The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 109 Exploiting Loopholes in the Imperial Law

"It's a branch of the Sun family, and the current head is named Sun Tieyi," Ma Du continued. "Most of these fields were pawned to the Sun family at low prices when soldiers encountered difficulties. Some fields were also seized by force, or even by murder."

Jia Chen knew these things. In principle, these military farms belonged to the imperial court, and the soldiers only had the right to cultivate them, not to buy or sell them.

However, those below still found various ways to exploit loopholes in the imperial laws.

The imperial court prohibited the buying and selling of military farmland, but it did not prohibit soldiers from mortgaging or using their military farmland as collateral.

When faced with natural disasters such as drought, or man-made calamities such as the invasion of northern barbarians, resulting in crop failure, or when the family encounters various difficulties and urgently needs money.

These local powerful figures would take advantage of the situation, driving prices down to extremely low levels, forcing soldiers to pawn or mortgage their land for military purposes.

After that, the soldiers were simply unable to redeem them.

Over time, these military farms essentially fell into the hands of powerful local magnates, who then used these seemingly legitimate means to seize countless military farms.

The soldiers' lives became even more difficult after they lost their land reclamation.

Many chose to flee, some becoming outlaws, others escaping to the grasslands; in short, the garrison system collapsed.

Most of the soldiers Jia Chen is recruiting now are battalion soldiers, with only a small portion being from garrisons.

However, this does not mean that there are no garrison soldiers under the jurisdiction of Juqiangbao; there are still some garrison soldiers in the Tunbao and Dunbao below.

These soldiers had basically lost their land, their pay was delayed, and they were chronically hungry, so they had virtually no fighting capacity.

If this continues, we'll either starve to death or have to flee.

"Sun Tieyi?" Jia Chen's heart skipped a beat. He felt that the name was familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

After thinking for a while, Jia Chen remembered.

This name sounds too similar to Sun Tiechong's, clearly indicating that he is a member of the Sun family of the same generation as Sun Tiechong.

Sun Tiechong was bullied by his neighbors, who seized his land and beat his wife and children to death.

That guy's name seems to be Sun Tieyi.

Thinking about it, Sun Tiechong's hometown seems to be a village below Juqiangbao, so it seems that this is the person in question.

When we get back, we can send someone to ask Sun Tiechong.

Jia Chen needs more information about Sun Tieyi.

"My lord, this is actually still a good thing. After many military farms were seized, they were put under the name of the Prince's Mansion, which makes things even more difficult." Seeing that Jia Chen did not speak, Ma Du thought that he had not said enough and shook his head and sighed.

These words made Jia Chen frown.

The "Prince's Mansion" refers to the Prince Dai's Mansion in Datong Prefecture. In Datong Town, the Prince Dai's Mansion itself owned a large area of ​​land.

This Prince Dai was the younger brother of the retired emperor and the emperor's uncle.

When the retired emperor was in power, he doted on this younger brother, showering him with all sorts of rewards. Among these princes, he was definitely the one with the highest status.

Because princes and nobles enjoyed special privileges, some powerful families would use the method of offering land to their princely residences, mainly to evade taxes and corvée labor from the imperial court, or to find a protective umbrella for their illegal encroachment.

However, this was very risky, as these royal princes were insatiably greedy.

It's said to be registered under the name of the Prince's Mansion, but it could very well become meat sent into the tiger's mouth, never to return.

Since this matter concerns members of the imperial family and princes, let alone Jia Chen, a mere garrison commander, even the governor and general probably wouldn't dare to entertain any thoughts on it.

Of course, it's not that no one dares to target such things.

Some upright officials in the court still dared to submit memorials to the emperor.

However, this is only a minority, and it's unrealistic for Jia Chen.

He definitely couldn't touch anything registered under the Prince's name; he couldn't afford the consequences.

As for those properties that were seized by powerful families and not registered under the name of the Prince's Mansion, Jia Chen felt there was still a chance to get them back.

It is challenging, but not impossible.

The Sun family?

Then there's even less reason to let it go.

This matter requires careful planning.

This was not only to solve some land reclamation issues, but Jia Chen also wanted to take the opportunity to collect some interest from the Sun family.

The Sun family has caused him no shortage of trouble, and even tried to kill him.

I am no longer as helpless as I used to be.

"Try to figure out which properties are registered under the Prince's name and which have been seized by powerful families," Jia Chen said.

"Sir, what do you mean?" Ma Du asked, somewhat surprised.

He sensed that Jia Chen seemed to have designs on these fields.

"My lord, this matter is not easy to handle. If not handled properly, it could even affect your future. Please think it over carefully," Ma Du hurriedly advised.

These powerful families all have complex backgrounds and deep-rooted influence in Datong.

If it could be solved easily, no one would have dared to do anything about it for so many years.

If something really happens, the consequences could range from being dismissed from office or transferred to losing one's life.

"Let's figure it out first," Jia Chen said with a smile.

This kind of thing is definitely a thankless task, at least for those who were previously on the defensive.

Even someone like Ye Fandong wouldn't get involved in this kind of thing.

But Jia Chen didn't think that way. He needed a stable territory where he could ensure his food supply.

Jia Chen had to make plans for future provisions and pay.

How long can the Sun family's caravan sustain itself with just these goods?

Therefore, another source of income is needed, and a stable one is even more important.

Having land is essential to ensuring a stable food production and maintaining social stability.

What's the point if you don't own any land?

Wouldn't this garrison duty have been for nothing?

Regardless of whether the land under the Prince's name is officially registered or not, Jia Chen has no way of touching it now.

These powerful clans wielded considerable influence.

But Jia Chen wasn't that afraid.

As long as one is strong enough, no matter how powerful a clan is, one can simply wipe them all out.

In the end, it all comes down to who has more soldiers and whose weapons are sharper.

"Also, regarding the digging of the irrigation canal, we need to recruit laborers now," Jia Chen said calmly, "so that we don't run out of time later."

"Sir, what if Sun Tieyi interferes?" Ma Du asked with some concern.

"Obstruction?" Jia Chen sneered. "If you have something to say, go find Wang Baisheng and tell him I said so."

"yes!"

Ma Du could tell that the young garrison commander before him had made up his mind.

If it were just about digging ditches, he might be able to persuade the Sun family to back down.

As for taking the land back from these families, Ma Du was not optimistic.

Regardless, he is definitely on Jia Chen's side now, and he'll get these two things done first.

In order to better understand the Juqiangbao and its subordinate fortresses and outposts, Jia Chen began to visit and investigate them one by one from the very beginning. He needed to understand the situation on the ground himself, rather than relying on reports from his subordinates.

Needless to say, the situation was a complete mess.

The piers have been in disrepair for years, and many of them look like they are about to collapse.

The army was severely short of manpower, and even if there were any, they were all very old veterans, the kind that could be blown away by a gust of wind. This was a characteristic of the Da Hong Army, and Jia Chen was already mentally prepared for it.

No wonder many of these fortified villages and watchtowers suffered whenever the northern barbarians invaded from the south.

He can't solve so many problems at once right now; he can only take it one step at a time.

Some important crossroads and fortified outposts need to be reinforced, whether by increasing troop deployment or by repairing them.

These all require a significant amount of financial expenditure.

Jia Chen was in a real bind; he hadn't even sold much of his own batch of goods yet.

It's unlikely that Omubu could produce that much gold and silver.

His idea was to use some cow and sheep hides as payment.

But how are they going to deal with so many cow and sheep hides?

Cattle and sheep are a bit better, as they can provide meat for his troops.

However, it was still impossible to completely consume them, and Jia Chen couldn't possibly let his subordinates eat them all.

He needs to exchange these for silver to purchase other supplies.

Besides, you can't get a good price for buying and selling cattle and sheep here.

And those furs can only be sold.

To get a good price, the goods need to be brought to the mainland, but Jia Chen doesn't have such channels right now.

Being in charge is incredibly stressful, managing the basic needs of so many people.

I certainly won't get much support from Liu Tianwang for these expenses, and even from Chen Tai, it would probably be a drop in the ocean.

"If there's really no other way, then we'll find someone to help us." Jia Chen couldn't help but think of Lin Heqing.

Lin Heqing is a businessman, so he must have some connections.

He said he would come back here after the New Year when the weather is warmer, and he would ask again then.

Try to get a better price through Lin Heqing.

A few days later, Ma Du compiled a list of the settlements and farmlands around Juqiangbao. While not all of them were included, most of them were.

Looking at these figures, Jia Chen sighed inwardly.

Ordinary soldiers basically lost their land, and most of it ended up in the hands of high-ranking military officers and wealthy families.

Even the ordinary soldiers had some farmland, such as the land that Ma Du took Jia Chen to see last time; it was all infertile or difficult to irrigate.

The best land has long been occupied by those powerful and wealthy people.

Fortunately, there is some land registered under the name of the Prince's Mansion, but the proportion is not too high.

It was mainly occupied by those powerful and influential people.

To deal with these powerful figures, one must be stronger than them. As long as one has enough troops, there is nothing to fear.

The plan to dig irrigation canals was quickly put on the agenda. Jia Chen asked Ma Du to make some plans, such as how many ditches needed to be dug for which fields, how wide, how deep, and how long, etc.

With only a short winter off-season, Jia Chen didn't want to waste it, so he immediately began gathering laborers to dig ditches.

"Are you looking for death? Don't you know this is Master Sun's land? How dare you dig a ditch here?" A burly man with a face full of scars shouted at a group of laborers in front of him.

"This is the garrison commander's order."

"Bah, what garrison commander? Even if a lieutenant general came, it wouldn't work," the burly man sneered.

In this area, the Sun family calls the shots.

Those officials, if they really had any problems, they would have to consult with the Sun family.

"Boss, why bother talking to them? Just teach them a lesson and they'll behave." Behind the burly man were more than thirty others, armed with knives and clubs.

They've done this kind of thing before; you could say they're very experienced.

Give them a beating, and they won't dare come back.

The laborers' faces showed fear. They knew how domineering the Sun family was, and they were afraid that being beaten to death would be pointless.

"Bang!" Suddenly, a gunshot rang out.

Everyone was startled, and the laborers quickly turned around to look behind them.

Dozens of soldiers were seen approaching.

Several of them were carrying three-barreled guns, and the sound just now was clearly produced by the firing of a three-barreled gun.

"Sir...Sir!" The laborers trembled and cried out, hurriedly retreating to the side.

They were also somewhat afraid of these soldiers.

The people from the Sun family remained calm and didn't even seem to care about these soldiers.

"The lord has ordered that the digging of the ditches must be completed before the spring planting. What are you all standing here for?" Wang Baisheng glanced at the laborers around him and said coldly.

Before the laborers could speak, the burly man from the Sun family laughed and said, "Sir, this is not a good place to dig a ditch. Please find another place."