Chapter 1113
Understanding the People's Conditions
Pan Yun stood behind Xue Shao, watching her teach her disciples, and nodded in satisfaction. It seemed she had made the right choice in coming here; Xue Shao was even better at teaching disciples than she was.
Heilongjiang is sparsely populated, with most of the population concentrated in tribal areas. Some tribes are close to each other, while others are far apart. Some have good relationships with each other, while others do not.
Among them were family friends and family enemies.
When Heilongjiang was still under the jurisdiction of Nurgan Regional Military Commission, each tribe governed itself independently. However, because the Jurchen tribe was relatively powerful, each tribe either willingly or unwillingly obeyed the Jurchen.
However, after the imperial court removed the Jimi Prefecture and changed Nurgan Regional Military Commission to Heilongjiang, their dragon head was forcibly fixed.
Xue Shao was the first Provincial Governor of Heilongjiang, and Pan Yu was the Commander-in-Chief. One was in charge of administration, and the other was in charge of the army.
Because of Pan Yun, the court originally wanted to separate the two. After all, Xue Shao and Pan Yun had a good relationship, and the court was worried that if the two joined forces and the military and political affairs were too harmonious, what if they rebelled?
However, Heilongjiang had just removed the tributary states, and the various tribes were not entirely convinced. At this time, rather than trying to maintain a balance, it would be better to pursue cooperation and mutual benefit.
In the court, there are not many high-ranking military and political officials who can cooperate effectively. Although Xue Shao and Pan Yu have never worked together, Pan Yun has been maintaining the relationship between them. Why not give the two of them a try?
Therefore, after careful consideration, the cabinet proposed the two individuals.
As it turned out, their choice was correct.
After Pan Yu took command in Heilongjiang, he used force to suppress the various tribes. He knew that the court was now trying to appease the ethnic minorities and could not collect taxes or provide much support to the army. So he suppressed the discontent of his subordinates and cooperated with the local authorities in every way.
Xue Shao also knew the hardships their army faced.
In order to better defend the area and to increase the population, the army, in accordance with the imperial court's requirements, gradually moved the families of the soldiers to Heilongjiang.
These military households came wanting to build houses, cultivate land, eat, drink, and go to school...
Especially basic necessities like food, drink, shelter, and warmth.
These military households came from all over the country, and a considerable number of them even came from the south.
Having traveled all over the country, Xue Shao found it difficult to adapt to the cold Heilongjiang province after coming from a warm place, let alone these people with their families.
Therefore, Xue Shao did his best to find places for them to settle down and build farms. He also urged the Ministry of Works to find a coal mine and directly divided it in two. One part was mined by the Household Department under the Provincial Administration Commission, and the other part was handed over to the military for mining.
They also sent technicians to teach the military how to refine and burn coal, which at least solved the heating problem.
Xue Shao was generous, and Pan Yu reciprocated by leading the military households to help the local area build roads, irrigation canals, and reclaim wasteland.
Therefore, Xue Shao used these reclaimed wastelands to recruit a large number of refugees from the Central Plains and the Jiangnan region.
Even after the imperial court redeemed and redistributed the lands of displaced people in the Central Plains, Jiangnan, and Fujian regions, there was still a large demand for industrial workers, and a large number of displaced people remained.
Xue Shao wrote directly to officials in various prefectures and counties, indicating that he could help them reduce the problem of excessive displaced people in their jurisdictions.
Heilongjiang is willing to pay travel expenses for these refugees. As long as they come to Heilongjiang, he can guarantee that every adult male or female will be allocated ten mu of land. He stipulates that the age of adult male is six.
Xue Shao was very familiar with these prefectural and county officials. After all, he had previously been an imperial censor, and the officials in his office were either those he had investigated or those he had removed from their positions before taking office.
They may have had a feud with him, or they may have been his close friends, or they may have received favors from him.
Whether they were enemies or friends, everyone felt a pang of anxiety upon receiving his letter.
Some people directly and righteously replied to him that buying and selling people violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and that officials who knowingly broke the law should be punished even more severely!
This is tantamount to rejecting him and equating his behavior with that of human traffickers.
But some people actively offered help.
Since they don't have to pay us, helping with publicity and organization can help increase Xue Shao's population, reduce local migrants, and improve public security. Why not do it?
Xue Shao didn't care whether the other party agreed or not. Anyway, he had already made arrangements. He and Pan Yu borrowed a lot of soldiers and asked them to take money and go south. Once they arrived at the destination, they could buy food directly. They would set up flags at the gates of various county towns. Anyone who agreed could receive three days' worth of rations on the spot. Then, as long as they gathered a hundred people, they would immediately ask the local security escort agency to escort them north out of the pass.
As for why local security escort agencies were invited, it was naturally to let these agencies come and see Heilongjiang and understand the business environment here.
It should be noted that there are not many records of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission in the court. After the Yongle reign, the scouts in the army withdrew from this place, and the garrison existed in name only. The court's understanding of this place gradually became blurred, not to mention the common people.
Only in Liaodong did they have trade relations with them, so local merchants and military households had some understanding of each other. Merchants further south had little knowledge of Heilongjiang.
However, if Heilongjiang wants to develop, it cannot rely solely on Liaodong.
So Xue Shao had those military households stay behind to recruit refugees, moving from one county to the next, since they didn't need to escort people back.
He preferred to spend a lot of money to hire a local security escort agency to escort the person back to Heilongjiang.
These escort agencies from the Central Plains and Jiangnan can't just escort one shipment. Since they've come all this way, they should at least find a way to bring two more shipments, right?
So some scholars wanted to go to the northeast of the Ming Dynasty to see Heilongjiang, which had just been incorporated into the directly administered territory.
Some daring merchants even considered leaving the pass to find new trade routes...
So the grand procession set off.
With Xue Shao, the provincial governor of Heilongjiang, on file, these teams successfully crossed the pass, traversed the plains, leaped over hills and rivers, and arrived at the vast and pristine Heilongjiang.
These migrants were given houses as soon as they arrived at their destinations, were assigned to villages and hamlets, and then given land.
The refugees who came here included young adults, as well as the elderly, women, and children.
If it is a family, the land is allocated according to the household registration. If the elderly and children do not have adult supervision, each village has a charity office managed by the government. These elderly and children can also be allocated land, but their land is temporarily managed by the charity office.
After these people arrived at their destination, Xue Shao would distribute grain, seeds, and farming tools to them.
Heilongjiang also has natural advantages as an agricultural region. The land here is very fertile, but it has never been domesticated and needs to be cleared by burning. However, cattle and horses are cheap here, and they can be bought or rented, which can increase the labor force.
When Xue Shao took office, he allocated a portion of funds from the Ministry of Revenue, which was almost entirely spent on the initial establishment of the Provincial Administration Commission and the settlement of the army.
The military's expenses are supposed to be accounted for separately and have nothing to do with his local area, but he is very generous.
And as it turned out, his generosity paid off.
Pan Yu knew how to reciprocate kindness, and the simple and honest military households were even more grateful for his help.
After they were settled, they immediately devoted themselves to the development of Heilongjiang.
Numerous factories, workshops, and mines were put into production. In addition, they also made time to build houses and cultivate land in the villages planned by Xue Shao according to the regulations of military settlements, so as to ensure that the refugees could move into new houses and be allocated arable land whenever they arrived.
This format was quickly adopted and continued.
The displaced people who were allocated houses and land would take the seeds and farming tools distributed by the government to cultivate the land if they arrived during the planting season.
Xue Shao would also rent cattle and horses for them, which could basically guarantee one cow for every three households.
Therefore, initially, three households formed a unit called a "bao," and each unit worked together to cultivate the land, which was more efficient and allowed for faster integration. Outside of the farming season, Xue Shao would have them build houses, cultivate fields, repair roads, and repair irrigation ditches, earning them between ten and twenty coins per day.
Don't underestimate this money; an adult can support a family of three in Heilongjiang with this wage.
If they are elderly or children, it doesn't matter if they can't do the work worth ten coins. Xue Shao will also arrange for them to do jobs that don't require heavy physical strength, such as cleaning, carrying bricks, and tending the fire.
Carrying bricks is the hardest and most tiring job, but an elderly person or a child can carry about ten bricks each time, and can earn six coins a day, which is enough to support themselves.
Xue Shao tried it; even an eight-year-old child could do it.
In this way, those who arrived first built houses and cultivated land for those who came later. After the later arrivals received their houses and land, the next group would then build houses and cultivate land...
This cycle continued, with work as a form of relief. The refugees who had traveled thousands of miles survived here and endured their first winter. The following year, as the ice and snow melted, they used rented oxen and horses to plow the land and sow seeds under the guidance of the government. Once the wheat sprouted in the dry fields and the rice in the paddy fields grew tall enough to be planted, their hearts were half at ease.
When the wheat was harvested at the end of summer and the rice was harvested in autumn, and the bean pods cracked open after being dried, revealing plump soybeans, their hearts were finally at ease.
This will be their second home!
Xue Shao led them on horseback to inspect the countryside. Sometimes it would take three days to ride between tribes, but newly built villages were much closer. Usually, it would take about half an hour to ride a horse, while it would take one to two hours to walk.
This was something Xue Shao had specifically calculated.
There are still large tracts of land waiting to be cultivated between the villages.
“When they have children and grandchildren, these lands will be cultivated and become their permanent property.”
Zhu Jianji dismounted, walked into the field, and used his feet to break through the thick layer of fallen leaves. He stomped on the soft black soil and asked, "But with such a huge tree root, how easy is it to cultivate it?"
“It wasn’t easy,” Xue Shao said, pointing to the drooping wheat in front of him. “Two years ago, that wheat field was just like this forest, overgrown with miscellaneous trees and weeds taller than a person. If you dug up a tree root, you would always find an even deeper one. But they still managed to cultivate the land and plant wheat. This is already the second harvest.”
Zhu Jianji looked at the flat and vast wheat field, then back at the messy woods, and remained silent for a moment.
Pan Yun stood aside with her hands clasped together and said with a smile, "These are all human laborers, and ordinary human laborers at that. Aren't they more powerful than us cultivators who know magic?"
Zhu Jianji asked blankly, "Can't the teacher do that?"
Pan Yun said, "Turning the soil is still possible, but I can't cultivate such a large area of land. And the land they have cultivated is far more than this. Your Highness, don't underestimate ordinary people. As long as they unite, their strength is beyond your imagination."
Zhu Jianji nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
Pan Yun brought him out this time so that he could understand the hardships of ordinary people, their demands, and their power.
These people have gathered here from all over the country. What are their thoughts? How are they doing? What are their hopes for the future?
What were their feelings towards Xue Shao, their local official, the imperial court, and His Majesty?
What were their expectations for the next emperor?
These questions are very offensive; if they were still vagrants, they would have had a lot to say.
But now that they live a stable life, they are much more cautious in their speech.
Previously, they had lost everything, so they could say whatever they wanted, and even vent their frustrations under some pretext;
But at this moment, they have houses and land, where wheat and rice grow. For the first three years after settling down, their taxes are halved, and during the off-season, they can go to the government office to find work and earn wages. This makes them unwilling to disrupt their current life, so they speak very cautiously.
Behind Zhu Jianji was a squad of armed guards, clearly not ordinary people, so when he asked these questions, he received nothing but praise.
They praised Xue Shao, the imperial court, and the emperor. Even the next emperor, unaware that the court had already appointed a crown prince, was also showered with praise.
If Zhu Jianji hadn't already known Xue Shao's character, he would have suspected that these people were shills hired by Xue Shao.
Pan Yun burst into laughter upon seeing this, and then pulled Zhu Jianji to change his clothes. When they reappeared, all three of them were wearing patched-up clothes and carrying a tattered cloth bundle as they walked forward.
The horse and guards were left far behind.
Zhu Jianji touched his face. The teacher had just smeared something on his face, and now his complexion was dark and yellow, making him look like he was sick.
Pan Yun picked a lot of grass along the way. Xue Shao took the grass from her hand, and the two of them wove three pairs of straw sandals with their nimble fingers.
Pan Yun tossed a pair of shoes to Zhu Jianji, telling him to change his shoes.
Zhu Jianji put on the straw sandals and frowned: "They're a bit prickly."
Pan Yun denied that it was a problem with his skills, saying, "It must be because you have delicate skin that it pricked you. If you don't believe me, ask Lord Xue if his feet prick too."
Zhu Jianji: "Lord Xue wore clothes he made himself."
He looked at Pan Yun's feet with longing and said, "Teacher, actually my feet are the same size as yours, so how about these...?"
Pan Yun turned to leave: "This was written for me by Lord Xue. How can I give away someone else's gift? Hurry up and go, pretty boy. You're dawdling even in straw sandals. Most refugees go barefoot."
Xue Shao smiled at the Crown Prince and caught up with Pan Yun.
Zhu Jianji was even more certain that Xue Shao's straw sandals were better than his teacher's.
He quickly caught up with Xue Shao and asked, "How come you can weave straw sandals, Lord Xue?"
Xue Shao: "In my early years, I was short of money, so weaving straw sandals was a way to make money."
How much profit can you make on a pair of straw sandals?
Xue Shao: "Two wen."
Zhu Jianji stared wide-eyed: "I've heard that Lord Xue's calligraphy, painting, and writing are all exceptional. Why does he need to make money by weaving straw sandals?"
Xue Shao: "There will always be places where calligraphy, paintings and articles are not as valuable as a pair of straw sandals, so you have to know a little bit about everything."
Zhu Jianji looked on with curiosity.
Pan Yun grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him forward: "Hurry up, you'll see soon enough."
The three entered the village.
It was midday, the hottest time of day, and the villagers had just returned from weeding and pest control in the fields. Most of them were at home eating and resting.
Upon seeing the three people, they didn't ask where they came from; they immediately took out a ladle and scooped water for them.
Zhu Jianji didn't react, but Pan Yun and Xue Shao quickly took out a bowl from their tattered bundles, held it with both hands, and rushed forward to fill it with water before drinking it all in one gulp.
Zhu Jianji hurriedly tried to reach for a bowl to get water and drink, but...
Didn't the teacher say we shouldn't drink untreated water? (End of Chapter)