Chapter 152 Land Lease

Chapter 152 Renting Land

Meng Wan said with difficulty, "I truly want to help you all, but I am merely a household dependent. How could I interfere with my lord's handling of the cases?"

Tong Laoer fell back on the old routine. He looked around the simple house, noting the old furniture, and then said to Meng Wan, "Fulang, you mentioned that your house needs repairs? Coincidentally, I have a group of brothers under me who could make your house beautiful in just ten days or half a month!"

Meng Wan smiled and declined, "Thank you for your kindness, Second Uncle Tong, but it's unnecessary. If something extra were to appear in the house later, and someone reported it to the prefect as bribery to my husband, that wouldn't be good."

His words directly blocked any further remarks from the Tong family. They exchanged silent glances, and the scene fell into an awkward silence.

Meng Wan was not impatient. He calmly poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip, even inviting the Tong family to join him.

Tong Laoer had also come to appreciate Meng Wan's sharpness. He gripped his teacup tightly, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp.

Meng Wan chuckled softly. Tong Laoda, being the prudent one, would not bring the third brother along to cause trouble; only the second and fifth brothers, whose families were not imprisoned, were here. Now it seemed the second brother was less composed than the fifth.

Tong Laoda caught the smile on Meng Wan's lips and glanced at his brother's unseemly behavior. He lifted his teacup to hide the bitterness in his expression.

He took a sip of the tasteless tea, set down the delicate cup, and let out a heavy sigh. "Meng Fulang comes from the capital, so he likely looks down on the trinkets of our small town. Aside from a few acres of land and hills, my family has nothing..."

He stopped mid-sentence, suddenly noticing that Meng Wan, who had been smiling lightly, seemed to flash a sharp glint in his eyes.

Tong Laoda suddenly realized, "Meng Fulang has taken a liking to my family's thousand acres of fertile land!"

"What!"

Tong Laoer and Tong Laowu shot up from their seats in shock.

The Tong family had been local landlords for generations, with an ancestral rule that, unless absolutely necessary, Tong descendants were not to sell land.

When the fourth brother passed the imperial exam, the entire clan pooled resources and used every means to get him into the local county office. After he became an official, the family's land holdings grew larger and larger, and the Tong family grew wealthier.

Land was the foundation of the Tong family. How could they just hand it over!

The Tong family members all looked grim, clearly unwilling to negotiate. Even the elderly clan leader stamped his cane tremblingly, "Officials coveting the land of common folks, what kind of good official is that? If you want to arrest someone, take these old bones to jail too! The Tong family will not give up an inch of land!"

Meng Wan was both amused and exasperated. How had he become the villain oppressing the people?

His smile faded. "The Tong family broke the law. I didn't hold a knife to their necks and force them to do it. There's no need for you all to put on such a show."

Tong Laoer couldn't help but say, "What about my third sister-in-law? Didn't you entice her?"

Meng Wan retorted, "Did I tell her to bring a crowd and block me?"

"You!"

"Enough, Laoer!" Tong Laoda stopped his brother and said solemnly to Meng Wan, "Meng Fulang, we cannot comply with your meaning. Lord Song has just arrived in Heshan. If he wants the cooperation of the local gentry in governing this place, let him see if any family besides the Tong family is willing to step forward!"

The Tong family was now being made an example of. But if the Tong family refused to comply, the gentry from other towns, including the Huang family, would not be the first to cooperate to protect their own family interests.

Tong Laoda's meaning was to abandon the imprisoned Tong family members and confront Song Tingzhou head-on. But what he said was true: without the assistance of the local gentry, and even with them throwing obstacles, Song Tingzhou would face great resistance in carrying out many tasks.

At least for now, it was not the right time to deal with them all.

The Tong family members stood up angrily and walked to the door. Suddenly, Meng Wan spoke slowly from behind, "Are you all choosing to fight me with force?"

He was not in a position to travel around now, and such a good opportunity, with the Tong family heads and clan leader present, was rare and hard-won. It was something he and Song Tingzhou had carefully orchestrated. How could he let them leave like this?

"Alas!" Meng Wan sighed. "Why are you all in such a hurry? I said I came to discuss business with you. We haven't even talked business yet, and you're already rushing to leave?"

Tong Laoer sneered, "What business does a man-mother like you know?"

Meng Wan ignored his sarcasm. "I do have a use for the Tong family's land..." Seeing the Tong family's expressions change again, Meng Wan continued calmly, "But I'm not asking you to sell the land—I want to rent it."

Tong Laowu exclaimed in surprise, "Rent?"

"That's right. You rent the land to tenants anyway, so why not rent it to me?"

Meng Wan spoke sincerely, "Tenant farmers are poor. Aside from handing over some grain, they don't bring much to the Tong family. Sometimes they even default on the rent."

He stood up and slammed the table, speaking passionately, "But I'm different! After I rent the Tong family's land, I can give a thirty percent deposit upfront and pay the rent on time every year."

Tong Laowu cautiously asked, "Then how many acres does Meng Fulang plan to rent, and how much silver per acre per year?"

Tong Laoer glared at his brother, the worthless fool.

But he, along with Tong Laoda and the clan leader, did relax significantly. If it was just renting land, even if it was tens or hundreds of acres, it wouldn't matter. Let this young man play around—it would serve as a gesture of goodwill toward County Magistrate Song.

"I want to rent all the Tong family's land in Hongni Village and Hongshan Village, including the hills. Five hundred wen per acre." Meng Wan's words were shocking, a bold move from the start.

Even Tong Laoda, the steady backbone of the family, couldn't help but be stunned. "Hongni Village alone is three hundred acres, and you also want to rent the hills and Hongshan Village?"

Meng Wan had not been idle during his convalescence. With Song Tingzhou helping him consult county records at the yamen, he had already planned many things.

The Tong family owned land in almost every village, with Hongshan Village being the Tong family's ancestral home. All the fields in the village belonged to the Tong family.

The Tao family had also mentioned that apart from the Tong family, the entire Hongshan Village consisted of their tenant farmers.

Due to the terrain, the seven villages under Luyun Town were mostly mountainous with little flat land. Even so, the Tong family's combined fields in Hongni and Hongshan Villages totaled about six hundred acres.

In Jiangnan, fertile land could fetch as much as one tael of silver per acre per year. The Lingnan region was generally poor, with normal land rent at three hundred wen per acre. Meng Wan offering five hundred wen per acre for six hundred acres came to three hundred taels, not including the hill rent. This was indeed more favorable than renting to the villagers.

But Tong Laoda still had concerns. Renting to villagers meant the family's power ensured that even if rent was overdue, the tenants wouldn't dare default. But this Fulang...

Tong Laoda looked at Meng Wan, who narrowed his eyes in a kindly smile, but his words and actions were meticulous and hard to read. What if he occupied the hills and forcefully took them for himself?

The Tong family was used to seizing land from others, never expecting one day they would have such worries.

As if reading Tong Laoda's concerns, Meng Wan promised, "I intend to rent the land in both villages. If Uncle Tong is uneasy, I can pay half of the first year's rent upfront. We can sign the lease at the county office and invite the other gentry to witness it. Would that work?"

These local gentry might have their frictions, but when dealing with outsiders, they were surprisingly unified. Inviting them as witnesses would not only reassure the Tong family but also serve as a reminder to other landlords that the people and officials did not have to be adversaries—they could achieve a win-win.

But it was still early to say anything. If not for this series of events orchestrated by Song Tingzhou and Meng Wan, approaching the local gentry right after arriving in Lingnan to rent land would have seemed mad. Now, within this chain of events, merely renting out land seemed like the best outcome the Tong family could hope for.

Without delay, fearing the situation might change if they returned home and reconsidered, Meng Wan immediately led the group through the main entrance of the county office, heading straight to the Scribe Hall. There, not only had the runners invited several gentry and landlords, but the lease documents were already prepared.

Tong Laoda acknowledged the old acquaintances who either gloated or curiously winked at him, swallowing all his unspoken words. Just before signing the documents, he asked Meng Wan one question, "Meng Fulang, what about my fourth brother's matter?"

Meng Wan held the freshly prepared documents, his smile fading to a very faint one. "As I told you before, I have no say in my lord's affairs."

Bi Yun brought silver from the inner residence. A hundred taels were handed to the Tong family. They left the county office with the silver, looking up at the clear sky and white clouds outside, feeling as if they had been through a lifetime.

Beside them, the head of the Huang family quipped knowingly, "Brother Tong is indeed the most resourceful among us. You've already connected with the new county magistrate so quickly. We are truly inferior!"

Ordinarily, Tong Laoer would have shot back a few words, but this time he couldn't say a word. The four of them, accompanied by servants, had come to Heshan County full of confidence, and now they left with a packet of silver and a lease, their hearts heavy as they returned to Luyun Town.

A few days later, the Tong family came to the prison with redemption silver. For those with minor offenses like brawling, paying the redemption silver secured their release. But for men like Tong An and Broker Tong, their sentences remained unchanged.

As for Tong Ping, Song Tingzhou had already reported him to the imperial court. Such a minor thug, guilty of serious offenses, meant nothing in the eyes of the high-ranking officials in the capital. The lightest sentence for his crimes was decapitation; he merely awaited the court's verdict.

Song Tingzhou's memorial was first delivered to his superior officer, Liu, the Prefect of Xi Wu. Upon reading the part about Tong Ping, Prefect Liu paid little heed—just a mere Deputy Magistrate, not even a juren (provincial graduate). Disposing of him was trivial. But when he saw the other memorial, he fell silent.

Prefect Liu hesitated, pen in hand, for a long time. He had already spent who knows how many years in Xi Wu. If his descendants were unpromising, a modest rise in rank would have sufficed. But his eldest grandson showed rare promise, having passed the imperial examination at the age of fifteen to become a xiucai (scholar). Still young, with great potential ahead, he should not be buried in this miasmal backwater. Rather, he might as well take a gamble. If he succeeded, he could advance a step, and if his grandson later passed the metropolitan examination to become a jinshi (metropolitan graduate), the Liu family would rise to prominence.

Most importantly, he always felt that Song Tingzhou acted with confidence, and he couldn't help suspecting that Song had connections in the court—the two thousand soldiers were proof.

At this thought, he made up his mind. He appended his name and personal seal to Song Tingzhou's memorial.

In the third month, the temperature gradually rose, the weather warmed, and the swallows that had flown south returned north in orderly flocks. The willow branches sprouted tender green, and the buds of peach and apricot blossoms had a pink hue.

Compared to the movement of people, the slim memorials transmitted by local officials across the country were delivered twice as fast by postal stations.

Spring in the capital still required wearing lined jackets. The officials who attended the morning court wore thick layers beneath their loose official robes.

After a winter, the emperor looked older. One by one, government affairs were distributed or discussed, until a memorial was presented by the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel: "Your Majesty, the County Magistrate of Heshan County in Xi Wu Prefecture reports that his subordinate Deputy Magistrate is insatiably greedy, corrupt and self-serving, wielding the power of his office to engage in deceitful schemes. Under the pretext of collecting taxes, he extorts; under the guise of litigation, he shields the powerful. He has even dared to overstep his station, insulting his superior, committing acts of rebellion, and showing no respect for rank. He requests Your Majesty's judgment."

The emperor, seated on the dragon throne, furrowed his brow slightly and spoke two words: "Decapitation."

"Your Majesty is wise," said the Vice Minister, withdrawing.

The Minister of Revenue then stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the same Magistrate of Heshan County has also reported to the court on the chaos in Lingnan, stating that many local commoners have no land to cultivate. He requests imperial approval to encourage farmers to reclaim unowned wasteland, and to allow him to include barren hills in the category of wasteland for the villagers' sustenance. Liu Cheng, the Prefect of Xi Wu, seconds this petition."

The ministers in the court couldn't help sympathizing with this magistrate. In such an inhospitable region, the poverty had reached such depths. Reporting this to the emperor, he clearly had no fear of imperial wrath.

For minor local officials, aside from asking the Ministry of Revenue for money, they usually boasted about how well they governed—the beautiful scenery, the simple folk. Only this Magistrate named Song wrote sincerely, without a word of begging for money, yet every word reeked of poverty.

Lin Cangrong secretly regretted that he had never been to Lingnan and did not know how dire the situation was, forcing his junior brother and Song Tingzhou to endure such hardship. As an elder, how could he face them?

With this thought, he could not help but glare at the officials from the Ministry of Personnel, then cast a dark glance at the back of Wu Yong, who stood before him.

The Crown Prince, also present at court, remembered the name Song Tingzhou—after all, his wife's younger brother was there—but under these circumstances, it was best for him not to speak.

The emperor, seated on the dragon throne, listened to the entire proceedings and asked expressionlessly, "What do my ministers think?"

Before anyone else could move, the Minister of Rites, Wu Yong, stepped forward first: "Your Majesty, I believe this matter absolutely cannot be allowed. All under heaven is the king's land. In the land of Yu, how can there be such a thing as unowned land? Reclamation is permissible, but the land deed tax must still be paid to the court!"