Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

After everything was prepared, Yang Xuedong led dozens of clerks and accountants into Fenglingtou Town in a grand procession.

The new policy of surveying land and imposing taxes on scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants was thus launched.

It was called a new policy because such a policy had never been seen in any dynasty before. The Restoration Army was implementing it for the first time, hence the name "new policy."

The "officials and gentry serving and paying taxes together" policy of Emperor Yongzheng did not include imperial estates, and was only "unified" in terms of tax payment, which was a limitation of the era.

However, the Restoration Army's "taxation system of equal pay for scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants" treated everyone equally. As long as the prescribed taxes were levied, no matter who you were, you had to pay them!

The new policy stipulates that for less than 10 mu, the tax rate is 10%; for more than 10 mu up to 50 mu, the tax rate is 15%; for 50 mu to 100 mu, the tax rate is 1%; for more than 100 mu, the tax rate is 1%; for more than 500 mu, the tax rate is 1%; and for more than 1,0 ...!

That's right, this is the tiered tax rate strategy!

Tiered taxation can, to some extent, prevent some large landowners from occupying too much land. Although the effect is not obvious now, if tenants are removed as immigrants one day, this policy will deal a fatal blow to landowners!

When the tiered tax rate strategy was implemented, the people at the bottom who owned land supported it wholeheartedly.

Such a tax burden is not high for ordinary people, because very few ordinary people have more than fifty acres of land.

Although the tiered tax rate seemed to be much higher than the original tax rate of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the regular tax, the Ming Dynasty also had all sorts of miscellaneous military pay and poll tax. The Restoration Army abolished those miscellaneous military pays, which greatly reduced the burden on the people who owned the land.

Moreover, during the land survey and the implementation of this tiered tax rate, the land originally registered under the names of gentry was deregistered and taken back by the original landowners for their own cultivation.

For landlords, the land survey and the implementation of tiered tax rates greatly damaged their interests.

Although intimidated by the power of the Restoration Army, the landlords dared not openly oppose the implementation of the new policies, but they secretly incited their tenants to resist Yang Xuedong's work team.

Even Yang Xuedong himself was beaten black and blue by a group of masked men on his way back.

Enraged, Liang Zicheng dragged out the local gentry involved that very night and had them hung at the village entrance and whipped half to death, which temporarily deterred the villains lurking in the shadows.

If the Restoration Army hadn't been stationed there, the landlords and gentry would have really dared to kill people.

Upon hearing about this, Li Chengming also came to Fenglingtou Town to discuss countermeasures with Liang Zicheng.

Li Chengming said, "Yang Xuedong and the work team must not make any mistakes in implementing the new policies in Fenglingtou Town. We must get off to a good start."

Liang Zicheng nodded and said, "I have already given the order. The work team must be accompanied by the Restoration Army wherever they go. I will not let anything happen to them."

Li Chengming: "What is the attitude of the people below?"

Liang Zicheng remained silent for a long time, then sighed and said, "The people don't really trust us. It's not that they don't trust our new policies, but they don't believe we can protect and support them in the long run."

He paused, then added, "The people are afraid that everything will return to normal after our Restoration Army leaves, and they will also be retaliated against by the landlords and gentry."

Li Chengming pondered for a moment and said, "It's only natural for the people to think this way. If we leave, the conservative forces will definitely retaliate and sabotage our new policies. Although we have no intention of leaving, who can easily trust us?"

Liang Zicheng asked, "Captain, do you have any good ideas?"

Li Chengming organized his thoughts, saying, "Now that the land survey and tiered tax rates have been implemented, the next step is to implement new land rent rates. The rent cannot exceed 30%, so that tenant farmers will support us."

Then we armed the landowners and tenant farmers so that they could protect their interests to some extent.

Liang Zicheng quickly saw the drawbacks of arming the common people, saying, "What if this armed force is gradually infiltrated by landlords and gentry?"

In a township, landlords and gentry wield the greatest influence, possessing ample resources and time to slowly infiltrate and corrupt the grassroots.

Li Chengming had clearly considered this issue as well, saying, "If we decouple the interests of landlords and tenants from those of tenants in the system, then without the support of the tenants, it will be difficult for landlords to cause trouble."

The relationship between landlords and tenants is very complex and delicate.

On the one hand, landlords exploited tenants with exorbitant rents of over 50%, ensuring that tenants could never escape poverty.

On the other hand, landlords often bestow small favors upon their tenants, making the tenants feel indebted to the landlords.

Therefore, in some situations, tenants are forced to become the landlord's henchmen and do things against their conscience.

The tenant farmers had no choice; they could only endure it, or wait for peasant armies like those of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong to arrive and join the rebellion!

You could also turn against the landlord and become an outlaw. In short, you either have to be ruthless to yourself or endure until death, and then your descendants would continue the cycle. Of course, there is also a high possibility that you will have no descendants at all.

If given a choice, who would willingly endure hardship while also acting as an accomplice to evil?

Therefore, Li Chengming wanted to give these tenants a choice.

First, land rent must be reduced by no more than 30%.

Secondly, landlords own the land, but tenants have the right to rent it. If a landlord wants to sublet the land to someone else, the current tenant must sign and affix their seal!

In this way, the tenants' livelihoods were no longer in the hands of the landlords. As long as the tenants paid their rent on time every quarter, the gentry and landlords could do nothing about it!

Li Chengming discussed the issue of limiting rent with Liang Zicheng and Yang Xuedong. After discussing and revising the details, they planned to implement the land leasing strategy after the land survey and the implementation of tiered tax rates were completed.

Yang Xuedong, a feudal bureaucrat, secretly sighed: The policies of the Restoration Army are truly good for the common people. If the new policies are successfully implemented, the support the Restoration Army will receive will be unimaginable!

Next, Yang Xuedong announced the land rent policy. Although it was expected, he did not expect the backlash to be so strong.

The gentry who had previously remained silent also jumped out one after another. They would reluctantly accept paying taxes like the lowest of the low, but this policy of limiting land rent and separating property rights from rent was simply uprooting them!

The power of gentry and landlords at the grassroots level mostly came from their land. With official titles, they were exempt from paying taxes and performing corvée labor, collected more than 50% of the rent, and could take whatever they wanted from their tenants, living a comfortable life as superior people.

Now that the Restoration Army has arrived, they have limited the maximum rent for land to 30%, and as landlords, they no longer have the right to lease land, meaning they are no longer willing to control their tenants.

Wouldn't this kill them?

Outside the military camp in Liangzi City, people were wailing and howling around the clock, driving away one group only to have another arrive.

This annoyed Liang Zicheng so much that he would beat up anyone who came and then chase them away. Gradually, fewer and fewer people wanted to see Liang Zicheng.

On the surface, all is calm, but something strange is definitely going on underneath.

Led by Liu, the local gentry secretly lobbied and called on several other wealthy families in Fenglingtou Town to discuss resisting the Restoration Army and implementing new policies.

Master Liu said, "This can't go on any longer. If those thieves keep messing with us, our land will soon be gone. And I've heard they're going to target the coal mines too—that's a death sentence for us all!"

The six local gentry of Fenglingtou Town all looked grief-stricken.

Master Jiang said, "Master Liu, you used to work in the government office and knew that Magistrate Yang Xuedong. Why do you think he's so devoted to those thieves, the Restoration Army?"

Master Liu sighed and said, "I am just a scholar, while Yang Xuedong is a successful candidate in the imperial examinations and a high-ranking official. How would I know what he is thinking? I think it is nothing more than coercion and enticement. Perhaps the Restoration Army has given him tremendous benefits."

At this moment, Master He lowered his voice and said, "We don't care why Yang Xuedong joined the bandits. I've already contacted Tao Sanbiao, the hero of Dahu Mountain. He's agreed to take on this job for us, a flat price of one thousand taels of silver. What do you all think?"

Liu Yuanwai's face was ferocious as he said, "We can't defeat the Restoration Army, but do you think we wouldn't dare to touch Yang Xuedong? He dares to stand against us! Promise Tao Sanbiao that Yang Xuedong will die a violent death tomorrow night, and don't let his work team get away with it either!"

Even the usually silent Master Shen said ominously, "Once Tao Sanbiao succeeds, we'll immediately target Yang Xuedong's family as well. Only when Yang Xuedong's entire family is wiped out can we deter others from joining the bandits!"