After drinking a cup of tea, Gao Junshan said: "I have to say that the previous dynasty has perished, why do you think the previous dynasty died?" ”

Tian Ruilong replied: "The emperor is incompetent. ”

Gao Junshan sighed and said, "Zhu Youzhen can't say that he doesn't work hard!" After he succeeded to the throne, he vigorously eradicated the eunuch party, was diligent in political affairs, lived a frugal life, and had six edicts against himself, and was a young and promising emperor. However, this could not save the fate of the fall of the previous dynasty, and almost gave the great rivers and mountains to the Tartars. ”

"What is the reason for the demise of the previous dynasty?" Tian Ruilong was eager to find answers.

Gao Junshan took out a book and handed it to Tian Ruilong, he took the book and saw that it was a book "Lou Shan Tang Collection", which was a book written by Wu Yingji in the previous dynasty, this book has a total of twenty-seven volumes, and Gao Junshan is holding one of the volumes in his hand.

Tian Ruilong said: "Mountain Chief, I have read this book. ”

Gao Junshan said: "I have only been watching recently, you look here." ”

Gao Junshan opened one of the paragraphs to Tian Ruilong, which wrote that in the seventh year of the Ming Dynasty's apocalypse, Wu Yingji passed by the Zhenyang area of Henan and saw an incredible scene. He asked again, 90% of the cultivated land in the Zhenyang area was so barren. What about the rest of Henan? The states and counties that are most active in farming often lose more than half of their land.

"Why is this happening? Gao Junshan asked.

Tian Ruilong replied: "This is a matter of the previous dynasty, and the students have not studied it deeply. ”

Gao Junshan pointed out bloodishly: "There are many reasons for the fall of the previous dynasty, and this phenomenon described in the book is the most important aspect of the fall of the previous dynasty. ”

Tian Ruilong, who looked confused, looked at Gao Junshan and waited for his explanation.

Gao Junshan said: "When Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, founded the Ming Dynasty, he paid great attention to the reserve of grain. In less than 30 years, the agricultural output value was dragged to a height several times that of the Song and Yuan dynasties. There are also granaries such as 'reserve warehouses' all over the country, and the grain reserves have reached the point of "unai rich". In the era of Zhang Juzheng's reform, the treasury of the previous dynasty was still full of grain, and some granaries such as Taicang alone had a reserve of more than 10 million stones, which was enough to support nearly ten years, and the "family foundation" was quite thick. This abundant grain reserve ensured the foundation of the previous dynasty for 300 years. ”

Tian Ruilong asked puzzledly: "Since there was so much grain in the previous dynasty, where did all this grain go?" Why did people starve to death during Zhu Youzhen's period? ”

"Yes, where did all the grain from the previous dynasty go?" Gao Junshan continued, "Just thirty years after Zhang Juzheng's death, that is, in the late reign of Emperor Wanli, more and more Ming officials and people began to feel a terrible fact, the Ming Dynasty, more and more short of food.

First of all, the army, whether it is the border army in the north or the naval division in the southeast, the shortage of food is becoming more and more serious. ”

Suddenly, a whistle interrupted the conversation between the two, and the battleship began to accelerate, Gao Junshan clearly felt the sea breeze in his face, and he looked out, the battleship was already far away from the coast, and the speed at this time was already as high as 27 knots.

Gao Junshan asked someone to close the windshield window and continued their conversation.

"Why is there a serious shortage of food, this has to talk about Zhang Juzheng's 'one whip method'." Gao Junshan took a sip of tea and said, "Before Zhang Juzheng launched the "One Whip Method", there were already hidden dangers in the food problem in the Ming Dynasty, so there was a whip method that Zhang Juzheng made a painful decision. Zhang Juzheng through ten years of painstaking reform, has achieved certain results, the food problem has been temporarily solved, but when Zhang Juzheng died in power, the 'whip law' existed in name only, and this half-hung 'whip law' created a greater crisis for the grain of the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Where does the crisis come from?" Tian Ruilong humbly asked.

Gao Junshan said: "Coming from the developed handicraft industry in the south of the Yangtze River, the development of commerce and trade in the south of the Yangtze River has provided farmers with the opportunity to leave the land, and a large number of farmers have thrown their land into the city. What about agricultural taxes? ”

Tian Ruilong said: "A whip law clearly stipulates that silver can be used to offset grain. ”

Gao Junshan said: "Since you just pay silver, you naturally don't have to farm and raise grain." The peasants don't have to grow grain anymore, so where does the army get the grain to fight? ”

In fact, the Ming Dynasty's "One Whip Law" levied taxes, giving merchants more loopholes to pay taxes, and the result was that farmers were poor and merchants were relaxed. Farmers who cannot afford it will inevitably leave their land behind and go out to work. At this time, the developed commodity economy in Jiangnan provided a good way for the peasants who left the land to make money. He Liangjun, a native of the Ming Dynasty, recorded vividly in "Siyou Zhai Cong Shuo": "There are no four or five households in the first class today, and the people who are empty for one mile are running around the road." Who has a farmer? ”

Gao Junshan continued: "Such a deformed scene in the previous dynasty, in the years of abundant grains, the grain can still be maintained, once a natural disaster breaks out, and at the same time, there are also tests such as the rebel army rising up and the Tartar knocking one after another, no matter how diligent Zhu Youzhen is, he will not be able to escape the end of destruction. The fall of the previous dynasty was the result of the imperial court's disregard for agricultural production and the imbalance in the ratio of industry and agriculture in the country. ”

Tian Ruilong fell into deep thought.

Gao Junshan poured him a full cup of tea, he raised his glass alone and took a sip, and said in a concluding tone: "How serious is the lesson of the previous dynasty! If you give up agricultural production, you are in danger of losing your country! ”

Tian Ruilong finally spoke: "Our Ministry of Agriculture has a long way to go, and we must strictly follow the instructions of the mountain chief to do a good job in all aspects of agriculture." ”

Gao Junshan asked: "How is the national grain harvest?" ”

With the above conversation, Tian Ruilong did not dare to brag in front of the emperor about how much grain he could not eat, he answered Gao Junshan's question very cautiously: "There are bumper harvests of grain in the south of our country and the Indochina Peninsula every year, but the grain harvest in the northern provinces fails every year, and now it is all up to the south to supplement the north." ”

Gao Junshan said: "Now the grain produced in the three provinces of Taiwan, Jiaozhi and Donghu is enough for the people of the whole country to eat, despite this, the farmland in the north must not be abandoned, although the harvest is failing every year, this is only a temporary situation, here, I will reveal a big secret to you, but this secret is only allowed to you to know." ”

Tian Ruilong said very reverently: "Students must keep secrets!" ”

Gao Junshan said: "We are now in a fifty-year Xiaoice period, and in these fifty years, the emergence of the Xiaoice period, the weather will become unusually cold, and it will be accompanied by a large area of drought, especially in the north. ”

"No wonder the north always has poor harvests."

Gao Junshan said: "This is also the reason why I have biased the subsidy policy to the north. ”

Tian Ruilong said: "Today, the people are so happy to meet such a holy emperor!" ”

"Less flattery." Gao Junshan gave Tian Ruilong a task, "You have to do a good job in agriculture!" We must not be satisfied with the status quo, we must fully arouse the enthusiasm of the peasants in farming, and if the peasants are not engaged in farming, where will the grain come from? If anyone dares to deduct the peasants' subsidies and use the peasants' subsidies to enrich their own pockets and exterminate the three ethnic groups, you will remember for me. You must know that my Metropolitan Procuratorate and General Affairs Bureau are not vegetarians. ”

Tian Ruilong assured: "Please rest assured, our Ministry of Agriculture will never produce corrupt officials, and the students know that the mountain chief hates corrupt officials the most." ”

Gao Junshan nodded: "It's good that you know." Tell your subordinates that I will not allow the situation in the north to continue to be so dry for long, and that I have already sent Pan Zide to control the waters. ”

Tian Ruilong said: "We already know that Mr. Pan is now planning the water diversion project of Berga Lake. ”

Gao Junshan said: "Once this project is realized, it will greatly alleviate the drought in North China, and the situation of water shortage in China will be gone forever." ”

Tian Ruilong said: "This is a huge project! ”

"The project is huge, and the profits are huge."