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

Chapter 609, Changsha County Development Plan and Agricultural Society Boom
On April 40rd, the 4th year of the Han calendar, at the Leiyang County Wharf in Changsha County.

Early that morning, Jia Yi and a group of Han officials were waiting at the dock. All officials in Changsha County knew that the disaster relief aid from the court would arrive today, and everyone looked at the distance of the river with some excitement.

"The prefect is worthy of being a favorite of His Majesty. He is indeed well-connected. Even though the disaster this year is a bit serious, the court came to provide relief so quickly. This shows that our prefect is very capable. It can also be seen that even though the prefect was demoted to Changsha County, he still has the emperor's favor." Zhang Ming, a Han official, looked at Jia Yi enviously.

The Han officials here all knew Jia Yi's past very well. He became famous at a young age and became a teacher in the law school at a young age. He became famous in Chang'an because of an article "On the Qin Dynasty" and was noticed by the emperor who was still a prince at that time. Then he rose to prominence and became the Minister of the Chancellery with a salary of 20 stones in his 2000s. At one time, he was able to compete with the prime minister of the dynasty. You must know that for the Han officials, becoming the prime minister and ruling the world is the ultimate goal of life. Jia Yi is an unprecedented big man to them.

Ji Wei said: "Since you know that the governor is not an ordinary person, you should perform well. If we can be noticed by the county governor, we can also rise to prominence."

Because of his family's past, Ji Wei was not satisfied with being just a minor official with an official salary of 400 stones. The appearance of Jia Yi was a pleasant surprise for Ji Wei. As long as he could get Jia Yi's recommendation, he could jump out of Changsha County and move to a higher level.

"Beep, beep, beep!" The sound of the steam turbine suddenly rang out.

"It's coming, it's coming." So everyone said excitedly.

I saw a fleet of steamships slowly approaching the dock, and dozens of people got off the ships.

Jia Yi was surprised and asked, "Brother Zidu, Brother Shizhi, how could it be you?"

Feng Tang smiled and said, "Didn't Jia Sheng ask for support from the farmers? We are here to support Jia Sheng."

Zhang Shizhi said seriously, "Brother, how is the disaster in Changsha County?"

Jia Yi pointed to a river not far away and said, "The water level has dropped by more than five feet. Even though Changsha County is located in the south and has many rivers and streams, it still couldn't withstand this drought. Fifty percent of the rivers in the territory have dried up. Now we can only rely on well water for irrigation. It's a blessing from God that we can keep half of the harvest this year."

Zhang Shizhi looked over and could see some places on both sides of the river where silt was exposed. The area of ​​the river was reduced by more than half, and in some places even the riverbed was exposed.

"Don't worry, brother. We have brought 500 water pumps, 20 professional well-drilling teams, and 5000 tons of grain. The court will continue to provide disaster relief supplies based on the severity of the drought."

Jia Yi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. The local groundwater is still abundant."

Feng Tang and Zhang Shizhi were both practical men. After a day's rest in Lei County, Feng Tang led a well-drilling team to dig wells in the most drought-stricken areas to solve the problem of irrigation water.

Under the leadership of Ji Wei, Zhang Shizhi distributed steam pumps to the villages most affected by the disaster. The pumps pumped water from the river into the fields to preserve the few rice seedlings.

Perhaps God had vented his anger. In mid-April, Changsha County had two heavy rains, which greatly alleviated the drought. At the same time, the farmer's teacher instructed the villagers to replant drought-resistant potatoes and sorghum. Some green seedlings barely grew in the fields.

We cannot say that the drought is over, but we have done everything we can, and now we just have to wait for the autumn harvest.

May 40, 5th year of the Han calendar, Leiyang County Government Office.

Jia Yi raised his teacup and said, "Thank you, my two brothers, for your hospitality in my Changsha County for the past month."

Feng Tang and Zhang Shizhi smiled and raised their teacups and said, "We are all working for the court."

Feng Tang then sighed, "In the past two years, I have also visited many villages to set up agricultural cooperatives, but this is the first time I have seen a place like Changsha County with mountains and tortuous terrain. It is difficult to develop such a place."

Zhang Shizhi said: "Brother, haven't you tried to attract investment? Not only are the rural areas of Changsha County poor, but there are few factories near the county government office?"

Jia Yi smiled bitterly and said, "Merchants are best at adding icing on the cake. Changsha County has no roads, no industry, and the local people are poorly educated. They have no raw materials and no market. It is impossible for them to come to Changsha County.

If we want to change the appearance of Changsha County, we can only rely on the court to spend a lot of effort and money to build infrastructure, reclaim land, and establish industries. In my opinion, the poorer the place, the more it needs the power of the court, the power of farmers and Mohists to vigorously develop. In such places, market competition cannot compete with the fertile lands in the Central Plains. We can only rely on the court to integrate all local forces to promote production and development. "

"What you said, brother, really sees through those businessmen." Zhang Shizhi nodded in agreement.

Jia Yi took out a memorial and said, "This is my opinion on the construction of the southern counties during my inspection of Changsha County this year. Please release it to Your Majesty."

Zhang Shizhi asked curiously, "Brother, how do you plan to govern Changsha County?"

Feng Tang was also curious. His main task now was to deal with farmers. He was considered a half-expert in agriculture. As far as he was concerned, the geographical environment of Changsha County was relatively better in the north, and it could be built into a granary in a land of fish and rice. However, in the south, it was difficult to get enough food and clothing, but to become rich.

Jia Yi smiled and said, "Of course, it is the old method of my Legalists. The factories are run by the government and the rural areas are built into farmers' communities. In such a barren land, it is impossible for farmers to become rich alone. They can only be organized by the court to produce and lead them to serve. The power of each farmer is naturally not strong, but if hundreds of thousands of farmers unite, their explosive power can change the world. What the people of Changsha County lack now is the court to organize them."

Feng Tang shook his head and said, "A good cook cannot cook without rice. It is not difficult to organize the people and make them well fed, but it is too difficult to make them rich. There are too few fields and too many mountains here. The land that a family can obtain is limited, so it is difficult to make the people rich."

Jia Yi smiled and said, "It is difficult to become rich even in the Central Plains by just growing food. If you want to become rich, you have to start with cash crops. In the past two years, the princes in Shuzhong have become rich by growing tobacco from the New World. I think the geographical locations of Changsha County, Wuling County, and Lingling County are not much different from those in the South Central Region. If they can grow tobacco, we can grow tobacco here too. We also need to establish rubber plantations. Although there are many mountains and hills in Wuling County, Lingling County, and Changsha County, which are not suitable for growing food, they are more suitable for growing rubber. The reason why the local people dare not grow rubber is that there was no income in the first few years of growing rubber, and ordinary people simply could not afford it, so the court had to lead these people to grow it together."

Several specialties from the New World have begun to take root in the land of the Han people over the past decade. Corn has become one of the Han people's food, potatoes have become one of the Han people's dishes, and rubber trees have become the Han people's most important cash crop. Moreover, with the industrial development of the Han people, the rubber market is still expanding exponentially, and the area planted cannot even keep up with the speed of expansion. In the past 10 years, the price of rubber has increased by %.

Now, in Nanyang, several major princes in the south have a huge rubber plantation, and they have made a fortune by relying on rubber, a specialty product. The development of the tobacco industry is somewhat related to Xu Fan. When the princes of the desert moved their fiefs, many princes in Nanzhong also had this idea. Although Nanzhong has many special products, the land is not flat and the sky is not clear. In recent years, other princes of the Han Dynasty have slowly caught up, and Nanzhong has become a relatively poor place.

These princes also wanted to move to a wealthy place, but Xu Fan did not want to let them go. These areas were the last to be assimilated by the Han civilization, and it took thousands of years of twists and turns to barely complete it. These princes of the Han Dynasty had only been educated here for a few decades, which was not enough time for the Nanzhong area to become an inseparable part of the Han Dynasty. The current Han court needed these princes to take root in this barren place of Nanzhong.

But if you want these princes to take root, you must give them some benefits. So Xu Fan thought that the tobacco industry in the future seemed to be in these areas, so he taught them to grow tobacco leaves. After a few years, it has grown to a considerable scale. The Nanzhong area has become the largest tobacco production base in the Han Dynasty, earning a lot of profits every year.

Jia Yi also saw the profit in this aspect. Although the profit of growing tobacco leaves is not as high as that of rubber, tobacco leaves can be planted and harvested in the same year, and the industry cycle is much shorter than that of rubber. Moreover, this cash crop is also very suitable for the situation south of Changsha County.

Jia Yi said: "First plant tobacco leaves, and then use the profits from tobacco leaves to plant rubber trees, and then supplement with orchards, tea gardens and other cash crops. When these cash crops have a certain scale, tobacco processing plants, tire factories, canning factories, tea factories, and when there are more of these factories, textile factories and steel mills will naturally be built. As long as there is 10 years, Changsha County will definitely change its backward situation."

Zhang Shizhi admired and said, "Brother, you are very talented."

Feng Tang said: "With my brother here, Changsha County will surely become a land of kingly rule."

Jia Yi shook his head and said, "This is just the development model of the various princes in the south. I am just applying this model. In fact, anyone can use this model, but not many can use it well. The key is to have strong organizational ability to organize hundreds of thousands of people for common development."

"Although I don't want to admit it, the various princes of the Han Dynasty have done much better than us in this regard. The princely states in the south are generally richer than the counties directly under the imperial court."

"This is especially true of England. After decades of development by two generations of Dukes of England, England has become the richest vassal state in the south of the Han Dynasty. It is known as Little Chang'an, the capital of the south. The population of the city is 50. In the Jiangnan region, except for Kuaiji County, there is no region richer than this."

Feng Tang said helplessly: "Based on the relationship between the retired emperor and the old Duke of England, the current Duke of England is also your Majesty's brother-in-law. This relationship alone is something we cannot compare with. Many industries in England were directed by the retired emperor. With this relationship, it is naturally easy for England to become rich."

Jia Yi said: "The Supreme Emperor instructed the old Duke of England to develop industries. Other counties in the Han Dynasty also have these industries, but these industries are not as developed as those of the vassal states. This is true for one or two vassal states, but it is the same for dozens of vassal states. This is because we Han officials are slacking off, while the vassal states are developing their own countries. They can naturally focus on developing an industry for decades without even complaining."

"And we!" Jia Yi smiled bitterly. "I was transferred from Shangshu Ling (a salary of 2000 dan) to Taishou (a salary of 2000 dan). It was clearly a horizontal transfer, but everyone thought I was demoted. Changsha County was a barbaric land to many Han officials. There are nearly 500 princes in the Han Dynasty. Which prince felt that he was demoted?"

Zhang Shizhi said helplessly: "It's human nature. There's nothing we can do about it. The emperor knows human nature, so he granted fiefs to the princes in the wild land. If you want to rely on Han officials to develop this land, it will probably take hundreds or thousands of years."

There was silence for a while, and finally Feng Tang talked about his experience in building agricultural cooperatives. He described it with a bit of pride that the income of farmers in the agricultural cooperatives he established generally increased by more than 30%, and the income of some farmers even doubled, which was rare even in the Han Dynasty.

Jia Yi asked: "I read in the Han Dynasty's newspapers that the number of agricultural cooperatives in the imperial court has more than doubled in just over a year. Will such a rapid expansion cause problems?"

Even in Changsha County, Jia Yi was still very concerned about the court's movements. In addition to the conflict between the emperor and the prime minister, the biggest issue in the Han Dynasty in the past two years was the rapid expansion of agricultural societies, which had expanded rapidly from less than 1000 in Guanzhong to the Central Plains. Now the number of agricultural societies in the Han Dynasty has exceeded 2000. Such a rapid expansion caused Jia Yi's concern.

Zhang Shizhi said with some disdain: "Brother, you think this is fast. But our Minister Yuan still thinks the speed is not fast enough. He has repeatedly written to all localities to pay attention to the establishment of agricultural cooperatives."

After Jia Yi was demoted, the current emperor wanted to make Liu Heng the Shangshu Ling. Firstly, Liu Heng was a hard-working man who completed all the tasks assigned to him perfectly, making him a good candidate for secretary. Secondly, Liu Heng's father, Marquis of Pei, had extensive social connections in the Han Dynasty, and a large number of the elders had good relations with him. The emperor believed that making Liu Heng the Shangshu Ling would ease the conflict with those elders.

But Liu Heng was a cautious and low-key person. He knew that although the position of Shangshu Ling was powerful, it was also the focus of the Han Dynasty's contradictions. If he was not careful, Jia Yi would be his fate, so Liu Heng refused the appointment on the grounds that he was not capable enough.

The emperor thought about it and promoted Yuan Ang to be the Minister of the Chancellery.

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as Yuan Ang showed outstanding talent in this position. He respected the elders of the Han Dynasty from all sides, and whenever he communicated with them, he always made them feel comfortable. He demonstrated his ability to maneuver effectively, and during the few months he served as the Minister of the Chancellery, he effectively bridged the conflict between the emperor and the elders.

He was also keen on promoting new talents. When he was with the emperor, he would always recommend talented young people and Han officials, and accumulated considerable prestige among the young Han officials.

But for Zhang Shizhi, he felt a little contemptuous of Yuan Ang's methods. Being a good guy and not offending any party was just a way of flattery.

Hearing Zhang Shizhi's contempt, the honest man Feng Tang had to explain for his brother: "The emperor is tough, and the elders are also tough. If you, as the Shangshu Ling, don't find a way to reconcile, the Han Dynasty will be divided. No one wants to see what happened two years ago again."

Jia Yi said self-deprecatingly: "Indeed, Yuan Ang is ten times better than me as the Minister of the Chancellery."

When he was the Minister of the Chancellery, he thought of himself as the Shang Jun of the new era, who should be the sword of the emperor and eliminate the ills of the Han Dynasty. However, his actions instead provoked conflicts between the emperor and the elders. From this respect, he was extremely unqualified as the Minister of the Chancellery.

Feng Tang continued, "Although the agricultural cooperative was established by my brother, it was promoted by the emperor. I don't think there is any harm in the agricultural cooperative. More than a dozen households work together and harvest together. Tractors that we couldn't afford before can now be afforded. Fertilizers that we didn't dare to use before can now be used. Moreover, larger-scale agricultural cooperatives can also build flour mills, breeding farms, and feed mills. These are all effective ways to increase farmers' income. Judging from the areas I have inspected, the income of farmers who have joined the agricultural cooperative has increased significantly. What's wrong with this kind of good thing happening faster?

In many areas where there are no agricultural cooperatives, local farmers have petitioned the court to establish agricultural cooperatives in their native places. The current situation is not that the agricultural cooperatives are expanding too fast, but that the Han people want a prosperous life and they can no longer tolerate the slow expansion of agricultural cooperatives. "

"The emperor has inspected seven counties in the Central Plains over the past year. In these counties, as long as they have established agricultural cooperatives, their income has increased significantly, at least by about 7%. It is precisely because of the constant calls from the people below that the court has to speed up the construction of agricultural cooperatives. This is not something that can be achieved with just one order from Brother Yuan, but everyone in the Han Dynasty, from top to bottom, wants to join the agricultural cooperatives and increase their income."

After hearing this, Jia Yi frowned and said, "More haste, less speed. Farming cooperatives are not something that people can increase their income by just forming them. They need guidance from farmers' technical personnel, financial support from the court, and more importantly, support from overseas fertilizers. The fertilizers used by hundreds of thousands of people are different from those used by millions or even tens of millions of farmers. I have noticed that the price of fertilizers has risen by 30%. If it rises further, it will be inconvenient to use fertilizers. But without fertilizers, the so-called increase in grain production capacity is just a joke."

Jia Yi was more likely to stay out of it in Changsha County. He felt that the trend of agricultural cooperatives in the court was too radical. Although news reports said that as long as one joined an agricultural cooperative, the grain production capacity would increase by 30% or 50%, and poor farmers would instantly become well-off, and well-off farmers would become wealthy, but in his opinion, this was just the increase in production caused by the vast majority of agricultural cooperatives receiving fertilizers from overseas.

(End of this chapter)