Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 676 Changping
In a blink of an eye, it will be Shaotian's four-year Dragon Boat Festival again.

Summer is getting longer and endless.

The south began to row dragon boats and eat zongzi again, but in Shandong, people don’t have so many rituals during the Dragon Boat Festival. At most, they just eat eggs and put wormwood. Not on the Dragon Boat Festival.

At this time, the wheat guests from western Henan and northern Henan, who were the first to harvest the wheat, began to come to Shandong in groups.

The scorching sun is in the sky, the wheat waves are golden, and the wheat guests come in droves. At this time, the landowners from all over the world will greet these wheat guests warmly. Harvesting wheat is a race against time. Take advantage of the good weather and harvest the mature wheat After cutting the recovered land, dry it and thresh it into the warehouse as soon as possible, without any delay.

Once the weather is late, the wheat will fall to the field and be wasted, or it will germinate directly on the wheat straw when it encounters wind and rain, and even when it is taken back, it will not dry and become moldy and rot.

It was a year of hard work, and no one wanted to waste the last shudder.

This is also the day when pigs and sheep are slaughtered everywhere in the countryside. The butchers kill pigs early and start selling meat at a stall before dawn, and some even directly pick them up to sell in the countryside.

Landlords in Maiduo directly asked people to kill pigs, and the fat pigs in the pen were caught and killed. The rice for slaughtering pigs was also the start-up meal for harvesting wheat. Fat.

After eating and drinking enough, he can go to the field and work hard to harvest wheat for his master.

At this time, all the people in the village are turning around the wheat fields, and even the officials are required to go to the countryside to do some contract work to ensure the successful completion of the wheat harvest.

There are voices of bargaining and bargaining everywhere on the roadside. The wheaters carry their bedrolls and carry sickles to harvest wheat. Regardless of whether the wheat is good or bad, it is counted in acres. It is good luck to encounter thin-growing wheat. Those who are in the whirlpool can only admit that they are at a disadvantage, and there is no reason to increase the price. This is the rule of Maike.

Of course, if the cut is good, not only will there be more meat in the meal when the host delivers the meal at noon, but even a little more meat will be added when the wages are paid at night, so that everyone is happy.

The wheat customers are paid by the mu, and the wheat season is short, so everyone is rushing to make money. They start working at dawn, and they don’t go home at noon. After eating, continue to fight for time, and if you can charge more, you will get more money.

A long sickle made of willow wood, equipped with a thin blade, is waved and brushed to break the sickle over the wheat.

Once the field is scytheed, it usually takes three days to cut the field, and the field is bare.

The next thing is to load the wheat back home, and then grab the time to grind the field. Because there is a lot of wheat, we are afraid of rain. Generally, we have to pile it into wheat stacks when we bring it back. When the weather is good, we will untie the piles and pull them to the field first. Dry it in the air and then crush it with a roller, turn it over again after rolling it, and then grind it again, then start and raise the field.

Only when all the wheat has been ground and lifted will it be considered as the end of the wheat harvesting and milling field, and then there will be drying, and it will be put into the warehouse after the sun is dry, and the one-year wheat harvest will be over.

Most of the wheat harvesters in Shandong this year are from the southwestern part of Henan. The war is still going on there, and there are many hungry and disaster victims, and the wheat harvest there is earlier, so they come to Shandong to harvest wheat after the harvest is over.

In the past, there were more wheat guests from Gansu. The wheat in Gansu was harvested much later, and the area was poorer. Therefore, a large number of Gansu people went south and east, first harvesting from Guanzhong, and then from Shandong, Henan.

Men and women, old and young, it is said that at the peak, 300,000 people went east to harvest wheat every year, and the scene was very spectacular.

But this year, because Wu Sangui was guarding Guanzhong, and Gansu was occupied by the Ming army's outer town, the war broke the old tradition.

Most of the mikes are poor people, even landless poor people. When they come out to harvest wheat, they rely entirely on physical strength, endurance and foot strength. What they do is overloaded with heavy physical strength and really desperate.

A capable Maike can harvest one or two acres of wheat a day, eat four or five catties of food, and walk dozens of miles at night.

Working hard for a month, I can earn my normal wages for two or three months.

Many of the wheat harvesters in Shandong this year came from Yingzhou, Nanyang and even Huguang, where the Qing occupied the area, and the people suffered.

In comparison, Shandong is undoubtedly much better this year.

To entertain Mai Ke, you have to be kind and generous, white steamed buns, strong tea, eat and drink as much as you want, and meat, four people a catty of pork, not pig intestines and lungs, but pork, usually streaky Three layers of big meat, one catty for four people.

People usually can eat white flour steamed buns and salted fish. It’s a holiday. Now the four landlords give a catty of meat, steamed buns and tea to fill their stomachs. This is really too generous.

Some owners even give some shredded tobacco to smoke.

These mikes who come to earn money with their lives are actually disaster victims. They don't have high requirements. They can have a pot of porridge, a few white flour buns, and some pickles. They mainly want to earn some money to go back.

As long as you can eat enough and work hard.

Many of the steamed buns given to them by the landlords, some mikes were even reluctant to eat them. They spread out the steamed buns in the field to dry, and took them back home for the elderly and children at home to eat.

In particular, some female mikes are not inferior to men in their work, and they endure even more hardships. Even the four taels of meat are reluctant to eat a few bites, and they have to dry them and take them back.

When the wheat is being harvested, the housekeeper stays overnight, usually on a temporary floor, or in an abandoned house, or even sleeps overnight on the wheat pile.

Mackers like those big landowners, who have a lot of wheat land, don't need to change fields every day, and can harvest for several days in a row.

After harvesting a field, they dare not rest too much. They will rush to a new wheat field overnight and sleep wherever they go. The most fearful thing is that it will rain. No wheat is collected and no one is in charge of food, so they can only eat dry food or even go hungry, let alone income.

In this way, the mikes stood one after another, chasing the golden wheat waves until the wheat was harvested. They wore leggings, carried luggage, and carried sickles, drafting in groups in the dark for a living.

Some of the wheat harvesters who came to Shandong this year have been here in previous years, and some have not been here. Even those who have been here in the past will find that this year is different.

The smiles on the faces of the landlords were bigger and more enthusiastic, and the food they entertained was better. In the past, only some relatively generous landlords would entertain pork. Generally, it was a catty for eight people, and two taels for one person.Sometimes even only pig intestines and lungs are used for entertaining, but this year it is generally good pork for four people per catty, and white flour steamed buns are also enough.

There are even local officials in the villages in various places who are responsible for receiving them. When encountering disputes, a sudden illness of a Mai Ke, or having nothing to do or stay in the rain, etc., these people will take the initiative to contact and even help them.

In the past, when going out to harvest wheat, it was easy to encounter bandits, thieves, and even village bullies and evil gentry. But this year, such things are much rarer, and even these local officials will help them out.

Even the wages for harvesting wheat have risen a lot.

Tired for seven or eight hours during the day, if you finally stop and lie under the stars, everyone will be envious.In some places, the servants of the yamen even took the initiative to bring a pot of tea or some shredded tobacco to talk to them, talk about where they came from, the situation along the way, and even the difficulties encountered in harvesting wheat.

I also publicized to them the new policy here after the restoration of Shandong by the Shaotian Dynasty, etc. For example, many people bought low-interest loans from the government to buy land at a lower price. For example, the new tax law has greatly reduced the burden. Other low-interest agricultural loans, You can buy cattle, seeds, farm tools, and even subsidies for cattle.

Everyone who listened was extremely envious.

There are those from Hubei, they are now under the control of the Tartars, there are surcharges in addition to the regular tax, in addition to the surcharge, there are floating income, in addition to the floating income, there is fire consumption, and then there is additional payment, what Liao pay and other three rates, All in all it was a tough day.

The Tartars controlled them tightly, preventing them from escaping.

When they came out to collect wheat, they still had to pay a penny donation to get the road, and they had to have wives, children and parents in the village to come out. If they were that kind of bachelors, they were not eligible to come out.

This trip, even if you work hard, but after deducting the donation from Mai Ke, there are actually not many left, but everyone has no other way, and if they can get one, it is one.

Everyone hopes that the officers and soldiers can recover Yingzhou, Nanyang, Hubei and other places as soon as possible, so that they can also enjoy the treatment of the people in Shandong.

······
"This year's wheat harvest in Shandong has basically been completed, the weather is beautiful, and the weather is fine, and the people have successfully put the wheat into the warehouse,"

"This year's summer harvest of winter wheat in Shandong is about 50 million mu, and it has been a bumper harvest. The yield per mu in the upper field is more than three stones, and the output in the lower field is about one stone."

Huang Zongxi, governor and governor of Shandong, is reporting to the emperor the wheat harvest situation in Shandong this year, and all kinds of statistics are astonishing.

Although the 50 million mu is not the standard tax mu of the imperial court, but has both upper, middle and lower fields, but on average, this year's summer wheat harvest in Shandong has 70 million stone wheat.

This is very amazing.

The total arable land in Shandong is about 50 million mu. Winter wheat is the main food crop. This year, [-] million mu has been planted, which means that there is basically no wasteland this year. Except for spring wheat, corn, potatoes, etc., most of the land is planted with winter wheat.

The bumper harvest of summer grain also means that there will be no problem with the collection of land and silver by the imperial court in Shandong this year. It also means that Shandong has been able to be self-sufficient in grain this year, and even has a lot of surplus.

Food prices can fall back to one or two stones, or even lower.

"A bumper harvest of grain is a good thing. This year, we will purchase grain from the common people. We can appropriately relax the amount of rations that the common people keep for themselves. I have a suggestion. The grain received by the common people can be divided into three parts. One part is to reserve enough rations for the common people according to the population. Reserve more. The second is to purchase grain collectively. You don’t need to harvest everything other than rations. Instead, you need to set an amount based on the number of acres of land and grain production, after excluding rations. , the imperial court collects the price according to the market price, and the remaining [-]% can be left to the free arrangement of the people.
In the past, we unified the purchase and sales of grain, which was also a special method in a special period. Now that the grain situation is gradually improving, the imperial court must also appropriately relax grain control. It cannot be too tight. If the control is too tight for a long time, accidents will easily occur. We have to recover Part of the grain market economy allows private grain stores in addition to public grain stores, as long as they are supervised.

The people are free to choose how to arrange their remaining food. "

"Another point is that this year's summer grain harvest has been bumper. Some officials have proposed to reduce the unified purchase price of summer grain to less than [-] yuan, or even lower. , almost all prices have risen a lot,

Now that the price of grain is set too low, it will undoubtedly hurt the farmers. Therefore, I think that the price of grain cannot be lowered as soon as the harvest is bumper. This year, the newly harvested rice and wheat will be sold in the market at the rate of one tael and one stone. The price of grain purchased by farmers is [-]% of the conventional rice. Although the pricing should be low, it should not be too low. The purchase price must be set according to this selling price to ensure the income of grain farmers.

Guanzi once said that whoever has five grains is the lord of all things.If the grain is expensive, all things will be cheap, and if the grain is cheap, all things will be expensive.

Food and clothing are the foundation of a country's people's livelihood, especially food and clothing are more important.

There are tens of thousands of people farming and selling grain in the world. The grain produced in the field is their main source of income. If the price of grain is too low, they will have no money to buy other things.

The price of grain is the price vane. When the price of grain rises, the prices of other things will also rise, but it is good to keep a relatively reasonable price. For example, a few taels or even a dozen taels per stone in Chongzhen was of course not acceptable.

But if food prices are too low, there will be big problems.

Just like in the Tang Dynasty, in the third year of Zhenguan, the world was prosperous, and a bucket of rice cost two or three dollars. This is not a good thing. A stone of rice is only twenty or thirty dollars. Money shortage.

So at the beginning Li Shimin was very proud. I have only been in office for a few years, and a bucket of grain only sells for two or three dollars. The world is prosperous.But the minister who understands economics told him that he made a big mistake and that the world is going to have a big problem.Because goods and money are expensive, department stores will be unavailable, and all merchants will be at a loss, which will have a huge destructive force on economic development and commodity exchange.

Simply put, there will be a Great Depression.

Even in the farming era, it is impossible for the country to be separated from industry and commerce.

The shortage of money in the Tang Dynasty was serious, and it was not enough to trade both money and silk, and even trade with rice and wheat.

Zhu Yihai also knew that the price of grain was cheap, but it looked good on the surface, but the Ming Dynasty was still a farming-based society, and a large number of people only relied on farming and selling grain as their main income.

If the price of food is too high, the income of the peasants will be too low, and the peasants have always been the ballast of the prosperity of the dynasty. Once they have difficulty in food and clothing, the whole world will be in turmoil.

A young and strong farmer can plant ten mu of land at most. A family of five or six people needs more than ten shi rations a year. For food, a family of five or six people needs at least fifteen shi rations, and at most ten shi grains can be left, not counting seeds.

This has to be the case of own land.

Ten shi grains have to pay taxes and various expenses, so basically there is nothing left, and you have to save rations such as vegetables and melons to barely survive. The ability to resist unexpected disasters and famines makes the entire dynasty's ability to resist risks very weak, because farmers are the shortcoming of the dynasty.

No matter how long the other boards are, but this board is too short, it is useless and leaks.

The income of tenants without land is lower, and they often have to hand over half of the income to the landlord, let alone keep anything.

Even if they do some family farming, textile handicrafts, etc., they can barely make ends meet.

Therefore, in order to achieve social stability and long-term stability, Zhu Yihai thought hard for several years, and finally came to a conclusion that in addition to reducing the tax burden on farmers and tenants, he had to find ways to increase their income.

Sell ​​the official land to them, let them own the land, master the means of production, and become self-cultivated farmers.Appropriately raise the price of grain, and even establish a long-term national storage system. In good years, the price will be raised to avoid hurting farmers.

"This year, people are still allowed to freely choose whether to pay grain or silver for the land and silver of the common people. Regardless of whether it is true color or color, they must strictly follow the standards set by the imperial court. Floating collections and fire consumption are not allowed."

"In addition to the expropriated grain from the land into the warehouse, the grain stations in various places should also pay close attention to collecting the unified purchase grain. In addition, the Changping warehouse also tries to buy the surplus grain in the hands of the people as much as possible. Only when there is food in the middle can you not panic in your heart."

"New grains are launched in grain shops around the country, but rice and wheat must maintain a good price, one or two for one stone, and the remaining old rice, soybeans, millet, corn, sorghum, etc. must also strictly follow the corresponding prices. Prices cannot be raised or lowered randomly, and prices must be kept stable. "

When there is a good harvest, the price will be greatly reduced, and when there is a disaster, the price will be greatly increased. The price of food will fluctuate greatly, and it will inevitably lead to fluctuations in the prices of other commodities and department stores. This will seriously affect economic stability. The imperial court must play the role of ballast stone.

Purchase and storage with guaranteed price in good years, release grain at a fair price in case of poor harvest to stabilize the price, ensure economic stability and social stability.

"The Changping Warehouse not only needs to store and store grain, but also has to go through the purchase and purchase system for other important people's livelihood materials, actively participate in, maintain the market, and ensure the economy and people's livelihood."

Changping warehouses have always existed from the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, even before the Ming Dynasty, and the effect was very good.

"This year, the situation in Henan and Hebei provinces is still not optimistic. Shandong has to allocate food aid. Now Henan is still surrounded by Yingzhou and Nanyang. Although Hebei is almost dependent, half of Hebei has already belonged to Daming, and the remaining Yizhou, Hejian, Baoding, Tianjin, Yizhou, Shuntian, Xuanhua, and Zunhua are the northern half of Zhili."

To the south of the Hutuo River, almost all of them are known.

It can be said that both Tu Guobao and Ma Guozhu surprised Zhu Yihai.

And Ding Qiguang, Xu Dingguo, Li Huajing and other regiments and rebels who were originally from Henan and Shandong have now voluntarily left the Central Plains and rushed into Hebei like a swarm of bees.

Zhu Yihai could guess the reason. He started to control Henan and Shandong two years later, and these people were still reluctant to reorganize or even abolish these outer towns, regiment training, and volunteer camps.

So taking advantage of the good situation in Hebei, they all ran to Hebei. What the imperial court now wants is the control of Henan and Shandong. , and even sent deputy posts, but basically they are free to toss about, such as collecting grain and taxes, siege cities and looting land, and even seize the income.

People from all walks of life who didn't want to be reorganized immediately ran to Hebei. Zhu Yihai was happy with this situation. Letting them go to Hebei to make a fuss just happened to be able to bluff and scare the Tartars that he was going to attack Beijing.

After these people left, the situation in Henan was stable and clear, but Henan was not able to rectify as well as Shandong, so after the summer harvest this year, it still faces the problem of a large amount of land being barren and insufficient food supply.

Shandong still needs support, and the Jiangbei side has to supply food and grass for the imperial camp soldiers and horses surrounding Yingzhou and even defending Hubei.

Now Zhu Yihai has to transfer some food from Shandong to the people from all walks of life who are going to Hebei to make troubles in the Heavenly Palace. Anyway, these people going to Hebei will be of great benefit to the current situation, so Zhu Yihai has no choice but to find a way Solve the problem of insufficient food supply for them.

We can't take back Henan and Shandong, but also want them to fight Hebei, and don't give them any benefits.

(End of this chapter)