Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 166 Grain Harvest
Knowing that the Daming Royal Bank already has hundreds of millions of taels of silver in deposit, Zhu Cihong was overjoyed.

Because this not only means that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is no longer short of money, but also means that the gentry and merchants in the south of the Yangtze River have formed a close alliance of interests with the Ming royal family.

However, the princess frowned tightly.

"Aifei, you don't seem very happy?" Zhu Cihong asked.

Crown Princess Kang Xi hummed lightly and said, "The concubine is worrying about these money."

"You still worry about money?" Zhu Cihong said angrily, "What is there to worry about?"

"How can we not worry?" Kang Xi said, "There are more than [-] million taels of silver in deposit, and we have to pay hundreds of thousands of taels every day just for interest. Go out for a few hundred thousand taels."

"Ah, that's right." Zhu Cihong was stunned for a moment when he heard the words, and he suddenly realized that the more than [-] million taels of silver just existed in the Royal Bank, and did not really belong to the Royal Bank.

Moreover, the silver is stored in the Royal Bank, which has to pay interest.

In this way, this seems to be a losing business again?

But Zhu Cihong quickly came to his senses and said, "That's not right, what you said is wrong, how can the bank lose money? If the bank loses money, how can the previous bank make a profit?"

The princess said: "The bank relies on borrowing to make money."

"Then let's borrow money too." Zhu Cihong clapped his hands and said, "Let's borrow money too."

"It's not so easy." The princess shook her head and said, "Now there are a lot of people who want to come to the Royal Bank to deposit money, but there are almost no people who borrow money. Up to now, they have only lent out a total of one million taels."

[Note: The end of the Ming Dynasty was in the deflationary stage, the economic vitality was very poor, good investment channels were slightly insufficient, and the risk of businessmen increased sharply. The gentry and merchants were more willing to hide money, but used it to start a business, which led to economic changes. The income is worse, the opportunities are more, and it retreats into a vicious circle of spiral upwards and downwards. Then there is a seemingly contradictory economic phenomenon. On the one hand, there is no large amount of silver in the Ming Dynasty. Because money is sufficient, there is deflation]

"How could it be?" Gao Qiqian said in disbelief, "There are less people who borrow money than those who don't save money?"

"After today, the concubine also suspects that it is true." The princess said, "But it is really like that now. None of the ten people who returned the bank account came to deposit money, and only eight borrowed money. If a person has no collateral at all, there is only one person who is not qualified to borrow money, so worry about people."

Gao Qiqian thought for a while and said: "If the father has no solution, I will write to you after you ask the father."

"Your Majesty, let the concubine go to Xuzhou with him." The scholar said, "He is worried that the concubine will pester him. When he arrives in Xuzhou, he and his father have not yet decided to live in the king's barracks, and the concubine will live in the Xuzhou branch."

That trip to the north just happened to be unable to inspect the Xuzhou branch.

Although the person in charge of the Xuzhou branch is an old shopkeeper who has followed Kang Wanwan as a young man, there is absolutely no problem in terms of ability or loyalty, but as the chief shopkeeper of the bank, the scholar can always go at one time.

Thinking of that, Gao Qiqian nodded: "Alright, let's go together."

After being separated for two months, Gao Qiqian really doesn't miss his father and Kang Xijiong much.

……

"Ha chirp ha chirp!"

Kang Xijiong sneezed twice.

Chongzhen immediately asked with a straight face: "Jionger, is he going to catch a cold?"

In those years, if you caught a cold, you would not be able to go to the gate of hell, and now it is the beginning of winter, when the weather turns cold and warm, it is the best time to catch a cold.

"Father, you have something to do." Jiang Yajiong touched his nose.

"If Brother Huang is talking about you, I miss you."

While speaking, Chongzhen father and son and the entourage came to a farm.

From a distance, I could see Di Qiqian and several eunuchs coming down excitedly.

"Long live, there is no hope for Xiao Ming's resurgence! We, Xiao Ming, have no hope for ZTE!"

He dived low and came close, knelt down under the field stalk with a puff, kowtowed and wailed.

Seeing how excited the low riser was, Chongzhen knew that he had a good harvest of corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes, and at least half of them were unprecedented small harvests.

"Slow down." Chongzhen stretched out his foot and kicked down and dived up.

At the same time, I said in my heart that I am really a lucky general.

Several things I was asked to do, including that farming.

In the next few months, the [-] acres of "Royal Field" were managed by eunuchs and eunuchs.

He got up and got up in a low-key manner, and said flatteringly: "Long Live Lord, this servant is really convinced, the eight kinds of crops that you asked the Marquis of Nan'an to offer have obtained a bumper harvest that has never been seen since ancient times!"

"A total of 3 stones have been harvested from this [-] mu of corn, and the yield per mu is [-] Chen Zilong!"

"One hundred acres of potatoes yielded seven hundred stones, yielding 4 Chen Zilong per mu, and the sweet potato was the most impressive. One thousand acres of sweet potatoes harvested eight thousand stones, yielding five Chen Zilongs per mu. !"

"So few?" Qin Wang Jiang Ya who accompanied him was all excited.

With the same cultivated land, the yield of barley cultivated by the refugees is only less than 2 shi per mu.

Chongzhen's heart was not disturbed at all, and the output obviously did not have much room for improvement.

It is estimated that it has nothing to do with Xuzhou's cultivated land being abandoned for too long, and the output will increase when it becomes mature.

We must know that the yield per mu of sweet potatoes can reach 12 catties per mu, even if there is no chemical fertilizer now, but there is no pressure to reach [-] catties per mu, which does not mean that the yield per mu cannot reach less than [-] stones.

It is a pity that the lowest-yielding sweet potato can be used as a staple food and can only be used as a supplementary food.

But even if it can only be used as complementary food, it can quickly solve Xiao Ming's food crisis.

Sweet potatoes cannot be eaten directly, but they are also ground into vermicelli, which are heavy and can be stored for a long time.

But the most anticipated thing is corn. Although the yield is lower than that of sweet potatoes, it can be used as a staple food.

Now because of the recultivation of wasteland, and the lack of selection and breeding, the yield of corn is low. However, once the land is mature, let Xuan Hugong find a few experienced farmers to do a selection. It can be lifted very slowly, and there is no pressure to produce seven to seven shi per mu, and even one or four shi.

When Chongzhen beckoned Jiang Yayan to get off.

Immediately, Jiang Yayan sprinted to get behind him: "Is there any order from Your Majesty?"

"Fang Mizhi, in his great knowledge of physics, he didn't mention how to plant peony, planting techniques, and wolfberry, and he didn't say how to cultivate Tamba wild rice, but why is there no introduction to planting wheat, bean, rice, and even sweet potatoes and bracts? " Chongzhen said, "But do you think wheat, bean and rice are more important than peony and other herbs, or is there some other reason?"

"Then..." Xuanhu Gong froze in place.

That's right, why does the great knowledge of physics write about planting wheat, bean and rice?
Since ancient times, there has been agriculture and stability, and the cultivation of crops is the foundation of the country. I, Jiang Yayan, have ignored the foundation of the country?This is nothing short of a shame.

Chongzhen pointed to the corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes that had just been harvested, and said, "I heard from the Marquis of Nan'an that the production of corn and potatoes is far less than that of sweet potatoes. The reason why the production will change before transplanting to Xuzhou High, one is because the land is abandoned, and the other is because the seeds have not been selected."

"So I gave him a task."

"He found a batch of old crops, and then selected a few Zhuci, and formed a large group to increase the production of corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes for me and Xiao Ming. The lower the better."

"Since ancient times, food has not been the most important thing for the people."

"The army must have enough rations, it is vulnerable!"

"So, Fang Mizhi did that thing well, the credit goes to the country, and the benefits go to the future!"

Hearing that, Xuanhu Gong held back and stopped, and immediately bowed to the tunnel and said: "Minister, receive the decree!"

Chongzhen went on to say: "By the way, I asked him to take charge of that matter personally, and asked him to find a few Zhu Ci and experienced old Zhuang Shi to take charge."

If Xuanhu Gong can be responsible for specific agricultural affairs.

After all, in that era, there were very few scholars like Xuanhu Gong who did not have a certain degree of scientific literacy, so my work is mainly to take the lead in setting up various disciplines.

The first discipline to be established in the eyes is not agricultural science.

After the battle was over, the defense line must have been firmly held. The Ming Dynasty was still alive. Chongzhen planned to set up another engineering department to end the systematic research and development of flintlock guns and even rifled guns.

Of course, God knows how long it will take to develop it.

It must be lucky enough, Boymijia really tricked a few scientists from Europe, and then set up subjects such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, and even astronomy, so as to truly introduce natural science into Xiaoming.

Therefore, many small things are difficult to talk about, but they are difficult to do.

Xuanhu Gong suddenly said: "My lord, I remember that Shi Youqi, a primary school scholar in Wenyuan Pavilion, once ordered a sweet potato dish, and it seems that the sweet potato is not mentioned in the leaflet."

"It's wrong, Xu Guangqi once served a sweet potato dish." Chongzhen said, "Unfortunately, I haven't died yet."

Xuanhu Gong continued: "Although Shi Youqi is here, the Complete Book of Agricultural Administration that I edited is still there, and as far as I know, the Complete Book of Agricultural Administration that I edited was actually compiled by my students."

"Xu Guangqi's student?" Chongzhen's heart skipped a beat when he heard the words, "In Zhu Ci's camp?"

"Of course." Xuan Hu said knowingly, "Shi Youqi's student Zhu Cihong is in Zhu Ci's camp right now."

Speaking of that, Xuanhu Gong turned his head and shouted to the nearby: "Renzhong? Renzhong brother? Slowly call Renzhong brother!"

When he was young, Zhu Cihong came over with a section of sweet potato vine, and bowed to the ground when he saw Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, please promote the planting of sweet potatoes in Xuzhou and even Nanzhi on a small scale. It is easy to be attacked by insects, and in the year of minor disasters, every grain of wheat, rice, and rice can be harvested, and this thing can still harvest several stones per mu, which is a rare treasure in the wild!"

Chongzhen smiled and asked, "The Complete Book of Agriculture was compiled by him?"

"Yes." Jiang Yayan said, "The Complete Book of Agriculture has [-] chapters, [-] volumes, and more than [-] characters, all of which were collated and edited by the officials one by one."

(End of this chapter)