Chapter 950 - Chang Shide Emerges

Under the profit-sharing contract system, the quantity of attached labor on the land was also an important consideration, especially the number of tenant farmers. Generally speaking, the more tenants transferred along with the land, the better the sharing terms. In essence, this was also a covert means of acquiring tenants.

After hearing Hai Shuzu's presentation, many remained undecided. They had long grown accustomed to exploiting tenant farmers. A fifty-fifty landlord-tenant split was the minimum; sixty-forty in the landlord's favor was more typical. Many used "iron-plate rent"—so-called fixed rent—which, while nominally lower, was stipulated to remain constant regardless of harvest quality or disaster. Agricultural practice in this era was underdeveloped, and nearly every year brought some degree of natural disaster. A bountiful year among every three was considered lucky. The so-called "regardless of harvest or disaster" actually worked against the tenants. And when rent was due, there were always countless tricks to cheat them.

Of course, tenants were not entirely powerless. If the landlord was not a locally powerful large landowner but merely an ordinary urban or rural small to medium landlord, collecting rent could become very difficult. No one was willing to freely surrender the fruits of their labor, and using various pretexts to underpay or delay was the least of it. Tenant families with many able-bodied sons might refuse to pay rent or even beat off rent collectors. Years of nonpayment or underpayment, treating the rented land "as if it were their own property," was not uncommon. This was one reason small and medium landlords lacking power and influence had eagerly requested the Tiandihui's "total package" option.

The gentry and large landowners had no such concerns. Therefore, hearing that post-contract profit-sharing would be fifty-fifty or even reversed to sixty-forty or seventy-thirty in the Tiandihui's favor, they were already quite displeased. Moreover, the Tiandihui was essentially the Australian government—the various coercive and exploitative tricks used against tenants would be completely useless, and they dared not even try.

The atmosphere in the reception hall grew hesitant. Hai Shuzu did not press the matter—after all, he was not drumming up clients for the Tiandihui. Director Liu's position was clear: "Our Great Song Senate intends to 'transform practices unchanged for a thousand years,' but we will always provide everyone a way out. Whether everyone chooses to take it is a matter of personal choice." These words had been delivered solemnly, and at the time Hai Shuzu had felt a chill run down his spine.

After the gathering at the Hai residence dispersed, he immediately called for a sedan chair to visit Liu Xiang and report on the entire proceedings. Liu Xiang listened carefully—not just to the general course of events, but asking Hai Shuzu to report the specific attitudes of each gentry and large landowner in Qiongshan County by name regarding grain collection and Tiandihui contracting. As he listened, he continually tapped away at a black box-like device.

After seeing Hai Shuzu off, Liu Xiang carefully analyzed the gentry and large landowners' specific positions. He found that approximately sixty percent were inclined to contract their land to the Tiandihui, while forty percent showed little interest.

As for grain, not a single household had expressed willingness to "cheerfully contribute." Liu Xiang frowned and muttered to himself: "Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit." It seemed some methods would have to be applied before they would obediently hand over their grain.

Liu Xiang had originally planned to extract at least twenty thousand shi of grain from Qiongshan's landlords—the county's autumn tax quota was eighteen thousand shi. Except for Jiangnan and certain specially high-taxation regions, the official land tax collected during the Ming dynasty actually represented a very low proportion of total production—generally below seven percent of yield per mu. Based on this calculation and field surveys, Liu Xiang knew that Qiongshan County's normal annual grain production ranged between 250,000 and 300,000 shi.

A considerable portion of this grain was concentrated in the hands of the gentry and large landowners. Liu Xiang estimated that the entire county's grain reserves amounted to at least 80,000 to 100,000 shi. Getting the gentry to produce 20,000 to 30,000 shi should be more than sufficient.

Liu Xiang racked his brain but could think of no clever stratagem. The gentry were all old foxes—no matter how you reasoned with them or appealed to their emotions, they responded with cries of poverty, every one of them claiming to subsist on chaff and wild vegetables despite their ruddy complexions. They might as well have graduated from acting school. The few who genuinely understood reason were unfortunately not major grain holders. It seemed the only effective option would ultimately have to be administrative measures—the very weapon he had least wanted to deploy.

At this thought, he slumped back in his chair in frustration. After brooding for a while, he finally instructed Guo Ling'er, who was waiting respectfully nearby:

"Send a telegram. To Deputy People's Commissar of Civil Affairs Liu Muzhou. Classification: Secret..."

Night had fallen over the apartment district of Bairren New City, yet the lights in the complex were sparse. Few apartments showed illuminated windows—many Elders found the commute inconvenient and rarely returned except on holidays. The recent launch of Operation Engine had made work even more demanding, and many Elders had simply brought their domestic secretaries to their offices and workshops. Only those working at headquarters still returned to the apartment district each day.

Amid this stillness, the bright lights and faint sounds of laughter and conversation emanating from one particular apartment were rather conspicuous. This apartment belonged to Chang Shide.

Because of his large household, Chang Shide had applied for an oversized unit when apartments were allocated. Ever since his return from Leizhou to Lingao, this apartment had been lively every day.

After dinner, the female servants gathered in the living room, chatting and laughing. Some were reading and practicing writing, learning to use the abacus; others were doing needlework. It was a scene of domestic harmony. Among them were A-Xiu, A-Zi, and A-Bi—three of the five women he had purchased in one go. A-Zhu had been given to Wen Tong, and there was also a little girl named A-Luo who was really quite young, not yet having reached puberty. Her features showed potential for development. Chang Shide decided to raise her gradually and train her slowly, so he had sent A-Luo back to Lingao to attend Fragrant Grass Primary School. He personally covered A-Luo's expenses and paid double the meal fees. He had also arranged with the General Affairs Office to transfer his own milk ration to A-Luo. Such investment was of course meant to ensure A-Luo received adequate protein and fat. As long as nutrition was guaranteed, seventeenth-century girls could grow up to meet twenty-first-century aesthetic standards.

During the day, Chang Shide's women all had jobs. Male Elders did not keep full-time kept women—besides serving as secretaries, accountants, clerks, and similar administrative work, they helped with domestic affairs like cooking and warehouse management. Serving the Elders' enterprise by day and their personal lives by night—the Elders' attitude toward women was quite pragmatic.

A-Xiu had been assigned to the national primary school kindergarten as a childcare worker. A-Zi worked as a warehouse manager at one of the Light Industry Ministry's warehouses. A-Bi, young and having earned a Class B diploma, served as a full-time secretary accompanying him everywhere. The entire household was arranged in perfect order.

Chang Shide's one regret was that none of his women had yet conceived under his efforts. Since several female Elders and domestic secretaries were already pregnant, Chang Shide was naturally a bit anxious. By the look of things, conquering the world within his lifetime was probably not in the cards, but conquering East Asia should be no problem. Having built such a great family enterprise with no heir to inherit it—how could that be acceptable!

Since returning to Lingao, Chang Shide had been keeping himself busy at the Agricultural Committee. He was now something of a sugarcane authority, but since Wu Nanhai had no plans to grow sugarcane in Lingao, all his energy went to Tiandihui work. The Tiandihui was currently promoting agricultural cooperative organizations among Lingao's yeoman farmers and small landlords. This was work Chang Shide had already done in Leizhou, so Ye Yuming placed great value on his experience. He had become something of a key general of the Tiandihui.

Organizing agricultural cooperatives was complicated work. Farmers were extremely suspicious—convincing them without tangible proof of real benefits was simply impossible. Though Chang Shide had experience organizing sugarcane farmers, getting operations running still required considerable effort. After expending great energy, he had just managed to open up a small situation. He was pondering how to press the advantage while the iron was hot when he reached his front door and opened it.

The female servants inside leaped to their feet in unison and called out: "Greetings, Chief!" The effect was impressive.

"At ease!" Chang Shide waved his hand with perverse pleasure. To embody the principle of militarized servant management, he had instituted a rotating duty system in the inner household—three women took turns managing domestic affairs, maintaining long-term orderly management.

At his command, the servants immediately dispersed, each attending to her designated tasks. A cup of tea at just the right temperature, a hot towel delivered to his hand, the sound of water running in his private bathroom, his shoelaces being untied—someone had brought slippers and was removing his shoes.

Chang Shide changed into slippers, drank a few sips of tea, and swaggered into his private bathroom. A-Zi scrubbed his back while A-Bi applied soap and gave him a massage. He lay motionless on the cypress bench, enjoying the full treatment.

After the complete service was finished, he changed into clean clothes and returned to his study. Settling into the sofa, he took a sip of freshly brewed tea. A-Xiu, serving as today's duty officer, presented him with a notebook.

"This is today's household affairs log."

"Mm." Chang Shide took it and flipped through. The household affairs log was a system he had established—the duty officer was required to record each day's domestic activities and expenses. All outings by servants and visits by guests had to be documented in detail. Notices from the General Affairs Office, phone calls from Elders—all required written records. Documents, telegrams, letters, and periodicals sent to him also had to be registered.

He browsed through until he reached the telephone log—since he had been working in the countryside recently, his PHS handset had no signal. So he paid particular attention to phone calls and notices.

"Oh? The General Affairs Office Organization Section called me?" he suddenly said. The Organization Section managed Elder appointments and transfers. They wouldn't call him without reason.

Following the Organization Section's standard procedure, before formally issuing any transfer or appointment, they would arrange a meeting. Their call was obviously to schedule such a meeting.

Could he be getting transferred? Chang Shide felt a surge of excitement mixed with apprehension. Excitement at the prospect of accomplishing great things; apprehension at being kicked off to somewhere like Taiwan or Jeju Island to do pioneer development work—that would be utterly miserable.

(End of Chapter)