Sheep had once been so docile, content with just a little food. Now they had become greedy and overbearing, even threatening to devour people.
The nobles' actions did not exceed Zi Shou's expectations. At first, they still showed some restraint.
They merely sent representatives to petition for permission to lease the public fields owned by the court.
Naturally, Zi Shou refused.
The court's public fields were reserved for the commoners' military service. Military service was also a steady source of foolishness value. How could he let the nobles ruin it?
However, while the public fields retained by the court could not be leased, those allocated to the commoners could.
The land was already state-owned. The commoners only held usage rights, not ownership, and the annual land tax they paid was effectively rent.
Once the commoners leased their land to the nobles, the nobles would have to shoulder the annual land tax as well as pay rent sufficient to satisfy the commoners.
Naturally, the nobles thought this was wonderful.
Rather than directly leasing fields administered by the court, they much preferred subleasing them from the commoners.
They knew perfectly well whether court officials or farmers were easier to deal with.
Moreover, once land leasing moved into the countryside, they could bring their own power to bear.
They were nobles. If they wanted to lease land, would mere farmers dare refuse? Even if they could not act openly, they had a thousand ways to deal with those ignorant peasants in secret.
Pulling a few little tricks then would be child's play.
Would King Zhou care about such things?
Perhaps he would, but they operated in the shadows while the court officials stood in the light. Investigating them would mean overcoming a thousand obstacles. Surely King Zhou would not dare sweep up every