Territorial Reform

Spring arrived.

All things revived. Flowers and grass gradually turned green, and the forests filled with more chirping birds.

Under the warm sunlight, the thawed earth and roads became muddy as well.

Glan Territory, located on the eastern edge of the Vorris Kingdom, quietly underwent many changes.

For instance, its lord had changed from Baron Connor to the younger Baron Donny. Its steward had changed from Steward Brunode to the frighteningly young Ryan Butler, who was the same age as Baron Donny—only eighteen.

The people of Glan Territory discussed these two young figures in private, wondering what kind of fate awaited them.

Would Baron Donny be like Baron Connor? When war came, would he give them slightly better spears? When famine struck, would he hand out enough bread to keep them from starving to death? When large beasts appeared, would he send knights to drive them away and protect their livestock and crops?

Everything remained unknown. Many elderly residents even prayed inwardly that the new lord would not need to show them any great kindness. They only hoped he would be like the previous Baron Connor and leave them a way to survive.

It was spring again, and the season for spring planting was fast approaching. With the remaining food in their homes nearly exhausted, what the people most wished to hear while sitting at home was that their new lord would allow them to continue farming the land they had leased the previous year, so as not to delay this year's spring planting.

In the castle's council hall.

Donny sat in the seat of honor, draped in a heavy bearskin cloak. Holding a parchment proclamation in his hand, he furrowed his brow deeply.

"Ryan, if this 'Agricultural Reform Ordinance' you wrote is truly implemented, won't those lazy farmers of Glan Territory become even lazier?"

In the basic education Donny had received since childhood, his fixed impression of farmers could be summed up in two words: lazy.

Because farmers were lazy, they had to be made to perform three days of Zhou Labor every week, do all kinds of Love Work, and be stripped of their spare money through every imaginable tax. Only then would they avoid idling around with nothing to do and wandering all over the territory.

"Donny, I've explained this to you many times. Those pitiful farmers work all year round and have no opportunity to be lazy. Does resting for a few days after becoming exhausted from work count as laziness? Absolutely not! On the contrary, in order to keep themselves fed for the year, raise their children, and pay rent and taxes, the burden on them is already extremely heavy. Now, we can lighten that burden somewhat, give them surplus grain to supplement their nutrition, and allow them enough time to rest and recover their strength. That way, they can cultivate the land more efficiently, creating a virtuous cycle and increasing the territory's agricultural output..."

"Donny, I'll guarantee it. Once this Agricultural Reform Ordinance is implemented, if Glan Territory's total agricultural output does not grow by more than thirty percent this year, or if the taxes collected by the tax officers do not increase by at least ten percent, we'll repeal these reform ordinances immediately! But if those growth targets are met, we'll continue implementing this ordinance and further revise and adjust it!"

"This..."

Donny was still somewhat hesitant. His thoughts were the complete opposite of Zhou Ming's. He believed that once this Agricultural Reform Ordinance was implemented, the farmers' enthusiasm for labor would undoubtedly not rise. Instead, it would immediately decline, and they would become even lazier.

These farmers' goal in life was simply to avoid starving to death. As long as the surplus grain in their homes was enough for a year's food and the following year's seeds, that was sufficient. Anything more was basically donated to the church, and little remained in their hands.

According to Ryan's Agricultural Reform Ordinance, land rent would be reduced by twenty percent, the rental costs for oxen and farm tools would be cut by two-thirds, and the Zhou Labor system would be abolished. With only these three provisions, the farmers' burdens would be greatly reduced. Before long, they would be wandering idly throughout the territory instead of focusing on cultivation. Once they had planted roughly enough grain to feed themselves for a year, they would have nothing to do.

However—

Looking at it from another angle, from Ryan's perspective, what he said did seem to make some sense. Moreover, Ryan had not failed to consider this issue. Thus, in addition to those three core provisions, the Agricultural Reform Ordinance also contained six supplementary clauses.

They were as follows:

All miscellaneous taxes on farmers would be abolished, except that game within the territory could not be hunted indiscriminately and trees could not be felled recklessly.

If a farmer's fields showed large-scale abandonment or abnormal reductions in output, the lord would reclaim the right to use the land.

Surplus grain produced by farmers' fields should be purchased collectively by the lord at reasonable prices.

Farmers could use grain to purchase livestock such as cattle, sheep, and horses, as well as farming tools such as hoes, sickles, and heavy plows, from the lord at preferential prices.

Farmers would be permitted to trade goods among themselves and exchange the items they needed, without being taxed.

Farmers' private property would be recognized and protected by the lord and could not be arbitrarily confiscated.

According to Ryan, these six clauses would raise farmers' enthusiasm for production while also guaranteeing their willingness to consume.

Only when farmers consumed their extra agricultural products in various forms would they have the motivation to expand production and increase output!

Several strong draft oxen, a set of useful farm tools, a sturdy house... all these would become goals that drove farmers to increase their output and consume.

If the farmers achieved all these goals, collectively entered a moderately prosperous life, and had no further needs, then fine—it would be time to encourage childbirth. Have two children, and there would be penalties. Have three, and there would be rewards. The more children they had, the greater the rewards. As the population increased, demand would rise again. What then? They could only continue increasing production.

There were also fields such as education, medical care, entertainment, and more, all of which could create many new forms of consumption.

In short, under Ryan's theory of a "production-consumption upward spiral," Glan Territory's agricultural output would only follow a rising line, continuously improving, continuously growing, continuously expanding.

Donny was indeed deeply drawn in by this theory, but he still had some concerns. Whether farmers would truly enter the behavioral logic of Ryan's production-consumption theory remained unknown.

If the farmers only sought enough food and clothing, wanted nothing more, and had no motivation for extra consumption, then wouldn't all the "cost" he had paid have gone down the drain?

"How will we know if we don't try, Donny? Don't you think we're doing something that no one else in this era has ever attempted? If we succeed, what will that mean? And if the experiment fails, we'll only lose a small amount of money and grain. We're both still young, so why not give it a try?"

Zhou Ming's words ignited the ambition in Donny's heart. That was right. It was only one year, and that little money and grain was merely a tiny fraction of the food stored in the castle granary. He could withstand such a minor loss.

"Fine! We'll implement this Agricultural Reform Ordinance for one year. If it works, we'll keep implementing it. If it doesn't, then forget it."

Donny finally nodded.

The next day.

Zhou Ming personally led more than a dozen tax officers on horseback to distribute the Agricultural Reform Ordinance among the territory's villages and towns. Standing before the thin, frail farmers, he read it out to them clause by clause, word by word.

Land rent was being reduced from fifty percent to thirty percent?

The rental price of draft oxen and farm tools was being reduced to one-third of the original price?

The three days of Zhou Labor each week during the busy farming season were being abolished?

These three provisions alone were like a string of thunderclaps with tremendous force, leaving every farmer stunned. Whether they were townspeople of Rose Town or farmers from the other ten villages, after hearing the contents of the ordinance, they all seemed to be hallucinating. Some shook their heads desperately, while others stared at one another in disbelief, all declaring that such good fortune could not possibly happen to them.

Even after Ryan Butler finished reading the ordinance and left the village, quite a few farmers remained rooted to the spot in a daze, believing they were dreaming. They pinched themselves hard, only to discover that the dream felt so real. So they grabbed the people beside them and asked, "Did I hear that wrong just now? What exactly did Ryan Butler say?"

Zhou Ming encountered similar trouble. Several farmers who knew him saw him and, gathering their courage, came forward to ask similar questions. Zhou Ming answered them a few times at first, but later could not be bothered to explain. Whatever ordinance the lord had issued, they only needed to follow it. They should stop asking so many questions.

Whether the farmers believed it or not, after the old tax system had been completely cleared away, the new tax system established and controlled by Zhou Ming began strictly implementing all nine provisions of the Agricultural Reform Ordinance, one after another.

Amid this sweeping agricultural reform, all the farmers of Glan Territory soon noticed the obvious changes taking place in their lives.