Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 2, Measuring the Land

In October, the rice is almost ripe.

Although the leaves are still green, the ears of rice have gradually become full and yellow. According to the old man's experience, it won't take long before they can be harvested.

[Talent: Farming (Mastery)]

【Progress: 1/1000】

【Effect: You get what you sow. 】

On this day, the familiar sound of gongs and drums was heard again. A minor official came to the village, followed by a team of servants.

Unlike the kind man last time, this man was quite strict.

"Measure the land!"

The newly implemented tax policy of allocating taxes based on the land area and fertility of each household's land, so it is natural to measure the land conditions of each household before collecting taxes.

The head of the village called all the villagers together again.

The clerk took out an official ruler with a serious look and showed it to the villagers.

Everyone saw it and had no objection.

So the petty officials began to send out runners to measure the land.

There are about 500 households in Fangjia Village, with about 1,000 acres of land, but only more than 30 households have land.

It was convenient for measurement. The fertile paddy fields outside the village belonged to Mr. Fang, while the scattered and poor fields belonged to others.

After the servants finished the measurement, they reported the number to the clerk, who then recorded it.

Ordinary people are not allowed to watch.

There were no major incidents throughout the process.

After a few more days, the rice was about to ripen.

The old man asked someone to go to the city to bring back red paper candles and a new quilt, waiting to find a wife for his son after the grain was harvested.

At night, the old man kept on telling:

"Yongwa, once you get married, this main room will be left for you to live in. Dad will clean up the side rooms. But there is one thing, you have to work hard and give me more grandchildren. Now the emperor is gracious and does not collect taxes based on the number of people. You must have more children. Only in this way can our Fang family prosper and I can live up to my promise..."

The old man began to snore slightly.

Fang Yong rested his head on his hands, feeling mixed emotions.

As a modern man, his ambitions are not limited to this, not to mention that he has a system. Either in literature or in martial arts, he believes that as long as he is given time, he will definitely achieve something!
However, he does not rule out marriage.

During this period, he met Lian Jie'er several times in private. The girl was very shy and blushed when she saw him, which made Fang Yong somewhat expectant.

The next morning, the sound of horse hooves could be heard in the village, followed by the sound of gongs.

The villagers gathered together.

It turned out that the results of the previous land measurement were out.

A team of officers came specially and posted a notice with the results of the land measurement on the village wall, and then asked the head of the village to read it to everyone.

The first one is Fang Yongjia.

"Fang Sanbian, you own ten acres of fertile paddy fields, and you must pay 1000 kilograms of tax grain at the end of autumn."

After hearing this, the old man was stunned where he stood, his legs went weak and he almost fell down.

"No, no, I read it wrong, didn't I? My family only has three acres of paddy fields, and they are all poor quality fields. There is no fertile land!"

The village head frowned upon hearing this and said:

"Humph, Fang Lao San, how could you read it wrong? It's written in black and white. It's stamped with the official seal. How dare you deny it?"

The officer stepped forward and took a quick look, saying:

"You are right. Keep reading."

The old man wanted to step forward to argue, but was kicked away harshly by the leading officer.

The old man fell to the ground after being kicked. Looking at the police and the headman who were in collusion with each other, the old man said angrily:

"You, you are unreasonable and want to cheat me of my land!"

The officer drew his sword.

"How dare you be so disrespectful, you unruly people? The emperor has said that anyone who dares to obstruct the new policy will be treated as a treasonous person!"

Looking at the officer's shining sword, the old man was angry and afraid. But 1000 kilograms of grain tax was too much, and the old man had lost his mind at this time. He was unwilling to give up and wanted to go forward and argue with the officer.

Fortunately, Fang Yong reacted quickly and covered the old man's mouth tightly with his hands.

Fang Yong was also angry, but at this time the identities of the two sides were very different. The other person was an official and he was a commoner. How could he defeat the other person?
"Sir, my father is getting old and confused, please don't bother with him."

The officer glanced at Fang Yong, snorted coldly, and said nothing.

If the old man had stepped forward to make trouble, he would have beaten him half to death on the pretext of blocking the new policy and then put him in jail. Given his age, he would probably die in prison before the trial began.

The head of the village continued to read. Fang Danian, four acres of good land, 300 kilograms of grain tax!
Fang Ergou, six acres of good land, 450 kilograms of grain tax!
Fang Li, two acres of good land, 150 kilograms of grain tax!
The more they read, the more indignant the crowd became.

The amount of land owned by almost everyone was doubled, and some even had no land included.

"Sir, this is unjust. After our head of the family died two years ago, the family land was sold to Master Fang. Now I don't have any land at home anymore!"

A thin woman knelt down in front of the leading officer.

Fang Li was a young widow in the village. After her husband died, she was left with only a six-year-old daughter and had to rely on working for a living.

The officer didn't even look at Fang Li.

The head of the village stopped and looked at Fang Li and said:

"You said the land was sold to Mr. Fang. Do you have the sales documents?"

Fang Li was stunned, her body trembling as she pointed at the head of the village and said:
"Elder, you, you personally guaranteed me, have you forgotten?"

The head of the village snorted coldly.

"Sly woman, if I were to be the guarantor, how could there be no written document? I see that you are clearly trying to stop the new policy and don't want to pay the grain!"

The officer waved his hand.

"What a shrew! How dare you block the new policy? Come, tie her up and take her to jail!"

The bailiffs on both sides rushed out instantly, pinned Fang Li to the ground and tied her up.

"Mother, mother!"

A little girl ran towards Fang Li anxiously.

The officer had no expression on his face and said coldly:

"And the little troublemakers, tie them up too!"

In this way, Fang Li and her daughter were tied up and pressed to the ground.

The officer held a shining knife in his hand and looked at the villagers fiercely.

"Anyone who dares to obstruct the new policy will suffer the same fate!"

The head of the village continued reading.

The villagers' eyes turned red and they clenched their fists, but they dared not move at all.

In the end, the village head named more than 200 households, but in reality, only more than 30 households in the village had land.

At the end, the name of Mr. Fang finally came to mind.

"Fang Jingui, 200 mu of inferior land, grain tax 10000 jin. Fang Jingui's son Fang Qingshan is a scholar, so 200 mu of land is exempted from tax, so no tax is required."

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd became excited.

Mr. Fang’s paddy fields are vast and crisscrossed, at least 200 acres in total. Now it’s said that he only has acres, and they’re poor quality land at that?

The villagers were dissatisfied.

Seeing this, the officers drew their swords and shouted:
"How dare you! This is an order from the government. Do you want to rebel?"

As soon as the word "rebellion" was uttered, the villagers immediately stopped their movements.

Rebellion will result in death.

No one dares to touch these two words.

A few days later, the late rice came in. This year was considered a bumper year, but everyone had a sad look on their faces.

The three acres of land in Fang Yong's family had an unexpectedly good harvest. The three acres of poor quality land produced 800 kilograms of grain, which was twice as much as usual.

But even so, it was barely enough to pay the grain tax.

Other villagers were even worse off, as they could not afford the grain tax even if they sold all their properties.

Mr. Fang openly sold grain in the village, at a price of ten cents per pound, which was one cent more expensive than the grain store in the city, but everyone had to buy from it. If they didn't buy from the grain store in the city, they would have no grain to pay taxes. If they went to buy from the grain store in the city and were discovered by Mr. Fang, their fate would be even worse.

A few days later, someone said that Fang Li's naked body was found in Hongze Lake...

Fang Yong inexplicably felt as if he couldn't breathe.

Fortunately, Fang Yong’s talent has been improved once again after catching fish in the water for many days.

[Talent: Water (Mastery)]

【Progress: 1/1000】

[Effect: Cross the river and ride the waves to sail. ]

Fang Yong's physical fitness improved dramatically. His height grew to eight feet (184 cm). He was extremely strong and could easily lift the millstone with one arm. He could even pull the landlord's cow with brute force. He was simply inhuman.

In addition, just as the literal meaning of the description in the talent is, cross the river and ride the waves to sail.

Fang Yong was like a dragon in the water. The water flow seemed to have a positive effect on him, giving him endless physical strength. He could even control the water flow to create small waves, but it would give him a headache after using it for a long time.

(End of this chapter)