Chapter 1006: The Mice in the Grain Storehouse Are Fatter Than Dogs

"As for swapping fiefs, I know you all want to swap. Sanxin has swapped, so you can swap too. How about this: I don't want to discuss it with each of you individually, so I'll provide a plan. Swap large for small, at a ratio of three to one. Right next to the Western Development Group, in the east, west, south, and north directions, I will mark out a few areas. Then, those of you who want to swap fiefs, go directly to the Ministry of Revenue to find Yulong and draw lots."

"You all know what drawing lots is. Whoever draws which location gets that location. Regardless of whether the place is good or bad, whether it can be made into fertile fields or a Pasture, or if it is densely forested or can yield Iron Ore, or if it is just a useless rocky mountain, you cannot have any objections and you cannot go back on it."

"Because I don't know what it's like there either. To tell the truth, a good thing like this should have been saved for Xiong, but Xiong is not here right now, so we will leave him out of it for now. No one can make decisions for him, not even me. If you all take advantage of this, I can just compensate him later. You just make sure to secure your own benefits."

"I will say it again: whether the place you swap for is good or bad, whether you have the opportunity to develop it later, or what the policies are, you cannot go back on it, and there is no possibility of swapping back. Do you understand?"

"Once you have thought it through, go handle it yourselves. If there is nothing else, you can go back to eat. I am hungry too and am going back."

Baifeng's tone was full of impatience. These Nobles also understood that they could not linger any longer. Their actions this time had already made Baifeng somewhat dissatisfied, but fortunately, he had agreed to their requests, so they could only quit while they were ahead. Thus, they hurriedly bowed to Baifeng and left quickly, not daring to wait for Baifeng to leave first.

He had not expected that after so many years, he would already have a conflict of interest with these Nobles and would need to start restricting and balancing them. Baifeng felt somewhat helpless, but people are just like that. When they have nothing, there is no conflict between collective interests and personal interests, because everyone has nothing.

Now it is different. The collective is wealthy, and they themselves are wealthy, and there is an opportunity to gain more benefits for themselves from the collective. What is wrong with that? The collective's interests were all fought for by them bit by bit; naturally, they have a share in it.

Baifeng also cleverly used this method to restrict their barbaric development. If they want income, they must first spend. These Nobles who own fiefs are now more like entrepreneurs coming to invest. What they can obtain is only the profit from the land and the output of the land, not other things they should not possess from the people on the land.

And this is actually good. The mice in the Grain Storehouse of these Nobles who cry poverty every day are perhaps fatter than dogs, but Baifeng really cannot think of a way to squeeze their grain out. They are like wealthy squires who refuse to spend their copper coins and insist on burying them in the pigsty.

Baifeng has already finished all the luxury consumption he could think of, but the speed of consumption cannot keep up with the speed at which they earn grain. This is clearly not working. It would be better to let them invest their grain. Regardless of how much their grain can earn in the future, for now, let them put this grain into circulation. Later, when they discover the benefits of this, it will directly become a virtuous cycle.

The grain will not be wasted or moldy, and perhaps in the future, other methods to trick them out of their grain or money will appear. Once money comes out, perhaps they will also be willing to exchange most of their grain for money.

In addition, Baifeng has strictly forbidden private brewing of Wine. Although there is no policy of state-run salt and Wine, nor has a high Wine tax been added, the current price of Wine is a very normal price; everyone can drink it, and everyone can afford it.

The reason for the ban is, firstly, the fear of creating uncontrollable drunks that would affect the public order of Huaxia, and secondly, the brewing technology has not spread to the common people; only professional brewers know it. If everyone could try to brew Wine, Baifeng thinks that instead of people acting crazy from drinking, there would be more cases of things like methanol poisoning.

After so many years of experimentation, brewers have also discovered that Wine must be sealed and buried for a sufficient amount of time before the pungent smell of new Wine disappears, replaced by a more mellow taste.

Even Baifeng, who is not very familiar with Wine, understands that the pungent smell should be some kind of substance harmful to the human body. Only long-term storage will cause it to transform into other substances, reducing the harm to people. It is not just the head of the batch that is like this and cannot be drunk; new Wine is the same.

The Nobles who cannot brew Wine to consume grain naturally set their sights on Maltose. Every year, they consume a large amount of wheat and rice to make Maltose. Not only can it be stored long enough, but it can also make up for the sweetness that is difficult to obtain in Nature.

It can be said that Nobles in Huaxia do not lack sugar. Baifeng has not banned Maltose; not only can Nobles make it, but ordinary families can also make it. This is something that improves the happiness of the people's lives, and Baifeng will not stop it.

The production of honey is very limited, and Baifeng himself does not eat too much of it. Mainly, he is afraid that his teeth will not be able to take it. The current tooth-brushing tools are too crude, and the tooth powder is also crude. Once there is a problem with his teeth, he will have to suffer greatly, and there is no way around it.

Baifeng returned home and found that Yulong also had a worried look on his face. Baifeng tapped the table to call Yulong's soul back: "What is it? What are you thinking about? Tell me about it."

Seeing that his father had come, Yulong immediately perked up to complain: "Father, can you explain your fief policy to me clearly? I am still only half-understanding it even now."

"Today I was surrounded by a group of Counts. They asked me about the fiefs, and they were all pitiful. But when I said I didn't know, they didn't believe it at all. I'm afraid they will come to find me again tomorrow."

Baifeng laughed out loud upon hearing this, unable to stop for a while. Finally, he managed to control himself: "Son, we are truly a father-son team on the battlefield. You were surrounded by a group of Counts today, but I was surrounded by a group of Marquises."

Yulong was also surprised: "Surrounded by Marquises? No wonder, I was wondering why I didn't see a single Marquis. So they went to find you, Father. What, did they come to ask about the fiefs too?"

"Of course. What else could be on their minds? If it were anything else, they probably wouldn't be so proactive."

"Forget it. This time it counts as me being in a rush. It was something I thought of suddenly, and I didn't have time to tell you. I will explain it to you clearly now. However, you don't need to worry about them anymore. I have asked Sanxin to draft the document, and it will be sent directly to their hands when the time comes. If they can understand it, they can read it; if they can't understand it, then so be it. Just consider it their bad luck."