But this sparrow is too small after all. Lingao is a small and poor county with a small population. The local science and technology are not prominent, and there is no strong support from the gentry. These government agencies, which rely on local financial support, have not existed for many years and have gradually been abandoned.
The stately government offices have also fallen into disrepair. Except for Confucianism, an institution that must be maintained in the county, the others have long been empty. The Grain Collection Bureau occupies the Daohui Department, which has the most magnificent building among them.
.In this original official Taoist management department of the Ming Dynasty, not to mention Taoist priests, even the statues and sacred cases no longer exist. It seems very desolate.
Wu De liked the style of the government office here - compared with other government offices, the gate tower and main hall of the place were larger, so that there would be enough office space when the organization expanded in the future. He asked Lingao Construction Company to renovate it on the site.
It was renovated and became the Yamen of the Grain Collection Bureau.
Although it is a yamen of the Ming Dynasty, the work is done in a realistic manner. Behind the horseshoe-shaped wooden counter are the first batch of graduates of the national school's short-term tax training class. Other items such as one-meter noodles and railings for queuing are also available. And
There is a stricter order system here than in another time and space. Several government servants who were retained after being reviewed and screened by the study class fiercely carried whips to maintain order in the queue.
There are many people who take the initiative to declare, but there are also many who are reluctant. In their view, the ultimate goal of clearing the land must be to tax all the land. Although many grain farmers may not be able to spread or send money, they can still
Concealing the number of acres is easy.
But the threat from the Australians is also clear: any unregistered land that is not declared or registered upon expiration, or is declared incorrectly will be confiscated and returned to the public. No one doubts that the Australians can do what they say.
The Chuanchuan Group used the modern "violent propaganda" model to remind the people everywhere: hurry up and declare the land! Ding Ding launched a large-scale publicity campaign. Every three days, a propaganda team went to the countryside to beat gongs and drums to publicize the land declaration, Huahua
Green notices and drawing paper - the common people's names for the posters are plastered all over the villages.
The posters produced by Zhou Dongtian's printing factory are genuine woodblock printing. The woodblock New Year picture craftsmen painstakingly copied the patterns designed by the Propaganda Department onto wooden boards, and then overprinted them with several colors. The effect is not good, but the cost is cheap and suitable for use.
To make promotional posters. The most shocking one is a man wearing a Feiyu suit with a sinister face pointing at your nose, with a line underneath: "Did you declare your declaration honestly?!"
This kind of noisy, highly offensive propaganda was something the common people had never seen before. On weekdays, except for the grain collectors urging for collection in autumn and the occasional salesman, strange propaganda came to the village where no outsiders came.
Team: strangely dressed men and women, driving bullock carts with sheds or pushing beautiful handcarts.
As soon as they arrived in the village, the liaison officer beat the gong and gathered the whole village, old and young, to listen to the announcement. The propaganda team leader read out the Grain Recruitment Bureau's notice on measuring acres of land and its important significance.
After he finished speaking, the promotional truck equipped with loudspeakers would play a majestic song that people had never heard of over and over again. The impassioned melody broke the tranquility of the countryside. During the interval of the song, a loud-throated male voice
Or a female voice is shouting slogans:
“Measuring acres of land benefits the country and the people!”
"Clearing taxes is a century-old plan!"
"To deceive the Grain Collection Bureau is to deceive the emperor!"
"Fighting Qingzhang will lead to death!"
“Declare early, get benefits early!”
…
The slogans were so loud that they could be heard even outside the village, making people's ears buzz. These slogans would also be painted on the walls of the village. Under the oxcart were people seconded from the army and the national school, one by one.
With notices, glue buckets, brushes and ink buckets, they painted slogans and posted notices all over the walls. Even the walls of the pig pen were not spared. Army soldiers armed with rifles and county magistrates armed with sticks were like wolves and tigers.
Stand by and remind people that the threats in these slogans are not empty words.
After the policy propaganda team left, the literary and art propaganda team arrived later, and they even sang and sang about clearing the land and clarifying the benefits of taxes. There were no cultural activities in the countryside, and a monk who sang the book could gather a large group of people to listen.
After the performance, a kind of beautiful candy was distributed, transparent candy cubes, colorful. Not to mention children, even adults were tempted - this is fruit candy produced by a food factory.
The indiscriminate propaganda campaign has had a great effect. Originally, the government was just a distant and vague existence. Now, it is around you all the time. Sometimes it is a propaganda team, sometimes it is a wall full of notices and slogans.
, reminding you endlessly every day what you should do, and implicitly threatening what will happen if you don't do it, the effect is quite significant.
Under such constant and repeated beatings, more and more people took the initiative to declare. Some small and medium-sized landowners and grain farmers knew that there was no chance of survival if they delayed. Those who understand current affairs are heroes, so it was better to report obediently.
After Fu Buyer hesitated for a few days, he finally took the land deed to declare it. Before leaving, his wife did not roll around on the ground to stop him like she had done in the past. She just stared at Fu Buyer blankly, showing her ignorance.
A confused look.
Fu Buer, who was originally dissatisfied with his wife's verbosity, felt a little pity for her, but when he thought that this woman had been doing it for his family business, his heart softened a little.
"Don't worry, the Australians are nice to us," Fu Buer said confidently, "We won't suffer any loss."
Is this the case? He is not very confident. However, the help of the Tiandihui and the recent new measures in food payment have given Fu Fuji a lot of trust in the Australians. He believes that the Australians will not do anything that harms the people.
Fu Buer just carried the land deed, dry food and water on his back and went to the county town to register with many people in the village. When passing Fu Yousan's gate, the old man looked at them with the eyes of a wise man looking at a fool:
"Go, go, surrender yourself to the trap one by one!" Fu Yousan muttered to himself with a look on his face as he expected everything.
His eldest son Fu Yizhuang is not so confident:
"Dad! The village has done a great job in reporting this matter..."
"Let them go, we won't move."
"But the Australians will go to the countryside when they come here. We have so much land, we can't hide it from them!" He said timidly and looked at the big slogan painted on the opposite wall: "Fighting Qingzhang will lead to death." That "death"
"The paint was so huge that it almost took up a whole wall.
"You're so scared!" Fu Yousan suddenly lost his temper, "I don't believe Australians are all gods!" As he spoke, he paused his crutches hard. Fu Yizhuang trembled in fright, thinking that his father was going to use it again.
The cane beat him.
Fu Yousan's confidence is certainly not in vain. Fu Yousan's family owns the most land in Meiyang Village. A large part of it is hidden in a hilly valley near the village. Although the terrain is not dangerous, it is
It is far away from the village and the main road, with dense forests and deep grass, and complicated paths that ordinary people cannot find. Fu Yousan built a village there specifically for his youngest son to live and farm with several trusted villagers and their children.
Even someone like Chen Minggang, who knew the land situation in the county very well, only knew that three Fu families had hidden land, but they still had no idea how much or where it was located. They just used it to extort some money and that was all.
"The land in Zhuangzi doesn't have land deeds for land reclamation," Fu Yizhuang whispered. "It doesn't matter if you declare it or not, but things near the village cannot be hidden from anyone. You have to be willing to go there..."
Fu Yousan put on a lecturing face: "Exchange the land deed? If the Australians leave, wouldn't it be a piece of waste paper?"
"The new land deed is still from the government, and the grain collection bureau is handled by Mr. Wu from the county." Fu Yizhuang explained.
Regardless of the fact that Fu Yousan is the head of the Fu family, the largest family in Meiyang Village, and the richest man in the village, he looks like he doesn't look down on anyone. He will make sarcasm to everyone he meets to show his wisdom as an old man, but he is most afraid of officials.
, even if a government official from the county came to the village, Fu Yousan would be so frightened that he would hide and not dare to meet him, and would only ask his nephew to deal with it.
Hearing that the grain collection bureau was run by the county government, and that Wu Ya, the "second-in-command in the county," was in charge, Fu Yousan's originally confident expression immediately became panicked.
"You traitor!" he scolded, "I didn't tell you this earlier!" As he said this, he gave Fu Yizhuang a walking stick.
"How many days have the notices been posted in this village..." Fu Yizhuang said with grievance after receiving a blow in vain.
"How dare you say that!" Fu Yizhuang was hit with a stick again, "Quickly, bring me a copy of the notice!"
In a large office of the Grain Collection Bureau, a blackboard was erected. A progress schedule was posted on it. All the registered villages in the county were posted with paper slips. Next to it were small paper flags of different colors according to the progress.
Write the latest progress figures.
Wu De updated this schedule every day in front of the blackboard based on the latest data sent in. Since the renovation of the grain collection bureau office was completed, the leadership team moved here from Zhang Youfu's house, so that they can control the land clearing matters nearby.
.
On the blackboard, there are only a few little red flags indicating 100% completion, and most of them are only halfway through.
"The progress is starting to slow down." Wu De glanced at the weekly comparison chart he had just drawn next to him. Compared with last week, the increase rate this week was lower than that of previous weeks.
After the launch of a large-scale publicity campaign, the number of self-declarations has increased rapidly, but in the past week, the growth rate has begun to slow down significantly, indicating that the effect of publicity is fading.
He called Ding Ding:
"...The propaganda effect is fading. You have to use your brain more to see if there are any new propaganda methods."
"I understand, but there are too few promotional trucks. Can you allocate a few more? Especially the loudspeakers above."