Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 563 Agriculture Is Not Just Farming
"Masters, putting agriculture first has always been the top priority in all dynasties. There is no dispute about this matter. But I believe that emphasizing agriculture is not just farming, and food is only the most important part of farming. The four industries of forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, and oil are also an important part of farming. While encouraging farmers to open up wasteland and farm, the above four industries should also be taken as a major issue!"

Zhu Youjian's remarks made all the officials in the palace feel a little confused, because in their cognition, farming is farming and mulberry, and farming and planting mulberry are the two most important aspects of farming since ancient times.

Forestry can barely understand, animal husbandry should be to raise large livestock such as cattle, mules and donkeys instead of human plowing, fishery?A fisherman casts his net to try something new, how does it become a career?Isn't oil just vegetable oil and lamp oil?How did it rise to the height of karma?

"Reporting to the Holy Majesty, the four karmas mentioned by the Holy Majesty just now are refreshing, and they are listed as one with farming and mulberry. Although the ministers have gained a little, they are still confused when they go deeper. Explain the matter in detail, so as to solve the confusion of the ministers and others?"

In line with the principle of not being ashamed to ask questions and asking appropriate questions at the appropriate time and occasion, after observing the puzzled expressions on the faces of the ministers, Lao Wen got up and saluted and asked.

"Let's sit down first, the new four industries I mentioned are actually closely related to everyone, and they are also strategies that I came up with after deep thinking. I should discuss it with you today."

After Zhu Youjian smiled and asked Wen Tiren to sit down, he began to discuss the concept of four industries.

"As we all know, food, clothing, housing and transportation are the basic needs of people, and among them, food is the foundation. The word food is very comprehensive. For Shengmin, it can be extended to seven things that open the door every day: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea.

I and all your lords are well-fed people. Although our daily drinking is not extravagant, we have everything we need. In addition to rice and vegetables, meat such as cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and ducks should be an indispensable item on the table.

But you should also feel that as long as you eat more meat and other meaty things, the cost of food and rice will be greatly reduced, and the body will be full for a long time. The usage will be reduced. "

The ministers in the palace were not surprised by Zhu Youjian's remarks, because this is also common sense in life, and it is not surprising.

"The animal husbandry mentioned by the Holy Majesty is related to this? If there are a lot of livestock in the Ming Dynasty to make up for the shortage of grain and rice, I have no objection to this, but I think that farming cattle have always been forbidden to be slaughtered in previous dynasties. , so the cattle have already been excreted; and the grazing of sheep is mainly carried out by farmers in Shaanxi and Henan provinces. In the current situation of years of severe drought and many refugees who are starved of food, it seems impossible to vigorously promote it; and domestic pigs Although it is easy to raise, as far as I know, if you want to make it fat and strong, you need to feed it with grain, and now the per capita livelihood is not guaranteed, so I am afraid it cannot be pushed."

After Hou Xun stood up and saluted, he followed Zhu Youjian's topic and expressed his opinions and opinions. His conclusions were well-founded, and most of the officials in the hall nodded in agreement.

"How can I not know what Hou Qing said? What you said is true to the current situation, but it does not conflict with what I intend.

I want to develop the animal husbandry industry, and I am not in a hurry to seek success, but to make the ministers and local governments consider this matter as an important matter. After promoting the development of wasteland and land in the jurisdiction, there is room for the development of animal husbandry, so as to speed up the resolution of the problems of the majority of Li people. The problem of food and clothing.

Unlike land reclamation and farming that require young and strong labor, raising and grazing pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks does not require more labor, and everyone, old and weak, women and children can do it.Once it is promoted in the northern border under the guidance and support of the government, it will take three to five years at most, and one or two years at least. The demand for grain and rice of tens of millions of people in the northern border will be greatly reduced, and the saved grain and rice will be able to Feeding pigs and raising chickens goes on and on like this, and food and clothing are no longer difficult to find. "

In Zhu Youjian's later life, this virtuous circle has already been realized.

Due to the sufficient supply of non-staple foods such as meat, eggs, milk, etc., people's demand for food has been greatly reduced. The original situation of half-children eating poor people has almost disappeared. A normal person can eat a steamed bun or a bowl of rice for a meal. .It's not like the current era that lacks oil and water. Because it is difficult to see meat in daily life, people in this era eat a lot. If you eat with an open stomach, a young and strong person may not be full after eating a catty of noodles. It's incredible.

All the ministers took an irresponsible attitude towards Zhu Youjian's remarks.After all, what the emperor said was also reasonable. The old, weak, women and children were capable of feeding livestock, and it did not conflict with farming and grain production, but it was hard to say what results would be achieved in the end.

"Qizou Shengshang, how should the imperial court promote this policy? All livestock need young seedlings, and raising seedlings is not an easy task. If you want to implement this policy in the northern border, you must have a large number of seedlings. How to solve this problem ?”

This time it was Sun Chuanting who spoke.

As the second minister of the cabinet, it was the first time for him to participate in this kind of meeting. He didn't want to talk too much when he was not familiar with the situation, but after considering the possible good results of the emperor's strategy, Sun Chuanting still stood up and will The difficulty of this plan and doubts about how to implement it in the future have been expressed.

"Sun Qing's concerns are exactly what I'm going to talk about next.

As the so-called interlacing is like a mountain, the matter of raising seedlings mentioned by Sun Qingshicai seems extremely complicated to everyone present, but it is regarded as common for those who are familiar with related industries, because it is a means of making a living.Just like letting him command thousands of troops and horses to fight on the battlefield, he must not be the same.

As far as I know, since the eighth year of Chongzhen, my envoy under the name of Huangzhuang has opened animal husbandry and has provided more than [-] pigs and countless chickens, ducks and eggs for the palace and the soldiers of the Yongwei camp in the past four years. It increased the income of farmers in Huangzhuang by a certain amount, and greatly improved the food in the palace and the army. The physique of the soldiers was obviously stronger than that of other army rations that only ate rice and noodles. Sun Qing, Lu Qing, Chen Qing and others went to war. Everyone in the formation knows it. "

Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangsheng, and Chen Qiyu all nodded in agreement.

"Huangzhuang already has experts in breeding, but it was not possible to expand the scale because of the small capital and small profits before. With the support of sufficient money and food, his skills are fully demonstrated. Not only the survival rate of raising livestock and poultry is high, but also its own cultivation It is a good recipe for piglets, chicken and duck seedlings. In the past four years, the scale of breeding has been expanded again and again, which has also led to the rapid development of the entire Huangzhuang breeding industry. Many old and weak women and children have benefited from it. After one year, the income is much better than that of farming.

With more money and food, not only the farmers' own life has been greatly improved, but the output has also greatly enriched the capital market, making many officials and workers with more money to choose food more complicated, thus reducing the capital's food supply in disguise quantity.

It can be seen that vigorously developing animal husbandry is promising, and it is also the most effective means to increase farmers' income!

I have asked the Huangzhuang Administration Bureau to record and organize it into a book based on the dictation of this person's many years of breeding experience. Thousands of copies have been printed. After the cabinet will write down the policy to promote the development of animal husbandry, this breeding booklet will be issued later. A local government asked it to select experienced people from the county to experiment according to the booklet. After verification and correction of the mistakes, it will be vigorously promoted in the county! "

As the chief assistant of the cabinet, Wen Tiren stood up and gave the salute without hesitation, and then received the order, and then said: "My lord, the old minister thinks that the large-scale livestock produced by the various ministries of Mongolia outside the Great Wall is of great benefit to our Ming Dynasty, and the cabinet needs to consider it when making decisions later. Later in the text. The animal husbandry industry that the Holy Majesty said is still determined, so how to divide the remaining three industries?"

(End of this chapter)