Because the capital of the Ming Dynasty is now in Nanjing, here gathered all parties to gather businessmen, so that Nanjing's business has developed unprecedentedly, Nanjing, which is already prosperous, after the national capital migrated here again, it is even more grandiose, in Nanjing Wharf turned around, Xu Er Road also couldn't help but sigh, at this time in the cold winter wax moon, the river has a layer of thin ice, there are not many ships, here is so prosperous, if the river thaws completely unblocked, what will it be like here? He is from Songjiang Prefecture, where there are already flowers, but compared to Nanjing, it is a small thing.

During the Chongzhen period, the gentry in Jiangnan still cried poor all day long, never pulled out a dime, and never donated a penny to the country to fight foreign humiliation, which is simply shameless, just this commercial port, how much tax can be paid to the imperial court in a year? Xu Erlu heard his grandfather Cao Bianjiao once tell him that the annual tax collected by the Ming Dynasty was only four or five million taels of silver a year, including salt tax, tea tax, and hundreds of thousands of taels of mining tax, while the field tax accounted for eighty or ninety percent, that is, the commercial tax was very little. Back then, Wei Zhongxian levied taxes on Jiangnan merchants, and the Donglin Party members fought with Wei Zhongxian with one mind, not just Wei Zhongxian, a eunuch in power, these people were not for the sake of the people and the court? But because nine out of ten members of the Donglin Party are Jiangnan people, Wei Zhongxian's measures threatened their interests, until Chongzhen succeeded to the throne and abolished the Jiangnan merchant tax again, the Donglin Party once again gained momentum, but it had to move silver to his own home, so that these people could take power and manage the country, and it was difficult for the Ming Dynasty not to die.

Standing beside the wharf, Xu Erlu also sighed silently, pondered for a long time, and also felt that the Ming Dynasty was fortunate, and there was an iron-fisted person Cao Bianjiao, who collected commercial taxes by strong means, so that the Ming Dynasty flourished after occupying Jiangnan, and there was no longer a situation where the finances could not make ends meet, otherwise the Ming Dynasty was only afraid that it had been hollowed out, and he was also honored to be able to serve in the General's Mansion.

With Yuan Shu's letter, Xu Erlu was quickly received by Cao Bianjiao, and when he saw Cao Bianjiao for the first time, Xu Erlu couldn't believe that the person with a gentle smile in front of him was the world-famous general. And Cao Bianjiao didn't expect that the person he highly admired in Yuan Shuxin would be so young, but he was in his early twenties.

The two of them glanced at each other, and Cao Bianjiao smiled and stretched out his hand and said, "Come, you have worked hard from afar, sit down!" ”

Xu Erlu hurriedly replied: "In front of the general, the humble position is only a seven-grade petty official, how dare you be arrogant, you don't know the etiquette, just stand on the lowly duty." ”

Cao Bianjiao waved his hand and said with a smile: "I don't pay so much attention here, you Yuan Boying is here, you don't have to report it, you all go directly to the study to find me, not to mention that you have worked hard from afar, your father is a person I respect, a hero of the Ming Dynasty, you brothers inherit his legacy, serve the country, are all virtuous, deserve this seat, sit down!" No need to be inhibited. ”

Xu Erlu's father is Xu Guangqi, the first scientist of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi has devoted his life to the study of mathematics, astronomy, calendar, water conservancy, etc., and has written diligently, especially knowing agriculture, Cao Bianjiao just feels sorry that he came, but Xu Guangqi has already passed away, otherwise there is such a person, and a group of talents can be cultivated for the Ming Dynasty.

"Thank you, General!" When Xu Erlu heard this, he no longer shirked, hurriedly thanked him, and gave Cao Bianjiao another salute, and then sat down on the chair, and a subordinate came in with tea and put it in Xu Erlu's hand.

After the next person put the teacup away, Cao Bianjiao picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, then looked at Xu Erlu and said with a smile: "This tea is still given to me by the villagers in Taiwan when I attacked Taiwan before, and I usually don't have many opportunities to drink it, if you like it, I will give you some, so as not to waste it here, by the way, where did you learn the method of planting sweet potatoes?" ”

Xu Erlu hurriedly put down the teacup and replied: "I learned from my father, in the early years of Chongzhen, the floods in the south of the Yangtze River were serious, the grains were not harvested, and many hungry people were displaced and had nothing to eat. At that time, his father was living at home in Shanghai due to the funeral of his ancestors, and he learned that the sweet potatoes planted in Fujian and other places were good crops for famine relief, so he introduced them from Fujian to Shanghai. ”

Cao Bianjiao smiled and said, "How many of your brothers are not good?" The eldest brother is good at managing money and now serves in the household department, and the second brother is proficient in the astronomical calendar, serving in the Qintianjian and also holding the official position of the secretary of the Nanjing Guozijian......"

Xu Erlu smiled, and he also felt that there was a little*, although the brothers were not as good as their fathers, they all learned a certain aspect, and they could be regarded as worthy of Xu Guangqi's lifelong cultivation.

Cao Bianjiao then asked: "The yield of sweet potatoes is indeed very high, but the people see this thing for the first time, I am afraid that they will not believe it, and they do not recognize this Western thing, when I was in Yuezhou, I promoted it, and the effect was not ideal, and then I used tough means to make the people of Tuntian have to cultivate an acre of sweet potatoes, and finally they got the benefits, and then they began to believe." How do you convince people that this thing is highly productive and willing to grow it? ”

Xu Erlu said with a smile: "It's very simple, the lowly job was first implemented in Kaifeng Mansion, and found almost honest and diligent farmers in various large villages, gave them a silver dollar, and let them set aside two acres of land, just plant sweet potatoes with confidence, if there is no yield, how much they lose two acres of land, how much grain will be made up for them by the lowly position, and the result is a bumper harvest, the yield of one acre of land is as much as thirty stones, and ten times that of the valley, so it has been the envy of the rest of the farmers, and then the lowly job will distribute the sweet potatoes to them and teach them how to plant, So now Henan, Kaifeng and other places have begun to plant, but in order to ensure the yield of wheat grain, let them mix farming, and you can also plant some in the vegetable fields in front of the house and behind the house. ”

Cao Bianjiao also suddenly realized, and said with a smile: "As long as the people see the success of the trial planting of sweet potatoes, they will follow the planting of sweet potatoes, your method can be described as simple and practical, very smart!" ”

"The general praised, in fact, there is no other talent in the humble position, only planting sweet potatoes, those people in the Central Plains are conservative from natural disasters and man-made disasters, and also benefit from the general's benevolent government to survive, because the Central Plains war has been poisonous for a long time, many fertile fields are wasteland, and now all the land is reclaimed, plus natural disasters, sometimes drought, sometimes floods, so many people want to eat, if the food is insufficient, I don't know how many people will starve to death, the rebellion of the northern refugees during the Chongzhen period originated here, The current situation of the imperial court is clearer than the humble general, the tax has to cope with the huge military needs, there is not much surplus grain, if the imperial court cannot receive help, the common people have no food to eat, it will be a mess. Planting sweet potatoes is more harvested than planting those grains, and the adaptability to disasters is much stronger, even if an acre is a few more stones, it can also help the imperial court solve a big problem. ”

Cao Bianjiao nodded silently, sighed and said: "You can care about the court and the people, although you are only showing off your talent and fame, you are much stronger than some officials in the court, they are scholars, but they can only recite poems and do it, few people can do it like you." ”

"I dare not be ashamed of my humble position, I just do my best, hoping to do something practical for the court and the people." Xu Erlu was busy.

Cao Bianjiao shook his head and sighed: "How difficult it is to do something practical now!" The biggest weakness of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was the lack of materials, because of the lack of materials, so during the period of the first emperors, whenever there was a shortage of use, they would use troops against the Ming Dynasty. Although my Ming Dynasty has millions of soldiers, they dare not fight with tens of thousands of horses and horses of the Qing army, so they can only wait until they have enough to retreat, and after they enter the customs, they will plunder everywhere to supplement the needs of the army and the people. Now that they occupy the Central Plains, and the supplies are even more scarce, you have to be optimistic, and tell the people that if someone comes to buy this thing, you must not sell it to others, it is an enemy, and when the Tartars are full, they will go south again, so you must take precautions. ”

"The humble official understands that Governor Yuan has also ordered it, and he has also arranged secret agents on major roads in various places to monitor people passing by to prevent Manchu spies."

"Okay, you also go to rest and rest first, and then go to the Ministry of Officials tomorrow to report on your work, I have already said hello, after you go back this time, you will go to Henan with the official position of the General's Mansion, specializing in agricultural affairs."

"Obedience!" Xu Erlu also retreated and went to the pavilion to settle down. And Cao Bianjiao is also relieved, Henan has sweet potatoes to save himself, and he doesn't need to worry too much.