Chapter 1328 - After Returning Home
"In broad daylight, in full public view, ignoring the distinction between men and women, openly embracing—what kind of behavior is this!" When Huang Bingkun heard this servant actually dare to ask his master why, he couldn't contain his anger. He immediately assumed the authority of master and began to scold: "You're the son of a decent, respectable family—you absolutely must not learn the ways of dissolute good-for-nothings!"
Huang Ping didn't dare talk back, but defiance was written across his entire face. Huang Bingkun softened his tone. "You're not young anymore. If that girl comes from a decent, respectable family, I'll arrange to propose marriage on your behalf. Get the betrothal settled, have you two married next year or the year after."
He had assumed Huang Ping would be grateful to the point of tears. Instead, the boy's expression turned to shock.
"Second Young Master, absolutely not..."
"Why not?"
"Students at the school aren't allowed to become betrothed, let alone marry..."
"If it's not allowed, then why did you carry on with her like... like that?" Huang Bingkun spoke earnestly. "You're a scholar now. Scholars must maintain their reputation. And the girl has her virtue to protect."
"Second Young Master, that girl and I just like each other... we haven't, haven't thought of that..." Huang Ping stammered.
"Then what exactly are you thinking?!" Huang Bingkun was becoming utterly confused.
Huang Ping's face wore an expression of I can't possibly explain this to you. He could only say reluctantly: "She and I are just friends. We both like each other very much..."
Huang Bingkun felt overwhelmed with information. After racking his brains for a while, he finally found an appropriate term: "So she's like a female confidante?"
"I suppose that's... about what it means." Huang Ping breathed a sigh of relief.
"What kind of family is she from?" Huang Bingkun still pressed on.
Huang Ping had no choice. "She's from a naturalized citizen family. Her hometown is in Guangdong. Her parents now work at a farm under the Agricultural Committee..."
When Huang Bingkun heard that her parents weren't of some lowly origin but came from a respectable farming background, he felt somewhat relieved. He spoke solemnly: "Since you don't want to become betrothed to her, you must never again engage in such improper conduct in public!" He admonished him earnestly.
Huang Ping could only reply: "Yes, this humble one understands."
When Huang Bingkun returned to Huang Family Stockade, he learned that his father had just decided to contract out roughly a thousand thin mu of land under the Huang family name to the Tiandihui. The news shocked him greatly. What shocked him even more was that his father had also disbanded the stockade's militia.
To demonstrate cooperation, the Huang family had purchased the Tiandihui's agricultural technology services the previous year. The original motivation had been merely going through the motions to buy some peace. But unexpectedly, those services had more than doubled the family's income. This made Old Master Huang and the eldest young master—who had initially been wary of the Tiandihui's intentions—develop genuine interest. The two discussed the family's situation: they had nearly a thousand mu of thin farmland that, when tenanted out, scarcely yielded any rent. If they insisted on collecting, the tenants would probably starve. And since the stockade's tenants were the main source of militia, the Huang family naturally didn't want to press them too hard.
Now that Lingao's situation had clarified and public order was good, the family no longer needed to spend vast resources maintaining armed men. Operating a militia of several hundred was expensive, and everyone in Huang Family Stockade had long complained bitterly about the burden.
In the past, it had been a matter of survival in a chaotic social order—they'd had no choice. But now that bandits had been cleared out, and with a formidable force like the Bofan Army present, even the Li people didn't dare cause trouble. Spending money to maintain a militia far exceeding the stockade's scale was simply uneconomical. Calls to abolish the militia entirely had grown loud.
This time, Old Master Huang directly disbanded most of the militia, retaining only a few dozen—proportional to the village's population—as the "village militia" that the pirates required every village to maintain.
This freed the Huang family from the unprofitable business of supporting armed men. The eldest son, Huang Bingcheng, had specifically visited the Tiandihui, met with Ye Yuming, and reached a business cooperation agreement to fully contract out these lands and the tenants working them.
When Huang Bingkun learned of the disbandment and the contracting, he was greatly alarmed. This was self-amputation! The Huang Family Stockade had always enjoyed its lofty position in Lingao precisely because of generations of organizing militia—always being the "pillar" of the countryside. Now, disbanding the militia and contracting out land and tenants—didn't Father understand that the most important resource in Lingao was people? These tenants were "old households" accumulated over many years; many had fought alongside Grandfather and Father. Even if they didn't fight, so many people represented rare treasure. How had Father suddenly become so muddle-headed?
He hurried to find his father and elder brother but couldn't locate them. The servants said the master and eldest young master were in the flower hall receiving Squire Song from Chengmai.
Squire Song was a longtime friend of the Huang family—and more than that, the father-in-law of the eldest son. The relationship was extraordinary. Huang Bingkun hurried to the flower hall.
There, Squire Song Zongmao was holding forth on various topics. He claimed he had come to visit his daughter and grandson. But everyone knew the real purpose: to seek advice.
The Song family was a prominent clan in Chengmai County. Song Zonghui, formerly the wealthiest man in Chengmai, was Song Zongmao's cousin. Though Song Zongmao wasn't as wealthy as his cousin, he was still a modest landlord, owning several thousand mu. All this land had originally been tenanted out. Since the Australians had defeated the government troops, established a "Post-War Bureau" in Chengmai, and then a "Chengmai County Office" and "Chengmai County Consultative Bureau," the county too had been gradually undergoing changes like Lingao.
Bandit suppression, land surveying, population census, tax clarification, new tax systems—step by step, these had all been carried out. Though Song Zongmao had complaints about certain policies, Chengmai had at least taken on a new appearance. The area was peaceful; whether rich or poor, everyone's days were more stable than before.
But the Australians' recent actions had truly thrown him into a panic. The Agricultural Committee was reclaiming wasteland and establishing farms on a grand scale in Chengmai, aggressively recruiting farm workers with allegedly generous treatment. Not only had the hired hands—who used to come just for a full stomach—quit one after another, but even the tenants were demanding rent reductions. If rents weren't reduced, they threatened to abandon their tenancies. As the tenants put it: now that the Australians had arrived, working as hired hands for them meant not only eating well but having housing too—far better than being tenant farmers who never got enough to eat all year.
With all this commotion, Squire Song could no longer sit still. Since the land survey and the new tax system, his tax burden had increased considerably. Moreover, with large quantities of Australian goods flowing into Chengmai, consumption expenditures had increased dramatically. He had originally planned to raise rents, but now, far from raising them, it was questionable whether he'd have anyone to farm his land this year.
In his anxiety, Squire Song thought of his in-law, a committee member of the Lingao Consultative Bureau. Being a committee member, he surely had close relations with the Australians. And Lingao was the Australians' home base. So he came to seek advice.
"...Ah, who would have thought that fifty thousand imperial troops would be wiped out in just a few days. When the imperial forces came, I contributed quite a lot of money and grain from my estate—nearly emptied my stores. Truly harmful! That hole still hasn't been filled. I had hoped that with a few years of peace, I could slowly make it up, but the Australians have pulled this stunt! Are they going to leave us any way to survive? These troublemaking commoners! Back then, if I hadn't taken pity on them and leased them my lands, they'd have been corpses long ago. Now they dare say such disrespectful things to my face. Really, really..." Song Zongmao kept shaking his head as he spoke.
Under Council rule, the burden on rentier landlords was heavy. After the comprehensive land survey, they lost the benefits of hidden fields. After the new tax system, not only were the Ming dynasty's overt tax exemptions abolished, but all the tricks they used to play by colluding with petty officials were rendered null and void. This alone had landlords crying in distress. Moreover, they had to pay progressive agricultural taxes at higher rates based on the progressive scale. Many rentier landlords had been bankrupted, forced to sell land and move to the city to work in industry or commerce. Those who remained had to change their approach—either subcontracting to the Tiandihui or transforming to manage their own land.
Huang Shoutong offered consolation: "This is the trend of the times. Since tenanting out is so troublesome, why not simply contract to the Tiandihui? No matter how troublesome the tenants are, let the Australians reason with them."
"Contracting to the Tiandihui would indeed be less troublesome. It's just that I've never dealt with them before and don't know if they can be trusted." Squire Song's worry was that the Tiandihui might act like certain large households—turning hostile after receiving a "donation" and swallowing his land.
Huang Shoutong immediately assured him that the Tiandihui was reliable. His own family's cooperation with the Australians had yielded good returns, so this year he planned to contract out all his consolidated lands along with the tenants to the Tiandihui for cultivation.
"The Australians can be trusted to keep their word. On this point, Squire Song need not worry excessively."
After Huang Shoutong's explanation, Squire Song's mind became more active. Rather than fighting with tenants and having no one come out well, simply contracting to the Tiandihui was indeed a way out.
Then he moved on to a second matter.
"I've heard the Australians have established an 'Australian Academy' in Lingao?"
"Indeed, it's been operating for several years now. It's called Fangcao Di."
"I've heard quite a few children of Lingao gentry and prominent families have enrolled there?"
"Quite a few."
Song Zongmao hemmed and hawed, explaining that some time ago he had heard his cousin Song Zonghui had sent a son to Lingao to attend school. This gave him a sense of crisis. Song Zonghui was already a committee member of the County Consultative Bureau, a favorite of the Australians. If he also sent a son to study in Lingao, it was obviously sending a "hostage" as a pledge of loyalty. His own family hadn't managed to become committee members; if he fell behind in this respect too, what say would he have in county affairs in the future? Though they were of the same clan, they were after all distantly related branches.
(End of Chapter)