Implement a new deal - land

Having solved the problem of the clan, Lu Shi continued: "Now let's talk about our land distribution problem. ”

This is the main topic, no matter who you are, they are basically farmers, and the land is the most relevant to everyone's fundamental interests, Huluyu has a vast area, and there is a lot of land that can be reclaimed, and many people have begun to salivate over the uncultivated fertile fields, to be a landlord, this is the dream of all people in China for thousands of years, even in the era of Lu Shi, the land complex is also lingering.

"The matter of land is the most important thing, the dynasties at all levels at the beginning of the land directly to the peasants, but there seems to be a drawback here, that is, to the late dynasty a large number of land annexation, first of all, the peasants themselves, due to various reasons to sell the land for emergencies, the second is that those big officials use their power or money, or high prices or rhetoric or forcible seizure, just like the current Ming Dynasty, in the end, a large number of peasant military households lost the land they relied on for a living and became homeless, I don't want this to happen but I don't have the power to change the situation, so I want to experiment with it first and see if it works. ”

Everyone was shocked, this is Lu Shi wants to use this as an experimental field, if he can succeed, he will promote other places, so what is the way to promote other places? It goes without saying, so everyone starts to cheer up.

"What's the way to break into the king? Say it soon, I can't wait. Guo Tianxing urged loudly.

"In fact, it is very simple, that is, let us make Heihuzhai the largest landlord, that is, the land is publicly owned, and then the land we have in our hands is contracted to the villagers according to the capitation, the villagers do not have the ownership of the land, but can rent our land indefinitely, we stipulate a reasonable proportion of rent, they can only pay rent to us, and there is no other burden attached to the land, and not by the landlord rich in the land exploitation. They were like this when they were alive, but when they died, they had to return their land, and we gave it to the newborns, so that no matter how hard they were, they would have a bite to eat and a handful of firewood. ”

Everyone was silent for a while, slowly digesting Lu Shi's method, and it was a long time before Wu Tao asked first; "This method is really a good law that has never been seen before or since, and it is a great good. This is the cultivator in disguise who has his land, and there are no disadvantages in the future, great good. Wu Tao applauded happily.

"What should we do with those landlords outside? For example, villages and towns that have already started to pay us protection fees? Will they also send troops to destroy them, and give the land to the people like the law of the king? Chen Ce said worriedly.

"This method of mine is only suitable for newly developed places, but not for the outside, landlords, this is a thing formed over thousands of years, and the landlords' land is not all obtained by improper means, and some people are obtained by hard work and frugality. But now that we are taxing them, we are smearing their face, they will be disgusted with us, and finally they will resist, then we will change the name, and call it protection money, so that they will have face, we will have the actual tax benefits, and everyone will be happy to take what they need. And for those who are disobedient, or who have committed the most heinous crimes, and who resist us, we will resolutely suppress them, and give their land to the people. ”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Third uncle, how much land does a person need to live normally now?"

"An adult needs three stones of grain to live, and there is clothing oil and salt, general medical treatment or something, also need three stones for expenses, in a normal year, one acre of land can be beaten wheat one and a half to two stones, so a person needs four acres of land, if there are five men and women in a family, they need twenty acres of land, and there can be a little surplus in a year. But how much rent do we need to collect? "The third uncle is an old man, so he is very concerned about the amount of land rent, and he collects too much, because he is afraid that the villagers will not be able to afford it, and he will not be able to support these people in the cottage.

The amount of land rent, that is, the land rent, is a big question.

"How about halving the regular tax according to the imperial court's example?" Lu Shi put forward a collection standard, which was gritted his teeth and said it on the premise of the development of cottages and the use of money everywhere.

Lu Shi knew that if the entire cottage did not rely on looting, the income could only survive on land rent. In addition to this, there is no other income, I don't have any other magical powers, making glass and soap, making this and that, there is a lot of money in the account, Lu Shi can't do it, so he has to be ruthless to exploit the peasants, but I think we just compare the taxes of the imperial court and no longer add the burden of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, so we should be able to let the peasants live.

The third uncle shook his head like a rattle at that time.

Lu Shi hurriedly smiled awkwardly; "I'm too greedy, and in this case, aren't we forcing the peasants to abandon their land and become displaced people? Then let's cut it in half again. ”

The third uncle was about to cry, and shook his gray head more and more like two rattles.

"Third uncle, then let's do this first, when our place is big and the population is larger, let's reduce it, if it is reduced now, then we can only rely on it to rob." Lu Shi smiled bitterly and compromised.

But when everyone looked at themselves with idiotic eyes, their heads were big, and they were busy with their hearts; "How about another two percent? We can't blindly take care of the people, we can only develop and survive. ”

At this time, the third uncle relieved himself and shouted; "Are you crazy? If you subtract it, you will give it for nothing. ”

Lu Shi was inexplicably surprised.

The third uncle said; "King Chuang is really a scholar, did he really do that, what two ears and what?"

Wu Tao also said with a wry smile; "It's a two-eared thing that doesn't listen to things outside the window and only reads the books of the sages"

"yes, that's it." The third uncle slapped his thigh, looked at Lu Shi with a confused face, and had no choice but to explain Daming's taxes to Lu Shi.

In fact, the agricultural tax of the Ming Dynasty was very low, how much was the agricultural tax of the Ming Dynasty? At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the average agricultural tax rate was one-thirtieth or even less than one-fiftieth. Such a tax rate cannot but be said to be low to the limit. In fact, this tax rate was engraved in front of the county yamen by Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor, on a stone slab, and converted accordingly, that is to say, one mu of land according to Lu Shi's words, is to hand over two catties of grain to the big landlord of Heihuzhai------.

"You have to reduce this bit of land rent, that is, you get a pound of gross grain for one acre of land, and you can't die of hunger." The third uncle said with tears and laughter.

"But but," Lu Shi was confused, so little? What did the people do when they donated their land to the gentry and landlords and paid eighty percent of their income? What are you doing as an outcast?

Seeing that his King Chuang really didn't understand, Wu Tao stood up and said. "Actually, the tax is so small, but the donation is too much," and then began to break his fingers to calculate the account for King Chuang.

"You don't seem to have a lot of taxes on the land, but what you collect under extra names is often several times to dozens of times the amount of taxes officially stated. There are so many names that I can't point them out one by one, in short, what is the dough, the change, the dressing, the suppression, the punishment of the stolen goods, the consumption of fire, the consumption of rats, and the consumption of birds. After the grain is harvested, it has to be transported thousands of miles to the designated place by the common people. Think about it, with the road transportation conditions of the Ming Dynasty, how much manpower and material resources would be needed to transport grain thousands of miles to the specified place? And all these freight costs are borne by the farmers; Although all the losses have been collected in advance in advance at several times the amount, once the losses and risks really occur in transportation, they are still completely borne by the taxpayers.

"So." The third uncle interfaced; "If King Chuang doesn't apportion anything else, as long as they hand over the land rent to a nearby location, you will collect half of them, and I promise that the family will set up an immortal tablet for you."

Lu Shi is really speechless, it seems that he is still a layman, but according to what the third uncle said, it is a bit too much to extract half, the people who do not have food storage will not have the family background to survive the famine, once the catastrophe comes, they can only rely on cottage relief, that back and forth, it is definitely a waste.

The drought in Shaanxi has just begun, and it is not until the middle of Chongzhen that it is the peak, and that is the key, and I take everyone who does not want to become a displaced person, so we must start to store grain in the people from now on, and then during this period, we must make great efforts to rectify water conservancy and stabilize grain production.

To collect the land endowment, it is necessary not only to see the production, but also to see how much land you have in your hands, which is the basis for determining the land endowment.

"Third uncle, how many fertile fields and how many mountains can we reclaim in this valley?" Lu Shi still doesn't have a careful understanding of Huluyu, and the last time he came, he took a hasty look, and he couldn't really fully understand it, so he had to ask clearly, but don't make jokes anymore.

Hearing this, the third uncle happily stood up and reported to the military advisor, and when he stood up, he reported to the military advisor like a few treasures; "Military division, there are five large streams in the valley, all of which run north-south, and finally converge to the exit of the valley, which is the water gate of Huluyu cottage, which becomes a big river, flowing out of the valley, and there are many small rivers running through it, although the amount of water in the world is not large now, but it can also irrigate all the surrounding fields, and the edge of these rivers can be reclaimed enough land for all of us in the cottage to live now, I dare not say more, I want to follow the standard of good land, About 200,000 acres of Ueda can be cultivated on the edge of the river alone, and there are many more fields on other mountain slopes. ”

Everyone was even more excited when they heard the third uncle's report, this is the capital to settle down.

Lu Shi was very happy, and said after a while; "First of all, give priority to the families of our soldiers in these good places, which is also a kind of treatment for our soldiers, and arrange fewer villages in the mountains, and divide the land into five classes according to the anointed and barren, and the anointed land is divided into four acres per person, and each lower grade is added to one acre, and so on, it is called the ration field, and if it is born, it is cultivated, and when it dies, it is taken back and redistributed.

The land rent is charged 100 catties per mu according to the anointed land, and then 20 catties per 1st grade, and finally it is reduced to 20 catties per mu. Now although the rent is a little more, but there is no way, the cottage things are complicated, the strong enemies are all around, and the soldiers must be raised to build tools, the soldiers cannot be produced, and the craftsmen cannot be out of production, so there are many places where food and money are needed, so everyone should endure it. Shall we wait until we have other income? ”

"Okay, very good, the rent we collect is only less than half of the current good-natured landlord, and you are the Buddha of the Ten Thousand Families." The third uncle was the first to raise his hands in agreement.