Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 248 Autumn Grain
Half a month passed in a blink of an eye, and Shi Yun finally returned to Shanyin from Wushang.

However, Shi Yun did not bring any good news to the Shi family. The salt, iron, silk, cloth that Shi Yun brought to Wushang, as well as more than a dozen beauties such as Sanniang and Miaoniang, Uncle Huang accepted them all. Uncle Huang never mentioned Zhong Zhong's request for the Huang family to raise troops. After Shi Yun urged him a few times, Uncle Huang simply avoided it.

In fact, it's not that Uncle Huang didn't want to fight, but that he really couldn't do it.

Because Wushang Huang's family has always been at odds with Damo Mao's family, recently the Mao family suddenly acquired a large number of iron weapons, and even got hundreds of horses to form cavalry. This made Uncle Huang very worried. Will the Mao family take advantage of the opportunity to destroy the old nest when the strong men of the clan go out to fight?It should be known that Sangoe is not monolithic.

With a pale face, Shi Zhong asked Shi Yun, "So, Uncle Huang won't raise an army?"

Shi Yun sighed, shook his head and said, "Grandpa, I'm afraid it's impossible." After saying this, Shi Yun said again, "Grandpa, let's face the reality, the clans of all surnames in Jibei are scattered, if you want to Wanting to fight against the royal power is simply suicidal, if our Shi family insists on resisting the law, we will inevitably repeat the same mistakes as the Sun family."

Shi Ping also said: "Yes, if you support the new law, the elder brother is at least the magistrate of Shanyin County, and you are still the head of the pavilion, and the far and near towns are still in the hands of you. If not, I'm afraid there will be nothing. It's gone." Shi Ping still didn't say a word, if the Shi family insisted on resisting the law, then he would not be able to be the county magistrate.

"That's all, let's do it like this." Shi Zhong sighed, and sat down on the table slumped.

Shi Yun was shocked to find that after not seeing him for more than half a month, Grandpa was already gray-haired and senile, as if he had aged ten years all of a sudden.

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On the mountain road outside Wuzhong City, Xiang Zhuang took the lead and walked slowly. Behind Xiang Zhuang, Gao Chu and Pang Yu walked side by side, but Pang Yu intentionally lagged behind Gao Chu by half a head. Anyway, Gao Chu is now The king's number one confidant general, he, Pang Yu, would not dare to keep pace with Gao Chu.

Behind Gao Chu and Pang Yu, there are five hundred tiger guards of Jin Xiang.

Xiang Zhuang reined in his horse and turned back, looking at Gao Chu and Pang Yu who were accompanying him behind him, he couldn't help feeling a little lost, thinking that when he first broke through from Yemayuan, Gao Chu was just a small army commander, but now, this fellow is He is already a general in command of thousands of armies in Duzhen, and Pang Yu was crowned only yesterday.

Pang Yu’s coronation ceremony was presided over by Xiang Zhuang himself. It was extremely grand and envied many veteran generals of the Chu Army. .

Today, Gao Chu and Pang Yu accompanied Xiang Zhuang to go hunting in Qionglong Mountain. Now that they are the generals of a single town, they don't often follow Xiang Zhuang. After a long time, the monarch and his ministers will inevitably become unfamiliar. Therefore, it is extremely important for the two to drink together, go hunting, and communicate with each other when they return to the capital.

Since Wei Liao passed away, Xiang Zhuang's political skills have become more and more proficient.

Turning around a mountain ridge in front, there is a large paddy field in front of you. It is already the middle of August, and the rice in the paddy field is already golden, and it is ready to be harvested. The fragrance of rice filled the air, and Xiang Zhuang was in a good mood. It seemed that this year's autumn grain harvest would be bumper.

As soon as the autumn grain harvest comes in, the embarrassment of the state treasury should be alleviated. The current state treasury of Chu is really stretched. Lumi will be distributed this month. But the number of official families is really quite a lot, and with the titles awarded for military merit, the expenses are even heavier.

When Xiang He submitted the list of salaries to Xiang Zhuang's desk yesterday, Xiang Zhuang was really taken aback. Veterans with titles) all add one piece, and more than [-] shi of rice will be distributed, which is not counted as other money.

In fact, more than [-] shi of rice is nothing, the key is that the family background is too thin.

Xiang Zhuang believes that as long as he survives this year and next year, the state of Chu will never be in such a difficult financial position.

Although the current Jiangdong is not a land of fish and rice, at least compared with Guanzhong and Bashu, it is still slightly inferior, but the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain has unique natural irrigation facilities, and tens of millions of mu of fertile land can be reclaimed casually. Calculated by one stone per mu, that is tens of millions of stones, and then the land tax is collected according to fifteen taxes, that is more than 60 stones.

Of course, there must be a sufficient population, otherwise no matter how much fertile land there is, there will still be no food.

Fortunately, the implementation of the "Law of Registered Households and Qi Min" has achieved good results. According to the latest statistics, there are more than 56 registered households in 68 counties in the four counties of Jiangdong, with more than 260 million registered residents and a population of more than 260 million. At least there are nearly a million strong laborers, and it is not too much to cultivate tens of millions of acres of paddy fields.

After a while, Xiang Zhuang looked away from the rice field, and casually asked Gao Chu who was behind him, "Gao Chu, will the autumn grain harvest in Lujiang County be good this year?"

"Oh, don't mention it." Gao Chu sighed, and said, "Panyang, Chaisang, Liling, and Pengze counties have all been plagued by locusts. Although there will be no crop failure, a large-scale reduction in production is inevitable. " After saying this, Gao Chu complained again, "Your Majesty, the Lumi of officials at all levels in Lujiang County has not yet been found, and you have to support one or two."

"You, you." Xiang Zhuang shook his head and smiled, "You really know when to reach out."

Gao Chu laughed, then patted his chest and said: "But don't worry, my lord, when the summer grain is collected next year, I will definitely return it in full, oh no, it will be returned with interest."

Xiang Zhuang said unhappily: "I don't want your principal and interest, but only those counties in the west and south of Lujiang River."

"That will happen sooner or later." Gao Chu said carelessly, "The minister is already planning the layout. If there is no accident, the counties of Nanye, Ganxian and Yudu in the south should belong to Dachu in the beginning of next year. As for the Lu in the west The counties of Ling, Anping, and Yichun, as long as the army supplies are ready, the ministers can take them without any effort."

Xiang Zhuang said: "If you can't use force, it's better not to use force."

Gao Chu nodded and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry, I'll take care of you."

Xiang Zhuang turned his head and asked Pang Yu, "Zi'ang, is there any disaster in Dongou?"

Pang Yu scratched his head unnaturally, and replied: "Your Majesty, it is really a disaster, a typhoon! But only one county was severely affected, and the other counties are in good condition, but they don't need the treasury to pay for food."

Xiang Zhuang laughed, and said: "Zi Ang still cares about the widow, unlike Gao Chu, who only wants to get something from the widow and win the wind." After finishing speaking, Xiang Zhuang pretended to be angry again, "Last night, The widow's wine cellar has been stolen, and two barrels of imperial brewed shochu are missing, Gao Chu, tell me honestly, did your kid steal it?"

"No." Gao Chu shook his head again and again, "There's nothing wrong with it."

Xiang Zhuang looked at Pang Yu and said, "Look, Ziang, this kid still doesn't admit it."

Pang Yu could only smirk, he didn't dare to answer those words indiscriminately, General Gao Chu was familiar with the king, joking and joking were fine, but he, Pang Yu, couldn't be so arrogant.

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Xiang Zhuang is in a good mood tonight. Although the current situation in Chu State is a bit difficult, the implementation of the first batch of new laws represented by the "Compiled Household Qi Min Law" is going smoothly, which is also a good start for subsequent reforms , the imperial doctor just told him another good news, Baili Yishui and Wei Yue are happy at the same time, this is really double happiness.

However, when Xiang He came to see him with this year's land tax budget book, his good mood was ruined in an instant.

"How is it possible?!" Xiang Zhuang shook the pamphlet in his hand and said in disbelief, "Ziyi, did you make a mistake? You must have made a mistake. There are more than 56 households in the 260 counties of the county, and more than 50 million Qi people, so there should be 20 shi in Tianfu, how could it be only [-] shi?!"

Xiang Zhuang really couldn't believe it, or he didn't want to believe it. Jiangdong has a population of more than 260 million. At least Tian Fu should have 60 shi. How could it be only 20 shi? !If there are only 20 Ishida Fu, how much will be left after the distribution of Lumi to officials at all levels, Shiqing lords, and veterans?
This also means that the military rations that Chunshang borrowed from the major families are still not available.

It is still a small problem to borrow food, and more importantly, the land tax is only so small, which means that the financial resources of Chu State are only so small, so what can be done with such poor financial resources?Among other things, once the Chu army wins a battle in the future, the money and property used for rewards will be a big problem!

"Zi Yi, take a look again, is there a mistake?" Xiang Zhuang said and handed the booklet back to Xiang He.

Xiang He took the booklet and read it carefully, and said with certainty, "Your Majesty, that's right."

"Really this number?!" Xiang Zhuang frowned and asked in a deep voice.

"That's the number." Xiang He nodded and replied affirmatively.

"The tax rate of one tax per fifteen?" Xiang Zhuang asked again.

"Fifteen tax one tax rate." Xiang he replied again.

Xiang Zhuang calculated with his fingers, and said, "That is to say, the entire Jiangdong has only 300 million shiqiu grains this year? 300 million shiqiu grains, raising more than 260 million people, on average, there is only a little more than one shi on each person's head, which is enough at most. Eat for three months, but there are at least eight months until next year's summer grain harvest, so what about the remaining five months?"

Xiang He hurriedly said: "My lord, Jiangdong's autumn grain this year is at least nearly ten million stones."

"Nearly ten million stones?!" Xiang Zhuang opened his eyes wide and said in a deep voice, "Then there are more than 60 stones?"

"This..." Xiang He was suffocated when he heard the words, and then continued, "Your Majesty does not know that there are more than 300 mu of fertile land in the entire Jiangdong, but most of them are private lands of major families and noble families. There is no tax, and the official land that needs to be paid is only more than 20 million mu, so the land tax is less than [-] shi."

(End of this chapter)