Outside Hanyang Gate, there are several grain depots built with wood, occupying the most convenient transportation area. There are also several grain depots of the same size that are under intense construction. However, these huge grain depots are all empty.
At this time in previous years, grain ships from all over Huguang had already crowded the docks in Hankou and Wuchang. Horse-drawn carriages and human-powered trailers were piled with heavy bags of rice, vendors selling grain, coolies loading and unloading ships, and boatmen operating sails and ships. Tens of thousands of people were bustling around Hankou and Wuchang. The docks are busy.
However, it has been deserted from last winter until now, and not many grains of food have been transported here!
"Huguang is sufficient, and the world has more than enough... Now that Huguang is insufficient, can there be more in the southeast?"
Zhu Cixiang, who was about to leave in a few days, stood on the tower of Hanyang Gate, watching the situation at Hanyang Gate Pier and muttering to himself in a low voice.
Li Zicheng indeed chose a good day to send troops to Jianghan, just after the autumn harvest of the 18th year of Chongzhen and before the rice grains were trafficked to Hankou and Wuchang.
There are now more people in the southeast than there is land, and there are too many cash crops grown, so we cannot be self-sufficient in food and need to buy it from Huguang, which is rich in rice.
From an economic perspective, this is no problem. Huguang has 200 million acres of land, nearly half of which is paddy field, and the population is not too dense, so even if the harvest of the fields is not very good, there is still enough rich food that can be sold to the southeast.
The population in the southeast is too large, the land is not wide, and along the rivers and seas, water transportation is convenient. After catching up with the Age of Discovery, it was just right to export a large amount of silk and cotton tea in exchange for silver, and then buy Huguang rice to support people.
This is the inevitable choice of the southern market economy in the late Ming Dynasty!
Although Zhu Cixiang knew that this economic cycle was risky after ruling the southeast - the Huguang area was not under Zhu Cixiang's firm control, and was also threatened by hostile forces! But what power does he have to fight against the liberalized market in the Southeast?
Can he force his subordinates to turn mulberry trees into rice with just a decree? This is stealing people's money and killing their parents...
Moreover, once mulberry is replaced by rice in the southeast, a large number of unemployed people will appear in the five major textile centers of Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, and Songjiang. The urban poor have to make a fuss again... They are the proletariat that Zhu Cixiang, the feudal crown prince, fears most!
Hubei Governor Qiu Yu, who was standing behind Zhu Cihong, heard the prince's words and had no good suggestions. He could only comfort him and said: "Master Qiansui, there are already many rice merchants who are willing to go to Hubei to harvest rice under the protection of the navy..." ....By next month, millions of stones should be shipped to Jiangnan."
Last year's harvest in Hubei was actually pretty good. If Li Zicheng hadn't sent out troops at a very good time and Zuo Menggeng's killer had plundered merchant ships from Hankou and Wuchang, tens of millions of pounds of rice from Hubei would have been shipped to Jiangnan by now. .
These days, due to the rising price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River, many merchants from the southeast are looking for wooden boats. Now they are coming to Wuchang and Hankou one after another, preparing to sell rice and make a fortune.
Zhu Cixiang looked back at Qiu Yu, and then turned his attention to He Tengjiao, the governor of Hunan, and Du Yinxi, the governor of Zhijingzhou.
"He Qing, Du Qing, you two have been officials in Huguang for many years and know the local situation. Let's talk about it!"
He Tengjiao said: "Qiu Shibo (Qiu Yu is the earl) is right. Now as long as Hubei can stabilize and grain merchants dare to go out to harvest rice, there will always be millions of stones. Although it is not as good as in previous years, it can also slightly alleviate the shortage in the southeast. Food shortage.
In addition, Hunan's harvest last year was also good. It was only because Wuchang and Hanyang fell and most of the Yangtze River grain ships were plundered by Zuo Menggeng that they could not transport grain out. As long as the imperial court can open up the waterway between the Xiangjiang River and the Yangtze River, Hunan can transport at least 10 million shibai rice! "
Du Yinxi shook his head, with a solemn expression: "Master Qiansui, food is the most important thing for the people! Food cannot be neglected at all. Nowadays, the population in the southeast is densely populated, and food cannot be self-sufficient. It all depends on the efforts of Huguang to supply it. Although Huguang has a wide field , but it has been disturbed by bandits in the past two years, and its output is not as good as before. It is possible for Hunan to purchase 10 million shibai rice, but Hubei...I think it is not possible!"
Zhu Cixiang asked: "Why?"
Du Yinxi said: "Because the land is equalized according to the calculation of mouth and mouth!"
Zhu Cixiang remained silent. This issue has been debated in Wuchang Palace for a long time, and there is no final conclusion yet.
Du Yinxi said, "Gentlemen and merchants are one. If the gentry dies, merchants will not survive! If His Highness wants to restore Hubei's grain roads as soon as possible, then please His Majesty immediately restore order to the chaos in Jingxiang and restore a bright future to Hubei!"
Du Yinxi’s point of view certainly makes sense! Zhu Cixiang was not a bandit or a Tatar. He was the crown prince of Fujun in the Ming Dynasty. He represented the old world, not a new order that was smashed and then rebuilt.
Therefore, after recovering Jingzhou, Chengtian, Xiangyang, De'an, Hanyang and other prefectures in Hubei, it is natural that the land should be returned to the old owners.
Du Yinxi added: "His Royal Highness, the government must distinguish between public and private affairs! Public land is public land, and private land is private land. Otherwise, the victims will not be the Hubei gentry, but also the northern warriors who followed His Highness the Crown Prince to the south!"
Many of the northerners who followed Zhu Cixiang to the south of the Yangtze River were also landlords. If Zhu Cixiang could not bring order to the Hubei gentry, how could he bring order to the north? If he recognized Li Zicheng's "land reform results" in Hubei, he would certainly also recognize Dorgon's results in equalizing land in the Central Plains.
In this way, what motivation does Zhu Cixang's Beifu generals have for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains?
Zhu Cihong glanced at military advisor Li Yan. He was from Henan, so of course he was a big landowner!
"Your Highness the Crown Prince," Li Yan, of course, understood Zhu Cixiang's thoughts and quickly said, "There are more than 40 million acres of flag land in the North, which is enough to raise the merits of strong men. As for the land given to ordinary people by the Donglu... If we want to return to the original owner, the more than 10 million northerners will probably become the confidants of the Donglu!"
Zhu Cixiang smiled slightly, this Li Yan had been a bandit, he was very enlightened after all!
"Yes!" Liu Kongzhao, who was already a sincere master in overcoming difficulties, echoed, "There are millions of northerners and millions of warriors. If they are all the pioneers of the Eastern invaders, will the Central Plains still be restored? I think the court should recognize that the rogue bandits have been equalized. The fields belong to the tillers!”
Although Liu Kongzhao came from the noble landlord class in the south, he had now completely surrendered to Zhu Cihong, and of course his butt had to move with him.
"But where does the food come from?" Du Yinxi said, "If the chaos is not corrected, Hubei's food roads will not be fully restored. At least several million dan will be lost a year, and the people in the southeast will starve... This It’s not something that happens in one or two years!”
"Um..." Zhu Cihong smiled, "Have Zuoban Supervisor Yushi Ji Kun and Libu Yuanwailang Huang Zongxi arrived?"
Ji Kun and Huang Zongxi came to report to Zhu Cihong on the "Nanjing rice grabbing incident" on behalf of the Supervisory Council and the Cabinet. The Generalissimo's Office also sent someone, Zhang Dingbian, the commander of the Xiaoling Guard New Army.
Li Yan replied, "Ji Kun and Huang Zongxi arrived in Wuhan yesterday."
Zhu Cixiang nodded and smiled: "These two people have some ideas. We can ask them to participate in the palace discussion tomorrow. Everyone should listen to their opinions."
In fact, Zhu Cixiang had long thought in his heart that it was impossible to return the land in Hubei to the so-called "original owner" - not to mention the millions of people living in the four major agricultural provinces of Jingzhou, De'an, Chengtian and Hanyang. Anyway, just talking about how much taxes those "original owners" paid for the Ming Dynasty over the past many years determines that their private property cannot be protected.
Huguang is such a big city, and the total tax and grain amount is only more than 2 million shi a year. How many years does it take for this amount to be collected in full? And why is it that the amount of rice shipped from Huguang to Jiangnan every year is 10 to 20 million shi? How much did the Ming Dynasty collect from the customs on the Yangtze River?
These Hubei landlords didn't even give them any money, so they still wanted Prince Zhu to send Ke Nan's new army to protect them? Beautiful thought!
