Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 350 Tenants
In the Guangzhou Palace, Li Guoyong led a middle-aged man in a red official robe towards the Imperial Garden in the back.
In the corridor of the palace, two officials of the Ministry of Rites were walking out of the palace. When they saw the man behind Li Guoyong, their faces changed slightly.

"Chen is back with a beheaded head"

Chen Bangyan paused for a moment, but then he seemed to be unaware of anything and continued to walk forward with Li Guoyong. Soon, Chen Bangyan's figure disappeared in the Imperial Garden.
In the Imperial Study, Chen Bangyan walked into the room and found that in addition to His Royal Highness the Regent, there were two young men in red official robes sitting in the hall.

Although Chen Bangyan did not recognize these two people, he saw the tigers and leopards embroidered on their official robes and knew that they must be fourth-rank military officials in the army.

Chen Bangyan just glanced at the two of them and bowed directly to the top.
"Chen Bangyan, the Governor of Guangdong, pays respect to His Royal Highness the Regent."

"Mr. Chen, you've worked hard. No need to be polite. Get up."

Zhu Lang called up Chen Bangyan, and then asked someone to give him a seat.

On the left side of the hall is Chen Bangyan, and on the right side are Longxiang Army missionary Kuang Hong and Tengxiang Army missionary Zhu Xuexi

Chen Bangyan's eyes flashed with realization when he heard His Royal Highness the Regent's introduction. He had also seen the missionaries of the two armies of the Loyalty Camp in Chaohui. The missionaries of the two armies were also very young, just like Kuang Hong and the other two in front of him.
The oldest of these missionaries in the army is only in his early thirties. At this time, only those missionaries appointed by His Highness can ignore their seniority and be granted the high position of the fourth rank at such a young age.

When Zhu Lang saw that they were seated, he looked at Chen Bangyan and said

"How is the land clearing in Chaozhou and Huizhou going?"

"In this Chaohui Rebellion, a total of 1,132 rebels were executed. After the rebels were brought to justice, all the gentry in the two prefectures were subdued. At this time, the land in the two prefectures has been basically confiscated."

Chen Bangyan's expression became solemn, and then he began to report on the land clearing in the two prefectures.
This time, the imperial court launched a massacre in the two prefectures. In Huizhou Prefecture, 12 families of gentry involved in the rebellion were beheaded, and in Chaozhou Prefecture, 23 families were beheaded. Under the heavy bloodshed, the remaining gentry in the two prefectures finally dared not resist any more and handed over their lands one after another.
After three months of hard work, the officials and clerks of the two prefectures and counties finally collected all the land from the counties. After counting, a total of 2.93 million acres of land were collected.

According to the figures recorded by the Ministry of Revenue, the registered farmland in Chaozhou and Huizhou was only over 7 million mu. Almost half of the farmland in Chaozhou and Huizhou was confiscated. It is no wonder that the gentry in Huizhou were so resentful.

Of the three million mu of land seized by the Ming court, one third came from the thirty or so gentry families whose properties were confiscated, and the rest came from the gentry of the two prefectures.

The dozens of gentry involved in the rebellion were all the top gentry families in the two prefectures. These people also owned the most land in the two prefectures, but now all of them were confiscated and returned to the court.
Zhu Lang nodded slightly after hearing what Chen Bangyan said. Nearly three million mu of land was enough for the five imperial guards in the court. With these lands, there was no need to transfer more land from other places in Guangdong Province.

"So many acres of land have been confiscated. How do the gentry in the two governments react now? What is the attitude of the common people?"

"This time the land clearing did not involve the common people. The counties had properly deployed their personnel and informed the townspeople of the news in advance. The people of the two prefectures did not react too much."

"Most of the land confiscated this time has already been rented out by tenants. According to your order, the rent of these tenants has been reduced or exempted. The tenants were very happy to learn about the rent reduction.

"The gentry of the two prefectures repented sincerely, and no gentry dared to obstruct the land clearing."

Chen Bangyan replied respectfully, but Zhu Lang chuckled when he heard it. It is true that ordinary people do not care about this matter, but it is not certain that the gentry of the two governments sincerely repent.

But Zhu Lang didn't care whether they were truly convinced or not. The 20,000 imperial guards from the Loyalty Camp and the Righteous Camp suppressed the two governments. They had to obey even if they didn't want to.

Zhu Lang asked Chen Bangyan to sit down, then looked at Kuang Hong and the other man on the right and said

"The fields of the two prefectures have been cleared, and the next step is to distribute them to the armies, but before clearing the fields, we need to mobilize them."

"When you return to the camp, go to the army and explain to the soldiers that of the fifty acres of land that was distributed this time, thirty acres must still be rented to the original tenants, and this cannot be changed within three years."

Although the imperial court relied on military power to forcibly seize the farmland from the two prefectures, this seizure was actually just a transfer of property rights.
The court first transferred the land owned by the gentry of the two prefectures into official land, and then transferred the ownership of these official lands to the soldiers of the imperial army in the form of granting land.

The ownership of the land has improved, but it is not so easy to transfer people. Although some wasteland was cleared during the land clearing campaign, most of the land is already cultivated by tenants.
This is also a matter of course. The gentry merged the land in order to collect rent. If they did not rent out the occupied land, would these gentry really farm it themselves?
The gentry occupied hundreds and thousands of acres of fertile land but could not cultivate it all, but the soldiers were not necessarily

Once the land is distributed to the army, the soldiers may not be willing to continue renting the land to others.
If the soldiers drove away the tenants after taking the land, there would be a large number of refugees without land to farm in the two prefectures, and then the two prefectures would probably be in chaos again.

The court had already set a rule that after receiving the land, the soldiers were not allowed to drive out the original tenants, and these tenants were still required to continue farming. This would minimize the impact of the land distribution on ordinary people in the two prefectures.
There are many more details of appeasement in the process of clearing the fields. Now, not only the Guanzheng Hall, but also a group of people from the Chuxian Hall have been sent to the two prefectures.
With the assistance of hundreds of pre-trained reserve officials and the management of Chen Bangyan and others, the court spent several months to barely complete the task of clearing the land in the two prefectures.

Upon hearing this, Kuang Hong also said in a deep voice

"I understand. After we return to the camp, we will summon the missionaries in the army to the camp and send this order to all the armies."

Zhu Lang looked at the two people with serious expressions and spoke again

"It's not just about delivering orders, it's also about explaining the reasons to the soldiers. Simply forcing them to do something will only make them resentful."

"You must explain clearly to the armies that I have said that I will grant them 50 mu of land, not a penny less."

"After three years, these thirty acres of land will be at their disposal. They can continue to rent it or cultivate it themselves. It is up to them after three years. The court will never take these fields back."

Kuang Hong was also thoughtful after hearing this, and then he asked

"May I ask, Your Highness, to whom does the rent of the thirty acres of land belong?"

"It belongs to the soldiers."

Upon hearing this, Kuang Hong did not hesitate any longer and said directly
"Your Highness has granted land to the army, which is a great favor. Every soldier in the army will get property, and no one will complain."

Zhu Lang nodded when he heard this, then looked at Chen Bangyan on the left and said

"Mr. Chen, please work harder. Once the land grant is completed, I will recommend you to the court for merit."

Chen Bangyan also bowed and replied

"I dare not boast of my service to the court, but I will assist the troops and do a good job in granting land."

Zhu Lang nodded, and discussed with a few people the details that should be paid attention to in granting land. Then Chen Bangyan and others bowed and left.
In the Longxiang Army barracks, the missionary Shi Jiongran stood on the stage, with dozens of soldiers sitting below.

On the podium, Shi Jiongran wiped the writing on the blackboard, and today's lecture ended here. Some of the soldiers below were still writing on the wooden board in front of them, while others yawned and stood up to leave.

Although the military has repeatedly emphasized that literacy will be linked to promotion in the military, most soldiers in the army still have no interest in the daily literacy courses in the camp.
Before everyone stood up, Shi Jiongran on top had already held everyone down and said

"I have something else to announce today. The news has been circulating in the military for a long time. I'm sure you all know about it."

"The court has issued an order that in half a month, the army will officially begin to grant land. All of us, the soldiers of the Longxiang Army, will be granted 50 mu of land."

"Long live your highness"

As soon as Shi Jiongran finished speaking, cheers broke out in the barracks. At this time, cheers were also heard from other barracks in the army.

In the countryside, owning 50 mu of land was considered a small landlord. After the court granted land, all the soldiers of the imperial army became landlords.
Shi Jiongran looked at the soldiers below who were delighted, and a smile appeared on his face. Only those who have stable property can have perseverance. Once the land from the court is granted, the morale of the army will be completely stable.
The soldiers below were in high spirits, cheering and making noises. Shi Jiongran did not stop them. The noise continued for a while. When the soldiers calmed down a little, Shi Jiongran continued to speak.

"The granting of land to the army is a favor from His Highness, but before the land is officially granted, there are some things that need to be clarified with all the brothers."

"Everyone in the army will be allocated 50 mu of land this time, but when you arrive at Chaohui, after you get the land, 30 mu of it still needs to be rented out to the original tenants, and the rent for each mu can only be one dan."

The soldiers below were also slightly stunned when they heard this. Wang Dayan, the soldier sitting in front, looked dissatisfied and shouted directly:

"Since the court has allocated the land to us, we can rent it out if we want and collect as much as we want. Why can we only collect one stone? What's the logic behind this?"

When the flag officer Gao Guozhu saw Wang Dayan yelling, his face changed slightly and he shouted directly:

"Wang Dayan, the army will do whatever the court says, you have no right to yell here, are you itching for trouble again?"

Gao Guozhu yelled angrily and was about to stand up, but Shi Jiongran waved his hand to stop Gao Guozhu.

Shi Jiongran looked at Wang Dayan and said

"Before joining the army, Da Yan was a commoner and a wealthy gentry in the village."

"Who among the common people and the wealthy gentry would serve in the army?"

Wang Dayan shrank his neck when he saw Gao Guozhu getting angry. Wang Dayan also realized that he had said something wrong and his face became very honest.
Although the missionaries were usually easy to talk to, they were still superior officers in the army. He should not have interrupted them directly.

Shi Jiongran nodded, then looked at the soldiers on the field and said

"Before joining the army, most of us, the imperial guards, were ordinary people in our villages."

"When we were common people, we all hated the landlords in the village who demanded high rents. Now that we, the imperial guards, have acquired land, should we also learn from the bad gentry in the village and exploit the common people?"

Shi Jiongran glanced at the soldiers below, and all the soldiers on the field avoided his gaze.
Wang Dayan's expression changed slightly when he saw Shi Jiongran coming. He immediately said

"Instructor Shi, that's not what I meant. I just think that the land rent is a matter of mutual consent. Why does the court have to intervene in this?"

Shi Jiongran looked at the soldiers below who were nodding their heads frequently, and spoke again

"The land granted to the army this time was all seized from the traitorous gentry in Chaozhou and Huizhou."

"These traitors deserve to die, but the tenants who originally rented these fields are innocent."

"If our imperial guards take over the land and drive out all the tenants, how will they make a living? This is why the court requires the original tenants to continue to farm the land."

"Many of our soldiers are from farming families. If that's the case, you should understand that one stone of land rent is already a lot."

The soldiers below nodded slightly. The average yield of one acre of farmland is only more than two shi. Collecting one shi of rent is actually collecting nearly half of the output.

But even though they knew it, when they were in the village, others could collect one stone and three or four dou, so why could they only collect one stone?

Seeing the silence of the soldiers, Shi Jiongran continued to speak.

"Your Highness the Regent is not only the Highness of my Imperial Guards, but also the father of all the people in the world. The criminals in the two prefectures are plotting rebellion, and the people of Chao and Hui are suffering because of these evil thieves. The reason why Your Highness wants to reduce the land rent in the two prefectures is to alleviate the hardship of the people in the two prefectures."

"Fifty acres of land is worth hundreds of taels of silver. Your Highness said so and gave it to us. Do we, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard, have to bargain with Your Highness over this little bucket of rice?"

"This matter was decided by His Majesty the Regent himself. Now that His Majesty the Regent has issued an order, are you willing to help His Majesty the Regent?"

Wang Dayan had already regretted it in his heart, and now that he had the chance, he immediately responded.

"Since this matter was decided by His Royal Highness the Regent, then we will do whatever His Royal Highness says, and we will have no complaints."

After Wang Dayan spoke, all the soldiers below also responded. They had already obtained 50 acres of land for free. It seemed a bit unreasonable to hold on to this little rent.

Shi Jiongran looked at the soldiers who finally responded and heaved a sigh of relief.
He had received the order from the army and thought that this matter would not be too difficult. After all, the soldiers had already obtained so much land, so what would it matter if they collected a few buckets less in rent?

But when the message was actually passed on, Shi Jiongran discovered the resistance to this matter. People always want to gain more after gaining one point.
Fortunately, the Mission Department was well prepared, and with the help of the persuasion method that had been set up in advance, the matter was finally passed on.

At this time, not only the Longxiang Army, but also the Tengxiang Army and other military missionaries went to the camps to promote the new land distribution system to the soldiers.

The imperial court granted land to more than just soldiers. After the mobilization of the army was completed, the imperial guards in Guangzhou also began to take turns to rest.

As the soldiers from each camp left the camp and returned home, the news of the army's land grant finally spread throughout Guangzhou.
(End of this chapter)