After the stern statement and direct intimidation, the two brothers-in-law left with the answers.

Ning Yi sat in the pavilion for a while.

Ancient trees grew densely around the pavilion, and the waters of the Mohe Pond were calm. As the center of the southwest, the city of Chengdu was now rippling with peaceful and prosperous lights in the night.

After defeating Zong Han and Xi Yin's Jin Dynasty Western Route Army, the Huaxia regime treated people with kindness, and had been recuperating in this area for more than a year. Although the core ideology of the Huaxia Army sounded radical, including its attitude towards Confucianism, which made most people in the world disgusted, and there were even constant predictions that it was too rigid and would easily break, the Huaxia regime's pace had been steady in everyone's eyes for over a year.

A large number of work teams entered the grassroots level to stabilize the people's hearts, support farming, build water conservancy projects, open doors to do business with all parties, and aggressively absorb countless gold, silver, and materials, thereby prospering the market. Sichuan was originally a land of abundance, and in such steady recuperation, the Huaxia Army propped up the power framework of the People's Congress, attracting the attention of all parties in the world with grand moves, and even executing a large number of Jurchen war criminals so that all kinds of detractors were speechless...

And during this period, all parties in the world outside the southwest were in a state of anxiety.

Dai Mengwei tried his best to stabilize the situation under his rule, even relying on a large number of trafficking in people to be able to eat a full meal and maintain basic dignity;

Zou Xu, as a betrayer of the southwest, was in the eye of the storm, begging everywhere to develop himself, hoping to survive in the upcoming storm;

Liu Guangshi sold everything he could to please the southwest, just wanting to recover Bianliang and take Zou Xu's head to turn things around in one fell swoop;

Wu Qimei and Tie Yan were only attacked by one or two factions of the Fair Party, and they had already become arrows at the end of their flight, besieged on all sides;

The new dynasty in the southeast was brave and radical, and various political and economic reforms offended the original base, almost in a dilemma of advancing to death or retreating to death;

And even the most powerful Fair Party, which swept across Jiangnan in two years, was just a bloated body with countless hidden dangers. Therefore, He Wencai was eager to hold a conference in Jiangning, but compared to the Southwest Conference last year, which was calm and unhurried, his Jiangning Conference, which was just copying, was really confusing, lively but with a bleak future.

In any case, except for Jin, which was too far away, the Southwest regime was undoubtedly the best in the world in all aspects, showing an admirable vitality in military, economic, people's livelihood, and stability. Even those who were keen on badmouthing the southwest could not find too many problems to attack in this period.

Because it was really too stable.

Ning Yi sat in the pavilion, looking at all this calmness.

The discussion on the concept of land reform has been embedded in the concept since the "Four Peoples" was proposed. Compared with the radical discussions on the "Destroy Confucianism," "Enlightenment," "Investigation of Things," "Capital," and "Human Rights" that have always existed in the Huaxia Army, it did not show great weight in it.

This was because the Huaxia Army had a small scale in the early stage, and Ning Yi could maintain a relatively honest egalitarianism with a strong attitude. After arriving at Liangshan, the Huaxia Army lived on the land and could not promote land reform to the surrounding Ni people. After unifying the southwest, the Huaxia regime's propaganda of the concept of the investigation of things and the promotion of capital accounted for the largest part of its work.

After a large number of materials entered Chengdu, countless work teams going to the countryside would actually bring a lot of material products to everyone. People expressed at most in the propaganda that after the development of the investigation of things, the material would be abundant. As long as the material was abundant, people who did not live well in the countryside could naturally enter workshops and factories in big cities to make money and become superiors—at this stage, this prospect itself was quite reliable.

The concentrated industrial development near large cities such as Chengdu and Zizhou temporarily delayed the contradictions caused by land in other non-core areas. Although some people were worried about "the Huaxia Army being equal to everyone and wanting to kill the rich" at the beginning of the Huaxia Army's departure from Liangshan, and even many people ran away, the Huaxia Army's preferential treatment of some landlords and gentry who were relatively cooperative at that time dispelled the doubts of most people after the end of the Southwest War.

It was only after the price of land near big cities soared that some merchants and surrounding landlords had a few small-scale frictions, and it had not reached an irreconcilable degree.

But looking back, many people also knew that the discussions on land reform in the Huaxia Army were mostly linked to "equalization of land rights," "land to the tillers," and even "land nationalization." In academic discussions, even strategies such as the "Single Whip Method" and "Equalizing Land Levies" were considered to be small-scale actions.

The sudden sign at this congress made many people confused.

If placed in the modern society of later generations, many people would think that the concept of land reform is both glorious and great, and a bit unremarkable. People would think that as long as this great, glorious, and correct concept is sold, it will naturally be supported by most people. However, this is a barrier that no one in thousands of years of feudal society has been able to truly break through.

Even in the tumultuous modern history of another world, the program of equal land rights first proposed by that pioneer, Mr. Sun, was also supported by countless followers, but in the decades when Mr. Chang, who wore the "Northern Leg that Pierces Through the Forest," led the Guomindang and dominated mainland China, such a taken-for-granted and glorious consensus concept made almost no decisive progress.

Because the basic members of the Guomindang were local gentry and elites who occupied various places and controlled the vast terminal of power.

At that time, another political party flowing with red blood reached an understanding with the Guomindang in 1924, thinking that cooperation had begun and that the right things could be carried out without hesitation. Therefore, land reform was carried out drastically. They began to realize Mr. Sun's advocated "livelihood" theory, and looking back, they ushered in the "April 12th" and "July 15th" massacres in 1927. The Great Revolution failed.

Land is more than just land.

It is the most core production resource located at the most vast terminal of power in the entire society, and it is also the most obvious indicator symbolizing the ownership of this vast power. The premise for the success of land reform is a detailed control of this vast power system, and once such power is controlled, what can be done is more than just allocating the land obtained to the people?

What is involved in this matter is already a large network similar to Confucianism.

Since the Huaxia Army jumped out of Liangshan, no one in the entire Chengdu Plain and Sichuan region could compete with it; as the Huaxia Army defeated the Jurchen Western Route Army, the few landlords and gentry left in the southwest did not dare to disobey. Compared with the Jurchen army that swept across the world, those so-called Confucian scholars, landlords, and gentry all seemed weak. For the Huaxia Army, the enemies on the surface were the easiest to deal with.

However, land is something that concerns the way of life of all people in the world. To change this way of life and rule will be resisted by the "consensus" and "subconsciousness" in everyone's heart. The encroaching giant net will pounce in the opposite direction. It will reduce the efficiency of the insufficiently firm ruling structure from the inside, cause popular resentment, and even when the entire structure has problems, people will not realize that it is caused by land reform.

Are my preparations sufficient? Are the grassroots officials and veterans deployed to various places sufficiently trained? They may be able to defeat the enemies on the surface, but when land turns into benefits and starts to be calculated realistically, can they resist the corruption in it? Can the tides of the left and right be curbed? So many rectifications have been carried out, can they be stricter?

Even taking a step back, is it necessary to promote land reform now?

As Su Wending said, the strong rules of capital will find a way out on their own, and the privatization and free flow of land can provide a bloody growth hotbed for it. Following this path and then carrying out certain manipulations to promote the people's awareness and the emergence of civil rights is already a relatively appropriate development framework. The profit-seeking nature of capital will collapse the feudal relations of production in all aspects, because a network with profit as the core will be more powerful than that network. It is woven by laws and far better than the strong work of manpower.

Is it necessary to touch the network of the local gentry before that?

Is there really a 100% necessity?

Ning Yi himself actually had such doubts.

In both positive and negative directions, there were many reasons.

In the positive direction, the benefits of land reform are of course very many. Once successful, the Huaxia Army's control over the bottom will directly jump to a new level. Compared with all external forces, the Huaxia Army will seem to have entered a new dimension, such a battle, the core enemy is still in curbing the distortions that occur within the system, if it can pass, it will become a reliable training for dealing with the Confucian network in the future...

However, in the negative direction, the progress of a large force must properly distinguish between the main and secondary contradictions. Once unpredictable problems arise in this land reform, such as the intensification of the left and right routes, internal infighting, and leaving behind problems halfway through the reform, the power of the Huaxia Army may not be able to curb the galloping sprouts of capital in the future. A failed land reform may not directly cause the failure of the Huaxia Army, but if it fails in the future, such an action will inevitably be a large bundle of straw on the camel's back...

Now that the Huaxia Army only controls the southwest, the troops on hand have overwhelming control over the Sichuan region. The enemies on the surface cannot cause too much trouble. It is possible to push land reform strongly in the short term. The real concern lies in the long-term and internal organizational changes. Once the Huaxia Army breaks out of the southwest and annexes the world, if land reform has not been carried out, it may not be possible to formally mention this matter in the future. This is its positive urgency...

However, an era has its own original considerations. In the great era in which he lived in the past, that country that had suffered lost the first-mover advantage of capital and the investigation of things. Land reform and mobilizing the masses was a great weapon to regain the advantage. However, in this era, if the first-mover advantage of the investigation of things and capital has been gained, is land reform still such an urgent and necessary link? Are my actions also dominated by dogmatism and purely tribute-paying sensibility to a certain extent?

These considerations have been hovering in his mind for a very long time.

He himself could not say a decisive result.

In such a complex matter, the Su family members were just some of the most unimportant minor details.

For a long time, both Ning Yi and Su Tan'er have been very strict in disciplining these family members. Although it has not reached the point of absolute purity, earning some land benefits by playing edge balls in the southwest has only been a matter of the past one or two years. If Ning Yi asks directly, they would not dare to have even overt interests under their names. It is just that some landlords and gentry may distribute some silver money on hand in exchange for them to inquire or overhear some news at critical moments.

And even the two younger brothers-in-law who already have a certain status cannot play the weight of a supporting role in the next thing. The reason why Ning Yi would have such a long talk with them during this period is, on the one hand, to cultivate the people around him, and on the other hand... it is because he is also doing such calculations and thinking at all times in his heart.

Such hesitation and doubt may continue for a very long time, even in the future when the dust settles, he may ask himself again and again. But thinking can be cautious, he can deduce, summarize, and reflect, but when things come to a head, the choice must be firm.

Temporarily, he has made a choice.

As always, Ning Yi chose the more difficult path.

Before the end of the conference, or even one or two months after the end, there may be a chance to regret it. But he knows that the probability of calling a halt is very small.

In the late autumn, the Mohe Pond was sparkling, and he stood there, spacing out for a while.

The peaceful days are coming to an end.

Occasionally looking up, he looked at the stars in the night sky, and also thought of other lively places on this land, fighting, hero conferences, the confrontation between Liu Guangshi and Zou Xu might be very interesting, He Wencai in Jiangning must have encountered very complex problems...

Such news often came, and for him, it was extremely, extremely easy entertainment...

I really want to switch positions.

No matter who it is with, it is like restarting a game and starting from scratch...

How interesting that would be...

It would have been good if I hadn't met Qin Siye...

...

Then I thought of Little Ning Ji's journey through the *jianghu*...

I don't know where he is wandering, but he should be very happy anyway...

Oh well, oh well. I got hooked for a lifetime on a whim...

Let the child play for a few more days...

In the future, I won't scold him either...

...

A middle-aged man named Ning Yi sighed.