White-robed Minister

Chapter 149 0147 [Can the landlords unite?]

Yuzheng Township.

When someone celebrates their sixtieth birthday, all the first and second-class households in the county's countryside are invited to the birthday banquet.

On the night of the banquet, the heads of each household gathered privately for discussions.

There was a copied notice on the table.

They now only dare to copy the contents of the notices, and don't even dare to tear them down directly, because they are afraid of being caught red-handed.

Intentionally tearing down government notices: the minimum penalty is 100 strokes of the cane. If the notice is torn down to evade investigation or cover up the facts, the maximum penalty is death.

Tearing down the notices announcing the investigation of hidden fields constitutes an attempt to evade investigation. If officials discover that a notice is missing, Xu Laohu could indeed arrest and sentence someone to death according to the law!

"Has everyone seen this notice? The government has finally revealed its true colors; all this trouble is just to investigate hidden farmland."

"The summer tax will be collected in five days. Are they really not afraid of not being able to collect any taxes?"

"What are your plans, Lord Yun?"

"I won't pay!"

"My family doesn't pay taxes either. Let's see if Magistrate Wang can hold out."

"Yes, all the wealthy households in the county are refusing to pay. If Magistrate Wang can't collect taxes, he will surely be held accountable and dismissed by the imperial court!"

"Won't this push him to the point of desperation?"

"If we allow them to investigate Hidden Field, will we have any chance of survival? It's already a lose-lose situation."

"The notice said that as long as you voluntarily declare the hidden land and pay the evaded taxes, all other matters will be forgiven and the hidden land can be converted into registered land."

"Are you willing to make up for all the taxes owed over the years? And then pay more taxes every year?"

"We haven't found anything under your names yet, so of course you're not afraid. I'm from Guishan Township, and nearly a hundred acres of my family's hidden land have already been discovered. Wang Dalang was flogged and is still being paraded in shackles. If we don't cooperate with the government, my family will be next!"

"Lord Yun, your cousin is the current prime minister (Zhao Gai). Is there any evidence to support this?"

"Sigh, you all know this. Last year, during the land reclamation case, my elder brother took leave to return to our hometown to pay respects to our ancestors, forcing me to return all the land I had occupied over the years to its original owner. I just went through the motions and returned a few hundred acres of hidden land. Now, how dare I ask him for help? If I do, he'll definitely know that I've taken the hidden land back."

"Where is Brother Deyan?"

"Don't ask me. My elder brother was dissatisfied with the outcome of the Puyi Conference and repeatedly submitted memorials requesting to resign. He has been demoted to the position of prefect."

"Should we mobilize the tenant farmers again to obstruct the government's land clearing?"

"It can't be started! Xu Laohu is too shrewd. He used the punishment of Wang Daochen and his son to establish his authority, and when he went to the countryside to clear the fields again, he didn't directly measure the land. Instead, he had the tenants of the measured land register, clearly writing down the amount of land they were cultivating and the grade of the land. In the future, even if there are disputes over the land, as long as the registered tenants are assigned equal land by the government, they will be allowed to rent it indefinitely."

"When did this happen?"

"yesterday!"

"The tenants actually trust the government?"

"They don't believe it, but they dare not disbelieve it! The way Wang Daochen and his son were treated has frightened the villagers. The tenants are afraid that the government can really investigate hidden land, and they are also afraid that they will lose their perpetual tenancy rights. So even if they don't believe the government, they still register first. Registering might save their perpetual tenancy rights, while not registering will definitely mean losing them."

"That's going to be difficult."

"This is a ruthless move. Once the tenants register, it's like they've boarded the government's pirate ship, and they can no longer go against the government."

"How about we call the wealthy households from other counties to discuss this as well? We can send people to each county to spread the word that all seven counties of Yingtian Prefecture are to be cleared of land."

"Yes, yes, yes, it's just our county. If there's a commotion, the government won't be afraid. But if all the wealthy households in Yingtian Prefecture were to cause trouble, not only the prefect, but even the transport commissioner and the judicial commissioner wouldn't be able to sit still."

'

, , Return to good village.

Xu Lai personally inspected the fields once again.

Instead of immediately measuring the fields, we should have the relevant tenants register the fields that have already been measured.

After the news spread, even tenant farmers who didn't trust the government rushed to register. The logic here is so simple that even illiterate farmers could judge the gains and losses.

Registering doesn't guarantee permanent tenancy rights.

If you don't register, you will definitely lose your perpetual tenancy rights.

For the tenants, regardless of the outcome, they registered anyway.

However, as long as they were willing to register, they had concerns: what if they could have obtained perpetual tenancy rights, but if they cooperated with the landlord to cause trouble and angered the government, their perpetual tenancy rights would be revoked?

With this one move alone, the tenants who were helping the landlord were turned into neutral parties who did not take sides.

There were even a few farmers who secretly helped the government identify hidden fields.

According to the law, if someone conceals assets, the whistleblower can receive one-third of those assets as a reward after the government verifies the information.

The common people weren't aware of this law, but Xu Lai's efforts to popularize it were undeniable. He would send people to explain the law to whichever village he was investigating.

What if a customer receives a land reward through a report but is unable to transfer the property? No problem, the government can convert it into a cash reward.

Having made these preparations, Xu Lai finally ordered the fields to be cleared again.

Who owns this field? And who is the tenant farmer?

The official pointed to a wheat field and shouted, "If the landowner and tenant do not come to claim it within two days, it will be considered ownerless land and confiscated. From now on, we will recruit new government tenants to cultivate it."

The wheat field has already turned yellow, and it will be ready for harvest in ten to fifteen days.

The tenant farmer, who had been waiting nearby, rushed over upon hearing the official's words: "I planted it! I planted this wheat! Don't hire a new tenant!"

The official then took out the register and asked for their names and household information. Some self-cultivating farmers also rented a small amount of land, so not all tenants were customers.

Upon learning that this person was a customer, the clerk asked again, "To which household should the document be sent?"

The customer replied, "Young Master Wang—not the Master Wang you beat with a cane, but another Master Wang from the village. They're from the same clan, but their families separated two generations ago."

"I'm asking for the name of the head of household!"

"I don't know, everyone calls him Master Wang."

"Is it Wang Tongde?"

"It seems to be that name, but—but I'm not sure."

Just then, someone in the distance shouted, "Master Wang is here!"

Wang Tongde's great-grandfather and Wang Daochen's grandfather were brothers. They had separated their families decades ago, but were still within the fifth degree of kinship.

With over a hundred acres of his own hidden land being discovered one after another, and the tenants also rushing to register, Wang Tongde could no longer sit still.

Wang Tongde jogged over to the shade of the tree where Xu Lai was standing, greeted him with a smile, and then asked, "Judge Xu, can I still apply for the hidden land grant now?"

Xu Lai flipped through the land measurement register and said, "That's fine. But the hidden land in your family that hasn't been measured yet has already been reported by other farmers for dozens of acres."

I keep my word; I'll reward them with one-third of their money.

Upon hearing this, Wang Tongde was furious and planned to make those whistleblowers pay dearly for it.

Xu Lai laughed and said, "Don't even think about revenge. Once the hidden fields in each village are investigated, I will rearrange the tenant farmers. I will personally record and keep the list of informants, and then burn it afterward. You won't be able to find out who reported them."

Wang Tongde thought to himself: Although we can't find out who reported my family, anyone who has acquired land without cause must be the informant. Even if they didn't report my family, they must have reported someone else. Then, the wealthy households will join forces to kill them!

Xu Lai's smile widened: "I will also confiscate a batch of hidden land and distribute it by lottery to fourth and fifth-class households in each village. As for the farmers who are rewarded for reporting wrongdoing, the government will only reward them with a small amount of land, and the rest will be converted into cash. You won't be able to find out who won the reward for reporting wrongdoing and who won by lottery."

Wang Tongde was taken aback, then immediately began to fawn over him: "Judge Xu's wisdom is unparalleled, I admire him greatly. These are my family's hidden land properties, please check them, Judge Xu."

"Very good," Xu said. "The hidden lands that have been discovered in your family's estates should have been confiscated. However, considering your good attitude and active cooperation with the government in clearing out the lands, only one-third will be confiscated. The remaining two-thirds, as well as the hidden lands you voluntarily declared, can be directly transferred to your family after you pay the back taxes for the past ten years. For the hidden lands that have been hidden for less than ten years, produce evidence of rent collection."

Xu Lai then said, "You are the first to voluntarily declare your hidden land, so you can have 50% of your evaded regular taxes reduced and all evaded miscellaneous taxes exempted. Moreover, the government keeps its word and will not pursue your family for the crime of concealing land."

"Thank you so much for your leniency, Judge Xu!" Wang Tongde was overjoyed.

Wang Tongde's losses amounted to nothing more than the confiscation of a few dozen acres of farmland and the inability to evade taxes in the future. Even the miscellaneous taxes he had previously evaded were now exempted. The regular taxes, on the other hand, were irrelevant; he could be made to pay them all, not just reduced by half, but entirely. This was because the miscellaneous taxes were far heavier than the regular taxes!

After Wang Tongde declared his land as a hidden field, he returned home in high spirits and then shut himself in, refusing to see anyone.

He is now considered a traitor among all the landlords in the county. He didn't even inform the other landlords before secretly coming to the government to submit to their demands.

But Wang Tongde also had his own reasons.

Unlike the Wang Daochen family, whose hidden lands have been almost completely investigated, leaving no way to seek leniency, he is also unlike other landlords whose properties have not yet been traced.

He's now partly exposed in Hidden Field, and if he doesn't cooperate honestly, he's doomed.

He made the right bet!

As the first landlord to voluntarily declare his hidden land, Xu Lai directly offered him the equivalent of a thousand gold pieces to buy a horse's bones.

As long as this guy doesn't get involved in a murder case, Xu Lai will protect him in all other cases. If ordinary people come to file a complaint, Xu Lai will even personally mediate, at most making Wang Tongde pay compensation to settle the matter.

Wang Tongde is Xu Lai's Qingtian brand, and he absolutely cannot be allowed to fall.

Fortunately, fearing retaliation from the landlord, no one came forward to plead their case. Otherwise, if a murder had actually occurred, Xu Lai would have been in a much more difficult position.

With Wang Tongde as an example, another landlord in Guishan Township, after only a few acres of hidden land were discovered, voluntarily came forward to report it.

Xu Lai continued to set up the signboard.

The second landlord who voluntarily declared his status received a very generous treatment, though not as good as Wang Tongde's.

And so, the third one arrived—

Landlords from other townships in the county were furious upon hearing the news, as three of them had turned out to be traitors.

What's this talk about connecting all the wealthy households in the county and prefecture? Even in Guishan Township alone, they're not united at all!

Taking advantage of the situation, Magistrate Wang Chunzhong posted notices in other villages of the county, detailing the treatment of the three landlords in Guishan Township and promising to do the same in other townships.

Landlords in each township who actively cooperate with the land clearing efforts will receive better benefits the earlier they report. Those who report later will only receive basic benefits. Those who refuse to cooperate from beginning to end will be dealt with according to law once the government has investigated and found out about the hidden land under their names.

Legal action would mean the destruction of families and the loss of lives!

What will be the fate of Wang Daochen's family?

Because the amount of concealed farmland is enormous, the maximum penalty must be imposed: the householder shall be released and all of their property shall be confiscated!

Such severe punishments required the signature of the Provincial Judicial Commissioner Shen Qi: county officials could impose the maximum penalty of caning, prefectural officials the maximum penalty of imprisonment, and the Provincial Judicial Commissioner could impose the maximum penalty of exile. If it was a capital offense, it had to be reported to the imperial court for the emperor's personal review and decision.

Several days after the notice was posted, a wealthy landowner from another township in the county secretly sent his son to the county government office.

"Magistrate Wang, I've come to apply for the registration of hidden land. My family is probably the first in Yongfeng Township to do so, right?"

"Yes."

"That's wonderful. My family has always been law-abiding citizens. We used to hide our land because the officials levied exorbitant taxes, and we simply couldn't bear the burden without concealing our property. Now that Magistrate Wang is in charge, the people's burden is not heavy. As law-abiding citizens, how could we possibly hide our land?"

"That makes sense; your family must be law-abiding citizens."

"This is my family's Hidden Field, and it has been written down in great detail."

"Indeed, you are a virtuous and good person. I intend to commend and reward you, and have a plaque inscribed with 'Upholding the Law' hung above your door."

"This...this isn't necessary, is it?"

"How can we turn a blind eye to good citizens? Don't worry, I've already carved several plaques and written the commendation documents in advance. Just fill in your family's name."

"this----"

"Hmm? You don't want to?"

"Yes, yes, we will definitely hang the plaque above the door."

"Very good. I will send some more constables to spread the word throughout the county with gongs and drums. Don't worry about standing out from the crowd; the county will take care of you."

"I'm not worried."

Why are you making that face?

"I was thinking of the officials in the past who levied exorbitant taxes and made life difficult for the people of Yucheng County, and I was so sad that I wanted to cry."

7

"What a kind and good person he is."