Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 339 Five Major Bills

two days later

One week before the military parade on May 1869, 5, the Chu Parliament passed five major bills submitted by the cabinet, including the "Draft Law on Compulsory Education for All", the "Chu Military Service Law", the "National Mineral Resources Law", the "Chu Criminal Law" and the "Chu Election Law", which aroused widespread heated discussion in society.

The Education for All Act provides for;
All children in the Chu State who are seven years old or above should receive five years of compulsory primary education and are encouraged to continue to receive three years of junior high school education and three years of high school education. This is the basic right of young people to receive education and no one may interfere.

Anyone who violates this Act will be punished with admonition, education, fine or even detention for up to 15 days, depending on the severity of the offense.

In serious cases, the offender may be flogged three to nine times to maintain law and order.

According to the current household registration management system of the Chu State, since infant mortality was common, children under the age of 7 were not registered and were only registered in the household registration book when they reached the age of 7.

By late April 1869

The registered population in the entire Chu State was 661.72 million, with a total of 431 million Chinese households, which means there were 431 million male heads of households and more than 230 million wives, daughters and family members, including Chinese women, indigenous and white women, but excluding children under the age of 7.

It has been five years since the early Chinese immigrants went to Southeast Asia in mid-March 1865. Over the years, many early Chinese immigrant families have two or three children, and some even have one.

According to government estimates

The number of children from birth to 4 years old should be between 270 million and 280 million. In addition, a large number of late-stage Chinese immigrant families are also pregnant, and this year will usher in a baby boom.

By the end of this year, it is estimated that the number of newborns will reach more than 130 million, and this number will only increase, not decrease.

This is evident from the fact that more than 30 indigenous women from East Malaya who were abducted six months ago were sold out in the market, and now at least 22 of them are pregnant.

In addition to the deep attachment to the land, Chinese immigrants also have an indelible desire to expand their family, and the driving force behind this cannot be ignored.

Most of the Chinese immigrants who made up the majority of the Chu State's population had experienced the turbulent life of refugees and were full of longing for a stable and peaceful life.

When the dream of having enough food to eat and warm clothes to wear was realized, these Chinese immigrants became eager to earn more money, buy land and property after repaying their loans, and expand their families. The idea of ​​having many children and more blessings became deeply rooted, forming an increasingly large baby boom.

This feature
This is particularly evident in the Tongzhou Islands, where most of the early immigrants were present.

At present, among the Chinese who immigrated to the Tongzhou Islands, 29.2% have completely paid off various loans and interest for boat tickets and settlement, accounting for just under one-third.

The biggest characteristic of this group of Chinese immigrants is their strong purchasing power and strong desire to buy. Whether they are buying land, shops, houses or women, they spend money without frowning.

The "Nanfengtang" businesses in the Tongzhou Islands are booming, and almost all products in the store are selling well. It is also one of the most profitable areas, second only to the areas around Metro Manila.

Most of these early wealthy Chinese immigrants had one or two skills, such as being a carpenter or blacksmith, a bamboo craftsman or a painter, or running a local specialty food and noodle shop, a vinegar shop, a teahouse, a pub, or being a large-scale livestock breeder or farmer, and all of them had some means of making extra money.

The Chu government promoted the encouragement of business and encouraged farmers to plant fruit trees and raise chickens and ducks. If you have the ability, just use it, and just pay taxes according to the law.

The policy for the people is relatively relaxed. Generally, no additional taxes are levied on farmers who raise 10 to 20 chickens, 7 to 8 ducks or 1 or 2 sheep.

Unless you raise a lot of animals and sell them at the market, you will need to pay taxes according to regulations.

So and so
This loosened the shackles on the Chinese immigrant farmers, and almost every household raised chickens and ducks. In addition to improving their lives, they could sell the surplus at the market and exchange it for money to buy urgently needed things.

After paying off their bank debts, these farmers who became rich first had enough money to buy their own private land and became wealthy families that everyone in the village envied.

The Chu government did not restrict people from purchasing private land. Private land was taxed at a rate of "three out of ten", which was half the tax paid when renting public land.

Those families with private land can take the extra grain, fruits, vegetables, spices and tobacco produced to the market to sell for money, and their income is naturally much higher than that of ordinary immigrants.

As life became more comfortable, with enough food and drink and decent clothes, he naturally started thinking about buying a woman to bring home to have children and do housework, and his life became more and more prosperous.

This has led to rising prices in the population market on the Tongzhou Islands.

Many merchants from the surrounding areas of Southeast Asia, including the British, French and Dutch, were sensitive to business opportunities and often used large ships to sell young women to the islands of the Chu Kingdom, making huge profits from it.

The Chu State government did not prohibit this, but the people entering the market needed to pay taxes according to regulations, and the head tax was "three out of ten" based on the transaction ratio.

In addition, there are taxes levied on ships docking at ports. According to the preferential tax rates enjoyed by merchant ships from Britain, France and other countries, merchant ships engaged in human trafficking are basically charged one in ten.

Adding in other expenses for handling officials, various crew members and transportation costs, the profit of this business can reach 40%, which is already quite lucrative.

In Chu, seven large transport companies with second-level shipping qualifications will bring many Chinese women with them when they immigrate from northern China, and they can also make huge profits from it.

in this era

Human trafficking is a legitimate business. Disasters are constantly occurring in northern China. You can buy a young girl in distress for ten or twenty local silver dollars. A pretty and good-looking farm girl can be bought for only sixty or seventy silver dollars.

If it is shipped to the four mainland islands of Chu State, the price will start at at least 150 silver dollars, and some may cost , , , , or even over a thousand silver dollars, which is quite tempting.

Some companies see the huge profits and buy women in distress. They then feed them with good food and drink for a few months or a year or two, making the originally skinny girls quickly become plump and have a slim figure.

He even taught poetry and music, just hoping to sell them for a good price.

This has even led to the development of an entire ecosystem. In China, there are people who specialize in finding refugee girls with these facial features. Some are responsible for transporting them, some are responsible for keeping them in captivity, some teach them literature and music, and some teach them various skills. It is difficult to list them all.

The Chu government did not ask any questions about this. For these distressed girls who were able to set foot in Chu, although their personal dignity was humiliated, wasn't it an opportunity to escape from the sea of ​​suffering?

The spontaneous profit-seeking operations of the people can greatly reduce the number of refugees who have died on the road due to various disasters in northern China, and provide these refugees who are struggling on the brink of death with an additional option.

The reality is so cruel. The main factors limiting population growth are frequent natural disasters, insufficient food supply, and frequent large-scale famines.

When he entered the Pass, the population had dropped to about 50 million due to years of war. By the Kangxi era, the population was only about 70 million.

The reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong were the heyday of the imperial court. Due to the full implementation of the "One Whip Tax" system, which distributed the capitation tax based on the amount of land, taxes were levied based on the amount of land rather than the number of family members.

So in the vast rural areas, families with the means naturally want to have as many children as possible, while those without the means will just bite the bullet and keep up, as having a large population means they won't be bullied.

By the end of the Qianlong reign, China's population had grown to over 3 million, making it the world's most populous country. From the Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Xianfeng reigns, China began to decline, with peasant uprisings, invasions by foreign powers, and frequent natural disasters.

But the population did not decrease, but increased slightly.

During the Tongzhi period, the total population of northern China had exceeded 3.8 million, approaching the million mark.

With such a large population, even if only one to two percent of people are left with nowhere to go every year due to natural disasters or family changes, it is a huge number.

The Chinese immigrants that the Chu State could accept only accounted for a tiny fraction of the total.

Judging from the current situation in our country, young children have not yet reached the stage of enlightenment, and private schools in cities have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, trying to occupy this gap.

The Chu government's universal education law appeared at this time, stipulating that every child has the right to education and must receive five years of basic education. It can be said to be just right.

In the government's financial arrangements

Funding has already begun to be allocated to build public schools in various prefectures and counties, most of which are primary schools. Scholars have also been organized to write textbooks and plans to promote universal education.

The Royal Household Department also allocated special funds for the construction of royal series of charitable schools, mainly the Royal Renji School and the Royal Renci School, which were also established in various prefectures and counties.

In the above schools
The conditions of ordinary public schools are relatively simple, and they focus on universal education. Public schools charge tuition fees, and the royal government provides appropriate subsidies to reduce the pressure on students' parents.

There are two types of schools under the Royal Household Department. One is the more expensive private school for the aristocracy, namely the Royal Renji School. Only those from urban middle-class and above families can attend this type of school.

The conditions at Royal Renji School are very good, with decent school uniforms and meals, and the classroom environment is elegant and quiet. It is the best in every aspect.

In school, in addition to teaching Chinese, mathematics, geography, history, chemistry, physics and other subjects, various musical instruments, dance, physical education and military training are also taught. Foreign languages ​​such as English and French are also taught. The teachers are superior, and it is naturally much better than ordinary public schools.

There is nothing wrong with this type of aristocratic private school except that it is expensive.

The Royal Mercy School belongs to another category. It mainly accepts children from poor families, implements a fully closed education system, and has a military management system. It strives to instill the traditional concept of loyalty to the king and implements general cultural education.

After graduating from elementary school, the best children in this type of school can be selected to continue studying junior high school courses, and have the opportunity to become students of military academies or even universities in the future.

Even if we can cultivate one outstanding talent among a hundred people, the cost will be worth it.

Besides
The National Education Act also relaxed restrictions on private participation in education, requiring participation in the name of private groups, initiated by at least three prestigious knights, with no fewer than 12 shareholders and a registered capital of silver dollars.

on the basis of

It must have a teaching building of no less than 1200 square meters, an activity square of no less than 1000 square meters, no less than six standard classrooms, an independent kitchen, an independent teaching aid room, no less than five educators with teaching qualifications, and other regulations.

Private capital can participate in education by initiating the establishment of aristocratic private schools, charitable schools, universal education schools, etc., which will be established after review and approval.

All these restrictions are meant to standardize the qualifications for running schools, not to allow just anyone to get involved.

The Military Service Law of the Chu State stipulated that all young people aged 18 and above were obliged to perform military service. After retiring after three years, they could enjoy the treatment of retired soldiers and could be given priority recommendation to enter industrial and mining enterprises.

The Mineral Resources Law of Chu provides that;
Except for the nobles' fiefs and private land, all resources within the territory of Chu belonged to the royal family and could not be developed at will without proof or permission.

This clearly shows

Except for land owned by nobles and private individuals, all other resources within the territory of Chu belonged to the royal family of Chu, clarifying the concept of property rights.

If mineral resources are developed in private land, they will naturally become personal property. This clause shows that the royal family of Chu is the largest landlord, without a doubt.

Of the land transfer deed tax collected by the Chu government, 30% was turned over to the Chu treasury, and 20% belonged to the prefectures and counties, was included in the scope of prefecture and county-level fiscal expenditure, and was subject to supervision and use by the General Audit Office.

The remaining 50% was handed over to the Royal Household Department and deposited into the Royal Treasury.

Especially in the past two years
The number of land redemption cases in the Tongzhou Islands has increased, with thousands of cases every month. Each redemption case involves dozens or even hundreds of silver dollars, and large transactions of thousands or tens of thousands of silver dollars are not uncommon.

This item alone can bring the Royal Household Department a net income of more than one million silver dollars per month, and it is growing month by month with a very strong momentum.

For such land transactions
From the Kingdom's Ministry of Internal Affairs to the government and prefectures and counties, everyone was very active, which meant that a lot of money flowed in, making fiscal spending much more relaxed.

The Chu royal family was not afraid of land transactions. It was an excellent means of gathering social wealth, and of course the more the better.

In the war that just ended, the territory of Chu State expanded by 20 square kilometers. Excluding lakes, rivers and mountains, swamps and tropical forests in the inland hinterland, the arable and grazing plains and hilly areas accounted for one-seventh of the territory.

How many acres of farmland can be reclaimed in 3 square kilometers?
That is nearly 2000 million acres of land. If Chinese immigrants were allowed to redeem the land, how much land could they buy?
If all these fields can be bought out, there is still the larger Shangri-La Island. At worst, we can just sell it at a low price. The fields that can be developed are almost endless.

The Electoral Law passed by the parliament may be difficult to implement widely in the next few years, but after 10 or 20 years, a more democratic electoral system can be established according to law.

The Chu State Election Law

Only male citizens who have obtained Chu citizenship, are the head of a family, are over 18 years old, and pay more than ten silver dollars in taxes each year are eligible to vote and be elected.

That is
Women were not eligible to vote or be elected, and other men in the household were not eligible to vote or be elected. Only male heads of households who were 18 years old or above and paid more than 10 silver dollars in taxes each year could meet the criteria.

Basically, Chinese immigrant farmers who pay taxes according to the "ten taxes and six" ratio can meet this standard.

If a farmer has private land, he must own at least 30 mu of private land to meet this tax standard.

The current election standards in the Chu State were not standardized. Village heads, wealthy households, and gentry were the main electors in towns and villages, and they controlled local elections in rural areas and also controlled the right to speak in villages and towns.

The vast majority of these village and town heads are retired soldiers, die-hard supporters of the Chu royal family, and one of the biggest beneficiaries of the current policy.

Therefore

The vast villages and towns of the Chu State were able to maintain relatively good order, and the government orders issued from the higher authorities were smooth and implemented without fail, which was quite commendable.

(End of this chapter)