Xinshun 1730

Chapter 993 Straight Hook
It is difficult to persuade people to do good, but it is much easier to induce others to do evil.

The existence of the system stems from the disbelief in the inherent goodness of human nature, so relying on the perfection of the system to make up for various loopholes in evil.

It is also very simple to lure people to do evil, just reverse the system and make it leak everywhere.

It's like a granary. If you want to prevent rats, you should build a granary and walls to raise cats.And if you want to recruit rats, you don't need to catch them in the ground and throw them in. You only need to tear down a hole in the wall, and it will be full soon.

Liu Yu's dislike of the landlord class is only out of class hatred as the spokesperson of Dashun's emerging bourgeoisie, and does not involve moral issues.

However, the special situation in northern Jiangsu made the “rural gentrification” completed earlier than elsewhere.

Sea tide, dike break, Yellow River, Hongze Lake, salinization.

From Song Dynasty to the south of the Yellow River, to the move of the capital to Beijing in the Ming Dynasty, the Grand Canal was blocked by water and the Huaihe River was flooded to protect the north but not the south. The combination of these natural disasters and man-made disasters caused evil gentry to survive.

Because...good people simply cannot rely on primitive accumulation to complete the leap to become a squire.

This question is very simple, it is the folk custom of "eating big households" in northern Jiangsu.If you can't survive, you will eat big households, the evil gentry's high-walled compound with muskets, it's not good to eat.Those who are eaten are mainly small landlords. Not only are big landlords not eaten, but sometimes they are also the leaders of the Taoist sect and lead the organization.

Wasn't there a ready-made example before, where the daring dared to borrow food from the students' homes, but they were all buried alive, not to mention, and they were labeled as a conspiracy and an ambitious riot.

I'm really dizzy, can I borrow the food from the master's family?
And the trend of eating big households stems from the fact that the economic foundation of small farmers here has completely collapsed. The issue of power in northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong was already pointed out by a great Confucian in the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties. Paying a large tax to the master's family and not allowing marriage, even going wild and promiscuously, it is very immoral."

Natural disasters occur frequently, and the speed of bankruptcy of small farmers and the collapse of their economy is several times faster than that of other places.It may take only 200 years for Northern Jiangsu, which has been tortured by the Huang, Huai, and Hai tides, to complete the cycle of mergers elsewhere in 30 years.

The economic base determines the superstructure, and to solve the problems here, relying on morality and Confucian temples is of no use. Only the economic base here can be completely solved.

Oranges grown in Huainan are oranges, and oranges grown in Huaibei are oranges.It's not that oranges don't want to grow in Huaibei, it's just that oranges can only die in Huaibei, and only trifoliate oranges can survive in Huaibei.

This kind of realistic foundation just allows Liu Yu's poisonous plan to lure the snake out of the hole to be carried out very smoothly.

All that is needed is a grain exchange coupon for imperial river workers that "does not need to be reviewed, is almost equivalent to unnumbered banknotes, and is full of loopholes."

His first stop in northern Jiangsu was Funing.

According to the list provided by the county magistrate, the guards of honor and guards brought were distributed to each village, and the "Master Huang" from each village was invited to the county seat.

After the banquet was set, Liu Yu went straight.

"You all know that the imperial court wants to build the Huai River, right? That's the route. Don't tell me whose fields are flooded and whose ancestral graves are soaked. I don't care about these things. Just go and talk to Huang. Governor Huai went to make a theory. I didn’t come here today for such things.”

The squires present thought that they could only admit such things, what else could they do?

Clearly arguing is not daring, it depends on who has the ability.

In the past, the few high officials who ruled the river flooded their ancestral graves and fields because of the flood control. It is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years. Wouldn't they be defeated in the future?We don't have this ability, and we are not relatives of high officials in the court, so we can only endure it.

Liu Yu said again: "I won't talk about the benefits of building the Huaihe River. The meaning, the benefits to you, including your land turning from bad land to upper land, how to calculate taxes and how to calculate rent in the future will be a matter in the future. "

"Your Majesty told me to go out of town. I still have a lot of things to do in Songjiang Mansion. Some people offer suggestions, saying that this northern Jiangsu gentry is different from other places. I have also heard a lot..."

When he said this, the squires felt a little bit in their hearts, thinking that they might only hear bad things.

But he didn't want to, but Liu Yu said: "Just say that there are many disasters in northern Jiangsu. It is necessary to prevent tides, floods, typhoons, food looting, and eating villages...we also need to build dikes, especially the dikes where the whole village hides during floods." son."

"Yes, some people say that the gentry in northern Jiangsu are all capable of organization. If they are like the gentry when the state was divided and the founding of the country, or the knights in the story of Xiyi. If the court is in chaos, they can pull out armed robbery and become bandit leaders. ;If the court is not chaotic, it can also organize some repairs, which is different from the gentry elsewhere."

Words seem to be good words.

But when it came out of Liu Yu's mouth, it was so harsh that no one dared to speak.

To put it mildly, it's called vitality.

To put it bluntly, it is called a return to the semi-serfdom organization.

While the country gentry were still pondering that this was a lie, Liu Yu finally said something that made them happy.

"You have such ability and organizational ability. Therefore, someone proposed to implement the contract system here."

"In this way, I also consider that the officials can't control it. If the local officials participate, many things will be caused and they will be involved."

"Thus bypassing them, the imperial court directly communicates with the sages, and the money and rice are distributed to all the sages."

"How to dig, how deep to dig, and how wide to dig, the imperial court has its own talents."

"Dig, organize the people to come and divide the work. I think you can take on this responsibility. It's similar to digging dikes."

"Every river worker who comes to work, each has three catties of rice noodles, three coins of salt, half a pickled radish, and four liang of bean cakes a day, which is considered a full attendance. If you come to work every day, you will get 33 cash, calculated according to the official price. , pay one tael per month."

"Whether it's rice or wheat, I'm afraid I won't be used to rice here, so just report them separately."

"The rice and noodles approved by the imperial court will also be transported by you. It is impossible for the imperial court to send money to everyone. The imperial court will only send people to inspect the construction site. If you get old, weak, sick and disabled to make a living, then I can’t get the rice and money.”

"In short, the imperial court will give you money and food, and you will organize people to work. You will also send people to cook for meals, one cook for every 50 people, and the wages for cooking and so on. Here's the list."

"I will transport the rice to various parts of the coast, and you will also organize people to carry it by yourself. Every thirty miles, you will get two out of a hundred."

"I have attracted a lot of people here to Nanyang over the years. I expected that you also know my reputation. I always say that I am the same, and I will never be short of two."

"Of course, you also have benefits. The money will be calculated according to the assigned river section, the amount of excavation, and the amount of contract. I will pass the inspection and accept it, and I will pay you directly. Silver, banknotes, copper coins, whatever."

"Did you understand? If you understand, continue talking. If you don't understand, just ask quickly."

"How to put it, it is a contract under the supervision of the government. If it is a contract, I will also send someone to count the heads of the workers, instead of directly paying money and rice bags for you to do it. As for why this must be done, it is hard to say It’s too clear, it’s ugly to explain clearly, and you all understand.”

This section of the river belongs to the part that is easier to dig.

It is the starting point of Gaojiayan and the estuary at the mouth of the sea that really require high-strength and high-tech excavation. As long as there is no heavy rain, the remaining places only need to be supervised by technicians.

Before the rainy season in March and April, the canals should be taken out and repaired slowly in the future.Otherwise, if the project cannot be completed before April and May, even if it is a waste of time, it will be ruined if it rains next year.

The working period was the slack season, and it was the first time that the imperial court really used the military service money, and the investment was huge.

According to the estimated amount of work, about 240 million shi of grain and 250 million taels of labor and service silver are needed just to provide the people with the most basic food security and collection money.

This is the cost price.That's why it is said that this will almost require the power of Xing Dashun's entire country, because this is just an initial siege of the city that was seized during the winter, and it will continue to be filled in the follow-up, which will cost tens of millions of taels within a few years.

At this time, the common people had no oil and water in their stomachs, and their food was too poor. Two or three catties of rice noodles and four taels of bean cakes fed to cows sounded scary to later generations, but they were actually more than half full.

This time the court spent a lot of money, and the emperor also told Liu Yu that some things can only be done in winter, and some things can be done in spring, summer, autumn and winter, so Liu Yu was asked to prioritize.

Liu Yu knew it well, and now that this set of methods was mentioned, the squires immediately nodded.

Everyone knows that Liu Yu will not be short-changed, after all, he is a fool who put here a young crop loan that is guaranteed to lose money.

Even if the imperial court does not give money, the squire actually has the obligation to be the organizer when organizing local labor.After all, the imperial power does not come down to the county, and the county magistrate has to do something. It is impossible to create a strict party-mass organization out of thin air, and can only rely on the squires.

Coupled with the annual floods and annual relief, it also requires the organization and coordination of the gentry, and the scholars are responsible for statistics and the like.

Several well-known country gentry stood up and said: "The Duke made it clear, we all understand. This is indeed a good way. The tool for digging the river..."

Liu Yu nodded and said: "The tools are naturally provided by the imperial court. There is still some time before the start of work. The women here are good at weaving. The imperial court bought rattan baskets at a price, and you contracted the quantity. The imperial court will give you the money directly, and you will distribute it to people in the village. , Don’t underestimate it, the repair of the river is related to the country, you, and the Huaihe River in the upper reaches of Hongze Lake.”

"Of course, no matter how much you contract, the imperial court will not lose your benefits. If you pass the inspection, you will be rewarded, and you will be calculated accordingly. You can transport it to various work sections by yourself at that time."

"As for shovels, shovels, etc., after you report the number of people, they will be sent to you."

"Before starting work, go to the contracting area and set up the humble house. Make a fire, cook, and sleep."

"The imperial court also granted permission to cut down several salt grass forests that were originally forbidden to be cultivated, and use them for cooking and heating."

After all, Liu Yu took out the key props to seduce the crime this time.

A sample stack of food stamps.

The workmanship is very fine, which is completely the banknote printing technology of Songjiang Prefecture Bank.

But what I did was nonsense and too free.

No matter who it is, they can get food with the receipt.

Bearer, no number, but difficult to imitate.

Liu Yu's fishing is simply bait and salty: it is impossible for someone who can make such a craft to fail to even come up with the most basic registration and numbering management system.

But what is needed is for the willing to take the bait.

He asked someone to distribute these food vouchers to a group of squires and said: "At that time, transfer stations will be built at several seasides. There is no need to doubt the imperial court's sea transportation capacity. You will pay a discount of [-] li at that time, and you will be able to transport them here." .”

"I've also checked. It's full of Yellow River clay. As long as it doesn't rain, it's as hard as a rock, and it's a flat river. If you have a lot of strength, you can pull a few hundred catties by yourself with a big cart. Take it for thirty miles or one hundred. Two, if you count the wages, it is a large animal, even if you directly feed the animal with rice and wheat, it will not be a loss."

"The river section will be divided into sections in a while, and you must send people to step on the spots to familiarize yourself with the terrain. Take the coupons and exchange them for food directly, and go as you go."

(End of this chapter)