In the early morning, the sun rises, and in this hot season, this time is the most suitable time of the day for labor. The sun is not yet poisonous, and the occasional breeze blows is God's only mercy in this difficult summer.

The farmer in the paddy field took advantage of the rare comfortable weather and began to work. Shangyuan has developed water conservancy, and the land is much stronger than the fields in the north, but the flood disaster has always hung over the heads of these industrious and simple farmers like a sword of Damocles.

According to the records of the times, every time there is water, the whole village must be stationed in the polder, just like a guard. Once the mouth breaks, the fertile land will turn into a lake, and a year's hard work will come to naught.

Moreover, this kind of water conservancy facilities are built spontaneously by local residents in villages or families, and the government does not ask about it. They have poor resilience and are not supported by others. In order not to starve to death, the fields can only grow all kinds of rice and bean staple grains, and the famous cash crops in the south of the Yangtze River are planted, which cannot be seen in Shangyuan. (Note)

Fan Jin, Liu Kanzhi, and Gu Shi watched the labor of the people in the fields under the trees, and pointed to the peasants: "My family is also from a peasant background, but my mother has not allowed me to go to the field since I was a child, saying that I can't let my hands get muddy." If it weren't for my mother's love for me so much, most of me would be like them now, busy in the fields of my hometown, and I wouldn't be where I am today. The fields in Guangdong are not more fertile than those in Jiangning, and there are more natural disasters. In addition to floods, there are also wind disasters. When the wind blows there, you can uproot trees and destroy houses, and it really takes a bit of courage and luck to live there. Compared to us, the farmers here are slightly luckier, but they are far worse than those in Zhejiang. ”

"In the land of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the people planted a large number of mulberry hemp, and their lives were rich. After all, for the same acre of land, the income from planting mulberry hemp is far higher than that of growing grain. Although Liu Kanzhi is a scholar, he is not ignorant of farming. In addition, he has many friends, and he has always been determined to be in the world, and he also knows a lot about the situation in various places.

"In fact, the biggest stool for the southeast is to fold silver in variegated colors. The imperial court's collection of miscellaneous grains was changed to silver taels. As long as the people hand in the main lessons, they can plant whatever they want. For example, the tax is the lightest in the southeastern provinces, and it will not be a problem if the livelihood of the people is widely planted. But the problem is that it is easier said than done, and it is not something that can be done if you want to. ”

Fan Jin also understands that people in these years may have limited vision, but their brains are definitely not stupid. Planting cash crops under the nose and purchasing them by private spinning merchants can save a lot of money compared to collecting silk from afar. This kind of superficial benefit will not be lost to the people. Those squires will not let go of the road to make a fortune, and concentrate on growing staple foods, and there must be other reasons for this.

Liu Kanzhi looked at Gu Shi, who glanced at Fan Jin, and then turned his gaze to the quilt, as if to answer this question, and as if he was talking to himself:

"Originally, there were people here in Shangyuan who planted those things, but then no one did. People see the benefits but do not see the harm, the fish see the food but do not see the hook, Fan Xianzun is not from this place, the time to come to Jiangning is still shallow, I don't know the disaster situation here. When the flood comes, the fields are destroyed, and the hardships are in vain, not to mention the rations of the whole family. Growing grain is to fight for the heavens, and to harvest crops before the flood arrives. With food storage, you can live. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with growing rice, wheat and beans, although they are of limited value, they are all life-saving food. If you grow these things, you will not starve to death if you are poorer. Besides, there is nothing wrong with this now, but not everyone can grow mulberry hemp, if there are fewer people who grow grain than those who grow mulberry, won't the world be in chaos? ”

His point of view cannot be miscalculated, and in a sense, it is actually to the point. One of the problems at the end of the Ming Dynasty was that more and more cash crops were planted, and the rice and grain output in the south was greatly reduced, resulting in a relatively serious crisis in the grain problem.

If Fan Jin was from the perspective of the court boss at the moment, he would agree with Gu Shi's words. After all, at that height, the people are just numbers, and if you can't see their joys, sorrows, and sorrows, you can't talk about emotions. But in the identity of the county order, what you see are all living people, and the angles and ideas of thinking about problems are destined to be different.

In addition to right and wrong, people should also consider interests. Especially from your own point of view, whether this matter is beneficial or harmful to you is always the first thing to think about. If Fan Jin was the governor of Yingtian, he would think about the layout of the whole province, but he is now Shangyuan Zhi County, and what he has to manage is the people's livelihood of a county and the economic development of the county.

The so-called parent official is not just talking about it, he has to consider the economic income and family life of the people of this county, and he will not hesitate to fight with others for the interests of his own county.

Daming's economic structure, crop distribution, and how much cultivated land is guaranteed, this kind of national high-level topic has to be considered after he becomes a Beijing official. As for the present, one of his most important tasks is to set up the Shangyuan economy. Let the people of Shangyuan get richer and richer, and attract more people to flow into Shangyuan, so that they can live up to their posts, and otherwise, they will not be able to meet the tax requirements.

Although Shangyuan's land rent was the lowest in the southeast, Shangyuan's servitude was the heaviest in the southeast. The reason is that it used to be very close to the country, and it is most convenient to grasp the difference here. At present, although the national capital is no longer here, the conscription has not decreased. Coupled with a large number of non-service personnel, almost all of these farmers who sweat like rain and work hard in the scorching summer season have conscription on their heads.

After the introduction of a whip law, they may not have to go to the service, but they will have to pay money. With the current crop structure, they simply can't afford to pay for it. At present, they are all relying on loans to pay their contributions, or they are applying for exemptions. Growing cash crops and obtaining higher incomes is the guarantee for the implementation of a whip law.

If the farmers in Shangyuan continue to grow grain, they will either not follow up on their own lessons, or it will lead to the bankruptcy of the rural economy.

At present, the imperial court's personal control is not as strong as before, guarding a big city like Jiangning, and not making money in the countryside, it is natural to think of going to the city to work. This kind of person who grew up in the countryside has no skills, at most physical strength. It is easy to become hired laborers, coolies, and some of them even slaves.

Prepare to crack down on the wind of keeping domestic slaves, so that the wealthy man in the southeast will not have too many slaves in his family. In addition to strictly enforcing law and discipline in the city and strengthening control, the method of drawing wages from the bottom of the kettle is to reduce the source of slaves as much as possible. Peasants can earn money without leaving their homes, so they naturally don't have to go to the city to see people's faces. After all, today's era is different from later generations, people are homesick, but if there is a way to live, they will not think of running to the city.

It is also their duty to give them a way out and ensure that they do not have to go to the city to eat.

This must be done for the sake of the people or for one's own sake. Fan Jin said: "Although I am not from Shangyuan, I am also a child of a peasant family, and I am not ignorant of the affairs of Nongsang. In terms of the southeast, ten acres of land is only enough for a family. Hiring people to plough on behalf of others is equivalent to having no land, and the rent interest earned is only enough to pay taxes. If three acres of land is mulberry, vegetables can be planted under the mulberry, and beans and taro can be planted on three acres of land on all sides. Beans are planted with hemp, two acres of land are planted with rice, and two acres of land are planted with fruit trees. Fish are raised in ponds, and the fertile soil can be used to raise mulberries, and then fish are exchanged for sheep, and five or six sheep are stored as mulberry books, and the poor people can be established as a solid home. ”

He pointed to the people of the field:

"These people are not lazy, they are willing to work hard to live a good life, and it is a blessing to meet such a group of hard-working people as parents and officials. The more this is the case, the more they should not be impoverished. I have heard that in Huzhou, every March, relatives and friends do not interact with each other, husbands and wives do not live in different rooms, and the government does not work. Everyone is only busy with one thing, which is to serve the silkworm baby. Because these silkworms can bring them a year's living capital and a rich life. Why is Shangyuan County necessarily inferior to Huzhou, they can live a decent life, and so can we. As for the water conservancy issue, this is the responsibility of the government, and if people in the past did not do well, it does not mean that I will not be able to do well, and the embankment here must be rebuilt to ensure that the people can raise silkworms and mulberry with peace of mind and not be disturbed by floods. ”

Gu Shi looked at Fan Jin, "Fan Xianzun, is this true?" Do you know that this water conservancy is not as good as cowpox, and it may not be able to produce results in three or five years. The project is time-consuming, and it may be difficult to see results within one term, and it will cost a lot of money and mobilize a large number of people, which will affect the performance appraisal if you are not careful. In the past, no one in Shangyuan County was willing to do such a thankless job, and you couldn't stay in Shangyuan for a few years, even if it was done, it would not be good for you. ”

Fan Jin looked at him and saw that Gu Shi's eyes showed some inexplicable excitement, as if something that had been long-awaited was finally about to fall into his hands. The obviously agitated element of the discourse is heavier. He smiled: "Brother Gu, you are a gentleman and not good at lying. So in the future, you can say whatever you want to say, don't try to follow the example of others, that will be laughed at. What the hell are you going to do? ”

Liu Kanzhi said with a smile: "Shou is a sincere gentleman, he was born to lie, but he doesn't want to bow his head and beg for someone, so I'll say it for him." He wanted to take the lead in controlling the waters, but he didn't have the money. I want you to ask him to preside over this matter, but he can't open his mouth, yes or no? ”

Gu Shi's handsome face was already flushed at the moment, but a big man was a little twisted, the folding fan in his hand kept swinging, and he bowed his head and said, "Yuan Ding...... You...... You are mistaken. I was just...... It's just that I don't know if the county lord really has this intention, or just talk about it. If it's just a casual remark, why should I waste my efforts? ”

The hatred of killing the father and taking the wife, this hatred does not share heaven and earth. Fan Jin admits that his mind is inferior to these two. If the relationship between them changes places, they will only want to push the successful person into the water and drown, and then turn the surviving person into their own woman, and will not think about helping him do things. It's normal for Gu Shi to be unable to pull his face and beg for himself, if he really has the courage to recommend himself, he will not be looked at in front of people in the Prime Minister's Mansion.

But no matter how you look at him, he is also an enemy, he is lucky not to harm his own business, and he can still help himself?

Liu Kanzhi introduced at this time: "I am friends with the Gu family and I have heard him say it. Shou Zhuo presided over the repair of the embankment in his hometown that day, ate and slept on the polder every day, and took a lot of money to go in. In the eighteen townships of the Shangyuan Dynasty, the Weizi of Daode Township is the strongest. However, when there was a flood a few years ago, the neighboring village secretly sent people to dig up the polders of Daode Township, and used Daode Township to carry out floods, but all the hard work of the clumsy people was in vain, and he fell seriously ill for this. It can be seen that there is a clumsy ability, but you have to meet a Bole. ”

Gu Shi sighed: "Every year when the water is born, there are tenant farmers who come to my house to cry and beg for rent reduction, or borrow money to survive, and more often, borrow money to buy coffins to bury their relatives. I've seen them look like they're hopeless, helpless, and dead...... Even in my dreams, I wake up to their presence. Since then, I have vowed that one day I will not suffer from the floods and that the flood will destroy their homes and rob them of a year's harvest. For this reason, I consulted ancient books, and made friends with the officials of the Dushui Division of the Jiangning Ministry of Industry, and asked them for advice. Confident that he could build a polder that was enough to keep the villagers safe for a hundred years, he asked his family for this errand. I do it myself with the materials for the work, and it is needless to say that I take out the money by myself. It was my brainchild's work and an experiment of mine, and I wanted to see if what I had learned was useful. But I never thought of it...... Just overnight, there was nothing. ”

"In the land of Shangyuan and a county, it is of little significance to repair water conservancy alone, and it must be laid out in the whole county, and even the whole prefecture must be laid out, and it cannot rely on one township and one surname alone, and the use of water is limited." Fan Jin took over, "Brother Gu is an understanding person, he should understand this, so I don't need to talk nonsense." And you should also know that this kind of thing is not easy to do. As you said, the average county official is reluctant to do such a thankless task, and even if he wants to, he can't do it. Not only to ask for money from the peak, but also to be able to withstand the pressure, it is necessary to have a big backer and great ability, and Fan is the most suitable person. ”

Fan Jin himself also felt that the power of his words was no less powerful than a sharp dagger, cutting Gu Shi's unhealed wound again. The so-called great ability, this is equal to nonsense, Gu Shi's water control ability is estimated to be much stronger than himself. I can only take the lead, and when it comes to how to do it, I actually have to find someone. As for the backer, it is Zhang Juzheng's son-in-law, if he hadn't taken Zhang Shunqing by himself, Gu Shi would have become a son-in-law, and this big backer would exist. Now he has to bow his head and beg for himself, in the final analysis, it is because Gu Shi has become a loser in Zhang Shunqing's marriage.

Gu Shi was used to being bled and released, and he didn't care about this kind of injury, but nodded in agreement. "That's right, I once signed a joint name with dozens of friends, and asked Tianfu to preside over the construction of Shangyuan Water Conservancy, and there was no response if a stone sank into the sea. This matter will definitely not be done without the government coming forward, but the government is afraid of trouble and is unwilling to take care of this kind of thing. Your words make me believe that you do have the intention to make Shangyuan change, and you also have the ability to go from the house to Yinliang to build water conservancy. But the matter of water control is not just silver and determination, the most important thing is to have someone, I have a document on the change of water conditions in the past ten years in the last ten years in my family, and I once presided over the polder. If you want to do this, you have to go to me. ”

Liu Kanzhi said: "Shou Clumsy, why do you think that Brother Fan can't do it himself?" ”

Gu Shi's eyes seemed to be bloodshot again. "Dayu controls the water three times and does not enter the house, without this perseverance, it cannot be a big thing. Has Fan Xianzun ever endured such hardships and endured such loneliness? When the time comes, I am afraid that I will be greedy for enjoyment, throw the river worker to the people below, and run away by myself, so how can the river worker be repaired? ”

Fan Jin didn't argue, but said: "What Brother Shou said is very true, then we will make a decision, Fan is responsible for asking for money to be publicized, and Brother Gu is responsible for controlling the water, I don't know what Brother Gu wants?" ”

Gu Shi said: "I can agree to your invitation, but you also have to agree to my conditions." I am solely responsible for the control of the waters, and you are not allowed to interfere, and you must arrange for acquaintances to supply the supplies. In addition, arrange for someone you can trust, supervise the use of money, and if a penny flows to other places, you can immediately come to my board, and if you use it correctly, you can't ask about it. In the end, the work of water control is mine, you can't take it, you have to play Zhang Xiang on my behalf, and the most important thing is that after the water control is completed, you have to make it clear to Miss Zhang that I did this thing, and it has nothing to do with you! ”