Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 1043 The Mystery of Huangzhuang

Most of the vassal kings of Ming Dynasty were ignorant people, but, after all, they were born noble, and their education since childhood could still keep up.

Moreover, their own various industries also need them to be able to understand the accounts themselves, so as to ensure that they will not be deceived by the people below.

So it's not that difficult.

It is precisely because they can understand the accounts that they are surprised.

According to their expectations, Huangzhuang's current business model should lose money. After all, Huangzhuang provided a series of things such as houses, cattle, seeds, etc., which must have cost a lot.

Moreover, to be honest, the past two years have not been very good, and last year the capital suffered from the earth dragon's turnaround. In the eyes of these feudal lords, it is considered good if the emperor does not send money to the Huangzhuang.

Of course, these silver taels are nothing compared to Huangzhuang's role in resettling refugees.

However, after looking at these account books, they found that it was exactly the opposite of what they had expected.

Although Huangzhuang initially invested a lot of money, the rent collected was more than in previous years.

You know, in the account books, there are not only the accounts of the past two years, but also the accounts of the emperor before he became the throne.

With the exception of a few Huangzhuang that expanded considerably, although the area of ​​most Huangzhuang has been reduced and expanded due to the transfer of the location of the fields, it is still within the normal range.

That is to say, there are quite a few Huangzhuangs, and the amount of land has not changed much. However, in the past two years, the rent collected has been much higher than in previous years.

At the beginning, they felt that the land rent in Huangzhuang was heavier than before. After all, these refugees lived in Huangzhuang and used Huangzhuang, and they had to eat Huangzhuang during the busy farming season. The farm rent of the village is almost twice that of the official farm, reaching more than [-]%. This ratio is indeed higher than before.

But soon, they discovered that this was not the reason at all.

Because, before the reconstruction of Huangzhuang, the rent of these fields had already reached about [-]% to [-]%. Although there was a slight increase after the reconstruction, the impact was not significant.

Moreover, this mode of operation has already been implemented after the emperor ascended the throne. Up to now, more than two years have passed, and the first batch of tenants have basically returned to the original land rent level.

But even under such circumstances, the number of acres of land in a single Huangzhuang basically remained the same, but the annual land rent that could be paid for each year did not decrease but increased.

This situation can't help but make these vassals feel strange for a while.

Unreasonable?
Could it be that the emperor deliberately made false accounts in order to deceive them?

The eyes of the kings couldn't help but bewildered. Apart from this explanation, it seems that there is no better explanation. But, the majestic Son of Heaven, why do you do this?
Of course not!
Regarding the reaction of the kings below, Zhu Qiyu had expected it a long time ago. Seeing that most of them had finished reading the account books, Zhu Qiyu gave Wang Cheng a glance, so the latter immediately understood and said.

"My lords, although a lot of silver taels have been invested in this Huangzhuang, but there is a great advantage, that is, the amount of grain produced per mu of land is much higher than before."

"Based on the experience of slaves and maidservants in the past two years, with this kind of management method, the harvest of high-grade fields can be about [-]% higher than before, and that of middle-grade and low-grade fields can be higher, about [-]% to [-]%. Calculated, for each mu of land, about four buckets of grain can be harvested."

"Moreover, this year's harvest is even higher than last year's. The average yield per mu of land is almost four and a half buckets more than before."

As soon as this statement came out, all the vassal kings present were even more surprised, and they couldn't help whispering to each other.

A vassal king who is good at accounting, after hearing Wang Cheng's description, seemed to think of something, opened the account book again, and looked at it, half talking to himself.

"Based on this figure, the cost of these cattle, grain, and housing can be made up for at most ten years, which is a bit interesting."

"Wang Gonggong, what is the ingenuity in this, let me explain it in detail."

Although these vassal kings didn't think much of the eunuchs in the palace, Wang Cheng's ability naturally made them speak politely.

Seeing this situation, Wang Cheng was terrified, said.

"The lord has a life, so the slaves naturally dare not hide it. The increase in production, the slaves have also done research, and finally found that there are two main reasons."

"One is that the oxen, grain and iron plows in these fields are all provided by Huangzhuang..."

After the voice fell, all the kings became a little interested.

They thought that providing these would lose money, but they never thought that they could increase production?

So, Wang Cheng explained.

"Usually, these acres are rented by the tenants. Huangzhuang only collects the rent and does not care about other things. How to plant them and what to use for them are all up to the tenants themselves. However, many tenants are poor and cannot afford cattle. If you grow grain, you can only afford defective products, and some wealthy tenants will go to big households to rent some cattle, but poor households can only rely on their strength."

"Planting the land depends on the time of farming. No matter how strong a person is, he can't compare with cattle. Therefore, even if these farmers try their best, they often can't make the most of their land. After the reconstruction of Huangzhuang, they will provide high-quality cattle to grow grain. Without the need for the tenants to think of their own way, the soil fertility is maximized, so the output has increased a lot.”

This explanation is rather novel.

But thinking about it carefully, it is indeed the truth.

However, at this time, some vassals raised questions, said.

"According to this, the top-class fields are fertile and should increase their yields even more. Why is it that the yields of the top-class fields are not as high as Yicheng, but the yields of middle- and low-class fields have increased by [-]% to [-]%?"

"My lord, in fact, if you just look at the quantity, the increase in yield of the top-grade fields is similar to that of the middle- and low-grade fields. However, this is because the top-grade fields are fertile, and [-]% can equal the [-]% and [-]% of the middle- and low-grade fields."

"The difference that the prince asked is actually the reason for this. The first-class fields originally produced more. Although the land rent was also rewritten, in general, the tenants who leased the crops also reaped more, so they tend to be more. Take good care of it, even if the family is poor, they will borrow money to rent cattle and buy grain for harvest.”

"In contrast, most of those who rent and plant middle and low-grade fields are hungry people and have no extra money to rent cattle. Therefore, after Huangzhuang gave the cattle, the output naturally increased all of a sudden. few."

Therefore, people are often bound by past common sense, and some things are extremely simple, but it is still difficult to understand until the window paper is pierced.

After Wang Cheng explained it this way, all the kings understood the joints one after another, and nodded lightly at the same time, deciding to try to do the same after they went back.

"but……"

However, at this moment, Wang Cheng spoke again.

"If you want to achieve the goal of increasing production, you need to guard against the tricks and tricks of the tenants below. Otherwise, the money and food will be paid for nothing, but the village will be abandoned..."

This sentence successfully attracted everyone's attention. Although they knew that Wang Cheng was suspected of cheating, these vassal kings still couldn't help asking.

"Why is this?"

"My lord Mingjian, some of the tenants in Huangzhuang have worked in the village. These tenants have been working for a long time, and they can always save some money to buy a few acres of Susukida for themselves. At first, Huangzhuang provided grain. After farming cattle, they are often used for private use, first plowing their own fields, and then plowing the fields of Huangzhuang."

"Because the fields of the original Huangzhuang were scattered, it was difficult to verify. When the slaves passed by, they led the cattle to the imperial field. After the slaves left, they continued to plow their own fields. They were all planted in their own fields, and those plows were directly taken as their own, and then lied that they were lost or broken."

"In the end, when the harvest was not good, these tenants complained about the bad season, or that they could not get water. In short, for various reasons, the rent could not be collected."

After the words fell, the vassal king who originally had this plan frowned immediately.

This is indeed a big problem. For example, plows, etc., can only be bought again, but grain and cattle are not. It does not mean that they cannot be bought again, but that they are irreplaceable.

Once the grain is planted, it cannot be replaced again. Therefore, if the grain of low quality is used at the beginning, the harvest will inevitably be poor.

Farming cattle, like people, also have physical strength and need to rest. It is uncertain how much strength they will have to plow the fields in the village after plowing the tenant's own private field first.

"How did Huangzhuang solve it in the end?"

After thinking for a while, the feudal lords had no idea, so they simply asked questions.

Wang Cheng naturally knew everything and answered, said.

"The servants and others were also very troubled by this at first, but after reporting to His Majesty, His Majesty ordered the servants to build a low wall around the Huangzhuang. All the fields within the wall, if they belong to the common people, will be replaced or purchased. In this way, All the fields in Huangzhuang are connected together, so it is much more difficult for the tenants to cheat."

"Besides, the crops, oxen, plows, etc. are all stored in the Huangzhuang, and they can be taken as they are used, and returned when they are used up. Because there is only Huangtian in this wall, and all the corresponding utensils are They are not allowed to be taken out of the Huangzhuang, and Eunuch Shu Liang transferred a lot of people from the East Factory to guard around the Huangzhuang to prevent people from overcoming the wall and stealing, and gradually the disaster of private use will be eliminated."

"What's more, when people who cheated and cheated were found, they took back the imperial land and refused to rent it. At the same time, the newly recruited tenants were all refugees without land, and this phenomenon was eliminated from the root. Another advantage of these refugees working is that they work very hard."

"The reason why Huangzhuang's output can increase so much is inseparable from the fact that these refugees have worked hard every day after they settled down."

Got it, got it, all the vassals looked at each other in blank dismay.

Ganqing is waiting for them here!
To put it bluntly, the management method of this Huangzhuang is an interlocking process. If you want to increase production, you must provide enough grain, cattle and plows to the tenants. Be used privately.

Therefore, in order to prevent private use, the farm can only be integrated on a large scale and strictly guarded. Of course, this method is not a permanent solution, but can only reduce the impact to a certain extent.

After all, the tenants of Huangzhuang don't have to suffer exorbitant taxes, so they will buy land by themselves after they have accumulated some savings. However, for the protection of Huangzhuang, they are unwilling to leave completely.

Even if the cattle, plows and other things are restricted in Huangzhuang, and they are not allowed to take them out, these tenants themselves will still find a way to plow their own fields first, at most they will not use the cattle in Huangzhuang.

What's more, they may steal and play tricks, and deliberately dawdle to rest in Huangzhuang. If they are bold, they may steal Huangzhuang's cattle and go out.

Therefore, the solution to the root cause is to directly use refugees who have no land.

They don't have their own fields, so these problems naturally don't exist.

Thinking of this, all the feudal lords finally realized why the rent of Huangzhuang was decreasing year by year.

Because as the refugees are fixed, they will gradually have their own savings, so the continuous high land rent will make them gradually become the former situation, trying to find ways to buy and cultivate their own fields.

However, the rent of Huangzhuang decreased year by year, which relieved their pressure on the one hand, and gave them another thought on the other hand.

In other words, as long as they work hard, the annual rent they pay will decrease, and the rent will decrease to a certain extent. Although it is not decreasing, it is the same as the tax on civilian land, which means that the land belongs to them.

Under this kind of management method, coupled with the threat of being fired if there are mistakes such as stealing or misappropriation, the longer you work, the more you will do your best and be cautious. The land in hand, because of a small profit, let so many years of hard work go to waste.

Moreover, because the leased land is terminated with the death of the tenant, an ordinary tenant can live to be five or sixty years old, which is considered a long life.

Calculated based on the fact that they start renting seeds when they are around 20 years old, and the rent is reduced by half at the age of 20, it will take about [-] to [-] years to reduce the tax standard of civilian land. If we say, this is not the middle In the event of drought, locust plagues and other poor harvests, the exemption of land rent regardless of the number of years, if added, this number will be delayed by at least another five or six years.

So in fact, it seems that these tenants can finally get their own land, but at that time, they were at least 50 or [-] years old. Ten years, as short as five or six years.

If it is said that the increase in production in this account book is not a fake account, then the increase in production in the early period of at least ten years of re-lease can completely make up for the decrease in land rent in the later period.

And after these tenants have worked for decades, they will accumulate a certain amount of family property, and they can buy land outside Huangzhuang for their descendants, so they don't have to be attached to Huangzhuang. When they pass away, Huangzhuang will be Take the land back and re-lease it to new refugees.

From this point of view, this is indeed a good way. It can not only not lose the land rent of Huangzhuang, but also absorb a large number of refugees and maintain the stability of the place. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

and……

Still the same sentence, some things are not complicated to put it bluntly, but the people before did not think that there is such a method.

After understanding Huangzhuang's operating methods and profit-making methods, the vassal kings below immediately began to consider that if the emperor really wanted them to follow Huangzhuang's example, then they could make slight modifications on this basis, and then For the greater good...

(End of this chapter)