If the interest rate is too high, they can’t pay it back next year, they will still die.
The villagers quieted down, and Guotai Lang said directly, "This is basic ration, no interest, and no repaynt required."
"Then what do we need to do?"
"You just need to register." Guotai Lang knew he couldn’t speak too complicatedly with these villagers, so he spoke loudly, "As long as you acknowledge you are Wanjin people and comply with Wanjin laws and regulations, you can receive basic rations—it’s the governnt’s responsibility not to let Wanjin people starve, per Lord Nozawa’s instructions."
After a pause, he quickly added, "Of course, if you want to eat your fill, you still have to work!"
The villagers had no objections, as working for food was only natural. Though they didn’t have much else, they had plenty of strength. Soone quickly shouted, "Can we also lease the paddies outside the manor?"
"Yes!" Guotai Lang imdiately replied, "They will be fairly leased to everyone for cultivation according to the number of strong n in each household."
The villagers burst into excitent again and couldn’t help whispering among themselves. The riverside fields were top-grade. Previously, the rice harvested would be entirely taken by the Northern Fra, and any reduction needed to be supplented by the whole village.
An old man, quite astute, thought for a mont and cautiously tested, "Sir, how much annual tribute do we have to pay?"
The villagers instantly beca quiet again. If the tribute was too much—more than six parts to the governnt and four to the people for each town’s acreage, plus so lumber, bundles of bamboo, mulberry fibers, or shoulders more costly such as horse loans or soldier food rice—leasing or not leasing would be the sa.
Guotai Lang imdiately laughed through the loudspeaker, "This question is quite complex; everyone, please be patient while I explain. Wanjin no longer collects annual tribute, not only for the fields divided for everyone to cultivate, but also your previous leased fields no longer require tribute, though agricultural tax still must be paid... only food needs to be submitted, none of the other miscellaneous contributions are required."
"How much food do we need to pay?" Soone shouted from within the crowd.
Collecting agricultural tax is a highly technical job, as each household’s labor situation varies and each year’s harvest might differ. This year might be a bumper crop; next year could yield no grains at all, and a mistake with the "five parts governnt, five parts people" could cause farr bankruptcy and debt lasting three generations.
For instance, if disaster struck this year, and the farrs barely harvested enough to eat, and you take half their yield with "five parts governnt, five parts people," they would have no choice but to eat wild herbs, and if that’s not enough, they’d have to fight you.
Alternatively, so might secretly hide and falsely report yields, or even the whole village might conspire to hide output to pay as little as possible, but the governnt doesn’t have the manpower and energy to check each field’s actual yield.
Therefore, it’s challenging to establish a convincing agricultural tax standard ensuring farrs won’t go bankrupt. Luckily, Harano copied successful practices which have solved this issue in practice, and until now, no village in Wanjin has raised a rebellion wanting to hang him on a streetlamp.
On the contrary, farrs have started saving and can support industrial and comrcial developnt.
Guotai Lang imdiately began introducing Wanjin’s policy: "How much food should be collected? Currently, we adopt a floating agricultural tax; after reserving enough food, it’s levied starting from surplus, calculated at 15% of output from state-run farms and model households..."
This question is very complicated and Guotai Lang needed to explain what "state-run farm" and "model household" ant and why it had to be so complex, speaking until his mouth was dry.
The villagers listened intently; they lacked knowledge, but they weren’t foolish—they could discern good from bad. Even if so couldn’t hold back from discussing with neighbors, they’d be imdiately stopped, and hearing Guotai Lang’s example of the Chita Peninsula’s agricultural tax situation, soone couldn’t help exclaiming: That little?
With such favorable terms, the villagers listened yearningly yet doubtfully, feeling that with these conditions, Wanjin could even organize them to attack Nongzhen City and they’d give it a go; yet the Wanjin people didn’t seem interested, seeming just to want them to live well and farm properly.
Guotai Lang said no more; overspeaking was unnecessary; it was about action.
He directly began giving orders through the loudspeaker for villagers to line up to process their registrations, distributing rations to each household without needing further urging, finding that villagers who were hiding at ho all ca out and obediently lined up.
After spending most of the day, these Ise people were finally re-registered as Wanjin people, and Guotai Lang started giving directives: "Alright, with nothing much during winter, coincidentally our village looks like a pigsty, filthy and ssy; now begin cleaning, shoveling out all the garbage and debris!"
The villagers of Matsuyama village, looking at the buckwheat beans just handed to them, had no objections and began organizing groups by the "work team" to start working.
Guotai Lang wiped his sweat, nodding silently.
Simple task, this village was easily won over; henceforth, this village was part of the Wanjin system.
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