Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 324 The suffering of mulberry crops

"At that time, there were 67,275,200 people in the world and 4,719,725 acres of land, leaving 13 acres and two cents."

"This year, the world's taxes and grains are 35 million dan, 67,200 pieces of cloth, more than 325,000 jins of silk, and more than 40,720 jins of cotton velvet."

"Twelve thousand, four hundred taels of gold, 985,230 taels of silver, and 1,757,425 taels of copper."

"There are more than 2,373,000 pieces of miscellaneous, commercial tax, mining, salt, and tea, as well as iron, lead, silk, silk, silk, satin, cloth, cotton, etc. More than one hundred and sixty-five thousand strings."

"The annual income from food is 35 million guan, and the annual income from other various forms is more than 6,256,000 guan."

On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, in Wuying Hall.

When Yu Xin, the Minister of Household Affairs, reported on the tax situation in the summer and autumn of the past year, Zhu Di also stroked his beard and looked at Zhu Gaoxu aside.

He has forgotten most of last year's situation, but he remembers that he earned 32 million dan and more than 7.7 million gu last year.

This year has passed, although taxes and grain have increased, money and miscellaneous items have decreased by nearly 1.5 million guan.

In other words, the tax revenue in the past year has been reduced by at least hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"Second brother, why is there a shortage of 1.5 million yuan in this account?"

Zhu Di asked, and Zhu Gaoxu also answered as expected: "I went to the East last year and brought back more money, so it hit a new high."

"This year, we made more than 1.7 million guan from the Japanese trade, and transferred another 68,000 guan to the Japanese ruler. We have lost nearly 1.2 million guan over time."

"But this is a normal phenomenon. After all, the high volume of ship trade last year was mainly due to the fact that the imperial court had severed diplomatic relations with Japan for too many years and Japan had accumulated too much money."

"Although the current supply is only 1.7 million, don't be disappointed. News from hundreds of households in the West Factory in Japan has revealed that various mines in Japan have begun to adopt the 'ash blowing method'. I think that in a few years, we will be able to stabilize the relationship with the imperial court." trade volume of 2 million Guan.”

"In addition, the goods of the Pacific Fleet are still stationed in Qinzhou. When the war in Annan ends, we can still make a lot of profits with that batch of goods."

Zhu Gaoxu had already been prepared for the decline in trade volume with Japan. He wanted long-term trade, so he didn't need to care about the temporary volume.

When Japan begins to use the ash blowing method on a large scale for mining, tomorrow's trade will continue to reach new highs.

As far as Japan's domestic silver and copper reserves are concerned, it is enough for the Ming Dynasty to eat it for four hundred years, but the prerequisite is that Japan cannot be unified.

Once Japan is unified, there will definitely be a seclusion similar to the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Although Japan's seclusion is to prevent other countries from infiltrating it, one of the reasons is to limit the outflow of domestic silver.

During the more than two hundred years from the time when the Ashikaga Shogunate to the Tokugawa Shogunate promulgated the Seclusion Order, Japan was undoubtedly the largest outflow of silver to the Ming Dynasty.

As long as the Ming Dynasty maintains the rule of the Ashikaga Shogunate and gives it certain benefits, there is no need for the Ashikaga Shogunate to go against the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, it was impossible for the Ming Dynasty to help the Ashikaga shogunate abolish the emperor system, but let the Ashikaga shogunate gradually abolish the emperor on its own.

The current Ashikaga Shogunate is at its peak, but the land in Japan it can control is only Gyeonggi and part of the Kanto and Kansai regions, and the local guardians are still strong.

However, it is precisely this situation that can maintain tomorrow's trade for a long time. Once the Ashikaga Shogunate becomes too powerful, this trade will face the dilemma of collapse or reduction in trade volume.

A Japan that is loose and maintains internal peace for a long time is a good Japan.

It is under such a situation that North Korea's military force is gradually weakening, and it is best for Japan to be the same.

While Zhu Gaoxu was thinking, Zhu Di also roughly understood the reason why this year's income was not as good as last year, so he nodded.

"It's the twelfth lunar month now, and military information from Annan has arrived. Most of Annan has been taken over by the imperial court, and many Chen clans have died."

"Hu Jiya and his son fled to the Xinghua Mountains. Although they had 40,000 soldiers, they only had more than 200,000 civilians. It was impossible to feed so many soldiers and horses."

"I also got the news from Jin Yiwei that Chen Jikou, who is supported by Jian Ding and others in the east, is just a fake clan member."

"I heard that they are planning to ask the imperial court for a title, but I am not planning to hand over Annan to them."

Zhu Di said what he thought. To him, both Hu Jiya and Chen Jikou were just local chickens and tile dogs.

If his second son hadn't mentioned the rebellion in Annan, he might have established a third division to manage the area.

"Second brother, tell me what you think. You know more about things in the south than I do."

He turned his attention to Zhu Gaoxu, who heard the words and said without hesitation: "First of all, we must stabilize Chen Jikou and this group of Annan tycoons, so we don't want to destroy Hu Jiya and his son for the time being."

"While the situation is at a stalemate, we can just move people to the north of Annam and allow production in Lang Son, Hai Duong, Tai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang and other places in the north to resume production."

"My son has seen the situation in these places, and has also sent subordinate officials from Qinzhou to go there."

"The north of the Red River is basically in the hands of the imperial court. There are three million acres of cultivated land in these places. As long as it takes half a year to register the people's households, measure the land, and then immigrate to the border areas to resume production, the imperial court will have a firm foothold in Annan. The confidence of the heel.”

Zhu Gaoxu mentioned the household registration of Qi people. This is because even he himself does not know how many people there are in the north of the Red River.

According to the official records of the Chen Dynasty, there were more than 800,000 people north of the Red River, but no one knows the actual number now.

"What the imperial court needs to do is to first clear the land north of the Red River and then distribute it to immigrants from Fujian and Guangdong. At the same time, it will set up official schools there to Sinicize the local Annan people."

"If more than 300,000 people can be moved to the north of the Red River, then even if the imperial court cannot rule in Annan in the future, it can still eat up the land north of the Red River and not gain nothing."

"As long as the three million acres of cultivated land north of the Red River resume production and can pay the land tax and grain, it will at least be able to maintain the food rations of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Annan."

"As for military pay, the copper ingots mined in Yunnan can be smelted into new money and distributed to save costs."

Zhu Gaoxu mentioned the new money, and Zhu Di became interested when he heard it. He turned his attention to Yu Xin: "Yu Xin, how is the new money?"

"Back to Your Majesty, a money making department has been opened not far from Yuhuatai. It mints nearly 20,000 guan of money every day. Now it has stored more than 600,000 guan of new money."

Yu Xin answered Zhu Di's question, and Zhu Di was very satisfied after hearing this: "I saw this new money. It looks good and is difficult to copy. It's just that the amount of money minted is too large. Wouldn't it be bad to invest it all at once?"

Zhu Di's interest these days, apart from arranging things in the north, is to read the textbooks written by Zhu Gaoxu.

The textbooks Zhu Gaoxu is writing recently are economic books. These are prepared for the future expansion of Taixue, and Zhu Di has also read a lot of them.

Among them, there are examples of economic expansion leading to inflation, so Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaoxu.

However, Zhu Gaoxu did not need to answer this question. Yu Xin, who had also read this book, quickly answered: "No."

"In the past, the issuance of treasure banknotes caused prices to skyrocket. First, the circulation of treasure banknotes was too large. Second, the issuance was too concentrated. Third, the people did not trust treasure banknotes."

"Now that the imperial court is recycling the treasure banknotes, although this cannot completely solve the third point, judging from the stability of banknote prices, the people have at least gained trust in the treasure banknotes."

"The people's trust in treasure banknotes is essentially their trust in the imperial court. The new money issued by the imperial court is of excellent quality and style, and the people will not resist it."

"As long as new money is not issued in large quantities in one area, it will naturally not cause local prices to skyrocket."

"Judging from the twenty-two guards established by the imperial court in Annan, even if there are more than 120,000 soldiers and garrison troops, the annual maintenance can only be 1.5 million dan, and after the war, it will only be 500,000 guan."

"For a place like Annan, which is rich in products, an investment of half a million guan is not a large amount. Moreover, it only needs to be maintained for a few years before the original policy of distributing military rations can be restored. Before the people can react, the court will stop using it. Money to pay for it.”

After Yu Xin explained, Zhu Di also stroked his beard and nodded, completely relieved about Annan's matter.

"I will leave Annan's affairs to my own devices. After I go to the north next year, you will sit in Nanjing as the Crown Prince Supervisor and preside over the imperial examinations."

"I accept the order." Zhu Gaoxu bowed in return, and Zhu Di also waved his hand when he saw this:

"If you don't have anything to do, just leave. I have a lot of government affairs here, so I won't let you eat."

"Your Majesty, please retire..." Zhu Gaoxu bowed to Yu Xin, and then exited Wuying Hall.

Because there were too many things to do, the two of them did not stop to chat. Yu Xin went to Wenhua Palace, while Zhu Gaoxu went to Donghua Gate in a golden chariot.

When arriving at Donghua Gate, a carriage and more than a hundred horse infantry had been prepared. It was obvious that Zhu Gaoxu was preparing to head to the outer city.

After changing to a carriage, Zhu Gaoxu took a look at the situation in the outer city as he walked out of the inner city.

After two and a half years of peace, Nanjing's population has increased.

Zhu Gaoxu still remembers walking through Chaoyang Gate when he was in the 27th year of Hongwu. There was only a small market town outside Chaoyang Gate.

When Nanjing was taken and we entered the inner city from here, there was no development in that small market town.

Now two and a half years later, the once small market town has begun to expand continuously. Many fields have disappeared and houses have been built.

The official road in the outer city of Chaoyang Gate was originally made of rammed earth, but now it is also paved with concrete.

There are brand new two-story shops built on the left and right of the ten-foot-wide official road. There are many pedestrians coming and going. Except for the middle three feet that cannot be walked, the rest are basically crowded with people.

Looking along the street, the streets and alleys are criss-crossed, and there are rows of buildings on both sides. Shops, restaurants, teahouses, pawn shops, banks, photo studios, apartments, theaters, bathhouses, private houses, etc. are scattered here and there.

The streets are bustling with people, traffic, and all kinds of eye-catching signboards, creating a lively scene.

Looking ahead, you can still see the archway erected by the government, which reads "Chaoyang Street".

"What is the population of Nanjing now?"

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the lively scene outside the window and felt a sense of pride in his heart. Yishiha, who was serving him on the side, heard this and reported with a smile: "There are more than 426,000 people, an increase of nearly 60,000 people in two and a half years."

"This is a good thing, but it is also a burden." Zhu Gaoxu nodded, but he felt that this was also a burden.

"Burden?" Yi Shiha was puzzled, so Zhu Gaoxu explained:

"With more people living in cities, there will be fewer people living in the countryside."

"It is true that people moving to the cities to work is a symbol of peace and tranquility in the world, but behind it they need enough rural food to support them."

“I have read through the documents of the capital and found that even though there is a large amount of cultivated land in the outer city of the capital, more than two million grains, thousands of pigs, cattle and sheep, as well as tens of thousands of chickens, ducks and poultry must be transported from the surrounding areas every year to meet the needs. "

"I heard that many people in Yingtian Mansion are raising livestock and birds at the foot of the mountain to provide food for the people in the capital."

“Among them, it is inevitable that some areas will be reclaimed as fields.”

"The population of the capital will continue to grow in the future. If it reaches one million, people in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River from Wuchang to Nanchang may have to transport money, grain and livestock to the capital."

Zhu Gaoxu's words are based on the current situation, and this also involves an economic issue between the agricultural population and the handicraft population.

The migration of farmers to cities has progressed rapidly after industrialization, but there are two basic problems. The first is the improvement of productivity, and the second is that the small-scale peasant economy can no longer cope with the rest of life.

In the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City had 500,000 permanent residents and 300,000 or even 500,000 floating residents.

Such a scale is already the maximum limit that Qinchuan, eight hundred miles away from Guanzhong, can supply. From time to time, the emperor even needs to lead hundreds of officials to Luoyang to ensure the food rations of the people.

Productivity in the Ming Dynasty was improved compared to the Tang Dynasty, so it was possible to support the two capital cities with a population of one million, as well as cities with a population of hundreds of thousands such as Suzhou and Hangzhou, across the country in the mid-to-late period.

The urbanization rate in Jiangnan was already at a relatively high level in the feudal era in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, but this level could only be maintained under the premise that Jiangnan's handicraft industry was developed and Sichuan and Huguang were used as food bases.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan became a rival to Beizhili for grain. When grain from Sichuan, Huguang and other places arrived in Jiangnan via the Yangtze River, it was first purchased by a large number of merchants and transported to various prefectural cities. Then it was bought and sold at high prices and transported to the north through canals. .

Too much urban population is a hidden danger that could explode at any time in an era of insufficient productivity.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were many disasters in the north. The reason why the court was unable to regulate food was that most of the food from the south was supplied to the south of the Yangtze River. Therefore, it can be seen in many literati's handwritten notes that when even the rich farmers and small landowners in the north were struggling to make ends meet, many people in the south of the Yangtze River could even wear clothes. They could afford silk and had meat to eat every day.

In order to live this kind of life, many people fled to the south of the Yangtze River to work.

I worked hard to cultivate more than ten acres of land in my hometown. After handing it over to the landlord and the government office, I was left with at most seven or eight shi of grain.

When you come to Jiangnan, even if you can't enter cities like Nanjing and Suyang, you can still make eight or nine guan in a year by working as a laborer in any county.

As long as there are no problems in the two grain bases of Sichuan and Huguang, and there are no floods in the Jianghuai River, the wages will be enough to buy 17 or 18 shi of grain, which can easily feed a family of three.

If the woman in the family knows some needlework, she can earn five or six dollars a year.

The income of two people can support a family of five or six people.

Precisely because it was easy to work and the income was high, the urban population gradually increased in the middle and late Ming Dynasty to the point where it was difficult to support them.

To solve this hidden danger, we can only improve productivity, and this is why Zhu Gaoxu wants to go to the outer city.

After half an hour, when his carriage entered Taixue and headed towards the northwest corner of Taixue, a piece of farmland appeared in front of him, and a glass greenhouse of different colors was built in the center of the farmland.

Zhu Gaoxu got off the carriage and led Yishiha into the glass greenhouse along the concrete road less than three feet wide.

The greenhouse area is not large, only two feet wide from east to west, and only three feet long from north to south.

Although the area is small, tens of thousands of dollars were spent to build it.

Walking into the greenhouse, there were already many people inside holding magnifying glasses to observe the growth of plants in the greenhouse and recording the situation in handwriting.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu's arrival, a Confucian scholar in his forties immediately walked over quickly and bowed: "Your Highness is a thousand years old."

"How are the grafting and fertilizer issues going?" Zhu Gaoxu asked the Confucian scholar while squatting down to look at the cabbage that was still growing in winter.

There are four fireplaces in the glass greenhouse, which can provide enough heat for the greenhouse, and the glass can provide a certain amount of sunlight, so the cabbage can grow during this season.

"The grafting effect is good. We have experimented with many raw materials for fertilizers. The best one so far is bird droppings, followed by plant ash."

The Confucian scholar opened his mouth to explain, and the reason why he knew so much was that most of it was told to him by Zhu Gaoxu, and the remaining small part was obtained from his years of study and study in the Prince of Zhou's Mansion.

In addition to him, there are seven or eight people in this greenhouse who are all agriculturists that Zhu Gaoxu hired from his fifth uncle.

Of course, by the standards of future generations, calling them agriculturists is a bit too much. At most, they can be regarded as Confucian scholars who like to study animals and plants.

"We used bird droppings to make fertilizer as your Highness said, and it has indeed increased the yield of many vegetables and rice fields by 10 to 20 percent."

"However, during the experiment, some of the diseases you mentioned did occur. We are still trying to figure out how to solve them."

Bi Fu and Zhu Gaoxu talked about the problems they encountered. After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu stood up and asked him to lead the way to see the place where fertilizers are made.

They walked to a corner of the greenhouse and saw a lot of dried bird droppings that had been ground into powder.

Zhu Gaoxu put on a mask, checked some bird droppings that had not been ground into powder, and then frowned and said to Bi Fu:

"It's my fault that I forgot to tell you that there are some things you need to pay attention to when using bird droppings as fertilizer."

Zhu Gaoxu put on his gloves, grabbed a piece of dry bird droppings and said:

"These bird droppings may contain some bacteria and parasites, so they need to be sterilized and disinfected before being used as fertilizer."

"Our technology is not good enough, so we can only process it with methods such as heating, drying and fermentation to turn it into useful fertilizer."

"Also, care should be taken in the amount used, as excessive use may have a negative impact on crop growth, leading to root disease and shrinkage."

Zhu Gaoxu talked about some of the knowledge he remembered. After hearing this, Bi Fu quickly took out his brush and dipped it in water to record it in his notebook.

Worried that he had remembered it incorrectly, Zhu Gaoxu read the contents after he had finished memorizing them. After confirming that they were correct, they walked out of the glass greenhouse and talked about other details in detail in the cold field.

"What I said may not be entirely correct. You can experiment with these methods one by one, and then divide them into different test fields for experiments. In the end, you only need to select the most stable method."

"I understand." Bi Fu returned the greeting, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded and directed the conversation to the north, because he not only built glass greenhouses in Nanjing, but also in the north.

"Is there any progress in the experimental greenhouses in Jilin? Can fertilizers be used locally to increase yields?"

"Yes!" Seeing Zhu Gaoxu mentioning the experimental greenhouse in Jilin, Bi Fu nodded quickly: "They tested Japanese crops and found that they are indeed more cold-resistant than our current crops. The cycle is a few days shorter, but the yield is lower. .”

"After using fertilizers, the yield of these crops has increased from nine bushels per mu in northern Japan to one stone and a half bushels. However, the diseases encountered are the same as those we encountered. It should be the same as what your highness said. Is there anything in the bird droppings? Less bacteria and disease.”

After Bi Fu finished his explanation, Zhu Gaoxu expressed satisfaction and said: "It's good to be able to improve by one and a half buckets. Now we just need to solve the disease problem."

"You remember the three elements of agricultural production, the first is seeds, the second is water conservancy, and the third is fertilizer."

"Your future research must also be conducted based on these three elements."

After talking about this, Zhu Gaoxu asked about the use of fertilizers in Jiangnan: "How much can rice fields using fertilizers produce?"

"The solid grain is about two stones and three buckets." Bi Fu replied, but Zhu Gaoxu frowned and said, "I investigated last year and found that the average yield per mu of Yingtian Mansion was two stones and two buckets. Why did you only increase it by one bucket here?"

"Your Highness does not know something." Bi Fu replied with a grimace: "Soil fertilizer is very popular in the Jiangnan area, especially in Yingtian. If there is no soil fertilizer, even the output in the Taihu Lake area will only be eighty-nine per stone." It’s just solid food.”

"The fertilizers we are currently researching actually benefit areas with underdeveloped soil and fertilizers, rather than adding icing on the cake to Jiangnan."

"I don't understand anymore." Zhu Gaoxu was not stubborn, but admitted that he did not understand the high yield of rice in Jiangnan.

But as a result, a new problem also arises.

“How much does this fertilizer cost?”

"About thirty cash per mu." After Bi Fu said this, he also said:

"If there is no problem with fertilizer diseases, then the new problem is mining. Where should the court get so much bird droppings to make fertilizer, and how should it be transported to the mainland."

"It's okay in the south. You can use the Yangtze River to transport it to Sichuan and Yunnan. But in the north, the Yellow River can only transport it to Luoyang and cannot go west."

"I have done some calculations. If we change to land transportation, then for every hundred miles transported, the cost of fertilizer per acre will increase by five cents."

"Once it exceeds five hundred miles and the price exceeds fifty-five cents, there will be no need to buy fertilizer in some areas where the yield per mu is not high, because the money gained from selling to increase production cannot even afford the fertilizer used to increase production."

Bi Fu mentioned a reality, but Zhu Gaoxu had already considered this reality.

"There is nothing we can do if we cannot take care of the northwest. With the current water transportation, it would be a great blessing to be able to benefit the Guanzhong Plain."

Zhu Gaoxu sighed. Obtaining guano from the sea to make fertilizer is destined to only be done in places with developed water transportation.

It would be good for the provinces along the coast and on both sides of the Yangtze River to enjoy this blessing. How could he dare to hope for the northwest?

He glanced at the fields around him and could only sigh: "Take your time..."

(End of this chapter)