Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 562: The Punishment
Chapter 562: The Punishment
TL: Rui88
“The new village administration body…I’ve decided to call it the Village Management Committee, not the old Agricultural Cooperative. It must manage all aspects of village life, such as household registration, public affairs, disaster preparedness, and even mediating marriages, funerals, and neighbourly disputes. All these matters will be the responsibility of the village committee. Of course, this is certainly not something one person can handle, so a committee must be formed.”
Paul spoke enthusiastically about his policy for grassroots governance.
“And it will also represent me, an extension of my mouth, eyes, and ears, able to swiftly, resolutely, and forcefully convey the spirit and will from Lakeheart Town, while also being able to swiftly and truthfully the various affairs of the village back to Lakeheart Town.”
It had to be said, this was a very idealistic statement, one could even say it was somewhat nonsensical. Paul’s vision was impossible to achieve even on 21st-century Earth, let alone in this world that had not yet fully emerged from the Middle Ages. It was a fantasy. But striving in this direction was ultimately not wrong. One had to take the first step.
As Paul had just said, the functions of the village committee could not be shouldered by one or two functionaries. Hearing this, Old Ford frowned deeply. “Lord Grayman, this will certainly increase our administrative costs immensely.”
“Then we will recruit more administrative personnel.”
“Uh… the finances.”
“If we must, we will issue bonds!”
Paul exclaimed, “In any case, our financial revenue is constantly growing! And I believe that after this reform, our economy will be more vibrant and healthier…by releasing the productivity and consumption power of the countryside.”
Paul continued to hold forth, “To tell you the truth, in my opinion, our countryside is extremely abnormal. Yes, we have not had legal slaves for nearly a thousand years, but all sorts of unreasonable rules and regulations have allowed a de facto system of slavery to continue. I think everyone is well aware of this point.”
“Those powerful families in the villages…the most typical being the Warren family in this rebellion, ah, and that fellow Fergus…they occupy vast tracts of land, their wealth accumulates and is passed down, and they have held the power of tax collection for generations, imposing their own punishments according to their own will, and adjudicating on all matters great and small in the villages. Are they not the de facto lords of their villages? And I, the true lord, can only convey my commands and collect taxes through them, and the wishes of the peasants can only be ed back to me through them. It seems my commands only run smoothly in a few cities. This is simply outrageous.”
Speaking of this, Paul was full of resentment.
In the Northwest Bay, the lords of the rural manors used all sorts of tangible and intangible privileges in their hands to turn the vast peasantry into their de facto slaves. For example, they would lease their land to those pitiful landless peasants and then collect exorbitant rents, leaving the peasants with just enough grain to fill their bellies, making them unable to expand their operations, and depriving them of the opportunity to accumulate wealth. They could only rely on renting their land to eke out a meager existence. Another method was usury. Especially when combined with their former status as tax farmers, this method was invincible. Every time taxes were collected, peasants who could not pay could only go into debt. Then, with interest rolling over, the debt would snowball, growing larger and larger. Some peasant families were in debt for generations, with no idea in which lifetime they could ever pay it off. The manor lords would then use their creditor’s rights to take whatever they wanted from the debtors’ meager possessions, sometimes even the debtors’ wives and daughters. It wasn’t just during tax collection that peasants went into debt. When the harvest was poor or some natural disaster occurred, that was also a frequent time for borrowing in the countryside. The risk resistance of ordinary peasants was very low.
You want to not pay your debt? Or want to flee from it? I’m sorry, but in the village, the landlord’s word was law.
In short, the landlords used all sorts of means to make the peasants dependent on them, firmly tying the peasants to their own land.
The agricultural technologies that Paul had vigorously promoted in previous years, although they greatly increased the area of cultivated land and the harvest, the vast majority of the increase still fell into the pockets of the rural landlords. The only benefit for the ordinary peasants seemed to be that there were no longer mass starvations.
Paul had dispatched functionaries to the countryside, established Agricultural Cooperatives, set up Circuit Courts to adjudicate cases for the peasants, and prohibited private executions. The situation had improved to some extent, but there had been no fundamental change.
And the numerous factories Paul had established, although they gave peasants who left the countryside a second way to support themselves, the power of tradition was strong, and a large number of peasants remained bound.
“You see,” Paul spread his hands in exasperation, addressing his subordinates, “this time, I merely wanted to take back a small bit of their power…taxation and justice…and they were like vicious dogs guarding their food, baring their sharp fangs and pouncing on me fiercely.”
“Therefore, I have decided!”
He clenched his fist forcefully, his tone leaving no room for doubt.
“Since they are so insensible, I will completely strip them of all their privileges! Note, all privileges.”
“Besides abolishing the tax farming system and reclaiming judicial power, I will intensify my efforts. Yes, I must intensify my efforts!”
“First, I will reduce interest and rent. For the land rent collected from tenant farmers, I will set a maximum percentage. In short, it absolutely cannot be so high as to leave the peasants with only enough for sustenance. They must be left with seeds for next year’s planting, they must be left with marketable grain that they can trade at the market. The peasants must be able to earn money, and then use the money from selling grain to buy other goods they want. They must be able to genuinely improve their lives through farming, not just survive. Then there is private lending. I will set reasonable interest rates, so that hardworking people will not be unable to repay. As for those long-standing old debts, I will send people to review them one by one. Those that are unclear, or have outrageous interest, I will consign them all to the flames. For those who truly cannot repay their debts, their descendants need only publicly declare their renunciation of inheritance, and they will not have to inherit the debt, no longer letting debt continue from one generation to the next.”
“Then, I will also establish an Agricultural Bank!”
Agricultural Bank? The term piqued the interest of those present.
“The Agricultural Bank will provide loans to peasants at extremely low interest rates,” Paul explained. “If peasants encounter natural disasters, poor harvests, or other unfortunate times, they can apply for a loan from the Agricultural Bank, instead of from those bloodsucking private lenders.”
Historically, in the Middle Ages, the situation in the countryside was varied and impossible to describe clearly. The rural social structure of the Northwest Bay in the book is a fabrication by the author, cobbled together from several typical features of feudal society.
Chapter 562: The Punishment
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