Chapter 142: The Confused Shandong Gentry (I)
Huo Chong returned to Zibo County again, and the gates of the county were wide open. The troops that had already conquered the county lined up to welcome Huo Chong. The onlookers stood far away, watching Huo Chong enter the county surrounded by the crowd, with different expressions on their faces.
The gentry all sent people to watch secretly, and when they saw Huo Chong enter the county government office, they hurried back to report to the heads of their respective families.
Every gentry was worried. No one thought Huo Chong would rebel, and no one thought Huo Chong would easily defeat the government troops and return to the county town as the master. The former Huo Chong, Mr. Huo, and Mr. Huo had undoubtedly become the Huo King. What measures would this Huo King, who was unknown how long he could last, take? The gentry had no idea at all.
This was not only the case in Zibo County, but also in the neighboring Linzi County. Huo Chong's second disciple Yang Wangfu returned to his hometown as the new county magistrate. When he went to visit his uncle Yang Youfang, he was turned away. Yang Youfang, one of the leaders of Shandong Baji Sect, actually refused to let him in.
However, Yang Youfang's persistence did not last long. The next night, he secretly came to meet his nephew who had become a traitor. When they met, Yang Youfang sighed and blamed Huo Chong for being too reckless.
"Uncle, you can't blame Mr. Huo for this. You blame the wrong Mr. Huo." Yang Wangfu had already made his choice and blamed his uncle .
After listening to the explanation of his nephew Yang Wangfu, Yang Youfang, as an eyewitness and personal experience of Huo Chong's first meeting with Prince Yong, could not help but sighed: "This is fate, this is all fate."
Lei Hu, as the chief clerk of the new regime in Linzi County, had heard about these experiences before, but he still listened to this story with great interest. Seeing that Yang Youfang had accepted the reality, he asked Yang Youfang about his memories and opinions on the incident. Yang Youfang thought about it for a while and sighed, "Prince Yong did not do things right..."
After reminiscing about the past, Yang Wangfu asked Yang Youfang to send a message to his fellow disciples in Bajimen, telling them about the relationship between Huo Chong and Bajimen, and asking them to consider their relationship and not stand on the side of the Qing Dynasty in future wars.
Yang Youfang kept shaking his head and sighed, "Ah... I'll do my best."
After saying that, Yang Youfang couldn't help but add, "Wang Fu, do you really think you can defeat the imperial court?"
"Yes! We will definitely win!" Yang Wangfu answered decisively: "As long as the people of the world can rise up against the Qing Dynasty, the number of people in the Qing Dynasty will not be enough to kill!"
It was obvious that Yang Youfang didn't believe it at all. In the end, he left without leaving any promises.
Before Yang Youfang came, Yang Wangfu, Lei Hu and other cadres were handling official business, so they continued to call other people in.
Huo Chong gave everyone the short-term goal, the first of which was to restore the production system that had been built on the Zhongfu platform. Before sending these people here, Huo Chong emphasized that the Zhongfu platform was the result of years of hard work by everyone and it was also a department that could be started and operated immediately. The system controlled by the platform was the basis for providing money, food and supplies to the rebels.
After resuming basic operations, the next step is to operate the taxation system before the Qing Dynasty as soon as possible. With money and food, the rebel army can continue to expand and unite the local people with the rebel army.
Everyone discussed for a while and confirmed the key points that Huo Chong had made clear . The families that served as officials in the Qing Dynasty were given ten acres of land each, and the extra land would be "temporarily expropriated". The temporary expropriation period would last until those officials voluntarily announced their separation from the Qing Dynasty and returned to Shandong to join the "Han" regime.
These lands naturally became the lands managed by the Zhongfu platform. Accordingly, the Han regime announced to the landless peasants that there were so many lands available for rent and these people could come to farm. According to the previous Zhongfu platform model, the profits were divided 40% to 60%. The renters took 60% and the Zhongfu platform took 40%.
Another policy was that the Han Dynasty implemented a policy of "taxing the land according to the amount of land", which also abolished the tax on the land, but directly taxed the land. Landless farmers in the areas controlled by the Han Dynasty did not have to pay the tax on the land or perform corvée.
After discussing these, Lei Hu sighed: "This is going to cause war on earth."
Yang Wangfu was somewhat disdainful, "If the Qing Dynasty could do it, why can't we do it! Since you want to do it, then you can definitely do it!"
