Longzang

Chapter 747 Food is the most important thing for the people

While assigning his avatars to capture the corrupt stewards and scoundrels in various places, Wei Yuan also set up a large number of related tasks amidst the everyday life of ordinary people and conducted research.

Surprisingly, the arrests encountered considerable resistance. Some of the officers drew their knives to resist, while others instigated reckless thugs to cause trouble and muddy the waters.

Wei Yuan was deeply surprised. He had acted on the orders of the Realm Lord, yet someone still dared to resist? Moreover, many of those who resisted were not even at the Foundation Establishment stage. The resistance methods were also varied: some threw tantrums, some claimed their father was Li Gang, and some even instigated women to strip naked and pounce on the constables, shouting "Indecent assault!"

Wei Yuan's approach was simple and brutal: anyone who openly resisted was punished three levels higher, essentially warranting beheading. The entire clan of any rebellious leader was branded criminals and sent to the lowest rungs of society. Anyone claiming his father was Li Gang was arrested along with Li Gang.

Those scoundrels and ruffians will be either thrown into the ranks of criminals and forced to reform, or expelled from Qingming and forced back into vagrancy. With war raging around Qingming, the fate of these people returning to vagrancy is predictable. And those who commit the most serious offenses, such as bullying women or causing serious injury, will be beheaded.

Such a thunderous blow finally made mortals realize what it means to be a realm lord.

Within a few days, Wei Yuan had executed over three hundred people, expelled a thousand, and demoted four thousand to the fifth rank of criminals. Throughout the entire process, Wei Yuan ignored all excuses and pleading, directly retrieving data from the Zhou Tian Star Array and analyzing it based on human affairs.

If the facts are clear and the evidence is substantial, a conviction and execution should be carried out immediately. If the facts are unclear, the case should be sent back to officials at various levels for review.

As expected, the people were overjoyed when the executioner's blade fell, and a surge of green smoke rose up, instantly adding tens of thousands of blades. However, after speaking with Zhang Sheng, Wei Yuan knew this was only a temporary solution. He continued to assign tasks and solicit advice amidst the everyday life of ordinary people.

Any reform requires sufficient data to support it; otherwise, it's a rash decision. History provides numerous examples of this, and Wei Yuan was certainly aware of it.

In terms of data accumulation, thanks to the Zhou Tian Star Array, the human world, and the data architecture system deciphered from the small world, Qingming may already be at the forefront of the Great Tang, second only to the cave heavens where immortals monitor everything with their divine sense.

The Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array monitors the heavens and earth, covering an immense area. Wei Yuan originally built this array to guard against spies from the Wu Clan and to expose internal traitors. Now, Wei Yuan plans to invest a large sum of immortal silver to upgrade the array, thereby laying the foundation for future reforms.

Throughout history, land annexation has been rampant in the final stages of dynasties, leading to widespread poverty and the dominance of powerful families who refused to contribute any grain or salary to the state, ultimately emptying the treasury and causing the dynasty's demise. A major reason for this was incomplete data; vast fields were not recorded in official registers. In a county with 100,000 households, the official household register probably only recorded around 10,000.

Now that Wei Yuan is monitoring the world with the Zhou Tian Star Array, no one can cause trouble under his nose. With the Star Array combined with the data processing capabilities of the mortal realm, he can have every detail under his control.

Data is the foundation for "inequality." Wei Yuan's current goal is to artificially create inequality, specifically among ordinary people who have no hope of cultivation.

Currently, the gap between cultivators and ordinary people is enormous. Once one reaches the Great Perfection of Body Tempering, their family's treatment will see a significant improvement. Current incentive systems, such as the exchange of Lesser Qi Cultivation Pills, quotas for Foundation Establishment, and special instruction in Body Tempering techniques, are all designed around cultivators. Those without cultivation talent are all roughly the same.

Clothing, food, shelter, and transportation are the foundation of human life, as the saying goes, "Food is the first necessity of the people." Wei Yuan's first concern was food. Qingming currently has a grain reserve of one billion catties, and although a large amount has already been sold to the states of Jin and Zhao, the total reserve is still increasing. The people of Qingming consume an average of three to five hundred catties of grain per year, roughly equivalent to one catty per day.

According to calculations based on human experience, the minimum standard for survival is 180 jin (approximately 90 kg). To avoid illness and possess a certain level of basic labor capacity, one needs at least 240 jin (approximately 120 kg). However, cultivators who have achieved the Body Forging stage can reach between 600 and 1000 jin (approximately 300-400 kg). The higher their cultivation level and the better their physical constitution, the more they need to eat.

The cultivators who had been forged into body-strengthening cultivators were about to start consuming some spirit rice, while the mortals, for the sake of horizontal convenience, converted all the spirit rice into ordinary rice.

Previously, Wei Yuan had opened up some land grants based on military merit, but this was not a large amount. Newly opened land still accounted for the vast majority, and overall, the people of Qingming were still mainly given rations.

Wei Yuan then prepared to readjust the ration distribution method. The system of granting land based on military merit would remain unchanged, the ration standard for cultivators at all levels would remain unchanged, and all other people would be given a standard ration of 250 catties.

This portion of the ration is meant to provide a safety net for everyone, ensuring they can at least eat their fill, but certainly not well. The basic ration portion has been slightly reduced compared to the past, decreasing by thirty jin each year.

Wei Yuan left a loophole: all children, regardless of age, even newborns, could apply for a ration of food at the adult rate. Pregnant women, on the other hand, could receive double the rations. As a result, many families would inevitably have more children in order to receive more food.

Under the new scheme, the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array directly monitors everyone's work, while the Human World system provides real-time statistical analysis of each person's work performance. Even in the same field, the merits recorded for a lazy person who only swings the hoe a few times and a hardworking man who works the entire way will be vastly different.

Merit earned through labor can be exchanged for grain. According to Wei Yuan's initial plan, a diligent person can cultivate up to ten mu of land and exchange it for an additional 750 jin of grain.

In a family of five, if even one person works tirelessly year-round, the whole family can get an average of 400 jin of grain, which is considered quite good. If another person is even more diligent, each person can get 500 jin of grain, which is even better.

If the diligent are fed to their hearts' content while the lazy never starve, the stark contrast will make most people understand which option to choose. As the realm lord, Wei Yuan's job is to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to eat their fill.

The implementation of the new system requires a massive amount of groundwork, followed by the publication of announcements, the selection of implementers, and then its formal implementation. The Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array is not yet fully accurate and also needs upgrading. Upgrading the array alone will take several months and require an investment of three million taels of immortal silver.

However, Wei Yuan felt that the money was well spent, since it would be of great use in the future, not just for the immediate benefit.

After the new system was implemented, everyone in Qingming would enjoy basic food rations, early education, and opportunities for cultivation.

In addition to food, Wei Yuan also prepared a measure to address the inequality: housing allocation.

(End of this chapter)