March 29th, Feiquan Township outside Yujing City
Surrounded by hundreds of guards in civilian clothes, Ye Mingsheng was inspecting this farmland, and Hu Mingyuan, the current prefect of Yujing, introduced to Ye Mingsheng:
"Commander, Feiquan County currently has a total of 3,900 acres of farmland, including about 900 acres of paddy fields and about 3,000 acres of dry farmland. According to the reforms implemented by you, Commander-in-Chief, families with more than five acres of land in the county will share Eleven thousand households, truly land to the tiller..."
"There are about 2,000 acres of land planted with rice, 1,300 acres of land planted with wheat, and 600 acres of land planted with sorghum. The annual income of 13,000 households in the county exceeds 5 taels of silver and exceeds 10,000 households. In addition, there are The annual income of three thousand households exceeds ten taels of silver. Among the eleven counties and villages surrounding Yujing, the income of Feiquan Township is above the middle level!"
Because Ye Mingsheng had given instructions in advance not to disturb the farmers' farming, the people in the rice fields did not line up to welcome Ye Mingsheng because of Ye Mingsheng's arrival, but were still working hard in the farmland.
During Hu Mingyuan's eloquent explanation, Ye Mingsheng also observed the situation in the farmland from time to time. After Hu Mingyuan finished the introduction, Ye Mingsheng also asked:
"You know Jiyu's situation very well!"
Facing Ye Mingsheng's inquiry, the fourth-grade Yujing Qingtian Master also said respectfully:
"I am originally from Hebei and Henan. I was a Jinshi in the third year of Anhe. I have served successively as the magistrate of Zhongxu County and the prefect of Ruyang. I have served in Hebei and Henan for more than thirteen years. I was born here and grew up here. I asked myself about some of the situations in Hebei. I still have some understanding!”
Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly, and then continued to inspect the farmland. He walked around and looked around. Although the people in the farmland were a little surprised to see Ye Mingsheng and his party, because Ye Mingsheng and his party were all dressed in casual clothes, they were not surprised. Don't be afraid, everyone will still do their own work...
After looking around, Ye Mingsheng's eyes finally locked on an old man sitting on the ground drinking water and resting. He immediately approached and asked:
"Old man, what's your surname?"
"Country people don't have anything expensive, my surname is Wang!"
Old Man Wang, who was resting, subconsciously answered when he heard Ye Mingsheng's question. After speaking, he instinctively looked at Ye Mingsheng, but he saw hundreds of people looking at him. Seeing this, Old Man Wang suddenly felt a little confused. Frightened, Ye Mingsheng also realized something was wrong when he saw this, and immediately gave everyone behind him a look.
At Ye Mingsheng's signal, everyone immediately dispersed, leaving only a few officials such as Zhao Wanxian, Song Haibo, and more than a dozen guards to protect Ye Mingsheng's safety.
Ye Mingsheng immediately sat next to Old Man Wang and asked Old Man Wang again with a smile:
"Uncle Wang, how expensive are you this year?"
"I am forty-seven this year!"
Ye Mingsheng was actually a little surprised when he heard this. The man in front of him with mottled beard and hair, an old face, and a stooped back was only forty-seven years old. If he hadn't said that Ye Mingsheng thought he was at least sixty years old!
After answering Ye Mingsheng's question, Uncle Wang couldn't help but glance at the guards around Ye Mingsheng. Then he seemed to realize something and cautiously asked Ye Mingsheng beside him:
"Are you a high official?"
Ye Mingsheng laughed when he heard this, then said without blushing and without a beating heart:
"Uncle Wang, do you think I look like a high official?"
"I'm just a businessman from Youyan. I came to Guibao to see if there is any profitable business. Does your place look like a place where big officials come?"
Upon hearing this, Uncle Wang shook his head and said:
"We are in the backwoods of the countryside, how can those officials come back..."
As soon as these words came out, the latter Zhao Wanxian and Hu Mingyuan were immediately embarrassed. However, at this moment, Uncle Wang took a serious look at Ye Mingsheng and said:
"But you do look like a high official! But it's just a resemblance. I once went to Yujing City to sell our own chickens.
Chicken, I once saw a high-ranking official traveling in a sedan chair, with guards on the left and right to clear the way! "
"Although there are many people around you, you are not sitting in a sedan but walking here, and there are no people wearing official uniforms around you!"
Ye Mingsheng smiled slightly when he heard this and continued:
"So I'm not a big official, I'm just a businessman. Those were my shopkeepers just now!"
After saying that, Ye Mingsheng did not want to discuss this issue with Uncle Wang, and immediately changed his voice and asked:
"Uncle Wang, how is your spring plowing going this year? What have you planted?"
At this time, Uncle Wang had already believed that the young man beside him was a businessman, so he said without thinking:
"The government officials came early in the morning to urge us to plant the land and not let us leave the land. They said that whoever was late in spring plowing would have to raise taxes, so we started spring plowing early. Now the spring plowing is almost completed!"
"There are some rice and sorghum planted in the ground. I originally wanted to plant all the ground with cotton. Now the price of cotton is high. I can make more money by growing cotton than growing grain... ···········》
Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised when he said this and asked:
"In that case, why don't you grow cotton, Uncle Wang?"
After hearing this, Uncle Wang said helplessly:
"Although I want to grow cotton, the government officials won't let me!"
"Why not?"
"The government servants talked a lot. As a countryman, I couldn't understand what they said, but in short, if they don't let me, I won't let them!"
After hearing Uncle Wang's words, Hu Mingyuan, the prefect of Yujing, hesitated to speak. He seemed to want to explain to Ye Mingsheng, but seeing that Ye Mingsheng did not look at him, he could only give up.
Ye Mingsheng silently kept this question in his mind, and then asked Uncle Wang:
"I heard that the Jiyu Daxinchang Bank specializes in lending money to farmers like you. Uncle Wang, did you borrow money from the Daxinchang Bank?"
Uncle Wang nodded when he heard this and said:
"Last year, I borrowed five taels of silver, and the annual interest rate was only 5%. At first, we didn't believe it. How could these black-hearted bank accounts have such good intentions? Later, when we inquired, someone said that this was stipulated by Marshal Ye. Finally, Marshal Ye finally You did a good thing!"
Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised when he heard this, and immediately asked:
"Do you think Marshal Ye is bad?"
Upon hearing this, Uncle Wang shook his head and said:
"I think Marshal Ye is still very good. Since he replaced Marshal Gao, we have our own land, and the annual taxes have been reduced. Those bullies no longer dare to do evil. Now even the interest on borrowing money has been reduced." Much lower..."
"When I worked as a tenant for a landlord, I had to work hard all year long to pay the rent and taxes, and there was nothing left, not even money to pay for medicine when I was sick!"
"However, some people say that Marshal Ye is not good. They say that his name is Zhou Chen, but he is actually a Zhou thief. They say that he is the number one female minister in the past hundred years. They say that his gangsters shout him long live every day, and say that he Soon he will seek to usurp the throne and become emperor!"
When these words came out, Ye Mingsheng was a little dumbfounded and laughed. However, the faces of Zhao Wanxian, Hu Mingyuan, Song Haibo and others on the side changed drastically. At this time, Uncle Wang seemed to realize that he had made a mistake, and asked Ye Mingsheng warily:
"Why do you, a businessman, ask so many questions?"
Ye Mingsheng said with a smile:
"When I come to Jiyu to do business, I naturally want to understand your local customs and customs. Otherwise, how can I do business?"
After speaking, Ye Mingsheng took out a small piece of silver and handed it to Old Man Wang and said:
"Tell me again that there is still money!"
When Old Man Wang saw the money, his eyes immediately lit up, he quickly collected the money, and then said to Ye Mingsheng:
"As long as I have money to take, I will tell you whatever you ask!"
"Uncle Wang, besides farming, you also do
Don’t do other work, such as raising chickens and planting fruit trees? "
"After I borrowed money from Daxinchang Bank last year, I actually wanted to plant a jujube tree. I think as long as I plant the tree now, with good luck, I will have a harvest in two or three years. Then I will be able to sell jujubes every year. You can earn several taels of silver······················"
"But my mother-in-law refused to let me plant it, saying that I didn't know how to plant it. It was difficult to plant jujube trees, and even if I was lucky enough to plant a jujube tree, the tree would be snatched away by others, so she wouldn't let me plant it. I plant trees and let me raise chickens!"
"I was fascinated at the time, so I listened to her words and bought a few roosters and hens. I thought that the hens would give birth to chicks, and I could sell both eggs and chickens. I could earn two or three taels of silver throughout the year, but I didn't expect that. We had chicken plague here last year, and the superiors culled them all!"
"The culling was just culling without any compensation, which made us work in vain for several months. It made our wife feel bad and almost fell ill because of it. Fortunately, last year's harvest was good and the grain was I made some money from selling it, and then I managed to pay off the account of Daxinchang bank account!"
"I won't think nonsense this year, and will just plant crops honestly. I didn't borrow money from Da Xinchang this year, so if I can have as good a harvest as last year, I can earn more money than last year and try to marry my eldest son. A wife!"
Listening to Old Man Wang's thoughts, Ye Mingsheng also silently memorized some useful information. At the end, Ye Mingsheng threw another tael of silver to Old Man Wang.
After saying goodbye to Old Man Wang, Hu Mingyuan, as the prefect of Yujing, immediately apologized to Ye Mingsheng and expressed his position to Ye Mingsheng that he would rectify public opinion in the future and strictly investigate those who slandered Ye Mingsheng... ·········
In this regard, Ye Mingsheng also asked Hu Mingyuan to seriously deal with those who have ulterior motives, but he should not go into details about people like Old Man Wang who follow what others say.
After dealing with this political issue, Hu Mingyuan also explained to Ye Mingsheng that the order not to grow cotton was issued by him as the prefect, and he had his own reasons for doing so. Hebei and Henan have a large population, so the demand for food is also very large. Nowadays, in good years, Jiyu's grain production has a surplus, but in bad years, the grain grown is simply not enough to eat.
Therefore, if you are allowed to grow cotton, and you earn more by growing cotton, then many people will definitely go to earn cotton. If there are more cotton, there will be less food. This will inevitably cause a reduction in food production and trigger a new wave of round of food crisis.
On the one hand, Ye Mingsheng agreed with Hu Mingyuan's explanation. On the other hand, he also said that on this issue, Hu Mingyuan, as the prefect, can consider using market methods instead of directly imposing one-size-fits-all orders. Now such a one-size-fits-all approach will push up the price of cotton. The price makes some people grow cotton secretly!
You can increase the tax on growing cotton to reduce the income of people from growing cotton. With less income, the enthusiasm for growing cotton will naturally decrease.
Ye Mingsheng's words opened a new door for Hu Mingyuan. He was a traditional manager with a Jinshi background, so he completely relied on simple and crude xZ orders to do things and lacked knowledge and understanding of the market!
Then Ye Mingsheng asked six or seven farmers in succession. Under Ye Mingsheng's method, he also got a lot of useful information, which allowed Ye Mingsheng to better understand the real thoughts of the people... ············
Ye Mingsheng did not end the inspection until the sunset. On the way back, Ye Mingsheng transferred Zhao Wanxian to his carriage and asked Zhao Wanxian:
"You have been in Hebei Province for more than a month. I heard that you have inspected many places during this time. What are your thoughts on the development of Hebei Province now?"
Ye Mingsheng's question had long been expected by Zhao Wanxian, so Zhao Wanxian said without thinking:
"On the one hand, I plan to maintain the current high-pressure situation of FF. While strictly demanding colleagues at all levels, I will also implement a bonus system to ensure that Jiyu has a clean and upright atmosphere!"
Ye Mingsheng slightly raised his forehead. Zhao Wanxian had made this suggestion to him in Yijing.
I quite agree with this idea and hope that his plan will be effective!
Seeing Ye Mingsheng nodding, Zhao Wanxian also continued:
"Commander, my experience in promoting the development of Liaoyang was to increase the development of minerals and vigorously develop the smelting industry. At the same time, I encouraged the people to open up wasteland in Liaoyang and increase food production!"
"But these experiences are not applicable in Hebei and Henan. The mineral resources in Hebei and Henan are not as rich as those in Liaoyang. At the same time, Hebei and Henan is located in the Central Plains. Unlike Liaoyang, which is located on the border, there are many undeveloped wastelands. The land that can be reclaimed in Hebei and Henan is Basically, the land has been cleared, and it is difficult to expand the cultivated land area and increase food production through land reclamation!"
"But Jiyu has one very outstanding feature, and that is the large number of people in Jiyu!"
"I think if this feature can be used properly, it will be a very big advantage, otherwise it will be a very big burden... ··
