Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 691 The White Tower
Coal and copper were found on Panlong Mountain, and coal and iron are basically found in several surrounding mountains.

The reserves of coal are large, and it is relatively easy to mine. In fact, there used to be many private mines here, most of which belonged to the Lu Palace, and Zhu Yihai knew about them.

In other words, the mines in the past were basically privately mined because no mining tax was paid.And those who can open mines are all powerful, all of whom are colluding with officials and businessmen, and even have senior officials standing behind them.

The fact that Wanli collects mining tax makes such a big fuss precisely because it infringes on their private mining interests. Who is willing to pay the tax?The members of the Donglin Party, in particular, regard the waste mine tax as one of their major political propositions, but they don't think about it. It is an ancient practice that minerals belong to the state.

But the Donglin Party insisted on turning black and white. Instead of saying that they privately mine state-owned mineral resources without paying taxes, they said that the emperor sent eunuchs to collect mining taxes to disturb the people and harm the people, and incited the miners to riot and rebel.

In the final analysis, they are all motivated by interests, and there is no country in their eyes.

When Zhu Yihai proclaimed himself emperor, he issued an edict stating that all minerals are state-owned, allowing people to open mines, but they have to pay taxes.

He didn't care about the objections of the scholars and bureaucrats in Donglin. With the support of the emperor's swords and guns, the mining tax was collected smoothly. There were also some people who tried to incite the miners to riot and try to blackmail the court. Zhu Yihai was not used to them.

Sending troops to encircle and suppress miners, regular soldiers attacking miners is crushing, and they will collapse at the first touch. They just want to scare the court, and they can't do it if they are serious.

The emperor set up a project to suppress several rioting mines, and then uprooted the mine owners behind the scenes, copied some families, chopped off some heads, and exiled a group of people. Later, this kind of miner riots happened no more.

Few people dared to blatantly contradict the emperor and say that the mining class should not be levied.

After all, the mouth is tough, but it is not as tough as a steel knife.

In the past, the emperor was manipulated by them. They contradicted the emperor, at most they beat the court stick, and after the fight, they became heroes of upright officials, but now it is different.

The emperor not only had knives, guns and cannons in his hands, but also held many newspapers in his hands. He launched a public opinion offensive, and he did not lose the wind at all. All the details were dug out clearly, and then all their shady activities were displayed in the newspapers and passed on to the world to make them lose their reputation.

This move is the most lethal against those guys who claim to be upright in Qingliu.

Beat magic with magic.

Not only was the emperor able to list dozens of reasons for the mining tax, but he could also ruin the reputation of these officials who opposed the mining tax. people.

If you do it like this, who would dare to make a fool of yourself.

But the emperor said that whether he was murdered or murdered, there was solid evidence that those officials themselves accepted bribes according to the law or did many other illegal acts first, and the emperor did not wrong him.
In the final analysis, their buttocks are not clean.

If they can follow the emperor, then the emperor will naturally be able to unite with the outside world, regardless of whether you have surrendered or surrendered, or whether you have been corrupt or dereliction of duty, or your family has invaded the land, loan sharks, etc., these can be temporarily ignored, it depends on the future Can you turn over a new leaf and unanimously fight against the Tartars with the outside world, and make atonement for your sins.

But if you have to sing against the emperor, it is only natural that the emperor wants to overthrow you.

Mining is very profitable, otherwise the officials of the Ming Dynasty would not be so hard-headed.

This, like maritime trade, is a huge benefit.

However, mining is also a labor-intensive industry that requires a lot of manpower. A large number of miners gather in one place for a long time. For the court that has always been lazy in government, this is a big security risk and it is very difficult to manage.

In particular, they hold a very backward concept, thinking that mines are not like fields, which are stable and can be cultivated every year to produce output every year, but when the mines dry up, what will happen to the tens of thousands of people who gather at that time? placement?

Many dynasties have maintained stability as a premise, wishing that all men would farm and women weave, which would be the best.But in fact, no dynasty can last forever like this.

The amount of land remains unchanged, but the population will increase significantly, and land mergers will become more and more serious. Therefore, after the previous dynasties, land mergers will be serious, and a large number of farmers will lose their land and become unemployed.

Coupled with social development, there is a great demand for many minerals. For example, copper is used for casting coins, iron is used for ironware, and ceramic tiles are used, which one does not require mining and firing kilns.

The dynasties of the past dynasties have always hoped to emphasize agriculture and suppress business, because agriculture is the most stable and easy to manage, while business and industry are highly mobile and difficult to manage.

They hope to use land to restrain farmers, but the more this is the case, the more precious the land resources will be, which will intensify land mergers and accelerate farmers' loss of land and unemployment.

Therefore, after 200 years, many dynasties have to face peasant uprisings one after another.

You can't get rich just by farming.

The small-scale peasant economy of the owner-peasants can only barely make ends meet. Once they lose their land and become semi-tenant farmers or tenant farmers, even when they do not even have access to land and do odd jobs that tenant farmers cannot do, the situation can only be miserable.

A country cannot become richer and stronger by relying on agriculture alone.

Because the people themselves can't get rich, how can they make the country rich.

If you want to be rich, you have to rely on business.

And mineral mining is also an essential link.

"If it has been proven that the reserves here and the difficulty of opening production are suitable, then mining, the office will post recruit craftsmen, and recruit workers to mine and mine, which is also a benefit."

It can also promote the employment of the nearby people and earn more money to subsidize their families. For the imperial court, it can increase a few taxes and increase precious mineral resources.

"I heard that the great victory in Yingzhou captured more than 1 Tartar and Ertar slaves. Now our manor employs nearby people to work, which costs a lot, and when the farming season is busy, the villagers also have to work on their own. Understaffed.

The younger one wondered if the farm could buy some prisoners of war and come back as slaves in the manor, so as to hire fewer long-term laborers, and not have to look for short-term laborers everywhere during the busy farming season.Usually, using slaves to manage the manor can save a lot of cost compared to hiring long-term labor.If you are free, you can also help in the workshop. If you want to open a mine now, you can also pull it to open a mine in the future. "

The cost of using slaves is of course much lower than that of hired labor.

Slaves only need to pay a lump sum of money, which is the same as buying large livestock such as cattle and horses, but the value created is much higher than that of hired labor.

What Zhuangtou considers is the operating cost of managing the manor.

Slaves are used more than hired workers, and there is no need to hire people during busy farming periods.

But for Zhu Yihai, he is not only the owner of the manor, but also the emperor of Ming Dynasty. He thinks about problems in a longer term.

This manor can usually hire a lot of villagers' helpers here, and can provide them with extra income. If all slaves are used, it is tantamount to depriving these people of employment opportunities, and the villagers' income will be greatly reduced. For the people of this era, They can't move freely like later generations and work everywhere. Their daily activities rarely go beyond their hometown, and some of them may never leave their county for the rest of their lives.

So job opportunities are limited.

"In this way, I issued a decree to the Shaofu Supervisor, asking him to buy a batch of captives to be slaves, but the distribution will not be too much. It's not just that the captives are limited. Giving too much to the manor, our manor is built here, and some interests of the nearby villagers must also be considered.
Hiring villagers to work in the fields and up the mountains, and to help out in workshops can not only reduce our labor costs, but also increase the income of nearby villagers, understand? "

Zhuangtou hurriedly said, "The sage is kind."

"For this mining matter, the Shaofu Supervisory Committee will have a special person in charge, and will pay the village an appropriate fee at that time, but the village will not participate in the mining, and the proceeds will not go to the village.

However, when the mines are opened, it will also be beneficial to the village. Among other things, many miners will gather at that time, and there will be a great demand for food and drink every day. Our grain, vegetables, and farmed chickens, ducks, and pigs will also sell well. , and even some other benefits. "

Zhuangtou originally thought that Zhuangzi would mine the mines on the mountain by himself, but Zhu Yihai didn't think so.

Mining is a professional thing, and it is of course better to hand it over to a specialized mining department.

The positioning of this Zhuangzi is agricultural planting and breeding, and some initial processing is enough. As for mining and other things, there is naturally a special mining department in charge.

Wandering around the manor, and finally boarded the White Tower.

"This Baita Temple was originally donated by the former emperor. Now there are no monks, and there is no need to keep it anymore. Remove all the broken Buddha statues and turn this place into a school. Let's go to the Baita Temple Zhuangzi The children of the villagers, as well as the children of the villagers, can come here to go to school free of tuition when they are six years old.

Invite the two gentlemen to come to the class to teach. In addition, the manager who can read and write in the village can also come to the class when he is free. If the people in the village or the villagers are willing to come and listen, don't stop them. "

Replace the statue of Buddha with a statue of Confucius.

Change temples into sociology.

Instead of burning incense and worshiping Buddha and worshiping clay puppets, it is better to learn literacy and arithmetic, learn some arithmetic in the nine chapters of the Book of Songs and Analects, and then learn Chinese history, and even the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Isn't it better than burning incense and worshiping Buddha?
Zhu Yihai actually didn't believe in all the teachings, which originated from his experience in another life.

The Baita Temple had also received a lot of land and silver donations from the Prince Lu's Mansion, but apart from providing some empty sustenance to the people, what real help did they give?

Everyone lived frugally, offered them sesame oil and money, molded golden bodies for the Buddha, and built temples and pagodas. What did they get?When the Tartars invaded, slaughtered Yanzhou, looted countless people, and robbed cattle, sheep, and money, the Buddha himself could not keep it. The golden body was also scraped away, the bronze statue was melted, and the monks were all taken away as slaves outside the pass.

Zhu Yihai has long planned to reform the school system. In the future, the imperial examination will be parallel to the school, but the school will no longer be a place for scholars to send their names. The school will add subjects. Primary and middle schools will learn some basic arts and sciences, and then there will be some professional subjects. Universities, such as agriculture, textiles, medicine, law, accounting, architecture, water conservancy, geography, surveying and mapping, mining, animal husbandry, teachers, ships and other useful and professional disciplines.

Classics and history are the foundation, but courses such as mathematics, Gezhi, geography, and politics must be added.Each major should have more specialized disciplines in order to cultivate more professional talents.

Step by step, start with primary schools first, and then gradually increase secondary schools after promotion.

Later, I will come to universities and colleges.

Today's traditional teaching methods for the purpose of imperial examinations have already fallen behind the times.

Now Zhu Yihai has opened some specialized colleges in Tokyo, such as the Court of Politics and Science, the School of Accounting, the School of Auditing, the School of Medicine, etc., as well as the military academy, all of which train professional officials for the ministries and localities of the imperial court. Most of the recruits are young talents. .

This road of reform is just the beginning, and the road ahead is long and arduous.

"It's noon, and there is smoke from cooking in the village. I suggest that we simply go into the village to find a family, have a farm meal, and experience the daily meals of the people."

This sudden request caught Zhuangtou and the accompanying officials by surprise.

The emperor ignored them, so he really went into the village and found a villager's house who was about to eat.

The rice is very simple, steamed potatoes and corn, and then a little porridge.

The porridge is boiled with millet and black beans, sprinkled with some salt.

The steamed potatoes with skins are all cracked, and the corn is also old corn.

The villagers were panicked and at a loss. They wanted their wife in patched clothes to cook again, but there was nothing at home.

"Don't be too busy, you look at the face, it should be a new resettlement here, right?"

"The small one used to be in Dongping Prefecture. The Yellow River changed its course. Now it has become Dongping Lake. The whole family fled. Fortunately, the sage was kind and gave relief to the court. Later, they were resettled here. They bought six acres of land at a reduced price. Now they live well. .”

Zhu Yihai looked at the house. The dark earthen walls were covered with a newly built thatched roof. It was obvious that this was the collapsed and burned house of the original villagers. The house was newly built on the ruins. Although the doors and windows are good for preventing theft, they make the house dark and dull.

The small stove room is also a kitchen, and on one side is a pigsty where piglets are raised.

According to the villagers, these four piglets were actually given to them by the farmer. It was agreed that for one year, each pig would be given twelve truckloads of dung, and the piglets would be given money after the pigs were sold without interest.The villagers can still have some surplus for a year by raising this pig.

Zhu Yihai directly picked up the stained wooden bowl, filled a bowl of porridge himself, and filled bowls for King Qin and King Han respectively. The two brothers came to their senses and dared not take it.

"Why are you being polite, you should eat this, right?"

"Well, we used to be hungry outside the customs, which is already very good."

The farmer also flattered him, "Yes, this millet and soybean porridge is delicious, with fine salt added, and the steamed corn and potatoes are delicious."

"We used to live in our hometown in Dongping, but our life is not as good as it is now. I don't know Your Majesty, or we will kill chickens and boil eggs."

Zhu Yihai felt that what he said was telling the truth. In the late Ming Dynasty, the polarization was serious. The bureaucrats and bureaucrats lived very comfortably, even well-clothed and well-fed, but many people at the bottom could hardly make ends meet. The porridge and vegetable porridge are also very satisfying.

This villager has settled here since he was a refugee. He has three old houses, six acres of land, a wife, and four children. For him, the current life is unimaginable before.

The man farms and the woman weaves, and then goes to the manor to help with things. Even the older two children can earn a wage by working in the manor. They can earn more than one or two dollars a month. If this continues, in two or three years, they can have a savings. At that time, build a few new houses, marry the eldest son a wife, work hard for two more years, save a dowry for the eldest daughter, and find a better-off family to marry. This life is full of rush.

The low houses, the millet and soybean porridge, and the steamed potatoes and corn that the officials look down on, but for the villagers, this is their happy life of food and clothing.

When Zhu Yihai drank the porridge, he felt that it was not thick and mushy enough, and the steamed potatoes were a bit choking on his throat, but he didn't dislike it, and he still ate it. King Qin and King Han didn't dislike it at all, it was better than what they had eaten as slaves for six years Too much.

A group of accompanying ministers could only stand aside and watch, Zhu Yihai brought them corn and potatoes, and shared a piece with each of them, "Try all of them, whole grains, good things."

There was no water or porridge, and several officials from superior families nearly rolled their eyes because they choked on the steamed potatoes.

Zhu Yihai finished this simple meal that couldn't be simpler.

Sitting there, I asked the family about some specific situations. They are very satisfied with their current life.

He kept thanking the emperor, and even knelt down to thank him.

"How old is the boss?"

"The eldest son is sixteen and the eldest daughter is fifteen. They are both working in the farm now. The eldest son raises pigs and the eldest daughter weaves. They can get one silver dollar a month. Thanks to the saint for his kindness."

Zhu Yihai looked at the two young men who were a bit restrained and shy. They were a little hungry and short, but their eyes were simple.

"If the old man is willing, you can let the two children come with me. I will arrange for them to work with the King of Qin. I will give two silver dollars a month, plus food, clothing and housing. How about it?"

The man could hardly believe his ears, and was stunned for a long time.

After regaining consciousness, he immediately pulled his children and knelt down in front of Zhu Yihai, thanking him a thousand times.

"Get up, I will lead them the way, but it will depend on their good fortune in the future. If they behave well, they can be sent to the imperial camp or military academy in the future."

When he finally left, Zhu Yihai specially gave this family a calf.

"Raise it well. After raising it for more than a year, you can teach it to plow the land. This is still a cow. After two years, it will be able to give birth to another calf. When the cow raises the cultivated land, the calf it produces can be sold for money. One per year can also help the family a lot.”

The family was like a dream, and they didn't know why the sky suddenly fell on them like a pie.

The eldest son and the eldest daughter were immediately favored by the emperor, and they were chosen to work for the eldest prince, and each person paid two silver dollars a month, let alone working by the prince's side.

And the emperor gave them a calf for a meal of porridge and miscellaneous grains.

"There will be no temple in Baitasi Village, so it should be called Baita Village. This temple was built by the late emperor, and this village was also passed down to me by the late emperor. You live here, and you are also my neighbors. What will happen to you in the future? For the matter, just ask Zhuangtou for help, if they can't handle it, you can report it to me."

When they were leaving, the young girl and her siblings each carried a torn bag and some old clothes, and knelt and bid farewell to their tearful parents.

Zhu Yihai said to his elder son Hongjia, "From now on, their siblings will follow you. They are children from a poor family, and they are still very simple. If you treat them well, they will be loyal to you."

(End of this chapter)