Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 826: Rebirth of the Imperial Manor (2)

Vigorously developing intensive handicraft manufacturing industry cannot be achieved by talking alone. It requires sufficient population and land support, and the most important thing is food security.

Without food, everything is bullshit!
Countless people have broken away from the farming model and engaged in off-site manufacturing. Even if they earn a lot of money, they cannot even meet their family's daily needs for food. Just wait for these people to rebel!
"How many acres of land are currently under the jurisdiction of the imperial estate?"

Zhu Youxiao took a sip of water and looked at Sun Guozhen and asked.

"Your Majesty, according to the re-measurement by the Ministry of Finance, the total registered farmland is more than 2975 million mu, of which more than 40 mu are paddy fields, more than 1190 million mu are irrigated land, and dry land..."

"so much?"

Before Sun Guozhen finished speaking, Zhu Youxiao was surprised.

Doesn’t he remember that the imperial farm had only 2000 million acres of farmland?

But not much.

At this time, Sun Guozhen thought to himself, how many people have been arrested in the past two years, and a large number of good farms have been confiscated. Even if a part of them is returned to the official farms in Northern Zhili, otherwise, the imperial farms in Northern Zhili will exceed 3500 million acres! !
"What about the collection of the imperial estates under your jurisdiction?"

Zhu Youxiao collected his thoughts and continued speaking.

"This batch of imperial farmland is subject to a unified land tax. Anyone who rents and cultivates the imperial farmland only needs to pay this tax, and does not need to pay local taxes such as population taxes."

Sun Guozhen replied: "This part of the tax has been paid into the land. When the summer tax and autumn grain are collected, anyone who rents the land of the imperial estate can hold the receipt issued by the Shaofu official and does not need to participate in the collection."

"No forced conscription?"

Zhu Youxiao raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Indeed, there were some in the past two years.”

Sun Guozhen said truthfully: "It was not under the jurisdiction of Northern Zhili, but in Henan and Shandong. However, after such incidents occurred, the Shaofu sent people to resolve them."

"At present, the imperial farms in Henan and Shandong have been measured and recorded as more than 980 million mu and more than 1060 million mu respectively. This year, a batch of fields in the imperial farms under the jurisdiction of the three provinces have been selected to try to plant one season of corn and one season of wheat. In addition, various crops such as cotton, beans, sweet potatoes, and potatoes are also planted."

The imperial estates under the jurisdiction of Henan and Shandong mentioned by Sun Guozhen were the ones that were previously confiscated from the Prince Fu's Mansion and those involved, the ones that were originally from the lineage of Duke Yansheng, and the ones that were involved and implicated by the royal family of Qi and Lu.

Zhu Youxiao smiled.

With such a large scale of imperial farmland, the annual grain output is not a small amount, which can be used for storage and emergency response, so when problems really arise, there will not be anything we can do except sighing.

"However, Your Majesty, a batch of names on the register will need to be cancelled by the end of this year." Sun Guozhen changed the subject and bowed to Zhu Youxiao.

"In addition to being used for urban planning, the land for intensive industrial expansion, the land for the Haihe River system, and the land for the new official road in Zhili, etc., in the prefectures, counties and districts under the jurisdiction of Northern Zhili, has accumulated more than 120 million mu."

“Have the above land uses been repeatedly checked?”

Zhu Youxiao frowned after hearing this.

“It was checked seven times.”

Sun Guozhen said truthfully: "If it weren't for the strict supervision of the imperial farm officials, at least nearly 10 acres of land would have been wasted. This is a huge loss for the imperial farm!!"

This matter involved the Shaofu's anti-corruption campaign. Among a group of officials and servants who had been arrested in the past, many were involved in this matter and were eventually arrested.

Power is something that no one can be sure of being confused. Once you have power, you will just do whatever you want. This is the norm. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to maintain a normal anti-corruption campaign.

Because you never know when some people's ideas will change, and they will use their power to do things for personal gain.

"Hold it for me!"

Zhu Youxiao said solemnly: "The imperial farmland under the jurisdiction of the Shaofu is the key to the intensive manual manufacturing industry in Northern Zhili. If there is any problem in this part, we will wait for all parts of Northern Zhili to rise up."

"I understand."

Sun Guozhen immediately said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that we will keep a close eye on this matter."

Every senior official in the Shaofu knows what the emperor wants to do, especially the vigorous promotion of intensive handicraft manufacturing. They have data to intuitively feel how many variables and impacts this will bring to the Ming Dynasty.

Just the Haihe River system planned and built by the River Management and Cleansing Office, the population scattered across northern Zhili, regardless of old, weak, women and children, was almost over one million in size.

With so many people scattered across northern Zhili working, how could Li Ruoxing, Liu Rongsi and other high-ranking officials stay in the capital?

The sooner the established plan is completed, the sooner this group of people can be diverted and resettled. People are gathered together in groups. Once there is a problem with the food supply, not to mention the food shortage for ten days, if they starve for five days, you can expect a large number of hungry people to rush everywhere to burn, kill and loot.

“Does intensive manual manufacturing occupy a lot of land now?”

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Zhu Youxiao had been busy with various affairs in the past, and the Shaofu had also undergone a reorganization. It was inevitable that his energy in this area would be reduced. After all, there were too many things that required his final decision.

Zhu Youxiao was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but like everyone else, there were only twelve hours in a day. Excluding the time spent on eating and sleeping, there were only eight to nine hours left.

“It occupies a very high area.”

Sun Guozhen thought for a moment and reported to Zhu Youxiao: "It is mainly because the intensive industries planned to be built in various places in Northern Zhili by the officials under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance are both dispersed and concentrated. It was also in May of this year that we realized this problem, so we dispatched a group of people to start measuring the scale of this part of the land."

Problems with rapid development began to emerge.

Zhu Youxiao frowned, but thought secretly in his heart that he knew what the future development trajectory would be, but in the Ming Dynasty, he knew too little.

If the Ming Dynasty wants to develop, it is far from enough to rely on just a Shaofu. There are too many things and too many areas that need to be explored and summarized.

And this takes time.

But what the Ming Dynasty lacked most was time.

If it weren't for the changes in the southeast, Zhu Youxiao would have made up his mind to sort it out carefully, and might have postponed the inspection of various places under the jurisdiction of the Shaofu.

Zhu Youxiao's time is running out.

"This matter must be done as soon as possible, and the measurements and records must be submitted to the Emperor."

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao stretched out his hand and said, "In a few days, the main officials of the Ministry of Finance will go to the Western Garden. I will convene a court meeting and review some matters."

"The minister obeys the order."

Sun Guozhen bowed.

With the development of the Shaofu up to now, Sun Guozhen and his colleagues do have too many doubts to resolve. Convening a court meeting in front of the emperor can let them know what the emperor is thinking and what to do next. If there is no finalization, they will inevitably do things with concerns, and this is something Zhu Youxiao will never allow!
(End of this chapter)