Thousands of Liao people stood at the dock south of Guangningwei. They stood dumbly in the cold north wind for a long time, and no one spoke.
This is the first batch of Liao people to return to Liaodong. When the Guan Ning army abandoned western Liaoning, 600,000 Liao people fled into Shanhaiguan without a tile or a foot of land. Fortunately, they were accepted by Li Zhi. This year, more than 600,000 Liao people fled to Shanhaiguan.
They all opened up wasteland in Tianjin and Shandong. Originally, these Liao people planned to settle in the pass after opening up new fields. However, Li Zhi recovered Liaodong at this time.
After Liaodong was restored, the Liao people would naturally return to their homeland. So Li Zhi began to organize an organization for the Liao people to go north.
These three thousand Liao people who disembarked from the seaside of Guangningwei were the first batch of Liao people to return to Liaodong.
After a long time, an old man walking in the front suddenly threw away his crutches and burst into tears.
The cry seemed to be contagious and resonated with everyone in an instant. Thousands of people stood on the black soil in front of the dock one after another and burst into tears.
"Go home!"
"We are really home!"
A middle-aged man burst into tears. He grabbed a handful of soil from the black earth and rubbed it like a treasure. Then he let the black soil fall to the ground along the gap between his hands.
"We Liao people are no longer rootless trees or soilless duckweeds!"
"We are back to Liaodong!"
"We are back to Liaodong!"
A middle-aged man with gray hair knelt on the ground, with tears streaming down his face, and kept kowtowing in the direction of Tianjin.
"Twenty-five years ago, I was still an eighteen-year-old young man when I escaped from Liaodong. That year, my father was killed by the Tatars, my mother cried to death on the road, and my second brother died of illness in Jinzhou. I was the only one who traveled all the way.
Escape to Ningyuan!"
"Father! Mother! Second brother! Thanks to Duke Jin, I have returned to Liaodong! I will find your bones in the future and bury them in Liaodong."
After crying for a long time, three thousand people got up from the ground. They wiped away their tears and gradually gathered around Jing Yishan, director of the Liaodong Water Conservancy Bureau, who led the team.
"Director Jing, we are the first batch of three thousand people to come to Liaodong. Do you want to allocate fields to us?"
Jing Yishan cleared his throat, raised his chin, glanced at the miserable Liao citizens, and said with pride: "I, Jing Yishan, brought three thousand of you to Liaodong, so I will not treat you badly."
After coughing, Jing Yishan said: "Actually, Mr. Guo gives you two choices."
"Liaodong Town, now called Liaodong Province, has a lot of fields here. Your first choice is to directly use the merits gained from reclamation and water conservancy last year to divide the fields. You have worked in Tianjin and Shandong for a year, and probably every strong man
We can divide twenty acres of dry land. But you also know that the climate here in Liaodong is cold, so planting twenty acres of wheat in a year can only make ends meet."
Jing Yishan was talking eloquently in the middle of the crowd, but the Liao people behind him couldn't hear his words clearly and were scratching their heads and heads anxiously. Fortunately, the Liao people had experienced countless bloody sufferings and had always been united. Many people standing in the front took the initiative to spread Jing Yishan's words.
Only when he got to the back did he let the people in the back row know what Jing Yishan meant.
Jing Yishan coughed, glanced at the audience, and said: "In order to encourage reclamation, the Duke of Guo made a rule: dry fields are exempt from tax for the first three years, and from the third year onwards, the land tax is three liters per mu."
Everyone looked at each other and secretly thought that although this first choice could only make ends meet, it was still much better than the previous life.
In the past, whether you were cultivating "military farmland" in Liaodong Town or in western Liaoning, you had to pay one dou or two liters of farmland grains to the officials for every acre of land, and you were often dragged by despicable officers to take care of the officers' private fields. A strong labor farmer
Twenty acres of land was already the limit, and what was left after deducting the grains from the fields was even more pitiful. In addition, being dragged to work by the military officers delayed the family's farming time, and the wheat harvested in the end was often not enough to feed the family.
Moreover, for the poorest refugees from Liaodong, the grains collected from the fields by officers from western Liaoning were often more than one bucket or two liters.
The Duke of Guo has always been kind to his people. The people of Liao only worked for the Duke of Guo to open up wasteland for one year, and they were able to get 20 acres of dry land in Liaodong and received only three liters of land tax. This is really a great benevolence. Moreover, the law is strict under the rule of the Duke of Guo.
, there will never be any situation where officials bully the people. With these twenty acres of dry land, all the Liao people who returned to their homeland will become self-cultivating farmers. This is much better than the previous military households who were like serfs.
With these twenty acres of dry land as homesteaders, a family of two can support the elderly and children.
Some people are impulsive on the spot and choose this "first choice".
The leading old man was more experienced. He strutted his cane and asked loudly: "Director Jing, what about this second option?"
Jing Yishan looked at the old man, laughed, and said: "The second option is to continue to open up wasteland for the Lord. Work for another four years. During these four years, each person will be given a monthly salary of one, two, and five cents, and a package of one
Three meals a day, as well as fresh fish caught by Tianjin fishermen to supplement nutrition. After four years, each person will be allocated one hundred acres of dry land."
Hearing Jing Yishan's words, everyone took a breath. This second option is really too tempting.
Not to mention the 100 acres of farmland, just one or two to five cents per month, with fish and meat for three meals a day, is more cost-effective than farming 20 acres of land. Farming 20 acres of dry land may not be enough in a year.
Eighteen taels of silver and three meals a day, let alone three meals with fish and meat.
In addition, after working for four years, you can get one hundred acres of dry land. This deal is very cost-effective.
Jing Yishan smiled and said: "The reason why you have been allowed to work for four years and accumulate one hundred acres of dry land is because with the machinery of the Lord, you can take care of one hundred acres of dry land without any problem. When the time comes, you will have one hundred acres of dry land."
After harvesting six or seventy kilograms of rice and flour from an acre of land, everyone will be paid!"
Only then did the people of Liao understand the good intentions of the Duke.
A middle-aged man was more thoughtful, thought for a while and asked: "Director Jing, even if we save four years of monthly payment without spending a penny, we still can't afford the agricultural machinery of the Grand Duke."
Jing Yishan was cold and arrogant. He was a little impatient when he heard the middle-aged man's words. He said coldly: "If you can't afford it, you can get a loan. Do you think Jinqi Bank was built in vain?"
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On December 23rd, the third branch of Jinqi Bank in Fanjiazhuang was filled with people and loud voices.
From time to time, people walked into the bank, and when they saw how crowded the branch was, they shook their heads and walked out.
"No, there are too many people today, please wait a few more days."
Since its opening, Jinqi Bank has been welcomed by the masses. Saving money in Jinqi Bank is safer than hoarding silver, and it also earns interest. It has quickly absorbed a large number of public deposits. Jinqi Bank has developed rapidly in the past six months.
, opening a branch almost every five days and continuously expanding its operations in Tianjin and Shandong.
Of course, there was such a huge flow of people in Jinqi Bank today, not to deposit money, but to apply for loans.
Three days ago, the land deeds for the Liaodong farm for the first batch of Fanjiazhuang's "meritorious old employees" were obtained. Each of these meritorious old employees was allocated hundreds of acres of dry land, but none of them had the strength to buy a farm cattle worth three hundred taels.
Machinery such as seed drills and harvesters. In the end, everyone thought of coming to Jinqi Bank to apply for a loan.
The anxious crowd in the bank lobby were all holding land deeds to apply for mortgage loans.
Cui Wending, the president of the third branch, stood in the lobby, giving out "serial number cards" to people in line with a smile on his face, and was very busy.
Cui Wen's ambition is not young, he wants to be the president of the head office. As Li Zhi's father-in-law, he has no problem with his background and connections. What he needs most is the performance of Fu Zhong. He looks at these to give him performance
