Cotton is a strategic material and counties are not allowed to grow it on their own. After the Farming Meeting, Xin He wrote to each county in the name of Yonggong Mansion to determine the quota for cotton fields. Yiyang County has 40,000 acres, Runan County has 30,000 acres, and Nanxiang, Xinye, Xiangcheng, and Xincheng have 10,000 acres each, totaling 110,000 acres.
As soon as the official document came out, all the counties except Yin Dun, the governor of Runan, expressed dissatisfaction. The hall of Yang An's government office was filled with visiting gentry. Years ago, these people gave Yang Anshen a lot of gifts, thinking that they could get more quota when the cotton fields were allocated. At the beginning, Yang Anshen promised to buy a large amount of land, but now he only got 40,000 acres, which was far from enough for distribution.
After drinking the tea until it was tasteless, Yang Anshen had a headache from the noise. He slapped the table and shouted: "Gentlemen, please stop arguing. As long as you can ensure that the grain tax is paid, I don't care how many cotton fields you plant. If An Xuan is to blame, I will take the responsibility for you." .”
With Yang Taishou's words, everyone beamed with joy. Growing grain was not as cost-effective as growing cotton. Most of the fields at home were planted with cotton, so they would just spend some money to buy grain and pay taxes.
In Runan County, Yin Dun allocated the cotton field quota and told his subordinates: "Last year, cotton growers benefited, and this year there will definitely be more followers. Yong Gong's private message to Yu stated that the so-called cheap grain hurts farmers, and the same reason is true for more cotton. Because income will inevitably plummet, you must make it clear when you go to various places to encourage farmers to grow cotton, and ask farmers not to blindly follow the trend of cotton planting.”..net
Many of the officials present disagreed. Many people planned to plant cotton in their fields this year. Last year, the income of cotton growers would not be replaced by a fifth-grade official. Even if the price of cotton fell, it would still be better than growing grain.
The government did not strictly prohibit cotton planting, nor did it introduce any punitive measures. As Yang Anxuan expected, there are many people who plan to grow cotton quietly. The price of cotton seeds has also skyrocketed. A pound of cotton seeds has risen to 2,000 yuan. There is still a price but no market. The Wu Chen family planted cotton last year, and there are many people growing cotton these days. Come to buy cotton seeds.
At the end of the year, my sister-in-law got married, and the generous dowry made her neighbors in four villages and eight townships jealous. They all knew that Wu Chen made at least hundreds of thousands of dollars from cotton farming. Mrs. Wu Chen and her husband Wu Xiong discussed building a new house next to their old house next year, and moving the family there would not be considered a separation.
Wu Xiong was a little moved and mentioned it to his father, but the old Wu Tou did not express his position. The younger brother Wu Zhuang and his wife were a little reluctant to see their brother become rich. During the Chinese New Year, Mrs. Wu Chen spent money to buy new clothes for her family and bought many things. She spent the New Year in great splendor.
In the spring of this year, the government informed the Wu family that the quota for growing cotton land was still 40 acres. Wu Wang made a fuss that she would also grow cotton this year, and she would have to share half of the 40 acres.
When we were planting cotton last year, Mr. Wu didn't agree and said things should be settled separately. Mrs. Wu also made some sarcastic comments, but she was slapped in the face. She could only watch helplessly as her sister-in-law loaded money into the house. It was hard to say anything. This year She didn't want to miss the opportunity to make a fortune.
Lao Wu spoke, and the days were getting better and better, but he couldn't understand the world anymore. Although the 40-acre quota given by the government is for the eldest son, the family has not yet been divided. This year, the two brothers will only farm half of it. Old Wutou decided to grow grain on his own.
Mrs. Wu Chen knew that many people were planning to grow cotton privately this year and could not stop them, so she simply agreed and took this opportunity to propose a separation. Mrs. Wu and Wang received a promise of twenty acres, and she and her husband Wu Zhuang agreed wholeheartedly.
Sister-in-law Wu Mei (Chen Wu family, due to customary reasons, many places do not use this description, for example, the He family should be called Yang He family, just book friends will understand) returned to her parents' home, and Sister-in-law Yang gave some cotton seeds to her husband's family for sowing. This year we are also planning to plant 40 acres of cotton fields.
Knowing that the Chen family's land was far away from water sources, Mrs. Wu Chen complained to her a few words. How could cotton be grown without water? Wu Mei complained aggrievedly that when the Chen family learned that they had grown cotton in the past, they refused to listen to anything they said. They just wanted to follow in the cotton cultivation. When she didn't agree, her husband and the family made sarcastic remarks, saying that she was looking after her parents' family.
Taking the cotton seeds to Wu Mei, Wu Chen felt vaguely uneasy. During this period, people were constantly talking about the conversion of grain fields into cotton fields. The government sent people to preach and told farmers not to follow the trend of cotton planting and to ensure the planting of grain fields.
Mrs. Wu Chen and her husband Wu Xiong secretly discussed that they should listen to the government and only grow 20 acres of cotton on their land, while the rest of the land would be grown honestly. This was not the case for Mrs. Wu and Wang. Her family planted 80 acres of cotton on 110 acres of land. Mrs. Wu and Chen tried to persuade her but she didn't listen, so she let it go. Even if she tried to persuade her, she still felt that she didn't want her to get rich.
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After planting cotton fields, many people find that their cotton fields have few seedlings, are thin and look listless. The cotton fields allocated by the government will have farmers from the Department of Agriculture come to give guidance, but the government will not care about the cotton fields that are grown privately.
Those people were now panicked and looked for help from knowledgeable people. The threshold of Wu Chen's house was almost broken, and the house was crowded with villagers who brought gifts and invited her to see the cotton fields.
Mrs. Wu Chen, however, was not merciful. She went to look at those people's cotton fields and pointed out the illegal areas. She found that many fields were not close to water, and it would be much harder to carry water manually than to grow grain.
After looking at those cotton fields, Wu Chen felt that it would be good if these cotton fields could produce half of last year's output. In addition, with the wide planting area, it would be difficult to harvest cotton by then. Wu Chen was not optimistic about this year's cotton situation. …
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Liu Yu returned to Jingkou to train his troops, and the government entrusted Shangshu Zuopu to shoot Liu Muzhi.
Liu Muzhi appeared at the beginning of every day in Shangshu Province in the southeast of the palace city to run errands. Speaking of which, Shangshu Province also had Lu Shangshu Shi (Liu Yu), Shangshu Ling (Liu Liu), and Shangshu Youshe Yuan Zhan (also serving as a minister), who were the real directors. He is still one of Liu Mu.
Starting from 10 o'clock, the front of Liu Muzhi's official residence was crowded with people who came to report matters. Several desks in the official residence were piled with official documents and reports, waiting for his approval.
At the beginning of the morning, when he saw Liu Muzhi getting off the bullock cart, people around him came forward to salute in a chaotic manner. Liu Muzhi nodded with a smile and walked towards the official house.
Sitting down at the table, Liu Muzhi started his multi-tasking mode. He looked at official documents in his eyes, responded to reports in his hands, and listened to reports from his subordinates. He responded with ease and handled many things at the same time. He was very good at it. The key is to watch all directions and listen to all directions. The key is that these affairs are handled steadily and quickly without any chaos.
Being so busy, Liu Muzhi still found time to travel, drink and banquet with relatives and friends, and talk about mysteries and scriptures. It is really amazing.
Just after it was over, dozens of people had seen it, and the mountain of official documents had been dealt with. Liu Muzhi got up and moved about, and walked out of the official shack to the east to the right servant shooting the official shack.
The minister's right servant shot Yuan Zhan, who was discussing spring plowing with Zhao Lunzhi, the minister of the left people. When he learned that Liu Mu had come, Yuan Zhan and Zhao Huizhi welcomed him out of the hall.
Yuan Zhan looked at Liu Muzhi's calm expression and said with a wry smile: "Brother Daohe, I really envy your ability. If I were half as talented as you, I wouldn't be so busy."
Liu Muzhi said with a smile: "Brother Shi Shen thanked you. Brother Zhao happened to be here too. I came over to ask about the situation of grain storage in the warehouse."
Yuan Zhan and Yuan Zhan knew that Liu Mu had come to discuss the matter of food and salary for the expedition. After dismissing the attendants, Zhao Lunzhi said: "Spring plowing is coming, and a batch of grain must be distributed to make grain seeds. The remaining grain and millet are only a little over a million shi."
Liu Yu planned to send an army of more than 160,000 to the Northern Expedition. One million shi of food was not enough to last for half a month. Liu Mu said, "I came here just to borrow food from the clan."
There are many families in the capital, and there are many families with more than a thousand hectares of land in the feudal cities. There are at least ten families with grain reserves exceeding one million. Yuan Zhan knows that his family (the Yuan family of Chen County) has a grain reserve of nearly one million shi. It's just that good wealth is hard to give away, so who is willing to donate the food accumulated by his family as military rations.
Zhao Lunzhi, Liu Yu's uncle, said bluntly: "It's difficult. Last year, Song Gong raised grain and recruited soldiers, and only got 1.8 million dan. This year, we have to raise donations again, and it is the spring plowing season. I'm afraid we won't be able to raise much grain."
Liu Muzhi shook his feather fan and said: "Song Gong plans to launch the Northern Expedition in April. He will definitely recruit the sons of the noble families to join the army. If he refuses to join the army, he can pay for his military service with food. I estimate that it will not be difficult for him to pay 300 to 400 dan."
Yuan Zhan smiled and said, "Yes, most of the soldiers in the Sixth Army in Beijing are sons of powerful families. These people have never been on the battlefield. If they are allowed to go to the Northern Expedition, they will probably lose their lives. If they can pay for their service with food, many people will be happy."
"Song Gong implemented soil cutting in Yangzhou, and the results were remarkable. We might as well issue an edict to cut off the soil at this time. We should be able to collect three to four million shi of grain." Liu Muzhi said calmly.
Zhao Lunzhi sighed in admiration: "No wonder Song Gong said that peace is his Xiao He. Yu Heshi was worried that he didn't know where the food came from. You raised six to seven million stone food with just a few words. With this food, you don't have to worry about the Northern Expedition." The food and wages are insufficient.”…
Pingcheng, Wei Palace.
Tuoba Si, the lord of Wei, discussed this year's farming with his ministers. Last year, the weather was good and the grain harvest was good. Wei's food shortage problem was finally solved, and there was something in the treasury.
Storage, disaster victims also received relief, and the country gradually stabilized.
White Horse Marquis Cui Hong reported: "Although there was a good harvest last year, there were still many disaster victims running around. Your Majesty will issue an order to gather these victims and distribute seeds and fields to them to farm on the spot to avoid missing the farming season."
Tuoba Si smiled and said: "Farming is the foundation of the country, so we leave it to Beixin Hou (An Tong) and Fei Ruhou (He Hu) to promote farming. We should store more grain and millet to prepare for emergencies."
Among the eight princes, Tuoba Qu, the Marquis of Yuancheng, died, and his position was succeeded by Fei Ruhou Hehu. When Tuoba Gui died, it was Fei Ruhou Hehu who first lit the beacon and gathered the tribes to support Tuoba's heir to the throne. He Hu's actions paid off. After Tuoba Qu's death, Tuoba Si appointed him as the Right Prime Minister, ranking fourth among the Eight Dukes.
Ji Ba, the Marquis of Rencheng, reported: "Your Majesty, Duke Song of the Jin State sent a ship to trade, hoping to exchange for horses, cattle, sheep, grain and other items. A secret envoy came with the ship to urge our country to use troops against Yang Anxuan."
Tuoba Si laughed dumbly and said: "The Han people like to fight against each other the most. This Duke of Song probably knew that Duke Yong was at war with the Xia people and wanted to take advantage of it. It is best for the Jin people to fight each other and both sides will be injured. I will be able to defeat each of them easily. At that time, To form an alliance, I asked him to exchange weapons for our country to send troops, but the trip was not possible due to lack of food. Now the situation of food shortage has changed, and people cannot stand without faith. Nanping Gong, how are you preparing?"
Sun Song, the eldest son of Nanping Duke, returned to Pingcheng from Yewang City and said respectfully: "I have stationed 20,000 steps and horses in Anyi City. There are still 25,000 soldiers and horses in Yewang City. I heard that there are 6,000 soldiers and horses. , Dongyuan and Dayang each have four thousand soldiers and horses, which is enough strength."
"According to detailed reports, Yong's army only had about 15,000 soldiers and horses in Puban, Yishi and other cities. Including the recruited county troops, it was only about 20,000. They were commanded by Yang Anyuan, the second brother of Yang Anxuan, Yonggong of Jin Dynasty. I have long wanted to seize Puban City, but due to insufficient food and grass, the soldiers cannot eat enough, and the horses have lost a lot of fat. After a winter of rest, the fighting strength is gradually recovering, and we can send out troops only when spring warms and the flowers bloom."
Tuoba Si reminded: "The navy of the Jin people is very powerful. We should send troops to defend the north bank of the Yellow River to guard against surprise attacks by the Jin people."
Changsun Song smiled and said, "Your Majesty reminds me that I ordered Yuan Kuiming, the city guard of Dayang (now Pinglu, Shanxi), to build a beacon tower along the coast and send troops to patrol it."
Tuoba Si nodded and said to Shouguang Hou Shusun Jiian: "You lead 20,000 troops to Jijun to garrison to prevent Jin people from crossing the Yellow River from Yanzhou."
Fei Ruhou Hehu said with a smile: "Your Majesty, Helian Bobo is our country's old enemy. Why not let the Yong army fight with him first so that both sides will lose and seize the opportunity to seize the land of Hetao."
Changsun Song also agreed: "Helian Bobo is extremely brave, and his light cavalry moves like the wind. And in winter, it is impossible for Yong's army to win. If Yong's army is defeated, it will definitely lose Anding and Xinping counties. Helian Bobo will send his troops south to attack Chang'an. Yang Anxuan may mobilize Puban soldiers and horses to assist in guarding Chang'an, and our army can wait for the opportunity. At that time, we can either capture Puban or the Hetao, or even both."
Tuoba Si said excitedly: "Nan Ping Gong, you are actively preparing for war. After the results of the Xia and Yong wars are divided, we will make a final decision."
