Chapter 274: Tongue Battle

Pan Yun leaned against the door, arms crossed, and turned to look at the Licentiate. "Need help?"

The Licentiate shook his head at her, stepped forward, "Who said they're orphans? Their parents are still alive."

The man stared wide-eyed. "Licentiate Chen, are you mad or pretending to be stupid? Their parents were killed by Japanese pirates long ago—how could they still have parents?"

The Licentiate: "The imperial court's official document clearly states that only eleven people died in this Japanese pirate incursion. Our village never received death certificates for them. Without death certificates, how can they be dead?"

He said, "If you want to take them to the Orphanage, fine—but first get the abandonment papers from their parents, then come back for them."

"Y-you—you're saying they're dead! Where am I supposed to find their parents for abandonment papers?"

The Licentiate: "The government office says they're not dead!"

"If you claim they're dead, go to the government office and bring back death certificates. Once you have proof they're orphans, then come take them!"

"Wow…" Pan Yun gazed at the Licentiate with starry eyes, softly clapping her hands. "That's brilliant. I like it. I'm learning it."

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He also closed their gaping mouths, signaling they'd learned.

The Licentiate drove them off—and incidentally helped the neighboring Huaihua Village too.

Liu You didn't calm down until the Orphanage people were far away; his face slowly lost its flush, but he remained furious, breathing heavily. "They've gone too far, too far—just for these fields, they want to take the children away."

"There are so many orphans at the Orphanage. In spring they must plant and transplant rice; in summer they pull weeds and catch insects; in autumn they harvest; by winter they're driven out to beg. Our families fought to the death to save these children, only for them to live such suffering—how can I face my fellow villagers?"

Pan Yun: "So you see, this matter must be left to the Licentiate. He has vision, courage, and most importantly—he understands the law and knows how to use rules properly to drive them off. Liu You, you and the others just assist him, stand with him as one. I believe we can properly care for the orphans of both villages."

The Licentiate turned back and said firmly, "Organize the land from every household—each child's land belongs to that child, then place it all under our names."

Liu You's eyes widened. "Under… under your and my names?"

"Correct. If you refuse, put it all under my name alone. Whoever holds it, we must draft two contracts."

"These fields are only nominally ours. When the children turn fourteen, we return the land to them."

Liu You instantly understood—it was just like registering land under a Licentiate or Provincial Graduate's name.

Pay a fee to those Licentiates or Jurens, and you can register your land under their names. The land still belongs to your family, still cultivated by your family—but in the government office's records, it's theirs.

But you also hold a separate written document, which you can use to file a formal complaint if disputes arise.

The purpose is to evade corvée labor.

Great Ming's corvée labor categories are numerous—some assigned by household registration, others by landholdings.

The more land you own, the more corvée labor and taxes you must bear.

Licentiates, Jurens, Jinshis, and officials are exempt.

So many people, if they can even remotely connect to them, try to register their land under their names.

We see a high official with ten thousand mu of fertile land—but in truth, less than one percent may actually belong to him.

For common folk, this is a tax evasion tactic. For the imperial court, it's stealing from the state treasury. For those at the bottom—families with no one who passed the exams or no relatives in office—it only increases their burden.

Because the taxes, levies, and corvée labor for each prefecture, circuit, and county are fixed. If fewer people pay, the burden is simply redistributed onto the rest.

Liu You, though a commoner, knew this practice—after the Licentiate passed his exam, Liu You once brought two catties of pork belly to his door, hoping to register his land under his name.

But the Licentiate refused.

Even his own uncle's request was turned down.

He said it harms the state treasury—and harms the common people.

Liu You had thought him falsely pious, arrogant.

He's just one Licentiate—how much land could he possibly exempt from labor?

Harms the state treasury? Harms the common people…

Isn't he one of the common people? Not letting him register land is what harms him.

Now Liu You faintly understood.

If the Licentiate accepted registrations, the extra corvée burden might land squarely on him.

So many died in these two villages, yet the government office refuses to report it, won't even issue death certificates. When corvée comes, what if some fool deliberately assigns labor based on the old roster? How long would these two villages have to work to finish their share?

Liu You thought it over, swallowed hard, and said, "Then… then put it all under your name."

The Licentiate nodded. "Good."

Liu You exhaled in relief. With them watching, and Pan Yun and others as witnesses, they weren't afraid the Licentiate would embezzle the villages' land.

The Licentiate immediately drafted the sale documents and signed the registration contracts.

Children from Huaihua Village and Shuangyang Village all came forward, each stepping up to sign and affix their fingerprints.

Of course, they couldn't write—their marks were simple circles, then fingerprints. There weren't enough paper left in the Licentiate's home, so Pan Yun generously provided some.

Just the contracts filled a whole Old Yida, not to mention the land deeds the Licentiate collected.

Some families had lost their land deeds and had to go to the government office to get replacements.

The Licentiate decided to go to the county government office in a few days to handle the replacements.

Liu You wiped sweat from his brow, relieved—he was glad he'd handed this over. How could he have managed it himself?

The Licentiate pressed the contracts and land deeds down with two paperweights, and spoke to the villagers and children in the courtyard: "Their goal was the land of these two villages. Now the land is all in my hands—they won't bother you again."

"From today on, take your supplies home and live well. Don't play wild in the fields anymore. Tomorrow, the adults will begin selecting land to build the school. The older children, help the younger ones—bear with a few more hard days."

"Once the school is built, you'll begin your studies." The Licentiate said firmly, "Live well. Grow well. Carry your parents', your siblings' lives with you."

The children held back tears, answering loudly.

Pan Yun pulled out the list. "We've divided everything by headcount. Come and collect."

Heavy items like grain—children couldn't carry them home, but that's fine. They have their own marking system.

They brought their own grain sacks, filled them with their three-month ration, then pulled charcoal from their pockets and drew symbols only they could understand: "This is my food."

!. Read

"This is mine."

They were happiest when distributing books—a group of children scrubbed their filthy hands on their clothes again and again before carefully reaching out to take the books.

Chen the Licentiate said, "Within books lie golden houses; within books lie methods of revenge."

If they want to grow rich, they must read; if they want revenge, they must still read!

After distributing the grain, Pan Yun generously gave them two oxen and two carts: "One ox and one cart per village."

Chen the Licentiate and Liu You thanked her again and again.

Now the village is filled only with the elderly, the weak, and women and children—oxen are extremely important.

One ox can match the strength of several able-bodied laborers.

When Pan Yun and the others left, it was already afternoon, but they had no intention of staying overnight—they decided to return to Mount Sanqing as quickly as possible.

Liu You and Chen the Licentiate led the children from both villages to the crossroad to watch them depart.

Once their figures vanished from sight, Liu You said solemnly, "Chen the Licentiate, when we erect the stele, we must inscribe the names of these Daoists on it—especially Xiao Pan Daoist, the good friend of Sanzhu Daoist. She went out of her way for us."

Chen the Licentiate laughed, then nodded seriously a moment later, "It is only right."

Pan Yun did not know that before long, both her names would be carved on the stele; at this moment, she was enjoying the tinkling of the Merit Array.

She sighed regretfully, "Too bad I have no time—if I did, I'd visit every county's orphanage. They're utterly heartless—driving children out to beg in the dead of winter!"

She herself had grown up in an orphanage; though she lacked parental love, she never lacked other forms of care, let alone material shortages.

In the 26th century, population was vital—every child in the orphanage was a treasure.

In her past life, most orphans in her orphanage were war orphans; she was among the first batch of postwar orphans. After she turned eight, the wars triggered by the world's great transformation gradually subsided, and from then on, the number of new orphans each year plummeted—sometimes not a single child was admitted in an entire year.

But Great Ming is different—here, beggar children are everywhere on the streets, their hair dull and yellow, their eyes timid and bewildered, like frightened rabbits staring at this world. Each time she saw them, her heart ached and turned sour, softening like a puddle of mud.

She didn't know whether being soft-hearted was good or bad, but she knew she could not bear such looks.

So every time she encountered them, she couldn't help but reach for her money.

She grabbed a handful, scattered it along the way, and ended up giving away all her loose copper coins.

Pan Yun, pained at the loss, went to the money shop to exchange silver for copper coins, and said to Seeing Miao Zhen, "Making money is so hard—but why is spending it so easy?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Little Master Shu, you make money easily too—don't forget, you still have five thousand taels from Old Liu."

"That's not mine—it's Sister's. Since it was given to Sister, Sister should earn it," Pan Yun turned to ask Master Xuanmiao, "Sister, when will you earn that money?"

Master Xuanmiao: "After I bring you back to Mount Sanqing."

They still need to return to Changzhou to visit patients—they'll have to come out again.

Pan Yun: "I can return by myself."

Master Xuanmiao: "Shut up. Quickly exchange your money and get moving—if we don't hurry, we won't reach the next relay station before dark."

Tao Ji explained, "She's worried about you—you're glowing with golden light even with your wooden token."

Pan Yun: "My cultivation is high—most people can't defeat me."

Tao Ji: "Fool, it's not people we're afraid of."

There's another chapter later.

(End of Chapter)