Invincible Zhengde

Chapter 331
"What does Aiqing mean by that?" Zhu Hou looked at Liao Fan and asked with a smile.

In fact, Liao Fan didn't need to say this, Zhu Houzhao knew about it.

What is the basis for the development of industry and commerce?
The answer is simple, and that is agriculture.Only by being self-sufficient in food, can Daming do it?
The answer is yes.

Although farming in this era was unscientific and the yield per mu was low, Daming did not have as many people as later generations, and the arable land was enough to feed the people of Daming.

Only this was before.In recent years, with the prosperity of coastal smuggling trade, silk is a hard currency, and the main grain production area of ​​Ming Dynasty is the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas.

And what are they doing?They are playing with changing rice into mulberry.To put it bluntly, instead of growing rice, mulberry trees are used to raise silkworms and weave cloth.

Under such circumstances, there will naturally be less land for growing food.

Coupled with the increase in disasters in the north, food prices have naturally skyrocketed.This situation became more and more serious as time went on.In the late Wanli period, the imperial court could not collect taxes, the bureaucratic system was corrupt, land annexation was serious, and the conversion of rice to mulberry was even more serious.

Natural disasters have intensified further, not only in the northwest, but also in the entire north of the Yangtze River, grain production has been reduced, or even failed.The consequence is that the food is not enough to eat again, and Daming is naturally full of wars.

What is the solution?Change mulberry fields to rice fields?

This is turning back the wheel of history, and Zhu Houzhao would not do it.

We must know that silkworms and silk weaving in mulberry fields can be exported to earn a lot of foreign exchange. This is a high-profit project, how can it be abandoned for farming?
If there is no food, then find food from other places, the first is to promote high-yield crops.Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn are not available for the time being, but they can be found, and it is not impossible to obtain them. After all, the colonists all carried these things.

In addition, there is a plant called rye on the vast land of Russia.Although it is not tasty, it is hardy and can be grown in Russia, not to mention Ming Dynasty?Even in the Little Ice Age, rye can be grown, especially in the vast black land in the Northeast.

With rye, the northeast can become the main grain producing area of ​​Ming Dynasty, and the land north of the Yangtze River can also be planted on a large scale.

The second is the south direction. Daming is cold, but the south is still warm.In Jiaozhi, in the southeast peninsula, rice is cropped three times a year.Cochin can be incorporated into Daming and become the new main grain producing area of ​​Daming.

With these two stable main grain producing areas, Daming's grain prices can be stabilized, but this has to be done step by step.

In Liaodong, Yang Yiqing was working on reclamation. There was no rye and he was going to plant soybeans. Zhu Houzhao gave him great support.

After getting the rye seeds, Daming can directly plant rye on the black soil, and graft it without any difficulty.

As for the south direction, Zhu Houzhao hasn't figured it out yet, it's too far away, and the matter in the north is settled.Although there have been many disasters in the past two years, the scope is not large. The other two major grain-producing areas of Daming are still stable for the time being.

Of these two main grain producing areas, one is Huguang and the other is Shuzhong, so food is not an urgent problem to be solved for the time being.Of course, this is a national game of chess.

From the perspective of Guyuan alone, the land is scarce and the output is low. So many people are pouring in at once, and it is indeed a bit stretched to supply the soon-to-be-built cities such as Yinchuan, Baotou, and Fengzhou.

But Zhu Houzhao is not worried, because if there is a profit, someone will sell it.Once the price of grain in the northwest rises, there will naturally be merchants selling grain here.

Even if merchants do not sell, the imperial court can organize people to buy and sell.

Not to mention other things, his Qiqizhai can completely undertake this business.Although you can't make a lot of money, you can also make a small profit.

As for whether the people in the northwest can afford to eat, Zhu Houzhao is even less worried. With his investment of 500 million taels of silver, and the addition of Shanxi merchants and gentry, the northwest will soon usher in a period of great prosperity. Whether you work or do business, your income will increase.

Zhu Houzhao's idea was very good, but Liao Fan didn't know.

He was already worried now, and after hearing Zhu Houzhao's words, he quickly said: "Your Highness, the price of food in Guyuan has risen three times a day. If there is no way, the people will not be able to afford food. Once there is a commotion, I'm afraid It will affect His Royal Highness's vision!"

This is being said politely, but the meaning is actually very simple, if there is no food to eat, your imagination is like a castle in the air!

Zhu Hou took care of Liao Fan and said with a smile: "I will find a way in the next few days. Don't worry, the food price will recover soon."

Although Liao Fan is still very worried, His Royal Highness has said so, do you still want to refute it?
This is not the way to be a minister.Liao Fan hurriedly bowed and said, "I know."

After Liao Fan left, Zhu Houzhao sat on a chair and drank tea.

Glancing at Tang Bohu behind him, Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile, "Is anyone here?"

"Return to Your Highness, people are coming, wait outside." Tang Bohu bowed quickly.

Since leaving the capital, Tang Bohu has become Zhu Houzhao's closest official.Some things that Liu Jin, the eunuch, was inconvenient to do were all done by Tang Bohu.

In the past, this errand was Wang Shouren's, but now Wang Shouren has his own errand, so he doesn't have time to do it anymore.

"Then call in!" Zhu Houzhao put down the teacup in his hand and ordered with a smile.

Not long after, two people walked in from the outside.Both men are different.

The one on the right is a fat man with a big face and squinted eyes, as long as he smiles, there is charity on his face, with a big belly, he looks like a big belly Maitreya Buddha.

Zhu Houzhao smiled when he saw this person. As for the person on the left, he was very thin.

He is not tall and has an ordinary appearance. He doesn't look very conspicuous, and he can't splash the water when he is thrown into the crowd.

"Sun Liang, the chief shopkeeper of the three sides of Qiyi Zhai, is meeting His Royal Highness." The big fat man knelt down and saluted Zhu Houzhao, looking very stupid while panting.

But Zhu Houzhao didn't really think so. You must know that although Qiyizhai is his own company, it is also an officialdom. Sun Liang who can be the chief shopkeeper of the three sides is definitely not an ordinary guy.

"Qian He, the sixth-rank deacon of Chen Huanyi Bureau, sees His Royal Highness." Qian He knelt down after the big fat man.

The level of the Huanyi Bureau is not high, and it is a remarkable existence to be able to be a deacon of the sixth rank.This is also the chief person in charge of the Sanbian Garment Bureau.

These two people are the three heads of Qiqizhai and Huanyi Bureau, two major forces developed by Zhu Houzhao in the past few years. This time Zhu Houzhao will use them.

Glancing at the two of them, Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Get up!"

After both of them stood up, Zhu Houzhao said: "I'm looking for you this time, I have something to ask you to do, and you all know my temper, so do it well."

(End of this chapter)