Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

The cold wind blew across the stubble left in the wheat field. A few "lazy mice" that were still searching for food to survive the winter pricked up their ears and watched the passing caravans in the distance. Only after they had all left did they continue to search for the fallen ears of wheat and even the grass hidden under the frozen soil.

As the weather grows colder, the nearby villagers have long since entered a period of hibernation. From the rooftops of every house, one can see waves of heat slowly rising, a result of the combined efforts of coal and firewood.

"The pancake is getting soggy, eat it quickly."

In one of the few brick houses nearby, Xie Laowu, wrapped in a sheepskin coat, grabbed his youngest son Xie Erlang by the ear and stuffed a sesame cake that had been baking on the stove into his hand:

"Eat it all, not a single sesame seed left. Every grain of food we eat is precious. The great disaster ten years ago almost starved your father to death."

He exaggerated the fact that the famine wasn't actually that severe, but he wasn't worried at all. After all, since that famine, Jinshan Prefecture and other places had placed a higher emphasis on stockpiling grain. When he worked in the countryside, he would occasionally pass by the granaries inside, and good heavens, they were almost overflowing. He had never seen so much grain in his life.

"After you finish eating, go to bed on the kang (heated brick bed) like your brother. Don't waste the firewood. After a while, we won't need to add any more charcoal."

Looking at his eldest son, who had already fallen asleep, Xie Laowu, the widowed man, revealed a hint of happiness. When he was a child, he remembered that at this time of year, he had to wrap himself in sheepskin and go dozens of miles away to chop firewood and collect some large pieces of coal slag from the mine to bring home for warmth. It was nothing like now, where coal was bought before winter. Although the quota for each household was only "five hundred to one thousand catties" and the price was not cheap, costing him two taels of silver, it was still better than freezing.

[Each household in Jinshan Prefecture has an average coal ration of about one ton, calculated based on the number of people. Even so, the people still need to add more firewood to conserve coal. If you include the coal allocated to officials by the government itself, as well as the reserves it keeps, the ration is about three thousand four hundred tons. However, this year some new tribes have arrived, and the government has decided to let some of them work in the mines. Five hundred tons of new coal have been produced and distributed to these tribes. After all, in this era, people have everything; without people, everything is just a castle in the air.]

A total of 3,900 tons of coal.

Before long, Xie Laowu was fast asleep on the warm kang (heated brick bed) with his two sons in his arms. Outside the house, several jackals that were still hunting glanced at the white smoke in the distance and then disappeared in a flash.

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"How many years old is this wheat?"

"Young Master, it has been three years."

The agricultural official, wearing a black velvet hat, presented the account books in his hands:

"These are the grain reserves over the years. Please take a look, sir."

Li Yuanheng said "thank you for your hard work" and took the accounts, then began to examine them carefully. At first, it was fine, but he soon stopped on the seventh page:

"Why do we sell so much grain to those tribes every year?"

Meeting those sharp, hawk-like eyes, the farmer official answered somewhat nervously:

"Since the vassal tribes suffered over a thousand casualties for my army a few years ago, my grandfather agreed to their request to pay half more grain each year, and the annual income has increased accordingly in recent years."

Hearing that it was his grandfather's promise, Li Yuanheng suppressed his surprise and continued reading:

"The grain from previous years, apart from being sold to affiliated tribes, is probably still stored in this granary."

"That's not the case. According to agricultural regulations, grain harvested over three years should be sold to grain merchants to be made into feed, brewed into wine, supplied to horses, or subject to alcohol tax."

"The batch you see now, young master, is the one that is to be delivered to the winery."

The agricultural official's reply was neither humble nor arrogant, which pleased Li Yuanheng. He gave him a few words of encouragement and then left in his carriage. As for Zidian, no one would let such a fine warhorse out to ride at this time of year. If it lost weight, it would be disastrous.

As the carriage traveled along the narrow country road, Li Yuanheng looked up at the farmhouses with wisps of smoke rising in the distance, a smile flickering across his lips, before continuing towards the township office of Youxiang.

The township office, also known as the township government office or by farmers as the township yamen, was named after the chief official, the "township official".

The character "公" has the meaning of elder and respect, and in the power system, it also means to hold power.

As the newly appointed village head, Su Weinian's biggest headache every day is the repetition of official documents. Compared to his previous work of checking the fields and leading the cultivation and pest control in the village, the biggest task after becoming the village head is to mark the things that have been processed as "read" receipts every day.

This gave Su Weinian, who dreamed of governing the region and bringing blessings to the people, a somewhat shattered illusion. It wasn't until the government issued new documents on "river and canal management" and "field summary" that he began to re-evaluate the importance of this public and parental official.

"Five times fifteen----"

The abacus rattled incessantly in his hands. As was customary, Su Weinian recalculated the newly delivered village land register several times before daring to include it in the land register of the Right Township.

"My lord----"

"Don't bother me, can't you see I'm handling official business?!"

Su Weinian didn't even look up, continuing to work on his abacus.

"My lord, the government officials have arrived, including a three-horse carriage."

"Bring me my official robes immediately, and also, a new pair of boots."

Su Weinian suddenly stood up, and the clerk beside him hurriedly ran to the inner room to get his clothes. After getting them, he didn't care about anything else and changed into his official robes in front of the clerk.

After putting on his black velvet official hat, Su Weinian took off his worn-out boots and put on the new boots that his wife had made last month for him to become a village head.

I rushed out the door, and there stood a familiar figure:

"Greetings, young master."

"I dare not accept Lord Su's generous gift."

Looking at Su Weinian bowing to him, Li Yuanheng teased him and strode firmly into the office.

The "Grievance Drum," "Official Case," "Board," and "Chairs" were all arranged around the entrance, and together with the "Blue Sky Hangs High" inscription above the gate, it truly had a bit of the feel of an ancient county government office.

"This drum hasn't been played in a long time, has it?"

Seeing Li Yuanheng standing to the side, stroking his flat, bulging belly, Su Weinian immediately replied:

"In rural areas, there are few grievances, but many trivial matters such as land loans, so no one has been able to seek redress for a long time."

He then added:

"If it's a minor dispute, the village head will handle it. The villagers will watch and discuss, and even if there's more trouble, they won't dare to bother him again."

"Is it out of fear, or out of desperation?"

The smile on Li Yuanheng's face was unreadable, and Su Weinian only dared to answer:

"In rural areas, a village is formed by the number of people with the same surname. Even in villages with several surnames, people intermarry. After several decades, everyone becomes related. If a real injustice occurs, the people will not report it, and the officials will find it difficult to investigate."

Li Yuanheng nodded in agreement. After all, not to mention this era, even in the technologically advanced era of later times, most disputes in rural areas are actually resolved through self-mediation. Only when something serious happens are people willing to seek legal help.

After figuring it out, Li Yuanheng walked to the desk, plopped down in the chair, and, feeling the slightly hard surface, asked Su Weinian with some curiosity:

"Brother Su changed his chair??"

"It's true that the position has changed. If I were like the previous village head, treating the village as my own property, with soft couches and chairs and tea and fruit always on hand, I would probably be in a similar situation to Yang Xiping, who was dismissed and exiled for embezzlement."

"In that case, how will the people of Youxiang view me?

Su Weinian looked seriously at Li Yuanheng in the chair and said in a rather bold tone:

"And how should we view the young man who mentored me, Su Weinian?"

Li Yuanheng, however, was not annoyed. Instead, he replied with a smile:

"Of course, he is wise and mighty, a pillar of strength!!"

"Ha ha----"

After saying that, the two of them burst into laughter at the same time.

-------

"Young master, take a look. According to the recent land survey, the entire Right Township has a total of 50,000 mu of land, making it the number one township in Jinshan Prefecture."

"Moreover, I have also calculated the local mineral veins. Take the coal used for heating in winter, for example. Youxiang Township contributed one-third of it. Moreover, based on my surveys over this period of time, Youxiang Township actually has a lot of fertile land that can be cultivated, but it is limited by the population size, so most of it is abandoned after being cultivated."

Su Weinian kept saying "regret," and even talked about his "letter of persuasion to live" in front of Li Yuanheng:

"A son can become a male adult, a daughter can become a wife; the eldest son carries a hoe, the second son weeds, the third son waters the plants, the fourth and fifth sons run all over the place, and the eldest and youngest wives fill the kitchen..."

"Brother Su is probably going to be the number one midwife in this right township."

Li Yuanheng's smile never faded after hearing the letter of persuasion to have children. Especially when he learned that Su Weinian had really spread his ideas all over Youxiang, he jokingly called her an "old matchmaker" for doing all sorts of messy matchmaking.

"Does my lord know how many acres of land Jinshan has?"

"These past few days I've visited the prefectural government and the two townships, plus your right township, totaling 120,000 mu."

Li Yuanheng blurted out data on land area.

Su Weinian then asked:

"Does my lord know how many of them are commoners and how many are from powerful clans?"

Li Yuanheng only then realized what was happening, and after counting on his fingers a few times, he immediately arrived at the number:

"There are twelve in total, with eighty thousand commoners and the remainder belonging to powerful clans."

"Including my family's—"

These words were spoken not only to Su Weinian, but also to himself, and the atmosphere became somewhat somber.

After a while, a sound came out:

"The average person now owns about five mu of land, and a family of five would own about twenty-five mu. Based on the current yield per mu, that's enough to eat and wear."

Su Weinian's words slightly calmed Li Yuanheng's restless heart, but the latter ultimately harbored murderous intent and said to Su Weinian's face:

"Since ancient times, the amount of land has been limited. Today, there are still many fields in Jinshan that cannot be cultivated. However, as generations go by, they will eventually reach the limit. At that time, I'm afraid that the events of all dynasties will be repeated in Jinshan."

That being said, Su Weinian said:

"The Western Regions are heavily embroiled in war and have a harsh climate. Few tribes or states can reach this population limit. The land of Jinshan has only about 15,000 or 16,000 inhabitants, and the subordinate tribes are mostly beyond our control. Even if you, my lord, were willing, it would be like hitting your head against the ground, bleeding and injuring yourself."

His eyes were full of advice, but since he was the one who started this whole thing, he followed Zhice's lead.

"A decree can be issued to stop large clans from expanding their land, and a reclamation decree can be issued to increase the amount of land that ordinary people can own. In this way, there will be no worries for the next hundred years."

"Wouldn't this be tantamount to nurturing a bandit to enhance one's own power?!"

Li Yuanheng's words puzzled Su Weinian. After all, the four major families, including the Li family, had been intermarrying for decades. The Li family held power, while the other three families assisted in governing the Jinshan region. How could they be called "bandits"?

But at this moment, for reasons unknown, Li Yuanheng said in a firm tone:

"The line between thief and bandit is thin; how can we limit ourselves to a mere century?!"

Su Weinian was shocked and dared not continue the conversation.