Zhu Yuanzhang can see my dreams

Chapter 365 Yuan Zhang Weeps
Land annexation.

Zhu Yuanzhang was not at all unfamiliar with this term, and he had experienced this kind of thing since he was a child.

His family did not have any land of their own, and the same was true for many of the people who followed him in the rebellion.

His philosophy in governing for so many years has been to rob the rich and help the poor.

Ensure that the common people have land to survive.

Thus, his descendants would pay taxes to the Ming Dynasty, and this would continue for thousands of years.

"Now the Ming Dynasty has nearly four million hectares of farmland, of which one-tenth or two-tenths are government farmland, and the rest are private farmland. There are nearly 400,000 hectares of military farmland as well."

Wang Buli glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Your Majesty, how come there are suddenly 400,000 hectares of farmland?"

This data was specially summarized during this year's court meeting, and the number of fields has increased.

"These four million military fields are controlled by the Five Military Commanderies and are not reported to the Ministry of Revenue." Crown Prince Zhu Biao explained.

In accordance with Zhu Yuanzhang's cautious nature, the country's land was governed by two major systems: administrative and military.

In this way, military secrets could be prevented from being known to others. In order to ensure military secrets, Zhu Yuanzhang planned to register these fields under the names of the provincial governments of Huguang, Henan and other places.

"I remember the population counted nine years ago was over 50 million." Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard and said leisurely:
"Next year we'll send someone to do a few more counts to see if there's been any growth."

"Your Majesty, this is a very good thing to say."

Wang Buli once again boasted: "Now that the domestic war has basically subsided, the people have recuperated after so many years of rest and recuperation, which will lead to an increase in population.

The only thing that needs to be paid attention to is that the big families in the south conceal their population. North of the Huai River, there is no fixed acreage of land, and one acre is considered an acre. Therefore, many people deceive about the land and grain.

South of the Yangtze River, there is no real number of male adults in a household. The household is represented by its property, so there are many missing male adults.

The north is a vast land with few people, and nine out of ten people work as farmers, renting land and not selling the abundant crops.

Now it was Zhu Yuanzhang and his son's turn to look at Wang Buli in surprise: "How did you know?"

"Your Majesty is also aware that the minor officials who served in Jiangning County have been transferred to other places to work, right?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly. He saw that some of the officials brought by Wang Buli were good, so he recommended them for promotions and walked out.

"They discovered this problem and wrote to me to ask how to fix it," Wang Buli shrugged.

"I am trying to appease them and tell them not to act rashly for now, and to learn as much as possible, so that they won't be killed directly when they are officials in other places and have no one to rely on, and they have to wait for the court's order."

"You should be more cautious."

Zhu Yuanzhang commented that this was consistent with Wang Buli's character.

The things he mentioned do exist, but I don’t know how many there are.

"In the south, the land is narrow and the population is dense. There is a lot of farming. If you are not a strong family, you cannot buy land. The value of an acre is a few gold coins, or even twelve gold coins. But if there is water conservancy, you can harvest a few dan per year. No matter whether the land in the north is medium or low, its price and yield are far higher than those in the south."

Zhu Biao also added: "According to my brother-in-law, in the south, only one man is required to serve in the army for every several dozen people in a household, and it takes ten years for one man to serve.

In the north, men are forced to serve as soldiers year after year, and many of them are forced to do hard labor.”

“Overall, although the population in the north has increased due to human migration, the land output is still extremely low compared to the south.”

In recent years, the efforts to encourage people from the south to migrate north to increase the population have not made any good progress.

Zhu Yuanzhang took the opportunity of dealing with Hu Weiyong's case to exile many people to the north to farm.

"The fields in the south are more mature, and there are many water conservancy projects." Zhu Biao recalled the achievements of the Ming Dynasty over the years:

"In the first year of Hongwu, the Tongcheng Weir River in Hezhou was repaired, which was more than 200 miles long. In the fourth year, the Lingqu Canal in Guangxi was repaired with 36 steep slopes, which could irrigate 10,000 hectares of farmland.
In the eighth year, the Hongqu Weir in Jingyang, Shaanxi was repaired, which could irrigate the land of Jingyang, Sanyuan, Liquan, Gaoling, and Lintong with a radius of more than 200 li;
In the ninth year, Dujiangyan in Sichuan was repaired. "

As for the development of water conservancy projects in North China, there are very few such projects at present.

Zhu Di suddenly felt that the development of water conservancy projects in the North China Plain had nothing to do with him.

The location is obviously not bad, but most of it was turned into grassland by Mongolian nobles.

Even the food supply to Dadu and other places was from Jiangnan.

"Most of the current water conservancy projects in the Ming Dynasty are small-scale, which can benefit more people."

Wang Buli said leisurely: "The next step is to survey the terrain in the north and build water conservancy projects. As long as farming can survive and have a surplus, and the gap between the north and the south is not too big, that would be great."

"good."

Zhu Di was very satisfied with Wang Buli's suggestion. He would make more profits by developing water conservancy projects in the north, and even if he had something to do in the future, he would not be too short of money.

Perhaps they could accumulate more capital to fight against Zhu Yunwen without taking too many risks.

Only the weak will keep calculating, because usually they cannot afford to lose and have no chance to start over.

"There are still not enough oxen for plowing." Zhu Di couldn't help but complain, and he also sent people to investigate.

"It's impossible to accomplish such a great thing in a short period of time." Zhu Biao shook his head. He was very embarrassed for a moment.

There are still too few cultivated fields in the north.

"We should use the skills of our craftsmen to make some wooden cows that can replace the oxen used for farming."

"Wooden oxen and flowing horses?" Zhu Di couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"You can give it a try."

Zhu Biao nodded repeatedly. When there was a shortage of oxen, it would be a great idea to make wooden oxen to replace them and make farming more convenient for the people.

"Well, that's a good idea. If there are any skilled craftsmen in the world, I will recruit them and reward them."

Zhu Yuanzhang also agreed with Wang Buli's idea.

After all, it is not something that can be done quickly to have enough oxen for working.

Even if we launch a surprise attack on Helin and surround their people, capturing many of them, it will not be able to effectively fill the gap.

If substitutes can be produced on a large scale, it can effectively alleviate the scarcity of oxen.

"Why didn't you think of this idea earlier?"

Wang Buli spread his hands and smiled, "Your Majesty, because I never thought of it before!"

All the things he came into contact with were mechanized. Even when he was a child he used oxen to plow, that was only a vague memory.

It was obviously unrealistic to engage in machinery in the Ming Dynasty.

"Hahaha."

Everyone laughed.

"In fact, I have been taking precautions against land annexation."

When talking about this, Zhu Yuanzhang was somewhat proud:
"We fight against the strong and support the weak. In recent years, we have carried out concentrated strikes against the wealthy and powerful families in Jiangnan. The big families in the Three Wus have either died or moved away. None of them survived. Under such high pressure, the power of the powerful landlords left over from the Song and Yuan dynasties has been greatly weakened, and land annexation has rarely occurred."

Wang Buli also nodded. It can be said that the people in Jiangnan were fooled by Zhu. "Your Majesty, are you too generous to the landlords?" Wang Buli asked again:
"They have grown up very quickly, especially since the current emperor's policies are more lenient towards them, and the emperors who come after him are also more lenient towards them.

In this way, they would directly possess the powerful forces left over from the Song and Yuan dynasties.

In the countryside, it is not the government officials who have the final say, but the landlords and gentry who have the final say."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, this was inevitable.

Especially in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, land annexation was extremely strong, and many people had no hope and began to rebel.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw it with his own eyes.

In addition, the soldiers have no combat effectiveness and the military farming system has been destroyed. How can they have the strength to suppress the rebellion?
"So you also disagree with our previous policy that officials cannot go to the countryside?"

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately understood what Wang Buli meant.

"This is a one-size-fits-all approach, which is really too arbitrary."

Wang Buli shook his head slightly: "Besides, many of the rioters came from the countryside, and so did Your Majesty. You should pay more attention to this aspect, otherwise the Lijia system formulated by Your Majesty will fail."

Zhu Biao sighed: "But once officials are allowed to go to the countryside, it will give them the opportunity to oppress the common people. They are neither left nor right."

Zhu Yuanzhang was also silenced by Wang Buli.

To be honest, I currently have no idea how to solve the problem he mentioned.

It's really hard for him.

“Although the imperial court attaches great importance to water conservancy, many fields near water are occupied by powerful people. If ordinary people want to use water, they still have to be controlled by others.

The common people did not have much harvest, and because they could not survive, their land was taken away by the powerful, and they became tenants.

The Ming Dynasty has actually lost population, how can they continue to pay taxes to the Ming Dynasty! "

Zhu Yuanzhang was also very uncomfortable with this kind of thing. For a moment, he didn't know how to express his concerns about these things.

Because after his death, many things did not develop according to his expectations, which really made him feel upset.

Now Wang Buli just brought things out in advance, and the accumulation of problems was oppressing him and making him feel very uncomfortable.

"I am not a smart person. Only by working diligently can I live up to this country."

It was in front of his son and son-in-law that Zhu Yuanzhang revealed for the first time that he was not omnipotent.

Zhu Biao was extremely puzzled and looked at his father in astonishment.

Zhu Di touched his nose and chose to keep silent.

"Your Majesty, you are finally willing to treat yourself as an ordinary person." Wang Buli put down the Bingkuoluo in his hand and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang:
"Perhaps you have too much on your shoulders and want to make everything a policy that will last for centuries or millennia. However, this is impossible. After all, people are the hardest to control. Even His Majesty has abolished the prime minister system that lasted for a thousand years, let alone future generations."

Wang Buli's words touched Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.

He rose from an ordinary person to this position, and he has always worked diligently and not dared to relax at all. He also wanted his descendants to inherit his family business, so he put a lot of thought into formulating many policies.

The intention is to confine everyone within this framework and make everyone in the world follow his will.

However, neither his descendants nor the people did as he expected.

This often made Zhu Yuanzhang feel that he was doing useless work, but he didn't want to stop, or it was difficult for him to stop and think.

He tried to bury himself in the vast amount of official documents, exhausting his body and paralyzing his spirit.

Lest you think about what he did and how it will be discarded by future generations.

Zhu Yuanzhang had gone through many tests in his life, and Wang Buli did not say anything to persuade him, but just said that he had too much to bear, which made him tearful.

After all, lies don't hurt people, but the truth is the sharp knife that kills people.

"Plough."

Zhu Yuanzhang resisted the urge to wipe away the tears from his eyes, and just said softly:
"I am indeed willing to shoulder many responsibilities for the Ming Dynasty, but I want to believe that man can conquer nature, but some of my ideas are not recognized.

So I don’t know how to better govern the country, improve the lives of the people, and let our Ming Dynasty enter a prosperous era.”

Wang Buli could tell that Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was slightly choked.

It was difficult for Zhu Yuanzhang to reveal his sorrow and pain to others. As the emperor, he had to maintain his imperial dignity at all times.

The emperor shed tears, who would believe that Zhu Yuanzhang would shed tears for his subjects?

Do you really think he is a descendant of Liu Bang?
The Liu family is very good at using tears to win people's hearts.

Unlike an emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang, it would be difficult for him to shed a tear even when so many people were killed in front of him.

"Your Majesty has his own political pursuits."

Wang Buli didn't stare at Zhu Yuanzhang's tears. Of course, it was difficult to notice in such a dim occasion.

"This is a good thing. If Your Majesty was really like a tyrant, I would have fled from here long ago.

It's just that the goal you set for yourself is too high. Even if you jump up, it's hard to reach it. And knowing the results of some things, it's normal to feel frustrated. "

Wang Buli glanced at Zhu Di who was sitting next to him and said: "Even if he is the emperor, he is still an ordinary person who will grow old, get sick and die, and have all kinds of emotions. We are all the same."

Zhu Biao certainly knew that Wang Buli was qualified to say such things.

Who doesn’t have some things to worry about in life?
"I don't feel like I'm getting old." Zhu Yuanzhang tried his best to suppress his emotions:

"I am still very young and have many years to live. Naturally, I can do a lot for the Ming Dynasty."

"The farmland in the south has been almost cleared, and from now on we will focus on the north."

Zhu Yuanzhang waited for his tears to dry up, then quickly calmed down his emotions: "In this way, the differences between the north and south of the Ming Dynasty will gradually become smaller, and the people in the north will be more loyal to our Ming Dynasty."

"Father is wise."

Zhu Di took the lead in expressing his views and then reported his own affairs:
"I have sent my subordinates to investigate around Peking and have discovered some malpractices in the military farming. I am preparing to rectify them. We cannot let a little fly shit spoil the whole pot of porridge."

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied with Zhu Di's initiative to show himself. If history could not be reversed by him, Zhu Di would still be the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

I just don’t know what made him so optimistic about the ability that the fourth brother showed when he was conquering the world, but I just don’t know how the fourth brother performed as the emperor after he took over the world?

The most important thing is that Zhu Yuanzhang is now somewhat afraid to bring Zhu Biao to watch the scene after Zhu Di ascends the throne.

After all, Yongle is the fourth prince's reign title at present, and Biao'er doesn't know about this yet.

Zhu Yuanzhang had no intention of revealing it to his son.

Wang Buli glanced at Zhu Di and said, "You have just arrived in Beiping, so you should learn more about the information from all sides, so as not to act hastily and be tricked by others."

(End of this chapter)