First Prince of Ming Dynasty - Chapter 766

  Chapter 766 Expectations

   It’s easy to sacrifice your confidants, but compensation afterwards is also inevitable. Otherwise, if things go on like this, no matter how valuable your status is, you won’t get any benefits, so why bother.

To be honest, there are not many Zhu Biao can give to the Jiangnan family. It’s not that they are stingy with official positions. They have reached a very sensitive point. If they are more kind, then these state capitals belong to Daming after all. It’s still theirs, but I can’t say for sure.

   “You should prepare the memorabilia, and then send it to me for review first, and then send it to the imperial court after it is printed.”

  The prefect of Hangzhou immediately responded, with a sense of relief in his tone. It is almost summer, and the seedlings have already been planted. The loss of pulling out the seedlings at this time is not a joke.

  At this level, the harvest of hundreds of thousands of acres of land is not worth mentioning, but the families in Jiangnan, big and small, add up to be terrifying, not to mention that they are not cheap food, they are all valuable crops.

   And this is not just the loss in the field. Since they dare to plant on such a large scale, there must be a market, and the business scattered in various places will be forced to reduce production or even stop.

  Even if it is for His Highness, everyone will bear it together, but the loss will inevitably hurt the muscles and bones. If possible, it is better not to move.

  Especially because he is not the envoy of Chen Tongzheng, he has become the master of his own family, but he is not qualified to represent the whole family in this way. Afterwards, he will inevitably be regarded by the families as a flattering villain, harming the interests of others and benefiting himself.

   It will be difficult to argue, but he has to say this to His Highness. As the highest status representative currently accompanying His Highness, his most important thing is to maintain this hard-won relationship between monarch and minister.

   In a word, he said that he might be squeezed out to vent his grievances, but at worst, he would go to the northern state capital to take a job. After the limelight passed, he would be promoted and compensated with reason.

   But if you don’t say it, it’s dishonest to serve the emperor, and the major families will not tolerate him, not to mention the official position, even his own branch may be kicked out of the family.

  How cruel the Holy Majesty is today, if there is no His Royal Highness to take care of him, he will be uprooted sooner or later.

  Swiping this person away, Zhu Biao remained silent for a while, and Jiang Yinhou kept silent. He actually understood people’s livelihood, especially the matter of farmland reclamation, but now that he had taken over the ocean affairs, he didn’t want to talk too much.

What’s more, he also knows that although the crown prince is young, he has already started to visit the ministers, listen to the ministers’ instructions, and practice state affairs. In the past two years, he has supervised the state many times. up.

After waiting for a while, Zhu Biao’s brows relaxed, and he told Jiang Yinhou: “You must pay attention to those few crops, and you can’t just rely on those merchants. Whether you encounter a coincidence or a plunder, you must bring it back to the palace. It is a good thing that benefits the people and strengthens the country.”

  Wu Liang got up and promised, and didn’t say much, but Zhu Biao knew that he had it in his heart, and he would try his best to do it. This is a capable actionist.

   “How is the imperial army station now?”

Wu Liang thought about it for a while and replied: “Thirty of the soldiers defend the city, and seven of them are planted. There are also two or eight, four or six, one or nine, and half of the cases. They are all based on the fertile soil and the local buffer. Soldiers are generally allocated land by the imperial court, ranging from a hundred acres to thirty or forty acres, and are also given cattle, seeds, and agricultural tools. They do not have to pay taxes for the first few years of planting…”

  Zhu Biao nodded and said, “It’s not too different from moving people.”

  Wu Liang sat back and nodded: “Not to mention how much you have saved, as long as there is no war, at least there is no need for the court to collect food and supplies on a large scale.”

   “I remember that the mu tax for official land in the south of the Yangtze River is five liters, three in one, five scoops, private land minus two liters, heavy leased land, eight liters, five in and five scoops, and no official land, one dou and two liters.”

   “Your Highness remembers correctly. The Holy One cherishes the people’s livelihood, and the tax rate for the people’s land is set extremely low. The people in the south of the Yangtze River now have surplus grain storage, otherwise they would not dare to switch to cotton.”

  The prince asked scattered questions. Fortunately, he understood these things. If the martial arts general next to him was really speechless, the monarch and his ministers talked for a long time, and Zhu Biao fell silent again.

  No matter how you say it, the Jiangnan aristocratic clan has obviously gained momentum again. With Chen Youzong in the center of control, and local talents from all over the world to serve as officials, a huge interest group has already gained a firm foothold.

  In fact, if it was just like this, Zhu Biao would not care too much. He raised it up with one hand, and it would be easy to destroy it if he really wanted to. But it was different once the sea trade opened.

   This is also where Zhu Biao was negligent in the past. He only woke up when the prefect of Hangzhou said that he could forcibly adjust the crops at the immediate profit.

  They can do that now just to make him happy. In the future, in order to protect themselves, or to seek more benefits, can they suddenly reduce food production regardless of the overall situation of the court?

  The court may have no money, but it must not be without food. When the lifeline is in the hands of others, even if it has a knife in its hand, it dare not let it go easily.

  No matter when, cash crops are more valuable than food crops, especially for overseas trade. After the smooth sea trade is followed, the status of merchants must rise, and the combination of money and money is the general trend.

Land annexation must be curbed, and the big landlord class must be suppressed. Although it is an era of sparsely populated land, the imperial court has abolished the small tax and is encouraging marriage. Especially when corn, sweet potatoes, and other products are introduced, the population growth will definitely be extremely high. quick.

  Progressive tax system may be a good way. The more land you own, the heavier the tax you have to pay. After you return to Beijing, you need to discuss it with the Ministry of Household Affairs. Coupled with the guidance of the imperial power, it should be able to suppress it.

   It is not impossible to plunder, but this method obviously treats the symptoms but not the root cause. The wanton infringement of private property is also a significant sign of social immaturity.

  My father, the emperor, was the best at using this method, but the result was a huge flat body dominated by small farmers throughout the country, commanded by the superior emperor.

  Although there is short-term equality, there is a lack of economic organization and structure, and social and economic efficiency is sacrificed for the pursuit of social stability. If things go on like this, this society is doomed to stagnation, and egalitarianism cannot be maintained for a long time.

  But it shouldn’t last too long. If you still only focus on the local area, then land mergers are inevitable. After all, the land in the country is limited.

  But once the sea trade is opened, the land is unlimited compared to the population of Ming Dynasty, and there are too many things that can make more money than enclosure. At that time, I am afraid that they will feel that the income is too low and the cycle is too long.

  ………

  Today’s morning court was not as usual where the emperor retreated from the court and the courtiers respectfully sent them off first and then retreated separately. Moreover, the emperor sat on the dragon chair with a cold expression, watching them leave, and everyone had a layer of cold sweat on their backs.

  After watching everyone leave, Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his eyes. Although the exquisitely carved dragon chair accommodated his exhausted body on horseback, it obviously did not relax his spirit.

  He has become an orphan in this vast territory, also known as a widow, the only one, but if he closes his eyes, besides him, the dark majority will make him restless.

   Today he brought up the issue of entrusting the princes again, as expected, the censors at Yushitai seemed to be crazy, and the civil servants also spoke one after another, if it was just that, it would be fine.

  Warriors who have never been involved in these matters also ended today, and they were particularly fierce. They all pretended to be considerate of His Royal Highness, but everyone has grown up, and they are no longer the reckless men of the past.

   But the more this is the case, the more it proves the necessity of this policy. Leaning on the dragon chair and looking at the empty hall, recalling the hideous faces of the officials just now, Zhu Yuanzhang murmured in a low voice

“People have fields to cultivate, live and work in peace and contentment, male and female silkworms, no idlers, destroy the rich and suppress the strong, each is safe and healthy, the rich and the poor go hand in hand, help each other, pay lightly and pay less, the rich and the people, take advantage of the time to harvest, complete pay taxes.”

  This is his expectation for the country he created by himself.

  …

  (end of this chapter)