The three days were very tight, and Wu Yan simply asked for leave, and then temporarily set up a 'studio' in the library of Wenyuan Pavilion.

The people who participated in the writing of the "First Five-Year Plan", in addition to Wu Yan and Li Daoru, also added Xie Zhaowei, Zi Gongya, Yang Dingchen, and Zi Mei Gong, both of whom were in the museum.

One of the advantages of setting up a temporary studio in the library is that the historical materials are detailed and can be consulted at any time. Moreover, Wu Yan also asked people to prepare a wooden board that can be supported, if you suddenly have any ideas, you can write them down on paper and then hang them up, so that it is convenient for everyone to discuss and summarize.

It's like setting up a grass stage team temporarily, and I'm about to start singing without any preparation...

For "planning", we must first solve the problem of thinking, since the emperor wants something real, then where to start with this "reality" is the whole idea.

Wu Yan has an idea, but she hopes to guide the others to think about it, rather than her own solo show.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me ask a question, the household department's fiscal revenue and expenditure last year was a deficit, and the difference between revenue and expenditure was more than 500,000 yuan, do you know why?"

Xie Gongya smiled when she heard this: "Yo~ How do you know this, I guess...... Or is it a decrease in income? Increased spending? ”

"Maybe it's a mistake?" Yang Dingchen interjected.

"The chances of a miscalculation are very small, and that reason is not valid," Mr. Lee replied.

Wu Yan nodded: "Yes, if you rule out the reason for the miscalculation, then it is very likely that it is the reason that Brother Gongya said." ”

Then he continued: "Otherwise, we will also help the household department settle the accounts." ”

"How?"

"I think the main reason is also because of the decrease in income, and according to this idea, let's look at where the income is decreasing?"

After speaking, Wu Yan took out a piece of paper from the pile of papers piled on the bookcase, unfolded it and hung it on the wooden board, and then explained: "This is the homework that my master brother has done in the past few days, that is, the household account book he organized, filtered out a part of the data, summarized it a little, and then made a simple statistical chart. ”

"There are three charts, which are statistics on land, people, and fields, and I want to explain the reasons for the decrease in income through these three aspects. Oh yes, and just to clarify, I've converted all the data and counted it in silver taels. ”

"Hey, why are they all pillars? What do you think of this picture? ”

"Uh...... Okay, let me explain again, this is called a histogram, respectively, take three dynasties for horizontal comparison, one is the Guangfu Dynasty, the second is the Wanhe Dynasty, the third is the early years of Yongming, and then the horizontal axis lists the two Zhili plus thirteen provinces, the vertical axis is the total number of fields, and it is divided into several grades, so you can understand it, right? ”

"Hmm...... I can't understand it at once, but please continue, I want to hear it too. ”

"Okay, then let's analyze them one by one: the black column represents the Guangfu Dynasty, and the most acres in the map is Henan, followed by Nanzhili, and the third is Shandong; Looking at the gray column, representing the Wanhe Dynasty, this contrast is very obvious, the number of acres of land in Henan has decreased sharply, from 140 million mu to 40 million mu, Nanzhi has also dropped, from 130 million mu to 80 million mu, and Shandong has dropped from 70 million mu to less than 60 million mu......"

Xie and Yang were very surprised, and Xie Gongya couldn't help but blurt out, "What?" Why is that? ”

Wu Yan thought for a moment before saying: "Maybe it is because after the Guangfu Dynasty experienced a catastrophe, in order to resume agricultural production as soon as possible, it vigorously cleaned up the fields of the whole country. More than fifty years have passed since the Wanhe Dynasty, and it is like a wounded person who has almost recovered, so all kinds of evils about the land are gradually revealed. ”

"Look at the hollow pillar again, on behalf of the beginning of His Majesty's accession to the throne, or look at these three provinces, Henan has recovered to nearly 80 million mu, and the southern straight has basically not changed, which is the same as the previous dynasty; Shandong has a slight increase, more than 60 million mu. ”

"As for the other provinces, they haven't changed much, except for Guangdong. Okay, so let's talk about the three of them, what answers do you get from the comparison of the fields of the three dynasties? ”

Li Daoru had written an article about the relationship between land price and investment before, so he thought for a while, and said first: "Because the statistics here are based on the land of the branch, the problem is still in the land, I think...... It should be a merger, as well as a contribution. As far as the price of land is concerned, the land price of Wanhe Dynasty is much higher than that of the recovery period, mostly because after the world stabilized, a large number of people began to flock to redeem the land they had sold at a low price, and the merger also intensified.......

"The contribution should be based on the issue of land revenue," Mr. Wu added.

"How?"

"Land price is the discount of land income, but the reason for the impact of land price is not only the reassignment, but also the relationship between land and population, such as the population breeding, and the sharp decrease in cultivated land, which will inevitably cause a shortage of people and land, that is, the land available for transfer and sale is reduced, and the land owned per capita is reduced. In the past, a family of five people, theoretically 30 acres of land was enough to feed the family of five, but now, they only have 15 acres of land, so it becomes difficult to feed the family of five, plus the tax not only did not decrease, but increased, rather than hard to guard the five acres of thin land, it is better to dedicate it to the landlord's family, and can barely live. ”

"Huh? Why are taxes increasing? It stands to reason that after the world is peaceful, there will be no more heavy endowments? ”

"The amount of land has decreased, but the total amount of taxes in the world set by the household department has not decreased, and isn't it increased when it is spread to each mu of land?"

"Oh...... It doesn't seem to be true. ”

"Also, look at the fields in Zhejiang, what problems do you find?"

"There has been no major change in the number of acres of land in Zhejiang, and the three dynasties have basically maintained it at about 50 million mu, I don't see any problems?"

"Okay, let's put this aside for now, and I'll look at it with the population and Tian Fu later. Then let's talk about the second histogram: Rending, black is the Guangfu Dynasty, gray is the Wanhe Dynasty, and the hollow is the beginning of the Dynasty. ”

"Isn't that right? Yan Sizhen, you were still talking about population breeding, but why are most of the numbers marked in this picture declining? ”

Wu Yan was a little helpless: "Big brother, this is the Yellow Book population, that is, the enslaved population, and it does not represent the actual population!" ”

"Oh......" Yang Dingchen smiled a little embarrassedly: "Please continue Sizhen." ”

"Among them, Zhejiang's population has declined the most, followed by Jiangxi, Huguang and Fujian, while other provinces have increased to varying degrees."

"The number of acres of land in Zhejiang has not changed, but the population has dropped the most, why?" Xie Gongya also seemed to see something strange in it.

"In fact, the population of the southeastern coastal provinces has declined, but to different degrees, including Guangdong and Guangxi."

Li Daoru wrinkled his brows and thought for a long time, and said: "There must be a hidden population in the donation, is it ......?"

Wu Yan continued: "In recent years, the maritime trade in the coastal areas has been extremely vigorous, which is related to the fact that the imperial court has turned a blind eye to the maritime ban policy. ”

"Poof...... This metaphor is really interesting, love and hate! ”

"The prosperity of maritime trade will inevitably lead to the prosperity of related industries, such as raw silk and silk, cloth, porcelain, etc., and the population engaged in related industries will also increase."

"That means there will be an increase in the number of people and land that grows mulberry, cotton, and tobacco? On the contrary, there is less and less food on the land? ”

"It's very likely, because the benefits of growing these are high, and it's more cost-effective than growing food."

"So the decrease in Zhejiang's enslaved population is this part of the people?"

"It's not that Zhejiang doesn't have land, and the land is not fertile, but it's most likely that cash crops are grown, not grain. Let's look at the income of Tian Fu first, and then analyze it after reading it. ”

Wu Yan pointed to the third picture and continued: "The columns in this picture are also divided into three types, but they do not represent the three dynasties, but intercept the Wanhe Dynasty, gray represents the fortune of the fortune, black represents the survival, and the hollow column represents the sum of the two. Among them, Nanzhi is the highest, which is also easy to understand, after all, the grain mainly comes from Nanzhi, and then Shandong is second, and Shanxi is third. ”

Yang Dingchen pointed to Zhejiang in the picture and said strangely: "Why is Zhejiang so ...... Few? Not as good as Henan and Shaanxi! ”

"Yes, it's the same as Beizhili, don't you think it's incredible?" Wu Yan said with a smile.

Li Daoru looked at the picture, and his expression gradually became solemn: "This shows that at least in Zhejiang, land donation and hidden enslavement are quite serious!" Because I have also learned about the price of land in Zhejiang, it is also Jiangnan, like Hangzhou is more expensive than Suzhou, which is about seven or eight taels more expensive per mu, and Jiaxing is also more expensive than Suzhou. ”

"This shows that the demand for land in Zhejiang is very strong, and under normal circumstances, the market supply and demand determines the price of land. With such a high land price, it is too cost-effective to grow grain, and it is also mulberry and hemp tobacco to be planted, coupled with the stimulation of sea trade, there will inevitably be people who have the idea of hitting the official field, but the best way is to use the right of preferential exemption to let people contribute, and change the land that should be grown to grow grain into cash crops, so that the interests of the court are sacrificed in exchange for their own selfish interests. ”

Li Daoru continued: "Also, in order to prevent the imperial court from discovering the clues, for decades, the number of acres of land has been using the data of the Guangfu Dynasty, and there has been no growth at all, not only has it not increased, but the enslaved population is still decreasing, and the land endowment is also at a very low level......

"First, the data is very likely to be falsified, and second, we also need to consider the issue of silver discount, Jiangnan has the lowest discount rate of gold and silver, only two and a half cents per stone, and the actual grain price is even one stone and five cents of silver in Gyeonggi, which is twice as bad. There's a lot of room for manipulation. ”

"How does it work?"

"Anyway, it is a substitute for silver, so it is completely possible to sell the grain at a high price to pay taxes, and the difference in price is my net income, I have earned it, but one party will lose, then it can only be the imperial court."

"Hey, in my opinion, the imperial court has suffered a big loss!" Xie Gongya couldn't help but sigh repeatedly.

"Therefore, the first reason for the decrease in income can be summed up, that is, the field endowment is decreasing, and the field endowment accounts for ninety percent of the total income!"

"There's a problem with the irrational structure!"