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Approximately every hour, one could cover the distance between Xinghua Village and Zhao Family Village, which spans over ten locations. On average, villagers could reach each other from these two points in about fifteen minutes.
Moreover, laying down the railway between the two villages brought many other advantages. Firstly, it facilitated communication and interaction between the two communities; secondly, in the face of external threats, residents could quickly support one another. Even when dispersed across two locations, they effectively formed a closely connected entity.
To maximize the benefits of this infrastructure, Yun Yi planned to construct it underground rather than on the surface. This was similar to modern urban rail transit systems. Building underground not only avoided potential risks encountered on the surface but also significantly shortened the actual travel distance. Although the traditional route from Xinghua Village to Zhao Family Village was about twenty miles, the straight-line distance was estimated to be only around ten. Thus, the actual travel time between the two places would only take about ten minutes. In future standards, such a commuting time was almost unimaginable.
After hearing Yun Yi's explanation, although Zhu Ji and Xiahou Xing still found the specific form of the railway somewhat unclear, they sensed that this was an excellent innovative proposal. Yun Yi did not elaborate on further details; he believed that actions spoke louder than words and that no amount of verbal explanation could replace the conviction brought by witnessing results firsthand. There would be many opportunities for demonstration in the future.
Then, Yun Yi shifted the topic and said, "But all of this is based on certain conditions." Instantly, Zhu Ji and Xiahou Xing felt a wave of tension and cautiously inquired, "Master, what are these conditions?"
Yun Yi slowly replied, "From this day forth, all land and property belonging to your two clans—including farmland, gardens, residences, and all ownership—will belong to me. I will be responsible for unified distribution and management. This is not only an inevitable choice of history but also a call of the times. Throughout any period, almost no dynasty or nation has been able to escape the historical fate brought about by land and wealth."
In every period of declining authority, it is often difficult to escape the privatization of land and the economic polarization that leads to the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer. To break this vicious cycle, the most direct approach is to control the trend of land monopolization and implement wealth redistribution measures.
Although the populations of Zhao Family Village and Xinghua Village are currently insufficient to create a large-scale demand for economic restructuring, preventing potential land monopoly issues should be a top priority. In the future New China, a consistent practice to prevent excessive land monopolization is to nationalize all land, thereby achieving resource equity. Yun Yi plans to adopt some principles of this strategy as guidance.
However, under the context of the late Eastern Han period, implementing a true national land ownership reform is nearly impossible. Therefore, he considers leveraging his unique status and influence as a deity to nominally claim all land ownership for himself. This way, as long as he adheres to the ideal of serving the people, these lands will effectively benefit the public.
In reality, this model draws on the ancient Chinese governance concept where the emperor is the supreme ruler, and both land and people belong to the monarch. It has been adjusted and transformed to shift royal authority into personal divine authority. This method is more suitable for the understanding and acceptance of the people at that time.
Especially within the feudal structure, this path may only be smoothly implemented by Yun Yi alone. Others attempting similar initiatives would likely face united opposition from feudal forces, as seen in history with Wang Mang during the late Western Han dynasty. When Wang Mang attempted to push for land nationalization policies, he encountered strong resentment and resistance from local gentry even before any action was taken. Even without Liu Bang's later intervention, the Xin dynasty would have struggled to escape its fate of decline.
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