frightfiction Chapter 6, A Group of Unruly People
Chapter 6, A Group of Unruly People
Having made up his mind, Yang Shaofeng said directly to the sixteen village chiefs: "After you go back, tell each household's able-bodied men to carry two buckets of water, find a few carts, and find a few strong women to pull hoes and shovels. After lunch, wait for me at the west gate of the city."
The sixteen village chiefs were completely bewildered by Yang Shaofeng. One of them mustered his courage and asked, "Sir, are you going to conscript laborers? This..."
Yang Shaofeng waved his hand, deliberately putting on a dark face and scolding, "Whatever I ask you to do, just do it obediently. Why are you asking so many questions?"
Intimidated by Yang Shaofeng's "official power," the sixteen village chiefs dared not ask any further questions and all obediently agreed.
When Yang Shaofeng finished lunch and arrived at the west gate of Ningyang County with Lame Wu and a dozen or so yamen runners, sixteen village chiefs and more than four hundred able-bodied men had been waiting at the city gate for a long time.
Yang Shaofeng didn't say much, only saying "Follow me," and then led sixteen village chiefs and more than four hundred able-bodied men out of the city. After arriving at a wasteland, he beckoned to the four village chiefs in the west of the city and asked, "Did this wasteland originally have an owner? Also, call all the able-bodied men in your villages to the front."
The four village chiefs looked at each other for a while before each leading the able-bodied men of their village to the front. The village chief closest to the west gate of the county town stepped forward and replied, "Your Excellency, this place originally had no owner; it was a horse ranch used by the previous dynasty."
Yang Shaofeng's face suddenly darkened, and he cursed, "Nonsense!"
He took two steps forward, grabbed a strong young man from behind the village head who had answered, and snorted coldly, saying, "This land is clearly his family's land. It was only because the Tartars forcibly occupied it that it has been abandoned for many years. Now that the Heavenly Army has driven away the Tartars, this land should naturally be returned to his family."
Just as the village head, who was closest to the west gate of the county town, was stunned and bewildered, Yang Shaofeng looked him up and down and asked with a suspicious look, "You heartless rogue and good-for-nothing, are you trying to deceive me?"
As Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, the village head suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He knelt down with a thud and kept slapping himself in the face with both hands. While slapping himself, he said with a face full of remorse, "Your Excellency is wise. I was blinded by greed. I wanted to exchange his land for mine because it was close to the city, so I talked nonsense."
Yang Shaofeng nodded in satisfaction and snorted coldly, "Get up. I'll let you off this time, but if there's a next time, I'll give you eighty lashes!"
The village head immediately stopped, stood up from the ground with a big smile on his face, and even his slightly swollen face could squeeze out a bit of flattery. If he had a tail attached to his butt, it would probably wag it so fast it would fly.
Yang Shaofeng ignored the village chief's flattery and instead walked to the edge of the field, pointing to the large area of wasteland and saying, "You village chiefs, take the people in your villages and each take back your own fifteen mu of farmland and two mu of vegetable garden."
As soon as Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, the four village chiefs looked at each other with a strange expression.
Today's events clearly indicate that the upright and just official intends to distribute all the land abandoned during the Mongol Yuan dynasty to the people. Each person will receive fifteen mu of farmland and two mu of vegetable garden. As the head of the village, he will naturally receive some as well, and perhaps even a little more.
So here's the problem: there's only so much wasteland near the west side of the city, but there are four neighborhoods in the west. If I don't grab a good piece of land near the city gate first, the end result will be that my neighborhood and others will only get land further away, and we'll have to go much farther than others to cultivate the land.
The other twelve village chiefs had obviously thought of this problem as well, and they unconsciously distanced themselves from each other. The able-bodied men behind each village chief also became more wary when they looked at the able-bodied men from other villages.
Seeing that the atmosphere at the scene was getting a little strange, many young men gripped their shovels and hoes tightly, and even the strong women pulling the carts looked eager to try. Yang Shaofeng's face immediately darkened.
Yang Shaofeng walked up to the village chiefs, kicked one of them, and cursed, "What, you want to fight in front of me? You're really something, aren't you? I let you reclaim your land, and you want to take away my official hat, is that it?"
This is no joke! It's not just about losing his official position. He secretly divided up land behind the court's back, and a large-scale armed conflict broke out on his third day in office. These two crimes are enough to cost Yang Shaofeng his head!
Even if the Ming Dynasty was short of officials, Yang Shaofeng's best fate would be to work in shackles until the day when there was no shortage of officials, and then he would be sent to the execution ground.
There is no doubt that Emperor Zhu Chongba was capable of doing something as simple as making someone work in shackles; history has already proven this.
After the four village chiefs lowered their heads in dismay and the able-bodied men behind them loosened their grips on their shovels, Yang Shaofeng said with a dark face, "The two villages closer to the city will first take over the land near the city gate. The two villages closer to the city gate will take over the land further west later. The other villages will do the same."
“From now on, when everyone goes out to farm, the distances they have to travel will be about the same. This is fair, so that those closer to the city gates don’t have to travel less, while those closer to the city center have to travel further.”
"Alright, go and identify them now. I'll be right here watching you identify them!"
"Damn it, a bunch of troublemakers!"
Yang Shaofeng walked to a cart and sat down, cursing. The four village chiefs, who had just been at each other's throats, now acted like good brothers who hadn't seen each other for years, showing each other courtesy.
“We’re in the south, and you’re in the north, so we’ll take the land south of the road, and you can take the land north of the road, okay?”
"Those whose neighborhoods are far from the city gates will choose the closer ones, while those whose neighborhoods are close to the city gates will choose the farther ones."
"The magistrate has asked us to identify the land, so we can't cause him any trouble. What if the new magistrate doesn't allow us to identify the land anymore?"
"The old man is fair-skinned, but he's really scary when he gets angry."
"..."
The other twelve village chiefs also gathered together and whispered among themselves. In the end, they unanimously decided that they could not lose face like the four village chiefs in the west of the city, and they could not cause trouble for the county magistrate.
Compared to the sixteen village chiefs, the robust women in the distance chatted much more freely.
"Born so handsome, I wonder who will end up getting the best of him."
"I think the master is good enough to be the emperor's son-in-law."
"The emperor himself might not even have a daughter."
"If I were ten years younger, I would have knocked him out and taken him home!"
Seeing that the strong women kept glancing at him, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but feel a little awkward. He simply beckoned to the other twelve village chiefs and said, "After they have reclaimed their land, you should lead the people in your villages to help them demarcate the field boundaries. Go to the north of the city early tomorrow morning, to the east of the city in the afternoon, and to the south of the city the day after tomorrow."
"I've made it clear to the people in your village that it's just a matter of sooner or later, so don't rush it. Take your time with the land deeds too, don't rush it."
"Also, don't tell anyone. Just keep it to yourself. If you make others jealous, you might get into trouble."
The twelve village chiefs immediately bowed in agreement.
If you get land out of thin air, just honestly farm it. Only a fool would brat announce it to the outside world!
Yang Shaofeng continued, "After you go back, see which able-bodied young men in your villages are willing to work in the yamen. Both the fast and strong men's teams need yamen runners. If they are willing to come, they can come; if they are not willing, we will not force them."
"It would be best if there were someone who could read, as the county is currently short of clerks."
"As for wages, the imperial court has its own set amount, and it is not up to me to decide. Whatever the imperial court gives is what I get."
"However, the yamen runners only need to be clean-cut; those with a bad record or who are good at petty theft should not come."
“From now on, these yamen runners will be patrolling the streets of the city. If anyone harbors evil intentions, it will be you common people who suffer.”
Upon hearing Yang Shaofeng's statement, the village chiefs, who had originally planned to simply recommend a few able-bodied young men, immediately changed their minds.
In fact, under normal circumstances, working as a yamen runner in the county government is not a very honorable thing - the so-called yamen runner is still a yamen runner, and its essence is similar to labor service, except that the job content of the two is different.
The reason why the impression that yamen runners in movies and TV dramas can bully the people is mainly because not just anyone can be a yamen runner well. At the very least, it requires a lot of social skills and the ability to treat people differently based on their status.
Ordinary young men with clean backgrounds often lack these two abilities. Even if they become yamen runners, they are unlikely to bully the people, and they are not as successful as those corrupt officials.
So, originally, these village elders only intended to recommend young people in the village who didn't like to honestly farm, as a way to give them a way out.
However, upon hearing that Yang Shaofeng would be tasking them with patrolling the streets, the village elders decided to recommend those honest and law-abiding young men, so that they wouldn't have to worry about being extorted for things like hemp shoes, appearance fees, transportation fees, or tea fees in the future.
Yang Shaofeng continued, "In addition to the able-bodied young men who come to work at the yamen, I also need you to find me a few strong and capable women, and also to gather some chicks and piglets for me."
Upon hearing Yang Shaofeng's request, the village chiefs exchanged bewildered glances.
A villager from the east of the city mustered his courage and said, "The master wants a strong and capable woman, as well as chicks and piglets. Is he planning to raise chickens and pigs?"