Divide the fields and divide the land, and the rain is coming!
In the summer of the first year of Hongwu, with the promulgation of the law of exchanging land with paper tickets, a land reform storm that had been brewing for a long time finally began to sweep towards the four camps of Shaanxi, western Beijing, Hebei, and Hedong with Luoyang as the center. went!
This time's "Yingtian Land Reform" sounds like it's very progressive... Land reform! But in fact it has a strong feudal character. The land on the four roads of Yingtian, whether it is Yongye field, job field, jue field and official field, is all linked to military obligations. Moreover, the land was theoretically "royal land", that is, it belonged to the official family Zhao Kai, and Zhao Kai "sealed" it to military landowners, large and small, in exchange for their military loyalty.
This is the essence of the military system!
According to the finalized plan, the upper limit of military households in the current "Yingtian Four Roads" will be set at 400,000 households - which means that there are still about 40,000 landowners who can retain all or part of their land by undertaking military service. land.
It will be difficult for farmers outside these 400,000 households to obtain their own land on Yingtian 4th Road - although most of them failed to keep their land during the peaceful and prosperous times of the Song Dynasty, and had no choice but to They did not become tenant farmers, but before the implementation of the "Yingtian Land Reform", they could still get the opportunity to make a fortune by engaging in industry and commerce, thereby purchasing land, becoming landlords, and then further becoming scholar-bureaucrats by investing in the education of their children.
However, after the "Yingtian Land Reform", this upward path that had been implemented for more than a hundred years and brought economic prosperity and political stability to the Southern Song Dynasty (the dynasty founded by Zhao Kuangyin) no longer exists!
If the farmers on Yingtian 4th Road want to obtain land, they have no choice but to join the army and fight!
And if you want to get an official position, the best way is to join the army and perform meritorious service... The door to the imperial examination is not closed, but there are too few places for noble Jinshi, making it very difficult to pass. Although there are more miscellaneous arts and crafts officers, they need to understand "sleight of hand" and be able to write essays. The learning cost is much higher than taking the liberal arts exam alone!
Of course, there are still ways to get rich... It is said in "Historical Records" that to make wealth from the bottom of things, stick to the roots!
But farming has never been a good way to make a fortune. It is easier to make money if you are not involved in industry and commerce. Make a fortune in industry and commerce, then buy land and property, and then train your children to study and make progress. That is the right path!
But this right path no longer exists...at least not among the four Yingtian Roads in the Northern Song Dynasty. Those who have made a fortune in industry and commerce will probably have only one way to end up in trouble!
Of course, such land reform is not very popular! After all, there are only 400,000 households that can benefit from it. Even if one household has ten people, that's four million people.
And the population of Yingtian 4th Road will never be less than 16 million. In other words, three-quarters of the population will not benefit from this land reform. There are at least 100,000 more landlords, gentry or industrial and commercial landlords who have become the biggest victims of this land reform...
Zhao Kaijun and his ministers all knew that there were not many people who supported their Yingtian land reform, but many who opposed it. In addition, in the past two years, there had been endless wars in the Central Plains, and there were major disasters such as the Yellow River bursting. It was very difficult for the people to make a living! In order to prevent the local gentry from taking the opportunity to incite the poor people to rebel and resist the land reform.
Therefore, before the official distribution of fields and land began, Zhao Kai's court began to mobilize troops and generals to make military preparations.
A group including Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun, Huang Wuji, Li Xiaozhong, Liu Qi, He Ji, He Moss, Wang Yuan, Wang Zhen, Wang Yan, Wang De, Li Yongqi, Qu Duan, Miao Fu, Liu Zhengyan, Niu Gao and others. General Piao, in the middle to late June of the first year of Hongwu, led his troops out of Luoyang one after another to defend various places in preparation for suppressing possible rebellions!
Only three generals, including Yue Fei, Dong Jingang, and the consort Li Fuchen, stayed in Luoyang to protect Zhao Kai, the "Loan Emperor"'s poor court. There were also many industrial and commercial landlords in Luoyang City. If they rebelled, It was up to Yue Fei, Dong Jingang, Li Fuchen and others to suppress it!
...
"Are there any generals leaving the city again? What happened?"
The Outer City of Luoyang, on the south bank of Luoshui River, and the area of Shangshanfang and Jishanfang, which are only separated from Luoyang Palace by Luoshui, are now the most prosperous areas in Luoyang. They are located above a restaurant that was moved from Kaifeng City and mainly opened Fengcai. , several Bianliangzi who had escaped from death and came to Luoyang poked their heads out of the street windows, and saw a group of knights passing by the Tianjin Bridge, and then speeding away from the wide Dingdingmen Street.
"Soldiers and horses come out of the imperial city every day... Could it be that the golden thieves are here again?"
"Maybe...this Luoyang city won't be attacked by gold thieves, right? The outer perimeter of Luoyang cannot protect against gold thieves!"
When several Bianliangzi were discussing, they all looked panicked.
Can you not panic? They were all frightened by the floods of the Yellow River and came to Luoyang... In order to settle down in Luoyang, they have lost all their wealth. If they suffer another divorce, they may have to beg for food.
"No way..." Beside a table with messy cups and plates, a man in his forties, wearing a white cloth shirt, slightly fat and elegant, shook his head and said with a smile: "Luoyang has been so busy these days. There are many princes nearby who are renovating and conferring titles, and the palace also needs to be renovated. It looks quite stable. These soldiers and horses should be going..."
Next to the man who spoke was a trunk that could be carried on the road. There were pens, inks, paper, inkstones, and various paints in it. He seemed to be a painter. He wanted to know something, but he seemed to be hesitant to speak, which made the people around him feel itchy.
"Wu Daizhao, you are well-informed. Just tell me what you know... As long as it is not a military secret, are you afraid of being captured by the Imperial City Secretary?"
"Yes, tell me quickly... is the flood in Kaifeng Mansion receding and the imperial court wants to move back?"
"It would be great if I could go back..."
"Kaifeng Mansion..."
The people who drank with this martial arts master were all businessmen from Kaifeng Prefecture. They were not big merchants, but they all had some wealth and had property and business in Kaifeng Prefecture... Oh, before the Xuanhe disaster, Kaifeng Prefecture Their properties are expensive, but all of them are extremely wealthy!
But now...it's all ruined!
The painter surnamed Wu had an ancient name. He was originally a craftsman in the Hanlin Academy of Painting who was waiting for an imperial edict. In fact, he was not an official. He had no character and could only be regarded as an official. At the same time, he also opened a calligraphy and painting shop near Ma Qian Street, and his life was relatively well-off.
Because he was from Luoyang and his family still had some property in Luoyang, when Kaifeng Mansion was "flooded", he took his wife and children on a westward-bound watercraft and ran to Luoyang City.
After arriving in Luoyang City, it was impossible to open a calligraphy and painting shop, and there was no market due to the war and chaos! It's no longer appropriate to wait for the imperial edict. Now Zhao Kai has no intention of engaging in literature and art. So I had to rely on a little capital to get by, and just when my family property was exhausted, things finally turned around.
Zhao Kai moved the imperial court from Chang'an to Luoyang and gave mansions to a group of meritorious officials below, so Wu Haogu's craftsmanship and the Hanlin Painting Academy's sign waiting for imperial edicts were put to use again. He took over several large mansions these days. The decoration business is extremely busy!
What's even more remarkable today is that Liang Fangping, the governor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, called him and asked him to take over the mural and painting business of several palaces in the palace... So I felt happy, and I went in after leaving the palace. Not long after it opened. I went to the Golden Arch Gate restaurant in Kaifeng, ordered some food and drinks, and met some old acquaintances from Kaifeng Mansion. We all ate, drank and chatted together.
I don't know if he had a few too many drinks and couldn't control his mouth. When asked by the fellow villagers around him, this Wu Hao Gu Wu Daizhao actually told some things he had heard.
"It's okay to tell you... These generals in the Sunrise Town are not mainly to guard against gold thieves, but..."
As he spoke, he picked up the wine glass and took a sip. There were already people around him who couldn't wait. Then he continued: "Are you trying to guard against Jinling? I heard someone said that the guy from Jinling took more than 400 Wu Jin in one go. Sir, we are also preparing to raise a new army and launch a northern expedition to the Central Plains!"
"Forget it about the Jinling one!" Wu Haogu waved his hand, "The situation in the Southern Tang Dynasty is the situation of the Southern Tang Dynasty. How can it be possible to expand the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains? It doesn't hurt to tell you... The imperial court has decided to divide the land to support the soldiers! From now on! The four roads of Shaanxi, Jingxi, Hedong and Hebei are all envoy roads. There is no civilian land anymore. There are only the Yongye fields and official fields of the soldiers, the noble fields and the official fields of the imperial court! These generals go out from all directions of the town, It’s because the imperial court is worried about someone causing trouble in the local area and is preparing to suppress it!”
"What? The court wants to confiscate people's fields?"
"Does this still allow people to live?"
"Aren't they afraid that everyone in the world will rebel?"
These Bianliangzi were all considered wealthy back then, and they had some land in their hometown or outside Kaifeng Prefecture - just stick to your roots!
Now most of their last karma is gone, and only this little bit is left. If it is gone again, it will really be over!
"Don't, don't make such nonsense. How could the imperial court confiscate people's fields?" Wu Haogu panicked when he saw the anger among the people. He quickly explained to the imperial court, "There will be compensation! Don't be anxious, there will be compensation! I can listen. He said that he would give cloth tickets according to the field deed, three horses for each acre of the upper field, two for the middle field, and one for the lower field. The ticket can be exchanged for silk!
If you have a few hundred pieces of silk, it is also a capital, and you can do some small business in the future, and maybe you can become prosperous again. It’s just that after you become developed, you can no longer buy land..."
"But, what kind of business can be done in this chaotic situation?"
"That's right...and the price offered by the imperial court is too low, only one to three horses..."
"The price of the land is pretty good... How can anyone want the fields around Kaifeng Mansion now? But with this little silk, aren't we going to be left with nothing?"
Wu Haogu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the people around him talking about how he was sitting on his hands and feet... As long as they don't make a fuss! It has nothing to do with me that you are just sitting there and having nothing to do. I have the skills and means to make money, so I won’t starve to death!
Thinking of this, he quickly paid the bill, picked up the suitcase and cage, and walked out of the Golden Arch Restaurant, heading towards the house he just bought in Jishanfang.
