hoisted up, though he was no longer dignified; he was already over sixty, his temples gray, at an age to be doting on children and grandchildren. His family possessed over twenty shops, more than three thousand mu of fertile land, and seven or eight rural estates, each with about a hundred mu; these were all properties under the management of his sons, nephews, and clansmen.

Relying on such a scholar, the Lu Family was extremely uncooperative and refused to release their land holdings.

Xu Zhiyuan said, "Scholar Lu, do not be anxious. We will not kill anyone. You have always been considered a virtuous elder in the village, and we will not make things too ugly. We have now arranged a position for you: we have established a New Learning school and would like to invite you to serve as its principal."

"Is this how you invite me to be a principal? By ransacking my home, arresting my clansmen, and dividing my land?"

"Now that things have reached this point, we must implement Equal Field. This is actually for the best. To put it bluntly, the Great Ning Dynasty is about to perish. Although a centipede dies but does not fall, at the end of every dynasty, aren't the first to die people like you and me—the local gentry and landlords? Rather than waiting for bandits or peasant uprisings to take your life, why not accomplish something great? You, as principal, in charge of education, will be respected wherever you go, won't you? It is precisely because of our past friendship that I chose to start with you."

Scholar Lu gave a cold snort: "Then I suppose I should thank you?"

Xu Zhiyuan spoke on his own: "Large clans and families are detrimental to Equal Field, so now everyone must be registered in the household system, followed by Equal Field. No household is permitted to have more than ten people or land holdings exceeding thirty mu."

"The Lu Family is to be split up now; the old, middle, and young generations will form one household, meaning three generations of grandfather, father, and son, including wives and concubines."

"It is not permitted to retain maids or long-term laborers under indentured contracts; those who are hired may be kept."

"If there are those with indentured contracts or family-born slaves, if they are willing and you are willing, they shall be entered into the same household register, and their slave status shall be abolished."

"If they are unwilling, they shall establish separate households and also receive a share of the land."

"The Equal Field standard is as follows: elders over fifty receive two mu of land, men receive three mu, women receive two mu, and children receive two mu."

"In addition, for every hundred households, a canteen will be opened. Elders over seventy eat for free, children eat at half price, and adults pay two wen per meal. The canteen will be separately supplied with fifty mu of vegetable plots, two hundred mu of grain fields, one pig farm, and one chicken farm."

"We will open a textile factory and recruit female textile workers."

"We will open a sugar refinery and recruit male workers."

"We will open a bicycle factory..."

Scholar Lu listened, dumbfounded, only to see Xu Zhiyuan point to a two-wheeled object and say, "This is a bicycle; it is very convenient."

Merchants had long discovered the latex tree, and with latex trees, building bicycles was nothing; however, it tested the steel-refining industry. But now, having completed some shortcuts, and with the path of technological cultivation going further and further, this bicycle had become a "Steam Bicycle."

It had a small Steam Heart on it, driving the two wheels, and it was not quite the same as the bicycles usually seen.

This object could barely be considered a type of Magic Tool, except the Dragon Soul inside could be replaced by other souls, usually those of oxen or horses, referring to the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse.

Xu Zhiyuan rode the Steam Bicycle and smiled, saying, "Look, this thing, how light and fast it is."

The Steam Heart puffed out hot Steam Qi, but the sound it emitted was much quieter; one reason was the Rubber, and the other was the addition of a Silencer.

However, the sound was still somewhat loud, but since even those riding motorcycles were known to make them roar, the sound of this Steam Bicycle instead became a kind of "prestige."

Xu Zhiyuan took out cloth woven by a loom and said, "These fabrics can be produced at a rate of over a hundred thousand bolts a month. Now that Cotton has been discovered overseas, once it is promoted, everyone will have cotton clothes to wear and cotton quilts to cover themselves with. Even if promotion takes time, even Linen can now be crafted with great precision to become high-quality fabric, not to mention Silk."

Scholar Lu was also a learned man who understood the ways of the world; his face revealed astonishment, and he was shocked beyond measure.

Xu Zhiyuan said, "We could have relied on this to harvest everyone's wealth. The homespun cloth woven by farmers is slow, expensive, and of uneven quality; how could it compare to a loom? We did not see small gains and forget great righteousness; otherwise, the world would be in turmoil, and all the common people would go bankrupt. Now we can only revolt, implement Equal Field, and walk a new path."

"Your family selling land and donating fields is actually equivalent to obtaining a gold medal for immunity from death," Xu Zhiyuan said. "Scholar Lu, do you think this is worth it or not?" Scholar Lu sighed and finally softened. He trembled as he said, "Is this the method of the God Immortal?"

"More or less." Xu Zhiyuan could not say much more, because there were indeed practitioners involved, although most of the work could be done by ordinary people.

"Then can my Lu Family participate in this?"

"As long as you are a commoner, you can. Are you a commoner?"

"I am a commoner, I am a commoner!" Scholar Lu said. "This God Immortal magic? These ingenious crafts must be the trend of the future. Are you really letting these mere mortals have access to them? If everyone has access, it will be hard to govern."

"Are you not a mere mortal?" Xu Zhiyuan said. "Scholar Lu, you cannot be so narrow-minded; look further ahead. How about this: since you and I had a semi-mentor relationship back then, I have here a piece on the Confucian cultivation technique of Haoran True Qi. One can practice it regardless of age; as long as one holds righteousness in their heart and cares for the common people of the world, progress will be very rapid."

If Scholar Lu had had ambition twenty or thirty years ago, hearing this "holding righteousness in the heart" might have made him want to laugh at first. How old was he to still believe in this? But seeing Xu Zhiyuan's firm gaze, not looking like he was joking, he could not laugh. After a long time, he sighed: "I would rather die than accept this!"

Finally, he said, "I am old and only fit for retirement; I cannot do much. Even if I do the work of teaching and educating, I fear my body is full of Corrupt Qi and will infect these students. Your things are too new, too good; I am not worthy. But I have a student at Jinghu Shuyuan; you can go find him. He once served as an official in the capital and was demoted for criticizing court ministers..."

"You must still be this principal to go and recruit people. This principal position must be held by you. To be honest, you are a benchmark, a typical example for us to show others. We are not here to kill everyone, rob everyone, or disrespect talent. Do not lose your life for a little floating wealth. As long as you are alive, the land remains; as long as the green hills remain, there is no worry about firewood."

"Just like you, Scholar Lu, isn't your greatest skill writing books? You haven't finished one in thirty years; can't you continue now? Perhaps you will startle everyone and shock the world?"

"Perhaps," Scholar Lu said. "Ransack away. I accept the high-sounding reasons you've found. As for the future, perhaps history will decide; I have nothing more to say."

Having said this, he came forward to pacify the Lu clansmen who were still resisting. The militia organized by Chen Gongming began to take over the place, disarming the strong servants and laborers of the Lu Family, while others specialized in household registration began to register households and divide the land.

The main branch was so angry they vomited blood, but those collateral branches and illegitimate children who had no livelihood were overjoyed to have land divided according to population.

"This land is not yours forever; it will be redistributed every five years. Adults will have their share topped up to three mu, and when an elder passes away, two mu will be reclaimed. In addition, every year after farming is finished, there will be construction work, whether it is reclaiming wasteland, digging canals, paving roads, or repairing bridges. Another thing is that children under fourteen, regardless of gender, must attend school. Even adults must learn to read and count; we will open a night school..."

The plans Xu Zhiyuan brought out were mostly plans from predecessors. Now that he said them, the people listening all said: Repairing bridges and paving roads are great deeds of Merit. As for this night school, can we scholars be teachers?...

In fact, most of the lower-middle-class commoners benefited from the land reform. As for bloodshed and fighting, it was actually unavoidable. The landlords were often afraid of death and sensible, but when it came to dividing the land, these farmers would fight, and they couldn't be separated.

Some land was near the water, some was well-organized, and some even had ancestral graves on the edge of the field. These might be small matters, but they were also huge issues. If they weren't made clear on the spot, they would become grudges lasting decades or even generations.

It was not to criticize them for being short-sighted and narrow-minded; these were real, tangible interests.

Xu Zhiyuan cut the Gordian knot. He chatted with a few villagers and learned that some of the troublemakers were local ruffians and scoundrels who felt that the more they caused trouble, the more justified they were and the more benefits they got. They had long been extorting and bullying the small commoners, so he simply arrested all of them, big and small, and sent them to Jin Chan for control. He had made his fortune relying on this; any ruffian, scoundrel, or local bully was sent off for labor reform.

The commoners were truly clapping and cheering this time, and then they reported them with lightning speed, reporting every single petty grievance.

This was unavoidable. In the past, no official had specifically stood up for the commoners. Now that they had caught one, they were eager to bring up grievances from eighteen generations of ancestors to seek justice.

Xu Zhiyuan only felt it was shocking, but he did not look down on it; instead, he handled them one by one. It is said that even an honest official has difficulty handling family affairs, but he was now discerning and extremely fair. He had the judgment results copied for each family to keep, and another copy posted in the ancestral hall for everyone to see, so that if they caused trouble again, they would have no justification.

Although Yushan and Changde counties had long been governed, Xu Jia had relied on the Fox Immortal Hall, and those widowers, widows, orphans, and the childless had their own limitations. Now it was open and above-board governance, which was naturally different from before.

Xu Zhiyuan handled this clan by clan, and these clans often occupied a village or township. As a result, before he even arrived, many villagers had already tied up the landlord's family, and those who resisted were even beaten, just waiting for Master Xu to come and divide the land.

(End of chapter)