"Caomin Song Yingxing!"
"Chen Jinglun!"
"Chen Chuangui!"
"See your majesty, your majesty greets you with all your blessings!"
The three people knelt down immediately after entering the Huangji Palace. Compared with the civil and military ministers who were wearing green red red robes, the three people's long straight green cloth clothes looked a little shabby and very out of place.
"I'm fine, get up and speak!"
Seeing the puzzled and doubtful eyes of the ministers, Chongzhen stood up.
"Sun Aiqing, I ask you, how big is the land of our Ming Dynasty? How many fields are there? Can the people have enough food and clothing?"
Sun Chengzong immediately went to work: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has a land of 4 million square kilometers and 8.5 million hectares of fertile land. As for the people...the land in the north, northwest, and southwest is slightly barren, and due to terrain problems, there is little arable land, and the people can barely make a living.
The southern region has a good climate and plenty of rain, which is better, but not much better. "
PS: The Ming Dynasty did not have the concept of square kilometers, so I will not convert the city acres, hectares, and square meters. It is not intuitive!
As a former emperor's master and the chief assistant of two dynasties, he naturally knew these numbers very well.
Since the emperor asked, he must listen to the truth.
In response to Sun Chengzong's answer, Chongzhen just nodded and looked at Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Household Affairs.
"Guo Aiqing, I ask you, if there is a natural disaster in the future and more than 10 million people are affected by the disaster, and it lasts for one year, how will the court deal with it?"
"Should……"
After Guo Yunhou left work, he opened his mouth, but did not continue.
Ten million people, based on half a catty of grain a day, would need five million catties a day and 12 million shi a year, while the Ming Dynasty's annual land tax was only 23-26 million shi.
This only takes into account the required grain, and then considers the need for transportation and damage, then another 30% is added.
Disaster relief is certainly possible, but how can the Ming Dynasty feed its more than two million troops?
It’s not that there is no food among the people. There are 8.5 million hectares of fertile land in the Ming Dynasty. Calculated at two and a half shi per mu, it can produce 2.125 billion shi per year. The Ming Dynasty has less than 200 million people, which is enough to feed the people.
The reason why the people did not have enough to eat was because the land was in the hands of the gentry and merchants, and the gentry had food.
If the imperial court doesn't have enough food, it can buy it from the private sector, but if it costs millions of taels of silver, can the imperial court afford it?
Borrowing food, forcibly confiscating food, confiscating homes? Let’s not talk about whether it is possible or not. Even if it is possible, wouldn’t that force the gentry to rebel?
Therefore, no matter how you look at it, this problem has no solution.
"Your Majesty, I believe that the imperial court can only save half of the population, and the rest can only... wish for themselves!"
After Guo Yunhou finished speaking, his whole face was filled with sadness.
As the Minister of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty, he controlled the land, food, money, etc. of the Ming Dynasty, but he could not feed the people.
If there is a big disaster in the future, we can only watch people die. How sad.
All the ministers in the court were also silent, with solemn expressions on their faces.
Among the ministers, Li Banghua looked thoughtful, because he seemed to have seen this scene before.
"Do you think I'm being alarmist?"
"I don't dare!"
Looking at the appearance of the ministers, Chongzhen smiled bitterly in his heart. Since the second year of Chongzhen, natural disasters have occurred throughout Shaanxi, and there have also been disasters in neighboring Henan and Sichuan. Not only tens of millions of people have been affected?
The imperial court was simply unable to provide disaster relief. Otherwise, why would Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong be able to recruit hundreds of thousands of troops in a short period of time?
"My dear friends, please be prepared for danger in times of peace. Is there any solution to the problem I just faced? If so, I will reward you greatly!"
"I'm so stupid, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
The ministers are not stupid. It would be better if there is really a way at this moment. If the proposed method is not feasible, it will anger His Majesty.
Everyone can settle accounts. It would be fine if the treasury had money, but the reality is that there is not.
At this time, except for the six ministries and nine ministers and the cabinet, none of the ministers knew about the affairs of the Qin Palace.
Seeing the expressions of the ministers, Chongzhen knew that the preparation was almost done, so he said: "I have a method here. If it is done well, the people of Ming Dynasty will not have a big problem with having enough to eat. Even if there are natural disasters in the future, it will not matter!"
"Your Majesty, please give me your instructions!"
"Sure enough, it's here..."
Li Banghua secretly complained in his heart.
Chongzhen looked at the ministers: "Do you know about potatoes (later changed to potatoes) and sweet potatoes?"
Some of the ministers nodded. They knew that there was someone in Tudou Palace.
The reason for the sweet potato was that during the severe drought in Fujian, Jin Zengxue, the governor of Fujian, wrote a memorial and specifically mentioned this matter.
“Do you know the yields of these two crops?”
Without waiting for the ministers to respond, Chongzhen continued: "Potatoes yield eight to fifteen shi per mu, and sweet potatoes yield eight to twelve shi per mu!"
"What?"
"so tall?"
"How can it be?"
…
As soon as Chongzhen finished speaking, the officials immediately exclaimed. This output was really too scary, far exceeding that of current rice and wheat.
Seeing the exclamations of the ministers, Chongzhen chuckled in his heart. In later generations, the normal yield of scientifically grown potatoes could reach about 2,000-5,000 kilograms. The yield of non-repeat crops was higher, reaching about 8,000 kilograms.
The yield of scientifically grown sweet potatoes can reach 2,000-4,000 kilograms, and the yield of better ones can be around 6,000-8,000 kilograms.
But these are all under the conditions of domestication, continuous cultivation and improvement, scientific planting, and fertilizers can keep up. The current level of eight to ten stones is already the top.
There are two high-yield crops, but it is a pity that Ming Dynasty did not pay attention to them.
Sweet potatoes have been cultivated in Fujian and Guangdong for thirty years. After Xu Guangqi's father passed away and returned to Shanghai to mourn, sweet potatoes were introduced to Shanghai. However, they were not taken seriously and the spread was very slow.
"I want to fully promote these two crops. What do you think?"
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
When the ministers were congratulating, Feng Sentong, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue, went out of duty and made a different sound.
"Your Majesty, I have heard that eating too much sweet potatoes will cause food accumulation, bloating, burping, excessive flatulence, and even abdominal pain and diarrhea. This is one of them.
Secondly, the Ming Dynasty did not collect potatoes and sweet potatoes when collecting taxes, and did not collect potatoes or sweet potatoes when recruiting military supplies. If vigorously promoted, it will inevitably affect tax revenue.
If soldiers suffer from abdominal pain, diarrhea and other problems after eating sweet potatoes, their combat effectiveness will be affected.
Third, although potatoes and sweet potatoes have high yields, the common people have never planted them. Faced with this uncertainty, they may not dare to plant them. The fields in the hands of the court alone are a drop in the bucket.
I was lucky enough to eat a potato once, but it didn’t taste very good. Even if the output was high, it wouldn’t be easy to sell.
I ask your Majesty to think again! "
"Your Majesty, what Mr. Feng said makes sense. The promotion of potatoes and sweet potatoes will definitely require money and manpower. Now that the national treasury is insufficient, should we consider this matter later?"
"Two adults, these words are different!"
Chen Jinglun stood up immediately, and his son Chen Chuangui's face changed. He wanted to remind his father that this was the court and he should not be arrogant, but Chen Jinglun ignored him at all.
"Two adults, the common people ask you, have you ever seen that during a severe drought, all the grass roots and tree bark were eaten away? Some people were strangled to death after eating Guanyin soil? Some people sold their parents and children just to get a mouthful of food?"
"Compared to starving to death, what do diarrhea and flatulence count? You just stand and talk without back pain!"
"Besides, with such high yields of potatoes and sweet potatoes, the Ming Dynasty did not plant all of them. According to the average calculation of six stones, 200,000 hectares will be enough, and the rest can be planted as needed.
Third, if the tax does not collect these two things, then change it. It is not necessary to eat all the military rations. According to the calculation of two out of ten, it is also possible.
Finally, if the people are unwilling to plant, they will exchange rice and wheat.
Originally, one acre produced two stones. After planting potatoes and sweet potatoes, the court gave two stones of rice and wheat to the people, and potatoes and sweet potatoes to the court. As long as you think about it, there will always be a way. "
Chen Jinglun was so angry that he almost pointed at the nose of Feng Sentong, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and cursed.
Feng Sengtong was trembling with anger and his face turned red: "You, you... you are so presumptuous!"
