In a manor outside Weihai City.
Hundreds of tenants, two to three thousand people, gathered in the open space outside the manor. They all looked on numbly as they occupied Weihai Wei. The new force that had emerged had sent people to take over the entire manor.
When he saw these people capture the butler and the big hand in the manor to dig mines and build roads, his expression was still numb.
When they heard the new master announce that this manor belonged to their master, the tenants were still numb. Because it was just a change of master. It did not change their living situation at all. It had nothing to do with them.
It was because they had to work hard for an entire year and hand over most of the grain they had grown to the land rent and various exorbitant taxes. All they could leave behind was barely enough food to survive.
Year after year, doing this day after day, it was hard not to feel numb after being busy for a lifetime.
However, when they heard that from now on, they only needed to pay 50% of the annual land rent. Other than that, they did not need to pay anything else. Of course, there was another option, which was not to rent the land but to work for the main family. It was also farming, but each laborer would receive two catties of grain per day.
This caused a commotion among all the tenants.
Both methods had their pros and cons. As long as one worked hard and had a good harvest, they could still get half of the grain after paying 50% of the rent. However, this method was very risky because once they encountered a natural disaster, it was very likely that they would not be able to harvest anything. Not only would they work for a year in vain, but they would also owe a large sum of money to live on.
The second method was to ensure a stable harvest in both drought and flood. Each laborer had two catties of grain. If the entire family came together, it would still be enough to feed the entire family. However, it was difficult to obtain more.
For a moment, all the tenants were divided into two groups.
Those who were adventurous and wanted more chose to continue renting the land, paying a high 50% rent. As for those who pursued stability, they chose to grab the food they obtained every day. They would eat their fill and wait and see the situation first.
But no matter which choice they made, these tenants finally had expressions on their faces. They knew how to think and finally acted like human beings. They were no longer as numb as before, like tools.
Such a scene happened in all the manors of Weihai Wei's villages.
Weihaiwei's owner-farmers and small landowners were pitifully few.
Most of them were either big landowners or tenants without land.
As Lin Feng sent people out to take over the fields and register every household, Weihai Wei, which had been quiet for a long time, finally became lively.
Furthermore, in order to build Weihai Wei into a base camp, Lin Feng sent tens of thousands of farmers to build houses, roads, and bridges. As a result, the entire Weihai Wei became a huge construction site.
Because Lin Feng had extremely strict requirements for the territory's traffic. It had to be spacious and flat. They also needed drainage facilities to prepare for the cement road in the future. Basically, every road was built like a foundation.
Some places even needed to be paved with mud bricks or even green bricks. The amount of work required in this era was simply abnormal.
The brick kiln, the mine, and the construction site all required a large number of people.
Lin Feng didn't mass-produce farmers because of this, because Weihai Wei had enough people. He needed the people in the territory to follow his pace.
Therefore, he used food as bait to attract a large number of people to work in these places that required a large number of people.
Moreover, it was difficult not to participate because if they did not work, they would starve to death.
Who asked Lin Feng to control the food resources?!
With enough resources, it was too easy to make the people under his command listen obediently.
Those people who only knew how to kill, behead, threaten, and bribe were too crude. Lin Feng deeply despised them.
They controlled all kinds of resources in secret. In addition, they took out food and other resources to attract people to work. They would also make those who had no food to eat feel grateful and instantly gain the hearts of countless people.
There were countless advantages!
In just a few days, those who did not have food in their homes walked into various construction sites and mines. They worked hard to earn food, salt, cloth, and other living materials.
......
In Weihai City, dozens of wealthy businessmen gathered in a large mansion.
This was the last wealthy merchant in Weihai Wei who was safe and sound. When they thought about how their land and houses in the countryside had been plundered and how a piece of paper had changed owners, they felt extremely heartbroken.
The family business that had been painstakingly built by seven or eight generations was suddenly gone.
The only thing that made them happy was that because they had no evil deeds, there was no resentment from the people, allowing them to keep their family property and the lives of their entire family in the city.
It should be known that many squires and wealthy merchants had their heads chopped off and their families confiscated because of their evil deeds. Although they were not exterminated, their entire families were captured to dig mines and build roads. This was no different from exterminating their families.
A family, a family, it didn't mean that you had many brothers and sisters.
It was a family that controlled a huge amount of resources and controlled many lives and destinies.
As for those who had many brothers and sisters, with families numbering in the hundreds or even thousands, but did not control any resources, they could not even be considered Humble Families. They could only be called villages!
The heads of all the rich and wealthy merchants who were traveling with them were all beheaded, and the lesson of sending their entire families to labor camp was right before their eyes.
How could these people not be afraid?
However, after a few days of nervousness, no one came to find them, making these people a little restless.
"Are they really going to let us go just like that?”
The Ren family's Old Master Ren had a bad temper. He really could not stand the silent atmosphere and could not help but call out.
"I heard that after we hand over the land, we won't be bothered anymore. We can do whatever we want."
"You can leave Weihaiwei if you want to, but if you leave Weihaiwei, you won't be able to keep your remaining family property!”
A wealthy merchant named Wang, who was known for being slick and having a lot of friends, said in a low voice.
When they heard that they would not be able to keep their family property if they left Weihaiwei, everyone fell silent and no longer mentioned the matter of moving away. After losing their land, this was their last family property. If they lost this, they would lose their real home!
He didn't even have the capital to make a comeback!
This was even harder to accept than death!
"But we can't just do nothing and eat everything, right?”
"Everyone has a big family. If we continue to eat like this, we will eat up all our wealth!”
Great-grandfather Ren said bitterly.
"I heard that the new owner of Weihaiwei welcomes us to run a business, but we have to follow their rules. Moreover, the tax rate is close to ten to one, far exceeding the big Ming's thirty to one. Fortunately, after paying the tax, we don't have to pay all kinds of management fees, and we don't have to donate money every two or three days."
"However, they placed the trading market at the dock and only opened it after the trading market was established!”Merchant Wang explained.
When he heard about this news, he was very excited, but he was still a little nervous. He needed to rope in more people to do it.
Hearing Merchant Wang's words, everyone fell silent again. They decided to wait until the trading market opened and take a look at the situation.
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