Ming politicians

"Uncle, what is the price of rice noodles in Pingyang Fucheng?"

"White rice costs four qian and a stone, and wheat flour costs three qian and a stone."

It's normal that Su Tiancheng doesn't know the price of rice noodles, but it's a little strange to ask about the price of rice noodles. Why is that? Could it be that he is planning to do grain business.

Grain business is not easy to do, the hierarchy is strict, Su Huawen is also in the grain business.

There are three levels of grain management. The lowest level exists, that is, the many merchants who operate ordinary shops, buy grain from big households, and sell it directly to the outside world, earning pitifully small profits.The one in the middle is a big family, which owns a grain store, which is mainly engaged in the wholesale of grain and provides grain to many shops. The volume of grain transactions is very large, and the profit is not thin.The top ones are the merchants who control the source of food. They are the biggest bosses, and they are inextricably linked with the government, and even colluded with the government and businessmen.

"Is the young master thinking about managing food? That's what the master is doing. You should stop thinking about such things, the young master."

Su Tiancheng shook his head. He didn't expect that there would be too many difficulties in the grain business.

Seeing the young master shaking his head, Su Pingyang breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uncle, how many fields are there in the Su Mansion, and how are they managed?"

Su Pingyang became more and more strange. In the past, the young master never asked about these things, let alone cared about them. It is no exaggeration to say that the young master knew nothing about the farm affairs.

"Well, in the past two years, many disasters have been encountered. The fields of the Su Mansion have become a burden. Every year, the government has to pay taxes to the government. The master thought about it and disposed of the land."

Su Tiancheng looked at Su Pingyang, but didn't speak immediately.

"The land is mainly concentrated in the outskirts of the city. Last year, the master dealt with 220 hectares, and there are still [-] hectares left. After years of drought, there is almost no income on the land. The tenants can't pay the grain, but the tax still has to be paid. Now The taxes are all paid in silver, and grain is no longer collected, and for the five hundred hectares of land in the Su Mansion, a total of [-] taels of silver has to be handed in as a land tax."

"What, pay 220 five taels of silver?"

Seeing the young master's surprised expression, Su Pingyang misunderstood, sighed, and continued to explain.

"Farming and paying taxes are justified, but the method of tax calculation is a bit unreasonable. It is set at the price of eight silver coins per stone of grain. How can there be such an expensive grain price nowadays? It started when I can remember. , This is the standard. Besides, the base of taxation is also based on the grain output of Nanzhili. The land in Shanxi is originally barren. This is the grain production. Nanzhili can reach 2.6 stones per mu. Shanxi 1.4 stone at most."

"Uncle still tell me, how is the tax of 220 five taels of silver calculated?"

"The [-] hectares of land in the Su Mansion are [-] mu in total, and the tax per mu is [-]% of silver. That's how much it is calculated."

"How is the tax of three cents of silver calculated?"

Su Pingyang froze for a moment and began to explain.

"Young master, as I said earlier, the tax is calculated at the price of eight qian per stone of grain. The fields in the Su Mansion belong to the people's land, and four liters of grain are taxed per mu. One stone of grain is one hundred liters. The price is eight qian. The price of silver is eight copper coins per liter of grain, and 32 coins for four liters. After comprehensive conversion, the tax of three per cent silver per mu of land is also thirty copper coins."

Su Tiancheng has quickly calculated in his mind. According to what Su Pingyang said, the tax of four buckets of grain per mu is levied. According to the tax of 1.4 shi per mu in Shanxi, which is close to 3% of the tax, if in Nanzhili, the grain output per mu is 2.6 shi , that is, 1.5% tax, such a low tax, he has never seen.

"Uncle, how much food did the family collect last year?"

"I'm not very clear about this. The eldest wife is directly in charge of it. However, the tenant farmers are in disaster. According to the previous agreement, they pay six buckets of grain per mu and bear the tax, and the rest is their own income."

Su Tiancheng took a deep breath. The grain handed over by the tenant farmers to the landlords accounted for 43% of the total output. Adding the taxes handed over to the court, it was almost half of the output. If there was a disaster or a reduction in production, What is handed over is indispensable, so what do the tenant farmers eat? Isn’t it waiting to starve to death?

At this time, Su Tiancheng somewhat understood why it was said that the taxes in the Ming Dynasty were pitifully low, but the peasants still could not survive. On the one hand, it was natural disasters, they did not receive food, the taxes were too low, and the government had no money to provide disaster relief. On the one hand, land annexation is serious. According to the regulations of the court, the land in the hands of big landlords and big bureaucrats, they all have fame, and they do not pay taxes, but the total amount of taxes will not be reduced. What should I do? The tax is spread on the peasants' heads, which invisibly increases the tax. Unfortunately, the government does not get it, and it is the individual who really gets it.

Of course, this is all Su Tiancheng's conjecture, and he still needs to know the specific situation.

"There was a disaster last year, how did the family deal with it?"

"The grain still has to be paid. If it is really impossible to pay it, I will write an IOU and make it up next year."

"Oh, whose idea is this? What if the tenant farmers have no food to eat?"

"The tenants know that after farming the grain, they have been hit by disasters for two consecutive years, and some tenants really can't survive."

Su Pingyang didn't answer the question directly, but Su Tiancheng already knew the answer.

"What are you growing in the field?"

"The fields are barren, mainly planted with wheat. In good years, the yield per mu is 1.5 shi."

Su Tiancheng's complexion has turned gloomy. The tenant farmers suffer even more from growing wheat. The price of wheat is already lower than that of rice, and the burden on the tenant farmers is even heavier. In addition to the disaster, one can imagine what kind of life the tenant farmers have had. .

"Since this is the case, what is your father's attitude?"

Su Tiancheng's tone was already a little bad, and Su Pingyang could hear it.

"My lord means that those who plan to buy land near Taiyuan Fucheng, the land here, plan to find a suitable time, and all of them have been processed. Anyway, there is not much harvest."

"Uncle, what I'm asking is about Father's attitude towards tenant farmers."

Su Pingyang lowered his head and stopped talking.

He felt a little relieved, judging from the tone of the young master's words, he had considered the difficulties of the tenant farmers. Indeed, in the past two years, some tenant farmers could not survive, and even sold their sons and daughters.

Su Tiancheng sighed.

"Since the land is barren, why not grow corn?"

"Master, what is corn? Did you mean corn?"

Su Tiancheng blushed a little. Corn was introduced to China during the Ming Dynasty, about 1531, the tenth year of Jiaqing in the Ming Dynasty, but only a hundred years ago.

"Yeah, why not grow corn?"

"Oh, I have planted it before, but unfortunately the yield is too low, and the harvest is even lower."

"Ever grow sweet potatoes?"

Su Pingyang felt that his brain was not enough. How did the young master know these things? It was so strange. He had only heard about sweet potatoes, so how did the young master know.

"Master, I don't know about sweet potatoes, but I have heard of them."

Su Tiancheng was a little discouraged. Sweet potatoes were introduced to China in the 21st year of Wanli. It seems that this thing is still in Fujian and has not spread in the north. In fact, in such a famine era, it is best to grow corn and sweet potatoes. The choice, these things, can survive, and can also alleviate the food shortage to a large extent.

In just a few minutes, a basically clear plan has been formed in Su Tiancheng's mind. As long as this matter is done well, everything will be easy to talk about. Maybe at that time, he can rely on these things to make a fortune.The most important point here is that corn and sweet potatoes are resistant to drought and do not require too much rain.

In his previous life, Su Tiancheng was sent to the countryside to be familiar with the cultivation techniques of corn and sweet potatoes, but he never thought that it would come in handy at this time.

It is October now, there is not much time delay, some things must be done immediately.