The most arrogant in history

Chapter 171: Go to Jingzhou to curry favor!

The biggest squire, the cousin of the former county governor Liu Dongliang, stepped forward and said:

"Master Ye, if you announce a 30% tax rate, we won't be able to farm anymore. The people who rent the land will make trouble with us because we have always been 50% tax rate."

Ye Kun asked: "You pay 10% tax and 5% tax. What do you provide to the tenants?"

"Provide land, oxen, and large farm tools."

"So what is your yield per acre?"

"Good farms produce 90 kilograms of rice per year, and inferior farms produce 70 to 80 kilograms."

"How much land do you each have?" Ye Kun asked again.

"This..." The gentry all stammered and hemmed and hawed:

"Our land is recorded in the county government. We never default on our annual taxes."

It was a common practice for local gentry to annex land and conceal the number of acres of land.

Ye Kun nodded and asked the officials to bring the land register and count the land owned by the major gentry.

As a result, the largest area was only 3,000 acres and the smallest was 200 acres.

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Gentlemen, are the acres of land recorded here true?"

"It's all true."

"Fake, none of them are real!" Ye Kun glared:

"Everyone, do you take me for a kid? Okay, I will admit that the number of acres of your land is real. From today on, you will all move into the city. I will rent all your land. Every year, I will pay you 50% of the rent based on the number of acres of your land. Are you satisfied? Is there any problem?"

Guan Yafu and others nodded secretly.

Ye Kun's move was like hitting the snake at its most vulnerable part, leaving the gentry helpless and unable to speak out.

Because the gentry concealed a large amount of land and could not disclose it. If they disclosed it, they would have to pay taxes.

Some small country gentlemen were already afraid and said weakly: "Lord Ye is busy with government affairs, so we won't bother him..."

The leading tycoon, however, made a specious argument:

"Master Ye, our land is all our ancestral property. In addition to arable land, we also have mountains and forests."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "How much area do you have in the mountains and forests? How much is the annual output? I will take care of it all for you. In the future, you can all come to the city to retire and become a hands-off boss, isn't that good?"

"This……"

"That's enough!" Ye Kun stood up and glared at him.

"When Huang Tiandao was in rebellion, you abandoned all your ancestral inheritance and hid in the city like cowards, letting the rebels destroy your fields and estates. Now, I have cleared the territory and returned the land to you, but you are still not satisfied. Do you really think that I, Ye Kun, don't kill people?"

Half of the gentry in the hall knelt down in fear and shouted, "Master Ye, we dare not do it anymore."

Ye Kun sneered and pointed at the leading squire:

"Master Wei Dingshan of Jingzhou killed fifty-four clan thieves, leaving mountains of corpses and seas of blood. If you dare to cause trouble again, I will follow Master Wei Dingshan's example and kill you without mercy!"

The other half of the nobles also knelt down, their faces pale:

"Master Ye, we know we are wrong and will never dare to offend you again."

"You all should be careful and be nice to the tenants. If the common people have no food to eat, they will rebel. The Huang Tiandao army is also made up of poor people who have no food to eat."

Ye Kun snorted, "Go back, re-measure your own land, and report back in seven days. If you dare to conceal anything, you will be sent to prison!"

The gentry left in disgrace.

I originally wanted to ask for some benefits, but unexpectedly, I was taken advantage of by Ye Kun and was asked to reconfirm the land area!

After the gentry left, Ye Kun asked the officials in the hall:

"My Lords, how do you think we should govern these gentry? Once their power grows, they will fight against the government and exploit the people. They are really parasites of the country!"

Most of the officials in the hall were relatives of the local gentry who had just appeared, and they all remained silent.

Guan Yafu stood up and said, "Master Ye, why not kill a chicken to scare the monkeys? Catch a few of the ringleaders, confiscate their property and exterminate their entire families!"

The other officials were all trembling with fear.

If the family is confiscated and the property is destroyed, I am afraid that one-third of the officials in the court will be implicated.

"I don't kill people, I only destroy their hearts. If I wanted to kill these gentry, I would have killed them long ago."

Ye Kun shook his head, looked at everyone and said:

"The gentry came to me just to get some benefits. But these people are short-sighted and only know how to exploit the people. The porcelain and tea, perfume soap and bean paste of this county are sold all over the country and make a lot of profit. Why don't these gentry think about doing business?

The trade route to Jiaozhou has also been opened. I will continue to bring in other goods in the future. You all don't learn how to do business, and let the foreign merchants take all the money, but come to make trouble with me, it's ridiculous!"

The officials below changed their stance and said, "Master Ye is right. We are willing to go down and persuade the local gentry to follow Master Ye and learn how to do business."

Ye Kun nodded: "Okay, you can also count the land and collect the rent from the gentry. I will give the rent from the common people to the poor. I will keep the rent from the gentry to support the army."

Everyone nodded and went to do their work.

After being scolded by Ye Kun, the gentry became very honest and paid taxes obediently and sent several thousand stones of wheat.

After the wheat harvest, it’s time to plant rice seedlings.

Ye Kun gave all the old horses in the military camp to Qin Chou, and asked Qin Chou to form a special farming team to help the people tidy up the paddy fields and plant rice during the farming season.

Over at Jigongzhai, Ye Kun was going to direct the work, asking everyone to cut down trees, open up the mountains, build roads, tidy up the land, and prepare to plant tea trees.

The one thousand soldiers brought back from Jigongzhai were almost trained, so Ye Kun took them back and handed them over to Xue Ju.

Xue Ju was very happy and asked, "Lord Ye is really good at training soldiers. These soldiers are much more energetic now."

Ye Kun nodded: "I heard that there are many people selling serfs to the south of Jigongzhai, right?"

Xue Ju smiled and said, "Shiquan Village over there is very large, and every landlord has a family of slaves, some have thousands, and some have hundreds. So, Lord Ye is planning to buy some slaves?"

Ye Kun lowered his voice and said, "Tell the merchants to buy a large number of slaves from Shiquan Village. Don't be afraid to spend money. Find young ones for me, including those in their teens, both men and women."

Xue Ju was puzzled: "Will it be useful if I buy it?"

Ye Kun smiled and said, "We will buy them and take them into the barracks for training for a few months. After the autumn harvest, we will lead them back to Shiquan Village and annex Shiquan Village's territory. If we buy some of Shiquan Village's slaves, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. Do you understand?"

What we are short of now is manpower, and Ye Kun is not afraid of too many people.

Even if he is a boy of eleven or twelve years old, he can become combat-ready after two years of raising him!

At that time, we can fight back with these people and better control the territory in the south.

Xue Ju suddenly realized and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Lord Ye, I understand."

Ye Kun nodded: "I'll give you money, just buy it and send it all to me."

During this period, Ye Kun spent money on silk, gold, jewelry, and a lot of silver from the treasury, and copper coins piled up like mountains.

However, people in Jiaozhou don’t like copper coins very much, they prefer silver.

After the rice planting work was completed, Ye Kun's hydraulic workshop had expanded in scale, with a total of two hundred carpenters working here.

The grinder was also made, using granite as the grinding wheel, and it was used as a makeshift machine.

The ultra-thin wooden slips produced in the workshop were bound into books, and various benches and chairs, as well as water wheels and farm tools, were all sold.

The stool of the Dading Kingdom was a drum stool.

The chair was a large high bed, used exclusively by officials.

There were no benches or chairs in the folk, so the benches, chairs, tables, waterwheels and farm tools produced by Ye Kun were very popular.

The local gentry also learned to do business. They formed four caravans to transport Ye Kun's products to all directions and then brought back the animal skins and traditional Chinese medicines, as well as various types of grain and kudzu cloth that Ye Kun needed.

Ye Kun was eager to make money, so he also sold fireworks sticks to the public.

Because saltpeter is produced in the Han River basin not far away, it is not expensive to buy. Fireworks sticks only need saltpeter and charcoal, no sulfur is needed.

Ye Kun spent the entire month of April traveling from Pingye County to Dongba City and then to Jigongling, inspecting and promoting agricultural production.

Dragon Boat Festival in May.

Ye Kun was in Pingye County, celebrating the festival with his mother, Jiang Yourong, Liu Yuejuan and others. A report came from Dongba City that Yulian had given birth to a big fat son, and both mother and child were safe. Yulian specially sent someone over to ask Ye Kun to give the child a name.

Ye Kun was very happy and said with a smile: "Yulian's child is Chunhua's second brother's, so let's call him Huang Jingzu. I hope the child will not forget his roots when he grows up."

The messenger went happily.

Jiang Yourong smiled and said, "Husband, since you have already accepted Yulian, it's OK for the child to have the surname Ye."

"It's better to have the surname Huang. That way, the entire Huang family in Fuling will thank me."

"That's true." Jiang Yourong nodded.

“Yourong, you, Daixi, Jiaojiao and the others should also take care of yourselves. By the time autumn comes, our child should be born,” Ye Kun said.

"Don't worry, my husband. I understand." Jiang Yourong nodded and smiled, "When you are free, spend more time with Yuejuan."

At this time, Jiang Yourong also saw her belly.

But there has been no news about Miss Yuejuan.

Ye Kun nodded and said thoughtfully:

"Lord Wei of Jingzhou has sent me another letter inviting me to Jingzhou to discuss some matters. I plan to leave in three days and go to Jingzhou by water. Yourong, you all should take good care of yourselves at home."