Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 287 The Inaugural Decree of the King's Transformation: Tiered Taxation, Restructuring and Upgrading!
Today, the Kyushu Islands, with a total area of ​​3.6 square kilometers, the same size as Taiwan, have completely abolished the feudal system.

Only a very few powerful clans, such as the Tachibana family, who voluntarily surrendered, were able to retain ownership of a portion of their core territories, but they no longer retained the right to govern them, and there were no independent states within a state.

The rest were divided into nine prefectures by Wang Cheng according to the county system.

The original capitals of the nine daimyo were all transformed into prefectural capitals of the Donghai Kingdom, with experienced officials from the Five Peaks Banner appointed by the Ministry of Personnel to serve as prefects.

The talent of a county is more than enough to govern such a small place.

With Wang Cheng's order, a new decree was issued throughout the entire Nine Provinces – the "Decree on the Beginning of Royal Transformation".

Not only were public notices posted in the prefectural and county cities, but clerks, yamen runners, and village heads, mainly composed of Japanese from the Outer Five Banners, were also dispatched to preach to all administrative units and villages under their jurisdiction.

Chikuzen Province, formerly the territory of the Otomo family.

"Everyone from Chuanqu Village, come out! Anyone who dares to dawdle, I, the fish market vendor, will teach you a lesson!"

Yushi Jiuzang was dressed in a black and red official's robe, his hair styled in a Tang Dynasty style, and a fish-head knife commonly used by the Tanka people hung at his waist. He banged the gong in his hand with great force, his face full of arrogance.

On the four islands of Yingzhou, the vast majority of ordinary people do not have their own surnames, and even their given names are extremely simple.

To make them easier to distinguish, people often use their profession plus their name, such as Yasuke, the blacksmith, or Kyuzo, the fishmonger.
Any surname with a long history belongs exclusively to the government or military; it is a symbol of status. If a commoner dares to use it, he will be "beheaded" by any passing samurai.

Not long ago, Yu Shi Jiuzang was just an ordinary commoner, a small fishmonger whose main job was to kill and sell fish in Pinghu Port.

He was quite clever, and living within the core territory of the Eastern Sea Kingdom, he keenly realized that the world had changed.

With half a copy of "The Art of War" that no one knew who had lost, he found a "Tang Tongshi" at the port who often bought fish from him and learned some basic Mandarin. Taking advantage of Wang Cheng's expansion of his lackeys, he successfully joined the Outer Five Banners.

Like all the Japanese people in the Outer Five Banners, when they were registered and incorporated into the banner system, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue bestowed upon them a new surname according to the prince's decree.

The origins of these surnames are varied. Those living in the middle of fields might have the surname Tanaka, while those living at the foot of a mountain might have the surname Yamashita. Similar place names include Kobayashi, Inoue, and Abiko.
Some people also take their surnames after their original professions: dog owners are called Inukai, blacksmiths are called Kaji, weavers are called Hattori, and those from the red-light district are called prostitutes or prostitutes.
Although these surnames are not particularly significant and do not represent noble status.

After all, even the former "samurai" have now become ordinary officials and legal rank, no longer a privileged class supported by the treasury of the domain, and have lost the legal privilege of "killing, killing, or sparing" any commoner.

Unless they join the Outer Five Banners to serve the East Sea Kingdom, they will lose even their hereditary salary.

But in the eyes of these Japanese from the Outer Five Banners, this surname alone meant that they had already stepped out of their original social class and become superior people, which was a great honor!
So the former small fishmonger, now a fishmonger at the market, looked at his former kinsmen, dressed in tattered clothes and emaciated, and compared them with his own well-dressed appearance, a sense of superiority arose spontaneously.

The feeling of wielding power for the first time in my life was wonderful.

“I am a completely different species from these Japanese slaves.”

That's right, they were the Japanese. Our Tang Dynasty teacher told us that this is what was written on the "Golden Seal of the King of Wa of Han," which the Japanese used to guide the Daoist Qi and establish their system.

Being able to be a dog of Tangren is the greatest honor of my life!

In this Eastern Sea Kingdom, our Outer Five Banners are destined to replace the warrior class and become the true right-hand men of the Tang people.

Moreover, according to this "Decree on the Beginning of Royal Transformation," the sister and her child whom I offered to Shangguan might even have a chance to become true Tang people!

Seeing that everyone in the first village he was in charge of had arrived, the headman of the village, who also belonged to the Outer Five Banners, nodded to him after counting the heads.

Following the mannerisms of the samurai gentlemen he had encountered before, Yushi Kyuzo slightly raised his head, scanned the entire room with his chin, and produced a document, calling out:
"Listen up, all of you."

Kawaku Village used to be the territory of the Ōtomo family. Ōtomo Yoshichi, in order to resist the military power of the Mōri family in the north, made offerings to the Church of the Holy Cross, and the original land tax was always maintained at 'seven parts public and three parts private'. You know better than anyone the hardships you've endured."

Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts leaped into their throats.

Everyone knows that China is getting colder every year, so is Yingzhou a paradise on earth?

They, too, suffer from various natural and man-made disasters.

Under the "seven public and three private" tax system, which was equivalent to a lethal dose of heavy taxation, the people could not even eat the grain they grew themselves and could only rely on wild vegetables to fill their stomachs. As a result, someone in every household starved to death.

Or, while serving in the military, they might be worked to death repairing city walls, roads, bridges, dikes, and dams.

Now that the lord has been replaced by a foreign Tang Chinese, they fear that these Tang Chinese are even more ruthless than the Otomo family's rule.

If the "eight public and two private" land tax system is implemented in the future, my whole family will probably not be able to survive.

It was only at this moment that they realized their already dire and miserable lives might not have reached their limit yet.

"I pray to the gods and bodhisattvas for protection, I just hope that the status quo can be maintained."

"Please don't raise taxes again."

As for who the ruler was, they didn't care.

In any case, all the guests were arrogant Japanese retainers who had never seen what their lord looked like in their lives. This was true during the reign of the Ōtomo clan and also during the reign of the Ō clan.

As long as taxes aren't increased, everything is negotiable.

After being stared at by everyone and enjoying the spotlight, Yushi Kyuzo finally spoke and read out the numbers from the document:

"The land tax will continue to be 'seven parts public and three parts private'!" The villagers had just breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the other party continue:
"However, there is one condition."

The villagers were furious with this loud, panting lackey, but they dared not make a move because of the Japanese constables with knives and guns around them.

Yushi Kyuzo thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of making these lowly Japanese slaves' hearts race and their faces turn pale with just a few words.

His gaze swept across the crowd until everyone consciously lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact. Only then, like a victorious cricket, did he triumphantly recite the main text of the "Edict on the Beginning of Royal Transformation":

"Our Prince Jinghai is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see the poor suffer."

Only then did they take pity and set out the rules: if you could meet different conditions and prove your loyalty to the Wang family, you could enjoy different tax and corvée reductions.

You are truly blessed in this life.

The specific edict is as follows:

The rulers demanded that all people under their rule shave their heads and change their clothes to the style of the Great Zhao Kingdom. As long as they could do the most basic thing and physically accept the rule of the Eastern Sea Kingdom, they could continue to maintain the land tax of seven public officials and three private officials; otherwise, it would be increased to eight public officials and two private officials.

Then, gradually ban the writing system, language, and the unique runes and seal script of the Shinto system, and replace them all with the Da Zhao system, fundamentally changing customs and traditions!

The more thorough and profound the reforms are implemented on a family basis, the greater the tax reductions will be. Furthermore, if even one child in a family can learn the official language of the Great Zhao Kingdom, the tax burden can be further reduced to six public taxes and four private taxes.

This is just the basics; there are many more detailed rules to follow.

In Japan, a woman who gives birth to a son is subject to a poll tax, while a woman who gives birth to a daughter is exempt from the poll tax.

Sending one's son to the army as a servant can reduce taxes; if he fights bravely, he can be promoted to the Outer Five Banners and enjoy higher treatment.

Of course, given the intensity of the wars that Donghai Kingdom is currently waging year-round, the probability of death is far greater than the probability of promotion.
If a woman had a daughter who married a man from the Five Peaks Banner and became his concubine, she could be exempt from taxes after giving birth to his children. The more daughters she married and the more children she had, the more taxes she could be exempted from.

Even if a married woman gives birth to a child of a Tang person, it's considered a form of racial improvement.
There are many government orders from all sides, but there is only one principle: the closer you get to Wufeng Banner, the more benefits you will receive!
The more thorough the transformation, the greater the benefits.

In fact, the Japanese people themselves don't really care whether their descendants are their own bloodline.

In order to perpetuate their family business, upper-class samurai families often adopted outstanding retainers or foreign samurai who were not related by blood as their heirs, which was a very common and socially accepted practice.

In their eyes, ability is far more important than blood ties.

The lower classes have no concept of chastity, and in relatively closed rural areas, there is a common phenomenon of men sneaking into women's homes at night to seek sexual relations.

The premise is that the husband is not at home, but of course he can be at home. If several people want to climb up to a married woman, they need to draw lots and take turns climbing up to her at night.

Most of the children in the village are raised by the whole village together, and it is not so important who the child’s biological father is, which provides a living space for children born from “night climbing”.

With the implementation of the "Edict on the Beginning of the Royal Civilization," the truly stubborn and defiant individuals will inevitably become fewer and fewer due to the dual exclusion from the economy and ethnic groups, and will gradually disappear after one or two generations.

This is the reason why "poverty doesn't last three generations".

It's not because of the cycle of fate that after three generations of poverty, the fourth generation will finally be free from poverty; it's because there's no one left to follow!

Why do so few people in the Dazhao people compare their lineage?
Because the origins of each of the Hundred Family Surnames are all impressive, any ordinary person could trace their ancestors back several generations and find that they were once wealthy.

Those whose ancestors were always poor and who were able to continue their lineage are extremely rare.

In short, as long as one's paternal lineage is that of the Dazhao people and they receive Dazhao culture and education, Wang Cheng will acknowledge their status.

They would be allowed to be given the surname Tang, take up official positions in China, and even have the potential to become a member of the lower ruling class.

"In the future, the ruling core of Wufeng Banner will be responsible for key positions such as government officials, technology research and development, high-end manufacturing, education, and management."

They have a divine cultivation system, and they must constantly perform duties to advance in rank. They don't have to worry about their military strength continuously declining and eventually becoming useless and unreliable.

The next level up were those with paternal lineage from the Great Zhao dynasty who were granted the surname Tang and whose status was similar to that of their own people.

The next level up consists of the elites from the Five Banners, followed by first-class good citizens, second-class good citizens, third-class good citizens, newly naturalized citizens, and die-hard elements.
A clear hierarchy emerges, with the "Harmonizing Yin and Yang" system labeling each individual. Each level has its own hidden ceiling, until everyone is completely assimilated!

Thus, under the watchful eye of [the Yin-Yang Harmonizer], a similar scene unfolded across all nine islands.

Those who were most eager to join Wufeng Banner happily re-registered and immediately enjoyed varying degrees of tax reductions.

Meanwhile, in the Kinki region, near the ruling center of Pinghu Port, in Inaba Village where the king arrived, officials had already finished explaining the imperial edict.

"Ha, I have never liked to force people to do things against their will. The 'Wang Hua Zhao Shi Ling' does not forcefully change the race, but the entire system is divided into different levels."

It's said everywhere that some people are human, and some are not.

The ultimate goal is to completely transform and upgrade the agricultural industry, fundamentally resolving the problem of this wicked neighbor that has plagued China for over a thousand years and will continue to do so!

Wang Cheng sneered inwardly, took his senior sister's hand and stepped off the carriage to begin the second act.

(End of this chapter)