Chen Laoshi's performance was perfect, and the audition was a success.

He was immediately hired and became a member of the art team.

Chen Laoshi, who was about to start a new life, felt a little at a loss, and until now he felt incredulous.

Is this hired?

Chen Laoshi had never had any acting experience before, but he was an honest farmer.

Stay in the fields all day long, face the loess with your back to the sky, and rely on the land to dig food and eat.

His only wish was to own a few acres of land of his own, and not to have to be a tenant farmer for others.

Now that wish has come true. Relying on the reclamation of wasteland, Chen honestly has his own land, the only problem is that this year's harvest may not be too good.

But it doesn't matter, after a few years, the fertility of the land will improve.

Eating enough food every day and having surplus food at home is all Chen Laoshi's wishes.

He never thought that one day he would be able to eat the emperor's grain and get two taels of silver a month.

That's two taels of silver!

If the price of grain does not skyrocket, two taels of silver can buy at least one stone of rice. Although it is not as good as in the Wanli period, the overall grain price is quite stable, and it has not reached the point where the people cannot live.

What's more, participating in the art team does not affect him to continue farming!

You only need to perform ten plays a month, and even if you count the rehearsal time, you can leave a lot of time to farm.

Chen is not afraid of hard work.

On the contrary, he is a man who cannot be idle. If he really let him stay there and rest and do nothing, he would still feel awkward!

If you cultivate by yourself, you don't need to buy grain to eat, and if you spend four taels of silver a year, you can save twenty taels a year.

Twenty taels!

Thinking of this number, Chen Laoshi felt dizzy.

He never imagined in his life that he would be able to have so much money one day, and now he can save so much in a year.

It's a good day!

Chen Laoshi made up his mind to perform well in the art team, work hard to act, and keep this job no matter what!

...

...

The first potatoes ripen in May.

The Imperial Garden is busy.

Zhu Cihong personally went to the ground to harvest potatoes, and under the inspiration of the Son of Heaven, a group of eunuchs and guards also started to work hard.

This scene was unimaginable in the past. If it is seen by the imperial historians, it may not be able to be admonished.

Although the emperor of the Ming Dynasty will also turn over the ground, he will pretend to be casual during the sacrificial ceremony.

But now Zhu Cihong is really going to the field to harvest potatoes, just like an ordinary farmer.

Of course, no one can understand Zhu Cihong's mood at this moment.

If potatoes are popularized on a large scale, they will solve the problem of eating for tens of millions of people.

Why could the Manchus feed hundreds of millions of people? Isn't it because of the promotion of potatoes, a high-yield crop?

There is nothing wrong with potatoes as a staple food, and this is the case in Europe.

See which European table has less potatoes?

French fries, fried potatoes, hash browns, mashed potatoes...

Compared with rice and wheat, potatoes are of course coarse grains, but they have advantages that these two crops do not have.

Potatoes have very low land requirements, can be grown on any wasteland, and they are extremely drought and cold-tolerant, just suitable for the climate of the Xiaoice River.

At present, although Zhu Cihong has tried his best to curb the rise in grain prices, the price of grain is still twice that of the Wanli period.

Thinking that many people starved to death because they couldn't afford food, Zhu Cihong felt heartbroken.

But once you promote potatoes, you don't have to worry about that happening.

The yield of potatoes per mu is very high, and even if the climatic conditions are harsh, the yield will not be seriously reduced.

The poor people could not afford to eat rice and noodles, so they could eat potatoes.

At present, we must first solve the problem of food and clothing, and then pursue the quality of life.

Zhu Cihong was sweating like rain in the field, Liu Chuanzong was distressed when he saw it, and wanted to step forward to wipe Zhu Cihong's sweat with a square towel, but Zhu Cihong refused.

"Liu Banban, you stand down and wait until I'm done with this while."

Liu Chuanzong said helplessly: "The slave obeys the order." ”

Although Zhu Cihong attaches great importance to daily exercise, often practices arching horses, and plays a set of five-bird plays every day, he is still tired enough.

It's so hard for the farmers.

Zhu Cihong is just harvesting potatoes in the next field, but the farmers need to work in the fields every day, and the physical exertion is amazing, no wonder they need to eat a lot of grain every day.

Ordinary people in this era don't have much oil and water, so they naturally eat more staple foods.

This strengthened Zhu Cihong's determination to increase commercial and sea taxes.

Compared with farmers, merchants, especially maritime merchants, are really rich.

Chongzhen's biggest problem is that he only picks wool from farmers and is too indulgent to merchants.

Zheng Zhilong can rely on collecting sea taxes to 10 million taels a year, why can't the imperial court?

Merchants have already grabbed a lot of wealth, and they should pay more taxes and do their part.

As for the mining tax, it must be strictly levied.

Since Zhu Cihong announced that the country's minerals would be returned to the imperial court, he received two million taels of silver in less than half a year, and it is conservatively estimated that five million taels of silver will be received in a year.

That's a lot of money!

In the next step, Zhu Cihong is ready to open a knife on the salt industry.

The salt merchants are no less rich than the maritime merchants, and they are all as rich as the country.

As a monopoly resource, the income of salt merchants can be guaranteed.

The Ming Dynasty had strict management of the salt industry, relying on the sale of salt to control upstream resources.

The amount of salt introduced is certain, so the amount of salt that each salt merchant can allocate is certain.

But in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the salt introduction system was abolished, and private salt was everywhere.

Especially in the coastal provinces, there is a place where illegal salt is dried.

The government basically turned a blind eye and took filial piety, hello, everyone. But this seriously damaged the interests of the imperial court.

How ridiculous it is that the annual salt tax during the Chongzhen period could only receive hundreds of thousands of taels!

Even with a conservative estimate, the salt tax should receive several million taels a year. These salt merchants really take the court for fools!

Zhu Cihong doesn't want to be this fool!

Now that the law has been abolished, it is necessary to come up with a new way.

Zhu's initial idea was to set up an organization such as the Huangming Trade Chamber as the sole authority responsible for managing the salt industry.

Such institutions are neither imperial departments nor civil chambers of commerce, but institutions in between.

Of course, this institution is directly responsible to the imperial court and to the Son of Heaven.

This is equivalent to setting a barrier to entry in this industry. In the past, this threshold was salt introduction, but now it is membership.

To join this institution, you must pay a large amount of security deposit, and you must be subject to regular supervision and pay taxes.

Of course, salt merchants can still sell illicit salt on their own. But the imperial court will not compromise any longer.

Zhu Cihong decided to order the local army to strictly investigate the sale of illicit salt, and immediately arrest and execute it once it was discovered, so as to correct the law of the country.

...

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