Yangzhai is located in the northwest, west and north of Xuzhou, bordering the three prefectures of Luoyang, Zhengzhou and Ruzhou. It is connected by mountains and rivers, backed by the remnants of the Funiu Mountains, and has the Yingshui River passing through it. It has good geographical and climatic conditions, making it a prosperous city in the Central Plains.
zone.
Yangzhai County is also one of the most prosperous counties under Xuzhou, and its economy is almost equal to that of Yingchang, which is governed by Daozhou. Under the long-term erosion of Yingshui River, a large alluvial plain has been formed in the central and southern parts of Yangzhai.
The conditions are good, with sufficient sunshine and rain, which is very friendly to agricultural and animal husbandry production. The county’s cultivated land accounts for more than 30% of its jurisdiction, and Gyeonggi Province has cleared 700,000 acres of cultivated land.
However, due to its large population, the per capita cultivated land in Yangzhai County is less than ten acres, and if measured by a male, it is only more than twenty acres. Naturally, Yangzhai County cannot only have so much land. As the county with the largest jurisdiction under Xuzhou
Even if it is only a rough estimate, the county has at least more than one million acres of cultivated land for grain sowing.
Seventy percent of the government's land clearing work has been completed, and the remaining land is undoubtedly in the hands of those with special status. With Pan You's order to conduct an in-depth inventory of the land, as the owner of the land under the nose of the Si Yamen
Prefectures and counties, Yangzhai County naturally followed suit.
However, this work is really difficult to carry out. Compared with the middle and lower landowners or the people from ordinary families who occupy the remaining 30% of the land, there is no common people who are either heroes or powerful people.
It may not be so conspicuous on weekdays, but after a little statistics, a surprising discovery will be made. In the small Yangzhai County, there are actually more than 20 uncles who have purchased land and manors here, ranging from dozens of hectares to many.
There are hundreds of hectares.
There is no doubt that these people have strong backgrounds. The two or three generations mentioned above have all made outstanding achievements. They have been injured and shed blood for the big man.
Among them, the one who owns the most land is Mayihou Dangjin. His family is in Yangdi. Although it has not been accurately measured, it is said that his family owns nearly 300 hectares of land in Yangdi, making him the largest landowner in Yangdi County.
Like many nobles, the Dangjin family also bought land across the country, and most people, except their hometown, gathered in the Central Plains area.
The party family initially only had more than 1,000 acres of land in Yangzhai, and only a small part of it was awarded by the court. The rest was either purchased or opened up wasteland, and of course some gray methods were unavoidable. After more than thirty years, the amount of land has increased.
It has doubled 30 times.
Naturally, the biggest difficulty in managing such a large amount of land is the labor force. However, this is not a big problem for the party members. They gather the folks from their hometowns and have many old subordinates and retinues.
In addition, some landless peasants took the initiative to rely on them. If they were too busy, they could hire long-term and short-term workers to help. The party even purchased hundreds of serfs from Annan, Japan, North Korea, and Southeast Asia to work and produce.
Regarding the purchase of serfs, strictly speaking, it is somewhat illegal. The imperial court has never liberalized the import of foreign people, and even restricted it. It is only for the purpose of cultivating the large amount of official land and authority directly under the imperial court.
The method of using overseas serfs was adopted, but a special ban was also issued. Overseas serfs were only allowed to be used in government-owned land and mines.
But rules are dead and people are alive. For most people, as long as they can make a profit, they will naturally find ways to break through the constraints. The cost of using overseas serfs is really low, and basically only one mouthful of food is enough.
And using Han people, not to mention the cost of employment, in the current political environment of the Han people, not being too exploitative is also key.
Of course, ordinary people have no need for serfs, but for people with status and channels like Dang Jin, there is no problem at all in buying hundreds of serfs. As for the issue of violation of regulations, it is not his party family.
, Under normal circumstances, as long as there is no big problem, the court will not hold on to it.
Against this background, the Han Dynasty has indeed imported a lot of overseas people in recent years. They are basically strong laborers and young women. These people are distributed in the land and mines run by the government and powerful people, and they earn the most meager and inhumane wages.
They were paid the most painful, tiring, and dangerous jobs. Countless bones were buried under the land, mines, roads, and bridges of the Han Dynasty.
In the shadows of the sun, in a prosperous and civilized world like Han Dynasty, human trafficking is prevalent, which is ironic. Among them, the most popular ones are undoubtedly the Koreans and Japanese, who are diligent, hard-working and obedient.
, much better than those uncivilized southern barbarians. However, due to the friendly and good-neighborly relations between Han Dynasty and Han and Japan, the labor force of the two countries in the territory was nominally "employment" and really had no status at all.
Those who were used as slaves had to be the indigenous people of Southeast Asia.
Of course, Emperor Liu was not unaware of these situations, but he did not put them on the line. In frequent exchanges with overseas countries, this hole has been opened, but it is not that easy to close it. It can only be done from the policy level.
Make some trivial restrictions.
On the other hand, Emperor Liu had a simple idea. Instead of letting these people desperately squeeze and exploit the Han people and do some outrageous things, it is better to transfer their desire for exploitation to foreign countries. This is also what Emperor Liu promoted overseas.
One of the internal driving forces for colonization.
In this way, nearly three hundred hectares of land have been fully developed and produced, and even managed with ease, providing the party with a large amount of money and food every year to support their aristocratic life. Among them, personal dependence is particularly obvious, and Yangzhai
It has also become a key business site for the party.
After Dang Jin resigned from the military and returned to his home, he did not choose to return to his hometown of Mayi, but regarded Yangdi as a place for retirement. How could Mayi be compared with the prosperous land of the Central Plains.
At the beginning, the nephew of the Party family who was set up as an example by Pan You and used his reputation to establish his power because of his lawlessness was one of the main managers responsible for managing the Party's land.
For Yangzhai County, in order to clear the remaining land, it is inevitable to deal with these nobles headed by the Dang family. To complete the task, the difficulties are conceivable, and the Dang family is the hardest bone to crack.
After all, Dang Hou was not an ordinary person. Dang Jin had two reputations in the Han Dynasty: one was illiterate, and the other was perverse. But at the same time, Dang Jin also had wisdom that ordinary people did not have. Although he was not clean in life, he had never been clean.
Don’t go too far, and know how to advance and retreat.
On the other hand, he was a distinguished prince of his generation, and he had a great backer like Rong Guogong behind him, so he could speak in front of Emperor Liu. It had happened more than once that Dang Jin’s ridiculous and outrageous words and deeds had spread to Liu.
In the emperor's ears, Emperor Liu's evaluation was often just this sentence: Dang Jin is just such a person, so don't worry about him.
Regarding the large area of land he owned in Yangdi, Emperor Liu even made a joke with him at the Jiaqing Festival banquet that year, saying that his farm management was good, and if he had the opportunity, he would go to his farm to see it...
...
How can such an old nobleman who can reach the heavens be easily manipulated by the local government? Thinking of it gives me a headache. But I dare not not comply with the decree of the Si Yamen, otherwise the Danghou will only be a deterrent, while the Dao Si has the power of life and death.
What is conceivable is that the work in Yangzhai County has encountered troubles with the party from the beginning. Officials from the county government came to visit, but they were not seen at all. As for the inventory task, they had no intention of cooperating, and were led to the fields by the stewards.
During this period, he also told lies with his eyes open, pointing to a large area of land being fattened and saying, these are all wastelands...
As for the magistrate's personal visit, he couldn't even enter the door of the Dang's manor. Dang Jin directly asked someone to send a message that he was old, recuperating, and had something to do. Wait until he recovers or dies. This is a bastard, what the hell?
He speaks freely, especially when facing people with a lower status than him, without any scruples.
The county magistrate couldn't help it, so he took Pan You out and argued with the Taoist decree. Dang Jin's answer was simple, saying that the land of his party family was a gift from the emperor. His Majesty knew best how much land there was, so he asked them to ask him.
...
In response to such an answer, the county magistrate broke out in a cold sweat. This Dang Hou was too bold and dared to say anything. Yangzhai County did not dare to give up easily. However, Dang Jin was completely annoyed when he refused to give up.
Simply make it clear that you, a small Yangzhai County, are not qualified to inspect his family's land and let Pan You come in person.
This made the magistrate's mentality explode, but he also breathed a sigh of relief. After returning to the Yamen, he couldn't wait to report to Xuzhou and Gyeonggi Province, hoping to get rid of this trouble completely. The party entered this evil tiger, and he was a little
In Yangzhai County, people with weak bodies are really not easy to touch.
When he learned about Dang Jin's arrogance, Pan You was naturally furious. Of course, he also felt that the opportunity had come. He was worried that he could not find a suitable breakthrough. Dang Jin just came to his door. So what about the heroes and heroes, and what about the great military exploits?