At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 542: Small Groups and Agricultural Issues in the Prince's Mansion
For the Han officials of all ranks in Chang'an City, today's meeting was a bit surprising and worrying. The news from the tax inspector was that the prince was a very peaceful person, and he had not interfered in any government affairs during his half year as the tax inspector.

On the contrary, their internal historian was extremely tough, and Si Huo became the target of the prince's killing of chickens to scare monkeys. They didn't want to be targeted by the prince in this way. Many Han officials planned to be more cautious in the future, so as not to make mistakes and be caught by the prince.

Zhou Chang was a little relieved. In the Han Dynasty, a strong prince was better than a weak one.

After the meeting, the other Han officials left one after another. At this time, Zhou Chang said, "I will retire this year, and the main government affairs of the Internal History will be handed over to you, the Right Commander. How do you plan to manage Chang'an City?"

Xu Aimin said: "I heard that the housing problem in Chang'an City has not been solved. If this problem can be solved during my tenure, I will not let down the people of Chang'an City."

Zhou Chang smiled dumbly and said, "Right Commander, this problem is not easy to solve. I have been in office for ten years and still haven't solved it. If Right Commander can solve this problem, then I think there is nothing in the world that can stump you, Right Commander."

Xu Aimin said modestly: "I am still young and still need the guidance of an elder like you. My father said that you are honest and upright, and you can move forward bravely even when faced with difficulties. Let me learn from you."

Zhou Chang was very pleased with Xu Aimin's words.

Xu Aimin continued, "I plan to inspect the internal affairs department to understand the situation below so that I can formulate appropriate policies."

Zhou Chang nodded and said, "This is the advice of an experienced man who is good at planning for the country."

April 15th. The meeting room of the Prince's Mansion.

Liu Heng and his people were all sitting at their desks, pondering over their articles. From time to time, some of them would go to the information room in the conference hall to find some data to fill in their articles.

In order to examine the capabilities of these recruited talents, Xu Aimin gave them the task of solving the housing problem in Chang'an City.

Fan Kang thought for a long time, but he was completely confused and had no idea what to do. He left a mess of ink on his paper. He had no choice but to run to Liu Heng and said, "Brother Heng, I really can't write anything. I can only rely on you."

Liu Bang and Fan Kuai were friends for life and death. Whenever Fan Kuai came to Chang'an City at the conference of princes over the years, he would visit Liu Bang.

Fan Kang and his brothers Liu Heng have been friends since childhood, but because of their age, he gets along better with people like Liu Chang and Liu Jian.

Liu Heng said angrily, "You think this is a test paper from your previous studies, where you can pass by copying the answers. This is His Highness testing your ability. If you know the answer, write it down. If you don't know the answer, leave it blank. If you copy someone else's answer randomly, you are deceiving His Highness."

Fan Kang and Liu Chang were a pair of talented students when they were studying. As the elder brother, Liu Heng often had to tutor them and sometimes even had to find ways to help them cheat.

Li Ji smiled and said, "When His Highness comes back, you can show him how to box. He will then understand your strengths. It is just right that you and Liu Chang can serve as the prince's left and right guards."

All three of them were born into Han aristocratic families. Although they came from different schools of thought, they came together naturally.

Fan Kang said: "Have you thought of a good idea?"

Li Ji shook his head and said, "If I can solve this problem, I will be the Minister of Internal Affairs. It is human nature to yearn for a better life. Who would want to stay in the countryside when they can stay in Chang'an? Are you willing to live in the desert forever?"

Fan Kang immediately shook his head, "I would never agree to this, you don't know how thick and deep the snow is in the desert. When the white disaster came, the snow was taller than my father's body. We in Dongwu State managed to raise some cattle and sheep, but all the war horses were frozen to death. We didn't have any mutton, so we ate beef for the whole winter, and our teeth are sore from it."

Liu Heng suddenly realized: "No wonder you only eat vegetables in Chang'an City."

Li Ji said: "That's it. You, the son of a prince, have to stay in Chang'an City, let alone the other people of the Han Dynasty."

Liu Heng said: "Why doesn't the court allow the people to build their own houses? As long as the court divides the land, it shouldn't cost much to build houses with wood and straw, and the craftsmen in Chang'an won't have to spend 30% or 40% of their money on rent."

Li Ji said, "Chang'an City used to be like this, but in the 13th year of the Han calendar, a fire broke out at the north gate, and then burned down the entire camp, burning hundreds of wooden and thatched houses. Hundreds of craftsmen were killed in the fire. Since then, the court has not allowed private housing to be built randomly. My father was reprimanded by the emperor for several days because of this incident, and he lost thousands of households in his fief to compensate the victims."

Because he was an eyewitness, he remembered the incident very clearly. On the contrary, Liu Heng and the others did not know about it because they were too young.

Liu Heng said: "The court should not throw the baby out with the bathwater because of this. We should just build firebreaks and use fire-resistant materials, and let the craftsmen build the houses themselves. This will be better than renting a house."

Li Ji said, "Cement and bricks are expensive. Chang'an is the capital of our Han Dynasty. It's not like a big bungalow in the countryside. If it is to be beautiful and comfortable, how can the price be low? The people who come to Chang'an to work are farmers. How can they afford to buy land and hire people to build houses?"

Liu Heng said: "There are always ways to solve these problems, and the court cannot give up because of choking."

After that, Liu Heng began to write his own plan. His idea was very simple. The court would divide an area into neighborhoods, and he could organize several households to work together to build the area.

On the other hand, Zhang Shizhi was writing furiously. His method was very Legalist. The court reshaped the household registration system and strictly enforced it. It stipulated how many outsiders could settle in Chang'an and become citizens of Chang'an every year. At the same time, a labor household registration was established, stipulating how many laborers could work in Chang'an every year. Craftsmen without labor household registration were all arrested and repatriated to the counties where they were registered. As the number of foreign population in Chang'an decreased, the rent would naturally drop, and the problem would naturally be solved. In Zhang Shizhi's view, this was the most fundamental way to solve the problem.

Otherwise, given Chang'an's wealth, even if more houses were built, it would not be able to stop the people who wanted to live a good life from flocking to Chang'an City. Building houses was only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution.

Chao Cuo, who was standing next to him, was also writing furiously. He was a student of Zhang Hui and had one year of experience as an official in Chen County. Zhang Hui felt that Chao Cuo was a rare talent and that it would be difficult for him to succeed in the officialdom of the Han Dynasty without a good background, so he recommended him to study at the law school.

A few years ago, Zhang Pijiang came back from the West and taught geography classes, talking about the major civilized countries west of Shenzhou. Chao Cuo felt that as the Han Dynasty continued to expand, those countries west of Shenzhou would definitely become the next target of conquest by the court, so he attached great importance to this geography class. Not only did he listen carefully in class, but he could often ask Zhang Pijiang for advice. This made Zhang Pijiang remember this studious legalist. Unexpectedly, his love of learning led him to the prince's shortcut to Zhongnan, so he attached great importance to this opportunity.

Chao Cuo had experience as an official in Chen County. He believed that Chen County was also a first-tier city of the Han Dynasty, but did not have the problems like Chang'an City. This was because the industrial layout of Chen County was extremely reasonable. The industries of Chen County were distributed among more than 300 counties, and each county had its own specialty industry or process. The population of Chen County also exceeded million, but was scattered among more than counties, and each county had only a population of several hundred thousand.

Such an industrial distribution pattern not only reduced the pressure on the county, but also promoted the development of more than 20 local counties.

But the situation is different in Neishi. Chang'an City alone occupies more than half of the population. Most of the industries are concentrated near Chang'an City, which will cause population congestion.

The large population led to an increase in housing prices in Chang'an, and the increase in commodity and housing prices, in turn, forced an increase in salaries. This led to the Neishi Prefecture being richer than other areas of the Han Dynasty, while the areas around Chang'an were relatively poor and could not compare to Chen Prefecture at all.

If the Nei Shi wants to solve the housing problem, he must find a way to readjust the industry and distribute some of Chang'an's low-end industrial chains to other counties. Chang'an's population can be immediately reduced by half, and the housing shortage problem will naturally be solved. Moreover, a more reasonable industrial layout can also provide Chang'an with development potential.

Opposite Chao Cuo was Yuan Ang and his group of people. They united together, discussed and cooperated with each other, and wrote down all their ideas.

Generally speaking, the imperial court provided money and land, and attracted some funds from foreign merchants and craftsmen to build the market. Half of the houses were used to meet the living needs of the craftsmen, and the other half, near the streets, could be handed over to the imperial court and the merchants who provided the money. In this way, three birds with one stone could be achieved.

Zhang Pijiang found twelve talents for Xu Aimin, but these people soon split into several groups because of their own experiences, living habits and talents. Jia Yi was a separate group. Because they all found that the prince particularly valued Jia Yi, everyone else regarded Jia Yi as a competitor.

Zhang Shizhi and Chao Cuo formed a small group. On the one hand, they were members of the Legalists and naturally belonged to the same school. On the other hand, both of them recognized each other's talents. In their eyes, the prince's attendants were either relatives or mediocre people, so they naturally looked down on these people.

Liu Heng, Fan Kang and Li Ji were related to each other. They could be considered natives of Chang'an. Although they came from different schools of thought, they naturally stayed together because of their similar living habits, values ​​and identities.

Finally, there was Yuan Ang's large group. Originally, this group of people, including Confucianists, Mohists, Agriculturalists, and a member of the Gongshu School, could not get together. But although Yuan Ang was a Confucian scholar, he had full diplomatic attributes. Under his strategy of forming alliances, he quickly gathered a large group of people.

Of course, because of the relationship between schools, these small groups will split up and form other small groups, which is a bit like four people making five groups.

While Liu Heng and his colleagues were writing furiously, Xu Aimin took Zhang Pijiang and Jia Yi to Zhengguo Canal, the most famous place in Guanzhong.

The first stop of Xu Aimin's inspection was not the major factories in Chang'an City but Zhengguo Canal. This was because he had already inspected it when he was a tax inspector, so he wanted to see places outside Chang'an.

Since the Han Dynasty established its capital in Chang'an, Xu Fan has attached great importance to the development of agriculture in the past 30 years. He has provided loans to farmers to buy new iron tools, water wheels and windmills, built new water conservancy facilities, promoted new agricultural technologies in the form of opera, and sent farmers to teach the people new farming techniques. The grain production capacity of Chang'an City has more than doubled in the past 30 years, and the production capacity of various cash crops has increased nearly 10 times. It can be said that these grains and agricultural raw materials have strongly supported the development of Chang'an's industry. However, the population of Guanzhong has increased by more than three times, and the grain in Guanzhong is barely balanced now, and a small amount needs to be imported from Shangjun in Hexi.

The Zhengguo Canal that Xu Aimin saw at this time was completely different from what it was 30 years ago. The extensive use of coal, the ban on logging in Guanzhong, and the afforestation tasks specially arranged by the Han court had caused the sediment content of runoff and Weihe River to decrease sharply, which effectively protected the Zhengguo Canal. In addition, the Han Dynasty's large-scale use of cement as canal embankments greatly reduced the erosion of the canal by river water. This water conservancy facility, which made great contributions to the unification of the world during the Qin Dynasty, still plays a huge role today.

Xu Aimin looked at the green wheat grass of Zhengguo Canal and sighed, "Even after nearly 60 years, Zhengguo Canal can still support millions of people in Guanzhong. No wonder my father erected a statue of Zheng Guo at the Water Conservancy College. People like Zheng Guo are truly great heroes who serve their country and their people."

Jia Yi said with regret: "Since the Han Dynasty took industry as the foundation of the country, the world's wealth has been concentrated in cities. Before the Han Dynasty, the grain center was the center of wealth. The reason why Shuzhong and Guanzhong became the land of abundance was because of these fertile fields. But now, industrial areas are the centers of wealth, and the counties that produce grain are relatively poor. The Zhengguo Canal is no longer as prosperous as it used to be."

Xu Aimin said calmly: "This shows that the times are developing, the wealth of the world is becoming more and more, and relatively speaking, the proportion of food in the world's wealth is decreasing."

In this regard, Xu Aiming was deeply influenced by Xu Fan, and his thinking is closer to industrialized thinking. He would be excited about a good harvest of grain, and he also knew that agriculture, as the primary industry, is the foundation of all industries. However, he would not regard grain as more important than anything else. In his mind, grain is also a kind of wealth.

Then Xu Aimin asked, "I will use a lot of fertilizers in the New World to increase grain production. Although the land in the New World is newly developed, the grain production capacity is generally 6 to 7 shi. Guanzhong should be a wealthy place, but I found that Guanzhong uses very little fertilizer. I looked at the data of Zhengguo Canal, and it is only shi per mu so far."

This was the thing that puzzled him the most. The New World would import millions of stones of fertilizer to the Han Dynasty every year. He thought Guanzhong would benefit from this, but in the end, there was no change.

Jia Yi said, "Your Highness, the fertilizer from the New World costs more than 3 to 4 coins per stone. Guano costs a little less, but it's also between and coins. This price is to times the price of grain in Guanzhong. For farmers in Guanzhong, it's not cost-effective to use fertilizer. It's better to use farmyard manure and soybean fertilizer. Although the effect is a little worse, it doesn't cost much. Only for those expensive cash crops, farmers are willing to buy fertilizer from overseas."

Xu Aimin frowned and said, "Farmers can make small calculations, but the court has to make big calculations. According to the population growth rate in Guanzhong, Guanzhong will have to transport a large amount of grain from other regions to fill the gap in 10 years at most. Not to mention the consumption of transportation and storage along the way, the shortage of grain in Guanzhong is also extremely unfavorable to the court's stabilization of grain prices. Using fertilizers to increase production can eliminate all this consumption."

Zhang Pijiang said: "I think this is better. The court has suppressed the price of grain at 50 coins per stone in recent years, and the people are not very enthusiastic about growing grain. Now most of the farmers in Guanzhong work in the city, and the farmland is left to their wives and children. If the price of grain increases, the farmers will be profitable, and they will naturally find ways to buy fertilizers to increase grain production capacity. The court cannot enjoy low-priced grain while expecting farmers to pay for expensive fertilizers themselves."

The Han Dynasty has experienced 30 years of rapid development. Although it has been expanding outward, the farmland of the Han Dynasty has been increasing, and even the per-acre grain yield has been increasing. After the price of steam pumps has been continuously reduced, a small steam pump now costs only about 3 coins, and most farmers in the Han Dynasty can afford it. Adequate water sources can increase production more than any fertilizer. Except for a few mountainous areas, the per-acre grain yield of most areas in the Han Dynasty can reach stones.

However, due to industrial development in the Han Dynasty, a large amount of land was used for growing mulberry trees and raising silkworms, and for growing economic crops such as soybeans, sugarcane, and cotton. There was also a large area of ​​economic plantations, roughly equivalent to about 3% to 4% of the Han Dynasty's arable land. Therefore, the Han Dynasty's grain production capacity only increased by a little more than two times.

However, the population of the Han Dynasty increased nearly three times. More importantly, after people became more affluent, they consumed more food per capita. After all, the food consumed by a hungry farmer is completely different from the food consumed by a well-fed farmer.

Starting from the 50th year of the Han calendar, the price of grain in the major industrial counties of the Han Dynasty began to increase slowly. Now the price of grain per mu in the Central Plains has caught up with Guanzhong, reaching 4 coins per stone. The increase in grain prices has directly increased farmers' income by %, which is better than any policy. Farmers in major grain producing areas such as Julu and Donghai County prefer to use fertilizers to increase production capacity. Because they are closer to the coast, the price of fertilizers is half that of Guanzhong, and the income from grain production can cover this part of the expenditure.

Xu Aimin thought for a moment and said, "Whoever benefits should pay. We city dwellers eat cheap food, so we should pay for the cost of the food. The court should find a way to subsidize farmers' expenditure on fertilizer."

But he couldn't help but feel worried when he thought about the considerable expenses required to subsidize fertilizers. Who could have imagined that as the number one county in the world, Nei Shi's expenditure was actually greater than its income, and that the court had to subsidize nearly 10 billion yuan every year to maintain a balance between income and expenditure. In this case, where would he find the money to continue subsidizing fertilizers?

(End of this chapter)