There was an important thinker in the Ming Dynasty, Huang Zongxi, who was one of the most in-depth and systematic scholars in Chinese history who studied the tax system. He has pointed out the "three evils" of the tax system:

"Or ask Jing Tian can be restored, and he has to listen to his fate. What happens if the tax is set? He said: The suffering of the people has been a long time and the tax has been raging, and there is the harm of accumulation and no return, the harm of tax is not generated, and the harm of land without rank. ”

This is the famous Huang Zongxi's law, which is very instructive for the new China's tax consolidation reform, and by January 1, 2006, the agricultural tax that had existed for more than 2,000 years was abolished.

The left war wants to see the wisdom of the people, but any reform must be based on the current national conditions. In the early twenties of the seventeenth century, although the Ming Dynasty had an early germ of capitalism, it was limited to the textile industry on the southeast coast, and most of the area was still dominated by agricultural production, which was also the main source of taxes for the imperial court.

The focus of the first meeting of the new cabinet is to focus on agriculture, agriculture and agriculture, although Yang Lian is an alternate member, but his personality is straightforward, seeing his deputy Zhou Jiamo enter the cabinet to participate in politics, somewhat unbalanced, followed by said:

"Qi Song Sheng, Zhou Shilang's proposal is very good, but it still needs to be considered. The situation varies from place to place, but in some places the damage is light, the land is fertile, the water is abundant, and the tax relief can be used to tide over the situation. In some places, the disaster has been severe, and the local conditions are so bad that even tax reductions will not solve the problem. At present, drought and flood alternate in various places, and a large amount of cultivated land is barren, and the old minister suggested that while reducing or reducing taxes, water conservancy should be rebuilt throughout the country, and displaced people should be organized to reclaim wasteland, so as to fundamentally solve the food problem. ”

Zuo Zhan thought to himself that Yang Lian not only had a big temper, but he was also anxious, but he was the first hero of the palace transfer case, and he still had to give face to some extent. But the rules could not be broken, and the alternate members could not speak, so they said euphemistically:

"Yang Aiqing added very well, Mingqing should humbly ask his leader for advice. In this way, there will be an addition to the plan, and I will give you one more day and report it to me for review the day after tomorrow. ”

Although Yang Lian was from the Donglin Party, he had a frank temperament, was jealous and hateful, and did things to help but not help relatives, which caused complaints from officials inside and outside the court. But he was the emperor's favorite minister, and everyone had to avoid him. Zhou Jiamo, the left waiter, was very unhappy when he saw the old leader, and he complained bitterly.

In fact, the reason why Zuo Zhan did not let Yang Lian enter the cabinet to participate in politics was also because he was afraid of his temper, and once the monarch and ministers were discordant in the future, he would inevitably be infamous for killing heroes. Although he understood very well why Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill thousands of officials back then, he wanted to learn from Song Taizu's "release military power with a glass of wine" and let them start and finish as well as possible.

With Yang Lian's lesson, Zuo Guangdou and Xu Guangqi stopped talking, but Han Xi couldn't hold back his small universe for a long time, got up and said:

"Holy Lord, Lord Yang and Lord Zhou only mentioned the situation in the disaster area, and the minister wants to talk about the current situation in other regions." According to the "Records of Taizu", during the 31 years of Hongwu, the number of households in the country was more than 10.6 million, the population was more than 58 million, and the available cultivated land was more than 3.7 million mu. During the 48 years of Wanli, the country had a population of 1.08 million households, a population of more than 56 million, and more than 7.4 million acres of arable land.

Seeing that he had some scruples, Zuo Zhan said encouragingly:

"Han Aiqing continued, I said that I would not be guilty of words when we held a meeting to discuss."

Han Xi hesitated slightly, and finally chose to be open and honest, and bluntly admonished:

"What the minister means is that the population should be re-surveyed and the cultivated land should be measured."

Zuo Zhan didn't expect Han Xi to be a stunned young man, and he dared to come forward to break through the pus of the Ming Dynasty, clapped his hands and said:

"Han Aiqing is right, it has been two hundred and fifty-two years since Emperor Taizu Gao founded the country, how can the population not increase during this period? In the early years of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng implemented the 'one whip law', and the highest cultivated land in the country was more than 1,160 acres, why is there only more than 740,000 acres left? ”

Zuo Zhan's question was already very straightforward, and everyone knew it but didn't dare to answer, and the angry Zuo Zhan secretly scolded them for selling their reputation. But when I turned my head and thought about it, the problem was myself, the initiator of the land annexation in the Ming Dynasty was Zhu Yuanzhang, and his imperial heirs not only had a fortune, but also a fief! How many fields do the tens of thousands of people have to occupy on the jade, plus their own imperial village, this is the fundamental problem. There is only one arable land that can be cultivated in the whole country, but the royal grange is getting bigger and bigger, and other gentry are following suit, but there are fewer and fewer of them. Those tenants who are attached to Huangzhuang, Wangtian, and private property do not need to pay taxes, so why do they do with statistics?

Zuo Zhan thought that this problem was too big, and now was the time not to find out this pus, in case the war situation in Liaodong was not smooth, he would inevitably betray his relatives and leave them, so he had to be patient, so he said:

"Han Aiqing's proposal involves the foundation of our country, and I will not talk about it in the future. At present, I will first take out my imperial village to resettle the displaced people, and distribute the cultivated land to military households and tenant farmers according to the capitation outside the customs. These two tasks must be properly controlled, and those who make false reports will be confiscated and exiled regardless of their positions and identities.

In addition, the reason why the impact of the disaster is so serious is not only natural disasters, but also man-made disasters. Since I was a child, I have heard Wang An talk about the importance of water conservancy, but the imperial court has not been able to come up with money to build it, and the peasants can only rely on the sky for food. In order for agriculture to develop steadily, it is necessary to vigorously build water conservancy projects. Zhizhi is a water conservancy expert in the current dynasty, and I will leave this matter to him in charge. ”

Zuo Guangdou, the word is straight, Dongxiang, Tongcheng County, Anhui Province, a well-known water conservancy expert. His deeds will not be repeated, but only one thing: he is the originator of rice cultivation in the north.

As the hero of the palace transfer case, Zuo Zhan transferred him from the imperial history to the Ministry of Industry as the right attendant, responsible for the work of Tuntian in the Zhili and Jiliao defense areas. After taking office, this old man found that the northerners did not know the benefits of building water conservancy, and many places were deserted when they encountered disasters, and then the common people migrated to other places, and this repeated situation eventually caused more and more displaced people in the north. In order to solve this problem, he once wrote to the petitioner to dredge the river, dig reservoirs, dig diversion canals, build dikes, build sluice gates, and even ask every village to build a pond to store water.

Hearing that the emperor had assigned a task to himself, Zuo Guangdou stood up excitedly and said:

"The construction of water conservancy is the foundation of agriculture, but it requires a lot of financial, material and human resources.

Zuo Zhan thought to himself that if you are willing to contribute, the water conservancy of the Ming Dynasty will be half completed, and said with a smile:

"Don't worry too much about it, in my lifetime, the construction of water conservancy will continue to be implemented as a national policy. The funds you need will be allocated by me first, and then let Yang Aiqing find a way for you when the imperial court has more income. As for manpower, it is currently possible to organize displaced people, and in the future the imperial court will increase this kind of conscription. ”

Seeing that the little emperor attached so much importance to agriculture and water conservancy, everyone secretly admired his vision and determination. It's just that Zuo Zhan didn't care about this, he saw everyone bow their heads and think deeply, and continued:

"I have read Zixian's translation of The Origin of Geometry and The Law of Measurement, and these two books are very inspiring to me. I heard that you have a lot of Western friends, but do you have different opinions? ”

Xu Guangqi, a famous scientist and politician, has deep attainments in mathematics, astronomy, calendar, and water conservancy, especially proficient in agricultural knowledge, and can be called the contemporary Yuan Longping.

Hearing that the emperor had actually read several of his proud works, his self-confidence swelled for a while, and he stood up and said:

"Wechen is stupid, and he doesn't dare to insult the ears and eyes of the saint. When the minister supervised the training of the new army in Tongzhou, he had a candlelight with Sun Chengzong, the governor of Jiliao, about the issue of the military tun outside the Guan, and benefited a lot. Weichen thought that the strategy formulated by the saint to defend the Liao land with the Liao people was wise, but if he wanted to use the Liao land to support the Liao people, he would need to spend a lot of money. Now that the imperial court is financially constrained, Weichen has the courage to introduce crops from Waiyi to increase the output of the land, and can also hire instructors from Waiyi to train the new army. ”

The Ariake generation was proud because for for 276 years they had never submitted to any foreign race, had not signed an unequal treaty, and had not paid tribute to their relatives. The former maritime hegemons of the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal were all defeated by them, and even the letter written by Elizabeth I of England to Emperor Shenzong was respectful, and the strength of the national prestige and the pride of the nation can be seen.

In this context, the status of Western missionaries in the Ming Dynasty was miserable, and the reason is very simple: I am stronger than you, believe in you as a ghost! These missionaries could only use their real talents to attract the open people of the Ming Dynasty, and Xu Guangqi was one of them who actively depended. However, if it is necessary to introduce the science and knowledge of foreign Yi to revive the Ming Dynasty, not to mention that the common people disdain it, even the elite of the cabinet needs to be carefully considered.

Fortunately, Zuo Zhan knows the truth of "mastering the skills of the master to control the enemy", science and technology and knowledge have no borders, and whoever masters it is the strongest. When he saw Xu Guangqi's proposal to introduce alien species and hire foreign instructors, he calmly persuaded him:

"The stones of other mountains can attack jade, and these foreign states also have merits, we must correct our mentality, put down the shelves of the suzerain, and take the initiative to absorb their essence and remove their dross. I have approved both of Zixian's proposals, and I will add two more to you:

First, it is necessary to promote alien species according to local conditions, 'orange is orange when it is born in Huainan, and orange is orange when it is born in Huaibei'. These crops require different soil, moisture, temperature, light, etc., and must be piloted before being promoted, otherwise the people will be wasted and the opportunity will be lost.

The second is to develop light and practical production tools and water drawing equipment to save manpower and improve the efficiency of farming. ”

Historical records record that during the Ming Dynasty, crops such as corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, tomatoes, and beans were introduced, but they did not attract the attention of the imperial court, so the planting area was not large and the output was limited. The reason for this situation is that any dynasty is cautious about introducing new species, and second, the rulers do not want to let the common people eat too much.