From mentioning AK47 to farming in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 114

When Zhao Tai asked about farming, only Qi Zhou, the chief bookkeeper, could answer him, because Wang Cui, who was in charge of farming and mulberry affairs, was not here.

"My lord, the farming and mulberry cultivation in the county has started a few days ago. Even the township pavilions have been made enough for the Quyuanli map issued by the lord. The miracles have won the praise of the people, and the waterwheels are also being made. It is absolutely impossible to affect the spring plowing."

It is only mid-January now, and the common people have started to prepare for spring plowing. From the perspective of others, this must be much earlier.

But in this late Han Dynasty, it was not early at all, but just right, because plowing the ground was the most time-consuming thing.

Most of the people rely on manpower to plow the land. Although cattle and horses have animal power, there are very few people who can afford it.

Even if Zhao Tai copied Quyuanli and sent it to all parts of the county to build it, replacing the coupling plow used in the Han Dynasty today.

In the past, the use of coupled plows required two oxen and three people to cultivate the land. Although it was better than manpower, it was still much worse.

It cannot be said that it is not good, but compared with the Quyuan plow with one person and one ox, it is backward.

This not only liberated more manpower, but also more than half of the animal power.

Compared with the previous farming and digging, it will only be faster, and you can continue to reclaim the wasteland after the plowing, because the decree to reclaim more wasteland was issued by Zhao Tai.

Even if the common people are puzzled, they will follow suit. After all, this will not affect farming, and more land can be opened for planting. There will definitely be no complaints about harvesting more grain from multiple lands.

"However, Lord Ming, ordinary people use Leisi (lěi sì) to plow the land, which can ensure that the original land will not be planted by mistake, but they have no spare power to open up extra wasteland. Most of the people who open up wasteland are only aristocratic families and wealthy households."

Qi Zhou knew what Zhao Tai liked to hear the most and what he didn't want to hear the most, and everything he said was the truth.

It was heard again that the beneficiaries were wealthy families, even Qu Yuanli's beneficiaries were also them.

Even if Zhao Tai had thought about this outcome for a long time, he still felt like he had swallowed a dead fly.

Think about it, the original intention was to copy things to benefit all the people, but in the end only the wealthy families benefited.

Instead of weakening them, it gave them a chance to continue to grow, and it would be uncomfortable for anyone.

Wealthy households from aristocratic families use animal power to plow the ground for planting, while ordinary people can only use plows to plow the ground. The difference is more than ten times.

What is Leisi, which is similar to the shovel and shovel of later generations.

Most were made of wood, or better still, bone or pottery, which were extremely easy to damage and inefficient.

As for the use of copper or iron, no one can afford it except wealthy families.

The common people can only plant a few dozen acres of land, but wealthy families can plant thousands of acres of land relying on slaves, animal power, and agricultural tools made of iron or copper. It would be unreasonable for them to have no money.

The rich get richer, but the poor are hard to get rich. This is the truest portrayal of today's modern times.

Even Zhao Tai didn't want to take out various high-yielding crops for a moment. After all, the biggest beneficiaries were wealthy families.

But when I think about it, there are so many ordinary people. According to the grain varieties in this era, the harvest is limited. If there are enough high-yielding crops, there is still a surplus. Whether it is sold or used for breeding, it can promote the prosperity of the rule.

As for the benefits of the wealthy families, let them benefit, and Zhao Tai will let them spit out how much they get at that time.

Whether it's the land cultivated, the grain harvested, or the money earned, it will definitely make the wealthy family laugh from ear to ear. How happy they are now will make them feel uncomfortable later.

"Then let them open, but issue a decree to open up excess wasteland planters, and collect taxes at ten to five."

That is to say, Zhao Tai will have half of the harvest on the new land.

Anyway, ordinary people don't have the extra energy and time to open up wasteland, so Zhao Tai would be rude. If he didn't think that being too exaggerated would scare them away from opening up wasteland, Zhao Tai would dare to charge nine out of ten taxes.

"The prefect can't do it. The people can't afford such a high tax rate. It will affect the enthusiasm for reclaiming wasteland. It's really inappropriate to compete with the people for profit."

Hearing that the ten taxes in Xindi were five, Jin Jie immediately jumped up, his heartbroken expression seemed to be Zhao Tai's decree against the law.

With him taking the lead, all the officials belonging to the aristocratic family jumped out, either fighting for the interests of the people, or tyranny and heavy taxes. In short, no one agreed.

Tian Yu, Qi Zhou and the others stood on the sidelines just like Zhao Tai, just watching them jump up and down.

After Jin Jie and the others found that Zhao Tai was unmoved, they slowly became quiet.

"Have you finished speaking? After that, I will say a few words."

"You think my taxes are high because you don't know how much you can harvest from one acre of wasteland. I have a new crop called sweet potatoes. The yield per acre can reach up to [-] kilograms. Even if the wasteland is reduced by more than half, we can still produce three crops." Qian Jin, do you still think the tax is high?"

Sweet potatoes can be grown in wasteland, but corn and potatoes cannot be grown. The harvest will be much worse than the adaptable sweet potatoes.

There is no doubt that after Zhao Tai said this, he doubted and didn't believe it. Zhao Tai didn't bother to listen to this kind of words, anyway, he was tired of hearing it in many books.

Anyway, the tax remains the same, whether it is as exaggerated as he said depends on the result.

Everything you say now is nonsense.

If you don’t believe it, it’s normal to question it. In this era when the average land is two to three hundred catties per mu, and the best beautiful land can only harvest a thousand catties of grain, if you tell them how many catties per mu, they won’t tell you that you have brain disease. All good.

Qi Zhou, Zhou Ping, and Xia Houlan were probably the only ones who believed. Even Tian Yu was only dubious.

He believed that Zhao Tai had a way to solve the problem of grain production, but he didn't believe that he could be so exaggerated.

"The official said that although sweet potatoes are high-yield, they cannot be used as staple food. However, there are two other things that can be used as staple food. One is rice and the other is corn. It is not a problem to balance the yield of about [-] to [-] catties per mu, excluding wasteland and wasteland."

The staple food of rice is well-known in later generations. The rice that people are familiar with is Champa rice, which is the rice of the Song Dynasty.

In fact, rice cultivation was already very common in the Han Dynasty, but due to production and other reasons, rice was not a staple food.

All the officials present knew about rice, but it was harder for them to believe that it could yield six to seven hundred kilograms per mu than to tell them that there would be no dawn tomorrow.

"The prefect don't want to lie to us. Although we are officials, it's not that we don't know farming and mulberry. Even if we are not proficient, we still know how much the land yields per mu."

Jin Jie thought that Zhao Tai was teasing them, but he didn't mention ten taxes and five, so the reason why he said that was clearly to change the subject.

"Don't you believe me?"

"I can't believe it."

The other party shook his head decisively and wanted to mention the ten-five-fifty tax, but Zhao Tai stopped them first.

"Since you don't believe me, how about making a bet? If you win, I will not only exempt you from paying taxes on the new land, but also give the new land to your family, how about it?"

"The eunuch is serious?"

"Naturally, it can be proved by evidence."

Zhao Tai's bet made Jin Jie and the others think about it. It was impossible for an acre to produce several thousand kilograms, six or seven hundred kilograms. What was the difference between this bet and giving it away for free? It was impossible to lose.

"What the prefect said was to exclude beautiful fields? Are you gambling on ordinary fields?"

"nature."

"Then what if I lose?"

"Then all the property will be returned to the government office, and the new fields will also be returned to the government office. It is fair and just."

This is a big gamble. Whoever wins gets everything, which is indeed fair.

But Jin Jie and the others hesitated, because this matter was too big for them to be the head of the family.

But think about it carefully, because of the appearance of slaves and the plow, even if at least a thousand acres of land can be cultivated, as many as five or six thousand acres can be cultivated.

If this can be obtained immediately, without being restricted by other government orders, you can definitely get rich.

The reason why they objected before was that, just like what Qi Zhou said, the main force for land reclamation was still the rich households from aristocratic families.

Zhao Tai implements ten taxes and five taxes, and the target group is their families, which have little to do with ordinary people, and of course they must oppose it if their interests are damaged.

Now, ten taxes and five taxes have long been out of their consideration. What they should consider is to go back and tell the family to try their best to open up wasteland and earn as much as possible.

"I can't make a decision on this matter. I need to go back and discuss with the people in the clan before making a decision."

At the critical moment, Jin Jie and the others were not dazzled by the monstrous benefits, and the reason why they were not dazzled was because they couldn't make the decision, otherwise they would have agreed to it long ago.

"It's okay, it's still early for spring plowing at this time, it's better than this, just betting against you is too petty, why not bet against the entire Changshan County aristocratic family, wealthy merchants, as long as you want, you can sign in any commercial firm, and it will be effective .”

Everyone gasped, betting against a few families was already courageous, but in the end they had to bet against rich families from the entire county, it was not as simple as courage, it was betting on the fate of the entire Changshan County.

If the family wins against Zhao Tai, the reputation will drop to freezing point. If Zhao Tai wins, it will undoubtedly make the family unable to lift its head.

One person gambles on one county, against the family with one person's strength, how conceited a person can do such a thing.

"My lord, think twice."

Tian Yu was not only shocked, but also felt that Zhao Tai was reckless.

I don't know if it was his sentence, which woke up Jin Jie and others who were anxious, and gained full confidence.

Look, even your trusted subordinates don’t believe you, so what do we have to fear?

"Okay, since the eunuch is willing to gamble, then I will go back to negotiate and establish a written agreement with the firm. I hope the eunuch will not break his promise and lose weight."

Jin Jie hurriedly set the tone of the matter, fearing that Zhao Tai would go back on his word, he gave away the wealth that was delivered to his door.

"Let the whole county know that the new land tax of [-]% and [-]% will be cancelled. Since it is a fair bet and the winner gets everything, then the tax system decree will be cancelled."

"I want to make a big gamble with various families, but I have said something beforehand. Although the bet is worthwhile, farming must be done with all my heart. If you want to take advantage of the loopholes, you will blame me for not being sympathetic."

He is plugging the loopholes, but in the eyes of others, he is impatient, otherwise how could he think of plugging the loopholes.

There are not many things that can be discussed in this meeting. So far, everyone has done their best in the decrees issued by Zhao Tai without daring to be careless in the slightest.

After all, there are troops in every city, this is no joke.

After the discussion dispersed, only Zhou Ping and the others were left in the hall.

With a smile in the corner of Zhao Tai's eyes, he looked at Tian Yu who opened his mouth to speak, but failed to speak again.

(End of this chapter)