Chapter 808: Bearing the Burden for the People

Translator: Atlas Studios    Editor: Atlas Studios

Yu Shande was the son of the Clan Chief’s wife. The thing that left the deepest impression on Yu Youyao was the imperial examination four years ago. He had entered the residence a few times to visit his grandmother. Once, behind the rockery, she had bumped into him and another brother, talking about the cheating in the imperial examination.

After a long while, Yu Youyao said, “I remember that he has already been promoted to the Hanlin Academy’s Steward. He’s a close minister of the emperor. After gaining experience in the Hanlin Academy, he can rise up the ranks and enter the cabinet directly. He’s not inferior to Yu Zongshen back then.” She lowered her eyelashes and said softly, “I’m not as good as him.”

Everyone in the world praised her for being kind and a living Bodhisattva. However, compared to Yu Shande’s book business and righteousness, she was far inferior.

Her kindness was within her ability.

Yu Shande’s kindness was to care about the world and bear the burden for the people.

Yin Huaixi frowned. “You did more than him. It was you who mediated with the Imperial Court and obtained the support of the Imperial Court, forcing the nobles to fork out money and food. That’s why I allowed a large number of refugees to flood into the North. You took the first 99 steps, and Yu Shande only finished the last step you didn’t take.”

Yu Youyao chuckled. “I don’t have any intention of comparing myself to Brother De. I’m just expressing my admiration for his sincerity to Duke Zhang. It’s rare in the world for someone to learn from a sage.”

The scholars treated Duke Zhang as a sage, but how many people in this world dared to do as he did?

Xie Jingliu waved his fan. “Most scholars can’t hide their faces and cherish their reputation. They respect Duke Zhang, but they don’t dare to follow him. They’re afraid that they’ll imitate him and make people laugh. Even Yu Shande only planned to starve and freeze with the refugees in the beginning. He would eat grass roots, peel tree bark, and bring the refugees to the North. He just didn’t expect to encounter more refugees along the way.”

“The refugees who joined later did not have any food in their hands and often snatched the food of others. In addition, the Imperial Court sent troops to suppress them, causing many casualties. He tried his best to appease the refugees, so he had no choice but to give up on his reputation. He imitated Duke Zhang and entered the city when he encountered it, asking the rich families in the city for food relief.”

“He’s from a famous family and is the son of the Yu Clan Chief. He’s a scholar on two lists, and he’s a Shujishi. He’s a scholar of the Hanlin Academy and a close confidant of the emperor. Although the city gates are closed everywhere and refugees are forbidden from entering, they can’t stop him. Most of the rich families in the city can’t offend him. They’ll more or less have to provide some food.”

Yu Youyao was a little curious. “You don’t seem surprised by Brother De’s actions at all.”

Yin Huaixi said, “There’s nothing to be surprised about. Isn’t it normal for the Yu Clan to produce a few virtuous people from the previous dynasty to the present? The reason why the clan educates the clansmen is to bring glory to their ancestors. For example, Yu Zongshen’s generous salary is a glory to his ancestors. If Yu Shande bears such a heavy burden for the people, isn’t it also a glory to his ancestors?”

A large family had both good and bad sides. The Yu Clan was considered decent on the outside and fair on the inside.

Although it was inevitable that there would be some benefits when it came to Madam Xie, in other words, to the Yu Clan, Madam Xie was the wife of the Yu Clan. Every clansman was contributing to the clan. As the saying went, the more strength one had, the more work they should do. Madam Xie had a lot of money. Naturally, she had to contribute more in this aspect.

From the perspective of the overall interests of the family, this was not wrong.

Madam Xie also understood.

If it weren’t for Madam Xie’s long-term vision back then, she would have taken the initiative to give the Yu Clan 30% of the profits.

Later on, how could Yu Youyao easily return to her mother’s clan?

Old Madam Yu was one thing, but after all, wasn’t it also because Madam Xie had formed a good relationship with the clan for her daughter?

If it weren’t for Madam Xie’s deep foresight back then, how could Yu Youyao maintain a good relationship with the Yu Clan, causing them to spare no effort to help Yu Youyao when she needed it?

Previously, they had helped her trip up the court and delay the Jiazhou Residence, so the Xie family and her had successfully evacuated Quanzhou.

Now, they had helped her achieve the “national policy”.

This was undoubtedly because of Yu Youyao’s noble status.

Wasn’t this also the attitude of the Yu Clan towards their clansmen?

Yu Youyao agreed deeply. “The refugees have a backbone and food. There will be fewer and fewer people who starve to death. The casualties caused by riots will also decrease. More and more people will survive. The tragedy of starving people will not happen again. This is really good.”

Although the national policy had been issued, it was still a big problem if the refugees could survive the journey to the three provinces of Liaodong.

The North was only 350 to 400 kilometers away from the three provinces of Liaodong. It was a journey that only lasted two to three days. However, the mountains in Liaodong were steep. Furthermore, the refugees would walk to the North on their own feet on an empty stomach. It was no different from gambling their lives.

Eating 100 grams of food per day could only ensure that they wouldn’t starve to death. It wouldn’t be enough to last them for a day of walking.

It was already fast to drag it out for half a month.

When a large number of refugees were together, they were a group of hungry trapped beasts. Exhaustion from traveling for a long time could easily cause anxiety and fear. Conflicts could erupt at any moment. A small argument and snatching might cause a large riot, causing a lot of casualties. There were also people who were weak and could not last long, causing them to die of illness or starvation.

After the national policy was adopted, this was what she was most worried about. However, she was far away in Liancheng and was helpless for a moment. She could only do her best and leave it to fate.

Unexpectedly, someone had done what she wanted to do but couldn’t.

Yin Huaixi did not want to mention this anymore, so he got down to business. “Fuzhen and Lianzhen have each planned a million acres of silkworm farms. I’ve left the best land to you. The two towns will each have 500,000 acres. The rest will be divided between the soldiers under my name, the silkworm farmers in Liancheng, and the foreign merchants.”

Fuzhen and Lianzhen were connected to Tai Mo Shan. The scale of the forest far exceeded two million acres. It was not completely surrounded because they considered that raising too many silkworms would destroy the natural advantages and environment for raising silkworms.

There were two million acres of silkworm farms, and Yu Youyao monopolized half of it. “Isn’t that a little too much? Why don’t I transfer a portion of it from my name to yours? No one said that vassal lords can’t buy private property. They have to spend money to buy land after all. No one will say that you’re abusing your power for personal gain. If you don’t have time to manage it, I can help.”

In the world, everything belonged to the king. Every mountain and piece of land in the Great Zhou Dynasty belonged to the Imperial Court. The government had the right to sell and buy the land and trees under its rule. Thirty percent of the profits from the sale would go to the government, and 70% would go to the treasury. If the Imperial Court needed to seize land one day, they would return the original price.

This was targeted at ownerless pieces of land.

For pieces of lands with owners, there was no need to go through the Imperial Court. The buyer and seller could negotiate on their own. When trading, they had to pay a certain amount of taxes to the Imperial Court.

Yu Youyao had joined forces with the retail investors for a win-win cooperation. She couldn’t eat two million acres of forest land alone.

She wasn’t a local. She could do business, but she couldn’t cut off the local people’s money. If there was money, they could earn it together. If they were competitive, the business wouldn’t die.

Being too greedy would incur public anger.

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