novelhk Chapter 133 Comprehensive Reform
Chapter 133 Comprehensive Reform
Once Wei Zhen is conquered, the rest will be easy.
After a brief discussion, Si Chenan decided to capture Yizhou Prefecture by strategy.
Jiang Sining ordered 10,000 elite soldiers in the rebel army to change into the equipment of the Yizhou Army and disguise themselves as the Yizhou Army. He also found hundreds of disguised prisoners.
In this way, Wei Zhen's expedition to Gaochuanji was a great victory.
It only took two days to return to the Yizhou military camp with hundreds of prisoners.
Si Chenan and Dong Ling dressed up as Wei Zhen's personal guards and mingled with the team returning to the military camp.
Wei Zhen won a great victory in his campaign against the bandits and captured hundreds of prisoners. His army also marched through the city gates of Yizhou Prefecture in a mighty manner, letting all the people of Yizhou Prefecture know about it.
Although the Yizhou commander was unhappy, Wei Zhen's achievements were now known to everyone, so he could only welcome Wei Zhen back to the base with a smile on his face, and summoned generals of all ranks to hold a celebration banquet for him.
When all the generals in the army arrived, Wei Zhen suddenly launched an attack, arrested all of them, and confiscated their military tokens. Together with the 10,000 people who had sneaked into the military camp, it took only a quarter of an hour to control the entire Yizhou Army.
Then, everyone took advantage of the night and surrounded the Yizhou government office, making sure no one could get in or out.
When the prefect of Yizhou saw that Wei Zhen had rebelled, he knew that the situation was hopeless, so he placed his black gauze hat and official uniform neatly on a tray, held it high above his head, and came out with his entire family to surrender.
Jiang Sining had asked someone to inquire about the Yizhou prefect, and found out that he was neither a good official nor a bad official, so he gave him a chance to live and allowed him to leave with his family.
But the prefect of Yizhou knew clearly that Yizhou was occupied by the rebels and he, as the prefect, was to blame. Even if he returned to the capital, he would not be able to escape the death penalty, so he knelt down and begged to be allowed to stay in Yizhou Prefecture.
Even if he bought some land on the outskirts of the city and became an ordinary citizen from then on, he would not go back to the capital to die.
Si Chenan of course knew what was going on, so he agreed to his request.
That night, Si Chen'an entered the Yizhou government office, and early the next morning issued a notice to the whole state, announcing the occupation of Yizhou Prefecture. He asked the county magistrates to report immediately, otherwise he would lead the army to clear out the rebels.
When the county magistrates heard that Yizhou Prefecture had been occupied and the prefecture troops had all rebelled, they dared not disobey and rushed to Yizhou Prefecture.
Si Chenan had sent people to inquire before. Those officials who did a good job would be kept to continue to govern the county for the time being. Those who were corrupt and abused their power, disregarding the lives of the people and only caring about their own plunder, would all be taken to the market and beheaded to serve as a warning to others.
Seeing that he had executed several corrupt officials as soon as he arrived and was also preparing to open the granaries to release grain, the people from all over Yizhou supported the rebel army.
After taking over Yizhou Prefecture, Si Chenan wanted to continue recruiting troops, and then head north in the summer to seize the important areas of the capital and overthrow the imperial rule, but Jiang Sining did not agree.
Although the people of Yizhou now support Si Chenan, Yizhou still has too many problems.
Countless people cannot afford to eat now, the attitude of the border troops is ambiguous, and there are still many real bandits causing chaos among the people.
And she knew that there would soon be a plague sweeping the country, and a major earthquake in the summer.
If we advance rashly at this time, we will face great risks, and Yizhou Prefecture may even be in chaos.
"Madam, what are our plans?"
"Govern it first." Jiang Sining said, "Yizhou Prefecture has a unique geographical location and natural barriers, so it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. We will use a year to govern Yizhou Prefecture first, and then march north in winter or next year."
"I will obey you in everything," Si Chenan said, "but I still need your advice, how should Yizhou Prefecture be governed?"
Jiang Sining has been thinking about this question for quite some time.
At the beginning, she thought that it would be better to follow the current social model, stabilize the situation first, and then gradually reform it later.
But thinking back, it won’t work.
How many reforms has the Chinese nation experienced from ancient times to the present?
But what are the results of each reform?
Therefore, it is better to suffer a short pain than a long one. If we are to make changes, we should make them thorough. We should launch land reform, nationalize all land, and then let farmers cultivate the land through contracting. We should collect taxes every year according to the amount of contracted land.
This reform model has been proven to be effective in practice.
"But if we do this, we will lose the support of all the gentry." Si Chenan said, "And now most of the food is in the hands of these people. If we push them too hard, they will definitely rebel against us, and then I'm afraid the whole Yizhou Prefecture will be in chaos."
Jiang Sining smiled slightly and said, "Then let's play Landlord first."
Having made up his mind, Jiang Sining decided to use Gaochuan County as a pilot.
Now that Gaochuan County has no county magistrate, Jiang Sining will temporarily take over the job and select talents from the scholars who have not yet passed the imperial examination to serve as officials in the county government.
After several days of preparation, the county government of Gaochuan County began to post notices in various villages, announcing that all the land would be reclaimed and become the property of the county government.
This notice immediately aroused backlash from landlords and wealthy people.
They spent real money to buy their land, and now it is being taken away without paying a penny. They would definitely not agree to this even if they are beaten to death.
Landlords and wealthy families in some villages united and prepared to resist to the death. They just couldn't believe that the county government would dare to forcibly occupy their land!
In order to fight to the end, they not only gathered their servants together, but also hired some ruffians to act as their thugs.
In just a few days, an army of hundreds of people was formed and they came to the county government office in a mighty manner to ask for an explanation.
The deserted county government had only a dozen or so civil servants and almost no yamen runners.
Faced with such a large group of people, the scholars were a little scared.
"Madam," Si Chenan was also in Gaochuan County these days. Seeing this situation, he suggested, "Why don't we send some soldiers back to suppress it?"
"No," Jiang Sining said, "The army cannot be used to suppress the people, even the landlords who are causing trouble."
"Then how should we deal with these people?"
"For things like Landlord Fight, it's natural to let the local people participate," Jiang Sining said. "Only when they participate themselves will they have a sense of ownership."
Si Chenan didn’t know what the spirit of ownership was, but he knew that Jiang Sining’s decision was correct.
After the second notice was issued, the people of Gaochuanji were in an uproar.
Because the notice stated that everyone should actively participate in the criticism and denunciation of landlords and wealthy households, and those landlords who dared not hand over grain and land must be made to taste the iron fist of the people!
After defeating these landlords and wealthy families, all the land will belong to the people, but it will be managed uniformly by the county government and contracted to every citizen of Gaochuan County at extremely low taxes.
What do farmers desire most?
Of course it’s your own land!
In the past, people rented land from landlords and even if some families owned land, they had to pay more than half of their grain as taxes.
Now, the land belongs to the people!
Moreover, the tax rate is only one in twenty, which has never happened before in history!
In a short time, tens of thousands of people flocked to Gaochuanji and tied up all the landlords and their servants who dared to resist and cause trouble.
Then it was placed on a bullock cart and taken to every village for a parade several times.
After venting all his years of anger, Jiang Sining personally led people to each village and household, selecting literate and good young people from the village to serve as village chiefs, and together with officials from the county government, measured the land and counted the population.
Then the confiscated grain and every inch of land in the village were distributed to everyone according to regulations.
The common people who got the land treated Jiang Sining almost as their second parent and wanted to worship her on the shrine.
However, this is far from over.
After the land was distributed, Jiang Sining announced that a school would be built!
Anyone aged seven and above and below fifteen in Gaochuan County, regardless of whether they are boys or girls, can go to school in the county for free!
And every village will have two scholars who are responsible for teaching ordinary villagers to read and write for free!
As soon as this news came out, the people of Gaochuan County were excited again.