In the five years of Chongzhen, the situation in the Ming Dynasty seems to have changed for the better.

Although there was an earthquake and drought in the south of the Ming Dynasty, it was still prosperous, singing and dancing everywhere, drunk and dreaming of death. The imperial court's additional three salaries made the lives of the common people more difficult, but they could still survive.

The salt merchants are still rich; The silver of the maritime merchants was so abundant that it was still moldy in the storehouse; The big landowners in the south of the Yangtze River were busy planting mulberry, cotton, silkworm weaving; Cao Yun is still as busy, like blood vessels, the brain of Jingshi, which transmits nutrients from the heart of the south.

Under the extermination of the general Cao Wenzhao, the rogues in Shaanxi could hardly be seen, and they could only flee to Shanxi and Henan in embarrassment.

It has been a long time since Jiannu outside the gate invaded the gate. The "Ming Maginot Line" built by Yuan Inspector (Yuan Chonghuan) exhausted the essence of the Ming Dynasty, but it played a very small role. If you want to talk about the effect, maybe Huang Taiji will sing "There are no guns and no cannons, the enemy will make it for us". As the captain of the transportation brigade, Inspector Yuan is qualified.

Without the drag of the outside of the pass, Daming closed the door, and there was no need to do the best of the whole country to maintain the offensive posture, and Daming's national strength was able to breathe a little.

If the young Emperor Chongzhen could be as calm as Zhu Shunming and slowly but firmly reform the politics, economy, and military, he might not have hanged himself in the coal mountain as he did in history, with only a lone eunuch by his side.

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Zhu Shunming became the king of Changsha in secret, and even King Ji didn't dare to offend him too much. This two stunned people dare to kill people if they don't agree with each other, and if they kill the whole family, who dares to touch it easily?

The relationship between Jiwangfu and the current Chongzhen Emperor is not close or far, and it is not very valued by the emperor. Now that the signs of turmoil have appeared, if Zhu Shunming is forced to rebel, the first person to bring a sacrificial knife may be the royal dragon vein of King Ji.

Zhu Shunming has political wisdom that is different from his appearance. For King Min, he dared to take action, directly controlled the people in King Min's Mansion, and made King Min's Mansion his puppet.

Treating King Ji, Zhu Shunming was much gentler. First, King Ji was cowardly and open-minded, and secondly, King Ji had a closer relationship with Emperor Chongzhen than King Min.

Zhu Shunming asked to see King Ji, and King Ji Zhu Younei had to meet him. Some cowardly and sickly kings just want to live a luxurious life, and have no extravagant hopes for power struggles.

Zhu Shunming is not at all as fierce and vicious as the legends in the outside world, but he is polite and polite. Except for being taller, it is no different from a student who reads poetry and books.

Zhu Shunming got straight to the point and said: "Xiaguan's visit this time is only for the prince. The prince has countless fertile fields in Changsha Mansion, and when the famine comes, the prince's mansion will become the target of public criticism. ”

King Ji knew Zhu Shunming's intention as soon as he heard it. Zhu Shunming once killed for this reason, killing several major families in Changsha City with a river of blood, and there are still scholars who have avenged Li Xuezheng.

King Ji's face was ugly, and he said with a bitter face: "The cost of the palace is too great, and it all depends on the output of the acres of land, if you ...... It's hard to sustain. ”

Zhu Shunming said with a smile: "If the palace leases all the acres of land to the lower officials, and the lower officials give reasonable rents to ensure that the palace guarantees the harvest of drought and flood, the prince no longer has to worry about farming." ”

King Ji's eyes lit up and he hesitated.

"The rent is paid upfront at the beginning of the year and paid in a lump sum. The rent is three taels of silver per mu, how? Zhu Shunming gave reassurance.

"Really?"

"Of course."

………………

With the cooperation of King Ji, Zhu Shunming's field survey and collection of land taxes according to the actual situation were implemented in Changsha Mansion.

Among them, open disputes, covert fighting, violence, non-violent non-cooperation, accusations, pressure, assassination, poisoning, and self-immolation...... and so on countermeasures and means.

Zhu Shunming's methods are very simple. A notice was first issued requiring the owner of the land to come to the yamen to register the land deed, and the land that had not been registered after the expiration date was regarded as terra nullius and belonged to the imperial court.

As soon as the deadline arrived, a large number of capable officials dispatched from Wugang Prefecture went down to the countryside to measure the fields on the spot, and a large number of soldiers protected and maintained order.

Under the bloody and high-pressure measures, the landlords were silent and did not dare to fight violently anymore.

They calmed down and took a look, if there was no concealment, just measured the acres of land, and there was no loss for the time being. Why bother to fight against this stunned demon king?

Zhu Shunming's notice made it clear that the field endowment was only collected in the sixth year of Chongzhen, and the field endowment in Chongzhen's fifth year was as usual.

By next year, it is not certain whether this unscrupulous martial artist who has angered most of the landlords of Huguang students will be able to stay in Changsha Mansion.

With a three-pronged approach of high-pressure and bloody methods, the dispatch of personnel from other places, and the provision of sufficient buffer time, Zhu Shunming found out the land situation of the entire Changsha Prefecture and recompiled the Yellow Book.

Got rich. Zhu Shunming looked at the yellow book and smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth.

"I've found a treasure, look at your joy." Li Cuiwei teased: "Who gave you a delicate lady?" ”

Zhu Shunming became the king of Changsha in secret, and there were many landlords, businessmen, and bureaucrats who wanted to send him money and beauties.

"It's more pleasing than a beauty," Zhu Shunming said happily: "Do you know how many fertile fields there are in Changsha Mansion?" Nearly 20 million acres are high-yield paddy fields. One acre of land only collects two buckets of land, which is four million stones, which is converted into more than 10 million taels of silver. ”

"So much?" Li Cuiwei couldn't help but smack her tongue: "My father's head is pinned to the waistband of his trousers, and he will get four or five hundred thousand taels in a year, you can easily do it, and Guangtian Fu will be tens of millions of taels, it's really ...... Those who steal the hook will be punished, and those who steal the country will be punished...... Oops, don't mess around...... Woo......"

"When your husband succeeds in stealing the country, you will be the queen." Zhu Shunming bit Li Cuiwei's earlobe and gasped: "Come, I will serve my queen well......"

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When Zhu Shunming was fighting openly and secretly in Changsha Mansion and expanding his territory, his base camp, Jiu'an Town, Chengbu County, had a bumper agricultural harvest.

After Zhu Shunming's guidance, the Zhu family farm was really high-yield and abundant. Abundant water sources, sufficient fertilizers, reasonable layout, healthy and high yield of seeds and seedlings, and proper management...... All these favorable conditions were combined, and the output of the Zhu family farm stunned everyone.

The Zhu family has more than 1,000 acres of paddy fields, and the early rice harvest is nearly 3,000 stones, with an average yield of two stones, seven or eight (500 catties) per mu, which is nearly one stone more than the average acre.

One stone of grain is enough to feed a mouthful. In this era of lack of food and clothing, one stone of grain is not a small amount.

In addition to rice, the livestock on the Zhu family's farm are also growing well. Chickens and ducks grow to weigh four or five pounds, almost one egg a day. A few thousand eggs a day can bring dozens of taels of silver to the farm, not counting the output value of adult chickens and ducks.

The big head is a pig farm. More than 1,000 fat pigs, after more than half a year of feeding, have nearly 200 pounds, and are still fattening.

In this era, the pork is not popular, and the fat of Baihuahua is people's favorite.

Usually, a pig is raised for a year, and it is a super fat pig with 200 catties. These pigs on the Zhu family farm are raised until the end of the year, at least 300 catties, and the fat is very thick. These big fat pigs are walking silver ingots.

Fat pigs also provide ample fertilizer for the plantation industry. Without these fat pigs, the rice on the Zhu family's farm would not have been able to achieve such a high yield.

It is conservatively estimated that the Zhu family farm can bring at least 20,000 taels of silver a year.

Old Man Zhu was full of emotion. I didn't expect that I had planted all my life, and two generations had worked hard for decades to accumulate thousands of taels of belongings. Now on this farm, the output of the first year is more than the accumulation of a lifetime of struggle. People still have to learn. Where did Ming'er learn all this agricultural knowledge?

In addition to the Zhujia farm, agriculture in Chengbu County and other places in Wugang Prefecture has also been bumper.

In these places, Zhu Shunming implemented the collection of land taxes according to the area of the land, and he also had to give the landlords a sweet date. He invested heavily in the restoration and construction of water conservancy facilities, digging ditches, setting up water wheels, and dredging rivers. The construction of these water conservancy facilities has provided a guarantee for high and bumper agricultural yields.

When the landlords saw that the income of the land was much higher than before, even if they paid a 10% tax, it would not be less than the previous income, and the desire to resist the rejection gradually extinguished.

After all, the power of the Zhu Demon King is getting bigger and bigger, not only favored by the governor, but also settled in Changsha Mansion, the official residence is second-grade, what is the ordinary landlord going to confront him?

However, under the rule of the Zhu Demon King, there are many more goods on the market, all kinds of goods, all kinds of grades, everything.

The previous bitter haha actually had money to spend. Seeing them rip cloth to buy clothes, weigh meat and buy fish, they are not stingy at all.

The output of the farm is also easier to get rid of. Unlike before, it had to be transported to Baoqing Mansion, Changsha Mansion and other places to be sold for money.

………………

Changsha Prefecture is still consolidating, but Wugang Prefecture is already booming.

After nearly a year of development, there has been a blowout in industry and commerce in Wugang Prefecture.

Zhu Shunming's Minwangfu sold most of the city's shops, allowing private merchants to enter the businesses previously controlled by Minwangfu.

The businessmen of Chengbu County, who followed Zhu Shunming to taste the sweetness, trusted Zhu Shunming and ate most of the shops at once. When the merchants of Wugang Prefecture came to their senses, the shops on the street had changed hands. The subsequent market made these hesitant Wugang Prefecture businessmen regret their intestines.

The volume of Wugang Prefecture is more than ten times larger than that of Chengbu County, and the scope of radiation is much broader.

With the Inspection Department to manage public security, the Shunfeng Dart Bureau to escort the goods, and the Sailor to ensure water transportation, these businessmen in Wugang are becoming more and more emboldened.

A commodity circulation and manufacturing center with Wugang Prefecture as the core and transit station, radiating several southwestern provinces, has gradually formed. Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Sichuan are full of Wugang merchants and Shunfeng Dart Bureau.

The prosperity of Wugang Prefecture is getting better and better at a rate that can be seen by the naked eye. The complaints of the merchant landlords about Zhu Shunming's collection of taxes also disappeared.

Although Zhu Shunming collected taxes, the market prospered day by day, and all kinds of shady and excesses and miscellaneous taxes were nowhere to be seen.

Many businessmen go to other places, although they don't have to pay business taxes, but there are a lot of checkpoints, sona cards, and filial piety, which are higher than Zhu Shunming's taxes, and they are verbose and cumbersome, bow their heads and do their best to be villains. They can't help but feel nostalgic for Zhu Shunming's "brutal" rule.