First Minister of Ming Dynasty

Peng Zaozhu also nodded vigorously, and he couldn't help but look at the three, "What about you? Would you like to follow the superior?"

The grandson is willing to look at me and I look at you for these three handsome men.You Peng Zaozhu is not even as good as your grandson, you sold us!We are handsome, let you serve you, wishful thinking!

Pan Dashuai was quick-witted, and he said quickly, "This...we have always been Guo Dashuai's subordinates, and we plan to listen to Guo Dashuai's orders."

This Marshal Pan is simply the book boy of King Yan, a little witty ghost!

Push Guo Zixing out...Old Zhu took a deep breath, if he gave an order, the three heads would fall to the ground, but since Peng Zaozhu was attached, these three people were irrelevant.

"If you are willing to leave, we will not stop you. As many of your subordinates want to leave, they all do so voluntarily. From now on, just ask for good luck!"

Lao Zhu waved his hand, "See off the guests!"

Don't give nonsense to the three people, just drive them away.

Zhu Yuanzhang ordered to prepare a banquet, entertain Peng Zao, and celebrate the joining forces!

As for the three generals Yu, Lu, and Pan, when they went back to shout, only more than 300 people followed, and they wanted to force all the soldiers in the army to follow. At this time, Xu Da had already led 1000 people to stop in front of them.

After all, people are different, and there are some people who would rather rob houses, kill people and set fires than plow the fields honestly.

In this case, I can let you go, but it is wishful thinking to coerce one more good person!

The three of them were escorted by Xu Da like prisoners and left Chuzhou in desperation... Behind them, thousands of soldiers cheered like a tidal wave!

Chapter 87 Chu, Dashu

After the three marshals left Chuzhou, they did not go to look for Guo Zixing, but went to the boundary of Hezhou to join Sun Deya.

When they arrived in Hezhou, they found out that although Sun Deya's troops had considerable strength, they were in short supply of food and grass and could not make ends meet.

But the three of them didn't have many soldiers left, even if they robbed them, they couldn't get anything.

Now they were also dumbfounded. With Zhu Yuanzhang, although he lost his military power, he could still have enough to eat.But when he arrived in Hezhou, he was going to starve!

What is this?

It's better to lie flat in Chuzhou and be a salted fish!

It turned out that being deprived of military power was not the worst!

In fact, all current forces, including Yuan Ting, are deeply troubled by food shortages.If it weren't for the shortage of food and grass, the imperial court would have dispatched a large army to destroy Zhang Shicheng and regain control of the canal.

It's just that among such a group of hungry ghosts with green eyes, there is one person who can immediately get rid of the predicament of lack of food and grass.

There is no doubt that this person is Zhu Yuanzhang who devoted himself to dividing the land and reclamation.

Lao Zhu entered Chuzhou in the first month of the 14th year of Zhizheng, and then eradicated corrupt officials. Adhere to the division of fields and reclamation.

From top to bottom, every person, every animal, and every effort must be devoted to food production.

Even literati like Li Shanchang were dragged into the fields by Zhu Yuanzhang and followed to work.

In February and March, stepping in knee-deep muddy water, plowing fields, transplanting rice seedlings, and planting early rice made the future Korean father-in-law miserable. He suffered from the cold, his waist and knees were sore and weak, and he urinated frequently at night. Feeling prematurely aged.

"Mr. Li, we asked you to work in the fields, not for anything else, but to let you know the hardships of farmers, and to let you understand that acres of land vary in thousands of ways. Just take the irrigated land under our feet, and the yield can be compared with that of other farmers. twice as much hillside land. No matter how we divide the fields evenly, it is impossible to take care of all aspects and convince every commoner."

Li Shanchang nodded quickly, he knew this too well, for a ridge of land, for a little water source, there would be fierce quarrels in the countryside, even fights with weapons, fights by himself, fights with neighboring villages, and even killed people, there are many places.

A little bit of field, a little water, will kill and kill. Does it make some high-quality human beings who are superior, keep their hands off the sun, and even care about animals more than the same kind, feel incredible?

Human life is priceless, how can you die so casually?

The common people are too ignorant and barbaric!

Sure enough, it is an inferior thing, not worthy of breathing and eating meat like us...

After all, if you have been at a high place for a long time, you will never understand the hardships of Xiaomin.

There are several children in the family who want to eat with their mouths open. The things that can be produced in the field are limited, and they have to pay land taxes, small taxes, exorbitant miscellaneous taxes, and tenant farmers have to pay almost half of the land rent.

With more water for irrigation and one more ridge of land, more food can be produced, and this food may be able to feed one more child, so that they will not starve to death in a disaster year.

It's so difficult, do you think the common people can't work hard?

For thousands of years, rural villages and land annexation are the most extreme introversion. If you take a step back, there is no place to die. Not only will you die, but your family will die too!

Due to natural and man-made disasters, Lao Zhu's family lost the competition and their family was destroyed.I had to go to the temple to become a monk and break away from mainstream society.

If it wasn't for the Red Turban Uprising, maybe in the future he would be a lonely old monk with a hunched figure, cloudy eyes, and full of desolation in the temple, living like a dead wood and dying silently.

Zhu Yuanzhang should probably be the emperor who knows the sufferings of the people the most. Because of this, he crazily divided the land and farmed, and devoted all his thoughts to food.

But that's not enough!

"Mr. Li, the land is divided and the food is collected. The next step is the land tax. We have to collect the land tax to feed the soldiers and horses. How to collect the land tax is a greater knowledge!" Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the rest. Li Shanchang chatted.

Lao Li nodded vigorously, and he also understood Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts. Although he was very tired in this team and was far less comfortable than working in Yuanting, he was not satisfied, and sometimes even some minor problems would pop up suddenly. Little surprise.

Just like the land tax collection this time.

In fact, Zhang Ximeng arranged for people to go down to find out the situation when it was still plowing in spring.

The more than 100 students were even sent by Zhang Ximeng to the village to investigate. That's right, step by step, every village and every family will not be spared.

This approach was something Li Shanchang had never heard of or seen before.

He really couldn't imagine that a yamen, a government, could do things so meticulously!

Zhang Ximeng needs to find out the situation of each village, and then collect them in his hands, and this information will become the basis for the subsequent collection of land taxes.

No matter how carefully the policy is formulated, there will always be loopholes. Only by relying on human efforts can we be infinitely close to perfection.

In fact, as mentioned earlier, it is impossible to average the land within a county or a prefecture.

The units of land equalization are actually natural villages one by one.

It is simply unrealistic to go out of the village, tens of miles or hundreds of miles away from home to farm.

That's immigrants, not equal fields.

In this way, there will be a very interesting phenomenon. After eradicating the powerful, in a natural village, every household can obtain roughly the same amount of land, and the output of the field will not vary too much.

Even which family has more land and higher output, the villagers know each other well.

Just look at the size of the grain storage, it's clear.

Under such circumstances, the collection of land taxes is actually not that difficult, and it is even said that as long as the right method is found, it can be easily solved.

What is the method?

It is on top of the piles of inspection results.

Zhang Ximeng picked up a report with a lot of typos, but he could still see the general meaning, and explained it to Li Wenzhong and a few students.

"Look, there are more than 180 households in this village, and the scale is not small. It is estimated that the summer grain harvest this season should be about one stone. Their ration field is three acres, and the transfer field is fifteen acres. In addition, there are many mulberry fields. Ma fields and fish ponds."

"For example, if a family of five needs to pay the land tax, the transfer land is 75 mu. According to estimates, the surplus grain is 75 shi. According to our rules, within [-] shi of the surplus grain, half of the land tax should be paid, and if it exceeds [-] shi to [-] shi Shi, pay [-]%, and more than fifty stone, need to pay [-]%."

"That is to say, the land tax they need to pay is one stone plus three stones, plus three stones, seven dou and five liters, which is a total of seven stones, seven dou and five liters. The highest tax rate we set is [-]%, that is, Said that if a family's surplus grain exceeds one thousand shi, the excess part shall be paid [-]% of the land tax."

"In fact, most ordinary people can't reach the tax rate set in this way. For a few wealthy households, we have eliminated the powerful, but we haven't touched their interests too much. If anyone is unwilling to pay more land taxes, then don't Blame us for being rude."

"This is the general situation of a village, let's look at the next village..."

Zhang Ximeng took his time, took out examples one by one, and gave detailed explanations. Gradually, the students all pricked up their ears and their expressions became serious.

The students present were all from poor families. They had heard old people complaining about land taxes and exorbitant taxes since they were young.

Paying the land tax every year is like passing through the gate of hell.

But after listening to Mr.'s explanation, the big guys just think it's too reasonable. If it's really collected in this way, they don't need to be urged by the yamen, and they all want to pay by themselves.

"This is a rough account. Before the summer harvest, a notice must be issued to each village announcing the method and amount of land tax collection. If there is no accident, it will be collected according to this amount. At the same time, if the difference is relatively large , the villagers are allowed to put forward their opinions, and you are still responsible for conveying them, and sending people to verify again.”

"In some villages, families with soldiers have to arrange for people to help harvest, so that the grains can be returned to the warehouse, so that the soldiers can feel at ease! Those lonely old people, or families that lack strong labor, should encourage the villagers to cooperate with each other. Help, if necessary, you can also send someone to help, and try not to miss any family!"

"Chuzhou is not big, and the counties add up to only have more than 20 people. Chuzhou is also very big, because you can see the whole world from Chuzhou!"

"The methods and experience we have summed up here will be promoted to other places in the future. We have done a good job and convinced the people. With sufficient food and grass supply and sufficient military support, we can fight stronger and stronger and restore the Han Dynasty. Homeland!"

"All in all, do it with a public heart, be worthy of your background, be worthy of your conscience, and be worthy of the bowl of soup from the superior!"

The students nodded vigorously. No matter what happened in the future, at the moment, they firmly remembered Zhang Ximeng's words.

……

Zhang Ximeng explained the tasks of the students and went to the army again.

The situation in the military village is relatively simple. It is nothing more than a few thousand households dealing with Zhang Ximeng. They want to pay less.

After all, although Zhu Yuanzhang had set up a [-]-point account.

Thirty percent was handed over, and seventy percent was reserved as military rations for the thousand households. However, Zhang Ximeng had the power to determine the output.

For example, Feng Guosheng explained to Zhang Ximeng in every possible way, "Sir, why our thousand households have [-]% higher yield per mu than Li Xincai's thousand households, it's not fair!"

Zhang Ximeng looked at the aqueduct and said with a smile, "Why didn't you report this aqueduct?"

"This, this was repaired by the brothers themselves. Still, it hasn't been repaired yet... It didn't exist in the first place. I, I haven't had time to report it." The future Song Guogong, blushing, trying to explain the embarrassment, is very interesting .

Zhang Ximeng smiled and said, "Report now. Building more water conservancy projects is also a credit. Brothers have rewards. You, as a thousand households, also have credit!"

Zhang Ximeng smiled and went to the next place to investigate... The busyness lasted until May, when the south wind blew overnight and the wheat was covered with yellow.

To the 14th year, it is the age, Chu Dashu!

Chapter 88

Since entering May, everyone in Chuzhou has been busy.

The rice fields and paddy fields are guarded by people, even at night, they are reluctant to go home.

They want to drive away the birds that steal food, and patrol around, holding pots, clappers and other things in their hands, scaring and driving away wild boars and chrysalis.

Or simply form a hunting team, spread all over the mountains and plains, and wipe out everywhere.

Wild boars are not easy to deal with. They have a variety of food habits, a big appetite, and a bad temper... One bad one can destroy a large area of ​​crops, and the elderly and children are easily injured.

Therefore, there were several battalions of thousands of households, and they simply dispatched soldiers and horses to hunt and kill wild boars, protect the crops, and enrich the food by the way.

Everyone's hearts tense, both excited and worried... Even if the big guy has done his best, farming is still a matter of God's face.

If it catches up with the harvest season, there will be heavy rain for a few days, and the grain will not be collected, it will rot and mold, and the harvest will drop sharply.

Therefore, the closer the harvest is, the more nervous it is - almost like a code farmer whose work is about to be put on the shelves - you can't say it's exactly the same, you can only say it's not bad at all!

Every day when I come out of the house, I look up and see the sun hanging in the sky, shining brightly, just like I got a baby.

Since the Tang Dynasty, the law of two taxes has been implemented. In the old place of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty also collected two taxes in summer and autumn. Although the output of summer grain is not as high as that of autumn grain, it is like playing a game. If you can not waste a life, you will not waste a life. .

With a bumper harvest of summer grain, the pressure in autumn will be less. If all the pressure is on the autumn grain, if something goes wrong, no one can afford it.

In this way, looking forward to, looking forward to, God has always been a big smiling face... Finally, the rice and wheat are ripe.

An old farmer stretched out his dark fingers and gently plucked off a few grains of wheat, but he was reluctant to tear off a whole ear of wheat.

He rubbed it in his hand, then put it in his mouth and bit it.

A big smile appeared on the vicissitudes of life.

"Damn it, little bastards, let's go to work in the fields!"

All the farmers, as if they had received an imperial order, got up from their homes before dawn, took sickles, and rushed into the fields.

You are faster, someone is faster!

Look at others, a large area has been cut.

Get to work!

Some people may wonder, the crops are in the fields, so there is no need to be so anxious?

Really useful.

It must be harvested early, dried early, and then stored in the warehouse, and this is considered a peace of mind.

If there is heavy rain during the period, the harvest cannot be harvested smoothly, and everything will be over.

Take Ah San next door as an example. They have a vast arable land, but they are still at the stage of traditional agriculture. Their uniqueness is not only that the per capita grain is less than [-] kilograms, but also a large amount of food is exported for money.At the same time, almost [-]% of the grain will rot in the fields and cannot be recovered at all.This is caused by backward rural infrastructure, not enough harvesters, and not enough warehouses.

Therefore, for the people of Chuzhou, it is necessary to race against time.

Zhu Yuanzhang took the lead to go to the field in person. There was nothing particularly important, so he was not allowed to disturb him. He didn't know how to live in the yamen, so he just stared at the field and worked with the big guys.