Chapter Thirty-Four: The Great Plan of the Countryside
In the third year of Chongzhen, in August, on the day of gui hai, Yuan Chonghuan was sentenced to death by lingchi for his crimes, which included "failing to fulfill his duties, relying solely on deceit and concealment, using grain supplies to aid bandits, plotting against his superiors, allowing the enemy to advance unopposed, and refusing to engage in battle. When reinforcements arrived at the city gates, he dispersed them all. He also secretly colluded with the lamas and begged to be allowed into the city." His body was left exposed in the market after his execution. Lin Chunhong did not learn of this until September, when he received a report from the imperial court, and for a long time he could not calm down.
Lin Chunhong clearly remembered that after Jian Nu looted the Beijing area in Chongzhen 2 and 3 years, the fate of the Ming Dynasty went straight down. Externally, they repeatedly lost battles, and their defenses were constantly shrinking to the Ningjin line; internally, most of the loyalist troops fled and scattered throughout northern China and Shaanxi, immediately becoming a key force in the peasant uprising, turning the entire Ming Dynasty upside down.
Lin Chunhong was worried and anxious, he had a strong desire to show off his skills, but unfortunately the Ming dynasty never gave him the opportunity to do so.
He wanted to build a good fighting force, but there was no reputation for him to let go and do his thing. Five or six hundred elite soldiers were still flying the banner of the Zhijiang County archers. As for forging weapons, it was even more impossible, and they could only secretly buy some rubbish from the Da Tian Qianhu.
He wanted to govern a region, but he was not from the imperial examination background and was often excluded by officials like Bao Zhidong who were from the imperial examination background. Although he is currently serving as a historian, it can be imagined that there will be little room for promotion in the future.
Lin Chunhong couldn't help but feel indignant in his heart and thought to himself: "Must I be forced to follow Li Zicheng's path?"
Lin Chunhong shook his head immediately: It is absolutely impossible to follow Li Zicheng's path for the time being.
Lin Chunhong was very clear-headed. Once he raised the flag of rebellion, it would be difficult for his loyal subordinates to follow him all the way to the end. The Ming dynasty had been established for over 200 years, and unless they were desperate, the vast majority of its subjects would not take the initiative to rebel.
Furthermore, the current prosperity of our business is mainly due to being rooted in the Ming system. The vast Ming Empire provides a huge consumer market for the entire group, and once the flag of opposition is raised, all businesses will immediately fall into trouble.
Lin Chunhong sighed, thinking to himself that indeed the great ancestor emperor was right, "High walls and wide granaries, slow to claim kingship". He should just focus on gradually building up his strength. With enough power, whether it's supporting the Ming dynasty or rebelling against it, wouldn't it all be within his grasp?
After careful consideration, Lin Chunhong made a three-step plan for himself: The first step is to take the opportunity of the bow and arrow troops entering the countryside to control Zhijiang County and gain experience in grasping local power; The second step, Lin Chunhong set his sights on the Datian Thousand Households, hoping to thoroughly control the Datian Thousand Households and provide a legitimate reason for himself to expand his army and prepare for war, and create an arsenal; The third step, Lin Chunhong planned to use various excuses to lead his troops to conquer in all directions, expand his territory, and forge a powerful and victorious army.
With a plan in place, Lin Chunhong cast his worries far aside and couldn't help but flash a cold smile at the corner of his mouth: "I'll just have a duel with Bao Zhedong in Zhijiang first. The joy of fighting others is endless! If I don't have an enemy for a day, my whole body won't feel comfortable!"
Xiao Dai stood beside Lin Chunhong, seeing him sometimes anxious, sometimes deep in thought, and sometimes excited, finally revealing a smile. He was deeply afraid that Lin Chunhong would become obsessed, so he hastily took out a report and said: "Sir, Nie Xinzhe and Cheng Shu from Dongjiawan have written a report, please take a look!"
"Oh? So soon there's already a report? These two guys are quite diligent, let me take a look!"
At the beginning of the year, Lin Chunhong carefully selected ten representative villages and dispatched twenty people to enter them. He also required each person to write a report on what they did and their experiences and send it to him for review. Lin Chunhong was naturally a bit impatient, after all, these twenty people were the key to his first plan.
Lin Chunhong took over the report and was immediately enchanted, for a time even forgetting to eat.
……
Dongjiawan Village is located on the banks of the Manao River. Here, the Manao River makes a turn and forms a bay, hence the name Dongjiawan Village. The village has about 1,200 mu (approximately 200 hectares) of arable land, as well as some hillsides and bamboo forests. The irrigation is convenient, and the soil is fertile. Each plot of land can yield two crops of rice per year. To maintain soil fertility, oilseed rape is also planted in between, making the yield per mu relatively high, with about 50 dan (approximately 2,500 kg) of grain produced per year. According to the elderly villagers, this is mainly due to the promotion of Champa rice during the Song Dynasty. However, the land here is extremely fragmented and has been artificially divided into many small plots. For example, Dong Zikai's family in East Village has 21 mu of paddy fields scattered across 12 different locations, making one wonder how he can remember where all his fields are.
There are no particularly large landlords in Dongjiawan, and the person who owns the most land is Dong Shentai, with only over 200 mu. Dong Shentai is the head of the Dong family clan and is responsible for handling some major and minor matters in the village, with a very high reputation. There are very few pure tenants in Dongjiawan. According to Dong Shentai's account, when the ancestors of the Dong family, Dong Wenlong and Dong Wenbi, moved here, they established the system of "xuetian" (educational fields) and "jitian" (sacrificial fields). When members of the Dong clan encountered difficulties, the clan would raise funds to buy out their land, which would become xuetian and jitian, used for ancestral worship and private schools. If the family overcame their difficulties and wanted to redeem their land, they could do so at the original sale price. This system has been well implemented for hundreds of years, and as a result, the villagers have generally lived in peace and prosperity.
However, Dongjiawan also has the contradiction of many people and little land. Therefore, life in Dongjiawan is relatively leisurely. After work, villagers like to chat under the big locust tree at the village head. Some young people even gamble, but the amount of money used as a bet is very small, mainly just to pass the time.
Dongjiawan has 323 households, with a population of 1,580 people, including 672 males and 908 females. Interestingly, most men in Dongjiawan are surnamed Dong, while their wives are mostly surnamed Teng. This is because Dongjiawan and Tengjiahe are adjacent to each other, and women from Dongjiawan generally marry into Tengjiahe, while women from Tengjiahe generally marry into Dongjiawan. The two surnames have a close relationship, with their ancestral halls even being adjacent to each other.
After Cheng Shu and I arrived at Dongjiawan, the first thing we did was to set up a shop. Although we didn't lack money, wood or stones, we were short of labor. So, we directly recruited villagers in Dongjiawan to help us build the shop, providing them with meals and wages. Many villagers were attracted by this. We worked and chatted with the villagers together, letting them gradually accept us. After the shop was built, on the suggestion of the clan elder Dong Chentai, we mainly sold iron farm tools, salt, sugar, wood, lime and other daily necessities. The villagers felt that it was more convenient than before and liked to gather at the shop to chat and play cards. In view of this, Cheng Shu and I discussed and added two houses, specifically for the villagers to play cards, and also provided free tea.
The village elder, Dong Shentai, often came to the shops and saw that the road was not easy to walk on, so he mobilized the villagers to repair a road, which led directly to the entrance of the shop. We provided free lime, so this road is not muddy even in rainy days.
Apart from selling things, we also purchase some items. However, there are not many things available for purchase at the moment, as the villagers here are mostly self-sufficient and rarely have any dealings with outsiders. Currently, the shop is operating normally, but it's still in a state of losing money. Excluding the cost of building houses and paying wages, we've lost 32 taels of silver in the past two months. But I'm not worried, and neither is Cheng Shu - slowly but surely, I think the shop will turn a profit.
After the shop was built, I and Cheng Shu saw that the villagers had basically accepted us and felt that the timing of organizing the bowmen was ripe. When Cheng Shu announced the decision of Lord Dian Shi, more than 50 villagers rushed over immediately. Cheng Shu selected 12 bowmen according to the recruitment requirements of Zhou Zongguan, and they started training this month. According to Cheng Shu's plan, the training time is chosen on the 2nd, 5th, and 8th days of each month in the morning. During the training, a group of idle people gathered around to watch, making the bowmen being trained feel a bit constrained and unable to let go. However, since the villagers were watching, the bowmen trained quite seriously, fearing losing face in front of their fellow villagers.
To determine the list of twelve archers, Cheng Shu was very cautious. He inquired with the clan leader and asked many villagers about the list of over fifty people, directly eliminating some lazy and untrustworthy individuals to ensure that the archer troops would not disturb the people. After the formation of the archer team, he insisted on patrolling every night, both to prevent thieves and to inspect potential dangers. The villagers clearly felt safer, and Clan Leader Dong Chentai personally found Cheng Shu to express their gratitude.
Despite all the precautions, an unexpected incident occurred: the tiles on the roof of a shop were smashed by three hooligans, who were immediately caught by the archer troops. It turned out that they had been harboring resentment for not being included in the archer troops and took this opportunity to retaliate. I and Cheng Shu attached great importance to this matter, thinking it was an opportunity to establish the prestige of the archer troops.
So, Cheng Shu and I worked out a detailed plan to deal with them. We asked the villagers and selected 15 village bullies that everyone hated, then found a lot of evidence and witnesses to determine their crimes. Then, through Dong Chentai, we convened a public trial for these 15 bullies. However, these bullies didn't have any major crimes, they just stole chickens, molested women, or did some minor damage. Originally, Cheng Shu and I were going to send these 15 people to Baili Zhou for three months of hard labor, but after asking Dong Chentai, he insisted on drowning three of them in the river and sending the other 12 to Baili Zhou for a lifetime of hard labor.
I and Cheng Shu were shocked by Dong Chentai's severe punishment measures. After a side understanding, we found that the villagers had an abnormal aversion to these fifteen people, and Dong Chentai had long wanted to get rid of them, but was unable to do so because they were all clan members and couldn't bear the shame of handling them. Now with Dian Shi's support from behind, Dong Chentai thought he could solve the problem once and for all. We can't ignore the villagers' and Dong Chentai's demands, but we also feel that this approach is a bit reckless disregard for justice. So we discussed with Dong Chentai to send these fifteen people to Baili Zhou to serve two years of hard labor, and then decide what to do next based on their performance. Dong Chentai agreed to this method.
After taking away the 15 thugs, the villagers finally felt relieved and proud. In their words: "Before, they didn't dare to provoke these people for fear of revenge, but now it's all settled, a great evil has been eliminated from the village." As a result, the archer team received wholehearted support from the villagers, with some even sending eggs to Cheng Shu as a gift. The archers also felt proud and relieved, and now many villagers are eager to join the archer team, surrounding Cheng Shu in hopes that their children can join the team one day.
However, after the archer team's reputation rose, it also brought us trouble. There were many disputes in the village, between neighbors, brothers, and sisters-in-law... all over some trivial matters, such as disputes over land boundaries, family divisions... In the past, Dong Shentai would handle them, but he was also at his wit's end. Now the villagers are used to calling me and Cheng Shu, thinking that with us around, they can resolve their disputes fairly. Cheng Shu and I have carefully considered these matters and feel that the root of the problem lies in the fact that there are too many people in the village and not enough land, making life too comfortable, so everyone has the energy to quarrel over trivial things. To fundamentally solve the disputes, we need to find ways for the villagers to make money, letting them pursue profits.
I think the archer team should be expanded to at least thirty people, and the training time should also be increased, which needs to be approved by Lord Zhenshi. In addition, considering that the bamboo baskets made by Dong Zicai in our village are selling very well in the county town and Jingzhou Prefecture, we asked Dong Zicai to take on more apprentices and teach them the skills of making bamboo baskets. For each apprentice taken on, we will provide an additional subsidy of one or two silver coins, and we will collect as many bamboo baskets as they make. Dong Zicai is also very willing, and now some villagers have learned to make bamboo baskets and have extra income.
But these measures cannot fundamentally solve the problem. Recently, I heard that Baili Zhou is seriously short of people. I would like to ask for your instructions, can we publicize the benefits of Baili Zhou in the village and guide and gather villagers to seek a way out in Baili Zhou?
Additionally, the head of Tengjiahe village is quite envious of the changes in Dongjiawan. He thinks that buying things has become more convenient and the village is also quieter. He asked if we can also build shops and organize an archery team in Tengjiahe. I and Cheng Shu did not directly answer yes or no, now reporting to Lord Dianshi, please let Lord Dianshi decide.
In addition, the villagers of Tengjia River also flocked to our store to buy things. When buying things, the villagers were used to exchanging goods with physical objects. I and Cheng Shu found it difficult, after all, the value of physical objects was hard to judge, and if we weren't careful, we would suffer losses or harm the interests of the villagers. After investigating the reason, we found that the villagers had too little silver in their hands, and the prices of goods were too low, making physical exchange more cost-effective. I think that for small transactions like these, using copper coins is the best option, as silver is too troublesome to weigh and divide. However, there are very few copper coins in the entire Ming dynasty, and many villagers still use copper coins from the Song dynasty. For now, I can't find a better solution, so we can only try our best not to let the villagers suffer losses in physical exchange, which is also one of the reasons for our store's losses.
The villagers now trust us very much, and many villagers told us that the Manao River has cut off their connection with Dongshi Town. If a bridge can be built, it would be great. In order to facilitate the villagers and also to gain their support, I and Cheng Shu decided to donate money ourselves to build this bridge. However, after Dong ChenTai found out about this, he was dissatisfied with us and insisted that we should not spend this money. He organized the villagers to quarry stones and build the bridge themselves. There is a stonemason in Dongjiawan named Dong ShengKui, who is said to have very high skills in building bridges. Many bridges in Zhijiang and even in Jingzhou Prefecture were built under his supervision.
I and Cheng Shu think that the head of the Dong family, Dong Chentai, helped us a lot. We were able to quickly open up in Dongjiawan thanks to his support. Moreover, there was no appearance of refugees or famine in Dongjiawan, which is related to the family rules set by the ancestors of the Dong family. The family rules of the Dong family are very strict, and the handling of the 15 troublemakers proved this point. When dealing with events that violate the family rules, Dong Chentai only takes charge of clarifying the facts, while determining whether it violates the family rules is decided by three elderly people with high moral standing. If it is confirmed to have violated the family rules, another member of the Dong family decides what punishment to implement. During the handling process, villagers are not allowed to be driven away from watching. Even I and Cheng Shu can observe, and even raise objections, but we never raised any objections.
According to our observation, the labor service in the village is still quite heavy. It's ridiculous that the data of Dongjiawan in Zhijiang County is still from over 100 years ago, which was compiled into two Li Jia. However, with only two Li Jia, the labor service seems excessive. According to Dong Shentai's words, Dongjiawan was also forced by the labor service to the point of having no way out, and many families were ruined because they couldn't afford it. The fourth generation ancestor of the Dong family made an agreement with the clan members to serve together, with the clan leader arranging everything. Therefore, everyone helped each other, protecting the poor clan members from poverty. Originally, Dongjiawan had a surplus of labor, and simply serving in labor service could get by, but now the better labor service positions in the county have been occupied by some people for a long time, while Dongjiawan needs to pay silver to replace the labor service. As a result, the amount of silver submitted each year is several times that of taxes, causing villagers to complain endlessly. Fortunately, Dongjiawan's land is fertile, and they can still catch fish in the river or lake, so they won't starve to death.
Dongjiawan set up a private school, and the children in the village could study there after paying a certain amount of tuition. This tuition was not high, and it was allocated to each child according to the harvest of the academic fields. As a result, since the Hongwu Emperor's time, Dongjiawan has produced two jinshi (advanced scholars), five juren (recommended men) and many xiucai (cultivated talents). This is closely related to the system of academic fields. Now there are still two young men from the Dong family serving as officials outside the village. I think that in Baili Zhou, we can also establish a system of academic fields, so that children can go to school, which would be a great benevolent policy...
