Ming politicians

In the first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, the imperial edict was finally promulgated. Notices were posted on the outside of the government office and county office, starting from this year, the Liao pay would be levied.

Su Huawen took the first step and allocated the land under the names of Su Tianhao and Su Tiancheng. Both of them are scholars, one is a supervisor, and the other is a student. According to the regulations, they can be exempted from taxes. The [-] hectares of arable land, the original tax and the increased tax are all borne by the farmers.

The land tax of the imperial court is fixed, and there are so many in every place. It will not be reduced due to land annexation. The government has no choice but to increase the tax on farmers. Those who can afford the tax do not need to pay tax, and those who cannot afford it People, the burden is getting heavier, coupled with years of famine, conflicts naturally arise.

The land tax collected by the imperial court was not very high, but some miscellaneous taxes were added in various places, such as Junping silver, Junyao, discounted silver for materials, supply of post stations, people's strongholds, etc., which intensified the conflict even more.

Strictly speaking, the total amount of land tax is not very high. For example, in the counties under the jurisdiction of Pingyang Prefecture, the highest land tax will not exceed 10% of the total income per mu of land. However, successive years of famine have left farmers desperate.

Just after the first month, Su Tiancheng went to the tenant's house.

He first went to Niu Er's house.

During the Chinese New Year, Niu Er renovated the house a little bit. There was enough food, meat to eat, and Jing salt to improve his Jing energy. Naturally, he wanted to make the house better.

Just as Su Tiancheng entered the room, Niu Er hurriedly asked the woman to boil water.

Su Tiancheng discovered that although there was still nothing in Niu Er's house, it could be regarded as a bare house, but after cleaning it up, people felt different, and his mental outlook improved a lot.

"Niu Er, the winter wheat is growing well. I just came here. I checked and everything is okay. I don't think there will be any big problems with this year's harvest."

"Master, the winter wheat here is fine, but the nearby ones are not. You asked us to dig ditches and weir ponds to dig gold for water. It has played a big role. A lot of water has been accumulated in the weir ponds, so we can plant spring wheat." , it won't be a big problem."

"Oh, then do you estimate how much wheat can be harvested per mu."

"I estimate that such growth will not be less than one stone."

The 150 mu of land, or 2000 shi, is equivalent to only [-] million catties of wheat. Calculated, it is only worth more than [-] taels of silver. This output can be said to be very low, Su Tiancheng secretly sighed.

"Master, we have discussed it, and the head of the village and Chief A have also told the big guys that after harvesting the wheat this time, more than [-]% must be handed over. If it weren't for the master and the young master, we would not be able to survive."

Su Tiancheng shook his head.

Niu Er was a little confused, not knowing what Su Tiancheng meant.

"Niu Er, you can tell everyone that after the winter wheat is harvested, one-fifth of the average yield per mu will be handed over. If the yield per mu is one stone of wheat, then two buckets of wheat will be handed over, and the rest will be kept for yourself. "

Niu Er opened his mouth wide and was almost speechless.

"Young master, this is impossible. You have already given us so much. If you turn in the grain like this, you will suffer a disadvantage. Besides, there is no taxation now. With so much wheat left, every household does not need so much." of."

"In recent years, everyone has worked hard. We have saved some wheat, which is enough to live on. The rest is traded for some silver. It is time to buy some things. Besides, this house needs to be refurbished. As for the purchase of grain I will arrange for someone to do it."

"Master, you are really a great Bodhisattva."

Seeing that Niu Er was about to kneel down again, Su Tiancheng hurriedly stopped him.

Next, Su Tiancheng went to the homes of several village chiefs and Jiashou, and told his thoughts. Everyone was shocked. If the young master used to give food, seeds and other things to help the tenants, the purpose was to prevent people Starved to death, but seeing that the winter wheat is growing well and will be harvested in two months, the young master actually only needs such a small amount of wheat, and buys the rest with money. This is not a simple favor.

The tenants of the Su family, each leased arable land, is basically more than 20 mu. Each family can harvest more than [-] shi of wheat. Ten stones of wheat.

To solve the problem of food, on average, three stones of wheat per household is enough for two months, and twelve stones of wheat is enough for a year, and there is still a lot of wheat that can be traded and then planted. , the grain produced, except for the handed-in part, can be traded.

Calculated in this way, in just one year, everyone can completely get rid of the previous difficulties.

The head of the village and chief Jia proposed that the tenants thought that they could slowly return the grain subsidized by the young master, including other materials, but Su Tiancheng shook his head and refused, saying that since the subsidy for the grain and seeds went down, he didn’t think about it. As for the recovery, as long as everyone farms the land well and produces more food, it will be fine.

The news spread like the wind. Many tenants went to Niu Er's house, the head of the village and Chief Jia's house to ask about the situation, thinking that the news was false. After being confirmed, everyone felt that the young master was simply Bodhisattva came to the world.

The Lichang and Jiashou also asked everyone. The young master said that more straw and straw must be prepared, and some farmyard manure must be prepared, and the excrement of livestock should be collected everywhere, which will be useful at that time. <Just after the festival, I could have been more leisurely. The winter wheat has not been harvested yet, but the tenants of the Su family are already busy. The women and children are chopping straw and straw at home, and the men go out to collect manure, that is, the excrement of livestock. The excrement stored in the huts of each family has become a good thing.

The hope of life is right in front of your eyes, and all the tenants feel it. According to this momentum, they will be able to turn around in less than a year, and the seeds of maize and sweet potatoes have already been purchased, although Speaking of these two kinds of crops, no one has seen them before, and they don't know how they grow or what their yields are, but as long as the young master proposes them, everyone will do as required.

All the tenants have a kind of blind worship for the young master.

Back in the mansion, Wang Dazhi found Su Tiancheng, and said that many farmers in the village wanted to sell the land to the young master. The price was easy to negotiate, as long as a child in the family could enter the Su manor to do business, or become a tenant of the Su family. .

Su Tiancheng already had the idea of ​​expanding the scope of the land. He definitely didn't want to merge the land. The [-] hectares of land under his name are really nothing. Let's say that Lei Wentong has thousands of hectares of land in his hand, many His princes and relatives own even more than [-] hectares of land.

Su Tiancheng thought that by increasing the land area, he would be able to solve as many difficulties as possible for some peasant households. As much as he could solve, the accumulation of less would make more. If the famine continued to expand and the peasant uprising army continued to grow, Shanxi would It is difficult to be peaceful, and many of my plans cannot be realized.

Of course, just thinking about expanding the land area is a bit difficult now. After all, there is not enough preparation. There are still many ways to do it. Students are exempt from taxes. You have too much land, and the government can’t afford it. Those princes Your relatives, the government has nothing to do with it. It is more than enough to deal with you as a student.

Moreover, he may not have time to do these plans. He will go to Taiyuan Prefecture to take part in the provincial examination in July. At that time, the corn and sweet potatoes can be harvested, and the spring wheat is almost harvested. After that, he can rest for two months Around the time, in October, winter wheat continued to be planted.

Therefore, during this period of time, many rules have to be established, and Su Pingyang can implement them.

There is another biggest problem. Su Tiancheng vaguely remembers that in the fourth year of Chongzhen, the peasant uprising army seemed to have made some big moves. The place was in Shanxi. He couldn't remember exactly where. This is the biggest problem. Hidden dangers, absolutely cannot let the rebel army destroy the results of their painstaking efforts.