There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 20 Nie Yu: "The Qing Dynasty is almost gone!"

Nie Yu had already made up his mind: "Establishing a general's office, a town mayor, and a peasant association—those are the general guidelines we've already decided on. Next, we'll discuss the more detailed laws. First, the general's office must find a way to relocate the refugees from the shantytowns..."

"Wait, this may not be easy, right?" Nie Jieren interrupted with a frown.

The term "migrant shantytowns" is just a general term. As mentioned earlier, almost 99% of the refugees in these shantytowns are not from this county, or even from this province. Most of them are refugees from Shaanxi, central and southern Henan, Sichuan, Hunan, and Guangdong and Guangxi.

The total number of these refugees is no longer in the millions, but in the tens of millions.

Why are there so many refugees?

You have to ask the "Ten Perfect Old Man" in Beijing.

Oh, this "Ten Perfect Old Man" should still be busy now, preparing for the Banquet for a Thousand Old Men which will start in the first month of next year, which will be regarded as a formal handover of his throne as emperor, and at the same time he will serve as regent in the capacity of the emperor emeritus.

Nie Yu smiled and said, "It's not easy to do it normally, but I already have a plan. I just need Dad to take the initiative and make some sacrifices."

"How to sacrifice?" Nie Jieren was a little surprised.

Nie Yu said, "This is what I will tell my father and Uncle Liu next. I need our Nie family to take the lead in not using domestic slaves. Of course, this doesn't mean we will no longer have any slaves, but we will no longer have any domestic slaves. All domestic slaves will be employed under contract, and there will be rules for the length of the contract. No permanent or partial contract will be accepted. When the contract expires, the servant can choose to renew or not, and the master cannot stop them. If anyone tries to stop them, the servant can report it to the authorities."

"Is this possible? What if someone objects?" When Nie Jieren heard what Nie Yu said, his first reaction was not resistance, but something fresh.

After all, there are basically no servants these days, they are all domestic slaves, because even the emperor in the court is using this domestic slave model.

Tatar Qing, Tatar Qing, this is a slave state that wants to be a slave but cannot, so it disguises itself as a feudal dynasty.

Butler Liu was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly bowed and said, "Master, please don't drive this old servant away!"

Nie Yu quickly stood up and stepped forward to support him: "Uncle Liu, that's not what I meant. Please get up first and listen to what I have to say."

Although Butler Liu still had some doubts on his face, he could only stand up obediently after hearing what he said.

Nie Yu then turned to look at his father and asked, "Dad, do you want to be the emperor, or do you just want to live out your days as a county magistrate and then be captured by the Qing army and tortured to death in Beijing?"

Nie Jieren's face darkened when he was asked this question, but thinking that this was his own son, a Qilin'er who had just accomplished something great, he could only bear it and said, "Of course he will be the emperor."

Nie Yu asked again, "In that case, Dad, do you think that given our current territory and strength, if you were a landlord or gentry in this world, would you choose to support us?"

Nie Jieren was stunned, and then he really put himself in her shoes and thought for a moment: "Uh... probably not."

Nie Yu nodded. "Since the landlords and gentry won't support us, why should we even consider whether they will oppose us? We are rebelling, not treating people to a meal. Even if we were to treat people to a meal, they wouldn't even come to eat our meal. Why should we bother to ask them if their food is to their liking? Isn't that just despicable?"

Oh my god, after hearing this, Nie Jieren immediately understood.

That's right! I'm rebelling now, not treating people to a meal. Even if I were to treat people to a meal, and they didn't come, he would still beg them to come. Isn't that cheap?
Without waiting for his father to speak, Nie Yu continued, "But those household slaves are different. Most of them sold themselves into slavery to survive because they couldn't get enough food during the famine. As a result, their lives and property are in the hands of their masters, and their lives and treatment are not guaranteed. As long as the General's Mansion can support them, give them freedom, and guarantee their personal safety and treatment, then these household slaves will definitely be grateful for the support of the General's Mansion."

"If we don't offend the landlords, they won't support the General's Mansion, and neither will the people. If we offend the landlords, they still won't support the General's Mansion, but the people will. This deal is a good one!"

Well, indeed, it is a good deal!
Even Butler Liu, who had just been begging not to be kicked out, nodded repeatedly at this moment.

Now he understood what his young master meant. The previous peasant associations, tax reductions and exemptions, and the restructuring and establishment of townships were all aimed at restoring rule and appeasing the people's hearts. Now it was a further step to win over the people's hearts.

Nie Jieren waved his hand and said, "Okay, in that case, I, your father, will take the lead in making this sacrifice."

Nie Yu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. He actually didn't want to take such a big step at once, but after thinking it over again and again, he decided to do it.

Because to correct a wrong you must go too far!

If we do not reform even if we have the ability and are willing to do so, the resistance to reform will only be infinitely magnified when our territory grows in the future.

Nie Yu continued, "Secondly, Dad, you must take the lead in taking out the hidden land and hand it over to the General's Mansion for surveying. The General's Mansion will then divide the land and register it to resettle those refugees..."

"This is impossible!" Nie Jieren shouted almost reflexively.

After saying that, he added, "Yu'er, if you really do this, it won't matter to Dad, but I'm afraid all the gentry in the world will hate our family."

Nie Yu sneered, "It's as if if I don't distribute the land to those refugees, these gentry will look up to our family. We are now rebels, spurned by all the gentry, because our presence has destroyed their peaceful lives. If we want to make a breakthrough, we must take risks." "Also, I won't take all the land. Take our family as an example. Each person can retain 300 acres of land, so we, father and son, have 600 acres combined. If there is barren mountain land, we can add at most 100 acres, which is 800 acres. This amount of land is enough to feed the population of an entire village. In addition, our family has a lot of floating assets, and I won't touch these floating assets."

"If any landlords voluntarily divide their land and report any hidden property, I can grant them an additional 50 mu of land and promise to exempt the land from taxes for three years, and reduce the tax by half for the next ten years."

Nie Jieren thought about it seriously and then shook his head: "Yu'er, it's not that Dad is reluctant to give up these lands. These lands were originally intended to be left to you in the future, but many of these lands are ancestral property, and our family also has relatives managing them outside. How can they be willing to hand over all the lands?
"Even our family is in this situation. Wouldn't it be even more difficult for other landlords and gentry who own more land?"

"Difficult? Then don't do it at all!"

Nie Yu sighed softly, "Dad, I understand your concerns, but as I said earlier, we are in rebellion and there is no turning back. Besides, do you really think that the Qing Dynasty is still as prosperous as it was decades ago?"

"We fought the Miao people, the Jinchuans, the Dzungars, the Burmese, the Annans, and the Gurkhas... All to fulfill the ten military achievements of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty and to complete his prosperous Qing Dynasty!"

"A prosperous age? Haha."

"Let's not talk about the distant past. The current situation of the Miao people in Hunan is proof of this. They started their rebellion years ago, and now it has spread to Guizhou. The Qing court mobilized troops from Sichuan, Hubei, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces, but they still haven't been able to quell the rebellion."

"Dad, tell me, if at this point in time, a major disaster strikes, or someone with ulterior motives stirs things up, like the White Lotus Sect... what will happen to the millions of refugees stranded on the borders of the four provinces?"

Butler Liu answered almost subconsciously: "Rebellion!"

Nie Yu nodded immediately: "Uncle Liu is right, it's a rebellion. Our ancestors were right too, since ancient times, barbarians have never had longevity. The Qing Dynasty has been on the throne for too long, and it's time for the dynasty to end..."

After he said this, not to mention Nie Jieren and Butler Liu, anyone who came here and heard what he said would think that his analysis was correct!

Because it is indeed too similar. There are refugees fleeing every year, and the number is increasing day by day. Wars are breaking out in various places, and there are rebellions every now and then. The treasury is empty, the government is corrupt, and wars are frequent. It is exactly like the end of a dynasty.

In fact, the Qing Dynasty in the late Qianlong period did enter a watershed of the dynasty, and it really almost didn't make it through.

Even if they managed to survive, they paid a very heavy price. The Han landlords who had been suppressed began to rise up.

Seeing that his father was somewhat persuaded by his persuasion, Nie Yu continued, "So! The Qing Dynasty is no longer stable, and chaos is inevitable. You know better than me what the White Lotus Sect is. If they really come, they won't just distribute land and settle people. Instead, they will be like locusts, eating up everything and then dragging the people along to cause trouble in the next place."

Nie Jieren was still hesitant: "But your uncles and brothers..."

Nie Yu said coldly, "Why should I care about them? This land belongs to the Nie family, so as the young patriarch, I naturally have the right to distribute it uniformly. Besides, Dad, ask yourself, where did this land of our Nie family come from? Do you dare to tell me?"

Nie Jieren was stunned for a moment, but still said stubbornly, "Of course I bought it with money?"

Nie Yu didn't give any face and directly exposed it: "Did you buy it with money? Spending a penny to buy the land is also buying it, and paying money with a real deed is also buying it. Or did you lend money at high interest rates during the disaster, forcibly annex the land of the common people, or collude with officials and tax collectors to force the people to sell their land at a low price..."

Nie Jieren was silent now, because he was too embarrassed to say anything.

Lending money at high interest rates in years of disaster is almost a routine practice for landlords and gentry. If they don't do so, they will not be able to acquire land. They will also join forces with officials and tax collectors to inflate taxes and make the people go bankrupt, and sell land at low prices, which is also their specialty.

Because in ancient times, land was a basic industry related to the survival of the people. It was impossible to sell it unless something big happened. Therefore, the land of any big landlord would inevitably be stained with human blood.

Buy with money?
Why would they sell it to you?

Seeing that his father was silent, Nie Yu knew that too much is as bad as too little. After being hit hard, it was time to give him some sweet treat.

"As the old saying goes, those who achieve great things don't pay attention to trivial matters. I want the family land now, and I want Dad to take the lead and set an example. This is so that there will be more land to resettle refugees and civilians. They have obtained the land, and in order to keep it, they must support the General's Mansion and fight for the General's Mansion."

Nie Yu suddenly said, "Dad, this is a matter of great importance to the country! You are going to be the emperor of the new dynasty, not just a wealthy man. You can give up some land if you want. Now that you have the whole world, why would you worry about not having land?"

"As for those uncles and brothers, since we've all rebelled, they can't escape either. Now give up their land and join us. If you succeed, we can take over the world. You, Dad, will be the emperor, and I, your son, will be the crown prince. They'll all be crowned kings and dukes. Isn't that great?"

At the end of the conversation, Nie Jieren suddenly realized that their Nie family was going to produce an emperor.

If you have ambitions for the whole world, why would you still care about that little piece of land?

　The teachers have proven that land reform and land distribution are feasible. If we don’t do it now, will we do it after we conquer the country?

　　Also, don't take the "Qianlong Golden Era" too seriously, it's just a dying paper tiger (°°)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)