Volume 1: Entering Great Qin for the First Time Chapter 45: Discussion of Land (Three)

  "This time, after surveying and measuring the land, I have decided to establish a new prefecture. This prefecture is specially set up for this land survey and does not belong to the three dukes and nine ministers, but directly under my control, responsible for the overall planning of this land survey. Once the land matter is settled, this prefecture will be abolished immediately. What do you think, my dear officials?"

  Originally, setting up a new prefecture would have been a major change to the official system. However, Hu Hai immediately added that it was only temporary and not among the three dukes and nine ministers, and would be abolished afterwards, so there was no problem. Moreover, with this prefecture, it should be possible to clarify responsibilities more clearly.

  The idea of Hu Hai's Ministry of Land and Resources, naturally comes from the Ministry of Land and Resources in later generations. It is not time to reform the official system yet, and there must be a Ministry of Land and Resources behind it, but whether the Ministry of Land will be withdrawn or not depends on the situation, Hu Hai used a delaying tactic.

  "Long live Your Majesty!"

  "Hmm. In this matter, I intend to let Feng Lao Ai Qi temporarily take the lead and oversee the land survey of our Great Qin's various counties. While Lao Zong Zheng and Zhang Ai Qi will assist from the side. Are you three Ai Qi willing to undertake this heavy responsibility for me?"

  Hu Hai chose Feng Quji, Ying Tong and Zhang Han to work together to take charge of this land survey. He had his own reasons for doing so. Feng Quji was the Right Chancellor, a man of high moral character, upright and unyielding, and could be said to be the best candidate.

  Ying Tong is the head of the Zhong Zheng, representing the Qin Ying clan, so anyone who dares to obstruct will have to weigh their actions carefully; while Zhang Han is his trusted aide, holding both the positions of Langzhongling and Shaofu, making him the perfect representative to participate in this matter from start to finish, and if any situation arises, he can be informed and handle it at any time.

  "I am willing to die for Your Majesty!"

  Feng Qi and Ying Tong immediately agreed, as for Zhang Han, it goes without saying.

  "Do you gentlemen have differing opinions?"

  Hearing all three of them respond crisply, Hu Hai asked again.

  "Long live Your Majesty!"

  Feng Qiuci is the Chancellor, although he is on the right, but after all, he is one of the leaders of the hundred officials; Ying Teng is the head of the imperial clan as the head of the imperial clan, while Zhang Han holds two positions, one person takes two marquises, and now he is even more powerful, the emperor's confidant.

  Since these three people have all agreed, and more importantly, the senior officials in the court have seen through the emperor's deeper thoughts from the three people chosen by the emperor, naturally no one will blindly oppose.

  "Very well! Let the Ministry of Land immediately draft an edict and issue it, and order the Imperial Censorate, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Court of Judicial Review to fully cooperate with the Ministry of Land in investigating and measuring land. The Ministry of Land can freely requisition personnel and materials from these four ministries as needed. What do you think, my dear ministers?"

  The four offices of the Imperial Censor, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works and the Court of Judicature and Revision also took into consideration Hu Hai. The Imperial Censors were the monitoring system in later generations, and it was probably the same for the Qin Dynasty, as someone had to supervise the land survey.

  Chancellor Li Si has already spoken about this, originally it was his duty to take charge of these matters, so he should also participate in the discussion.

  Shaofu can be said to be the only one of the nine ministers that Hu Hai understands, because Zhang Han was someone he had been paying attention to since his eastern tour, wanting to win him over, so the Shaofu in charge of the great Qin's taxes could not be absent.

  The Minister of Justice is the Minister of Public Security in later generations. This time, when investigating and measuring land, there will inevitably be friction and conflicts. With people from the Ministry of Justice, a law enforcement agency, following along, it will definitely be much more convenient to implement.

  After Hu Hai got rid of Zhao Gao, he had some thoughts on land matters. Although he only figured out the responsibilities of five departments among the nine ministers tonight, these five departments happened to be useful, and he couldn't let them go.

  "Long live Your Majesty!"

  The heavy ministers under the hall were clearer than Hu Hai about the responsibilities of the four houses. The emperor's arrangement for the cooperation of the four houses was also just right, and these heavy ministers would not have any opinions.

  "Well, since none of you have any opinions, it's settled then. I'll say a few more words about the arrangements for this land survey and measurement."

  Huhai picked up the teacup on the long table and took a sip before slowly saying.

  "This time, the land survey is intended to use Nanyang, Yingchuan, Henan, Dongjun, Xuejun, and Langya as the boundary. The six counties south of these can be temporarily not managed for now, considering the current situation of Da Qin, and will be discussed again later."

  The six counties to the north, including these six counties, I hope that the Ministry of Land will complete the survey and measurement within three years. It is imperative to thoroughly investigate all the fields owned by meritorious officials, noble families, wealthy households, high-ranking officials in the court, as well as the people of various counties.

  All concealed and occupied land must be registered and recorded for future reference. This time, when surveying and measuring the land, it is necessary to conveniently compile statistics on the population, number of households, livestock, etc., for use in granting land.

  These six counties include all the northern counties, and I plan to implement them in batches. The National Territory Prefecture starts from Neishi County, with a quota of...

  When it came to this point, Hu Hai suddenly stopped, and the heavy ministers in the hall were a bit inexplicable, not knowing why Hu Hai had just started and then stopped.

  Actually, Hu Hai wasn't unwilling to speak, it's just that he didn't know which was which among the various counties of this great Qin dynasty. The six counties he mentioned earlier were because of his own strategy, and after saying them many times, he finally remembered them. At this time, without a map, he was at a loss.

  Just as all the officials under the hall were at a loss, Hu Hai spoke up.

  "Cui Niang! Have someone bring me the map from my study."

  "Yes, milord!"

  As soon as Hu Hai's voice fell, a soft and gentle voice responded from outside the main hall.

  Soon, several eunuchs and palace maids brought over that giant map from Hu Hai's study.

  Huhai got up and came to the front of the giant map placed in the main hall, and the ministers below also gathered around. At this moment, Huhai's brain was rapidly turning against the map, drawing on the data related to land reform in later generations.

  "Gentlemen, please note that our Great Qin has six northern provinces: Nanyang, Yingchuan, Henan, Dongjun, Xuejun and Langya. In total, there are more than 30 provinces. These numerous provinces will be divided into three stages over three years, with each year being one stage."

  In the first stage, I want to start from Neishi Xiangyang, followed by Hanzhong, Ba, Shu, Longxi, Beidi, Shangjun, Jiuyuan and Yunzhong in eight counties.

  The second stage, starting from Sanchuan County, along the He Dong, Shangdang, Julu, Guangyang line to the north of Liaodong and other thirteen counties.

  The third stage was for Nanyang and more than ten remaining counties.

  All counties, arable land, non-arable land, wasteland, mountainous and forested land, number of households, population, livestock, etc., should be registered and recorded.

  After the land survey and registration of all households are completed in each county, the cultivable land will be immediately granted to the people. You, my dear officials, must understand that at this moment I am willing to take such a great risk to conduct a thorough investigation of the land for what purpose, so the census and land allocation are the foundation.

  This matter must not be taken lightly. Investigate thoroughly and grant land accordingly, with the heart of granting land to comfort the people and restore agricultural production as the top priority. The three-year period is what I hope for; if it cannot be done, then it can be extended later.

  You can inform the wealthy households or clans without official titles that they will not be allowed to hand over their lands for nothing. The original land of each prefecture can retain up to 5,000 mu at most, and the excess land will be repurchased by the imperial court with taxes.

  In other words, the imperial court exempted them from paying taxes and used it as capital to buy land; and for wealthy families or clans who wanted more land, after the imperial court had cleared up the land grants, they could also buy it at a price, with each household limited to 10,000 mu of land.

  "All newly granted or purchased land can be transferred and rented, but such transfers and rentals must be certified by the government. The purchased land shall not be left idle, nor shall it be used for building houses. Those who violate this rule will have all their land confiscated."

  Hu Hai finished speaking in one breath, swept his gaze over the ministers surrounding the map, and then asked.

  He actually wanted to buy a house and land, but it's impossible for everything to be done in one step, is it? Gradual progress sometimes yields better results.

  Leave five thousand mu of land for the wealthy families or clans without titles, which can reduce their resistance and minimize backlash.

  Allowing the rich to buy land indirectly gave feudal landlords a fertile ground for growth, because if these wealthy people were not allowed to get an inch of land, their own land reform would encounter unimaginable obstacles. As the saying goes, money can make ghosts grind mills.

  As for whether there will be no land to grant to the common people because of too many rich people or too many nobles, Hu Hai is not worried at all. Outside, there are vast lands waiting to be developed. Not to mention others, just the three northeastern provinces in later generations can have so much arable land, and how many people does the Great Qin have now?

  Under the same compulsory order that arable land cannot be left idle, wealthy families or noble families with land must also find people to cultivate it. As for the common people, if they have land, they can of course go to work on it to earn more income. But how many people does Great Qin currently have? Less than 20 million, and compared to the vast territory of Great Qin, there are few people and much land.

  At that time, these landlords had to find enough people to help them cultivate the land, so they would naturally try their best to win over the peasants who worked for them. As a result, the degree of oppression suffered by the tenants could be reduced to the minimum, because if you are not good to the tenant, I will not work with you and go somewhere else to work.

  Of course, protecting the interests of ordinary people will also be legislated in the future, so as to better safeguard the interests of the most vulnerable groups.

  The lives of the common people will be greatly improved, and in a situation where there is more land and fewer people, in order to obtain more labor force, it will necessarily encourage the old masters of the Great Qin to exercise more at night and have more children, so that the population will increase dramatically in a short period of time.

  Moreover, Hu Hai had already thought of this, and later when the population began to grow, he would use legislation to protect and assist the poor who were in difficulty. This is a story for another time.

  The great ministers under the hall, as the elite of this era, had already weighed the pros and cons in their hearts when Hu Hai spoke.

  Huhai's plan for the land reform has taken into account the reactions and interests of all levels of society in Qin, and is proceeding in an orderly and gradual manner, without any sudden changes. It can be said to be almost perfect.

  At this moment, when Hu Hai asked the question, Li Si and others looked at each other, then Li Si stepped forward and bowed to Hu Hai, saying:

  "Your Majesty's words are comprehensive and progressive, which we think is very good. However, Your Majesty, it seems that those of us who have titles but no land should consider how to dispose of our salaries?"

  Still asking for recommendations.