Chapter 619: Conferring Land Titles

Baifeng read the names out one by one just like that; in the entire conference room, only Baifeng's voice could be heard. Everyone else held their breath and listened intently. Those whose names were called gritted their teeth and clenched their fists, punching the air under the table fiercely to express their excitement. As for those whose names were not read, their expressions changed rapidly—from nervousness to disappointment, and from being on the verge of tears to hurriedly controlling their expressions, pretending they did not care, while in reality, their hearts were already shattering.

After Baifeng finished reading, he gave an explanation once more: "This list is not the final result. Those who feel they should have received a surname and a nobility title but did not can summarize the merits they have achieved within the next three days and then submit them to me. I will evaluate them again."

"However, I think no one should be able to reach that level yet, because those I am rewarding this time can be called the founding elders of Huaxia. They have accompanied Huaxia from the tribal period when there were only a few hundred people, all the way to the present. The old have aged and the dead have passed; they should be rewarded. Moreover, every one of them has made huge contributions to the construction of Huaxia."

"Those who feel they are better than them, or the same as them, can submit a report to me here. If there are no objections, after three days, this list will not undergo any changes. At the same time, everyone's rewarded surname and the nobility title they have been granted will be announced. Once the Ministry of Rites has finished preparations, I will begin the sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, and then conduct the conferment together."

"Another thing is, those who did not receive a reward should not be discouraged or sad, because this will not be the only time for rewards. This time, it is for me to compensate these elders, and it is also an affirmation of their merits, so the young will not be included in this."

"You only need to continue working hard in your future tasks, right? Next year, perhaps you will be able to receive the same honor. If there is a major meritorious performance, you don't even have to wait for this specific time; you can be rewarded at any time."

After Baifeng's explanation, those below who were somewhat sad and dissatisfied were now relieved. Indeed, the people Baifeng named were all those who had come along together since the tribal era; they naturally could not compare. However, many of these people were close to retirement, and those who would take over in the future would always have the opportunity to be rewarded.

After some simple conversation, Baifeng let everyone else return, leaving behind only those he had named and the people from the Ministry of Rites, because the upcoming conferment ceremony still required them to go through the process first. As for those who left, they all gave them a look of envy at the end.

Seeing that everyone in the conference room was someone he had named, Baifeng changed to a more amiable expression: "I know this news might be a bit too sudden for you. Actually, it was a spur-of-the-moment idea for me, though I can't say it was entirely so. Originally, I only intended to hold a conferment ceremony for Xiong and Wu, but you are all great contributors to Huaxia, and everyone's merits are very significant."

"I thought about it, and since your merits are equally great, I cannot reward Wu first just because he is about to retire. If I am to reward, it should be done together. Chi sacrificed himself for Huaxia, so he must be given honor. Actually, I would have preferred for him to be alive to participate as well."

"Your surnames and nobility titles have already been decided. You don't know them yet, and I don't intend to tell you. When the day of the ceremony arrives, I will have the Ministry of Rites explain them one by one."

"At the same time, besides the surname and nobility title, I will also grant you land. The land granted in the future will be your own, not mine. However, you need to pay taxes; the portion remaining after paying taxes will all be yours."

As the representative among these people, Xiong expressed his opinion: "King, having a surname and a nobility title is enough for me; land is not needed. It is not easy for our tribesmen to clear land, and we are already wealthy enough. We do not worry about food or clothing, and the places we live are spacious and safe. Therefore, I think we should leave the land to those who are more impoverished, so that their lives can improve. I think this is consistent with our goal of building Huaxia."

Regardless of whether the others thought the same way in their hearts, they all echoed Xiong's statement without exception.

Seeing this, Baifeng was very gratified. At least his Advanced officials still had very clear goals and were very sensible. If future officials could also be like this, Huaxia would not need to worry about the wealth gap growing ever larger, nor would there be any need to worry about corruption.

Baifeng smiled and explained to them: "I naturally would not take the fruits of the tribesmen's labor to reward you; that does not conform to my principles. In our view, the interests of the tribesmen are more important than yours, because even if you lost that bit of land, you would not starve to death, but they would."

"Therefore, the land I am granting you is within the territory of Huaxia, but it is land that has not yet been developed. It is currently still mountain forests, or grasslands, or swamps."

"You may have already discovered that the families of you people—no, it should be called clans—are already becoming larger and larger, and they will grow at an even faster speed in the future. How many clans like yours do you think the Huaxia City of the future will be able to accommodate?"

"Zhu, let's take you as an example. You have seven wives alone, right?"

The Blacksmith Zhu scratched his head in embarrassment: "King, I have nine women."

Baifeng's mouth twitched. Good heavens, it seems my memory is still from a long time ago. However, he continued with Zhu's topic: "Alright, nine wives. Then how many sons and daughters do you have? I guess at least twenty, right?"

This time, Zhu said quite proudly: "King, I have a total of thirty-two sons and daughters." Because Huaxia encouraged childbirth, having many children was indeed something worth being proud of, as it was a contribution to the population growth of Huaxia.

Baifeng's expression did not change, and he continued to ask: "Then how many grandsons and granddaughters do you have, not counting those born to your daughters?"

Zhu had to count on his fingers for this, but after counting for a long time, he still felt there were people being left out: "King, of my twenty sons, thirteen are married. They have probably, probably given birth to twenty or thirty children."

Baifeng spread his hands: "You see, this is what I mean by 'clan'. I think all of you are in a similar situation to Zhu. You have expanded a household from one person to a hundred people. But looking at the current situation, you can all live for at least another twenty years. Twenty years from now, your grandsons will marry and have children, so how many people will your clan reach?"

"Do you think Huaxia City has the space to support so many of your massive clans?"