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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 267: Local Government

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    In the West Prince's Mansion in Suzhou, after Xiao Yungui, Zuo Zongtang and Qian Jiang finished talking about returning to Beijing, they discussed political affairs in southern Jiangsu.  Now that the war in southern Jiangsu has basically calmed down, the restoration of local agriculture, commerce and trade, and the establishment of local political power have been put on the agenda.  Wuxi and other places were recovered earlier. The Taiping Army there had begun to build local political power, and local officials and township officials had been stationed in the local areas.

    In local villages, the Taiping military system is still followed. Every twenty-five households are divided into one Sima and two Sima, and four Sima and two Sima are divided into one pawn, followed by the establishment of brigade, division and army.  Each of the twenty-five households selected their own two Sima to manage the twenty-five households. The two Sima were responsible for the household registration, number of fields, population statistics, and all chores for the twenty-five households. They were equivalent to a village cadre.  The soldier commander is also elected, equivalent to the village chief. The subsequent brigade commander is divided into two, one is sent by the West Palace and the other is elected by the local people. The same is true for the subsequent division commander and military commander.  .

    Such a compilation can quickly and clearly collect basic data such as household registration, number of fields, population, taxes, etc., and also facilitate local management.  But the difference between the West Palace and Tianjing is that except for the army, Xiao Yungui did not set up a holy treasury system in the local area. Except for the general holy treasury at the level of the garrison commander, it was responsible for collecting taxes from the military households and common people.  Money, food, donations from local people, and the property of corrupt officials, local tyrants and evil gentry under their rule.  This holy treasury is also responsible for paying the food and taxes that should be paid, and at the same time supporting local financial expenditures.  Each army has about 10,000 households, which is equivalent to the population of a town.

    After being implemented in Wuxi, Jintan, Zhenjiang and other places, the Xidian Taiping Army exempted and exempted local money and grain taxes, and distributed local ownerless land due to wars and land confiscated by corrupt officials, local tyrants and evil gentry to landless farmers for cultivation.  , but taxes still have to be paid, and the money and grain are divided into nine grades according to the quality of the fields. After paying the land taxes.  The rest belongs to the farmers themselves and does not need to be turned over to the Holy Treasury.  Although the population of Wuxi, Jintan, Zhenjiang and other places is not as dense as that of Suzhou and Hangzhou, their population has increased instead of falling. The land confiscated and ownerless land in advance is already not enough.

    Take Zhenjiang as an example. It is located at the northern end of the Jiangnan Canal and is a hub for travel between the north and the south. Before the Taiping Army came, it had a population of 280,000. After the Taiping Army captured Zhenjiang, tens of thousands of people fled. Some of these people fled to Suzhou and Hangzhou.  of.  There were also those who took refuge in the mountains, but most of them fled blindly because they believed the rumors of the Manchus.  After the West Palace Taiping Army entered Zhenjiang, they counted the population and found that only about 230,000 people remained.  Subsequently, war broke out in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai, and nearby refugees and civilians flocked to Zhenjiang, Wuxi and other places. In addition, the Taiping Army's propaganda and pacification work was very effective.  The people who had hid in the mountains earlier came back, and the population suddenly surged to 330,000.  With the Manchu Qing going backwards in Jiangbei.  Raise donations widely.  Many people in Jiangbei fled to Zhenjiang, and the population continued to increase.  Among them, there are 110,000 landless and extremely poor people.

    There were about 2.4 million acres of cultivated land in Zhenjiang at that time, and about 800,000 acres of land and ownerless land confiscated by the Taiping Army. The rest of the land was still in the hands of middle peasants, rich peasants, and some landlords.  The land in the hands of middle peasants, rich peasants and landlords supports more than 100,000 people.  The Taiping Army distributed 800,000 acres of land to 110,000 landless people according to the good and bad mix. The average land area allocated to each person reached about seven acres.  According to historical experience, the level of farming at this time.  It takes at least four acres of land to feed one person. If it is less than this amount, farmers will have a very difficult life, let alone pay the grain tax.  Even when a disaster strikes, the year is not good, and it becomes a problem to have enough to eat.  The distribution of seven acres of land per capita is only slightly higher than the basic survival line of four acres. Moreover, not all the land near Zhenjiang is grain-producing land. About 10% of the cultivated land is mulberry forest or other crop fields.  Fortunately, Zhenjiang's trade is booming. There are nearly 30,000 people working or running businesses in Zhenjiang city, and they are not engaged in agriculture. Therefore, the per capita land allocation has been greatly alleviated. In some good places, the average per capita land allocation is ten acres.  However, refugees from Jiangbei are still fleeing southwards, causing the local land to become increasingly scarce.  Wuxi, Jintan and other places have a larger population. Wuxi is a big city, with a population of more than 400,000.  Everyone says that Jiangnan is rich, but rich means rich and has a large population.

    When Wang Kaiyun was governing Wuxi, he wrote to Xiao Yungui. After discussions with Zuo Zongtang and Wang Kaiyun, Xiao Yungui launched several measures in Wuxi as a pilot.  First, the people were encouraged to reclaim wasteland. The reclaimed wasteland could be distributed to farmers for farming. The Taiping Army exempted taxes for one year and provided agricultural tools, grain seeds, cattle, etc., and then paid one-tenth of the grain produced by the fields.  But this measure could not solve all problems. It was the late Qing Dynasty, and after several dynasties of development, almost all the cultivated land that could be cultivated had been reclaimed.  After research by historians and agriculturists of later generations, they found that the area of ??cultivated land in the Qing Dynasty was not much different from the area of ??modern cultivated land. In some places, the area of ??cultivated land was even larger than that of later generations. Due to the economic development of later generations, many places converted farmland into forests and cultivated land.  Expropriation, etc. resulted in less cultivated land than during the Qing Dynasty.  In short, there is not much land that can be cultivated.

    ThatThe second is to use the Holy Treasury to purchase land from middle peasants, rich peasants and landlords. After the acquisition, it becomes state-owned land and then distributed to farmers for farming at a lower land tax.  At the same time, Wang Kaiyun informed the landlords and rich peasants that once the cultivated land in their hands was found to be deserted, the Taiping Army would confiscate the land without compensation.  This policy is relatively peaceful and can be accepted by landlords and rich peasants. In addition, many tenant farmers go to cultivate the land they are assigned, and some tenant farmers go to the workshops run by the Taiping Army to work, resulting in the loss of work on the hands of landlords and rich peasants.  The number of tenant farmers decreased, and they had to sell some land that was not cultivated to the Taiping Army. Once the land was left uncultivated and deserted, the Taiping Army would confiscate the land mercilessly, so it was better to sell the land.

    The third is to develop shipping, mining, textile and other handicraft workshops in Wuxi and Zhenjiang to recruit landless farmers as workers, which also solves the livelihood problems of some people. At the same time, it reduces the number of tenant farmers under landlords and rich farmers and forces them to sell their land.  .

    The fourth is to vigorously develop commerce. There were originally only two markets in Wuxi City. After the arrival of the Taiping Army, it was stipulated that any store facing the street in the city could be opened. Just go to the Wuxi Taiping Commercial Department to apply for a store license to operate. This was also based on the turnover.  Collect business tax.  As a result, some landlords or rich farmers began to open shops and conduct business in the city.  After several measures were promoted, some land conflicts were alleviated.

    At the same time, the Sima level in each village did not set up any mandatory chapels like Tianjing. Only the Taiping Catholic Church¡¯s chapel was set up at the military level.  If you believe in the Taiping Catholic Church, you can go to the military-level chapel to worship. The rest of the old temples, Taoist temples, ancestral halls, etc. in the village can be left to their own devices. The West Palace Taiping Army does not force people to change their beliefs.  Each of the two commanders at each level needs five men to form their own rural soldiers, which is the Taiping Army's own local regiment training.  In peacetime, rural soldiers are still farmers, but they receive weapons and special uniforms and flags issued by the Taiping Army, and undergo military training three times a week.  Protecting the village in peacetime is like the village joint security team, in case of war.  These rural soldiers can become reservists, which is the nature of the militia.  Each militia is given a certain monthly allowance by the local army-level holy treasury, which does not support these militiamen.

    In fact, under the rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the young adults in each village and township also had their own organizations. Each clan and major surname organized the young adults within the clan according to a certain situation.  Normally, he protects the people in his village from being bullied by others. This is how Xiangyong, the villager, came to be.  After the arrival of the Taiping Army.  Some systems have been changed.  Organize these loose villagers into your own militia.  In the past, it was a duty to protect the village, but now there are regular weapons, uniforms, and subsidies available, so the young people in the village naturally flock to them.

    The alleviation of land conflicts and the establishment of the system of rural officials and rural soldiers allowed the local government of the West Palace Taiping Army to be quickly established.  Now that Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai and other places have been captured, the situation has changed again.  The change is that the population has increased, but there is still so much land. As long as there are more people in any matter, the problem will become more complicated.

    After discussing with Zuo Zongtang and Qian Jiang.  Xiao Yungui decided to promote Wuxi's method first, establish local government first, and do basic statistics. He wanted to know how much land he needed to allocate and how much he needed to invest in purchasing land to solve the land problem in Suzhou and Hangzhou.  How many people's livelihood problems can be solved by the existing industry and commerce in Suzhou and Hangzhou? In the end, if it can't accommodate it, the railway will be built soon. What does building the railway mean? It means that it will require a lot of labor. Xiao Yungui doesn't mind recruiting a  A large number of people worked as road construction workers.

    After discussing the political affairs, Hong Yun'er and Li Xuanji returned to the house, and Clifford came back with him. This kid bought a large number of art works from the private sector.  From homemade embroidered handkerchiefs to large marble monuments carved by stone workers, this guy actually collected several large carts of all kinds of items, brought them all back, and moved them into the mansion in a chaotic manner.

    Xiao Yungui was a little funny. He stepped forward to ask for more information. Before he could speak, Clifford came up and gave Xiao Yungui a hug. He said with great joy: "Your Highness, King Xi, thank you very much for your gifts. These things are very exquisite."  Every piece of art is the work of Chinese artists. Look at this handkerchief, the embroidery patterns on both sides are different. God, what kind of ingenuity is required to achieve this."

    Clifford's hugging action was very dangerous. He didn't know that he had already passed through the gate of hell. If Hong Yun'er hadn't organized Tang Erniu and others in time, more than a dozen swords and muskets would have attacked him.

    Xiao Yungui chuckled and said: "As long as you like it, I can have people take you to see more exquisite works of art, and you can also go to Jingdezhen, Jiangxi to watch the production of porcelain."

    Clifford was very happy and agreed without hesitation, but Xiao Yungui changed the subject and said: "It's a pity that Jingdezhen is still in the hands of the barbaric Manchu Qing Dynasty. I need to get permission to export weapons from the United Kingdom. With British weapons, we canDefeat the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, so that you can reach Jingdezhen unimpeded.  "

    Clifford nodded and said: "Princess Xi has already told me about this. Your Highness, I saw the good deeds of your army in Suzhou. The people here are well taken care of. They have removed their braids."  It doesn¡¯t look like a slave anymore. I will definitely facilitate this when I return to England. We are all civilized people and will definitely replace the barbaric and vulgar people. I will help the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. I like to deal with you!"

    Xiao Yungui looked at Hong Yun'er, and Hong Yun'er winked at him playfully. It seemed that Hong Yun'er had already taken care of this kid. Is it difficult for a person with hobbies to take care of him?  It's not difficult, just do what you want. It seems that with Clifford's support, the Taiping Rebellion's comments in the UK will also change a lot. After all, someone has spoken for him, and this person is not simple. Behind his back  It is a huge interest group!  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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