Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

Liu Dazhu always believed that he was born to suffer and that his life would continue to be miserable.

But the arrival of the Restoration Army changed everything. Not only did they help him get revenge, but they also rented him the confiscated land at a low price to cultivate.

Although the land is not yours, in the past, even if it was your own land, you had to pay 20% tax. Now the land rent is only 10%. Although it is rented land, no one can take it away!

How is this any different from cultivating one's own land?

The new policies implemented by the Restoration Army benefited countless people. Apart from a few landlords and gentry who owned hundreds of acres of land, the rest of the people were all beneficiaries of the new policies.

Even small landlords who bought a lot of land through their own hard work and thrift also benefited from the new policy. Most of these small landlords only had a few dozen acres of land, and very few had more than a hundred acres. They were also the targets of exploitation, and the various taxes and fees they paid were no less than those of ordinary people.

Because small landlords could extract more profit than poor people, and at the same time had no powerful backers, they were sometimes exploited even more severely by officials.

Although the land owned by a small landlord was his own, the grain produced on it was not necessarily his. At least half of the rent he received had to be handed over, and what he had left was just enough to feed his family.

After the new policy was implemented, although small landowners received only half of the original land rent, they received real grain. They did not have to worry about being exploited by larger landowners, gentry, or officials. Moreover, since they only had less than 100 acres of land, they only had to pay 10% tax. So, when you calculate it this way, the grain they received was actually more than before.

While the common people, tenants, and small landlords at the bottom of society may not all support the new policy, they at least do not oppose it. Those who oppose it are generally local tyrants, or gentry with official backgrounds or academic achievements.

Later generations often used the word "poor" to describe scholars, but the so-called poor scholars in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty were not poor at all. On the contrary, they were quite wealthy. They were an important force in the formation of the grassroots gentry and the largest gentry group.

Because of their academic titles, scholars enjoyed great advantages in official channels. They were exempt from kneeling before officials, had priority in becoming clerks, were exempt from taxes on farming, and were not required to perform corvée labor. When these people returned to their hometowns, they became an extension of the government's power, assisting the government in collecting taxes. Some scholars took the opportunity to seize large tracts of fertile land and went into hiding, eventually becoming local tyrants.

These are what are called local gentry!

The resistance to the new policy also mainly came from these local gentry.

It wouldn't be difficult for these gentry to openly resist the new policies; they could simply have a public trial and then have their homes confiscated, allowing the Restoration Army to make a fortune.

Even the most heinous landlords and gentry, who had aroused great public resentment, were subjected to public trials and had their homes confiscated in accordance with the established procedures.

The difficulty lies in dealing with landlords and gentry who commit minor but not major offenses, outwardly support the new policies while secretly engaging in petty tricks that are difficult to prove. The work team cannot ignore them, nor can it deal with them with drastic measures.

Let's take action. They're not guilty of a capital offense, and they openly support the new policies. The Restoration Army isn't a bandit group. We must act based on evidence. It would be embarrassing to deal with them without any proof.

If left unchecked, these people, though unable to stop the implementation of the new policy, will still disgust people. They will secretly spread rumors, stir up trouble, and create public opinion to defame the Restoration Army.

In Zhang Xiyan's opinion, it would be best to arrest a few people as examples, deal with them in public, and deter others from wrongdoing.

But Li Chengming did not agree. The reason why some people can stir up trouble in secret is ultimately due to the lack of power at the grassroots level.

As long as a power vacuum exists, someone will inevitably take advantage of it.

Although the new policies were forcibly implemented by the Restoration Army, the opposing forces did not disappear; instead, they lay dormant, waiting for an opportunity to launch a counterattack.

Only by establishing grassroots governance institutions and ensuring that these institutions are not infiltrated by landlords and gentry can we truly crack down on those who stir up trouble in secret.

When Li Chengming recalled that when Xinzhou City was besieged, the single company left behind in Liangzi City had intimidated seven or eight townships, preventing the landlords and gentry who had been lying low from making any rash moves.

Therefore, it was decided that each township should organize an armed force of about 50 people to farm during busy seasons and train during slack seasons. These people would maintain the basic order of the township and then gradually transition into the township's official institutions.

Simply put, the original system of "imperial power not extending to the countryside" and the gentry exercising power below the township level was changed to the semi-official organization of the Restoration Army exercising power at the township level and below!

This team was temporarily named the "Agricultural Policy Team," meaning a team composed of farmers to safeguard the new policies.

One person was selected from the Restoration Army to serve as the captain of the agricultural administration team. During the training period, the Restoration Army provided rations and pay. They also received a small amount of pay at other times. They were responsible for maintaining stability in the townships and collecting taxes during the harvest season.

They acted immediately. This semi-military, semi-civilian organization was devised by Li Chengming, with Liang Zicheng in charge of its implementation. They would first conduct a pilot program in one or two townships, and then promote it on a large scale if there were no problems.

Liang Zicheng stayed in Fenglingtou Town, which was naturally the pilot project.

Liang Zicheng announced that the Restoration Army would be organizing an "Agricultural Administration Team" and would need to recruit fifty people.

So on the day of recruitment, more than 500 people came to the recruitment point, including men, women, young and old!

Seeing this situation, Liang Zicheng could only blame himself for not making the conditions clear, so he reiterated the conditions: male, age limit of sixteen to thirty-six, and clean background!

Considering that if the Restoration Army encounters a crisis or emergency, people can be directly drawn from the agricultural administration team to the battlefield, Liang Zicheng added another condition: those with other brothers in their family who have not joined the army will be given priority!

After filtering through these criteria, only about a hundred people remained.

Liang Zicheng personally interviewed each person, repeatedly asking similar questions.

Looking at these people, Liang Zicheng secretly shook his head. Too short, too thin, too weak, too ugly... Of course, being ugly is not a crime, but they can't look like villains at first glance, like the famous Captain Jia.

Of course, Liang Zicheng also knew the specific reasons. When Prefect Zhang recruited soldiers before, he had already selected them once. Those with good qualities were selected and joined the Restoration Army. The remaining people... although they were enthusiastic, were really unsatisfactory.

"Next!" Liang Zicheng asked mechanically, "Name?"

"Liu Dazhu," a tall and thin man, stood in front of Liang Zicheng.

Liang Zicheng looked up at Liu Dazhu and thought to himself: He's tall enough, but why is he so thin? He looks severely malnourished.

Following procedure, Liang Zicheng asked: "Age? Where do you live? Are your parents alive? How many siblings do you have?"

Liu Dazhu was a little nervous as he answered Liang Zicheng's questions one by one: "I'm nineteen years old, my home is in Fenglinggou, my parents are gone, and I have two younger sisters..."

When Liang Zicheng heard him say that his parents were gone and that he had two younger sisters who were not yet married, he thought to himself that this was the pillar of the family. Considering that he might be sent to the battlefield... he couldn't recruit him!

Liang Zicheng waved his hand, about to call on the next person, when Liu Dazhu said urgently, "Sir, please let me join the agricultural administration team. I'll do whatever you ask. I wanted to join the Restoration Army before, but the magistrate there said I didn't meet the requirements. But I really can do it. I don't need to take care of my parents. Although I have two younger sisters, they are both very capable and don't need me to take care of them..."

Liang Zicheng listened quietly to Liu Dazhu finish speaking, and finally shook his head. Rules are rules, and they cannot be broken just because of a few words from him.

Upon seeing this, Liu Dazhu immediately knelt down in front of Liang Zicheng: "Sir, don't be fooled by my thin appearance. It's because I used to go hungry. Actually, I'm very strong."

At this moment, a young woman and a little girl stepped out from the crowd and knelt down beside Liu Dazhu.

The young woman looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a pale complexion and a malnourished appearance. In contrast, the little girl was about eleven or twelve years old. Although she was dark-skinned and thin, one could still vaguely see that she was very pretty, with a pair of large, lively eyes.

The young woman said, "Sir, my brother and I don't need to take care of us. We sold all our land to Master Liu. We originally had no land to cultivate, but the Xingfu Army allocated land to our family. My brother said that he would never forget the great kindness of the Xingfu Army, and his greatest wish is to repay the Xingfu Army..."

Liang Zicheng did not interrupt, but listened quietly as the three siblings recounted their past. It was a heartbreaking story that would move anyone who heard it to tears.

Others also came forward to confirm the truth of what the three siblings said.

Liang Zicheng remained expressionless, seemingly cold and indifferent, but in reality, he was slightly moved. After some thought, he decided to give Liu Dazhu a chance, and whether he could seize it was up to him.

Liang Zicheng pointed to a millstone weighing over 100 pounds next to him and said, "Didn't you say you were very strong? Lift this stone to your chest, and I'll agree!"