Dandere General and his Lord

16. Land Grant System

Cheng Qianye, Zhang Fu and Xiao Jin were all sitting in a carriage that was taking them out of the town. 

“When will that Weibei Marquis get lost. You don’t think he wants to stay here in Bianzhou to celebrate the new year, right?” Cheng Qianye asked unhappily. 

“I really hate him yet I always have to put on a smiling face in front of him. Zhang Fu, you think of a way to get him to beat it, okay?” 

Zhang Fu was slightly surprised. “My Lord thinks that I can accomplish this?” 

Cheng Qianye beamingly patted him on the shoulder. “My esteemed Zhang Fu is omnipotent in my heart.” 

Do you think you are a white lotus in my heart? This sort of matter is perfect for a two-faced person like you. 

Xiao Jin thought to himself: Weibei Marquis just bullied that Mo Qiao Sheng the day before yesterday and My Lord’s heart seems to be brooding on the matter. It seems the weight of that slave in the Princess’ heart is not low. I wonder if… he already knows the identity of the Princess. 

Xiao Jin shot a glance at Cheng Qianye who was lifting the curtain to look out of the window. 

Her white face shone in the warm winter sun, appearing bright and charming. 

Although the Princess was a woman, she conducted herself with ease and an imposing mien, unlike the reserved and gentle demeanor of a typical lady. These days, she had gradually adapted to the status of being the sovereign lord, becoming calmer and steadier by the day.

So even after such a long time, no one had discovered that they had replaced the original with a fake. 

Xiao Jin resolved to himself: That Mo Qiao Sheng, if the Princess has really taken a fancy to him and wants to be intimate with him, it wouldn’t be impossible. I must simply help the Princess keep an eye on him and observe his conduct. 

Cheng Qianye glanced at the barren fields outside the window before turning back and pointing her finger at the table, seizing Xiao Jin and Zhang Fu’s attention.

“I’m thinking about carrying out a policy and abolishing our existing well-field system to implement a land grant system.”

“Land grant system? What is a land grant system?” Xiao Jin and Zhang Fu asked in unison.

Actually, it’s not called the land grant system. I don’t remember the specific name mentioned by the history teacher and only have a vague impression of this system. She felt a little ashamed.

She dipped her finger into the teacup before drawing one big and one small circle on the table’s surface.

“This is Bianzhou, and this is Great Jin. If we still want to continue expanding our territory from Bianzhou-” Cheng Qianye drew out a line with her wet fingertips, spreading her fingers open. “-we constantly have to keep conscripting soldiers from the Jin Nation and allocate and transfer army provisions from hundreds of miles away, which would mean that there would be a great amount of wastage of the supplies. Furthermore, if we send so many commoners to war, there would be a shortage of people to grow more crops, wouldn’t there?”

Zhang Fu muttered to himself for a moment before extending his slender finger and pointing at the small circle.

“Right, I think so. The abandoned lands should be divided among the refugees and they should be encouraged to cultivate those fields.” Cheng Qianye leaned her body to the side. “We can send out an announcement that as long as they are willing to become a resident of Jin Nation, they should not change their residence at will and they will be granted a certain number of fields regardless of which country they come from. I can also exempt taxation in the first year.”

She pulled her hand back to her side. “This way, when the warriors of our Great Jin army are forging ahead and expanding our territory for us, we will have a steady stream of logistical support from the back.”

Zhang Fu’s eyes were shining. “It sounds feasible, just that many details need to be deliberated carefully. For example, the ages of the men eligible for receiving the land and how much they receive, whether the state owns part of the fertile land, whether they are allowed to sell and buy land privately…..”

When Cheng Qianye saw that she and Zhang Fu had hit it off, she felt quite happy.

Xiao Jin raised his brows and objected. “The land belongs to the Lord and the state. The commoners have never had private ownership of it and it would be detrimental to the interests of the aristocratic clans. This official is afraid that it will provoke the resistance of the domestic senior officials and high-ranking ministers. My Lord has been newly appointed to your position and your foundation is not stable and must not make such big changes so easily. This official hopes that My Lord will think twice.”

Cheng Qianye knew that the two men had different opinions due to their different attitudes towards herself.

Xiao Jin was more loyal to her, so his priority was her safety and the stability of her position.

Meanwhile, Zhang Fu cared more about the growth and prosperity of Jin Nation. Therefore, he was willing to support Cheng Qianye to implement a risky change of this sort.

Regardless, the both of them really possessed keen intellect and innate political talent. Simply with those few words Cheng Qianye had said, the two of them could accurately pinpoint the crux of the matter. 

Even having absorbed the intellect and culture built upon by thousands of years, Cheng Qianye still did not seem to have any advantages when facing these two talents. 

She patiently explained and discussed it with Xiao Jin. “Minister Xiao is quite right. In the beginning, we can ignore the fiefs held by those nobles in the Jin Nation. Bianzhou is our new land and it is full of abandoned land without any masters. I want to test it out in Bianzhou.” 

“It is feasible. We can implement this system in our Great Jin after we have expanded our territory. In the future, those who have made great contributions to our Jin Nation will no longer be conferred with land, but with gold and silver and titles. As for the existing fiefdoms, you are right. We can change things slowly in the future.”

Xiao Jin hesitated for a moment. “There are many things still waiting to be done in Bianzhou and My Lord’s prestige here is very high. So… we can really test it out here.”

Zhang Fu did not respond, but thought to himself: I actually seem to have made an error in judgement this time. Now, it seems that My Lord is also an ambitious man. Moreover, this setup… it’s actually not small.” 

The carriage finally reached the Bian River and Cheng Qianye jumped out. Bi Yun, the slave girl she had previously bought at the roadside, hastened over to attend to her. 

Her little sister, Xiao Qiu followed behind her. 

Bi Yun was comparatively more stable. Although her looks were mediocre, she was meticulous and thoughtful. 

But Xiao Qiu’s age was still small. After eating and drinking well by Cheng Qianye’s side for several days, she had gradually regained her optimistic and vivacious nature. Her face which had been sallow before had also become more fair, smooth and round. 

Cheng Qianye was very fond of these two little girls. She often brought them along when she went out so that they could come out and get some fresh air without becoming excessively constrained due to the new environment. 

She took Xiao Qiu’s hand and asked, “Xiao Qiu, tell me, why don’t your parents farm in your hometown and would rather be exiled to Bianzhou?” 

Xiao Qiu replied, “My family has no fields to farm. All the good fields are occupied by the noble lords. Only after cultivating a large area of public fields for the lord every year can we tend to our own thin little field on the hillside. Dad has to do a lot of penal servitude so he can’t provide for the whole family. My youngest brother died of starvation.”

Bi Yun then added, “Responding to My Lord, our previous lord from our hometown would frequently catch people by force to go to war. There are barely any young people in the village. Our dad is the only adult male in our family. He was afraid that he would be caught since he is an able-bodied man, leaving our family to starve to death at home. That’s why he escaped with us.”

Bi Yun hung her head. “But after escaping to here, we were still met with the chaos of war and our parents were left without another choice and were forced to sell us sisters to support our brother.” 

“If your parents were given land of their own and they only had to pay 30% tax every year, do you think they would want to move in?” 

“That’s for sure. Not only my parents, my whole village would move. It’s something everyone dreams about. My dad would certainly be doubly motivated to take care of every inch of that land.” 

Cheng Qianye patted her hand, “It will be possible soon.” 

Zhang Fu and Xiao Jin exchanged a glance, seeing the same gratification in each other’s eyes. 

The newly elected officials of Bianzhou had long been waiting by the riverbank. 

The oldest government official of Bianzhou, Wang Sili hastily stepped forward with the newly elected ministers to welcome them. 

They all bowed and kowtowed to the lord.

Wang Sili was a middle-aged man with a dark complexion and short stature. He looked quite simple and honest when he smiled. 

He was wearing hemp shoes with his trousers rolled up as he stepped in and walked around in the mud. He appeared to be a diligent official who was loving to the common people. 

However, Cheng Qianye felt very discomfited as she could see a colour that made her very uncomfortable. 

You slacked off at your duties recently. As a result, it has produced such a rubbish government official in Bianzhou. What should you do now? 

Cheng Qianye laughed with them before asking about the situation at the Bian River. 

This river was a tributary of the Yellow River with a ferocious water flow. Therefore, Xiao Jin had attached great importance to the natural defense from this embankment and often came here to examine the situation. 

Wang Sili lowered his waist and respectfully said, “Reporting back to My Lord. Thanks to My Lord’s wisdom and Minister Xiao’s sageness in the timely allocation of labourers to reinforce the river embankment. Now that the autumn floods have ceased, we can be sure that there will be no flood in Bianzhou this winter.”

Cheng Qianye spewed a few symbolic words of praise, not showing impatience. 

She swept a glance over the throng of people before pointing at a man at the end of the crowd and saying, “Looking at your clothes, are you the Minister of Works in charge of construction? You come here and tell me, are there any more issues in regards to the water conservancy project?” 

The man prostrated and responded, “Reporting to My Lord, your humble subordinate is the Minister of Works, Cui Youyu. Now, the autumn floods have already ceased safely. However, the weather will become colder much earlier this winter and the water will freeze much faster. Your humble subordinate feels that….”

Wang Sili coughed at the side. 

Cui Youyu raised his head and shot a glance at his superior and hesitated before continuing, “…feels that it is very possible for there to be an ice-jam flood. This one requests for My Lord to dredge the river channel and consolidate the river embankment so as to avoid a flood. According to this servant’s investigation, there are many seriously damaged dams in urgent need of reinforcement in the lower reaches of Bianzhou.”

He fished out a document from his bosom and presented it to her with both hands. 

Cheng Qianye unfolded it to see it densely packed with writing and a drawing of the sectional profile and topographic map of the irrigation works. 

The expressions of all the surrounding officials were very unsightly. 

Cheng Qianye looked at Cui Youyu who was kneeling in front of her and smiled as she thought, This sort of blunt official is likely to be a nuisance to his boss no matter where he is, but he seems to be hardworking and have excellent professionalism. Of course, the main reason is that I can see at a glance that he has beautiful colours. 

“All right.” Cheng Qianye put away the document. “You write out a detailed plan for the overall management of the Bian River and give it directly to me…. Um.”

She recalled her lack of understanding of these matters and changed her tune. 

“Give it directly to Minister Xiao.” 

The party finished inspecting the river embankment. 

On their way back to the city, Cheng Qianye said to Xiao Jin, “That Wang Sili is terrible. You find an excuse and look for someone to replace him.” 

Xiao Jin was flabbergasted. “Official Wang has been a state official at Great Jin for many years with rich experience and a good reputation. I don’t know why My Lord has criticized him so badly.” 

“Umm.” Cheng Qianye made up an excuse. “I heard some comments about his poor work style. Otherwise, Zhang Fu, you help me check him out carefully and see whether it’s true.” 

I don’t know what exactly is wrong about him, but there’s definitely something. 

Zhang Fu, you can definitely find out what it is. 

Cheng Qianye looked at Zhang Fu with an expectant gaze. 

Zhang Fu was left with no choice but to take on the order. 

_________

When Mo Qiao Sheng returned from the training field, the gatekeeper stopped him and pointed to the man waiting by the door. “That man was looking for you and he’s been waiting for a long time.” 

Mo Qiao Sheng looked at the man and saw that it was A’Feng. He was dressed in thin clothes and his complexion was pale as he stood motionless in the cold wind.