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Chapter 718: A Huge Pitfall, and the Nobility Fell Into It
🕑 Added 2024-10-06 04:59:57 +0000 UTC"I'll speak on behalf of the other noble families," Chen Shang nodded.
From Chen Shang's perspective, exchanging one book for ten was an overwhelming advantage. A year could yield ninety-three books in exchange, considering that ordinary people could only borrow three books in three years. With such a significant advantage, if the noble families still lost, then even Chen Shang would believe they deserved to disappear.
In this era, from the viewpoint of the noble families, their true opponents were the scholars of humble origins, not the common people whom they regarded as beneath them.
For the noble families, losing to the scholars was unfortunate, but they could still tolerate it since many scholars were originally from fallen noble families. However, they completely disregarded the common people. This mindset was vividly embodied in people like Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao, who never imagined that centuries later, it would be the common people, not the scholars, who would pull the noble families down from their pedestals.
"They will learn soon enough. When the number of educated commoners increases, they'll understand what true terror looks like," Chen Xi thought to himself, silently amused. The noble families were limited by their perspective and couldn't see their greatest threat.
"Uncle, let me add something," Chen Xi continued.
"Go ahead," Chen Shang replied, frowning but not refusing.
"For the sake of fairness, everyone under Lord Xuande's rule will have this privilege," Chen Xi said calmly.
Chen Shang was momentarily stunned. He repeated what Chen Xi had said, then smiled and responded, "No problem. If all the people of the realm have this privilege, that's fine. By the way, we actually have a lot of confidence in Lord Xuande."
"Zichuan, you are still a nobleman at heart. The only ones with real access to books are the noble families, so this privilege you offer is just a facade of fairness," Chen Shang thought to himself.
"That's all the better, then," Chen Xi nodded, unfazed by Chen Shang's apparent goodwill. The noble families were clearly conflicted about Liu Bei, caught between admiration and resentment. The reason? They respected Liu Bei, but unlike other warlords, Liu Bei did not rely solely on the noble families as his main support.
"Regarding the land, I can't return it to you just yet. But as I promised the noble families before, once order is restored, I will return the land to you. After all, you don't farm it yourselves, so there's no rush," Chen Xi continued, his expression unchanged as he made a promise to Chen Shang.
"Will you really return the land to us?" Chen Shang asked skeptically. Even with the land vouchers in hand, the noble families found this promise unreliable. However, given the generous terms Chen Xi had just offered, Chen Shang decided to tolerate this uncertainty. "We won't ask for much—just return thirty percent of the land."
"Not possible right now. I still need it for the time being. But when the time comes, I will honor the land vouchers you hold. Although the location won't be here," Chen Xi firmly refused, despite feeling pleased with how much the noble families were willing to sacrifice in support of Liu Bei. However, he had no interest in fulfilling this request just yet.
"Zichuan, please be honest with your uncle. Don't deceive me, or else I'll be the one left in a difficult position when peace returns, and I'll be torn apart by those who expect answers," Chen Shang said with a hint of desperation, playing on their familial bond.
Chen Shang found Chen Xi's proposal highly unreliable. Land exchanges had been played out by the noble families many times before—exchanging high-quality fields for low-quality ones could leave them in tears. Noble families were confined to exchanging land within specific regions, but if this became a national matter, it could easily result in exchanging fertile fields for barren wastelands.
"Don't worry. I can draft a written agreement. If the land you receive isn't of high quality, you can come find me. I'll sign and stamp it myself. But for now, it can't happen. Besides, you don't really understand farming," Chen Xi said, remaining calm despite Chen Shang's emotional plea. Chen Xi found the situation amusing but assured his uncle that he wouldn't stoop so low.
"Are you sure it will be good land?" Chen Shang pressed.
"I have no reason to deceive you. We can even exchange smaller plots for larger ones, with the only conditions being that we can't commit fraud. A plot is a plot, whether large or small, high or low quality, irrigated or dry. The only thing that matters is that the land is real," Chen Xi said, his tone indifferent, as he spoke words that made Chen Shang's heart race.
Chen Shang was momentarily speechless, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to find words.
"Rest assured, uncle. No one will go out and measure every plot. I'm at the top, and you're beneath me. Who would bother with such details? As for exchanging dry land for irrigated land, I'm planning to consolidate the noble families' land into one area. As for land deeds, I'll take care of those—no one will know once they're burned," Chen Xi said, opening a door for Chen Shang.
"Gulp," Chen Shang swallowed hard. He had seen bold people before, but never someone this audacious. Yet, Chen Xi's reasoning was flawless.
"So, uncle, what do you think? Want to give it a try? Just a few adjustments, and the Chen family could end up with thousands of hectares of prime land," Chen Xi said with a sly smile.
"You're not joking?" Chen Shang muttered.
"No joke. I can draft the agreement right now. But to avoid trouble later, I'll make it clear that all citizens are entitled to this benefit. However, since it's a benefit, it's first-come, first-served," Chen Xi said nonchalantly.
"The Northeast Plain fits all the conditions I mentioned earlier. But since you don't farm, you'll just treat it as ancestral land. Consolidating the noble families' land into one area for collective farming will make things easier," Chen Xi thought to himself.
"I agree," Chen Shang said after confirming that Chen Xi wasn't trying to trick him. There was nothing more to say—only a fool would pass up such an opportunity. As for whether this would harm the state, who cared?
"I'll draft the agreement, and you can take it back for the noble families' heads to sign. But let me make one thing clear: I can exchange land for you, but if it goes uncultivated and someone finds out, I won't go easy on you," Chen Xi said sternly.
"No problem. We won't let the land go to waste," Chen Shang agreed. "If we don't have enough labor, we'll hire people to farm it. We won't make things difficult for you, Zichuan."
Chen Shang knew that if the land were to be left uncultivated due to a lack of labor, higher authorities would likely investigate, and they wouldn't be able to cover it up. In such a case, it could drag Chen Xi down with them. So, he assured that all noble families would ensure the land was farmed, even if it meant hiring workers.
"Good," Chen Xi replied coolly, though inwardly, he was laughing.
Opening up the Northeast Plain for farming wouldn't be difficult in a world with internal energy and cloud energy. The challenge lay in cultivating the land afterward, given the lack of population. Even with a reclamation corps, managing five million hectares would be impossible. But with the noble families voluntarily signing agreements, they'd have no choice but to hire workers to farm the land.
With the noble families hiring workers and additional policies in place, they might just manage to fully cultivate that million-hectare land. As for the remaining four million, it would depend on how many noble families took the bait.
"Finally, five hundred thousand collections. I've been waiting so long for this. Once the honor comes out, I'll add more chapters on Saturday and Sunday..."
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