Chapter 280: The New Land Deed (Part 2)

The surveying and verification work took a considerable amount of time. Finally, with modern surveying methods, the problems were solved one by one, and the land situation on the map of Meiyang Village in the middle of the large tent gradually became clear. The map floor was marked with many numbers and color blocks that only professionals could understand. It was colorful and dense, looking like an abstract painting.

From the gradually clarifying survey map, it was easy to see that someone had concealed their land. Many surveyed fields had not been declared by anyone. These were undoubtedly hidden fields. To be cautious, Wang Ruixiang also specially met with Fu Bu’er and some of the village elders to find out if any out-of-town landlords had bought land in the village, and got a negative answer.

“Alright, now you’re going to be the chickens,” Wang Ruixiang thought to himself in his tent. He was not in a hurry to find out exactly who had not declared. They would confess on their own when the land deeds were issued.

On this day, Wang Ruixiang held a village-wide meeting on the threshing ground of the village, and at the meeting, he issued the new version of the land deeds on the spot.

The new version of the land deed was in the form of a double-opening certificate with a unified serial number. The cover and back cover were made of thick cardboard, which was durable and wear-resistant. The paper was also heavy-duty cardstock with a watermark produced by the paper mill. To avoid the trouble of changing the land deeds again after establishing their own dynasty in the future, the new version of the land deed only used the name of the Lin’gao County Grain Collection Bureau and was stamped with the official seal of the Grain Collection Bureau. Only on the last page was the great seal of the Lin’gao County Magistrate stamped—to gain the trust of the people, after all, the banner of the Great Ming had not yet been discarded.

The new land deed not only indicated various data such as the landowner, area, size, and location of the land, but also attached a scale plan drawn according to modern cartography methods. The land deed was in triplicate, one copy was kept by the landowner, one was archived in the Household Office, and one was archived and preserved by the Great Library.

After issuing the land deeds, Wang Ruixiang announced that all remaining undeclared land would be confiscated as ownerless land.

“There’s so much ownerless land, it’s a pity to let it go to waste. But the county has already recruited many refugees in Guangdong, so the ownerless land will be distributed to them to cultivate,” Wang Ruixiang said nonchalantly. “Your village will have a dozen or so new households. Everyone should get along well in the future.”

The fact that the Australians were transporting refugees from the mainland to Bopu by the shipload was well-known in Lin’gao. Now, to say that they would use the ownerless land in the village to settle them—this was a reasonable matter, and the people present had no choice but to believe it.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the villagers were stunned, not only those who had concealed their land, but even the tenant farmers were shocked—this was a vicious move!

“Alright, the land deeds have been received. Everyone can disperse.”

A buzzing of discussion rose from the field.

“Sir! Have mercy!” a sharp woman’s cry suddenly came out. When a landlord’s wife heard that all undeclared land would be confiscated and distributed to the immigrants from the mainland, she could no longer remain calm. Regardless of how her husband would deal with it, in her desperation, she rushed out from the crowd, knelt on the ground, and crawled over, prostrating herself at Wang Ruixiang’s feet.

“We still have land that has not been declared—”

“It’s too late. The declaration period has ended,” Wang Ruixiang said expressionlessly. “In another month, the immigrants from the mainland will be here.”

This caused an uproar. The families on the field who had been trying to remain calm were all in a panic. They all knelt down and begged together.

Wang Ruixiang remained unmoved, no matter how the families who had concealed their land knelt on the ground and begged. He let the people on the ground cry and shout, tear their clothes, and beat their chests. The family that had lost the most was going to lose nearly half of their land. Several members of the family cried until they fainted.

“I’ve told you many times: you must declare honestly. If you declare the reclaimed land, you will be issued a land deed. If you don’t declare it, even if you have a land deed, it will be treated as ownerless land,” Wang Ruixiang said with feigned pity when he saw that the time was right. “There’s nothing I can do if you don’t listen. The immigrants from the mainland are coming. Now you say there’s no land—you tell me, what should be done about this?”

“It’s all because we were blinded by greed. Please have mercy, my lord!” A large group of people knelt before him, and the leading old men had already kowtowed until their heads were broken.

“Stop pretending to be pitiful. If we couldn’t measure it, you wouldn’t be kneeling here begging for mercy,” Wang Ruixiang sneered. “You’d probably still be at home laughing secretly, thinking you’ve gotten away with it.”

These words were a direct blow to their hearts. The people kneeling below turned pale and were speechless.

Wang Ruixiang coughed. “If you dare to do it, you must dare to bear the consequences. Don’t act like you have no balls.”

“We won’t dare to do it again!” the people below continued to beg, their heads hitting the stone ground with a thud. The foreheads of several people were swollen and bleeding.

The women in the crowd were all crying their eyes out. Many people were watching on the threshing ground, mostly ordinary farmers from the village. Seeing the rich people in the village in such a sorry state, they all felt a sense of satisfaction. Some had smiles on their faces, and some were even jeering from the side.

Fu Bu’er also stood on the threshing ground with a straight face, not saying a word. But he was secretly happy: he had made the right move. Just now, the seemingly rough but actually shrewd Australian had praised him, calling him a “model,” and had made many promises—whether these promises could be realized or not, at least all his land was safe.

He stole a glance at Fu Yousan’s eldest son, Fu Yizhuang, who was sweating profusely. The Fu Yousan family had held back and not confessed. They were confident that their estate was hidden and the Australians had not discovered it, but in such a situation, Fu Yizhuang had no confidence in his heart. This torment was enough to bear. He secretly blamed his father, Fu Yousan: he only gave ideas, but wanted others to take the lead, and when faced with a situation, he would only hide.

“Alright,” Wang Ruixiang said, seeing that their heads were swollen from kowtowing and they were on the verge of collapse from crying and kowtowing. “Seeing how pitifully you are begging, I will give you all a way out.”

“Thank you, sir—” the people below were about to kowtow again.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Wang Ruixiang sneered. “Who else in this village has not honestly declared their land? If you expose them, I will give you a chance for lenient punishment.”

There was a moment of silence in the courtyard. The eyes of everyone present immediately turned to Fu Yizhuang: everyone in the village knew that the Fu Yousan family had more land than this.

Wang Ruixiang’s gaze followed. Fu Yizhuang felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles, his legs trembling, wanting to kneel down and beg for mercy. He forced himself to calm down, secretly comforting himself: no matter how capable the Australians were, they were not clairvoyant. Even the villagers couldn’t clearly say where the estate was. What was he afraid of? Even if someone wanted to expose him, they had to be able to say where the land was.

“The Fu Yousan family has a lot of land,” someone finally said in a low voice from the crowd.

The people kneeling on the ground seemed to have seen a straw of hope. They all turned into vicious dogs, scrambling to tear at the Fu Yousan family. Whether men, women, or old people, they all shouted with certainty: the Fu Yousan family has undeclared land!

This immediately converged into a wave, crashing down on Fu Yizhuang. Fu Yizhuang’s face turned pale. Seeing this group of kneeling beggars, who had immediately betrayed their own family, clan, and neighbors without any regard for their relationships, he was so angry he almost vomited blood.

He forced himself to remain calm. Seeing Chief Wang’s gaze directed at him, he had to answer with a stiff upper lip:

“All the land in my family has indeed been declared, and there is no concealment.”

“He’s lying!” a woman shrieked. “That old fellow Fu Yousan is the best at hoarding wealth. His family has more grain than they can eat, and he buys land every year. He must have other land!” This immediately triggered another frenzy of agreement.

Wang Ruixiang waved his hand, signaling for everyone to be quiet. He called him to the front. “Does your family really have no more land?”

“Really no more,” Fu Yizhuang decided to be stubborn to the end.

“Not in other villages either?”

“My family’s business is small. We can’t manage land in other villages.”

“Don’t you have a brother? Where is your brother?” Wang Ruixiang asked.

Fu Yizhuang was surprised. He didn’t expect the Australians to know so much about his family. On second thought, it must have been Fu Bu’er who told them.

“Er Zhuang has gone to his wife’s family.”

“Hmm,” Wang Ruixiang stared at him for a long time. “And your father?”

“He, he’s sick—”

“Sick again? He really knows how to get sick, and always at the right time,” Wang Ruixiang said with a smile, then suddenly lowered his voice. “Don’t you think so?”

“Yes—yes—” Fu Yizhuang was caught off guard.

“Your family has undeclared land,” Wang Ruixiang spat on the ground. “You and your father must think we can’t find that place, right?”

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare,” Fu Yizhuang was so scared he became incoherent, his body trembling uncontrollably.

“I’ll tell you this,” Wang Ruixiang’s gaze also swept over the others. “Nothing can be hidden from our eyes!” he said, his gaze returning to Fu Yizhuang’s trembling body. “Go back and tell your father: we don’t need to torture you. In three days, we will know exactly how much land your family has. At that time, your family will have to pay double.”

Fu Yizhuang wanted to confess, but he thought that if he did, his father would never believe his story, and it would be his fault again—he was as afraid of his father as a mouse is of a cat. Knowing that the consequences of this matter were serious, he still did not dare to defy Fu Yousan’s decision.

“Sir, I am not the one who can make decisions at home,” Fu Yizhuang was in a complete mess, almost begging. “Please forgive me! Forgive me!”

“You’re useless!” Wang Ruixiang looked at him with great contempt. “A man in his thirties, and you can’t even take responsibility for your own family’s affairs!”

Fu Yizhuang was sullen in his heart: how could I dare to take responsibility in this family? Fu Yousan controlled everything tightly. Although he was the eldest son, he was treated like a head laborer in the family. Of course, he couldn’t say this, so he just lowered his head and remained silent, determined not to speak.