Chapter 183: Chang Shide Comes Out of the Mountains

In the share-based contracting system, the number of attached laborers on the land was also an important reference condition, especially the number of tenant farmers. Generally speaking, the more tenant farmers who were transferred with the land, the better the profit-sharing conditions. In essence, it was also a disguised means of seizing tenant farmers.

After hearing Hai Shuzu’s introduction, many people were still hesitant. They were long accustomed to exploiting tenant farmers. A fifty-fifty split between the landlord and the tenant was the minimum. Generally, it was a sixty-forty split, and many were fixed-rent contracts—that is, a so-called fixed-quota rent. Although the rent was a little less, it was stipulated that the rent must be paid in a certain amount regardless of a good harvest or a disaster. Agriculture in this timeline was underdeveloped, and various disasters were encountered more or less every year. It was considered good to have one good year out of three. The so-called “regardless of good harvest or disaster” was actually not beneficial to the tenant farmers. When it was time to pay the rent, there were usually many tricks to deceive the tenant farmers.

Of course, the tenant farmers were not entirely a disadvantaged group. If the landlord was not a powerful local household, but just an ordinary small or medium-sized landlord in the city or countryside, collecting rent would become very difficult. No one was willing to hand over the fruits of their labor casually. The mildest form was to pay less or delay payment under various pretexts. Some tenant farmers with many able-bodied men in their families refused to pay rent and even beat up the rent collectors. It was also common for them to not pay or pay less rent for many years, “as if it were their own property.” So when the Tiandihui’s “all-inclusive” plan appeared, the small and medium-sized landlords who had no power or influence eagerly asked the Tiandihui to “take it all,” and this was also a factor.

The gentry and large households did not have this concern. Therefore, when they heard that the profit-sharing after the general contract was fifty-fifty, or even sixty-forty or seventy-thirty, they were already very unhappy. What’s more, the Tiandihui was equivalent to the Australian government, and the various tricks to exploit the tenant farmers could not be used, nor did they dare to use them.

The atmosphere in the flower hall became hesitant. Hai Shuzu did not force them. After all, he was not trying to attract customers for the Tiandihui. Director Liu’s attitude was very clear: “Our Great Song Senate wants to ‘change the laws that have not been changed for thousands of years,’ but at any time, we will give everyone a way out. As for whether everyone is willing to take it, it depends on individual choice.” These words were very serious and made Hai Shuzu’s back break out in a cold sweat at the time.

After the gathering in the Hai family’s flower hall dispersed, he immediately took a sedan chair to visit Liu Xiang and report to him the entire process of the meeting. Liu Xiang listened very carefully, not only to the process, but he also mentioned every gentry and large household in Qiongshan County by name and asked Hai Shuzu to report their specific attitudes on the grain collection and the Tiandihui’s contracting. As he listened, he constantly pressed on a black square box.

After seeing Hai Shuzu off, Liu Xiang carefully analyzed the specific attitudes of the gentry and large households and found that about sixty percent were inclined to hand over their land to the Tiandihui for contracting, while the other forty percent lacked interest.

As for grain, not a single household expressed “willingness to contribute.” Liu Xiang frowned and muttered to himself, “They really prefer a toast of forfeit to a toast of wine.” It seemed that they would not honestly hand over their grain without some measures.

Liu Xiang had originally planned to get at least twenty thousand shi of grain from the landlords of Qiongshan—the autumn tax quota for Qiongshan was eighteen thousand shi. Except for Jiangnan and some special heavy-tax areas, the officially stipulated land tax collected by the Ming Dynasty was actually a very low percentage of the total output, generally below 7% of the yield per mu. Based on this inference and on-site investigation, Liu Xiang knew that the annual grain output of Qiongshan County in a normal year was between 250,000 and 300,000 shi.

A considerable part of this grain was in the hands of the gentry and large households. Liu Xiang estimated that the entire grain stock of Qiongshan was at least 80,000 to 100,000 shi. It would be more than enough for the gentry to contribute 20,000 to 30,000 shi.

Liu Xiang thought it over and over, but he had no brilliant plan. The gentry were all old foxes. No matter how you reasoned with them and moved them with emotion, they would all respond by crying poverty. They all looked ruddy and healthy, but they claimed to be eating chaff and vegetables. They were simply graduates of the acting department. It was rare to find a few who were reasonable and whose families were not large grain households. It seemed that the most effective method in the end was to adopt administrative measures, the weapon he originally wanted to use the least.

Thinking of this, he slumped back into his chair in discouragement. After pondering for a long time, he instructed Guo Ling’er, who was waiting respectfully by his side:

“Send a telegram to Liu Muzhou, the Deputy People’s Commissar of the People’s Committee for Civil Affairs. Security level: secret…”

Night fell on the Elder’s apartment complex in Bairen New City, but the lights in the complex were sparse. Not many apartment windows showed light—many Elders found it troublesome to travel back and forth and rarely returned to their apartments to live except on holidays. The recent start of Operation Engine had made their work even busier, and many Elders simply brought their life secretaries to their offices and workshops. The only ones who still returned to the apartment complex every day were the Elders who worked at the headquarters.

In this desolation, the bright lights and faint sounds of laughter from a certain apartment were very eye-catching. This apartment belonged to Chang Shide.

Because of the large number of people in his family, Chang Shide had applied for a large apartment when the apartments were allocated. Since his return to Lingao from Leizhou, this apartment had been very lively every day.

After dinner, the maids were gathered in the living room, laughing and talking. Some were reading and writing, learning to use the abacus, some were doing needlework… it was a scene of harmony and happiness. Among them, A Xiu, A Zi, and A Bi were three of the five women he had bought in one go. A Zhu had been given to Wen Tong, and there was another little girl, A Luo, who was still a bit young and hadn’t developed yet. She seemed to have potential. Chang Shide decided to raise her first and then slowly train her. So he sent A Luo back to Lingao to study at Fangcaodi. A Luo’s expenses were paid by him personally, and Chang Shide paid double the food expenses. He also informed the General Office and gave his share of the milk ration to A Luo. Such an investment was of course to ensure that A Luo could get a sufficient supply of protein and fat. As long as nutrition could be guaranteed, a 17th-century girl could also grow up to meet the aesthetic standards of the 21st century.

Chang Shide’s women all had jobs during the day. The male Elders did not keep full-time concubines. In addition to serving as secretaries, accountants, and other administrative jobs, they also helped with cooking and managing the warehouse in domestic affairs. They served the cause of the Elders during the day and the lives of the Elders at night. The Elders’ attitude towards women was so realistic.

A Xiu was arranged to be a nursery teacher at the national school kindergarten. A Zi was a warehouse keeper at a warehouse in the light industry department. A Bi was young and had obtained a B-level diploma, so she served as a full-time secretary and accompanied him in and out. The whole family was arranged in an orderly manner.

What Chang Shide regretted a little was that so far, no woman had become pregnant under his “assaults.” Because there were already several female Elders and life secretaries who were pregnant, Chang Shide was of course a little anxious. As things stood, it was unlikely that he would see the conquest of the world in his lifetime, but conquering East Asia should not be a problem. How could he not have an heir to inherit the huge family business he had built!

Since his return to Lingao, Chang Shide had been working at the Agricultural Committee—he was now considered a semi-expert on sugarcane. However, Wu Nanhai did not intend to plant sugarcane in Lingao, so all his energy was spent on the work of the Tiandihui. The Tiandihui was promoting agricultural cooperative organizations among the self-cultivating farmers and small landlords in Lingao. This was something Chang Shide had already done in Leizhou, so Ye Yuming attached great importance to his experience. He had become a key figure in the Tiandihui.

Organizing agricultural cooperatives was a complicated matter. Farmers were very suspicious, and it was impossible to persuade them without a solid guarantee of benefits. Although Chang Shide had experience in organizing sugarcane farmers, it was still very difficult to carry out the work. It took a lot of effort to just open a small front. He was pondering how to continue to strike while the iron was hot when he returned home and opened the door.

The maids in the house all stood up in a whoosh and said in unison, “Good evening, Chief!” The momentum was astonishing.

“Hmm, at ease!” Chang Shide waved his hand with a wicked sense of humor. To embody the militarized management of the maids, he had adopted a “maid on duty” system in the inner residence. The three of them took turns being responsible for household affairs to achieve long-term and orderly management.

With his order, the maids immediately dispersed and busied themselves with their respective duties: a cup of tea of just the right temperature and a hot towel were brought to his side, the sound of water being run could be heard from his private bathroom, his shoelaces were untied—someone had brought him slippers and was taking off his shoes for him.

Chang Shide changed his shoes, drank a few sips of tea, and then swaggered into his private bathroom to take a bath. A Zi scrubbed his back, and A Bi soaped and massaged him. He lay motionless on the cypress wood stool, enjoying himself.

After the full set of enjoyment, he changed into clean clothes and returned to the study. He sat on the sofa, took a sip of the newly brewed tea, and A Xiu, the maid on duty today, handed him a notebook.

“This is today’s log of household affairs.”

“Hmm.” Chang Shide took it and flipped through it. The log of household affairs was a system he had established. The maid on duty had to fill in the daily household activities and various expenses every day. At the same time, she also had to record the maids’ outings and guests’ visits in detail. There must also be written records of notices from the General Office, phone calls from Elders, and documents, telegrams, letters, newspapers, and magazines sent to him.

He flipped through it until he reached the last phone record—he had been active in the countryside recently, and his PHS phone couldn’t get a signal, so he paid special attention to phone calls and notices.

“Oh? The organization department of the General Office called me?” he suddenly said. The organization department of the General Office was in charge of the appointment, removal, and transfer of Elders. They would never call him for no reason.

According to the general procedure of the organization department, they would talk to the person before formally issuing a transfer or appointment. Calling him was obviously to schedule a meeting.

Were they going to transfer him? Chang Shide was both excited and worried. He was excited, of course, to be able to do something big, but he was worried that he had just settled down. If he was kicked to a desolate place like Taiwan or Jeju Island to do development work, wouldn’t that be tragic?