Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 627

The first assistant Song Zhifu personally introduced a group of virtuous and virtuous gentlemen from Shandong to the emperor.

"This is Xincheng Wang Xiangjin, whose name is Zijin. He used to be the right minister of Zhejiang Province. He is now eighty years old. He has lived in seclusion in the countryside for many years, taught his children, and wrote books. I am also the elder of Qilu."

Wang Xiangjin is over 80 years old, but he is still tall, burly and straight. Although he has white hair, his complexion is rosy. When he came to see the emperor, he did not wear official robes, but rather short-breasted linen shoes.

"In the past, the Tartars repeatedly called Wang Lao to the court to appoint officials, but Wang Lao was unmoved. Xie Guan lived at home, and has made achievements in agriculture, medicine, and literature. He has written a lot, including the agricultural book "Qun Fang Pu" , "Relief from Famine" and other sets of books."

But the old man just waved his hand, "This old minister is not a man of literature or martial arts. He has studied farming and farming at home for 30 years, and he has achieved a little success. After the Jiashen change, the old minister thought that the country was overthrown, so he wanted to be a He was an old Ming minister, so he called himself a Mingnong hermit, taught his children and grandchildren, and closed his family to write books. The Tatars did conscript several times, but my Xincheng Wang family defended the city with their families to resist the invasion of the Tartars. Thirty children died in battle. Yu, why would you give your life to them again, grandma!"

The old man's voice was loud.

When Zhu Yihai heard that he liked it, he still has the vigor.

He also did some homework in advance and learned about the people he was going to meet today. This Wang Xiangjin is the younger brother of Wang Xiangqian, Minister of the Ministry of War in Chongzhen.

Wang Xiangjin's official career is fairly average. At the age of 37, he was a Jinshi. The official went to Henan to inspect the envoy, and to Zhejiang Youbuzheng envoy.During the turmoil during the reign of Chongzhen, especially the invasion of the Qing army, after the Wang family in Xincheng suffered heavy losses, Wang Xiangjin resigned and returned home resolutely, taking on the important task of housekeeper, teaching his children, and taking care of the family business.

After Zhu Yihai had been in contact with many famous families in Shandong these days, he felt more and more that Wang's Du family in Xincheng could wait.

"There are three Da Zun in the world, one Jue, one Chi, and one De. The honor of the court is like Jue, the township party is like Chi, and the assistant and elder is De. He is a Dazun old man with the ambition to help the world and the people's livelihood, and he has left behind many immortal works." Zhu Yihai praised Lao Wang a lot.

Not only because the royal family does not surrender captives, nor serve captives.

It is also because the Wang family has been forced to live in the Sun family in Zouping after they suffered heavy losses at the end of Chongzhen. But the last time the Ming army passed through Zichuan, he asked several young children of the Wang family to come and welcome them, offering food and money. .

And now after he conquered Jinan, Pharaoh came out of the mountain in person and returned a letter of hero, inviting the loyal and righteous people living in seclusion in Shandong.

For example, Song Wan and Jiang Cai in Laiyang, Zhao Shizhe in Donglai, Fa Ruozhen in Jiaoshan, Yang Jun in Changshan, Sun Suiling, and the Wang family in Changshan.

After the Shun army and the Qing army entered Shandong, they actively resisted and led an uprising. Finally, the Qing army occupied Shandong.

This group of gentry who lived in seclusion, or changed their names to hide from the world, all came to Jinan now.

When they came, they also gave a big gift.

Under Wang Xiangjin's call, these gentry and powerful men in Shandong discussed a plan to mobilize all Shandong gentry and powerful merchants to donate a large sum of money to the court together.

Shandong has suffered catastrophe in recent years, and many gentry have fallen into poverty and even went bankrupt. If they were only asked to make up for ten years, many people would not be able to make up, and some gentry would not be able to make up.

So they planned to come to a fundraiser to pledge their allegiance to the imperial court.

Although the emperor issued a decree earlier, saying that Shandong, Henan, etc. will be exempted from the past arrears, and this year's land will not have to be paid.

But these gentry sat down and discussed together, and felt that the emperor was building the embankment of the Yellow River in Shandong, helping the victims of disasters, and was still using troops to fight wars, and needed money and food everywhere.

It's just that the Yellow River has taken the Qing River to flow into the sea, and the embankment will cost at least millions of taels of silver to build.

Of course, the emperor did not pursue the fact that the Shandong gentry family had surrendered, but also surrendered these things, which was deeply moved to them.Regardless of whether he accepted the official position of the Tartars, or went to the Tartars' imperial examinations and won the Jinshi, the Ming Dynasty did not pursue it.

Former officials of the Ming Dynasty could go to the Ministry of Officials in Tokyo to report for registration, be assessed and selected, and then be recruited according to their ability.

Those who obtained fame in the Ming Dynasty in the past are not specially reserved, and they can continue to participate in the Ming Dynasty imperial examination.

As for the clearing of the land, it is normal and reasonable to clear the unreported reclaimed land, beach land, or famous land, and occupied land.

After World War I in Jinan.

In fact, not only Wang Xiangjin, who lives in seclusion in the countryside and works in agriculture, knows that the Ming Dynasty has rejuvenated, but everyone else also knows that the Ming Dynasty is unstoppable, and the Tartars must be like the Shun thieves.

So now we have to contribute.

So they decided that Shandong gentry and tycoons should unite to raise donations. Those who have money will donate more, and those who have no money will donate less.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the land of the world was covered. The amount of taxable land in Shandong was more than 72 hectares, accounting for about one-tenth of the country's arable land. Every summer, more than 4000 shi of wheat and 85 million shi of corn were expropriated.

By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Shandong's tax and economic level had even surpassed that of the Tang and Song Dynasties.

In fact, by the end of Wanli, the actual area of ​​arable land in Shandong had already increased a lot compared to the beginning of the country. If the official land, private land, military farmland, land reclamation and unreported land were all registered, there might have been 1000 million mu Yes, the population is about [-] million.

The per capita cultivated land is less than ten mu. The upper field yields about two stones per mu, the middle field yields about one and a half stones, and the lower fields only one stone.

In general, although there are many hills and mountains in Shandong, it is still a good place for outstanding individuals and spiritual treasures.

With 5000 million mu of land, the average yield per mu is one and a half stones, which means that the total grain harvest in a year is about 1000 million stones, and Shandong has a population of 1000 million. According to the relatively low rations, the average monthly grain is three buckets, three stones and six stones a year. , 600 million people need [-] million shi a year.

But in fact, three buckets of grain per month is not enough. There is a lack of non-staple food, oil and water, and the consumption of staple food is relatively large. The strong labor force has five or six buckets per month. Combined with the elderly and children, one person costs more than four stones a year.

In fact, during the Wanli period, the population of the Ming Dynasty reached its peak, so it may be far more than 1000 million. At that time, the population of the Ming Dynasty was estimated to be more than 1 million, and Shandong accounted for one-tenth of the world's population. Wanshi or so.

Of course, if you calculate carefully, there must be a conversion of staple grains and miscellaneous grains, coarse grains and fine grains.For example, the yield rate of rice, if one hundred catties of rice is ground into rice, it may be about seventy catties.

Of course, Shandong’s grain also supplies the capital and the prosperous industrial and commercial towns along the canal.

If you calculate more rigorously, there are more than 8000 million to 9000 million acres of Shandong farmland at the end of Wanli, and the population may be 300 million. Therefore, in the harvest year, Shandong is completely self-sufficient, even in addition to handing over a few million There is still a lot of surplus after the stone grain, and it is a large province of grain output and supply.

Of course, there are disasters such as canals, the Yellow River and even coastal storms in Shandong, so the actual output may be reduced.

Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, land annexation has been serious. Suzerains, vassals, and gentry tyrants have occupied most of the fields. Most common people can only be reduced to tenants or long-term laborers, and landlords generally share half with tenants.

For example, the Confucian family, regardless of whether it is a good year or a bad year, does not increase rent in a good year and does not reduce rent in a bad year, which is called ten thousand years rent.Half of the grain grown by the common people has to be handed over to them, and after deducting the cost of seeds and others, there is nothing left. In a disaster year, they have to flee famine, or even sell their children.

Originally, ten mu of land was normally planted, and the harvest was completely enough for the family's food, and there was still a lot of surplus, but because they did not have their own land, after handing over half of the output, and paying all kinds of small silver, etc. to the imperial government, the people Although dozens of stone grains are grown every year, there are only a few stones that he can really leave behind, not even enough for porridge, so he can only flee in the end.

In fact, in the bleak and depressed scene in Shandong, the gentry and powerful landlords also suffered heavy losses.

Where the land is barren, no matter how high the rent is, what is the use? The tenants have all fled, and the land is barren. Where will the output come from, where will the rent come from.

Everyone ran away, and the towns, businesses, etc. were also depressed. Naturally, these wealthy and powerful households who controlled the capital also suffered great losses.

They also hope to recover sooner.

They also hope to repair the Yellow River.

They hope that the emperor will really let the past go, so they have to save themselves.

The land tax in Shandong in the past year was only about 300 million stone grains, and there were not many kinds of agency silver. Shandong also collected more customs duties in the past, 9 to [-] taels a year, and the income was extremely high.

In recent years, the powerful gentry in Shandong have indeed suffered a great loss, but most of them have returned to the Qing court in Beijing and stabilized. Although the production of land has not recovered, many of the money accumulated by each family in the past are still buried in the ground. They are all hidden.

The Changbai Mountain Ni Wang family who sent the four-line poem flag earlier also came to visit the emperor again this time. Her husband, the Liu family in Taihezhuang, Changshan County, is a well-known family.

His father-in-law, Liu Hongxun, was also a scholar of the First Assistant University of the Chongzhen Dynasty. It is said that Liu Hongxun was a good official with strong handling ability and extremely clean, and he was also a member of the Donglin Party. His father was also a member of the Donglin Party.

It is said that his father, Liu Yixiang, lost his father when he was ten years old, and his mother, Gao, was in charge of the housework. The family was poor, and she lived frugally to raise her children.

Later, Liu Hongxun became a Jinshi again, and he was an official all the way to the first assistant, and he also had a reputation for incorruptibility.

But in fact, according to the investigation report in Zhu Yihai's hands, the Liu family owns more than 3000 hectares of land, and not many of them are registered. rental.

(End of this chapter)