The Gu family was already like this; what about the others?
The hidden fields and unregistered households kept in private only numbered more, never most.
The Gu family was now fully cooperating with the land survey. Not only had they returned all the land held in trust to its original owners, they had also registered and deeded all the land they had bought or reclaimed over the years but never entered into the records. The other families were anxious. When the village head arrived at their doors with the yamen runners, they hesitated and stalled, able only to stand by the fields and watch them measure the land.
As the figures recorded by the yamen runners grew larger and larger, they could not resist slipping money to the village head.
The village head pushed it back and advised them in a low voice, "It is not that I refuse to help. The County Magistrate has returned the money he took, which shows this cannot be done. Do not drag me down with you."
"Village Head, please plead for us one more time. If this keeps up, how are we supposed to live?"
"How can you not live?" the village head said quietly. "Do not those families with only a few mu of land live perfectly well? Do not go too far. This is His Majesty's new policy. Since the County Magistrate returned the money, it means this cannot be done—there is no way to do it!"
"The emperor is high above and far away. His Majesty probably does not even know where Dehua County is, does he? Could it be that the County Magistrate has grown old and his courage has shrunk?"
A landlord from another plot also came over, attacking the village head from the other side. He tried