Chapter 29: A Fight to the Death

Chen Fan slept soundly in the village head’s house until daybreak. Being in a rural area, the environment reminded him of his own childhood. With his guard lowered, he had slept undisturbed through the night.

Once he had washed up and stepped outside, he realized there was not a soul to be seen in the village. He intended to ask the village head for guidance but could not find him. He looked for Li Xing and the others, but they were missing as well. Having no other choice, he turned to one of the village women, who could usually be found busily attending to various chores. He had actually preferred not to approach the local women, feeling that engaging in conversation with others would be a disservice to Yue Rou and the girls.

He found a middle-aged woman in the village head’s courtyard, drawing water to wash clothes. "Young lady, do you know where the men of the village have gone?"

"My lord, I do not know, but this morning I saw them take their hoes and haul the village head away with them."

Chen Fan vaguely guessed they had gone to the fields. He felt a sense of relief, pleased to find that these men possessed such initiative. He asked her, "Then, do you know where the village farmland is located?"

"The largest stretch of farmland is to the east of the village. Just follow the small path into the village, turn right, and keep walking until you reach it."

"Many thanks for your guidance, miss. I shall take my leave!" Chen Fan bowed to her. The woman did not pay much attention to his words, simply keeping her head down and continuing her work.

Chen Fan followed her directions to search for the group. "Why are Li Xing and the others not there? Perhaps they went to investigate alongside them!"

He turned right and walked for three quarters of an hour until he saw a vast expanse of farmland. The men were gathered there, debating something intensely. He walked closer to listen.

"I’m telling you, village head! The special envoy said we could clear wasteland and reclaim land, so why won't you let us go do it?"

"That’s right! Village head! Are you afraid that if we reclaim more land and accumulate more property, we’ll become wealthy landowners and stop acknowledging you?"

"What kind of talk is that! For all these years, which year have I not worked for your sake? Whenever there’s an issue, it’s this old bag of bones running to the magistrate’s office to file reports for you all! I want nothing more than for this village to prosper so that an old man like me can share in the glory! How was I to know you were only talking about farming during dinner last night? Dragging me out here at the crack of dawn to look at the land! You’ve lived in this village for so many years, yet you don't even know how much land we have! If I didn't constantly urge you to help the girls out, you’d all still be lying around at home!"

"Now you say clearing wasteland grants us land! This land belongs to the Emperor; how could he possibly give it to you? You must be planning a rebellion! Do you think you’re feudal lords? Be careful, or I’ll have you all locked up in the village ancestral hall for causing such a ruckus!"

"Village head, the special envoy gave his word and even recited the laws. How could it not be true?"

A man then pulled over Li Xing and the others, who had been following them to inquire about the case. "Officers, you work in the magistrate's office. Tell us, is this true?"

"Uh... I..." Li Xing was momentarily tongue-tied. He was not one for lying, except when interrogating criminals. However, he felt he could not undermine Chen Fan. If Chen Fan had told them this, there must be a profound reason for it. Moreover, he was unfamiliar with the laws concerning civil affairs, though he knew the criminal code by heart. "Uh... Magistrate Chen is the one in charge of administration and civil affairs, so I assume it is true."

"What do you mean 'assume'? Give us a straight answer, my lord!"

"Uh... actually, the Left Minister has been pushing for reforms for years. It is not strange that the new laws have not yet reached this far. If you don't trust Magistrate Chen, why not go to the notice board at the magistrate’s office and see for yourselves?"

Seeing that Li Xing could not provide a definitive answer, the crowd began to set down their hoes. "I told you! If even this officer from the magistrate’s office isn't sure, you bunch of fools should stop making a scene!"

Upon hearing this, more than half the group had already dropped their hoes. However, a few were still unwilling to give up. "Let’s go find Magistrate Chen and have him show the law to the village head!"

They turned to leave, following the man who had led them, and began walking quickly back toward the village. Unexpectedly, Chen Fan’s voice rang out from right among them: "There is no need to go looking; I am right here!"

The group stopped and turned to look at Chen Fan, who had appeared in their midst. "Ah! Magistrate Chen! When did you arrive?"

Chen Fan glanced at them, pulled out the copy of the legal code he carried with him, and held it high above his head. "The book in my hand is the Great Zhou New Law, which took effect last year."

He walked over to the village head and handed it to him. The village head set down his cane, received the law with both hands, and began to read it with reverence. Chen Fan thoughtfully helped him flip to the section on land reclamation.

After reading it, the village head fell to his knees before Chen Fan. "To have Magistrate Cao in our county is truly a blessing for our Zeng County! To have the Emperor and the Left Minister in Great Zhou is truly a blessing for the people of our Great Zhou!"

"Village head, please, get up! This is only our duty!" Chen Fan said, reaching out to help him.

But to his surprise, the village head did not rise; instead, he burst into tears. "My lord! My lord! This commoner thanks Magistrate Cao! As for the Emperor, our lives would not be enough to repay his grace!"

The crowd did not understand why the village head reacted so strongly upon learning of this. The generational gap meant they did not grasp the weight of these new laws. Since ancient times, land had always belonged to feudal lords and wealthy landlords. The farmers had only been able to toil for them to secure grain, with the harvest taken by the masters, leaving the farmers barely able to survive.

To end the situation where land was concentrated in the hands of the elite, the Emperor of Great Zhou had abolished the feudal system, brought the land under state control, and granted it to farmers to cultivate for free, with very low taxes. This ensured that the commoners of Great Zhou would not starve. The newly promulgated laws were even more significant—it was as if the land were being gifted directly into their hands. It was a true return of the land to the people.

Chen Fan forcefully pulled the village head up. The old man, unable to resist, stood up, still weeping. Chen Fan looked at these somewhat ignorant villagers and began to recite the Left Minister’s explanation of the law:

"The founding of our Great Zhou was no easy task. It was only because the myriad people followed our rulers closely that they were able to campaign north and drive the barbarians out of the Central Plains. The founding Emperor, the Holy Emperor Zhou, once promised his people that he would return the land to them. Every inch of Great Zhou’s soil is soaked in the blood and sweat of the farmers. This land does not belong to the royal clan; it was won for them by their people. To end the era of warring states and bring peace to the world, my master abolished the feudal system, but for the sake of the nation’s operation, it is only today that the land is being directly granted to you. Every emperor since has pondered how to grant land without creating new landlords who would enslave the people. Thus, the right to cultivate the land is granted to the people so that if they lack grain, they may farm it themselves to survive. Should anyone attempt to hoard land for power, the land shall be reclaimed and the offender punished by law. I hope you will labor diligently and use your own hands to harvest the grain to feed your families. That is the very reason why the Emperor fought the barbarians to the death and never retreated!"