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

Chapter 558: Yuan Ang digging the ground and recruiting Nong Mo

The third day of the first month in the 33rd year of the Han calendar, Chang'an City, Agricultural College, Wuyue Prefecture.

If Shangjun is the practice center, the Agricultural College is the academic center of the agricultural family and the reserve disciple training center. These students first learn agricultural technology and knowledge in the agricultural college and then go to Shangjun for internship. Only students who are able to endure hardships and are in line with the farmers' philosophy will be recruited into the agricultural family.

After Wu Yue returned to Chang'an City, he stayed in the Agricultural College. The Agricultural College prepared a yard for Wu Yue and built a 3-mu glass greenhouse in the yard.

"Is Master Wu here?" Early in the morning, Yuan Ang and others came to Wu Yue's mansion with gifts.

They saw Wu Yue coming out of the glass shed and greeted him one by one, "Happy New Year, Master Wu."

Wu Yue smiled and said, "Hello to you too."

Yuan Ang looked at Wu Yue's hands covered with mud and said, "Wu is farming again. We are young and strong, so we will go and help you."

After saying this, Yuan Ang and his group picked up hoes and other farm tools and came to Wu Yue's small glass greenhouse. However, they were surprised to find that what was planted inside was neither off-season vegetables nor the most valuable watermelons in winter, but potatoes.

"Why are you growing only potatoes?" Feng Tang asked.

Wu Yue smiled and said, "Because potatoes are food and have high production capacity, I want to see the limit of its production capacity."

"Potatoes are a treasure for farmers. They don't require water or soil. As long as there is enough fertilizer, you can reap what you sow. This characteristic alone can save countless lives. Although the Han people are not short of food now, if there is a natural disaster one day, planting potatoes can increase food production capacity by more than ten times and save the people in the disaster area from the water and fire."

The emergence of potatoes was a bit contrary to farmers' common sense. After the discovery of guano, the Han Dynasty's grain production capacity expanded significantly, especially in the farmers' experimental fields. As long as they were willing to apply fertilizer, it would not be a problem to exceed ten stones per mu. However, when it reached about 15 stones, it was difficult to increase production no matter how much fertilizer was applied. This made farmers realize that this was almost the limit of the seeds. If they wanted to continue to increase production capacity, they could only cultivate better seeds.

But the emergence of potatoes has somewhat changed the farmers' three views. In the experimental fields of farmers all over the country, there are yields of more than 20, 30, and even dan per mu. In recent years, high-yield potatoes have appeared repeatedly. Every time they think that the limit of potatoes has been reached, higher production capacity appears. In other words, after nearly ten years of exploration by farmers, they have not yet explored the limit of potato production capacity. But farmers believe that potatoes are particularly suitable for planting in disaster areas, and a large amount of food can be produced in a short period of time.

Gongshu Qi said, "Master Wu, you are worrying too much. The railway network of our Han Dynasty is well-connected. The grain stored in the warehouse can reach any area of ​​the Han Dynasty within three days. If we have time to plant potatoes, the relief grain will have arrived long ago."

After potatoes were introduced into the Han Dynasty, they were treated similarly to how they were treated in history. The agriculture of the Han Dynasty was much stronger than that of the West, and there was no need for potatoes to increase grain production, so potatoes were a vegetable in most parts of the Han Dynasty.

Wu Yue smiled and said, "It's always better to be prepared."

Wu Yue did not explain that sometimes even if there was food, it was impossible to transport it to the disaster area. This generation of young people in the Han Dynasty lived in a peaceful and prosperous era, and they had no idea how terrible the chaotic times were.

There are only 3 acres of glass greenhouse here. Yuan Ang and others weeded, and Songdi quickly dug the ground inside the glass greenhouse again.

Wu Yue poured a cup of hot tea for them. At this time, Yuan Ang said, "Master Wu, our farmers have set up a large number of agricultural cooperatives and factories in Jiujiang and other places. Why do we rarely see our farmers doing this in Guanzhong?"

Yes, Yuan Ang and others wanted to attract the prince's attention, and their idea was very simple, which was to state-run the entire agricultural industry. Jia Yi did not want to use the market controlled by the court to control the steel industry.

They can also use this method. As long as the farmers in Guanzhong are integrated, the silk, linen and cotton needed by the textile industry, the sesame, peanuts and soybeans needed for edible oil, and the wheat needed by various food processing factories all need their farmers to provide the raw materials. They can completely control the upstream industries in a monopoly way and control all the industries such as rice, flour, grain and oil.

Wu Yue said calmly: "The agricultural conditions in the two places are different. We can't apply the same policies to them."

“Jiujiang County is poor, and most of the local people are from the Shanyue tribe. They have poor discipline, poor farming skills, and poor water conservancy facilities. Therefore, we need our farmers to organize them, teach them agricultural techniques, organize them to build new water conservancy projects, repair roads, and improve the infrastructure of the village.

However, Guanzhong has always been the area where the court has promoted agricultural technology the most, and the infrastructure is the most complete. Among all the farmers in the world, they are also the richest. My farm organizes the most farmers to guide them to improve their production efficiency. "

Yuan Ang said, "Master Wu, I don't think so. The farmers in Guanzhong are indeed wealthy, but no matter how wealthy they are, they are not as good as the craftsmen. You have to admit that as long as there is an opportunity to work in the city, no farmer is willing to stay in the countryside. Why? It's because farm work is hard and the income is not high."

"Look, my family worked hard for a year to increase the grain production capacity of Guanzhong farmers by half a stone. As a result, the crisis broke out this year, grain prices fell, and the grain production capacity that farmers worked hard to increase was all lost. The income of ordinary Guanzhong farmers is actually decreasing. If we don't find a way to unite the farmers, this kind of situation will happen when the grain price is low and farmers suffer."

"You have more experience than me. You should know that the price of grain was not so low when the Han Dynasty was founded. At that time, farmers' income was even higher than that of craftsmen. As a result, when the world was at peace, the price of grain plummeted, and farmers' income was only a fraction of that of craftsmen."

"Why can three kilograms of vegetables only sell for one cent, and a watermelon is only worth a dozen cents in summer? It's because the farmers are scattered and unorganized, so they can only be exploited by merchants. Now my family has returned to Guanzhong. If merchants can still exploit farmers, then my family's agricultural cooperative is not in vain. We must unite the farmers and raise the price of grain. Tractors in the city cost more than 100,000 yuan each, but it's not too much for us farmers to sell grain for 100 yuan per stone."

"As long as we organize all the farmers in Guanzhong, we can negotiate with those merchants to increase the prices of grain and vegetables. If they are unwilling to increase the prices, then we can open our own factories and produce flour, cooking oil, cotton cloth and other goods ourselves, and directly kick these greedy merchants out of the market."

Wu Yue looked at Yuan Ang, a Confucian disciple, with embarrassment and didn't know how to start talking for a moment. In fact, farmers do the same in other places. Those flour mills and grain and oil stores have high requirements for raw materials and low technical requirements. These small factories and workshops are most suitable for township enterprises. Farmers rely on extending the industrial chain to increase their income.

But he never expected that Yuan Ang's ambition was so big that he actually wanted to monopolize the entire food industry in Guanzhong.

At this moment, Xu Aimin shouted, "Master Wu, Happy New Year!"

Then he saw Yuan Ang and others sitting in the hall.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" Yuan Ang and others saluted.

"No need to be polite. Why are you here, Master Wu?"

Yuan Ang said, "We are here to pay New Year's greetings to Master Wu. After that, we will not disturb His Highness and Master Wu any more."

Yuan Ang and others left here in a panic.

Xu Aimin looked at Yuan Ang and the others in a strange way. Wu Yue told Xu Aimin what Yuan Ang and his group had done.

Xu Aimin said with a bit of a smile: "It's New Year's Day, and I come to dig the ground here!"

Wu Yue smiled and said, "They are also a group of ambitious young people."

He could understand what Yuan Ang and the others were thinking, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with that idea. It was normal for young people to want to make progress.

Xu Aimin did not pay attention to Yuan Ang's actions but said: "I recommend you to my father to be the Minister of Agriculture. With this status in the imperial court, the agricultural cooperatives will be better promoted in Guanzhong."

Wu Yue frowned and said, "But if the farmers become Han officials, they will be separated from the farmers in the world. How can they come from the people and go to the people?" Xu Aimin said, "If you want the farmers' societies to spread all over Guanzhong, how can the court let the folk organizations rule tens of millions of people in Guanzhong if these people are not Han officials? Moreover, if the farmers want to develop, they must enter the court. Without my father's attention, the farmers would not be prosperous now. I also like the model of farmers' societies very much and plan to promote it throughout the world, but the premise is that the farmers' societies are the farmers' societies of the Han court."

Wu Yue immediately understood Xu Aimin's idea. The imperial court was optimistic about the management model of the agricultural cooperatives and it was impossible for them to continue to let the farmers take control.

Wu Yue thought for a moment and said, "I understand. I will do as Your Highness wishes."

On the other hand, during the New Year, Jia Yi also came to Zhang Hui's residence to pay New Year's greetings.

Zhang Hui attached great importance to Jia Yi, a younger generation of Legalists. If the Legalists wanted to change the world, they had to gain support from the upper echelons.

The Legalists were able to quickly climb out of the whirlpool of the late Qin Dynasty thanks to the support of Prime Minister Zhou Bo. Because of Zhou Bo's support, the Legalists once again entered the political arena of the Han Dynasty on a large scale. During the ten years that Zhou Bo was in power in the Han Dynasty, he appointed several Legalist scholars as prefects with a salary of 2000 stones, which gave the Legalists a base in the political arena of the Han Dynasty. Now the Legalists have re-entered the city of Chang'an.

The crown prince was behind Jia Yi. With the crown prince's support, he might be able to regain control of the country. So Zhang Hui had high hopes for Jia Yi.

He told Jia Yi about his experience of running the government in Chen County for several years and said, "The government-run business is not the purpose of our Legalists. Expanding industries and bringing more people into the industry is the core of the government-run reform. This is because only when the dividends brought by industrial development can cover all people in the industrial group, and this can gain the support of the vast majority of people. The premise of distributing the benefits of the industrial chain is that our Legalists can expand the benefits of this industrial chain. If this cannot be achieved, even the government-run business may fail."

"If we want to expand the industrial chain, production and consumption are equally important. Only with production craftsmen can we expand the wealth of the whole world, and only with sufficient consumers can we find a market for the industry. The most important experience of Chen County is to reduce the cost of ordinary people becoming industrial workers and allow more people to be involved in the big market of the world."

After Zhang Hui taught Jia Yi, he selected some Legalist elites to support Jia Yi.

The 33th day of the first month, the rd year of the Han calendar.

At the beginning of the new year, the emperor of the Han Dynasty appointed the farmer Wu Yue as the Right Minister of Agriculture.

This appointment immediately became a hot topic in the entire Guanzhong area. Although there were some farmers' sons who served as Han officials in recent years, the highest position among them was the prefect with a salary of 2000 stones.

Becoming a high-ranking official of the Nine Ministers was an event that happened more than 20 years ago, which represented that Nongjia had once again risen from the common people to the upper echelons of the Han Dynasty.

The 33th day of the second month of the rd year of the Han calendar. Chang'an City, prison.

"Wan Guanjie, Li Deyu, Zhang Renjie~~, your time has come. The court wants to summon you to discuss how to solve the problem of overcapacity in the steel industry."

Wan Guanjie said excitedly: "Finally, the imperial court has come to rescue the market."

Li Deyu and Zhang Renjie were so excited that they almost cheered. They were both private steel plant managers and were among the most vulnerable people in the economic crisis. When the economic crisis first broke out, the entire steel industry chain was in a state of mutual distrust. They could not receive payment for goods, and they also withheld payment for goods from downstream industries. They could not even pay the salaries of the craftsmen.

But the experiences of the previous two times made these steel plant managers understand that as long as the government came to their rescue, they might have a chance of reviving.

As a result, these steel mill directors were imprisoned for refusing to pay their salaries, avoiding their creditors on the one hand and waiting for their opportunity on the other.

Such notices appeared not only in Guanzhong, but also in every county and prefecture of the Han Dynasty. The issuance of the notice meant that the court wanted to prepare for the steel industry.

On February 33, the 2rd year of the Han calendar, in the meeting hall of the Shaofu in Chang'an City.

The directors of hundreds of steel mills in the Han Dynasty gathered outside the Shaofu Gate, and then entered the meeting hall under the guidance of the Han officials. In addition to these steel mill directors, there were also representatives of the Mohist School.

After hundreds of people were seated, the newly appointed Director of Steel, Jia Yi, said, "The court appointed me to rectify the steel industry. The steel industry has been prosperous in our Han Dynasty for 30 years, but in the past decade or so, with the influx of a large amount of private money, you have built a large number of steel mills and expanded production capacity recklessly, without considering whether the market can accommodate so much steel. At the peak of the year before last, our Han Dynasty produced nearly 200 million tons of steel. Without considering whether the entire Han Dynasty can afford so much steel, the court decided to run all the major private steel mills in the world in order to control the development of the steel industry. The court holds % of the shares, the craftsmen share % of the shares, and you retain % of the shares."

The steel plant managers present were in an uproar. They had never expected that the final result would be that the company would be state-run.

But some steel mill directors are very calm. These people are generally businessmen with deep backgrounds. After knowing the court's warning, they have the qualifications to not take the risk. They also follow the court's steel mills and clear out their inventory and collect funds. Now they are reducing their production capacity, but they are not in a situation where they cannot survive.

They also heard what Jia Yi meant. If the steel mill was not state-run, they would not have a share in the contract.

But they have a way to resolve this crisis. The imperial court increased the steel production capacity by 4000 miles, which is almost one million tons of steel. With such a large market increase, coupled with the imperial court's forced cleanup of blast furnaces below 25 tons, they can completely develop the private market.

But Jia Yi had already thought that many of those who could invest in the steel industry were big businessmen with deep financial resources, and this crisis was not enough to completely hit them. They might not accept such a threat, but it didn't matter, he had another trick up his sleeve.

Jia Yi continued, "From this year, private mining in the coal and iron ore industries will be prohibited. The mines that have signed mining contracts will be redeemed by the court, and all the craftsmen in the mines will be transferred to the court. This will reduce the frequent mining accidents in our Han Dynasty."

As expected, as soon as Jia Yi finished speaking, the whole audience was in an uproar. They controlled the coal and iron ore industries, so how could they make steel without even the raw materials?
Ren Ming said angrily, "Jia Yi, you are so unscrupulous in exploiting merchants like me. I will go to the emperor to sue you."

Jia Yi smiled calmly and said, "Master Ren, that's too much. I only said that I wanted to government-run coal and iron ore, but this was for the safety of the people of the Han Dynasty. I didn't stop these mines from selling raw materials to you. How can this be said to be exploiting you?"

"I have one more thing to inform you. In order to prevent disorderly competition in the steel industry, our Steel Company will count all the profits of the steel industry and distribute the profits obtained by the steel industry to all links of the industrial chain as fairly and justly as possible."

Ren Ming's face turned pale. This was an attack on them from both ends of the industrial chain. The profits of the steel industry were distributed by the Iron and Steel Corporation. If they were given 10% of the profits of the steel mill, wouldn't they be working for the Han in vain? Why did they work so hard to build the steel mill? It would be better to just deposit the money in the bank.

Next to the Steel Bureau's conference room, Xu Aimin also invited Qin Bo to attend the steel industry meeting.

Qin Bo sighed: "Your Highness is promoting the official camp to the entire Han Dynasty!"

Xu Aimin said: "Although the Han Dynasty has developed rapidly since its founding, there is always a crisis every ten years that needs to be resolved. If this problem is not resolved, how can the Han Dynasty climb to a world of great harmony?"

Qin Bo said: "Legalists are not good executors. Although they obey the will of the king, they despise the voices of the people at the bottom, which makes the king unable to listen to the voices of the people and causes a split between the upper and lower levels. The collapse of the tyrannical Qin Dynasty is the best example."

Although the Mohists and Legalists had cooperated well in recent years, he still did not believe in the Legalists. Instead, he was more worried that the Legalists would go to extremes. How was the full government-run system different from the tyrannical Qin Dynasty?

Xu Aimin said: "This requires the support of the Agricultural School and the Mohist School, so that the Legalists cannot dominate alone. Naturally, the Legalists cannot isolate themselves from the upper and lower classes."

"Uncle Qin, the number of craftsmen in our Han Dynasty has exceeded 20 million, which is almost equal to the number of people in the world at the end of the Qin Dynasty. It is time for the Mohist School to return to the Han Dynasty. If the court cannot integrate the power of the Agricultural School and the Mohist School, the world will inevitably be divided into three parts, which I will not allow."

(End of this chapter)