There were many vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty who were uneducated and unskilled. However, after all, they were of noble origin and their education since childhood could still keep up with them.
Moreover, their own various industries also need them to be able to understand the accounts to ensure that they are not deceived by the people below.
Therefore, this is not a difficult task.
It is precisely because they can understand the accounts that they are surprised.
According to their expectations, Huangzhuang's current business method should be a loss of money. After all, Huangzhuang provided a series of things such as houses, cattle, seeds, etc., which must have cost a lot.
Moreover, to be honest, the past two years have not been good, and the capital has suffered another disaster last year. In the eyes of these vassal kings, it is a good thing that the emperor does not donate money to the imperial village.
Of course, compared with the role played by Huangzhuang in resettling refugees, these silver coins are nothing.
However, when they looked at the account books, they found that it was exactly the opposite of what they expected.
Although Huangzhuang initially invested a lot of money, the rent collected was more than in previous years.
You know, the account books include not only the accounts for the past two years, but also the accounts before the emperor ascended the throne.
Except for a few imperial estates that have expanded significantly, most of the imperial estates have shrunk and expanded due to the relocation of their fields, but they are still within the normal range.
In other words, there are many imperial estates, and the amount of land has not changed much. However, in the past two years, the rent collected has been much more than in previous years.
At first, they felt that the land rent in Huangzhuang was heavier than before. After all, these refugees living in Huangzhuang used the money from Huangzhuang, and they had to eat from Huangzhuang during the busy farming season, which meant that they had to use their energy. Therefore, Huangzhuang The land rent of the village is almost twice that of the official land, reaching more than 80%. This ratio is indeed higher than before.
But soon, they discovered that this was not the reason at all.
Because, before the reconstruction of Huangzhuang, the rent of these fields had already reached about 60% to 70%. Although it increased slightly after the reconstruction, the impact was not significant.
Moreover, this kind of management method has been implemented after the emperor ascended the throne. So far, more than two years have passed, and the first batch of tenants have basically returned to their original land rent levels.
But even under such circumstances, the number of acres of land in a single imperial village has basically remained unchanged, but the land rent that can be paid every year has not decreased but increased.
This situation made these feudal kings feel strange.
Unreasonable?
Could it be that the emperor deliberately made false accounts in order to deceive them?
The kings couldn't help but feel surprised and doubtful in their eyes. Apart from this explanation, there seemed to be no better explanation. But, why would the majestic emperor do this?
Of course not!
Zhu Qiyu had already anticipated the reaction of the kings below. Seeing that most of them had finished reading the account books, Zhu Qiyu glanced at Wang Cheng next to him, and the latter immediately understood and said.
"Dear princes, although a lot of silver was invested in this imperial village, there is a big benefit, that is, the amount of grain produced per acre of land is much higher than before."
"Based on the experience of the slaves in the past two years, with this kind of management method, the harvest of the first-class fields can be about 15% more than before, and the harvest of the medium-grade fields and inferior fields is even higher, about 20-30%. Overall, Calculated, each acre of land can yield about four more buckets of grain."
"Moreover, this year's harvest is even higher than last year. Even out, every acre of field produces almost four and a half bushels more than before."
As soon as this statement came out, all the feudal kings present felt even more strange, and they couldn't help but whisper to each other in low voices.
The vassal king who was good at accounting seemed to have remembered something after hearing Wang Cheng's description. He opened the account book again and looked through it, half talking to himself.
"Based on this figure, the cost of farming cattle, growing grain, and housing can be repaid in ten years at most. It's interesting."
"My lord, what is the ingenuity in this, please tell me in detail."
Although these vassal kings did not think highly of the eunuchs in the palace, Wang Cheng had such ability, which naturally made them speak politely.
Seeing this situation, Wang Cheng was extremely frightened and said.
"The prince has a destiny, so the servants naturally dare not hide it. The slaves and others have also done research on this increase in production, and finally found that there are two main reasons."
"First, the cattle for farming, grain growing, and iron plows in these fields are all provided by Huangzhuang..."
After the words fell, all the kings became somewhat interested.
They thought they would lose money by providing these, but they never thought that they could actually increase production?
So, Wang Cheng explained.
"Normally, these acres are rented by tenants. Huangzhuang only collects rent and does not care about anything else. It is up to the tenants to figure out how to plant them and what to use. However, many tenants are poor and cannot afford to buy cattle. , growing grain can only afford inferior products. A slightly wealthy tenant will go to a wealthy family to rent some cattle, but a poor family can only rely on their strength."
"Farming depends on the farming season. No matter how strong a person is, they can't compete with cattle. Therefore, even if these farmers try their best, they often cannot use up the land. After the reconstruction of Huangzhuang, they will provide the best cattle to grow grain. , the tenants don’t have to figure it out on their own, and the soil’s fertility is maximized, so the output has increased a lot.”
This explanation is quite novel.
But if you think about it carefully, this is indeed the truth.
However, at this time, a feudal king raised a question and said.
"According to this statement, the top-grade fields are fertile and should increase their yields more. Why can't the yields of the top-grade fields increase by a certain amount, while the yields of the middle- and lower-grade fields increase by 20 to 30 percent?"
"Your Majesty, in fact, if we simply look at the quantity, the yield increase of the upper-class fields is about the same as that of the middle- and lower-class fields. However, this is because the soil of the upper-class fields is fertile. 1.5% can equal the 23% of the upper-middle-class fields."
"The reason for the difference that the prince asked about is actually due to this. The superior fields originally produced more. Although the land rent has been rewritten, in general, the tenants who rented the fields also harvested more, so they tend to be more productive. Carefully taken care of, even if the family is poor, they will borrow money to rent cattle and buy grain for harvest."
"In contrast, most of those who rent middle- and lower-level fields are people who are hungry and don't have the extra money to rent cattle. Therefore, after Huangzhuang gave cattle to farmers, the output naturally increased. few."
Therefore, people are often bound by past common sense. Some things are extremely simple, but it will always be difficult to understand unless the layer of window paper is pierced.
After Wang Cheng explained this, all the kings understood the joints and nodded lightly in unison, deciding to try to do the same when they went back.
"but……"
However, at this moment, Wang Cheng spoke again.
"If you want to achieve the goal of increasing production, you need to guard against the sneaky tenants below. Otherwise, the money and food will be wasted, but the village will be desolate..."
This sentence successfully attracted everyone's attention. Although they knew that Wang Cheng was suspected of being a traitor, these feudal kings couldn't help but ask.
"Why?"
"Your Majesty Mingjian, some of the tenants in Huangzhuang have been working in the village. These tenants have been working for a longer time and can always save some money to buy a few acres of thin farmland for their families. Initially, Huangzhuang provided grain cultivation. After plowing cattle, they are often used for personal use, plowing their own fields first and then the fields of Huangzhuang.”
"Because the fields of the imperial village were originally scattered, it was difficult to check. When the slaves passed by, they would take the cattle to the imperial fields. After the slaves left, they would continue to plow their own fields and use the best grain. All the seeds were planted in their own fields, and as for the plows and equipment, they were directly taken as their own, and then they were lied about saying they were lost or broken."
"In the end, when the harvest is not good, these tenants will complain about the bad weather or the lack of water. In short, for various reasons, the rent will not be collected."
After the words fell, the vassal king who originally had this plan frowned.
This is indeed a big problem. You can just buy plows and other equipment, but this is not the case for growing grain and farming cattle. It does not mean that you cannot buy them again, but they are irreplaceable.
Once the grain is planted, it cannot be replaced. Therefore, if inferior grain seeds are used initially, the harvest will inevitably be poor.
The cattle, like people, also have physical strength and need to rest. After plowing the private fields of the tenants first, it is uncertain whether they will have enough energy to plow the fields in the village.
"Then how did Huangzhuang solve it in the end?"
After thinking for a moment, several feudal kings had no idea, so they simply asked questions directly.
Wang Cheng naturally answered the question without hesitation.
"The slaves and others were very upset about this at first, but after reporting it to Your Majesty, Your Majesty ordered the slaves and others to build a low wall around the imperial village. All the fields within the wall, if owned by the common people, would be replaced or purchased. In this way, All the fields in the imperial village are connected together, so it is much more difficult for the tenants to cheat."
"In addition, grain planting, plowing cattle, plows and other items are all kept in the imperial village. They can be taken as needed and returned as soon as they are used up. Because there is only imperial field within this wall, and all these utensils are They are not allowed to be taken out of the Huangzhuang. In addition, Eunuch Shu Liang transferred a lot of people from the East Factory to guard the surroundings of the Huangzhuang to prevent people from climbing over the walls and stealing things. The trouble of private use has gradually been eliminated."
"Furthermore, if someone is found to be cheating and cheating, the imperial land will be taken back and no tenants will be granted. At the same time, the newly recruited tenants are all refugees without land, which will eliminate this phenomenon from the root, and use Another benefit of these refugees’ work is that they work very hard.”
"The reason why the output of Huangzhuang has increased so much is inseparable from the fact that these refugees worked hard every day after settling down."
Okay, I understand, all the feudal kings looked at each other.
Daqing is waiting for them here!
To put it bluntly, the management method of this imperial village is an interlocking process. If you want to increase the output, you must provide the tenants with enough grain, oxen, plows, etc. However, in this way, it will used privately.
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Therefore, in order to prevent private use, the farms can only be integrated on a large scale and strictly guarded. Of course, this method is not a permanent solution and can only reduce the impact to a certain extent.
After all, the tenants of Huangzhuang were not subject to exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, so they would buy land on their own if they saved up, but for the protection of Huangzhuang, they were unwilling to leave completely.
Even if the oxen, plows and other items are restricted to the Imperial Village and are not allowed to be taken out, these tenants themselves will still find a way to plow their own fields first, at most they will not use the oxen from the Imperial Village.
In fact, they might even cheat and take a break while staying at Huangzhuang. For those who are more daring, they might even steal Huangzhuang's cattle.
Therefore, the fundamental solution is to directly use the refugees who have no land.
They don't have their own fields, so naturally they don't have these problems.
After thinking about this, all the feudal princes finally realized why the rent of Huangzhuang was decreasing year by year.
Because as the refugees are stabilized, they will gradually have their own savings. Therefore, the continued high land rent will gradually make them fall into the former situation and find ways to purchase and cultivate their own fields.
However, the rent of Huangzhuang has been decreasing year by year, which on the one hand has relieved their pressure, and on the other hand, it has given them something to think about.
In other words, as long as they work hard, the rent they pay each year will become less, and to a certain extent, although it is no longer decreasing, it is the same as the tax on private land, which means that the land belongs to them.
Under this kind of business method, coupled with the threat of being fired if any mistakes such as theft or misappropriation are made, the longer you work, the more diligent and cautious you will be. After all, no one wants to be killed immediately. The land that was acquired, because of a small profit, made all the years of hard work go to waste.
Moreover, because the land leased ends with the death of the tenant, an ordinary tenant who can live to be fifty or sixty years old is already considered a long life.
If they start renting crops when they are around 20 years old, and if the rent is reduced by half a bushel per year, it will take about fifteen to twenty years for the tax to be reduced to the standard of civilian land. If we say, this is not enough If drought, locust plague and other circumstances occur and the crop fails, and the land rent is exempted regardless of the length of time, this number will be delayed by at least another five or six years.
So in fact, it seems that these tenants can finally get their own land, but by that time, they will be at least forty or fifty years old. In the end, the time they can really pay the land tax according to the rent is actually just a long time. It can be ten years, or it can be as short as five or six years.
If the increase in output in this account book is not a false account, then the increased output in at least ten years of re-renting in the early stage can completely make up for the reduced field rent in the later period.
And after these tenants have worked for decades, they will have accumulated a certain amount of wealth, and they can buy fields outside Huangzhuang for their descendants, so they no longer have to be attached to Huangzhuang. When they pass away, Huangzhuang will The land was taken back and re-leased to new refugees.
From this point of view, this is indeed a good way. It can not only avoid losing the land rent of Huangzhuang, but also absorb a large number of refugees and maintain the stability of the place. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.
and……
Again, some things are actually not complicated to put it bluntly. It’s just that people before did not think that there could be such a method.
After understanding Huangzhuang's business methods and profit methods, the feudal kings immediately began to consider that if the emperor really wanted them to imitate Huangzhuang, then they could make slight modifications on this basis. And then achieve greater benefits...
