That night, Zhao Min had a good night's sleep. Although www.biquge.info didn't see Cao Kai's angry fat face with his own eyes, imagination alone was enough to make him happy. Who told you to think of Brother Yin? It's your luck that I didn't you off! Zhao Min fell asleep with such a thought.

The next morning, during the morning exercise, there was a personal guard to report, the Qingzhou Mansion Army pulled out the camp early in the morning and returned to Linjing, leaving a message to the King of Beihai, saying that the King of Beihai was wise and martial, and the remaining small Xiami County was naturally not a problem, and the Qingzhou Mansion would no longer overstep its bounds, and it was expected that the King of Beihai would be able to solve it by himself, and the State Army would return to Linjing to wait for good news.

Zhao Min pursed his lips, Cao Kai's guy left in such a hurry, and he didn't even care about the most basic etiquette of farewell, it seemed that he was really angry. In this way, according to the original agreement, he led the Beihai Coalition Army to deal with the three county towns, and the state army to deal with the county seats. Earlier, I still had an indispensable mentality for Xiami, I never thought that Duchang would start so easily, and the geographical location of Xiami is very important, because this is related to whether Jimo can be connected with Duchang and Pingshou An important link, and it is undesirable for the state government not to intervene.

After a trip to the five poultry drama and the flying knife, Zhao Min was already covered in sweat. While fetching water and washing his face, he instructed his guards to invite the Ma County Order. Since Ma Gui declared that he was a surrender, he was still nominally the lord of Duchang County before the imperial court pardoned it. Last night, because I was busy arranging the soldiers to camp and pacify the people, I didn't have time to ask about the specific situation of Duchang County.

Ma Gui came quickly, and after the two sides finished the ceremony, Zhao Min quickly entered the topic: "Ma County Ling has been in charge of Duchang for several years, so he must know the situation in Duchang well?" ”

Ma Gui seemed to have been prepared for this question, and immediately replied without thinking: "If you go back to the king of Beihai, Duchang County has a total territory of nearly 3 million mu, more than 5,700 households under its jurisdiction, and a total population of more than 28,700 people; Since the county is dominated by plains, there are a total of 1 million acres of farmland, including nearly 300,000 acres of high-grade fertile land. In addition, because Duchang is close to the sea and has a coastline of nearly 100 miles, there are not a few people engaged in fishing. ”

Zhao Min calculated that the total population of Duchang is similar to that of Jimo, but there are 300,000 mu more fields, and if the tuntian system is implemented in Duchang, it should be able to accommodate more displaced people. Anyway, his tuntian system is very different from the historical tuntian, and the tuntian people are hired instead of the military household system, and with the enthusiasm of the people for the land in this era, there is no need to worry about opposition from the people. As long as there is land to cultivate, the common people are still very willing to spend their sweat and hard work on the land. Moreover, the original system of 50 acres of land per household was also a bit small, and it was also a last resort because the fields were not enough; If there is enough land, it will be possible to return more landless people to the established track that they are familiar with.

Zhao Min suddenly remembered something and asked, "It is rumored that Lu Xu once boiled sea salt in Duchang, I wonder if the Ma County Order knows about this?" ”

As one of Lu Xu's former henchmen, Ma Gui is actually one of the main superintendents of Yantian, how could he not know about this matter? However, since Zhao Min pretended to be confused and clearly did not intend to pursue the past history, Ma Gui was also happy to pretend to be stupid together: "The officials have heard about this matter." There are many mudflats along the beach in Duchang, which is the natural terrain of boiling sea salt, and Lu Wei earlier enclosed the coastal area as his own salt-making territory, although the lower officials had the intention to stop it, but they were forced to stand by and watch because of their obscenity, and they are ashamed to think about it every time! ”

Zhao Min waved his hand, signaling that he didn't care, and continued to ask, "Then how is the situation in Yantian now?" ”

Seeing that the topic did not lead to his own family, Ma Gui happily said: "The salt pans were broken into by a group of pirates a few days ago, and most of the salt pans were destroyed. However, boiling sea salt is not very demanding on external conditions, and it is very easy to repair, if the king of Beihai is interested, Xia Guan dares to guarantee that the production of salt fields will be resumed within a few days! ”

"I don't know how much salt you can get from boiling Haifa?"

"Back to the king of the North Sea, the method of boiling the sea is not affected by the season, unless there is a typhoon, tsunami and other natural disasters, salt can be produced every day; Now there are 6,000 salt slaves in Duchang, and the daily output of coarse salt is 5,000 catties."

Zhao Min raised his eyebrows. With a daily output of 5,000 catties and a monthly output of 150,000 catties, there are about 1.8 million catties of coarse salt in a year? According to today's prices, the market price of a stone of salt is about 800-1000 yuan, and 1.8 million catties of coarse salt is between 12 million and 15 million yuan; According to the calculation that a worker consumes 150 yuan a month, excluding food and labor, the labor cost will be about 10 million yuan a year, not counting infrastructure, transportation, loss, etc., and this business is not profitable. So why does Lu Xu still regard salt making as the root of life? Zhao Min suddenly keenly discovered the word "salt slave" used by Ma Gui, and his heart moved, and he couldn't help asking: "This salt field has little profit, but Lu Xu attaches great importance to it, but it has something to do with this 'salt slave'?" ”

"Back to the King of Beihai, the salt slaves are recruited from prisoners, homeless people and other people who have no means of living, and they only provide basic food every day, and each person is about 300 yuan per year, which is not much consumption."

Zhao Min gasped when he heard this: Only 300 yuan per person a year per year? Doesn't it mean that an adult consumes less than a five-baht coin a day? Today's market price of chestnut rice is about 100 yuan per stone, and the average adult consumes about three catties of grain a day, which means that it takes nearly five five baht coins to ensure full food every day. From this, it can be imagined what kind of life these so-called 'salt slaves' live that is inferior to pigs and dogs! However, according to this calculation, the population cost is less than two million dollars a year, and even if the transportation cost and loss are added, the annual profit is about 10 million.

Thinking of this, Zhao Min couldn't help but sigh, the private domestic slaves in this era are basically a group of items that have no human rights, no food and clothing, and may be abandoned by their masters at any time. That's right, it's an item, and their value is to work hard to create results for the upper class of brocade and food, and in the eyes of the owner, they can only be called objects, not people! This is the sadness of the transition period to the feudal era, and Zhao Min is powerless to change, at least now, but at least he can prevent such a tragedy within the scope of his full control.

Zhao Min opened his mouth and said: "I want to follow Jimo and carry out the Tuntian system in Duchang, the people of Tuntian are all free people, and the rest of the income except for daily tax payment is my own; Now that the land rebellion has been removed, the 'salt slaves' under its jurisdiction should also return to their free body, I want to be similar to the tuntian system, build a tunbao in the near sea, and accept the 'salt slaves' as salt farmers, pay ten taxes a year for the first five years, and pay a thirty taxes a year after five years, and the excess output is purchased by the government at a slightly lower price than the market price. ”

"This ...... If you buy salt at the market price, I am afraid that there will be little profit, but the king of the North Sea is determined to do so? ”

"It is better to collect the wealth from the people than to expropriate and expropriate. I have made up my mind, and I will do so. ”

No matter what Ma Gui thinks in his heart, since the new master speaks, do you dare to say that it can't be done? Anyway, you want to benefit the people, and it has nothing to do with me, anyway, I have fulfilled my obligation to remind, and it is up to you to do it. At that moment, Ma Gui bowed down and responded: "The king of the North Sea is merciful and compassionate, and he is very kind!" The lower officials will convey the will of the King of Beihai to the townships, inform the villagers that all their benefits come from the mercy of the King of Beihai, and the matter of Tuntian will be properly handled within a month, and please rest assured that the King of Beihai will be relieved! ”

Zhao Min frowned slightly: This sycophant is here again, I am a prince and not a king, how can I say it? But he didn't bother to correct it, anyway, if he wants to publicize it, it's good for his reputation to rise, and it doesn't hurt to have more such things.

While Zhao Min was secretly thinking about it, Ma Gui suddenly looked left and right, and then mysteriously approached Zhao Min's ear and said softly: "Xiaguan still has a matter to report, and Gai is confidential because of this matter, Xiaguan only dares to report to the King of Beihai alone, and I hope that the King of Beihai will forgive his sins!" ”

Secret? Okay, I like secrets the most! Zhao Min smiled and said: "Why does the Ma County Order need to be like this, what is the matter?" ”

Ma Gui still looked that petty, "The king of Beihai doesn't know, that Lu rebel has long been disobedient, and has been plotting to plot rebellion, although the lower official doesn't know the details, but he learned that he has set up a horse farm in a valley in Hanting Township near the northern foot of Fuyong Mountain, and has secretly stored nearly 1,000 war horses in Liaodong!" ”

Racecourse? A thousand war horses! Zhao Min jumped up violently, his eyes widening. "It's serious!" If there were really thousands of horses, then their own cavalry corps would no longer be a dream.

Ma Gui bowed down and replied: "This matter is true, I think that although Lu Cheng sent heavy troops to garrison and concealed the news in every possible way, but after all, in my Duchang territory, he was still discovered by the lower officials, so the lower officials made a special trip to investigate, and there were indeed more than a thousand war horses." Xia Guan also knew that this matter was very important, and he would never dare to deceive the King of the North Sea about this! ”

Zhao Min looked up to the sky and smiled when he heard this. This is really a sleepy pillow! According to Jiang Qin, only more than 100 heavy armored horses have been amazingly powerful, and they have never forgotten this famous general of Eastern Wu; It's a pity that Shandong doesn't produce war horses, so what's the matter! I didn't expect that thousands of war horses could be caught here! Lu Xu, Lu Xu! You're such a good comrade! After sending weapons and soldiers, this is not all, before leaving, you have to send me a thousand war horses, what a good person! Hahahaha!

※※※※※※※※※※※※※

At the same time, in the Laizhou Bay of Hai in Bohai, a medium-sized cargo ship is sailing through the vast sea.

There was a middle-aged scribe with a gloomy face standing on the stern of the cargo ship, still with a slight chill in the warm and cold sea breeze in mid-February, but the middle-aged scribe seemed to be unaware, his eyes seemed to penetrate the vast sea, and he was thrown in the direction of Duchang, only the corners of his mouth twitched slightly from time to time, revealing that his heart was not as calm as it seemed.

A green-shirted scribe of the same age walked out of the cabin of the cargo ship, slowly walked behind the middle-aged scribe, and said softly: "Ming Gong, it's windy outside, why don't you go into the cabin and drink a glass of water and wine to warm up." ”

The middle-aged scribe didn't look back, and asked as if talking to himself, "How long is it until we reach the Island of the Dead?" ”

The green-shirted scribe replied, "If the journey is smooth, it should be there in two days." The sea is not as good as the land, the physical consumption is very large, and I hope that Ming Gong will cherish his body, and he must not overwork his body and do the act of the relatives and enemies! ”

The middle-aged scribe's eyes burst into a fierce light, and he snorted coldly: "That guy should have arrived in Duchang County by now?" Min Er's great enmity will never stop here! However, what Yizhen said is reasonable, so let that guy live happily for a while, and we will calculate this account in the future! With that, he turned and slowly paced back to the cabin.

The green-shirted scribe turned his head to look in the direction of the coast, his eyes showed a hint of helplessness, and finally let out a long sigh, and followed the middle-aged scribe to turn around and return to the cabin. A gust of sea breeze blew, blowing the clothes of the green-shirted scribes, and it looked indescribably bleak and desolate.