There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 315 Aftermath
Two days later, the disaster relief and recovery work in Anqing Prefecture was still underway.

The fire that broke out the night before last was so intense that even though the Han army organized firefighting efforts immediately, they could not control its spread. Large areas of residential buildings and shops were destroyed, leaving many people homeless.

Ye Wenfu had already changed her clothes, cut off her braid, and was now sporting a shiny bald head. She was helping out with chores and official business at the Anqing Governor's Office.

Bai Nan said he wanted him to be a staff officer in the army, but in reality, he was supposed to do almost the same things as the prefect of Anqing.

There was nothing they could do; these corrupt Qing officials were too slippery. Almost as soon as the outer city wall was captured by the Han army, the Qing officials, including the prefect of Anqing and the magistrate of Huaining, who were still inside the city, either ran away or committed suicide.

Meanwhile, Chen Yongfu, the Provincial Governor of Anhui, and Enming, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Anhui, had long been dispatched by Zhu Gui to Ningguo Prefecture and Huizhou Prefecture to recruit soldiers and take charge.

Those who remain are either low-level clerks and runners or truly insignificant officials.

Bai Nan was truly short-handed. Ye Wenfu took over the duties of the Anqing prefect, and even he himself had no time to manage the army, working from morning till night for several days in a row.

Ye Wenfu was only a temporary staff officer, with neither official nor military rank, so everything had to be decided by General Bai Nan.

Bai Nan has already sent a telegram to Guan Jingzhou Prefecture, requesting personnel and officials.

Anqing has already been conquered. It's fine to let him temporarily manage civil affairs, but if he were to manage it for a long time, it would not only be against the rules, but it would also slow down his advance.

Ye Wenfu came to Bai Nan with an official document in hand, asking him to sign and affix his seal.

After briefly signing and stamping the document, Bai Nan suddenly remembered something and asked, "Is that Governor Zhu of the puppet Qing still unwilling to surrender?"

Ye Wenfu nodded: "I have already led people to persuade him, but Governor Zhu still refuses to surrender. He even sternly rebuked us as disobedient to the emperor and traitors. This Governor Zhu is the teacher of the pseudo-Qing emperor. Everyone else will surrender, but he alone will not and cannot surrender."

Bai Nan sneered disdainfully. In his eyes, those who regarded the Tartars as their sovereigns and fathers were no different from the Tartars themselves.

If it weren't for the fact that the other party had a decent reputation and a special status that held strategic significance for the Han Dynasty, he would have hung this old traitor on the city wall long ago.

Bai Nan didn't have much patience or time. When he heard Ye Wenfu say that this guy was unlikely to surrender, he immediately said, "Since this old traitor really refuses to surrender, then tie him up and let him march with my army. It'll be good to make use of him!"

"The general is wise!"

Ye Wenfu quickly flattered, "The fall of Anqing and the capture of the governor are shocking news on their own. Now that they are combined, even if the remaining prefectures of Anhui cannot be pacified immediately, they will certainly not put up much resistance."

Bai Nan said, "Our Great Han has captured more than one Qing Dynasty governor so far. Saying it has shocked the world is an exaggeration, but it should be enough to intimidate Anhui. Now that the army is going on this expedition, you will help me take good care of the rear of Anqing. Do your job well, and if there are no accidents, you should be able to get a seventh-rank county magistrate position without any problem."

The rank of a seventh-grade official is not high, but it is quite significant compared to local officials.

You must understand, this is the Han Dynasty, where county magistrates were appointed with real power, unlike the messy, nominal appointments of the Qing Dynasty.

The most outrageous thing about the puppet Qing regime was that in the same county, there might be two or three magistrates serving at the same time, as if it were a joke.

Moreover, the county magistrates of the Han Dynasty were all officials with real power. They could not only manage seven or eight town mayors under their command, but also had land distribution officials and peasant associations that extended into the countryside, truly bringing imperial power to the countryside.

The pseudo-Qing dynasty, which claimed to have complete control, had local officials whose power was controlled by both local gentry and landlords, and who also had to rely on local clerks.

If the clerks don't listen and the landlords don't cooperate, the county magistrate becomes a figurehead.

The Han Dynasty did not have these problems. The gentry and landlords were dismantled by the land redistribution policy, and the clerks were dismantled by the land redistribution officials.

In case of an emergency, the magistrate of the Han Dynasty could even mobilize the militia of the townships, which meant he held both military and political power, and his real power was many times greater than that of the magistrate of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty.

Ye Wenfu understood Bai Nan's advice and quickly said, "General, please rest assured, I will definitely take good care of Anqing, the capital of the Han Dynasty, and will absolutely not allow any trouble to occur in your rear."

Bai Nan said, "Alright, I'll leave you two battalions of soldiers to help you maintain order in the city."

After giving instructions to Ye Wenfu, Bai Nan then met with several representatives of Anqing merchants and gentry, including Wang Yu.

These guys had been sidelined by Bai Nan for several days and had long lost their previous confidence in sitting on the sidelines. Everyone was on tenterhooks, wondering how the big man would treat them.

In just a few days, the Han army had beheaded no less than a hundred people, including gentry families, wealthy merchants from Anqing, and many local ruffians who took advantage of the chaos.

Although the Han army announced the crimes of those killed, in the eyes of "clever people" like Wang Yu, this move by the Han army was perhaps intended to make an example of them.

Wang Yu led a group of Anqing merchants and several gentry representatives into the main hall of the governor's office.

Upon entering, one sees Bai Nan sitting upright, reviewing official documents. "Greetings, General!"

The merchants and gentry all bowed and greeted him.

These people had done their homework and knew that the Han people did not kneel, and even disliked it. So they were all sensible and did not kneel, but instead bowed.

Bai Nan put down the official document in his hand, his deep gaze sweeping over the crowd below, and said, "I have never liked beating around the bush or talking nonsense, so I will just tell you the truth! All gentry whose family owns more than 300 mu of land must cooperate with the land distribution officials of our Great Han to distribute land and settle down with the people. And families with more than ten members must also go to the government to re-register their household registration and divide their property."

"Don't even think about hiding or lying; this is the King of Han's order!"

Upon hearing this, the merchants were fine. They didn't own much land to begin with, and their businesses were all in shops and stores, so they weren't bothered by the land being divided up.

But the gentry and wealthy families were different. Almost all of their property was concentrated in land, and the few gentry representatives who were received often owned tens of thousands of acres of fertile land.

So much farmland, all of it is to be divided up, leaving them only 300 mu. How are they supposed to survive?
Immediately, a young gentry representative angrily exclaimed, "The Han are plundering the people's wealth and competing with them for profit!"

"Plundering the people's wealth and competing with them for profit? Well said!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Nan immediately sneered: "If my Great Han really wanted to seize your wealth, let alone your land, you wouldn't even be able to keep your family fortune and lives. Do you think that because you have the merit of surrendering the city and rebelling, my Great Han should let you leave your land behind?"

"The surrender of a city is the surrender of a city, and the redistribution of land is the redistribution of land. Moreover, you gentry and powerful families often own tens of thousands of acres of land. Don't you have any idea where you got all this land?"

These words were so blunt that the representatives of the various gentry families were all speechless, unsure of what to say.

The young gentryman forced a smile and said, "The land was naturally accumulated by my family through generations of business. If the general doesn't believe me, my family can still find the sales contracts left by our ancestors."

"Bought it? Hahaha!"

After Bai Nan finished laughing, his face instantly turned cold, and he asked bluntly, "Are you saying that the people would rather sell their land to your ancestors just to pay double the rent and taxes all year round, and then sell their children and go hungry?"

These words were completely disrespectful. Although Bai Nan had once been a small landlord, a small landlord and a large landlord are ultimately different.

Moreover, Bai Nan was once the victim of the Eight Banners Tartars, whose family was destroyed and whose land was seized, leaving him a refugee who nearly starved to death on his escape route.

Therefore, he now detests the gentry and landlords' annexation of the people's land and their cunning and plundering practices.

Bai Nan continued, "Buying for one tael of silver is buying, buying for one coin is buying, even buying with a de facto contract is buying. You can produce your ancestral sales contract, but so what? Has my Great Han said we'd recognize it?"

Bai Nan knew what kind of people these gentry and landlords were, so he simply stopped being polite. Even if your ancestors really bought tens of thousands of acres of land with real money and deeds (how could that be?), my Great Han just doesn't recognize it. Leaving you with three hundred acres of land is already a favor from the King of Han.

From now on, everyone should be obedient subjects of the Han Dynasty, farming and paying taxes. Don't think about annexing land or forming local clan associations. The Han Dynasty doesn't need landlords, much less clan associations.

Now, the young gentry fell silent. Bai Nan had laid his cards on the table. No matter how eloquently he spoke, the knife was in the hands of the Han army. If he had the guts, he could rebel!
If some gentry and landlords were dissatisfied and rebelled against the Han, the Han would actually be very happy, because they would be able to get several hundred more plots of land.

Seeing that no one was talking about land anymore, Bai Nan added, "Also, the King of Han has officially abolished the slave system. From now on, no one, regardless of who they are, may keep slaves."

"What about the maids and servants in the house?" asked a fat merchant from Wang Yu's side.

Bai Nan replied, "For maids and servants, we will change their employment contracts to three-year terms, and they must be notarized by the government. If the maids or servants do not want to renew their contracts when they expire, you cannot stop them."

The portly businessman pressed on, "So if after the contract is signed, Ya Fa and Chang Sui decide they don't want to continue, can't we stop them?"

Bai Nan said, "No, but you can take the contract to the government and ask them for compensation for breach of contract. The King of Han doesn't only care about the poor. If you are law-abiding, the King of Han will also uphold justice for you if you are wronged."

“Alright then.” The fat businessman nodded.

For these businessmen, whether or not they sign an employment contract makes little practical difference.

There's no problem that money can't solve. If there is, it's simply because not enough money has been spent.

Wang Yu suddenly interjected, asking, "We are all honest merchants. If the Han Dynasty wants to distribute land and free slaves, we will certainly cooperate fully. But we don't know what the Han Dynasty's attitude is towards us merchants."

"Take it and see for yourself!"

Bai Nan didn't answer, and directly threw down a copy of "The New Laws of the Han Dynasty".

(End of this chapter)