Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 250 Rewarding the Grassroots
While in the Solomon Islands
King Zheng Guohui of Chu visited the countryside and met with some prestigious Chinese immigrants in the village to understand their needs and wishes. He acted friendly and approachable, but did not make any promises.

But in his spare time, the smile on his face disappeared and he inadvertently revealed something.

He sighed, "The people can be led to follow it, but they cannot be made to understand it. The ancients were not deceiving me."

When Zhang Bohan, the prefect of Yingzhou, heard this, his legs went weak and he almost fell to his knees. Naturally, he took those shameless villagers to heart and prepared to find an opportunity to punish them.

Many people believe that the Chinese people are inherently simple and kind. However, after more than 200 years of foreign rule and decades of continuous war and disasters, the refugees who have experienced these tragic events in the world tend to have dark minds.

Only a long-term peaceful, quiet and warm life can dispel the haze in your heart and soothe a once hurt soul.

After getting over their initial fear, these village representatives put forward many unreasonable demands, such as;
"Waste the arrears of immigrant boat tickets and improve people's livelihood."

"Local indigenous women should not be charged extra money, but should be rewarded to benefit all Chinese immigrants."

"The government should provide seeds, farm tools and livestock instead of just collecting money. It should also waive grain payments during the four-month settlement period to help migrants settle down better."

"If possible, I hope the government will reduce the rent and give the people a break."

These immigrant representatives, under the banner of pleading for the people, made many unreasonable demands, but King Zheng Guohui of Chu would not agree to any of them.

This is actually the common voice of all Chinese immigrants. Who doesn't hope to have less debt and live a more comfortable life?
When it comes to one's own interests, the kindness that once saved one from suffering quietly moves to the back of the queue and becomes less important.

If you really do this
The first to collapse was the Royal Nanyang Bank, then it spread to the Royal Nanyang Shipping Company, and continued to spread to the heavy and light industries of the Chu State, which were being invested heavily. They all suffered heavy losses one after another, and the emerging development momentum had to be aborted halfway.

The economic chain designed by Zheng Guohui will collapse here.

The subsequent large-scale immigration of Chinese to Southeast Asia had to be interrupted because they were unable to continue investing. The impact might even shake the foundation of the founding of the Great Chu State, which was a huge disaster.

However, ordinary Chinese immigrants don't care about these things.

They also don't want more Chinese immigrants to share their current happy and good life. They only see the benefits for themselves and think the more benefits the better.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu had no intention of explaining this cognitive gap, nor did he intend to continue holding a meeting with immigrant representatives. He just left quietly.

He is very fortunate
He did not agree to lift restrictions on private newspapers and printing materials in the State of Chu, nor did he vigorously promote modern education. Instead, he adopted a restricted elite education.

Some young people from northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui have successively entered the few middle schools and universities, maintaining the trend of talent continuity.

Among them, the majority are descendants of the Zheng family and families of government officials, numbering only more than 20,000 people.

The new generation actually born in the Hainan Islands is only one or two years old now and has not yet reached the age to start school. We will have to wait a few years to see.

Current Chinese immigrants only need to cultivate the land and do their jobs well, and there is no need to know more.

Especially for these overseas islanders, just focus on farming. If private newspapers are not strictly controlled and allowed to grow wildly, the consequences will be very serious.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu looked at the issue from the perspective of a ruler, naturally starting from the interests of the ruler, and held a relatively indifferent and cautious view of government proposals such as enlightening the people.

In today's world
The countries in the southern German region have the highest literacy level, almost reaching more than 70%. Countries such as Britain and France have less than 50%. The literacy level of powerful countries such as the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia is even lower, and the vast majority of them are illiterate.

The majority of Chu State immigrants came from northern Jiangsu, northern Anhui, and war-torn areas such as Shandong, Henan, and Huguang, and their literacy level was about 20% to 30%.

Jiangnan Province is a place with a flourishing literary culture, and the literacy level is generally over 40%, which is close to the level of the great powers such as Britain and France.

In the northwestern provinces, the average is no more than 20%, and provinces such as Huguang are mostly similar, which can only be lower, not higher.

This is already relatively good. If we continue to move to the northwestern inland provinces, the literacy level will not exceed 10%.

At the current stage

Zheng Guohui simply promoted literacy education in the army and strongly instilled the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor. These soldiers were the most loyal to him and would become the mainstream of the future small and medium-sized landlord group.

After returning from this trip

The army expansion, the orderly retirement of veterans, and the agenda of awarding titles based on merit are about to begin. These three major events concern the feudal constitutional monarchy system of the entire Chu State and are also the top priority for social stability.

This will be the next step that King Zheng Guohui of Chu will implement, and he already has a clear plan in mind.

The expansion of the army and the retirement of veterans will be carried out simultaneously. It is expected that more than 5700 veterans who have served for more than three years will return to their hometowns with generous rewards from the kingdom.

The plan of King Zheng Guohui of Chu was to "reward the grassroots, separate the military and the government, confer high nobility with caution, and benefit the general public."

The so-called "rewarding the grassroots" mainly refers to the more than 5700 veterans who have served for more than three years. They have made outstanding contributions and are loyal, and they should be rewarded with land.

Ordinary veterans are awarded a minimum of 40 mu of land, with a maximum of to mu, and no upper limit of to mu. There is also an additional coefficient depending on the area of ​​the awarded land.

For example, an ordinary veteran retires with no special military achievements. This is the current situation of most retired veterans, and they are rewarded with at least 40 acres of land.

If they participated in major battles related to territory expansion, such as the capture of Zamboanga, each officer and soldier would be rewarded with five acres, and if they captured Davao Province, each officer and soldier would be rewarded with five acres.

Officers and soldiers who participated in the three Davao expeditions to the north, east, and west respectively were awarded an additional 8 mu.

Every officer and soldier who participated in the Northern Expedition was rewarded with 12 mu of land. Those who had a record of killing white resistance members were rewarded with three mu of land for each head, and the amount could be accumulated, and so on.

Calculating it like this

Even if an ordinary veteran has no merits, his various combat records can easily allow him to be granted more than 80 acres of land based on his military merits, and it is not uncommon for him to be granted or acres of land.

It was not difficult for soldiers with higher merits to be granted five or six hundred acres of land.

The land awarded to these soldiers all belonged to them, and the soldiers could enjoy the preferential land tax of "one in ten taxes" for life until their death.

His heirs must pay inheritance tax before they can inherit the property rights of this land.

Then, the heirs of the estate need to go through the relevant procedures to convert this part of the military merit land into civilian land. In the future, they will no longer enjoy the preferential land tax of "one-tenth tax", but must pay the tax rate according to the civilian land tax rate. This is the "lifelong system of meritorious land".

In this way

More than 5700 small and medium-sized landlords will appear in various parts of the Chu State. Under the preferential military merit and land tax reward of "one tax per ten", as long as they are not stupid or foolish, their family businesses will quickly prosper and become full.

Marry a wife, have children, multiply offspring, and become the core force for local stability. In addition, the merit coefficient designed by King Zheng Guohui of Chu is based on the three large islands of Hainan, Cebu and Tongzhou Islands as the main islands, with a coefficient of 1.

The coefficient of other outlying islands is 1.2, such as Mindoro Island opposite Batangas, Boracay Island, etc. All those that are not part of the three main islands are outlying islands.

Large islands such as Guam, Saipan, Shangri-La Island, and the Solomon Islands are considered outer islands and have a coefficient of 1.8.

Midway Island, Wake Island and other Pacific Islands are classified as frontier outer islands with a coefficient of 3.

What does that mean?

For example, an ordinary soldier is allocated 120 mu of meritorious land. If he chooses to be resettled on the three main islands, the coefficient is 1. Then he will actually get 120 mu of meritorious land. The specific resettlement location will be arranged by the government, and the individual has no choice.

If he chooses to be resettled on an outlying island, the coefficient is 1.2, then the retired soldier will actually receive 144 mu of meritorious land and will be resettled on an outlying island such as Mindoro or Boracay. The specific resettlement location will be arranged by the government, and individuals have no choice.

If they choose to be resettled on an outer island, the coefficient is 1.8, for example, on Shangri-La Island, then the soldier can get 120 mu of land × 1.8 = 216 mu of land. The specific resettlement location is arranged by the government and individuals have no choice.

If they choose to be settled on an outer island in the border area, that would be great, as they can get 360 acres of meritorious land.

This system is designed to allow retired veterans to be distributed more orderly and in-depth across the islands, further strengthening the Chu royal family's control over the entire country.

When these veterans arrive in various villages and towns, they will serve as village chiefs, town chiefs, deputy town chiefs, etc., and receive an additional salary subsidy.

The money is not much, what is important is the recognition of identity and the heavy military honor on the veterans.

This is the true meaning of "rewarding the grassroots", which will help the Chu royal court deepen its absolute control over the grassroots.

Why are there additional people in charge in towns and villages?
Don’t these 5700 retired veterans mean 5700 additional salary expenses?

The salary of the township head is only a symbolic and meager income, which is only a dozen silver dollars a year. With the addition of more than 5700 people, the annual expenditure is only more than 10 yuan.

But its role is far more than what can be covered by more than 10 silver dollars. It is the most powerful means for the Chu royal court to extend its influence directly to the countryside and can control the most remote mountain villages.

We must clearly understand that today's society is completely different from future generations.

The county government has dozens or even hundreds of staff, or as few as a dozen, making it a typical small government. Its management is not as good as that of townships or villages.

The countryside and villages are mostly inhabited by clan gentry, and are places with numerous religious sects. Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity and the resurgent YSL all have great influence in the countryside.

If immigrants all listen to the middlemen, such as gentry, priests, and imams, there will inevitably be lazy governance, and the county and government offices will basically not take the initiative to manage affairs.

Only when something big happens in a town or village will the prefectural and county governments intervene.

Religion is belief and a spiritual product.

In the Chu State, Chinese immigrants were allowed to freely practice their religion without specific restrictions. Some sects advocated the principle of following nature and freedom of belief, which was harmless.

However, some sects try to seize their followers and force them to obey their words and deeds, even their birth, old age, sickness and death, marriages and funerals, and even what clothes to wear and what hats to wear. This is definitely not acceptable and must be resolutely eradicated.

This is another meaning of "rewarding the grassroots". Whenever similar signs are found, they must be resolutely eradicated.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu would never forget the things that the people of Hainan Islands originally believed in. Although most of the male natives were sent to labor camps, only a very few were still surviving in the tropical jungle.

However, many indigenous women are still around. After a long time, they can understand some Chinese languages ​​and secretly exert influence on their Chinese husbands. This must be guarded against.

"Reward the grassroots, separate the military and politics, be cautious in granting high titles, and benefit the general public." This is the sixteen-character policy. "Reward the grassroots" means establishing a grassroots class of small and medium-sized landlords to control the local area.

"Separation of military and politics" means that the military and politics are separated into two systems, and titles and merits are awarded separately, rather than simply unilaterally awarding titles and merits to meritorious military officials, which is obviously unfair.

Everyone contributed to the establishment of the State of Chu, so everyone will be rewarded.

There is only so much meat, and everyone wants to eat more. When the military and political sides fight with each other, it is inevitable that there will be many dirty things, and they will not be able to form a joint force.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was high and mighty, staying away from quarrels and disputes.

Just by waving the piece of meat, the enthusiasm of both the military and the political parties can be mobilized. This is the king's way of balance, and it can be said that he holds the pearl of wisdom in his hands.

"Be cautious in granting high titles and benefit the general public." This is the eight-character policy, which can be understood together.

The country's important treasures should not be given lightly, so King Zheng Guohui of Chu spread the word early on that the rank of earl could be given to no more than 3 to 5 people.

You can judge for yourself whether you meet the criteria for being granted a knighthood. Don't have too high expectations, and you won't be disappointed.

The two ranks of nobility, Earl and Viscount, were considered high-ranking officials and noble titles in the State of Chu. Their number was controlled and they should not be granted lightly.

When it comes to the baron level, the policy can be relaxed a bit, even benefiting a few officers at the level of lieutenant colonel, as well as prefects and some county magistrates, not exceeding 60 people.

As for the remaining lifetime honorary knights without fiefdoms, it would not be too much to award hundreds of them. After all, it was just an honorary medal and it didn't cost a penny more.

This is what "benefiting the general public" means. Although they did not meet the standards of aristocrats, the royal family also gave them a consolation prize. Thinking that their achievements were indeed not enough, these people felt balanced.

Since ancient times
There is no such thing as too high a reward for merit and nobility. If we let people's imagination run wild, 20 dukes would not be enough and they would be full of complaints.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a prime example: thousands of kings were chosen, yet few were satisfied. This is the saying that greed is insatiable, and it has become a joke.

After the immigration discussion in the Solomon Islands, King Zheng Guohui of Chu seemed to lose interest. He inspected the island for another two days and then announced that he would return home.

This voyage lasted about a month and a half. When we returned, it was already early September, the autumn harvest season.

Some areas where rice matures early have already started autumn harvest.

On the Hainan Islands
The temperature changes very little throughout the year, but many Chinese immigrants are still accustomed to calling the rice harvest spring harvest, summer harvest and autumn harvest according to the month to distinguish different harvest seasons.

The government has no mandatory regulations on this. There is no division of solar terms on the Hainan Islands. There is not much difference if the rice is harvested one or two months earlier or one or two months later each season.

The only thing to note is that the harvest season cannot be delayed until the rainy season arrives.

The heavy rain at that time will be a good thing for the thriving rice seedlings, but it will be a complete disaster for the mature rice fields.

(End of this chapter)