There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 224: Pushing Favor

The Tu Miao people of Hefeng are the Tu Miao people of Hefeng, and the Miao people of Xiangxi are the Miao people of Xiangxi; there are differences between the two. But in reality, as long as Nie Yu takes a Tu Miao concubine, at least the representatives of various ethnic minorities in Huguang, including the Miao people of Xiangxi, will believe his claim that he does not discriminate against ethnic minorities.

During the Qing Dynasty, the number of ethnic minorities in the two provinces of Huguang was not too large, but it was not small either, accounting for at least one-tenth of the total population of Huguang.

Among them, the total population of Tu Miao and Miao tribes exceeds two million, while the Yao, Dong and Zhuang people together number over one million. Most of these people are concentrated in western Hunan, southern Hunan, western Hubei and southern Hubei.

Therefore, if Nie Yu wants to appease the ethnic minorities of Huguang, then marriage alliance with them is the best way.

Because war results in deaths and costs money, it's not worth the effort.

The Miao tribes of western Hunan were among the first to submit to the Han Dynasty and even helped the Han Dynasty deal with the remnants of the Qing army in western Hunan. They joined the Han Dynasty with merit and territory. If the Han Dynasty could accept a concubine to appease the Miao people of Hefeng, then the Han King must also grant the Miao tribes of western Hunan a concubine.

Otherwise, the Miao people of western Hunan would definitely have something to say. The Miao people of Hefeng and the Miao people of western Hunan are not the same ethnic group. The three groups, Dong Miao, Tu Miao, and Xiangxi Miao, just have the character "Miao" in their names. Ultimately, it was because the Qing dynasty wanted to make it easier to control them that they were all classified as Miao people.

Nie Yu did not immediately agree to the marriage proposal from the Miao people of Xiangxi, because the Miao people of Hefeng had not yet formed a marriage alliance with the Han Dynasty. There had to be a first-come, first-served order. The Miao people had made the proposal first, and the Miao people of Xiangxi could not simply jump the queue just because they had submitted to the Han Dynasty first.

Moreover, the representatives of the Xiangxi Miao people also need to go back first to report the results of the matter to the leaders of the Xiangxi Miao villages, including Shi Liudeng.

Of course, there was no doubt about this. Shi Liudeng genuinely wanted to lead the Miao people to live peacefully under the protection of the Han Dynasty, enjoying a good life of farming and food. Most of the other Miao village leaders thought the same way. It would be best to avoid war if possible, as many Miao people had already died in their previous anti-Qing uprising, and they couldn't afford to start another large-scale war.

Through his personal involvement in the talks and mediation, Nie Yu managed to barely resolve the conflict between the ethnic minorities and the Han Chinese in Hunan.

It was indeed only a barely acceptable solution, because the conflict could not be resolved in a simple meeting or with just a few words.

The resistance of these ethnic minorities in Hunan to the Han government stems from the excessive actions of the previous Qing dynasty, which has instilled a sense of unease and wariness towards Han officials. As the Dong and Miao representatives stated, they are willing to trust the Han king, but that's all they are willing to do; they still harbor doubts about the local Han government.

Fortunately, at least they no longer completely resisted the land redistribution officials and the establishment of peasant associations, which were all established by the land redistribution officials under the guidance of their own people.

Once the peasant association is established, even if they don't trust the Han officials, they will have to trust their own brothers and clansmen. With the peasant association serving as a link between the two sides, the subsequent problems and disputes can be resolved gradually.

After meeting with representatives of various ethnic groups, Nie Yu did not return to Hubei immediately, but instead went to Yuelu Academy first.

The entrance to Yuelu Academy.

"Greetings, King of Han!"

"Elder Luo, please rise!"

Nie Yu quickly raised his hand and said very politely, "You are the former headmaster of Yuelu Academy. You have taught at the academy for fifteen years and made great contributions. I was once a scholar myself, so I should naturally respect and honor the former headmaster."

Upon hearing this, the young students who had come to greet him and also to observe the King of Han's attitude towards the academy all smiled with delight.

The King of Han indeed respected the academies and the scholars there!
However, before they could rejoice for long, Luo Dian, the "protagonist," raised an eyebrow. As an old and shrewd man, how could he not hear the hidden meaning in the King of Han's words?

"Your Majesty flatters me. I have been teaching at the academy for fifteen years, and my energy is not what it used to be. I beg Your Majesty to grant me permission to resign and return to my hometown to retire!"

Luo Dian was very straightforward. Since he was already quite old, and the Prince of Han would have to consider his reputation, he certainly wouldn't really make an example of him. So, he ignored everything else and simply resigned in person.

Nie Yu was taken aback at first, then chuckled. He had intended to use Luo Dian to give Yuelu Academy a good warning, but he didn't expect that the other party had him under control and wouldn't cooperate at all.

Then let's not cooperate. Anyway, the old headmaster has already resigned voluntarily, which is definitely more impressive than him directly ordering his dismissal and reassignment. It will also have a deterrent effect on the academy, but not as significant.

Nie Yu chuckled: "Old Headmaster, you jest. I see you still have plenty of energy; you could teach for another ten years without any problem. However, since you are resigning, I can't refuse. I would like to ask you to persevere for a few more months, and once the Ministry of Rites has appointed a new headmaster, I would like to invite you to return to your hometown to retire. Is that alright?"

Goodness, the procedures are incredibly fast; they didn't even bother with the standard three requests and three resignations.

One resigned in person, and the other accepted in person.

Luo Dian seemed relieved, and bowed, replying, "This old man is willing to obey Your Majesty's command!"

The students around the academy were dumbfounded. They had come out with the headmaster to welcome the Prince of Han and to see what the Prince of Han's attitude was toward the future of the academy. But the headmaster had only left the academy once and then quit his job to retire at home.

Since Luo Dian had already resigned in person, some of the original plans were naturally cancelled. Nie Yu briefly strolled around the academy before leaving through the academy gates, escorted by Luo Dian. Nie Yu boarded a southbound official ship; he was going to Hengzhou Prefecture next.

Hengzhou Prefecture, as the "capital" where Wu Sangui declared himself emperor, was a force to be reckoned with in terms of strategy and economy. In terms of its scholarly standing, it even had the support of Shigu Academy, one of the four great academies.

With Luo Dian, the headmaster of Yuelu Academy, having formally resigned, Chen Shiya, the headmaster of Shigu Academy, certainly cannot linger any longer.

Two days later, the Han King's dragon boat docked at Hengzhou Wharf.

Despite being called a dragon boat, it was actually a large passenger ship that could accommodate the Han King's guards and several cannons. A large banner with the words "Han King" was also hung on the ship.

Prefect Zhao Zhijie of Hengzhou personally went to the dock to greet His Majesty: "Your Majesty, I respectfully welcome Your Majesty's arrival in Hengzhou!"

Nie Yu stepped forward and offered a gesture of support, saying, "Minister Zhao, you may dispense with the formalities."

Zhao Zhijie immediately stood up to cooperate, and Nie Yu laughed, "It's been two years since we last met, Zhao Qing has lost weight!"

"Your Majesty is too kind. I simply didn't get used to Hunan cuisine at first, which is why I lost some weight," Zhao Zhijie said, bowing respectfully as he quickly explained.

Nie Yu stepped forward, took his hand, and said, "There's no need for such formality. I've seen all of Zhao Qing's hardships in Hengzhou."

Seeing that Zhao Zhijie had seen it all, he was immediately moved to tears.

There was definitely an element of acting involved, but there was also some genuine sincerity. He worked diligently in Hengzhou for two years, all so that the Prince of Han could see him and one day he could successfully enter the government!
As the first "regional governor" of the Han Dynasty, the territory of the Han Dynasty will definitely grow larger and larger in the future, and the King of Han will surely become the emperor in the future.

If the King of Han becomes emperor, even if these people don't get promoted to high positions, at least the six ministers should try their best. Otherwise, how can they live up to the promise of their entire clan getting on board?

After a brief chat and some reassurance, Nie Yu followed Zhao Zhijie into the city.

The second day after entering the city.

Zhao Zhijie first gave a brief report on his work achievements in Hengzhou over the past two years, and also reported on the distribution of local clan power in Hengzhou Prefecture, and how these local powerful families were deeply entrenched.

Even with the military force of the Han army, coupled with the deepening control of the land distribution officials and town mayors at the grassroots level, it still took Zhao Zhijie nearly two years to basically sort out and suppress these guys.

Zhao Zhijie said, "But I have only managed to clear up and suppress the situation. The power of these local powerful clans is still very strong, and most of them are intermarried and deeply entrenched. Even if our Han Dynasty distributes their land and prohibits them from keeping slaves, these powerful clans will still be local powerful clans. The peasant associations that our town mayors and land-distribution officials organize in the localities can only barely stand on equal footing with them."

Nie Yu was somewhat surprised: "Don't the local powerful families divide their property?"

Zhao Zhijie shook his head: "The division of family property is not very useful. In our Great Han, the division of family property is mostly based on clan. Although the powerful clans in Hengzhou are also divided into main branches and sub-branches, each branch has a huge population. At most, the division of family property will only turn one large clan into two smaller clans. Moreover, even if the family property is divided, most of these clans will still be closely connected. In fact, in order to fight against the town mayor and the peasant association, they will be even more closely connected."

"It's still not divided thoroughly enough!" Nie Yu finally understood.

Zhao Zhijie nodded: "These powerful clans that have split up still retain the basic clan system, but they have broken up the main lineage and branch lineages, making the branch lineages also become the main lineage. This makes it more difficult for the peasant associations and local townships to carry out their work, and they can only rely on the military force to suppress them. But democracy requires governance, and it cannot rely solely on military suppression."

Nie Yu understood Zhao Zhijie's predicament. Although Hengzhou was not as good as Changsha, it was a silver-producing area, and silver-producing areas were often rife with trouble.

The local powerful clans in Hengzhou are indeed deeply entrenched, and the previous division of family property and land has become somewhat difficult to manage.

Nie Yu was mentally prepared for this. When the basic policy of dividing the family property and the land was first established, he knew that it could not be implemented indefinitely and that adjustments had to be made according to the actual policy situation.

Nie Yu thought about it carefully and said, "In that case, let's add a clause! In the future, when local powerful families divide their property, they will no longer divide it based on the main lineage and branches, but based on the descendants. For example, if a father has a son, then the son must get married and settle down after he comes of age."

"The Edict of Grace?" Zhao Zhijie said subconsciously.

Nie Yu laughed and said, "Of course it can't be called the Decree of Grace, let's call it the Division of the Family Law! As an example, let's start with me."

Although the King of Han has cousins, they are indeed only cousins. Strictly speaking, they are not considered part of the same family. According to the previous family division model, they would be separated and established as independent entities. Therefore, starting with the King of Han, at most only the Queen's family can be divided.

However, this was something Zhao Zhijie greatly admired. In order to dismantle the local clan's power, he actually made a decision so easily, dividing up the Queen's family's influence.

(End of this chapter)