Chapter 106: Paying Rent

On the early morning of the first day of the ninth month, along the road leading to the township seat of Yunmeng Township, as far as the eye could see were farmers carrying shoulder poles and bamboo baskets. The baskets held newly harvested, sun-dried golden grain, so heavy it seemed about to snap the poles in two.

Compared to these commoners and rank-and-file soldiers who had to laboriously carry their grain, Zhong leading an oxcart along the road stood out like a crane among chickens — not to mention Heifu riding ahead on his red horse, clearing the way with an imposing air.

It turned out that once the ninth month arrived, it was time for Qin's common people to pay their land rent. As the saying goes, "tax and rent are both due in the ninth month." The authorities uniformly collected field rent during this month to prepare for the tenth month's annual reporting, and the amount of field rent collected was a key indicator of whether that report was good or bad.

From what Heifu could see, unlike the joy on their faces during harvest, most of the travelers on the road looked worried. After all, what they were handing over was grain they had grown through bitter toil, and carrying it on their shoulders was utterly exhausting. Along the field ridges on the roadside, people squatting to catch their breath could be seen everywhere; they looked at the Heifu brothers' oxcart and riding horse with eyes full of envy.

Oxen and horses could only be afforded by households of some means that held a rank of nobility. This was also the lifelong dream of many farmers who had toiled for half a lifetime — with these two kinds of livestock in the household, the village girls would compete to marry in.

Every family has its own hard-luck story. Though Zhong had also sighed with emotion when they first set out that this year he didn't have to carry grain over ten li on his shoulder, the closer they got to the township seat, the more worried he became. Leading the oxcart, he looked back at the twenty-odd shi of millet in the cart bed and sighed, "Having more land isn't entirely a good thing. By my reckoning, I'll have to haul ten more trips before my household's rent is fully paid."

Zhong's words were no exaggeration, because at the end of the eighth month, the Field Clerk of Xiyang Village, dragging his sickly body, had read aloud to all the villagers a document from the township, announcing this year's "rent rate."

This procedure was called "writing the statutes into the rent" — that is, before collecting rent, the authorities first transmitted down level by level all the various statutes and ordinances concerning that year's rent collection, from the county magistrate to the Field Overseer, from the Field Overseer to the township's Field Section Deputy, and all the way down to the village Field Clerk.

Unlike percentage-based taxation in later ages, the "rent rate" was a fixed rent quota; each household had to deliver a sufficient amount of grain. This year's rent quota was six dou of grain per mu.

"Six dou? That much?"

Heifu was somewhat surprised. What about the so-called tithe? He only later figured out that taxes were monetary levies on goods and had little to do with their household as farmers. They only needed to pay field rent and the annual "poll tax," which was also no small sum.

Zhong, however, seemed long accustomed to it. He said that for ordinary "tax fields," the authorities would calculate an average based on recent grain yields, determine a "reasonable" figure, and set that as the year's rent quota. The officials called this "reviewing the average of several years to establish the norm."

"Reasonable" meant making the farmers feel the burden was a bit heavy, but not so heavy they couldn't survive. Generally speaking, depending on whether it was a famine or bumper year, the rent quota ranged from five dou to one shi, so Zhong felt this year's six dou was already on the low side.

"And that's just for ordinary tax fields. For the public fields directly managed by the authorities, I hear they collect one and a half shi per mu, and only what's left is kept for the hired laborers and convict laborers who farm them to eat..."

"In that case, after paying rent, practically nothing is left from the fields!"

Heifu was slightly startled to hear this. Calculated that way, farming on the authorities' public fields could only ensure barely filling one's belly, with basically no possibility of savings. It seemed later generations' claims that Qin's taxes were "twenty times those of antiquity" and that it "collected more than half the harvest" were not really slander.

Furthermore, once the rent quota was fixed, the authorities would also collect taxes based on how much land each household owned, regardless of whether you farmed it or not. This prevented some people from owning land but not farming it, idling about all day, and also cracked down on rent evaders. Taxing by the land — people could run, but the land couldn't.

So by calculation, Heifu's family, divided into three households, owned over four hundred mu of land in total. The rent quota the three households had to pay was enormous — a full two hundred and forty shi...

In addition, there was also a fodder tax of three shi of hay and two shi of straw per qing of land, enough for another cartload.

Actually, excluding fallow fields, they had only planted a bit over three hundred mu. Precisely because the rent and taxes were so heavy, if they wanted any savings, Qin's farmers had no choice but to be diligent in their farming, using intensive cultivation to make their own fields yield a bit more grain.

Fortunately, after the Heifu household adopted the composting method, they had a bumper harvest this year, getting roughly five hundred shi of millet and two hundred and fifty shi of rice. After paying rent, they would still have considerable savings. They could only hope grain prices wouldn't be too low this year; selling the surplus grain and then paying the poll tax, a net income of several thousand coins was still possible...

Thinking of it this way, the four thousand coins Heifu had been fined for accidentally letting a murderer escape was still somewhat acceptable.

At this thought, Heifu couldn't help looking with sympathy at the commoners trudging along the roadside carrying grain on their shoulders. His own family's circumstances were improving day by day, but most of the farmers along this road were struggling at the subsistence line.

They too would have to make many round trips before they could finish transporting their rent. For the entire first half of the ninth month, they wouldn't need to do anything else — hauling grain back and forth would be exhausting enough. And the remaining grain, aside from the portion set aside as seed, would be nearly all spent on food, clothing, and daily necessities over the whole year. If there were weddings, funerals, or family illnesses on top of that, after a whole year of busy toil, they would end up unable to make ends meet.

The two fell silent, the atmosphere turning somber for a moment. After a while, Heifu deliberately joked, "Elder Brother, think of it this way — by next year, our family will have five hundred mu of land, and the field rent we'll have to pay will be even greater."

"True. Second Brother is now a Hairpin-Tallied rank holder, after all."

Zhong looked at the simple wooden crown atop Heifu's hair bun, and at the silk ribbon tied around the horse's neck, his heart filled with gratification.

Although Heifu had accidentally let the criminal escape, the offense did not warrant dismissal from his post. Moreover, because the commandery authorities deemed his method of determining the criminal's height from footprints very useful, his rank of nobility had actually been raised instead of lowered — causing many who had secretly speculated that Heifu was done for this time to drop their jaws in shock.

The document for Heifu's rank promotion had arrived yesterday, causing a sensation throughout the village, because he was the village's second Hairpin-Tallied rank holder. And the Heifu household's land had once again increased by a hundred mu, transforming them from a small household into Xiyang Village's largest landowner in one leap...

Zhong never imagined that one day he would be fretting because his family's land was increasing too quickly — yet he couldn't exactly tell his second brother, "Let's slow down for now, stop getting promoted."

He thought to himself, "Next year, I'm afraid we'll have to buy another plow ox and hire twice as many hired hands..."

By the time the Heifu brothers reached the detached seat of Yunmeng Township, it was already breakfast time. The "rent station" located near the township granary had become the busiest place in the entire township. People from all directions came in groups to pay rent, but there was no need to worry about mix-ups — each village was assigned a fixed time to pay rent. From the first to the third day of the month, the villages in the eastern part of the township paid their taxes.

The minor clerks under the Field Section Deputy held steelyards and measuring vessels, calling the farmers forward one by one to weigh the grain and fodder they were to turn in. There was no need to worry about inaccurate measurements — ever since Shang Yang's reforms, Qin had unified weights and measures throughout the realm. If the measuring instruments were off, the officials in charge would be punished.

Additionally, supervisors sent from the county were present. Besides inspecting the quality and quantity of the grain, they also had to prevent favoritism and fraud during rent collection.

Heifu first accompanied Zhong to pay the twenty-odd shi of grain they had hauled, and only then left the empty cart outside and entered the rent station.

The Field Section Deputy was a township-level official in the field administration system, equivalent to the head of a township grain management station in later ages. By the time Heifu and the others had asked their way around and found the busy Field Section Deputy, they saw him holding the household registers of each village, loudly dictating figures for the minor clerks to copy down based on the records sent in from outside.

"So-and-so, common soldier of Zui Village, has paid four shi eight dou of rent. Paid in full!"

"So-and-so, First-Rank holder of Cheng Village, has paid twenty-four shi of rent! Thirty-six shi still outstanding!"

Moreover, from time to time they caught people whose paid amounts didn't match the acreage of land they owned. Those who underreported their acreage to evade taxes were charged with the crime of "concealing fields." Once discovered, in addition to the evaded field rent, all the crops on the concealed fields would also be confiscated!

There were no more than ten clerks, many borrowed from other government offices, yet they had to record the field rent paid by nearly a thousand households in the entire township — so busy they didn't even have time to drink water.

Having finally caught a free moment at breakfast, Heifu immediately stepped forward and called out to the Field Section Deputy.

The Field Section Deputy had been busy all morning, his throat nearly parched. If an ordinary commoner had come looking for him at this moment, they would most likely have been met with a sour face. But when he turned around and saw the red headscarf atop Heifu's head, marking him as a Station Chief, he suppressed his irritation.

Once Heifu announced his name, the Field Section Deputy's expression changed entirely, and with a solemn look, he cupped his hands toward Heifu in salute.

"So it is the Chief of Huyang Station in Yunshui Township! Chief Heifu's name has long been known throughout the county. Forgive my lack of respect, forgive my lack of respect."

By all accounts, Heifu was now a figure known throughout the county, but he had long grown accustomed to such remarks. After exchanging a few pleasantries with the Field Section Deputy, he pulled Zhong over and explained the purpose of their visit.

"Chief, you mean to say that after using that method, your household's per-mu yield this year increased by nearly one shi!?"

All the Field Section Deputy's fatigue from the morning's toil was startled away by Heifu's words!

"Absolutely true." Heifu took out a wooden tablet and handed it to the Field Section Deputy. On it were recorded the grain yields of the Heifu household's three plots of land. For the one hundred mu where composting had been used, the harvested grain was recorded for nearly every single mu.

"Could it be that the grain wasn't fully sun-dried? Or perhaps the soil vitality of that hundred mu was particularly strong this year?"

Though somewhat stirred, the Field Section Deputy still had his doubts. Every year, quite a few old farmers came to him offering "farming methods" because their household's grain yield had increased. Qin was founded on agriculture and warfare, and commoners who were diligent in farming and improved cultivation techniques were rewarded.

Heifu also knew that, unlike the last time he presented the treadle-operated tilt hammer, where the results could be demonstrated immediately, farming involved strong elements of randomness and seasonality — the Field Section Deputy could not afford to be incautious.

So he smiled and said, "Field Section Deputy, there's no need to rush to report this method to the county. Why not, when spring begins next year, set aside a few dozen mu of the public fields managed by the township, and let my elder brother come to give guidance, using the composting method to fertilize the fields? When the autumn harvest comes, compare the per-mu yield with ordinary fields, and the truth will be known with a single test!"

Heifu's idea was a good one. The Field Section Deputy found it very prudent and agreed.

If this matter failed, he would have done a favor for Heifu, the rising Chief of Huyang Station; if it succeeded, the Field Section Deputy would certainly be able to share in some of the credit...

What he didn't know was that Heifu had his own little calculations in mind. In the past, he might have directly taken Zhong to the county seat to see the county's highest field official, the "Field Overseer." But this time, he had to take a detour and let the township official, the Field Section Deputy, handle it. What was he after?

Because what Heifu wanted to secure for Zhong was precisely the position in the village with the lowest risk but considerable practical benefit: Field Clerk! And the Field Section Deputy's preference was a crucial factor in deciding the Field Clerk candidates for each village!

In the early ninth month, after agreeing with the Field Section Deputy of Yunmeng Township to formally test the composting method on the township's public fields the following year, Heifu returned to Huyang Station to continue his duties.

After that incident last time, his enthusiasm for searching everywhere for the case's lead had also waned considerably; he contented himself with strictly maintaining public order in his jurisdiction. Fortunately, although he had slipped up once, his residual authority remained, and within Huyang Station's jurisdiction, no one still dared to cause trouble.

After more than ten days of such calm, by mid-September, a piece of news arrived that once again cast Hei Fu's future into uncertainty.

His patron, County Right Commandant Du Xian's transfer orders, had finally come down...

PS: The land tax figures in this chapter are sourced from the Liye Qin slips, the land tax records of Qianling County in the thirty-fifth year of Qin Shi Huang.

(End of chapter)