Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 672
"Your Majesty, the Yellow River has diverted its course, and people in more than forty prefectures and counties in the three provinces of Northeast China, Shandong, and Henan have suffered disasters. Now we have decided to take the Yellow River from the Daqing River to the sea. We are fixing a new river course. Once the embankment is repaired, it will be an [-]-mile river course. Millions of acres of land have been destroyed. How can so many people be resettled if they cannot be resettled?"

Wen Anzhi was very dissatisfied that Wang Zhiren flattered the emperor too much. In a word, it was too much to give the millions of mu of the old river beach to the emperor.

What's more, the 400 million mu is only the old road above Xuzhou, and there are nine hundred miles of old river beaches below Xuzhou.

Wang Zhiren didn't care about these things, he was the second assistant and the prime minister now, but he was very loyal to the emperor, especially after the last incident, he stood firmly behind the emperor.

"Yuanfu is right, but the imperial court has already resettled the people affected by the disaster in the Xinhe River. Even if there are still victims who have not been resettled properly, I think they can be directly relocated to Taiwan. Now Taiwan is full of Fertile soil, now there are only 30 million immigrants, even if the four prefectures of Taiwan can accommodate another 300 million people in the past, the land is left to be reclaimed, and each square can be reclaimed with hundreds of acres. Isn’t it better than being crowded in Huainan, Shandong?”

Wen Anzhi thinks that moving to Taiwan is too far away for the common people, and it is poor and white there now, and it will not be easy to live after that. It will undoubtedly be better if they can be resettled in the Central Plains.

"This matter can be chosen by the people themselves. For those who go to Taiwan, the imperial court can bear the expenses on the road. After arriving there, they will issue interest-free loans, lend cattle, seeds and farm tools, etc., and allow their family to enclose a hundred acres of land. Starting from the fifth year to the tenth year, only half of the Fu is collected."

Wen Anzhi retorted, "Immigrating to Taiwan is beneficial to the country, but it has to be done step by step. There are too many immigrants, and the imperial court cannot guarantee people's livelihood. Is there too much to provide for the loan of cattle, seeds, farm tools, etc.?"

The first fierce confrontation between the first assistant and the second assistant.

Do not give in to each other.

Zhu Yihai looked at the two academicians calmly, and only spoke out slowly when they were almost arguing.

"Immigrating to Taiwan is one of the basic strategies of the imperial court, but what Wen Xiang said is correct, we must consider security and affordability. After a few years of large-scale immigration, we have only immigrated 40 to [-] people, and only a year About [-] people immigrated, and this is the result of the joint efforts of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong in the southeast."

Yan Siqi, Zheng Zhilong and others failed in the Japanese rebellion and went to Taiwan to recruit poor people in mainland Fujian to plant rice and sugar cane. One person gave Anjia silver three taels, and the three gave a cow. They were transported to Taiwan by boat, and they farmed and reclaimed wasteland. .

And when Zhu Yihai immigrated to Taiwan, when he besieged the Dutch in Taiwan, he was besieging the city and farming at the same time, and then continuously moved the victims of disasters and starvation from the mainland.

At that time, many inland hungry people and disaster victims were almost starving to death due to military disasters and natural disasters and famine.

Food was provided along the way, and when they arrived at coastal ports, they were loaded on ships and shipped to Taiwan one by one. After landing, they were divided into development camps one by one.

The earliest camp-style land reclamation was implemented, that is, cattle, farm tools, seeds, and even rations, all of which were provided by the government and managed by the government.

Collective reclamation, they are satisfied with food.

Planting rice, sugar cane, building a juicer, etc. After the harvest, the camp will classify the villagers according to their age, old and weak, male and female, and their daily performance, and give them grain, which is equivalent to a share of the farmland, which is equivalent to hired labor.

After three years of farming, these villagers also reclaimed a lot of land, and at the same time accumulated some money and food, and had houses and everything. Only at this time did the imperial court officially distribute the land to them.

Ten mu of farmland is given to each Ding, and then each household is allowed to enclose land. Adding farmland can enclose [-] mu of land, which can be regarded as officially registered. They can also buy farming tools from the government.

After three years of collective reclamation, it can be regarded as having passed the most difficult beginning, and has a foundation for standing.

The imperial court's camps also accepted new immigrants, and continued to farm collectively while continuing to open up wasteland. The imperial court removed the income from the farmland and distributed it to the villagers, and the rest was used for immigration, buying cattle, farm tools and seeds, etc. .

In addition to the government's recruitment of victims of disasters and hunger to emigrate, the government has been encouraging people to emigrate over the past few years. Those who are willing to come can take a boat for free.

Each household can enclose a hundred acres of wasteland for reclamation, and can also borrow an interest-free loan from the government for reclaiming wasteland.

We also welcome those rich and powerful landlords to come to reclaim and develop wasteland. Whether it is reclaiming wasteland to build sugarcane gardens, cotton gardens, rice gardens, or to build workshops and open shops, the imperial court welcomes them, and there are tax and other preferential treatment.

Now Taiwan has the most Fujianese, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Chaoshan, Huizhou, etc. There are also some Huainan immigrants, and even Shandong immigrants.

After defeating the Dutch, they also received some slaves left by the Dutch colonists.

At the same time, the Ming army was stationed in the Netherlands, and their families were also moved to Taiwan to settle down.

Because the imperial court encouraged the people to immigrate to Taiwan, and actively recruited the hungry and the poor to go there. For the people who entered Taiwan, they were allowed to enclose a hundred acres of land per household. Therefore, a large number of people went to Fujian, where there are eight mountains, one water and one field. Chaoshan Huizhou in Guangdong There are also a large number of people in other places.

Compared with the policy of strictly prohibiting smuggling into Taiwan after the Qing Dynasty recovered Taiwan, it can be said that the policy support and encouragement of the Shaotian Dynasty is the most important, especially the granting of interest-free loans, allowing land enclosure, loaning cattle seeds, and reclaiming wasteland Five years without education, five and a half years of endowment, these all attract countless people to go.

Now the four prefectural cities have the appearance of a city. There are government offices, streets, some workshops, shops, and several ports in the city, and there are regular boats coming and going.

After all, the conditions in Taiwan are indeed pretty good. Even if they open up wasteland and farm land, they can get enough food and clothing quickly. Many immigrants grow part of the land to grow rice, half for self-sufficiency and half for sale, and the other half for sugarcane, which is harvested and sold to sugar factories. , can have a good income, and even in the spare time, you can go to the workshop and the dock to work to make money.

"The two lovers don't need to quarrel. I think we can make a compromise."

"Although there are many beaches in the old road, they need to be rehabilitated. I think it is appropriate to move some people from the New Yellow River to the past. Every Ding will give [-] mu of upper field, [-] and a half mu of middle field will be converted into [-] mu of upper field, and [-] mu of lower field will be converted into [-] mu of upper field. When you are in the field, you can match it in the upper, middle and lower fields."

"Your Majesty, it is not appropriate to sell the land directly. It should be sold at a price. You can install it in installments, but you can't give it for free. Three liang of land for one mu, two liang for middle field, and one liang for lower field. Reservoirs and irrigation canals will be built, so as to prevent floods and store water, and release water for irrigation during the dry season.

Turn this [-]-mile-high ridge into a section of reservoir. "

As long as the reservoirs can be built, in fact, more beaches can be turned into middle- or even high-yield grain fields.

"It can resettle 15 households."

Zhu Yihai shook his head, "There can't be so many resettled. Even if one household has 150 mu of land, it would require [-] million mu of land, and the whole river beach doesn't have that much land. It should be enough to resettle [-] households, and one household can have [-] mu of land. "

Zhu Yihai proposed to sell the beach land whose annual yield could not reach [-] jin per mu, but if he bought it, he had to use it according to the imperial government’s planning, such as planting forests and fruits, or building ponds and reservoirs.

Good beaches will be converted into prices for the resettlement of victims in the new river.

After talking about the rest for a long time, Zhu Yihai planned to buy it with his internal money, and the money would be handed over to the treasury of the Ministry of Households. After he bought the other beaches of the old road, there were additional conditions. Dredging rivers, building reservoirs, etc.

Of course, the reservoir built by Zhu Yihai with his own money is also eligible to build hydraulic mills, forging workshops, etc., and is also eligible to charge water fees for landowners who need water for irrigation. Of course, the water fee standard must also be determined by the court.

If nearby farmers participate in the construction of the reservoir or even invest money, then the water fee should be reduced accordingly, and even the right to use it for free will be obtained.

Zhu Yihai didn't intend to take advantage of it. The overall plan for comprehensive governance requires a lot of investment in development. This is actually a test of skill. The good land is used to resettle the people. If there is no level, it will be a loss of money to take over the stall.

However, he thinks that this old road of thousands of miles is a golden belt, whether it is building a reservoir to raise fish and chickens, or using water power to build mills and houses or even forging workshops, or raising fish and ducks, or raising fish and ducks. Talking about storing water and selling water, or transforming beach land into new grain fields, or orchards, vegetable fields, and forest gardens, as long as they are scientifically regulated, centralized management, and get rid of the peasant family model, there is a future and profits. will not be small.

The old Yellow River Delta, which is just the old road, is a great treasure land, which can not only be used for reclamation, but also for the construction of ports.

If it is distributed directly to the common people, it is difficult to achieve this kind of development effect. If it is developed in the future, Zhu Yihai can also package it in pieces and sell it to some gentry and relatives.

"The people in the [-]-mile embankment of the new river channel of the Yellow River must be relocated and resettled." Zhu Yihai still emphasized.

It has been almost three years since the destruction of the mouth. Before the disaster area was under the control of the Tartars, the people could not get relief, so they could only leave their homes and homes.Some moved to Taiwan, some moved to Jiangnan and so on.

Wars and disasters have destroyed many families.

The population of Henan, Shandong and other places dropped sharply. The breach of Tongwaxiang alone caused over forty prefectures and counties to be flooded, tens of millions of people were affected, and tens of thousands of people died in this flood and the subsequent famine.

Today, Shandong and Henan are basically recovered, but there are many scenes where there are no people living in hundreds of miles.

At this stage, in fact, there are not many people to be resettled in the Xinhe embankment, and most of them have died in troubled times, or have settled in other places after fleeing.

"The fields recovered from Henan, Henan and Jiangbei in Shandong shall be sold to soldiers, officials, garrisons, postmen, etc. in priority. Grant five acres, if there is more, then grant full, although this land will be sold at a price change, but the land price will follow the market, don’t be too high, the interest will be profitable, allow ten-year long interest, annual interest of [-]%, no compound interest, ten-year installment repayment.”

Although some people suggested that the imperial court rent out the collected official land, Zhu Yihai still believed that selling it at a lower price was not for the sake of selling money, but to take this opportunity to re-distribute the land so that many landless people could regain land.

Rent collection can be more profitable than selling at variable prices. Even if you only harvest [-]% of the rent for autumn grain, you can harvest it every year, and the long-term income will be higher.Sell ​​it once and sell it at a cheap price, which is like renting it out.

But this kind of official land lease is not in the long-term interests of the imperial court. Although the imperial court needs finances, the purpose is not to make money. Long-term peace and stability is the ultimate goal of the imperial court.

The increase of self-cultivating farmers and small landlords is beneficial to the long-term stability of the imperial court.

Farmers with land and tenants without land are completely different. Zhu Yihai has studied it. In this era, if a self-cultivator with ten acres of land is free from war disasters, he can basically satisfy his food and clothing, while tenants without land can no longer live. After hard work, after a year, except for food, what can be left is less than one-tenth of that of the owner-peasant.

This is the difference between mastering the means of production.

Selling the land to landless peasants requires money and interest, but if it is extended to ten years, the burden can be afforded. One mu of land is three silver dollars, ten mu is 30 yuan, and the interest is 15 yuan. , repayment in ten-year installments, you only need to repay the principal in the front, that is, three yuan a year, and only after the ten-year period expires will you need to repay the final interest of 15 yuan.

This is equivalent to giving farmers ten years to accumulate the interest money.

Owning ten acres of good land directly, although you have to repay three yuan a year in loans, three yuan is only three shimi. Shangtian can reach the annual output standard of three shi.

Farmers plant ten acres of land, except for seeds and other expenses. For a family of five or six, they can get about twelve stones in addition to the rations of about eighteen stones.

Ten mu of land pays more than two shi, and there are still six or seven shi of surplus grain, and the income of one mu of silk and silk cloth is eighty-nine yuan, and the loan of three yuan for land purchase should be still fifteen or sixteen.If you save another one yuan and five interest, you can still have fourteen or five yuan.

Of course, this is the best situation. If there is a lot of expenses in case of illness, birth, old age, illness, death, marriage, etc., in case of disaster, etc., there may be no income.

However, as long as the society is stable, the risk of the ten-year loan is much lower.

Even a farmer's family planting ten acres of land, men farming and women weaving, and even doing casual labor during the slack season, can still have some extra income. Basically, they can afford this loan and can also solve their food and clothing.

Of course, the premise is that the government is clear, otherwise corrupt officials can easily bankrupt ordinary people.

A self-cultivator with ten acres of fertile land may only save a dozen or twenty silver dollars after working hard for a year in a stable era when the weather is good and the government is clear.

One can imagine the hardships of the people in this era. Whenever they encounter floods, droughts and locust plagues, or exorbitant taxes, or encounter diseases, weddings and funerals, they may go bankrupt.

The tenants who do not have their own land are even more miserable. Even if they are year-round, they may not have enough food and clothing. Therefore, many tenants in the south of the Yangtze River cannot marry wives for a lifetime, stay single all their lives, and finally die in poverty.

Some people may still save a few yuan when they are young, and then rent a wife to live for two years and help give birth to a child. If they are lucky, the child will survive, and maybe they will have a future.

But generally speaking, in the era of the late Ming Dynasty, the people were suffering and the people were in poverty. The society at the end of the Ming Dynasty was already full of dry firewood, and a spark could start a prairie fire.

Without Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, there would be Zhang Zicheng, Wang Zicheng, Zhao Zicheng and others.

Even without the rise of Liaodong in the later Jin Dynasty, Monan Mongolia, Mobei Mongolia, and Moxi Mongolia outside the pass would also take the opportunity to enter the Guannan and go to the Central Plains.

In the past few years, Zhu Yihai has also gained a deeper understanding of the 200-year history of Daming.

Although the history of the Ming Dynasty was created by the beggar monk Zhu Yuanzhang, the best life was the emperor's vassals and officials and officials. For them, the nearly 300-year history of the Ming Dynasty was the best era, and it was the best time to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder. The prosperity of Song Dynasty.

But for the people at the bottom, Daming's country is rotten. The people have never had a good day, and they are always struggling below the line of food and clothing. To them, Daming is like a muddy quagmire, or even a hell.

This is wrong, the world is too polarized.

Although Zhu Yihai is the one sitting on the dragon chair, if he can't face up to and change this point, then even if he recovers the two capitals, he won't be able to call Zhongxing Daming and recover China, or within two or three generations, the country may perish again. .

It must be changed, and it cannot be done without change.

Use strong means to clear up the land, and sell a large amount of land to the people. If they have no money to buy, let them borrow money at low interest rates, and pay ten years in installments, and the interest is only half of the capital in ten years.

Limit the amount of land for officials, scholars, bureaucrats and landlords, and try to allow as many landless people as possible to obtain land during this wave of re-establishment of the country, so as to lay a solid foundation for the Southern Ming Dynasty, in order to be able to stabilize the world for another 300 years .

Zhu Yihai didn't ask for thousands of years, but only hoped that after regaining the world, the Central Plains would be stable for 300 years.

(End of this chapter)