Daming: Old Zhu, we agreed not to rush!

Chapter 197 Isn't it a ruler's forte to create a name cleverly?

test gun!

Zhu Biao was even more excited than Su Jing.

Not long after, the two came to a remote and open place.

It is definitely impossible to test the gun near one's own house. This thing is a bit noisy and easily disturbs the people.

"Master Su, I have set a target."

Zhu Biao inserted a round wooden board with a stick on the ground, and turned to Su Jing's side.

"Don't get too close to me, Niu Yi."

Su Jing is still very cautious, after all, it is the first time to make a firearm, if there is something wrong, such as the explosion of the chamber, it will be very dangerous.

Su Jing's biggest concern about this flintlock gun is that the cast iron is not strong enough. When the gunpowder burns in the chamber, it will directly break the layer of cast iron.

Before making this flintlock, he had repeatedly confirmed with Zhu Biao.

Most of Daming's firecrackers have thick barrels.

why?
It is to ensure the firmness of the gun.

"Yes, Master Su."

Zhu Biao stepped back more than a dozen steps, and found a big tree to hide behind.

Su Jing fixed the flintlock gun on a wooden stick with a rope and aimed it at the target. The distance between the gun and the target was about ten meters.

The main reason is that I am afraid that the accuracy will not be enough at any distance, and I will not be able to hit it at all, so I don't know how powerful this flintlock is.

Fill gunpowder and load lead bullets in one go.

Then Su Jing tied the trigger with a thin rope, and then slowly retreated to the distance.

"Niu Yi, pay attention to concealment!"

Su Jing shouted at Zhu Biao again.

Zhu Biao then completely hid his body behind the big tree.

Su Jing pulled the rope.

Bang!
With a loud bang, the flintlock was fired successfully.

When I looked again, the flintlock gun had already filled the air with white smoke from the gun body.

Su Jing and Zhu Biao immediately ran to the front of the flintlock gun. Fortunately, the chamber did not explode.

Su Jing touched the barrel carefully, the temperature was a little high, and the barrel was also slightly deformed.

It's still too thin after all.

"Master Su, look quickly!"

Zhu Biao shouted, his eyes fell on the target not far away.

I saw a bunch of holes in the circular wooden board. At a distance of ten meters, the scattered lead bullets all penetrated the wooden board without any accident.

For this first gun, Su Jing didn't even think about making a front sight, as long as he can shoot it.

"You really don't need to ignite, Master Su, this firecracker is simply too powerful!"

Zhu Biao looked surprised and excited.

What surprised him the most about this flintlock gun was the function of pulling the trigger to fire the gun.

Compared with the firecrackers in the Daming Shenji Battalion that require one person to set up a gun and one person to ignite it, this is not much better.

The flintlock is entirely a single-handed firearm.

A Shenji Battalion with thousands of people can double its combat power in an instant.

No, not just double.

Rapid firing, even if the number of guns does not increase, the combat power will also increase.

There is no need to increase the salary, which is simply a god-like improvement.

"The strength of this cast iron is still too low to work."

Su Jing shook her head, eyes full of questions.

According to the current situation of this gun, firing two shots in a row is probably the limit.

This is Su Jing's first attempt to stimulate, without putting too much gunpowder.

Still terrified of blowing up.

Does it really have to be made into an iron lump?
Su Jing was extremely entangled in his heart. In his eyes, a gun is not a cannon, lightness is a must.

It can only be said that Su Jing was very dissatisfied with this flintlock gun.

Zhu Biao didn't care about Su Jing's evaluation at all, and carefully checked the flintlock gun in his hand.

The device of flint hair is very delicate, Zhu Biao is full of joy to see it.

As long as the existing firecrackers are improved and a flintlock device is added, the combat power of the Shenji Battalion can be immediately improved.

"Go back, let me think about how to improve."

Su Jing said to Zhu Biao that he was already thinking about how to increase the strength of cast iron.

"Master Su, don't you want this firecracker?"

Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, and immediately asked Su Jing.

Su Jing waved his hand: "Hold it, it's not very useful anyway, so don't use it anymore, this firecracker might explode if you fire it again."

Su Jing really can't arouse much interest in the thing that stops cooking after one shot and scraps after two shots.

"Yes, Master Su!"

Zhu Biao excitedly put away the flintlock gun that was about to be scrapped, and just waited to go back and study how the flintlock worked.

In front of the blacksmith's desk, Su Jing looked at the iron-making blast furnace and continued to think about how to increase the strength of the iron.

On the other hand, Zhu Biao had already disassembled the flintlock device, and started to study the principle of the flintlock according to Su Jing's design.

For Zhu Biao who has a certain physical foundation, the flintlock device is not difficult.

But within half an hour, Zhu Biao had already understood it thoroughly.

He immediately redraws a detailed sketch, accompanied by a detailed explanation.

This thing must be sent to his father Zhu Yuanzhang as soon as possible.

Just finished explaining the diagrams and principles of the flintlock device, Zhu Yuanzhang's reply arrived.

Since returning from the Forbidden City last time, Zhu Biao has not received a reply from Zhu Yuanzhang for a long time.

He couldn't wait to open the letter and read it carefully.

Zhu Yuanzhang told about the recent major events in Ming Dynasty in detail.

The wolf constitution and the movable pulley block have been successfully implemented.

This made Zhu Biao very happy, and he felt more grateful to Su Shi in his heart.

Minbao is already in the process of preparation, but the matter of Daming Infrastructure has encountered resistance.

Zhu Yuanzhang directly wrote Li Shanchang's resignation clearly.

One, two, three, four, five, very clear.

Zhu Biao's expression was a bit dignified. Although he didn't have a specific and detailed plan, he also considered the issues Li Shanchang said.

It is nothing more than a question of speed, and it certainly does not mean that it cannot be implemented.

Zhu Biao respected Li Shanchang as the left prime minister.

The construction of Daming is inseparable from Li Shanchang's dedicated work.

It's just that Zhu Biao at this time really didn't think too much about why Li Shanchang refused.

Or is it really not feasible to combine work-for-relief and infrastructure construction?
This is the plan proposed by Su Jing, and Zhu Biao does not believe that this is not feasible.

With doubts, Zhu Biao found Su Jing.

"Mr. Su, you told the students about the plan of combining work-for-relief and infrastructure construction. The students encountered some problems at this time and wanted to ask Mr. Su for advice."

Zhu Biao asked Su Jing seriously.

In front of the blacksmith's desk, Su Jing put down the big hammer in his hand, looked at Zhu Biao and said, "Why, last time I remembered you said that you should find a way to carry it out, and now you have problems?"

"Let me guess, does it mean that Daming's treasury reserves are insufficient, and this is a waste of money and people, so it is not suitable to start now."

As soon as Su Jing said this, Zhu Biao immediately nodded and said: "That's right, just as Master Su said."

Zhu Biao didn't have the slightest doubt about Su Jing's clear words.

This is his teacher. It is not a matter of course that he can see through such trivial matters.

Su Jing looked at Zhu Biao and said: "I won't ask you who said this, it must be a big figure in the Ming Dynasty, so let's just talk about this matter."

Regarding how Zhu Biao tried to implement this matter, who he approached, and what he said.

Su Jing didn't ask any more questions, it was enough to know that Zhu Biao's family background was not simple.

"Also ask Master Su for advice."

Zhu Biao listened carefully, for fear of missing a little detail.

Su Jing said lightly: "Actually, this is telling the truth. According to the current situation of Daming, the national treasury is definitely not full. If you want to build infrastructure, you have to use the method of labor relief. Money and grain are necessary."

"But is it really impossible to implement? I don't think so."

"What is the reason for the lack of money and food? On the one hand, the production capacity of the land is limited, and there is only so much arable land in Ming Dynasty."

"On the other hand, there have been years of foreign wars, many military operations, and huge expenditures on food, salaries and military expenses."

"In these two aspects, one is production capacity and the other is consumption."

"If you want to solve this problem, that is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure."

Open source and cut expenditure?
Listening to Su Jing's words, Zhu Biao frowned.

This principle of increasing income and reducing expenditure is an extremely simple truth, and everyone knows it.

Ordinary people in Daming, as long as they want to live a good life, aren't they all increasing revenue and reducing expenditure?

"Master Su, the current emperor encourages farming and opening up wasteland, and the agricultural tax is also greatly reduced. This can be regarded as an open source."

Zhu Biao said to Su Jing: "As for throttling, the frontier troops guarding the territory of various places can't cut their military expenses."

Zhu Yuanzhang is not an incompetent king. He encourages agricultural production and pays very low taxes for Mingming.

However, after the war, the population dropped sharply, and it will take time to restore the population.

At the same time, the production capacity of the land is limited, and there are no such things as chemical fertilizers and pesticides to increase production capacity.

Therefore, the effect of open source can only be said to have just begun to show.

In any case, it is only the second year since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Su Jing nodded and said: "That's right, today's efforts to encourage people's livelihood are indeed very good, but because the time is too short, the effect of these policies will take time to take effect."

"But I think that the current Daming is not good enough for farmers."

Not good enough?
Hearing Su Jing's words, Zhu Biao felt extremely astonished.

In the past dynasties, not many farmers could have the current treatment.

"Master Su, the students don't understand."

Zhu Biao looked at Su Jing with doubts in his eyes.

Su Jing said indifferently: "Now Da Ming's agricultural tax should be completely exempted."

Agricultural tax free!

Hearing this, Zhu Biao was stunned.

He immediately said: "The current agricultural tax in the Ming Dynasty is already very low, only one-eighth of that in the Song Dynasty."

"But even so, the main income of the national treasury still mainly comes from the agricultural tax, followed by the salt tax and commercial tax."

"The agricultural tax is completely exempted. The common people must be happy, but the Ming court may not be able to maintain it."

The formulation of the agricultural tax of the Ming Dynasty was determined by Zhu Yuanzhang after careful consideration.

Zhu Yuanzhang is very aware of the hardships of the people, so he formulated such a small agricultural tax.

Now that Su Jing exempts the agricultural tax, Zhu Biao really doesn't understand.

It can't be that there is no money in the Ming treasury.

Su Jing said indifferently: "Niu Yi, do you still remember what I told you about land annexation?"

Zhu Biao nodded immediately and said: "Of course I remember that land annexation is an important reason for the demise of a feudal dynasty."

Su Jing smiled and said: "According to the current collection method of agricultural tax in Ming Dynasty, when ordinary people go to reclaim farmland, they will be charged an additional agricultural tax for every piece of land, while officials and gentry can be exempted from tax. Who do you think will end up with these fields? superior?"

When Su Jing said this, Zhu Biao also understood.

People can indeed reclaim more wasteland, but reclaiming wasteland means paying more taxes, and there is only so much work that each person can do.

At this time, the officials and gentry came to annex their land and charged a lower fee than the agricultural tax, so the people were naturally happy.

In this way, this policy of encouraging people's livelihood actually drums up the pockets of officials and gentry!
For Daming, the increase in treasury revenue may only be a little bit.

"Master Su, how to solve this matter?"

Zhu Biao looked at Su Jing with anxiety in his eyes.

He didn't expect that there was such a relationship.

"Didn't I say that the agricultural tax is completely exempted, so that the people will not have any tax pressure to reclaim wasteland, and it will not be so easy for officials and gentry to annex land."

Su Jing said lightly.

Without agricultural tax, it would be meaningless to entrust land property to officials and gentry.

Although it is impossible to completely eliminate land mergers, it must be effective.

"This……"

Zhu Biao's face was tangled, and he looked at Su Jing and said, "But in this case, wouldn't Daming have no income? The imperial court needs money and food everywhere!"

Taxation is the foundation of a country's existence, and agricultural tax is the core income of the feudal dynasty.

As the crown prince, Zhu Biao knew all about Ming's annual expenditures.

That was a huge sum. Without the agricultural tax, the imperial court would not even be able to operate normally.

Su Jing looked at Zhu Biao and said, "Niu Yi, Niu Yi, why can't you turn your head around? Remember what I told you back then, right?"

Hearing this, Zhu Biao's expression changed.

How could he not remember it, he thought it was very good at that time.

There is also the fact that officials and gentry pay food together, which is simply a good strategy to save Ming Ming.

It can greatly reduce the survival pressure of farmers, and can also avoid the wanton spread of land mergers.

It's just that the resistance is too great to be true.

"Isn't this also a tax?"

Zhu Biao asked Su Jing back.

Su Jing patted Zhu Biao's head lightly and said: "They are all tax collections, but the names can be different!"

"I've told you before that the government-gentle payment of food will meet the opposition of the vested interest class, that is, the landlord class."

"What if the agricultural tax is exempted and the rent is levied on the fields?"

"Isn't the clever establishment of a name a trick that the ruler can use?"

rent?

Zhu Biao was really shocked by Su Jing's novel idea.

"The land is privately owned! Master Su, no one is willing to pay this rent."

Zhu Biao asked back: "And you also said that the core of the feudal dynasty is private ownership of land. I'm afraid it will be difficult to implement this."

Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Su Jing nodded and said, "Not bad, not bad, I still remember the content of my previous lecture."

"But have you forgotten an old saying, there is no king in the world."

"This world is ruled by the emperor, and the subjects' land comes from the emperor's bestowal, what's wrong with collecting some rent!"

(End of this chapter)