si-mexico Chapter 213: Equal Field System
Chapter 213: Equal Field System
"Then I will speak freely!" She stretched out her hand, made a fist, and gently placed it to her lips, clearing her throat as if to say that she was about to unleash a powerful move.
When the emperor heard her say those words, he, hidden in his wheelchair, looked somber and raised an eyebrow as he watched her perform quietly.
Seeing her act this way, the officials around her looked at her expectantly. Ye Yuwu pretended not to see them and began to express her thoughts.
"Since these refugees want to become citizens of Jin Kingdom, then we will grant their wish!"
The officials, who had been expecting her to say something, were stunned when she uttered those words, clearly not yet understanding what she meant.
What?! So all that's what you say after waiting all this time? I was so looking forward to nothing.
They withdrew the expectation from their eyes.
Seemingly noticing the astonishment on the officials' faces, Ye Yuwu smiled.
"I just heard several officials say that there are few people in the border region, but the area is vast. I think we can recruit these refugees to the border region to cultivate the land, so that they have land to farm and they will not think about coming to the Central Plains."
The official beside her couldn't help but sneer when he heard her say this. "Tsk, as expected of a woman, her view is so narrow. Do you think the land on the border is so easy to cultivate? If it were really as you say, the land on the border could be cultivated so easily, why are there so few people on the border? Farmers from the Central Plains would have gone to the border long ago, why have they all come to the Central Plains?!"
"Haha, what this gentleman said may be harsh, but Lord Ye, that's just the way it is! Tianguan is a bitterly cold place. Not to mention the climate, the soil is also very barren, so nothing can be grown there at all."
Although the official next to him was trying to smooth things over for Ye Yuwu, one could still tell from his tone that he seemed to disdain Ye Yuwu as well.
Upon hearing Ye Yuwu's words, the civil and military officials were puzzled as to why the Prime Minister was so impressed with a woman. Now it seemed that this woman was not particularly remarkable.
The Prime Minister and Grand Tutor, who were sitting in round-backed chairs, frowned uncomfortably, but ultimately said nothing in defense of Ye Yuwu.
Ye Yuwu ignored these clowns. Arguing with them to the death would only be a waste of time. So after he finished speaking, he stopped looking at them and addressed the emperor on the dragon throne and the first-rank ministers in attendance.
"I only want to know one thing!"
"Oh? What's the matter?"
"If the refugees on the border really want to cultivate land there, is there enough land for them to grow?"
"More than enough."
Having read the letter delivered by fast horse from the border, the emperor naturally had some understanding of the situation there, and had also taken stock of the number of refugees at the border and made a rough estimate.
Ye Yuwu nodded and said with satisfaction, "That's enough!"
Seeing Ye Yuwu's confident demeanor, the emperor, prime minister, and others were intrigued by her appearance.
Under the expectant gazes of the others, she continued, "I am naturally aware of the hardships at the border and the problems that are on the surface, but I have an idea that is worth trying!"
"Oh?"
"That is the equal-field system!"
When the equal-field system was introduced, the faces of the civil and military officials were a variety of expressions. As everyone knows, the land in Jin Kingdom is subject to a policy of "not suppressing land annexation".
The free buying and selling of land allowed some farmers to own their own farmland, but as some landlords bought up large amounts of land, most of the land is now in the hands of nobles and landlords, with only a small portion belonging to independent farmers. This is how tenant farmers came to be.
It was because of their purchase and consolidation of all the land that a large number of estates were formed.
Farmers could only rent these fields from landlords, which caused a lot of conflicts, and these tenant farmers were burdened with corvée labor, making their lives even more difficult.
This is very detrimental to the development of farmland.
The emperor of Jin Kingdom has been trying to change the status quo, but with little effect. After all, these nobles and gentry are too difficult to move; any attempt to move them would have far-reaching consequences.
This caused the emperor a great deal of trouble.
At this point, another official raised objections: "The drawbacks of the equal-field system are the same as the policies currently implemented in our Jin Dynasty, which have led to serious land annexation. Lord Ye, the method you proposed does not seem to solve the root cause."
"My lord, please be patient and let me finish. The equal-field system I am referring to is not the equal-field system of previous dynasties, but a modified version of it."
"Oh? I'd like to hear the details."
Ye Yuwu smiled slightly, "I wonder if any of you have ever heard of the system of private ownership of land by the king?"
The system of private ownership of land by Wang Tian could solve the problem of land annexation.
"The system of private ownership of land by the king is indeed being implemented in the State of Linyue," one of the ministers said, stroking his beard.
"Yes, the improved equal-field system I'm talking about is a combination of the private ownership of royal fields. Isn't there an old saying that goes, 'Take the essence and discard the dross'?"
Hearing Ye Yuwu say this, the civil and military officials present immediately became interested again.
"How does Lord Ye intend to combine them?"
Ye Yuwu turned his gaze back to the emperor on the dragon throne and cupped his hands, saying, "Your Majesty, I believe that all the land in the border areas can be taken over by the court and the sale of land is prohibited. Then, the population in the border areas can be counted, the land can be reclaimed, and the refugees can be incorporated into the border people."
Then these taboo lands were distributed to them, with each family as one unit, and the amount allocated to each family was determined based on the number of people in the farming family.
If the already reclaimed land is not enough to distribute, I think we can encourage displaced people to reclaim new land, and the court can allocate unclaimed wasteland to farmers according to gender and age.
Because regulations stipulate that farmland cannot be bought or sold, and that land must be returned to the government upon the elderly being exempt from taxes or upon death, I believe that land can be leased from others under certain conditions.
This would not only solve the problem of these displaced people having no land to use, but also allow the imperial court to collect more grain.
"Is Lord Ye joking about nationalizing the land?" Those nobles and gentry would certainly not agree to that.
Ye Yuwu didn't care whether they agreed or not!
She glanced sideways at the old minister who had spoken earlier, "Why is this official in such a hurry? I only said to implement this policy at the border, not that the Central Plains should follow suit!"
While Ye Yuwu and the civil and military officials were arguing, the emperor remained silent, sitting in his wheelchair deep in thought.
In fact, he thought Ye Yuwu's idea was quite good, and this method was very suitable for the imperial court to deal with the issue of displaced people.
Moreover, as Ye Yuwu said, this method can greatly promote the development of Jin Kingdom.
The land owned by nobles and gentry in the Central Plains was too vast, and he had long wanted to take it back from them, but it was too difficult and he had not been able to do so.
If what Ye Yuwu said is true, then we can try this method at the border first.
If it is feasible at that time, we can slowly advance from the border into the interior of the Central Plains.
The border is like a testing ground. Anyway, it's a vast and sparsely populated area, which is suitable for settling those refugees and making some contributions to the Jin Kingdom.