In the 20th year of Hongxing's reign, it was the Mengdong season.
Zhu Hexing's course of learning to be a county magistrate is not over yet, but he has learned a lot... at least it has opened his eyes!
First of all, he presided over a noisy imperial examination. At the same time, he also knew that a fair examination is a very precious opportunity for many people, enough to make them risk their lives - for all kinds of people in the folk who can toss. He said that if we can't use 600,000 soldiers to divide the towns and suppress them like rogue bandits, then we need to open more ascending channels to give them a head start.
Secondly, after the exam, he saw the ability and ruthlessness of Ma Wanchun, a veteran county magistrate - in one exam and one recommendation, he collected dozens of the most capable people in Shizhu County. With them organizing mobilization, the 4,000-strong Xiangyong force was easily established.
And once these 4,000 men are in the hands of Ma Wanchun, the 3,000 rogue soldiers in Dafeng Castle will not last long! Most of the 3,000 people on Dafeng Fort are old, weak, women and children, and there may not be 300 strong men. Otherwise, Ma Wanchun's 1,000 Xichuan soldiers would not be able to calm the situation. Now that there are 4,000 more men and 500 guards brought by Zhu Hexing, is there any suspense in the battle of Gale Castle?
The suspense is just how many of these young men who were deceived by Ma Wanchun will die?
But no matter how many people die, Ma Wanchun doesn't feel bad... and his contribution is huge!
This guy is a ruthless person, and he is also a capable official!
And there are not many such ruthless and capable officials in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty today! It is not easy to make good use of them and manage them well!
Once again, Zhu Hexing truly saw the poverty of the people at the bottom of Shizhu!
He is currently inspecting the field allocation work with Ding Yuying in Xiaoli Village, Nanshan Township. The matter of field allocation is mainly responsible for the work of Sihu Xiaowei of Shizhu County and the officials of the townships below. Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying are taking them with them. Hundreds of murderous guards were walking around, emboldening the people below, letting them know that the elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had arrived, and the bandits on Gale Castle were dead, so they could feel free to divide their fields... ...
As for the officials below who tampered with the farmers' land during the land allocation process, Ma Wanchun was not worried at all - these officials were not the original scholar-bureaucrats and landlords. They themselves did not have much power. They were "trial projects" of the county government. The imperial examination" gave them a chance to get ahead. If they don't know how to cherish it, they can be dismissed at any time without reporting it to the Ministry of Personnel. After all, these people are still within the "office probation" period!
So Zhu Hexing, who had been wandering around the Shizhu countryside for a dozen or so days, didn't find anything wrong, but he still felt a little depressed.
Because he saw poverty in the countryside of Shizhu that he had never seen before!
Although he has always known that there are many remote villages in Ming Dynasty, even in Yingtian Mansion, there are many poor people who have difficulty eating.
But he has never had such close contact with the real poor - those soldiers of the Guards can only be regarded as having a poor background. After becoming the sharpest sword of the Ming Empire, they have long since escaped poverty and are no longer the real poor. .
Although the soldiers of the New Army do not receive as high a salary as the soldiers of the Guards, they are not really poor - their annual net income (excluding food) is mostly above 30 taels of silver, equivalent to 30 shi of white rice, and It can be used to support family members or saved income.
As for the poorer people, before entering Sichuan, they probably met him in Huya Town. When he passed by Huya Town, he briefly went ashore and went to Ding Yuying's hometown for a tour. look.
However, no matter how you look at it, the poor people in Huya Town are much richer than the poor people in the countryside of Shizhu County. At least they didn't look sallow and thin, and they didn't spare any effort to build large terraces on the slopes of Huya Mountain.
However, in the Shizhu countryside, what Zhu Hexing saw was abject poverty everywhere, truly having nothing, and the family was destitute. The slopes and terraces that were despised in the southeast and central plains are considered treasures by people here. The average person can only be allocated more than three acres to less than four acres of such terraced slopes, and everyone seems to be happy with it. .....
"Yuying, your family is a big farmer. You know more about farming than I do. Tell me, can a terraced field of three or four acres like this support a five-foot-tall man?"
Zhu Hexing, who was supporting Ding Yuying, who was three or four months old, on the mountain path, suddenly asked about farming matters.
Ding Yuying, who had been alone in Shizhu County for some days (it was inconvenient for her to walk too far, so Zhu Hexing did not take her with him when he went to inspect the more remote countryside) was stunned when Zhu Hexing asked this question. Then he shook his head and said: "Husband, this is not easy to say... Although my family is a big farmer, we don't have an acre of terraced fields or sloped fields."
Zhu Hexing asked: "Why is this?"
Ding Yuying said: "There are not many terraced fields in the southeast, and they are not valuable. Large farmers like my family generally don't want terraced fields, because it is easy to lose money in terraced fields."
Li Jinxue, who followed Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying, arrived in Nanshan Township. He is now Sihu County Lieutenant of Shizhu County. He is the official in charge of farming and household registration. He is also in charge of allocating land. Of course he also knows about farming, but he doesn't know what "cropping" means.
Hearing Ding Yuying's words, he couldn't help but interjected, saying: "Loss of planting? Is there still a saying of loss of planting in farming? Is Mrs. Zhu talking about a bad harvest?"
Ding Yuying turned back and glanced at Li Jinxue, "What kind of business can you make a profit without losing money? How can farming be an exception?
The terraced fields are all small and small. There is no way to use a small amount of manpower to cooperate with cattle to cultivate extensively. We can only invest a large amount of manpower in intensive farming. Moreover, it is difficult for terraced fields to store rainwater and fertility, cannot resist drought, and requires a lot of manpower to accumulate fertilizer... It costs a lot of money to open terraced fields on hillside, and it also costs money to hire farmers for intensive farming, and it also costs money to buy manure. It costs money. If you invest so much money, how much can you gain? With a lot of input and little output, how can we not lose money? Moreover, terraced fields are susceptible to drought. Once there is drought and little rain, it is easy to lose all harvest, and then you will lose all your money! "
"Farming is a matter of raising people, how can we care about profits and losses?" Li Jinxue couldn't understand Ding Yuying's words at all. "Is it possible to stop farming because it doesn't make money? If we don't farm, what will so many people eat?"
Ding Yuying shook her head, "Although there are businesses where you lose money first and then make money, after all, it is to make money. If you keep losing money, how can you continue to do it? The same goes for farming. If farmers keep losing money, the capital on hand will become more and more. Bo, how can you farm without capital?"
"How much does it cost to farm? If you have seeds, a few farm tools, a piece of land, and some strength, wouldn't it be enough?"
"This is the capital!" Ding Yuying said, "Seeds, farm tools, and land are not money? Strength can also be sold for money. A strong man with a height of five feet can work as a farmhand, and after providing food and shelter, he can still get five or six taels. . If you go to work in the city, you can earn more, but of course the expenses will be high. In addition, you can also go abroad to make a living. The risk is high, but there are also many opportunities to make a fortune."
"Going to the city? Going abroad?" Li Jinxue was stunned again and again, "Did the Ming Dynasty not prohibit farmers from moving away from their land?"
"I can't help it a long time ago," Ding Yuying said, "and it can't be stopped! Those who can live and work in peace and contentment in the countryside will naturally not move out. Those who can't survive, or those who want to go out to seek wealth, will be forced to live and work in the countryside. What’s the benefit?”
Li Jinxue shook his head repeatedly, "Since ancient times, farming people have relocated to their hometown. If they can keep a few acres of thin farmland in their hometown, who would be willing to leave their hometown and go elsewhere? The rogue bandits and puppet dynasty have also wanted to send people to Myanmar in recent years, saying that it is If you go there, you will be given land for free, and you can also get paddy fields. But how many people are willing to go to that plague-ridden land?"
Ding Yuying shook her head: "It is impossible to force people to move away or to force people to stay in their hometowns. It is up to you whether you want to stay or go!"
"It's all up to you? Then the court doesn't care?" Li Jinxue really didn't understand Ding Yuying's thinking.
"Does the court still care about this?" Ding Yuying also couldn't understand Li Jinxue's thinking - there was a generation gap between them! No, it’s not just the two of them, there is a generation gap between the people under the Dashun Dynasty and the people under the Ming Dynasty!
