Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 229 Huangzhuang
After half an hour.

Liwangzhuang, Wanping County.

Zhu Gaoxu and others got off the carriage, and Sheng Lei and Zhao Junchen led a group of guards, all in plain clothes, to follow from behind.

"Old rules, Master Zhao will accompany you, and General Sheng will lead his men to sneak around."

Zhu Gaoxu ordered Zhao Junchen and Sheng Lei.

"Yes."

Sheng and Zhao bowed and said in unison.

"Dad, although we are dressed like wealthy businessmen, it will be difficult to hide it from the farmers in the village, right?"

Zhu Zhankan came close to Zhu Gaoxu, reached out and tugged on Zhu Gaoxu's sleeves, and whispered: "Have those farmers never seen dad?"

Before Zhu Gaoxu could answer, Zhu Zhanyu said first, "Old Thirteen, you are so smart, why are you so confused about this matter? My father has so many things to do, how can he find the time to summon those farmers?"

"I remember that my father would leave the palace and go to the imperial village every month. How could the peasants in the village not know my father?"

Zhu Zhankan said with doubts on his face.

Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile: "There is more to the Imperial Villa than this."

Zhu Zhankan was surprised and said: "Isn't Huangzhuang just a Zhuangzi under the management of our royal family? How can there be many things that are not perfect?"

"Second brother, you are well-informed. Please explain something to Thirteen."

Zhu Gaoxu stood with his hands behind his back and took the lead in walking forward while saying.

"The so-called Huangzhuang refers to the farmland directly operated by our royal family. At present, the distribution of Huangzhuang is mainly concentrated in Shuntian and other eight prefectures in North Zhili, especially in Shuntian, Baoding, Hejian and other prefectures. The Huangzhuang is divided according to its ownership According to the classification, there are two types: Emperor Zhuangtian and Prince Zhuangtian.”

Zhu Zhanyu spoke eloquently: "Tianzi Zhuangtian is a self-managed place run by the eunuchs appointed by the emperor. The income of Huangzhuang Zi Li or Zi Li Yin is directly controlled by the eunuchs of Guanzhuang and is at the discretion of the palace. Prince Zhuang Tian is the East Palace Zhuang Tian. .”

"In the 17th year of Yongle, the emperor assigned five villages in Wanping County and Daxing County to my father as the east palace farmland. In the 37th year of Yongle, my father asked the emperor to add [-] more villages from the northern Zhili territory. .”

"There is a large stable at the entrance of Zhuangzi. Each of us chooses a horse. We will ride into Zhuangzi later."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Zhanyu and ordered: "Second brother, you and Thirteen will ride on the same horse later."

After a pause, he looked at Zhu Zhantang and asked, "Lao Jiu, is it possible for you to ride a horse alone?"

"Don't worry, Dad, my child is very good at equestrian skills now."

Zhu Zhantang patted his chest and said, "Although I like to play with steam machinery and ingenious things when I have nothing to do, I dare not let go of my civil and military skills."

At this time, Zhu Zhancheng couldn't help but asked: "Dad, the child has something unclear, and I want to ask dad for advice."

"Say." Zhu Gaoxu said.

"Dad recruited refugees on a large scale and granted them household registration to become tenants of Huangzhuang. This can appease people's hearts, and I understand. But why did dad repeatedly give orders to lower the land rent of Huangzhuang?"

Zhu Zhancheng said respectfully: "If I remember correctly, my father already reduced the land rent of Huangzhuang to [-]% last year."

Zhu Gaoxu did not answer directly, but glanced at Zhu Zhanyu and Zhu Zhantang and asked: "Lao Er, Lao Jiu, why do you think I did this?"

"Dad, my son believes that this concession will benefit the people and win their hearts and minds."

Zhu Zhanyu answered generally.

Zhu Zhantang thought: "Dad, by lowering the land rent in Huangzhuang, I want to force the big landowners around Huangzhuang to lower their rents? This will protect a large number of tenants from having to rely on bank or private loans to make ends meet in years of famine." .”

"You're both right."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled happily and said: "We are not short of this small amount of land rent, but for the tenants, it is the foundation of their lives. They accumulate the less rent they pay, which is a sum of money that can provide for the education of their children at home. Once they pass the imperial examination , will become an official with a salary from the imperial court in the future." "History of the Ming Dynasty" records: "Xianzong ascended the throne, and the land that was conquered by Cao Jixiang was used as the palace farmland, and the name of Huangzhuang began from this."

In the first month after Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty ascended the throne, seven Huangzhuang locations were established, which were later expanded to more than [-] locations.

Historically, there was another type of farmland belonging to the Empress Dowager, also known as Gongzhuang. In the historical records of the Ming Dynasty, it was mostly called the three palace farms of Renshou, Qingning and Weiyang. The amount of silver collected every year was called the three palaces of silver, and the amount of land occupied Quite a few.

There are many sources of land in Huangzhuang, including the horse hay factory land that was originally the official land of the imperial court, the village land that was recaptured from honorary relatives, the occupied civilian land, part of the official and civilian land donated by "treacherous people" to the eunuchs of Guanzhuang, and the land that was not established as a feudal lord. The prince's palace resigned and returned to the land to wait.

Most of the managers of Huangzhuang were directly appointed by the palace to manage the village, eunuchs. There were official schools who were directly in charge of Huangzhuang, and they had the head of the village and the assistants.

But these people often take advantage of their power to bully the people, do evil, and enslave the dealers.

Therefore, in the original history, Huangzhuang was a major maladministration after the middle of Ming Dynasty.

As history was changed, Zhu Gaoxu turned Huangzhuang into a powerful tool to restrict the rent increases of large landowners and protect the rights and interests of tenants.

Tenants are farmers who rent land from landlords.

Most tenant farmers did not own their own land or farm tools, and most of the grain they harvested had to pay land rent.

Compared with slaves, tenant farmers had certain personal freedoms.

"Besides, reducing the land rent in Huangzhuang also has another effect. Can any of you try to tell me about it?"

Zhu Gaoxu walked to the stables, selected a good prairie horse, rode on it, and said.

Zhu Zhankan was young and had just come into contact with Huangzhuang, so he couldn't say much for a while.

Zhu Zhancheng's thoughts were all about reciting poems and writing poems and literary classics.

After he attended Daihondo Junior High School, although he learned the art of emperors and the government of herdsmen, due to his nature, he did not pay much attention to political matters. At the moment, he could not think of any wise ideas, so he simply looked at the distant place. Pastoral scenery.

As the eldest grandson of the emperor, Zhu Zhanyu's education since childhood was not much different from that of Zhu Zhancheng and Zhu Zhantang. However, after he enrolled in the middle school of Dabentang, he understood the meaning of his identity as he grew older.

Therefore, since his youth, he has focused on the study of the art of emperors and his understanding of political strategies.

After listening to Zhu Gaoxu's question, Zhu Zhanyu got on his horse and began to think deeply.

Zhu Zhantang was only 12 years old and had not been studying in the middle school of Daibendo for a long time. His exposure to the art of emperors and political strategies was relatively rudimentary, so he said whatever came to his mind.

He did not think deeply, and then said after a brief thought: "Dad, I think that after lowering the land rent of Huangzhuang to benefit the people, the tenants of Huangzhuang will work harder in production. In this way, under normal circumstances without natural disasters, , Huangzhuang’s annual yield per mu will definitely increase year by year.”

"In other words, although the land rent in Huangzhuang has been reduced, the grain collected has not decreased much year by year. I estimate that it may have increased."

Zhu Gaoxu was surprised by Zhu Zhantang's sharp thinking, but he looked at Zhu Zhanyu quietly and asked, "Second brother, have you thought about it?"

"Dad, my son believes that this move is a policy that benefits the people and the country!"

Zhu Zhanyu first stated his conclusion and then explained it.

"Ever since the emperor's grandfather spread the land into acres, the imperial court's policy on land is no longer as strict as it was during the time of Emperor Taizu. It does not encourage annexation, but it does not forcibly inhibit it. After more than 20 years of evolution, a large amount of land has been Concentrated in the hands of big landowners.”

"The land rent in Huangzhuang has been reduced. The surrounding landowners will also reduce the land rent in order to prevent the tenant farmers they hire from switching to Huangzhuang. In order to obtain more income from the fields, the large landowners will only use all means to increase food production. Moreover, in the hands of the landlords Having money and food can better withstand natural disasters, and if this continues, farmland output will increase year by year."

"After the land was divided into acres, the court only collected the land tax. No matter who the land owner was, they had to pay the land tax. In this case, the acres in the hands of the big landowners did not change, but as the grain output per mu increased, the land tax they paid Land tax will also increase, and the imperial treasury will increase accordingly. This move can be said to achieve multiple goals with one stone."

“A great one kills multiple birds with one stone!”

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu smiled slightly and said, "Well said!"

PS: I got off work late today, so there is only one update.I wrote a little bit more in the second update, but I still can’t find the feeling. I need to look up some information.Brothers, go to bed early after watching this.

(End of this chapter)