Chapter 475: The Assembly (1)

Baifeng applauded for Yulong: "Good, very good. This idea of yours, even I hadn't thought of it myself."

Bai Yulong naturally assumed his father was giving him a chance to perform in front of everyone; he could even deduce the development situation for the next several hundred years, so how could he not have a way to solve this current problem? The "scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant" hierarchy was still his father's idea, and he had merely borrowed and modified it, so he did not become complacent because of Baifeng's praise.

The officials below also felt this was a very good method, but upon closer thought, it seemed not too different from the previous free citizens.

Baifeng also clearly grasped this point; since his son wanted to show himself, he would let him perform, and he only needed to give him a little guidance.

Thus, Baifeng spoke of some more detailed things: "Yulong, since you thought of this plan, you should also know that this 'tenant' you speak of is actually not essentially different from a free citizen. How do you intend to solve this? I do not intend for Huaxia to add another class."

Changle naturally had a plan in mind, and he answered very naturally: "Father, this 'tenant' I thought of is not a new class. They are called 'tenant farmers'; they can work in labor or in farming. In essence, they still belong to the Citizenry, but they do not have all the benefits that current Citizens have. If they want to live the same life as current Citizens, they must also put in years of effort, though it will be very difficult for them to catch up to the living standards of our current Citizens."

Once these words were spoken, the officials below were truly convinced and began to spontaneously applaud for Bai Yulong. Hearing this applause, Bai Yulong's face flushed, but he also straightened his back even more.

Baifeng waited for the applause to stop, then added his own thoughts: "Alright, for these new arrivals, let's follow Changle's suggestion. Give them a place to live in concentration. There isn't much work to do in Winter now, so let them handle odd jobs like transporting firewood and coal. However, work must be competed for; whoever snatches it gets it. If they work, give them grain; for those unwilling to work, just give them enough food to keep them from starving. We must create a gap for them this Winter, letting them know that in Huaxia, if you don't work hard, life will only get harder and poorer. A good life is something you fight for!"

By the way, in the future, they can trade land and houses on their own. Our territory is very large now, but there is simply too much land that hasn't been developed. There is no shortage of land for them to farm and live on. If they want to build houses, they can buy the land, buy the Brick, and buy the materials themselves; even hiring people to build is fine.

Once they widen the gap in the future, those with no land and no house will be called 'scoundrels' (liumang), those with no land but a house will be called 'drifters' (liu), and those with land but no house will be called 'peasants' (mang), gradually letting them feel the difference in status.

At this point, everyone thought a complete set of policies for the newly joined groups had been formulated, and all new arrivals in the future would be handled according to this policy. Bai Yulong was also shocked that his father could casually speak of such a formidable policy; only now did he understand what the "scoundrel" (liumang) his father had suddenly blurted out before meant.

However, Baifeng immediately picked up the thread of the previous conversation and continued: "But this policy is aimed at the captives who came this time. In the future, we will have more people joining, and they will join in different ways. Should we make them all use this policy? I think that won't work, because it will lead to an unbalanced class structure and various problems, and eventually, people will be dissatisfied. I do not want Huaxia to have serious class conflicts like the Suiren Clan."

The officials were puzzled: "With such a good policy, how could there be problems? As long as they can eat their fill, they would probably wake up laughing even in their dreams."

Baifeng smiled and said: "You don't understand human nature. One does not worry about scarcity, but about inequality. Some people haven't put in enough labor, yet they see people of the same status living better than them. They won't think it's because they didn't work hard enough, but will feel that our policy isn't good enough. Therefore, I want to dispel this notion of theirs from the very beginning."

Baifeng had the Shangshu Department start recording, then stated his plan directly: "First, for captives like this time who come through defeat, look at the severity of the circumstances. If their obedience is good, they surrender immediately, and they don't resist or only resist slightly, then use the policy just mentioned."

"If the resistance is fierce, causing us heavy casualties, and their obedience is poor, then they become Slaves. Except for some special individuals, others can enjoy the Slave promotion policy; their next class is 'tenant farmer'."

"Second, for those who join Huaxia voluntarily without going through war and have merit, they can be given normal Citizen status, or be rewarded on the basis of being a tenant farmer, allowing them to become a 'drifter' or a 'peasant'. Others will be tenant farmers, but their entire collective can enjoy some subsidies in grain or other aspects, allowing them to change their status sooner."

"Third, for those bought and brought in, when we buy them, they are Slaves. After they arrive, they remain Slaves, and they can enjoy the Slave promotion policy."

"Finally, and this is the most important point: as Huaxia has developed to this day, I believe we can fully open up land reclamation. Regardless of whether it is inside or outside the city, except for land already in our policy's reclamation or construction plans, all other Citizens can reclaim land on their own. Furthermore, for the land reclaimed, not only will we not collect extra taxes, but we will reduce or even waive taxes for several years."

The people from the Shangshu Department were writing frantically, and several people were coordinating to write, because Baifeng's speech was coherent and without pauses, and his speed was even somewhat fast. Their copying speed couldn't keep up, so they could only have one person copy while several people recorded, with each person recording a sentence or a few, ensuring there would be no omissions.

Just as Baifeng finished speaking to this point, someone from the Ministry of Revenue raised their hand, indicating they had an opinion to raise. Baifeng raised his hand to let him speak.

The person who was to speak was a young man who had newly joined the Ministry of Revenue. Having worked for over a year, he was only now gradually entering the middle-to-high level of the Ministry of Revenue. This was also his first time attending such a large-scale meeting, and Baifeng had almost no impression of him.

The young man asked very confusedly: "King, wasteland is the state's land. We don't collect anything and let them reclaim it at will; that is already good enough. We should increase taxes to reduce the government's losses. Why not increase them, but instead reduce them?"

The Shaman's expression changed slightly. He knew the reason, so naturally, he wouldn't ask such a question, but this young man hadn't even thought of it. It seemed that after going back, he would have to let him train more; otherwise, other departments would think the Ministry of Revenue was only at this level.