Chapter 6: Land Division and Trial
In this era, corruption is rampant in the imperial court, and the pattern is passed down from top to bottom. If an ordinary person wants to sue an official, how can he expect to see the county magistrate without paying a few taels of silver?
You can see him if you want, who do you think you are?
Even if you desperately beat the drum to appeal for justice, you will first be beaten with twenty sticks. If you survive, you will have the chance to see the county magistrate.
But it is obviously unrealistic to expect the county magistrate to catch the troublemaker for a commoner like you. It would be OK if you just beat him with sticks. But if you throw him into jail for causing trouble, you are basically waiting for death.
So, when the landowners lost their land, their money, and their previous relationships became as thin as smoke, how much difference were there between them and ordinary people?
In addition, since Su Che had received a share of the bribes, it would be even more impossible for him to attack the Taiping Dao.
Zhang Bao felt that he had done something illegal and subconsciously thought that he should not face the light of day. This was truly the thinking of an honest citizen.
In fact, the Taiping Dao can not only be open and aboveboard, but it doesn't matter if its behavior is more arrogant. Many officials will take the initiative to cover up and protect it, for fear that this bomb will explode during their term of office.
As soon as their term of office is up, Taiping Dao will have nothing to do with them and they will no longer be required to take responsibility.
Zhang Bao thought about it and felt that it made more and more sense. He couldn't help but admire his elder brother for being so far-sighted!
He then asked, "What about the slaves and followers?"
Su Che said without hesitation: "They are all miserable people who are oppressed by landlords and gentry. There is no need for poor people to hurt each other. Let those who have grievances speak out their grievances and those who have sufferings speak out their sufferings. Then win them over, divide them, and integrate them into our followers. Instill our Taiping Dao doctrine into them every day, and that's all."
"I understand." Zhang Bao nodded.
At this moment, Zhang Liang ran over excitedly, holding an account book in his hand, and said with a smile: "Brother! I have roughly checked the assets of Sunjiazhuang. This is their account book for this year."
"How was the harvest?" Su Che asked.
"The total land is 4,800 mu, of which 1,000 mu is top-quality farmland, 1,800 mu is medium-quality farmland, and 2,000 mu is low-quality farmland." Zhang Liang said quickly, "In addition, there are 3,867 dan of surplus grain. When the granary was opened, it was piled up like a mountain. Everyone was stunned and almost couldn't control themselves. This is also the first time I have seen so much grain..."
"In a year of great disaster, there is still so much surplus food?" Su Che was a little surprised.
"Yes, I didn't expect that in this small Sunjiazhuang, nearly 4,000 dan of grain could be found." Zhang Liang said with emotion.
"These people said before that the landlords have no surplus food..." Zhang Bao's face looked a little ugly.
"If you take other people's food for free, they will definitely not be happy about it." Su Che smiled.
"That's true." Zhang Bao nodded.
"Where are the gold, silver and copper coins?" Su Che asked.
"As for gold, silver and copper coins..." Zhang Liang lowered his head and flipped through the account book, reading: "There are more than 200 taels of gold, more than 400 taels of silver, and the most common is five baht. The total number in the account book is 68,000 coins, so it shouldn't be too different."
"Okay." Su Che nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. With so much money and food, the pressure was finally relieved a little.
It seems that the move of attacking the landlords and dividing the land has been correct. In this case, we should continue to carry it forward.
"What should we do next? Should we move all the food and money back?" Zhang Liang asked.
"No." Su Che shook his head. "We have come a long way and won a victory. How can we not reward them properly? Send the order down, cook, kill pigs and sheep, and have a good celebration banquet!"
When they heard about having a celebration banquet, the entire Taiping Army was in an uproar. Everyone cheered and helped to cook. After a while, smoke rose up, and after a while, the meat was cooked, and the rice was ready.
This was the first time in several months that everyone had a full meal.
Many people shed tears while eating.
Although each person could only get one bite of meat, this bite of meat was the first time they had eaten meat in several years.
After the celebration banquet, there was the land distribution meeting and the trial meeting.
Su Che distributed the fields of Sunjiazhuang to the Taiping Dao members who were willing to stay there, allowing them to farm and fight there.
The ownership of these lands belongs to the Taiping Dao, and the believers only have the right to use them, so they cannot be bought or sold.
This seems to be the same as the previous tenant farmers, but in fact it is completely different.
Tenants cultivated the landlord's land and needed to pay 70% of the grain to the landlord. During festivals, the tenants also had to give gifts to the landlord.
When the landlord built a house, the tenant had to help and provide labor. They also had to attend weddings and funerals, but they were only provided with one meal and received no wages.
As for the Taiping Dao's farming and warfare, the profits were also divided into 30% and 70%, but the Taiping Dao took 30% and the followers took 70%.
Originally, Su Che only wanted to take 10%, but was strongly opposed by Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao. If he only took 10%, what would be the difference between that and giving it away for free?
A landlord who can share the profits equally with his tenants is already considered a good family and a kind-hearted person!
When the people of Sunjiazhuang saw the land distribution, their eyes turned red. Originally, they were somewhat resistant to joining the Taiping Dao, but now they became extremely proactive.
Before this, they stood on the side of Master Sun, thinking that it was Master Sun who gave them food to eat and a way to make a living, but now, there is no harm without comparison!
After the land was divided, the trial meeting began. The master of the Sun family, the young master of the Sun family, and the old priest were all tied up and brought up.
Su Che simply announced his crimes, "Sun Qi, the head of Sunjiazhuang, and his son Sun Yue, who worshipped Ying Tianchang, forced women into prostitution and killed people. We have both physical and human evidence. We, the Taiping Dao, will enforce justice on behalf of heaven and sentence you to death by hanging! Do you have any objections?"
The three of them opened their eyes wide and struggled excitedly, but their mouths were stuffed with something and they couldn't utter a word for a long time.
"Looking at you guys, it seems like you're still unconvinced. Let Leng Gao come up!" Su Che said.
Soon, a somewhat thin old man came up. Actually, he was not that old, only in his thirties, but the many tortures made him weathered, so he looked like an old man.
Leng Gao went up on the stage and stared at Sun Qi, the old man of the Sun family. His eyes were almost spitting fire. "You really deserve to die!"
"Don't be in a hurry. Speak slowly and tell us all your grievances and pain." Su Che said seriously.
"Yes, Master." Leng Gao took a deep breath and closed his eyes in pain, as if he was recalling the past that he couldn't bear to look back on.
Soon, he opened his eyes and spoke slowly: "I am from Sunjiazhuang. I used to be, but not now. That was last year... Due to natural disasters, the harvest was very poor, but Sunjiazhuang still collected 70% of the rent. With that little food, it was difficult for our family to survive even if we lived frugally."
"We have been starving for a month and we can't stand it anymore, so we want to borrow some food from Master Sun and pay it back next year. It doesn't matter if we have to pay more interest."
"We have been farming for their family for so many years. They are all honest farmers. It is easy for them to lend us money. It's just a matter of interest."
"I had already negotiated the interest with the Sun family's steward and received the grain, but in the end, Master Sun took a fancy to our daughter and asked us to exchange her for the grain. He then snatched our life-saving grain back!"
"How can I bear to sell my daughter? Who would sell their daughter if they want to survive?"
As he spoke, Leng Gao's tears suddenly flowed down. He wiped his tears and continued, "I can only borrow some food from my neighbors, but Master Sun has ordered that no one can lend us food. They also said that I don't know what is good for me. Master Sun has taken a fancy to my daughter. This is my blessing..."
"Later, my wife Li fell ill. The family had no food or money. We couldn't just let her mother die. In the end, we could only watch our daughter enter the Sun family."
"Master Sun gave me some food and some money, so I finally had enough money to treat my wife's illness."
"But later, my wife's illness was not cured and she died. My daughter wanted to see her mother for the last time, but she had a conflict with Mr. Sun and was beaten to death."
"I lost my daughter and my wife, so I went to the Sun family to argue, but I was beaten out with sticks and thrown out of the Sun family village."
"Later, I lived in the open air and was in a daze. I almost starved to death on the streets several times. Fortunately, someone gave me some charity, so I survived."
"After that, I joined the Taiping Dao. The leader said that he wanted to bring peace to the world, to bring harmony to the world, to eliminate injustice, and to stop us from suffering. I didn't believe it at first, even if he told me many times."
“But now, I believe it!”
