Chapter 2578 - 2552: Human Nature and Institutions

Zhou Man not only supported them in raising chickens, but also in raising sheep, cattle, and pigs.

However, few people in the village chose to raise pigs; most chose to raise sheep and cattle.

If it weren’t for the high qualifications needed to raise cattle, and that the owners needed to assess for a while, the villagers would definitely have all picked cattle.

No matter what was raised, the seedlings were provided by the owners, but once grown, they had to share some with the owners.

For example, in pig farming, out of a hundred households in the village, only twenty-eight chose to raise pigs. The piglets were provided by the owners, and after raising them for a year and slaughtering them, the meat would be divided 40-60, with the owners taking 40% and they keeping 60%.

If the sow gave birth to piglets, the owners would only take 20%, and they would keep the remaining 80%.

Moreover, if any died, it was all considered the owners’ loss.

So, many villagers who only had to contribute labor were willing to raise them.

The official land was large, and there was always some land unsuitable for planting; those lands were used to grow pasture to feed the pigs, cows, and sheep. Anyway, the village’s harvests have been pretty good in recent years, though it’s quite tiring.

But it was tiring before, too, and they felt life was more hopeful now, especially for the kids...

They still needed to work like before, but back then they had to go into the fields to break clods of earth, regardless of their age; as long as they could walk, they could take a wooden mallet and start.

Now they could tend to chickens, sheep, and cattle instead...

It wasn’t hard at all; they just followed behind the chickens, sheep, and cattle, making sure they didn’t eat the crops, occasionally cutting some grass for them, catching some insects, much more fun than breaking clods in the fields.

When the chickens grew up, they would even lay eggs for them to eat, and when they slaughtered sheep in winter, they would have mutton to eat too...

Wei Zhi reached out and patted the head of a young child, smiling and nodding, "Good child, go tend to your chickens now."

The child turned and ran off, giggling and laughing with his playmates as they chased after the chickens.

Wei Zhi walked back deep in thought, while Bai Shan and Zhou Man had just gotten up and were washing up.

Seeing their lazy demeanor, Wei Zhi couldn’t help but smile, "I’ve looked at Lord Zhou’s official land and was pleasantly surprised. I wanted to ask Lord Bai, you should be getting your official land after autumn, right?"

Bai Shan previously worked in the Hanlin Academy, drawing a salary, and hadn’t had time to be allocated official land; this is the cunning of the Ministry of Revenue.

Because the Hanlin Academy is a special department, many future bigwigs just go there for a brief stint before moving on, so they simply didn’t allocate official land but used an alternative subsidy, giving grain according to his rank in autumn as income from the official land.

It’s just that Bai Shan had both good and bad luck.

He joined in early summer last year, and by custom, would be allocated official land after autumn, so he didn’t receive subsidies that year.

Last year he had no official land, so this year he should receive subsidies, but this year he got promoted to the Central Secretariat, meaning he’d get official land after autumn, and since he’s no longer in the Hanlin Academy, he won’t receive their subsidies. So this year, he still has no official land income.

Manbao pondered for a moment and clicked her tongue, "I suddenly realized I earn much more than you."

Bai Shan said, "Our family doesn’t rely on salaries to live."

He said proudly, "My family isn’t short of money."

Both the not-so-wealthy Manbao and the financially-strapped Wei Zhi skipped over his comment and continued their discussion, "That’s right, when the time comes, his official land should be self-managed. Keeping it with the Ministry of Revenue results in low yields and low tenant profits."

Wei Zhi nodded. His official land had always been managed by the Ministry of Revenue, and every year he received a fixed rent.

He could also take over management, but that would require a very meticulous manager.

The person in charge would not only need to manage the tenants, but also know how to farm, and most importantly, be fair, neither too harsh, nor too lenient, otherwise it was better to let the Ministry of Revenue handle it.

Of course, Wei Zhi had such a person; his family’s old steward fit the role.

But if the old steward went to manage the official land, what about affairs at home?

Wei Zhi glanced at Zhou Man and began pondering about his own relatives...

Manbao continued to coax Wei Zhi, "Lord Wei, I think it would be better if all officials managed their own official land; it would be more efficient."

Wei Zhi directly shook his head, laughing. "On the way back, I was thinking about this, but before truly entertaining the thought, I dismissed it."

Not only Manbao, even Bai Shan couldn’t understand, "Why? Is it possible that our management of official land isn’t good enough?"

"It certainly is good, but that’s just in your family," Wei Zhi said, "There aren’t many official families in the world as benevolent and rule-abiding as yours. Furthermore, trust in people’s hearts cannot surpass trust in systems."

He said, "Systemic trust is more reliable than human trust."

Wei Zhi reflected on the journey back, pondering whether this method could be promoted in court.

But just thinking about it, he knew it wasn’t feasible!

First, not all officials have a harmonious family like Zhou Man, efficient siblings, or reliable managers to help them manage official land;

Second, not all officials share Zhou Man’s charitable heart, willing to pass most of the benefits to the tenants.

Third, and most importantly, human nature can change.

Wei Zhi quietly observed Zhou Man and Bai Shan, pondering that, for now, they could abide by the court’s regulations and diligently manage the official lands, returning it to the court upon departure.

But what about ten, twenty years later, or even longer?

Once they got used to this official land, once these tenants got used to such landlords, when they left, would they want to "buy" this piece of official land, or would the tenants try to find ways for them to buy it?

In the early days of Great Jin, there were large amounts of public land, but every year, considerable amounts of land were lost.

The Ministry of Revenue always claimed there wasn’t enough official land to distribute, constantly urging the reduction in allocations, but where did all the public land go?

Despite the annual increase in officials, numerous officials died or resigned yearly. Overall, the number of officials remained relatively stable with slight growth, not much at that.

The land at the founding of the country was entirely sufficient to support the official lands of officials.

The shortage arises because official lands were continually encroached upon.

There’s "malicious" encroachment, as well as self-proclaimed "benevolent" encroachment.

But regardless of the type, from a broader perspective, such encroachment poses significant harm to the nation and its future citizens.

At present, "benevolent" encroachment might seem beneficial for the tenants farming the land, but ten or twenty years later, with a new generation of landlords, will they continue to treat the tenants well?

If not, without court supervision, how miserable might they become?

So Wei Zhi wasn’t about to advocate for this practice extensively but considered another way.

He didn’t trust in people’s hearts, but believed in systems.

This matter shouldn’t be left to individual officials, but entrusted to an institution—the Ministry of Revenue.

Without fields to cultivate and without fallow leave, Minister Liu, having been driven crazy busy with drought relief these days, finally caught a break with rare rain, tried relaxing at home, but couldn’t help sneezing twice in a row. He pulled his clothes tighter, glanced at the overcast sky outside, and muttered, "Such a rare rainy day, and I caught a cold?"