After consulting the information left by Magistrate Huang and visiting local people, Li Hui basically figured out the identity and whereabouts of more than a dozen local wealthy people in Juchao County.
In fact, compared with the Wujun gentry, these so-called big families are just small landowners. The scale of their land business is very limited. If the Jin gentry is classified, the big families in these places can only be regarded as the fourth and fifth grades.
However, they own thousands of acres of fertile farmland and mountains, do some local business, and monopolize certain industries. They are local prominent figures, have considerable influence in the local area, and have a respected status in the local area. The resources they possess are among the highest in the county.
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Li Hui has always hoped that these wealthy families can return to Juchao County, because this will be of great benefit to the prosperity of the entire Juchao County. The wealthy families have relatively strong financial resources and can start various businesses. They have the ability to connect the surrounding areas and transport goods.
, taking the lead in doing some things, which will have some positive effects on the stability and development of the entire Juchao County.
Now, Juchao County is full of waste, and the participation of big families is a very important part. Moreover, Li Hui currently has insufficient resources. If the big families in the county are willing to help him, they can help him absorb and resettle the people and provide some resources.
If so, then things will be much easier to handle.
But this group of wealthy people in Juchao County refused to return, and he could not get any assistance from them. It was not that Li Hui had to force them to come back, after all, this kind of thing could not be forced. But the problem was that these people owned tens of thousands of acres of farmland, and they had no choice.
People have been farming and leaving it uncultivated for several years, and the fields have become overgrown with weeds. This has resulted in a huge waste.
Moreover, the farmland owned by the local wealthy families was originally excellent fertile land, with higher terrain, good water conservancy conditions, and little impact from droughts and floods. It can be said that the best fertile farmland in Juchao County is basically concentrated among these people.
At present, if these farmlands can be utilized, it will solve the urgent need.
Li Hui's idea was that as long as the rich families returned to cultivate their fields and set up industries and businesses in the city, this would require absorbing a large amount of labor. In that case, those people who could not be resettled would be quickly absorbed, and the problem would be easily solved.
Maybe these people have just become tenants and cannot own their own land, but at least their livelihoods are guaranteed. They can have work and food to eat. This is already a good start for the refugees who have just fled.
In view of this consideration, Li Hui decided to take the initiative to persuade the local wealthy families to return to the county. As a result, he wrote more than ten personal letters and ordered them to be sent to surrounding counties and even some counties in the south of the Yangtze River to the wealthy families who were avoiding trouble.
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In the letter, Li Hui's words were sincere and his tone was polite. As the magistrate of Juchao County, he introduced to them how Juchao County had exterminated the lake bandits. He asked them to return to Juchao County with confidence to work together on the plan to revitalize their hometown. He praised them.
As local virtuous people, the people are eagerly looking forward to the return of the rich family so that Juchao County can prosper as soon as possible.
Although the contents of the letters are similar, Li Hui wrote these letters with sincerity. He really needs help. The help of these local wealthy families will quickly turn the situation around.
However, the result surprised Li Hui. These wealthy families seemed to have discussed it, some avoided it, some declined the invitation, and some ignored it at all. They did not take Li Hui's invitation seriously at all.
What is excessive is that several people even said in front of the messenger that Juchao County has now become a gathering place for bandits. The city is full of beggars and the atmosphere is smoky. Whenever the new county magistrate drives these beggars out, they will go back.
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Li Hui felt that at first he might not have said it clearly and his attitude was not sincere enough. So he ordered someone to explain to them again, telling them that these were just common people fleeing the North, not bandits. He had already let them
Tujuan will be naturalized and will be strictly managed. The county is in good order and nothing bad will happen. I promise them that there will be no accidents.
However, the second round of explanations was still ignored. These guys didn't take Li Hui seriously at all. Li Hui's invitation and explanation also fell on deaf ears.
Li Hui was a little annoyed.
Li Hui was angry not because of their rude and arrogant attitude towards him, but because they ignored everything he explained to them. He had actually made it very clear that he hoped they would return and do something to revitalize Juchao County.
We will discuss and resolve the difficulties currently facing Juchao County through joint discussions within our capabilities. We will not hide or hide things.
In other words, the fundamental reason why they are unwilling to respond is because they do not want to help Juchao County in the slightest, and they are unwilling to contribute even half of their efforts.
Some people may think that it is understandable that the wealthy people are unwilling to help. After all, it is a duty not to help, but it is a sentiment to help. But Li Hui doesn't see it that way. If these people are not from the wealthy families in Juchao County, the problem is to get rich.
In Juchao County, they relied on the people and land resources of Juchao County to make a fortune. Now when Juchao County needs them, they choose to pretend to be dead. This is absolutely impossible. It is morally unjustifiable.
Moreover, a large amount of their farmland was left uncultivated, which was an act of occupying a manhole and not taking a shit. On the one hand, they were facing a large number of refugees with no land to cultivate, but on the other hand, tens of thousands of acres of fertile land were left uncultivated. Li Hui could not tolerate it.
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Although from a legal point of view, how to deal with private farmland and private property is their own problem. But that also depends on when. Under the current situation, people are starving to death, and famine and chaos will definitely occur in the foreseeable future.
In the situation that happened, how could Li Hui reason with them?
Since they refused to drink the toast, Li Hui planned to punish them with a few drinks, grabbing their beards and drinking them down.
Li Hui issued a county government announcement on the 26th of the first lunar month, the content of which was about the disposal of the rich village land.
The announcement stated: Juchao County has eradicated banditry and left a lot of waste to be renovated. The whole county should make every effort to resume work, market and farming to ensure self-sufficiency this year and avoid famine and chaos. In view of this, all private acres in the county are not allowed to be abandoned.
.People with household registration in this county, no matter where they are, need to return to farming within one month. No matter whether they are a big family or a small household, this is no exception. Rich people from other counties, even other states, need to return to Chao County to resume farm production. It is prohibited.
A large number of acres of farmland continue to be abandoned and turned into grassland, which is a waste of farmland resources. Within one month, if those who do not return, or those who come to the county government without valid reasons to report and explain, Juchao County will treat those farmlands as unclaimed land.
, all returned to official ownership and distributed to the people of Juchao County and settled people for farming.
The announcement of this notice immediately caused an uproar. The people were surprised that County Magistrate Li would issue such a tough order. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that although this notice covers everyone, it is actually targeted at those wealthy families outside the country.
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For the people, this is of course a good thing. The farmland of the rich families is fertile land, and it would be a pity to leave it uncultivated. It would be great if such fertile land could be cultivated.
But the problem is that these farmlands are all private property. It makes no sense for County Magistrate Li to confiscate the private property of a wealthy family. Even if the local wealthy families do not come back, those farmlands are still their private property after all. How can County Magistrate Li confiscate them at will? This is against the imperial decree.
His behavior will lead to big mistakes.
How could these wealthy families just give up? If they started to cause trouble, it would be County Magistrate Li who would suffer. It is rare for a magistrate to come here with such a heart for the people. If he gets unlucky because of this, what should he do?
The people are quietly focusing on this matter and paying attention to the progress brought about by this matter.
Zhou Che also reminded Li Hui privately, telling him that it was inappropriate to do so, without any basis, and in violation of court laws. If they were to use their non-farming as a basis to arbitrarily confiscate the private property of a wealthy family, the consequences would be extremely serious.
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But Li Hui doesn't care. If he dares to do this, he is not afraid that things will develop unfavorably for him. Li Hui has such a stubborn temper. Once he decides to do something, he will find every way to do it. Since these wealthy people are pretending to be dead with him
, he started fighting with them to see who would win.
Of course, Li Hui is not a reckless man. He has already thought about his subsequent actions and is just waiting for the development of the situation. He believes that soon if these people are sensible, they will come to compromise with him. If they are not sensible,
, then you will teach them to become sensible.
Ten days passed, and nothing happened. None of the more than ten wealthy households in Juchao County returned, and no one even came to see Li Hui to question him face to face.
It has entered early February, and the weather has changed visibly. The spring water has thawed, everything has sprouted, and spring has arrived. But this also makes the situation more urgent. Because the farming season waits for no one, April is the sowing season.
Before this, the reclaimed land needed to be weeded, turned over, stoned and fertilized, etc. The ditches needed to be cleaned, and many preparations had to be made.
Even if it is to re-cultivate wasteland, there are not so many steps. You only need to clear the weeds, plow the land and repair it. But there is not much time left.
Li Hui seemed to be as if nothing had happened. During this period, he and Zhou Che were busy inspecting various parts of the county, holding discussions with the people in the villages and towns, soliciting opinions, and collecting and sorting out opinions to facilitate this year's land reclamation production and water conservancy construction.
Li Hui's plan is to complete some basic planning before mid-February to delineate the location and area of land reclamation for the displaced people in the North. The area currently determined is northwest of Juchao County, along the banks of the Ligao River.
Some wasteland in the area can be cultivated, and about 1,800 acres of land can be cultivated. There are also some wastelands in other places that can be cultivated into good farmland, totaling only four to five thousand acres of scattered land.
For the sake of fairness, Li Hui presided over the lot drawing ceremony, so that nearly a hundred displaced families who had obtained qualifications through the lot drawing could immediately start reclaiming wasteland and preparing their fields, so as not to delay the farming season.
Two more days passed, and Li Hui came back after he finished drawing lots and personally sent away several groups of refugee families who were going to settle in the wasteland. There was still no feedback from the wealthy people. It seemed that the notice issued before was as silent as a mud cow drowning in the sea.