After Zhang Rui announced the land rent, many tenant farmers who could not rent their land and were severely exploited by the landlords seemed to see new hope in life, and they all joined together with their families.
Although the local squires have complained, it has not had much impact on them so far. It is just a pity for the tenant farmers who have signed contracts with them.
Although the nearby magistrates were wary of Zhang Rui's tendency to attract refugees, when Zhang Rui collected grain from the surrounding common people at one tael of silver per stone to complete the summer tax for them, the county magistrates had never felt that summer tax was so simple. This isn't all bad.
You must know that in this dry weather, the squires gave him only six pieces of silver. Zhang Rui, on the other hand, swallowed 20,000 shi of grain by himself, clearing away all the taxes, grain and silver that had to be paid in the surrounding area.
Originally, the squires complained about Zhang Rui's actions, but as soon as Zhang Rui finished harvesting the grain. It rained heavily. So, they laughed instead. Instead, I felt that God was not letting Zhang Rui have an easy time.
If it rains, then the price of grain can be charged at four cents per load.
They just walked a longer distance to collect elsewhere. Some squires who did not sell grain to Zhang Rui even regretted it. If I had known it would rain so soon, I should have given Zhang Rui all the food he had.
Poor and landless displaced households have been a headache for the government since ancient times. It would be nice to find land to rent to them. However, some landlords and gentry were too oppressive, and some even demanded a 28/20 share of the land, leaving them wandering around without rent. This causes trouble for county management.
When Zhang Rui absorbed those landless homeless households, even though the county boss knew that this was against the laws of the Qing Dynasty, he still ignored it and refused to report it. After all, Zhang Rui did not rebel, and the prefect still wanted to ask for an official for him.
There are fewer poor displaced households in the surrounding areas, and the county is easier to manage. Zhang Rui also organized these people to open up wasteland and kill bandits. After opening up wasteland, tax revenue can be increased, and killing bandits can stabilize the village and protect the people. These are no small feats for the county master.
Therefore, the county not only did not stop him, but also asked his agents and other agents to spread the propaganda so that those who had no land to farm could go to work in Zhang Ruina.
Due to the government's connivance and propaganda, the population of Zhilianshan increased rapidly to more than 10,000 people at this time, which was comparable to the population of a county town in this era.
The result of the influx of a large number of people and the purchase of large amounts of materials was the rapid reduction of Zhilianshan's bank account. At this time, there was only more than 10,000 silver left in the Zhilianshan Bank. A month and a half ago, there were 2,460 taels of gold and more than 50,000 taels of silver in the bank. These 2,460 taels of gold can be exchanged for 35,000 taels of silver in Guangzhou Mansion.
Nearly 70,000 taels of silver were lost in a month, and all they got in exchange were landless and poor people who were of little use. And these poor people still have as many as they need. Liu Muxiu, who looked at the accounts, couldn't help but sigh that this six was too much of a waste.
Not only Liu Muxiu sighed, but also Li Hun, who was managing the land reclamation team at this time. Oh, no, it should not be called Li Hun, but Li Xiude.
"It's just land reclamation. Where can we use such good tools? How much does it cost to have so many cattle!"
Li Hun caused Li Decai to lose a lot of money because of Zhang Rui's incident. According to Li Decai's opinion, he should be drowned in a river to satisfy his anger. But because Zhang Rui spent two hundred taels on people, Li Decai accepted them as soon as he could, and Li Hun survived. At the same time, he also changed his name to Li Xiude.
Li Xiude was grateful to Zhang Rui from the bottom of his heart. He thought that even if Zhang Rui had not promised him the fifty acres of land, he would have given up on Zhang Rui.
At the same time, as Zhang Rui continued to grow, Li Xiude couldn't help but feel lucky in his heart.
A large amount of silver is mainly used to purchase grain, oil, homespun cloth, salt, and iron ingots. Since the surrounding minerals, saltpeter and sulfur are cheap to purchase, there aren't that many of them.
In terms of food, at this time, the village has more than 20,000 stones of food stored in the village, which is barely enough to feed 10,000 people for a year. According to Liu Muxiu's opinion, there was no need to stock up on food again. After all, after the land is cleared, as long as there is a certain amount of grain, there will be income, but by then these civilians will no longer have to be supported by Zhang Rui.
Zhang Rui did not agree with Liu Muchiu's suggestion. Instead, he took out another 20,000 taels of silver and gave it to Liu Muchiu, asking him to buy another 20,000 shi for five cents.
Salt and oil were hoarded according to this standard, but the number of cloths decreased and the number of iron ingots increased.
Regarding Zhang Rui's upcoming steps, Liu Muchiu was excited and afraid at the same time. At this time, he felt that he was no longer a copycat bandit leader, but a real county magistrate.
For the first time, he felt the meaning of his reading.
…
Facing the arrival of large numbers of people and the reduction of banknotes. Increasing revenue and reducing expenditure has become the top priority. Otherwise, Zhang Rui doesn't know how long he can last with the more than 50,000 taels of silver.
So, Zhang Rui took the bandit suppression team that had just trained for less than half a month to go out to suppress the bandits.
Directly connected to the Goutou Mountain forty miles outside the mountain, within the territory of Wuzhou.
After many villagers who suffered greatly came to request, Zhang Rui decided to attack it first.
Under the guidance of surrounding villagers, Zhang Rui's scout team quickly discovered this bandit's den with only more than fifty people.
To say that bandits are bandits, they can deal with civilians, but if they deal with regular troops, they will only risk death.
At this time, the scout team had been trained by experienced scouts that Zhang Rui poached from the Manchu Green Camp at a high price. Its combat effectiveness was that before Zhang Rui could lead his troops to the bandits' den, more than 30 scouts invaded the bandit's den with zero casualties and captured all the masters of the village alive.
Looking at this speechless result, Zhang Rui thought of the concept of special forces for the first time and decided to recruit more scouts after returning.
The other team members looked at the arrogant scout team and gritted their teeth. Why didn't we even show our faces? What would happen without us?
As a result, in the next week or so, the three bandit dens within a hundred miles of Zhilian Mountain all suffered from disasters. Even the bandits who had received reports of the bandit suppression team within two hundred miles nearby fled the area of Zhilian Mountain.
After going out to suppress the bandits, Zhang Rui still had one hundred and seventy-eight thousand, six hundred and seventy-eight taels of silver left. With this money, the financial pressure faced by Zhilianshan Village will be reduced again.
Originally, according to what was said during recruitment, Zhang Rui could ignore the players' money, but in this world without benefits, how can there be motivation? Therefore, Zhang Rui made an agreement between them that all the bandits that would be suppressed in the future would be handed over to the public, and then the public would distribute 30% to the captured troops.
This regulation was cheered by the anti-bandit team, and only in this way could they have the motivation to fight hard.
…
By the time Zhang Rui led his team back to Zhilian Mountain, the population of Zhilian Mountain was close to 20,000. Many of these people are from Guangdong, and many are from Hunan, Guizhou and other places.
And all this is due to the external propaganda of those old beggars who seem to be useless.
At this time, the mountains and plains are covered not with flowers, but with houses. Standing on Zhilian Mountain and looking down, you can see the neat and orderly houses, which is so pleasing to the eye.
"I really hope this world can continue to be so beautiful." Liu Musiu, who was standing next to Zhang Rui at this time, couldn't help but sigh.
"yes…"
"Even the imperial court doesn't seem to be doing better than Sixth Brother..."
…
Liu Muchiu's words were echoed by everyone around Zhang Rui. Among these people also included Zhang Zhishan, the Qianzong of Luying who was stationed in Cangwu County, Wuzhou.
In the Qing Dynasty, both the Green Camp and the Banner Camp were a kind of world-class military system. Soldiers had a career in the world, and sergeants served as soldiers for food. A family of more than one had to rely on salary to survive. Since the salary was limited and they were not allowed to engage in other occupations, it was naturally difficult to maintain it. Livelihoods and life are becoming increasingly difficult.
However, the Qing Dynasty's care for Qiying was slightly better. No matter how bad it was, the elderly and children in their families could be included to eat more food. But Green Camp was left to fend for itself, and not only that, its top position was constantly being usurped by the bannermen.
So, when Zhang Rui was getting rich, Zhang Zhishan, the Qianzong of the Green Camp with only 60 soldiers under his command, came to Zhang Rui.
There was no way, the civil servants were pressing down on top, the squires below were unable to move, and the poor people who were able to move couldn't do anything to suppress the situation. There were soldiers who were too hungry and weak to fight around, and the bandits couldn't do it. I went to rob but I was afraid of being reported.
The family has no land and a large family to support. A Qian Zongguan's family was forced to work as tenant farmers for a landlord's family. And his soldiers weren't much better.
This time when he heard about Zhang Rui's recruitment, he went to take part in the assessment like his brothers and other soldiers. At first he felt a little embarrassed, but then he saw three green camp generals stationed in Wuzhou Prefecture coming to take the assessment.
It can be said that in addition to guarding the green camp soldiers stationed in Wuzhou Prefecture, nearly 200 of the more than 300 green camp soldiers are in Zhang Rui's bandit suppression team, and the remaining ones who have not come in are waiting for Zhang Rui's next recruitment.
In the end, three brothers from Zhang Zhishan's family joined the bandit suppression team, and because of his outstanding performance, he was appointed as the commander of three hundred musketeers. Among the other three Green Camp CEOs who came for the assessment, one served as the general flag under him, while the other two served as the general flag under Li Niushi Bai.
Originally, Zhang Zhishan thought that his three brothers would have sixty acres of land three years after they came here. As a result, I found out that according to the conditions given by Zhang Rui: ordinary team members will be given 20 acres of land after three years, small flags will be given 40 acres of land, general flags will be given 70 acres of land, and 100 bosses will be given 120 acres of land. Mr. Qian gave two hundred acres of land...
Happiness came so suddenly that Zhang Zhishan never imagined that after quitting in three years, his family would have 160 acres of land. I can't imagine paying that much rent for this land. It was precisely because of the generous land that the other three presidents chose to stay.
But according to Brother Six's wishes, people will be recruited and assessed later. Those who fail will be demoted, and those who fail seriously will be fired and their fields will be taken back.
Everyone here trains hard every day without anyone urging them. According to Brother Liu, they sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in war.
Zhang Zhishan found that nothing was easier than leading troops.
After all, no one wants to be eliminated. As long as they survive for three years, the land will be their own. Half a month has passed now.
The atmosphere here is very good, you can have a full meal every day and eat meat almost every day, which was almost unimaginable before.
Every soldier here cannot be corporally punished casually. If he is wronged, he can go to the team leader. Every small flag has a team leader. They are all the sixth brothers who come to take care of everyone's life. They are very good at guiding people.
If you are injured, you will be taken care of by the female medical soldiers of the medical team. Although sometimes you will feel blushing when being taken care of by them, but their skills are very good. The important thing is that they look good in the clothes issued by the team, which makes many young people who have not started a family excited.
Who wants to leave such a team? Sometimes Zhang Zhishan felt that Sixth Brother's team was better than the imperial court.
Finally, Sixth Brother announced that he was recruiting people again.
