Chapter 83: The Rumor reaches Luling

Jiangxi, Luling.

County Magistrate Lin Tai was flipping through “The Analects of Confucius” in the back hall of the county office, occasionally reciting a line, “When you see someone virtuous, think of becoming their equal; when you see someone unvirtuous, introspect.” He would then lower his head, appearing lost in thought.

The Chief Clerk, Song Baogui, hurriedly entered the back hall and exclaimed loudly, “Magistrate, Magistrate, a letter from the capital!”

Upon hearing this, Lin Tai quickly stood up and walked out of the room.

Song Baogui also approached, handing over the letter with a fawning smile, “Magistrate, take a look.”

Lin Tai took the letter and carefully read it. He smiled and said, “It’s a letter from Wang Tan, Brother Wang from the office of Scrutiny for War. It has been about three months since we last received correspondence, so this must be a letter to catch up on old times.”

Song Baogui concurred, “Even if it’s catching up, it probably includes some news from the capital as well. Magistrate, can you share some of the news with us, so we can broaden our horizons and stay informed.”

Having spent many years secluded in Luling, Song Baogui was eager to hear news from the capital.

Lin Tai knew Song Baogui’s intentions and didn’t hide anything. He unfolded the letter and read it carefully. After glancing up and down a few times, his expression changed, and he held the letter with trembling hands.

Noticing Lin Tai’s reaction, Song Baogui was experienced enough to understand that something significant had happened.

“Magistrate?”

Song Baogui called softly after Lin Tai finished reading the letter.

Lin Tai shook as he raised and lowered his body, his face turning pale. He spoke with a heavy voice, “This… this goes against ancestral norms! Quick, go fetch uncle Fu!”

Song Baogui was perplexed.

Goes against ancestral norms?

Is he referring to the emperor?

Then why summon uncle Fu?

He’s just the house steward. Shouldn’t he be calling the vice magistrate and me?

“Go!”

Seeing Song Baogui’s hesitation, Lin Tai shouted again.

With no other option, Song Baogui left the county office. As he looked at the rushing waters of the Gan River not far away, he sighed, crossed Xixi Bridge, and headed along the embankment to find uncle Fu.

It was almost spring equinox, and at this time, uncle Fu should be overseeing the good farmland that County Magistrate Lin had purchased.

Indeed, uncle Fu stood at the edge of the field, loudly directing dozens of tenant farmers with waves of his whip. If the fields weren’t muddy, he might have charged forward to strike someone by now.

Seeing Song Baogui, Uncle Fu knew that he had been summoned by Magistrate Lin and shouted to the farmers in the field, “If the work isn’t done properly today, none of you will get any food! Starve to death, you bunch of mud-legged peasants!”

“Chief Clerk, does the Magistrate have something urgent to discuss?”

Uncle Fu asked.

Song Baogui shook his head and replied, “The Magistrate seems very anxious. Let’s hurry back.”

By the time Song Baogui and Fubo returned to the county office, Lin Tai looked extremely worn out and uneasy. Without waiting for Uncle Fu’s inquiry, Lin Tai let out a long sigh and said, “Return all the newly acquired land along the riverbank.”

“Return?”

Uncle Fu was taken aback.

Return to whom?

Why should they return it? These lands were robbed through their own efforts. Why should they return them?

Could it be that someone reported to the prefect?

Impossible. These people were well acquainted with their situation. A group of mud-legged peasants who didn’t even know how to read, it would be strange if they went to lodge a complaint.

“Magistrate must be joking, haha. Are you hungry? I’ll have someone prepare something immediately.”

Uncle Fu forced a laugh, feeling uneasy.

With a darkened expression, Lin Tai shouted, “I told you to return all the fields! Whichever family’s fields they are, return them to that family! Renew the land deeds properly, and make sure they all get them back. If you can’t return them, then you better go back to your hometown!”

“Ah?”

Uncle Fu couldn’t believe it, what is this?

Making oneself give up the land and insisting that those commoners take it back?

“Magistrate, we used silver to buy these pieces of land. This…”

Uncle Fu was extremely reluctant.

Lin Tai turned around, picked up the teapot, and smashed it directly on the ground, shouting, “I am the head of the family, and you are the steward! Can’t you understand my words, or are they not effective anymore?!”

Uncle Fu trembled and quickly knelt down to beg for forgiveness. As Lin Tai urged him again, he hurriedly fetched the land deeds and ran toward the riverbank.

What on earth is happening here?

Returning all these fields to their previous owners for nothing? On what grounds?

Uncle Fu couldn’t make sense of it.

Chief Clerk Song Baogui seemed to sense something. Lin Tai sighed and handed the letter to Song Baogui, saying, “In consideration of your concern for me, take a look at this letter.”

After expressing his gratitude, Song Baogui took the letter and, as soon as he read it, he exclaimed in shock, “The court is actually demanding the assessment of land, tracing its origins? If the origins are questionable, not only do they want the land returned, but also compensation in silver?”

In this day and age, which official with some level of status doesn’t have a few acres of unclean land?

Are all the officials in the capital pure and untainted?

Perhaps not!

Although they might not be buying land in the capital, they would definitely be acquiring land in their hometowns. It’s said that some second-ranked officials have claimed up to thirty percent of a prefecture’s land as their own.

How could these officials allow such an absurd decree to pass?

Lin Tai sighed mournfully and said, “Wang Tan wouldn’t deceive me. Although the exact reasons are unclear, it’s probably related to the Single Whip method. The court is about to implement a major reform. With this, how are we supposed to survive?”

Song Baogui held the letter, feeling uneasy. “It also mentions here that the Internal Ministry and the Ministry of Personnel are preparing new salary regulations, seemingly intending to include petty officials. Is that even possible?”

Lin Tai frowned and remained silent.

The number of petty officials far exceeded that of bureaucrats.

If the court included petty officials in the salary system, it would likely result in a huge financial burden and potentially undermine the stability of the empire.

Lin Tai sighed again and said, “The prominent officials in the court, why can’t they see the potential harm in this? They let the emperor act like this. In less than a year, the burden of taxes on the people will surely increase again. At that time, there might be great turmoil.”

Song Baogui squinted his eyes and didn’t respond, lost in thought.

Taking land from officials and wealthy elites, taxing it heavily, and implementing the single whip method might indeed reshape the empire’s finances. Even if petty officials were included, there should still be enough surplus.

Great turmoil?

What kind of turmoil?

The “Single Whip method” implemented in Luling was not directly applying the 1/15 tax to farmers. Instead, officials from the county’s agricultural tax office gathered all the farmers and inquired about their harvests and tax payments from the previous year, as well as various types of taxes paid.

They calculated an account for the farmers and informed them that although the tax rate used to be 1/30, the actual taxes imposed had exceeded 1/15, and sometimes even 1/7.

Now, with the new policy from the court, there will only be a 1/15 tax in the future, and no one will come to your homes demanding additional taxes.

What?

Corvée labor for repairing the riverbank?

No more corvée, only conscription.

In the future, if the court needed to repair the riverbank, they would pay 50 wén per day. If they needed labor for riverbank repair, they could come and work for extra income. If they didn’t want to come, they could stay at home and sleep; no one would force them to become laborers.

Even if they were conscripted to transport grain or row boats, they would receive wages; they wouldn’t be working for free.

Now the Single Whip method was widely welcomed among the farmers. People from the county agriculture tax office would visit the fields every day, saying, “If you encounter difficulties, come to our agriculture tax office.”

People who didn’t know might think that the county office had relocated.

Lin Tai had no choice. The people from the Provincial administration office were sitting in the agriculture tax office. What could he do?

If, as stated in the letter, the court was really planning to distribute official land and the land of wealthy elites to the farmers, then the bottom-tier farmers would undoubtedly erect shrines for Zhu Yunwen. Peace would prevail, and there would be no great turmoil.

Just as Lin Tai and Song Baogui were deep in thought, Liu De, a county runner from the county office in Luling, also received a letter. The letter had been delivered by a censor’s messenger from the capital city. Liu De had accompanied this censor during an investigation in Luling before, which had led to a positive relationship between them.

Liu De was illiterate, so he handed the letter to his fourteen-year-old son.

When his son read the line, “Exemplary assessment of petty officials and opportunities for their children to enter officialdom,” Liu De was immediately moved to tears. He knelt on the ground, facing north, and cried out, “Heaven has opened its eyes! The emperor is wise!”

Then, standing up, Liu De looked at his son’s hopeful eyes and choked up as he said, “My child, you can continue your studies now. You can continue your studies!”

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