Ruyi's Rebirth: Ruyi's Disease Retreat Retreat

Chapter 211 Dealing with the aftermath; opening a school

In order to further consolidate the achievements of the "reform of native tribes and the return of officials to officials" in several southwestern provinces, Ortai also carried out a series of development work.

The first thing is to deal with the aftermath.

After the "reform of the land system", many contradictions will still arise if they are not handled properly.

Yunnan and Guizhou provinces are located in the frontier area, and the customs of various ethnic groups vary greatly. It would be difficult for Manchu and Han officials to adapt to the complex situation here all at once, and the impact on the local officials would be too great.

Ortai always insisted on setting up itinerant officials, and those who could be used as local officials were still used.

For those who voluntarily handed in their seals and asked to change their positions, Ortai recommended them to serve as garrison commanders, captains, and other officials, and allowed them to inherit the positions.

Those who performed outstandingly were commended.

For those chieftains who were not used to being temporary officials and had a good attitude, the emperor requested that money be allocated to them from the national treasury to arrange their future lives, allocate land to them, build houses for them, and completely eliminate their rebellious sentiments.

Those chieftains who have committed heinous crimes and have blood debts and have been resisting or opposing the reform process will be severely punished and punished severely.

For example, Dao Han, the local governor of Zhenyuan, Yunnan, and Xue Shiqian, the chief officer of Kangzuo, Guizhou, who had committed notorious crimes and were extremely unpopular, were executed or imprisoned for life after being exiled, and the local residents were all very happy about it.

Regarding the dispatch of officials, Ortai proposed that those who were capable, willing to endure hardships, and honest and upright must be sent.

He carefully selected the governors of prefectures and counties, and the first batch of officials he sent were very competent and played a positive role in stabilizing the areas under reform.

In order to allow the people in the diverted areas to recuperate, Ortai implemented the land tax and grain system; in areas with many difficulties and poor harvests, taxes were reduced, exempted, or relief was provided to enable these areas to resume production as soon as possible.

Ortai also reallocated land in the diversion area and implemented policies to encourage land reclamation.

The land of farmers that was occupied by chieftains was claimed by the original owners according to the land list; farmers were recruited to cultivate the barren and ownerless land; farmers were called upon to reclaim the uncultivated land, and the government issued agricultural tools and seeds. For the newly reclaimed land, taxes were levied on paddy fields after 6 years, and on dry land after 10 years.

Ortai also called on officials and wealthy families to donate to the needy indigenous residents. He himself took the lead in donating 3000 taels of silver, buying 100 cows, and building 600 houses, so that the extremely difficult indigenous residents could live and work in peace.

At the same time, Ortai vigorously developed water conservancy projects in the diversion areas. In Zhaotong, Yunnan alone, 10 water conservancy projects were built, which could irrigate more than acres of land.

More than 70 water conservancy projects were built across Yunnan Province after river diversion.

In order to protect these water conservancy projects, Ortai also proposed to set up a special water conservancy official to be in charge of these water conservancy projects, thus ensuring the long-term development of the water conservancy industry.

Traffic development in the diversion area is also an outstanding undertaking.

Ortai dredged the 1200-li Qingjiang River and the more than 300-li Dujiang River, making them suitable for "mail delivery" and gaining the reputation of "broad waterways".

He also built a river with a length of more than 700 miles from Tuhuang to Baise in Guangxi, thus connecting "the two Guangdongs, Chu and Hunan."

Ortai ordered people to spread the inland production technologies such as farming, textile, iron smelting, kiln firing, and mining to the diversion areas, so that these poor mountain valleys where people used to live by slash-and-burn farming could be developed.

Before the reform, ethnic minorities had no opportunity to study, let alone the right to take the imperial examinations.

After the change, Ortai generally opened schools, appointed instructors, and allowed children to attend school for free.

Yunnan province alone had 463 free schools, and Guizhou province had 24 free schools.