Chapter 1649 - Hu Xuefan

"Understood, sir."

"And we need to step up collection of the Reasonable Burden," Hong Huangnan reminded him. "I've seen from the ledgers that quite a few villages have outstanding balances from last year. Push them. Silver, cloth, grain—collect it all first. We'll have use for everything."

"Yes. I'll arrange for people to follow up immediately." Zhu Fusheng hastily agreed. The Guangzhou Main Branch of the Dachang Rice Shop was also responsible for collecting the "Reasonable Burden." Each year, payments from the various Pearl River Estuary districts were collected, warehoused, and transferred through them.

After Zhu Fusheng withdrew, Hong Huangnan glanced at the lengthy list of appointments, studied the names, then instructed his secretary:

"Have Hu Xuefan come in first!"

The man who entered was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight—thin, dark, and wiry. He wore a "cadre uniform" but still kept his hair tied in a topknot. He walked with a slight limp, lending his appearance an incongruous quality.

"Chief." Hu Xuefan's legs were impaired and he could not stand at attention, so he simply did his best to make his posture presentable.

"Xiao Hu, have a seat," Hong Huangnan said graciously. He casually tossed him a cigarette from his white special-issue tobacco tin. "How are you? After all this time in the countryside, is your health holding up?"

"You're too kind, Chief. Serving the Council of Elders and the People is my honor." Hu Xuefan accepted the cigarette with an expression of flattered gratitude, nodding and bowing as he spoke.

"I won't waste time on pleasantries. Xiao Hu," Hong Huangnan seated himself heavily, "tell me about the situation from your rural inspection tour."

"Yes, Chief." Hu Xuefan didn't dare smoke in front of the Chief and tucked the cigarette behind his ear. Though he now bore a respectable, literary-sounding name, he was in fact none other than "Little Hu from the Umbrella Shop"—once a "grain runner" under the household tax clerk Chen Minggang in Lingao.

After Chen Minggang swung from the gallows, the former grain runners—apart from a handful with particularly egregious public grievances who were hanged alongside him—had all been transferred to the Grain Collection Bureau to "make full use of their expertise." Over the ensuing years, except for a few fools who ended up sharing Fu Youdi's fate, the rest had become "cadres" in the Tax Bureau.

"Little Hu from the Umbrella Shop" possessed a talent for "knowing numbers" and had become a capable officer in the National Tax Bureau. After the Pearl River Estuary Breakthrough Campaign concluded, the Executive Committee had entrusted the Tax Bureau with consolidating the lands of local gentry and major households who had been killed or fled. The Wansheng Rent Station had been established to "lease out" these properties.

Because of his abilities, Hu Xuefan had been transferred to Guangdong after the Wansheng Rent Station was established, becoming a "secretary" at the station. His work differed little from before: inspecting the fields from which rent was to be collected, estimating approximate yields, and using this as the basis for collecting rent from tenants. Additionally, he had to assess the grain and specialty product yields of the various Pearl River Estuary villages where the "Reasonable Burden" system had been established, ensuring the levy amounts remained appropriate.

He had held this position for several years now and knew the crops and lands under his jurisdiction like the back of his hand.

This time, at Hong Huangnan's directive, he had conducted an inspection tour of the various Pearl River Estuary counties, observing this year's autumn grain and cash crop growth and making rough yield estimates. This data would serve as a key reference for Hong Huangnan's local procurement planning.

"Chief, I've already written a report on this matter." After multiple training sessions, Hu Xuefan could now write reports and fill out forms without difficulty. "Let me brief you first on the general situation."

The counties he had visited varied considerably in condition. Some showed excellent crop growth and were expected to achieve full harvests—a ten-out-of-ten bumper year. Others had suffered natural disasters and, while not facing total crop failure, were certain to see substantial yield reductions. Beyond natural disasters, this year's cash crop plantings had expanded significantly over the previous year. Guangdong's grain deficit would certainly worsen—especially in some of the wealthier Pearl River Delta counties, which had become completely unable to achieve grain self-sufficiency. This was largely thanks to the Council of Elders: Guangdong had become the Transmigrators' largest source of raw materials and their biggest sales market, and the massive import-export trade had stimulated cash crop cultivation throughout the province.

"...Just in Guangzhou Prefecture's fifteen counties alone, roughly two-thirds cannot achieve grain self-sufficiency and require grain shipped in from outside."

Hong Huangnan felt mixed emotions—glad that cash crops meant wealth, and that once Guangdong fell, there would be a windfall! But worried because the Fubo Army's soldiers and Civil Affairs Department cadres couldn't survive on smoking tobacco or drinking indigo water. Once occupation was in effect, besides feeding the soldiers, they would also need to address the local populace's food problems.

"Things seem rather tricky," Hong Huangnan frowned. Hu Xuefan dared not speak, waiting for the Chief to continue.

"In your view, are there problems with the Reasonable Burden collections? I see that last year's ledgers show some villages with outstanding balances. Also, the rents collected by the Rent Station—is there potential to squeeze out more?"

"There are naturally problems." Hu Xuefan hastened to reply. "Mainly uneven distribution of burden. Some places bear too heavy a load. The local Liaison Officers have been petitioning continuously for reductions."

This issue had existed ever since he took up the position. Particularly for him, who held the power of "knowing numbers"—every time the Reasonable Burden was collected, Liaison Officers from various villages would come pleading hardship or petitioning. Some would frequently send gifts of local products, hinting that if the "burden" could be reduced, they would offer substantial "thank-you payments." On several occasions, mulberry-bark paper packets containing gleaming silver had been pressed into his hands. Baskets of lychees or strings of cured fish and air-dried chicken he'd received had concealed gold bracelets or silver ingots. Once, a Liaison Officer had invited him for "tea" and simply brought along a young woman, explaining that if he was willing to "accept" her, they would even provide a house complete with furnishings.

Such windfalls had been encountered by nearly everyone at the Wansheng Rent Station and the Dachang Rice Shop's Reasonable Burden offices. But Little Hu didn't dare be tempted. He had lived through Lingao's "Land Survey Campaign" and had later participated as "auxiliary personnel" in Land Survey operations across Hainan's counties. He knew full well that the Chiefs were ruthless about such matters—and had ears and eyes everywhere. So he didn't even dare accept extra lychees. Every year, a few unlucky souls from the Rice Shop or Rent Station would "disappear." Nobody discussed it, but everyone knew exactly where they had gone.

Still, after several years, he had developed certain "connections" with the various village Liaison Officers. Some villages genuinely did bear heavy burdens—that was simply fact. He had raised the issue with the transmigrator managing the Rent Station at Guangzhou Station, but the Chief in charge had consistently refused any adjustments. The "Reasonable Burden" amounts in each village actually carried an element of "punishment"—those that had resisted, or resisted more fiercely, bore heavier burdens. There was something of a "political dimension" to it.

Seeing an opportunity now, he raised the issue again.

"Although these villages did defy the Imperial Army in the past, several years have gone by. Besides, those who offended the Heavenly Authority were mostly the great households and gentry—and they've all been eliminated now. Continuing to press this extra burden onto ordinary commoners seems rather unjust."

"You make a valid point, but this is beyond my authority to decide," Hong Huangnan said. "Let's set that aside for now. What about the Rent Station's collections—is there room for improvement?"

The "Reasonable Burden" and the Rent Station's rent collections together brought in roughly twenty thousand shi of various grains in a normal year, plus about twenty thousand taels worth of cash crops and silver. This revenue was one of Hong Huangnan's main income sources for the Guangdong Campaign. He found it insufficient and wanted to extract more.

"Honestly speaking, it's not impossible, but..." Hu Xuefan paused cautiously before continuing. "Currently, Wansheng Station uses a fifty-fifty split with tenants. Wansheng also assumes the land tax. These terms would normally require a sixty-forty split elsewhere—and for fifty-fifty, that would be an iron-clad rent with no flexibility. If we want to extract more by changing it to sixty-forty or even seventy-thirty, tenants can still survive as long as there are no disasters—but doing so..." He trailed off, unable to finish.

Hong Huangnan understood his meaning perfectly: it would damage the Council of Elders' reputation for benevolence.

"I see. I'll think it over." Hong Huangnan hesitated. He knew most transmigrators cared greatly about "reputation," and such measures harmful to popular sentiment probably wouldn't be approved. He suddenly asked, "Do you know about the situation in Sanliang Market?"

Hu Xuefan's heart gave a thump. "Yes," he quickly replied.

"I've seen Dachang's reports. Sanliang Market's Reasonable Burden is always several months late each year. Do you know the specifics?"

Hu Xuefan nodded. "I know about this. Sanliang Market's situation differs from other places. Their main income comes from mat grass—you can't collect grain there, so the Reasonable Burden is assessed in silver. From what people in the trade say, every year they must wait for the mat grass to come in, dry it, and weave it into mats before they can sell it for money. All told, that takes nearly half a year. Asking them to pay on time is genuinely difficult."

"I see." Hong Huangnan nodded. "You may go."

"Yes, your humble servant takes his leave." Hu Xuefan was somewhat nervous—he had even reverted to his old-fashioned phrasing.

The next person summoned was Li Cunfa, the "Liaison Officer" from Sanliang Market.

Li Cunfa was a small mat-grass merchant who had originally lived at the mercy of Luo Tianqiu in Sanliang Market. The local mat-grass business had been monopolized by the Luo family. Li Cunfa could only work at the lowest level of procurement, scrounging about to buy and sort mat grass that could only be sold to the Luo family's trading company. A year of toil earned him barely enough to feed his family.

After the Australians broke Sanliang Market and purged the local gentry and major households in blood, he and the monk Daole had stepped forward to maintain order, and he had become a "Liaison Officer." After the Australians withdrew, Li Cunfa had effectively become the town mayor. Besides collecting the annual "Reasonable Burden" from the whole town and gathering grain for the Wansheng Station, he was now one of the town's prominent figures.

Hearing that a Chief wanted to summon him, Li Cunfa was privately troubled. These past few years, his hands had not been entirely clean. After Luo Tianqiu's downfall, he had used his status as "Liaison Officer" and colluded with the monk Daole to effectively monopolize Sanliang Market's mat-grass trade.

(End of Chapter)