Urban Sims

Chapter 39 Territorial Reform
Spring is coming.

Everything revived, the flowers and grass gradually turned green, and there were more chirping birds in the forest.

Under the warm sunlight, the thawed land and roads also became muddy.

Granland, a territory located on the eastern edge of the Kingdom of Voris, has undergone many changes quietly.

For example, the lord has changed from the original Baron Connor to the younger Baron Downey, and the butler of the territory has changed from the original Butler Bunode to the young and terrifying Butler Ryan, who is the same age as Baron Downey, Both are only 18 years old.

For these two young people, the citizens of Granland are discussing in private, wondering what kind of fate awaits them?
Will Baron Downey, like Baron Connor, give them a better spear when they encounter a war, and give them a piece of bread that will not starve to death when they encounter a famine? When there are large beasts, send out knights to drive them away and protect their livestock and crops.

Everything is unknown, and many elderly citizens are even praying in their hearts. They don't need much mercy from the new lord. They just hope that they can leave a way for them to survive like the previous Baron Connor.

Now it’s the beginning of spring again, and the season of spring sowing is coming soon. All the lords who are about to run out of surplus food at home, what they want to hear the most while sitting at home is the news that the new lord will allow them to continue farming for the previous year’s rent. The tenant land, so as not to delay this year's spring sowing.

……

In the castle chamber.

Downey, who was sitting in the chief seat and dressed in a bear's fur, was holding a parchment document in his hand, and his brows were furrowed.

"Ryan, if the "Agricultural Reform Regulations" you wrote are implemented, those lazy farmers in Granville will not be even more lazy?"

In the enlightenment education that Downey received since he was a child, the inherent impression of farmers is only two words, lazy.

Just because farmers are lazy, they have to work three days a week, do all kinds of loving work, and have to pass all kinds of taxes to collect all their spare money, so that they will not be idle. , wandering around the territory.

"Donnie, I have explained to you many times that those poor farmers are busy all year round and have no chance to be lazy. Is it lazy to rest for a few days when they are tired from work? Absolutely not! On the contrary, in order to solve the problem of a year Food and clothing, to raise children, to pay rent and taxes, the burden on them is already very heavy, now we will lighten some of the burden for them, let them have surplus food to supplement nutrition, have enough rest time to recover their physical strength, so as to achieve a higher level The efficiency to cultivate the land, and then form a virtuous circle, increase the agricultural output of the territory..."

"Donnie, let me give you a guarantee. After the "Agricultural Reform Regulations" are implemented, if the growth rate of the total agricultural output of the Grand Land this year does not exceed 30%, or the tax collected by the tax bureau will not increase. If the growth rate is less than 10%, these reform regulations will be abolished immediately! But if these growth targets are achieved, then this regulation will continue to be implemented, and then revised and adjusted!”

"This……"

Downey was still a little hesitant. He was completely contrary to what Zhou Ming thought. He believed that after the implementation of the "Agricultural Reform Regulations", there was no doubt that farmers' labor enthusiasm would not increase, but would immediately decrease and become more lazy.

The survival goal of these farmers is nothing more than to ensure that they will not starve to death. The surplus food in the family is only enough for one year’s rations and seeds for the next year. Any more will be basically donated to the church and will not be kept in their hands. How many.

If according to Ryan's "Agricultural Reform Regulations": the reduction of land rent by [-]%, the reduction of cattle and farm tool rent by two-thirds, and the abolition of the weekly labor system are just these three items, those farmers who have greatly reduced their burdens will soon They will wander around the territory, and will not focus on farming at all. After planting almost enough food for a year, they will have nothing to do.

but--

Another way of thinking, from Ryan's point of view, what he said seems to have some truth, and it's not that Ryan didn't take this issue into account, so in the "Agricultural Reform Regulations" he formulated, in addition to these three core items, there are six more. Supplementary terms.

They are:
All miscellaneous taxes for farmers are abolished, except that prey in the territory are not allowed to be caught indiscriminately, and trees are not allowed to be felled indiscriminately.

If there is a large-scale abandonment of farmers' fields and abnormal production reduction, the lord will take back the land use rights.

The surplus grain produced by the farmers' fields should be purchased by the lord at a reasonable price.

Farmers can use grain to buy livestock such as cattle, sheep and horses, and farming tools such as hoes, sickles, and heavy plows from the lord at a discount.

Farmers are allowed to trade commodities and exchange the commodities they need without being taxed.

Farmers' private property is recognized and protected by the lord, and cannot be deprived at will.

According to Ryan, these six items not only increase farmers' enthusiasm for production, but also guarantee their enthusiasm for consumption.

Only when farmers consume the extra agricultural products they produce in various forms, will they have the motivation to expand production and increase production!
For example, a few strong cattle, a set of useful farm tools, and a solid house... are all the goals of these farmers to increase production and consumption.

If the farmers have achieved all these goals, they are collectively running into a well-off life, and there is no other need, then it is time to encourage births. If you have two, you will be punished. If you have three, you will be rewarded. The more you have , the more rewards there are, the population increases, and the demand will increase again, what should I do?Can only continue to increase production.

There are also fields such as education, medical care, entertainment, etc., which can open up many new consumer projects.

In short, according to Ryan's "production-consumption spiral theory", the agricultural output of Granville will only show an upward line, continuously improving, growing, and expanding.

Downey was indeed deeply attracted by this theory, but he also had some concerns. Whether the farmers would really enter into the behavioral logic of this production-consumption theory as Ryan expected was really still unknown.

If the farmers only want food and clothing without desires, and have no motivation for extra consumption, then wouldn't all the "price" he paid be in vain?

"How do you know if you don't try it, Donnie, don't you think we are doing something that no one in this era has tried? If we succeed, what will it mean? If the experiment fails, it is just a loss It’s just a small amount of money and food, we are still young, why don’t we give it a try?”

Zhou Ming's words ignited the ambition in Downey's heart. That's right, it's only a year. That little money and food is only equivalent to a very small part of the food stored in the castle's granary. This is a slight loss to him. Still bearable.

"Okay! Let's implement the "Agricultural Reform Ordinance" for one year. If it works, continue to implement it. If it doesn't work, forget it."

Downey finally nodded.

the next day.

Zhou Ming personally led more than a dozen tax officials, riding horses, and distributed the "Agricultural Reform Regulations" to the villages and towns in the territory, standing in front of those thin farmers, and offering them word for word. read out.

Land rent reduced from [-]% to [-]% now?
The rental price of cattle and agricultural tools has been reduced to one-third of the original price?

Cancel the three-day weekly work during the busy farming season?

Just these three items were like a series of powerful thunderbolts, which stunned all the farmers. Whether it was the townspeople of Qiangwei Town or the farmers of the other ten villages, after hearing the content of this order, they all seemed to appear Like hallucinations, or shaking their heads desperately, or looking at each other, they all said that it was impossible for such a good thing to happen to them.

After the steward Ryan finished reading and left the village, there were still many farmers who were in a daze, thinking that they were dreaming, and after pinching themselves hard, they realized that the dream was so real, so he pulled others and asked , Did I hear wrong just now?What did Butler Ryan say?

Zhou Ming also suffered from similar problems. After seeing him, several farmers who knew him boldly stepped forward and asked similar questions. Zhou Ming answered a few times at the beginning, but he didn't bother to explain later, the lord What regulations have been issued, you just need to implement them according to them, don't ask so many questions.

Whether the farmers believe it or not, the nine items in the "Agricultural Reform Regulations", after the old tax system was completely cleaned up, the new tax system established and controlled by Zhou Ming began to strictly implement these regulations one after another. down.

During this drastic agricultural reform, all the farmers in Granland quickly noticed the obvious changes that had happened to them.

(End of this chapter)