Chapter 467: Hu Xuefan

“Yes, I understand.”

“The collection of the ‘reasonable burden’ must also be expedited,” Hong Huangnan reminded him. “I see from the reports that many villages were in arrears with last year’s reasonable burden. You need to press them. Whether it’s silver, cloth, or grain, collect it first—it’s all useful.”

“Yes. I will arrange for people to press them at once,” Zhu Fusheng quickly replied. The Guangzhou head office of Dachang Rice Firm was also responsible for collecting the “reasonable burden.” They were responsible for the collection, storage, and transport of the reasonable burden from all over the Pearl River estuary every year.

After Zhu Fusheng withdrew, Hong Huangnan glanced at the long list of people to be summoned, studied the names on it, and instructed his secretary:

“Have Hu Xuefan come in first!”

The man who entered was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, dark, thin, and wiry. He wore a “cadre uniform,” but his head was still in a topknot, and he walked with a slight limp, looking rather incongruous.

“Chief,” Hu Xuefan’s legs were bad, so he couldn’t stand at attention. He could only try to make his posture look better.

“Little Hu, have a seat,” Hong Huangnan was very polite to him and casually tossed him a cigarette from his own white special-supply pack. “How are you? After being in the countryside for so long, is your body holding up?”

“Chief, what are you saying? It’s my honor to serve the Senate and the people,” Hu Xuefan was flattered and took the cigarette, bowing and scraping.

“I won’t waste time with pleasantries, Little Hu,” Hong Huangnan sat down with a plop. “Tell me about your inspection tour of the countryside.”

“Yes, chief.” Hu Xuefan didn’t dare to smoke in front of the chief and stuck the cigarette behind his ear. Although he now had a respectable, scholarly name, he was actually the same “Umbrella Shop Little Hu” who used to be a “grain runner” under Chen Minggang, the clerk of the Lingao household registration office.

After Chen Minggang was hanged, most of the original grain runners, except for a few who were deeply hated by the people and were hanged along with him, all went to work in the grain collection bureau, fully “utilizing their expertise.” After a few years, except for a few unlucky ones who ended up with Fu Youdi, the rest all became “cadres” of the tax bureau.

“Umbrella Shop Little Hu” had the skill of “knowing numbers” and became a capable member of the State Taxation Administration. After the Pearl River Estuary Raid, the Executive Committee entrusted the State Taxation Administration to integrate the land of the local gentry and prominent households who had died or fled during the operation, and established the Wansheng Rent Depot to “lease out land.”

Because Hu Xuefan had this skill, he was transferred to Guangdong after the establishment of the Wansheng Rent Depot and became a “master” in the depot. His work was no different from before: inspecting the fields for rent collection, estimating the approximate yield as the basis for collecting rent from the tenants. In addition, he had to estimate the approximate yield of grain and special products in the various villages in the Pearl River estuary that had established the “reasonable burden” system, to ensure that the amount of the “reasonable burden” collected was appropriate.

He had been in this position for several years and could be said to have a thorough understanding of the crop and field conditions of the various villages under his jurisdiction.

This time, he was assigned by Hong Huangnan to conduct an inspection tour of the various counties in the Pearl River estuary to check the growth of this year’s autumn grain and cash crops, and to roughly estimate the yield per mu of the crops in various places. These data were one of the important bases for Hong Huangnan’s local procurement.

“Chief, I’ve already written a report on this matter,” Hu Xuefan had undergone multiple training sessions and now had no problem writing reports and filling out forms. “I’ll first report on the general situation.”

The situation in the counties he had visited varied. In some counties, the crops were growing very well, and a full harvest was expected to be no problem. Others had suffered natural disasters, and although it was not a complete loss, a significant reduction in production was certain. In addition to natural disasters, the area planted with cash crops this year was larger than last year. Therefore, the shortage of grain in Guangdong would certainly become more serious, especially in some of the wealthier counties in the Pearl River Delta, where grain was already far from self-sufficient. This was mainly the credit of the Senate: Guangdong was now the Senate’s largest supplier of raw materials and sales market. The large amount of import and export trade had stimulated the cultivation of cash crops in various parts of Guangdong.

“…Take the fifteen counties of Guangzhou Prefecture, for example. About two-thirds of them cannot be self-sufficient in grain and need to be supplied from outside.”

Hong Huangnan was both happy and worried. He was happy because cash crops were a source of wealth, and once Guangdong was taken, it would be a windfall! He was worried because the Fubo Army’s soldiers and the cadres of the civil affairs department could not live on smoking and drinking indigo water. Once the occupation was implemented, besides feeding the soldiers, they also had to solve the problem of feeding the local people.

“It seems things are a bit tricky,” Hong Huangnan frowned. Hu Xuefan didn’t dare to make a sound, waiting for the chief’s next words.

“Do you see any problems with the reasonable burden in various places now? I see that there were arrears from last year. Also, is there any potential to be tapped in the rent collected by the rent depot?”

“There are naturally problems,” Hu Xuefan quickly said. “Mainly, the burden is uneven. Some places have too heavy a burden. The local liaison officers have been petitioning to have it lowered.”

This had been the case ever since he took office. Especially for him, who held the power of “knowing numbers,” the “liaison officers” of the various villages would come to complain and petition every time the “reasonable burden” was collected. The liaison officers of some villages would also occasionally come to present local products and gifts, implying that as long as he could reduce the “burden,” they would send a considerable “thank-you gift.” On several occasions, paper packages containing white silver had been stuffed into his hands, and gold bracelets and silver cakes had been stuffed into the lychee baskets and cured fish and chicken sent to him. Once, a liaison officer invited him for “tea” and simply brought a young girl, saying that as long as he was willing to “accept,” even the house and furniture would be “provided.”

Almost all the staff of the Wansheng Rent Depot and the Dachang Rice Firm, which handled the “reasonable burden,” had encountered such good things. But Little Hu didn’t dare to be tempted. He had experienced the “land survey” movement in Lingao back then, and later participated in the “land survey” operations in various counties of Hainan as a “cooperating personnel.” He knew very well that the chiefs were not only ruthless but also well-informed about this. So he didn’t even dare to take too many lychees. Every year, a few unlucky people would disappear from the rice firm and the rent depot. Everyone kept silent about it, but they all knew where they had gone.

However, after a few years, he had developed some “friendship” with the liaison officers of the various villages. It was also a fact that some villages had a heavy burden. He had also reported this to the Senator in charge of the rent depot at the Guangzhou Station, but the chief in charge of the rent depot had never agreed. Because the amount of the “reasonable burden” for each village actually had a “punitive” nature. Those that had resisted or had resisted more fiercely had a heavier “reasonable burden.” It had a certain “political meaning.”

Seeing that he had a chance now, he brought up the matter again.

Hong Huangnan didn’t speak. Hu Xuefan felt more and more that there was a chance and said again, “Although these villages resisted the royal army back then, it has been several years now. Besides, it was the prominent households and gentry who offended the heavenly might back then. Now that they are all gone, it’s a bit unreasonable to continue to put this extra burden on the common people.”

“You have a point, but this is not something I can decide,” Hong Huangnan said. “Let’s not talk about this for now. Is there any potential to be tapped in the rent from the rent depot?”

The “reasonable burden” and the “rent depot” rent collection could collect about 20,000 shi of various grains in a normal year, as well as about 20,000 taels of cash crops and silver. This income was Hong Huangnan’s main source of income for this Guangdong campaign. He was not very satisfied and wanted to tap into the potential.

“To be honest, it’s not impossible, but…” Hu Xuefan paused cautiously before continuing, “Wansheng currently has a 50/50 split with the tenants. Wansheng also bears the land tax. If this were any other estate, it would be a 40/60 split. A 50/50 split would be a fixed rent. If we want to tap into the potential, we can change to a 40/60 or 30/70 split. As long as there are no illnesses or disasters, the tenants can still make a living—but doing so, doing so…” he mumbled and didn’t continue.

Hong Huangnan completely understood his meaning: doing so would damage the Senate’s reputation for benevolence.

“I know. I’ll think about it again,” Hong Huangnan hesitated. He knew that most of the Senators cared a lot about their “reputation,” and they would probably not agree to something that would damage public sentiment. He suddenly asked again, “Do you know the situation in Sanliangshi?”

Hu Xuefan’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly replied, “I do.”

“I saw from Dachang’s report that the reasonable burden in Sanliangshi is always in arrears for several months before it’s paid. Do you know the specific situation?”

Hu Xuefan nodded, “I know about this. The situation in Sanliangshi is different from other places. Its biggest income is from mat grass. It can’t collect grain, so the reasonable burden is collected in silver. I’ve heard from people in this business that every year, after the mat grass is harvested, it has to be dried and then woven into mats before it can be sold for money. The whole process takes almost half a year. It’s indeed a bit difficult for them to pay on time.”

“I see,” Hong Huangnan nodded. “You may go.”

“Yes, I’ll take my leave,” Hu Xuefan was a little nervous and even used his old way of speaking.

The next person to be summoned was the “liaison officer” of Sanliangshi: Li Cunfa.

Li Cunfa was a small mat grass merchant who had originally lived under the thumb of Luo Tianqiu in Sanliangshi. The local mat grass business was monopolized by the Luo family, and Li Cunfa could only do the most basic procurement work. After a year of hard work, the mat grass he had collected and sorted could only be sold to the Luo family’s trading firm, and his income was barely enough to feed his family.

After the Australians broke through Sanliangshi and wiped out the local gentry and prominent households, he and the monk Daoliao stepped forward to maintain order and became “liaison officers.” After the Australians withdrew, Li Cunfa became the de facto town mayor. Besides collecting the “reasonable burden” for the whole town on a regular basis, he also had to press for grain for the Wansheng depot. He was a prominent figure in the town.

Hearing that a chief wanted to summon him, Li Cunfa muttered to himself. He had not been entirely innocent these past few years. After Luo Tianqiu’s fall, he had used his position as a “liaison officer” to collude with the monk Daoliao and had in fact monopolized the mat grass business in Sanliangshi.