The primary problem facing Zhu Cihong now is not Dolgon or Li Zicheng, but the problem of feeding the 100 million Li people in the southeast. Among them, the food of more than 10 million refugees who have fled from the north is even more important!

And the land he can use to solve the problem of eating, even taking into account the vast part of the recovery lake, is only about 400 million mu. The per capita is a little more than two and a half acres...... If it is all used to grow food, it will be enough to eat.

But the problem is that tens of millions of people can't go bare-bottomed! I still have to wear clothes, I have to dress warmly, it's the cold Xiaoice River period! Moreover, the Ming Dynasty also had to export silk cotton in exchange for silver - in fact, compared with the consumption of tens of millions of people in China, the number of exported silk cotton is not very large, even if trade is banned, it will not save much.

In addition, the Ming society is also full of injustice - it is not only the end of feudal society, but also the initial stage of capitalism.

Therefore, the already relatively tight food cannot be evenly distributed, and for the people at the bottom, it is even more difficult to eat enough.

However, Zhu Cihong had only two ways to solve the problem of feeding the people, one was to try to import and encourage colonization - by collecting "tariff grain", Chinese and foreign merchant ships entering the southeast trade ports would import rice from Shui Chenla and Champang. At the same time, by creating demand for rice imports, maritime merchants were involved in the movement to colonize Suchenla or Champa.

The second is to destroy the import system in the rural areas of the southeast - that is, to deprive scholars of tax exemption privileges, so as to increase the degree of marketization of agriculture!

The marketization of agriculture sounds like a flood of beasts. However, while depriving scholars and clansmen of their tax-free privileges, eliminating unfair means of annexing land, such as scheming and surrendering, and failing to practice the practice of calculating and granting land, then agriculture has actually become market-oriented. Now that marketization has been realized, of course, there will also be land annexation and bankruptcy of farmers due to competition!

In fact, the "rice colonization" abroad and the marketization of agriculture at home are mutually reinforcing.

Without domestic annexation and bankruptcy, who would go to the miasma land of the south to cultivate and farm? Moreover, the "rice colonization" movement promoted by maritime merchants could only be carried out in a capitalist way, not the estates of feudal lords.

Similarly, if there is no more market-oriented agriculture that is adapted to competition, once the "rice colonization" develops, it will in turn impact the small-scale peasant economy in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty......

In short, in order to eat, the current Nanming has to embark on the capitalist road, and has to plunge headlong into the era of colonialism.

It's so hard, and it's so wicked!

......

"Emperor, now the entire territory of De'an Mansion and the entire territory of Hanyang Mansion have been taken by our army. Chengtian Mansion is only one Jingmen Prefecture City away, and the rest of the places are also our Dashun's territory. Jianli County and Yuan'an County in Jingzhou Prefecture are also in our hands.

Now Jingmen Prefecture has been surrounded by three layers of the army called Bo Hou and three layers outside! There are also many people in Jingmen Prefecture who took the initiative to serve in front of the army and help dig trenches to besiege the city!

Jiangling County and Yiling Prefecture are under the control of Zuo's army, but Zuo Liangyu's life and death are unknown now, and Zuo Mengeng does not dare to try the front of the Dashun Heavenly Soldiers, so he is only heavily defended by troops on the Jiangbei side. ”

Inside the yamen of the Hanyang prefect's mansion, Li Zicheng was listening to Tian Jianxiu's report on the battle situation everywhere at this time.

The situation seems to be favorable to the Great Shun Dynasty! Li Zicheng's goal of the first phase of the southern invasion of Huguang has basically been achieved. Only Jingmen Prefecture in Chengtian Prefecture, Jiangling County and Yiling Prefecture in Jingzhou Prefecture, and Huangzhou Prefecture in the easternmost part of Huguang have not yet been taken.

"Hahaha," Li Zicheng laughed, touched his beard with satisfaction and said, "I finally won a lot of rich territory!" The problem of eating this year and next year is always not worried! ”

The "problem of eating" he mentioned was not the problem of filling the stomachs of the people of Shengdou, but the problem of how his Dashun court spent money.

It's really a scripture that is difficult to read! Li Zicheng didn't have to worry about the problem of eating with tens of millions of mouths, but he was worried about the expenses of his court and army day and night.

It's still the same old question - his emperor deserves to lose again! When the emperor also loses money, there is really no one!

The last time it was lost on the "three-year non-levy", and this time it was on the "enclosure of land". Of the five prefectures owned by Li Zicheng, Xi'an Mansion was fighting a tug-of-war between the Shun, Qing, and Wu families, while Hanzhong Mansion was the base camp to support the Battle of Xi'an Mansion and the Battle of Sichuan in the future, neither of which could contribute money and grain to the Xiangjing Imperial Court. The three prefectures of Xiangjing, Shenyang, and Nanyang also lost their income because of the enclosure of land for the "old camp samurai".

Not only did the land have no land to collect, but even the original commercial tax could not be collected. It was the enclosure that directly destroyed the private commerce of Xiangjing, Shenyang, and Nanyang - the commerce and finance of the countryside in the Ming Dynasty were under the control of the landlords and squires, and after the enclosure granted, the landlords and squires of the three prefectures collapsed, and the commercial circulation and financial lending were suspended, and what taxes were collected?

Without commercial taxes and land endowments, can Li Zicheng, the emperor, not lose money? These days, he, the emperor, is relying on the old foundation brought out by Beijing to maintain the situation, but there are not a few old foundations left, and if he doesn't make up for it, Li Zicheng is likely to follow in the footsteps of Chongzhen and become a poor emperor!

"Zuo Fu," Li Zicheng said to Niu Jinxing with a smile, "Hurry up and send someone to preside over the Jikou Tiantian of Chengtian, De'an, and Hanyang...... How many acres of land is appropriate? Can it be calculated? ”

"Returning to the emperor," Zuo Fu of the Dashun Dynasty, that is, Prime Minister Niu Jinxing, said with a smile, "The minister has asked Niu Ji (Niu Jinxing's son) to take people to look through the household registration files of the three prefectures, and also asked the old officials of the states and counties below the three prefectures to inquire, and there are roughly some numbers." These three prefectures are very rich, the land is flat, and they are also facing the Hanshui River, half of the farmland is paddy fields, and the population is also large. If you want to count the oral field, one should be three to six acres...... It may be increased or decreased according to the quality of the field received, and the average number shall not be less than four acres. ”

Li Zicheng said: "One bite and four acres is not much!" ”

"Emperor," Niu Jinxing smiled, "the fields between Jiang and Han are not comparable to the land of Shaanxi and Henan...... The lake is ripe, and the world is full! ”

"Yes," Li Zicheng smiled, "I've heard people say that, so how much land should they collect?" ”

"The field is fat and thin, and it cannot be generalized, if you take the middle number, it should be no less than three buckets." Niu Jinxing said, "If it is calculated at 25 million mu, the annual income should be no less than 7 million stone white rice!" ”

"How much can you collect this year?" Li Zicheng asked with a star.

"At least five million stone white rice."

"Good!" Li Zicheng rubbed his palm, looking poor and afraid, "There are five million stones, and this year's emperor will not lose anything!" He paused, and suddenly asked again, "Zuo Fu, are you collecting too much?" How much does the Zhu thief collect in a year in the Jianghan Three Mansions? There's no more than five million stones, right? Is it less charged? ”

Niu Jinxing heard this, and hurriedly said to Li Zicheng in a flattering tone: "The emperor is the king of benevolence and righteousness. The total amount of tax and grain allocated to Huguang by the Zhu thief was only more than 2 million stones, and even if the various apportionments and levies were counted, the people would not have contributed more than 10 million stones. It is divided into the three mansions of Jianghan and Han, and it is only two or three million stones at most. However, at that time, most of the land was not taxed, and it was either Juntun, Wangtian, Shentian, or Yintian. I don't know if there are 20 million acres of land that really needs to be taxed in the whole Huguang? As a result, the burden on ordinary smallholder farmers is not light...... But even so, the ground in Huguang is relatively calm, and there are no rebels who have risen from Huguang. ”

Li Zicheng nodded, and let out a long breath: "Okay, it's just five million stones...... At present, there are many places to spend money, and the industrial government and the military government have a lot of expenditure. Xi'an Mansion has also sent people to urge money and food, and they can now point to Huguang for dinner! ”