"You all possess skills, but lack the physique. You could not become soldiers even if you wanted to. Back when you were mixed in with the garrison troops doing labor, though you could not fill your bellies, you always had something to eat. Now that the prefectural government has stripped you of your garrison troop status, it cannot leave you without food. Therefore, you will be assigned to the Works Section of the prefectural government and granted land to farm. All of it is public land of this prefecture, taxed at one-tenth. No taxes will be collected in years of famine. You may not privately mortgage or trade the land. Violators will be tattooed and exiled to the Western Xia border.
"The land belongs to the prefectural government. If an official seizes your land, that official will be dismissed and his property confiscated. If some great household dares seize your land, I will see his family ruined and exterminated. You must remember this well. Even if I leave Hangzhou, should such a thing happen in this prefecture, I will find a way to make someone pay the price. Because that would not be oppression of you—it would be oppression of me. Should anything like this occur, you must find a way to inform me. I will not let such vermin have an easy time.
"In your spare time, you may farm at home. Outside of farming, you may use your skills to earn money and supplement your household income; the government will not interfere. But if this prefecture needs bridges built or roads repaired, you must come work. The prefectural government already has regulations for this. During work, you will receive two meals a day—one porridge and one dry meal—and you will also be paid. We are hiring you to