"Yingzhou Yang Wenyue passed on the book, Yingzhou can supply another two million stone rice wheat to Beizhili."

"The old port Shen Tingyang passed on the book, and the old port can supply five million stone meters to Nanzhili."

"Southwest Hong Chengchou passed on the book, Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiaozhi, Guangxi four provinces, can supply six million stone rice to Nanzhili."

"In this way, the six provinces have raised a total of thirteen million stones, which is one million stones more than the requirements of your decree issued by Your Highness."

On October 27, three days before Zhu Youzhen's wedding, Bi Ziyan came to the palace of the king of Qi with a letter of return from the six provinces and reported the grain situation to Zhu Youzhen.

Even though there is still three days to get married, and the house has begun to put up lights, Zhu Youzhen is still wearing a azure round-necked robe, wearing a jade crown and sitting in the carrier hall to deal with government affairs.

After Bi Ziyan finished talking about the return of the six provinces, Zhu Youzhen leaned back in his chair and said easily:

"In this way, the grain shortage in Jiangnan can be quelled, and a million stones can be surplus to Beizhili, right?"

"Back to Your Highness, it is true." Bi Ziyan sat on the chair and responded respectfully, not daring to play with any heart.

Although Zhu Youzhen is not the emperor and does not sit on the dragon chair, he sits on the simple wooden chair, but it makes people feel that they are not facing the king of Ming Qi, but the son of the great tomorrow.

He has a little more kindness and patience than Zhu Yuanzhang, and a little more disdain for power than Li Shimin.

In other words, the relationship between him and Zhu Youxiao has maintained the current situation, if he is as keen on power as Li Shimin, then I am afraid that he will be the one sitting on the dragon chair.

Bi Ziyan was figuring out Zhu Youzhen's character and actions in his heart, and Zhu Youzhen was not figuring out him.

Bi Ziyan served as the head of the household department of the Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties in history, and was in charge of the country's finances.

When he took office, the treasury of the Ming Dynasty had already been embezzled and squandered by the eunuchs, and the state had an annual deficit of nearly two million taels of silver, and the nine sides owed more than 9 million taels.

After taking office, he was mainly similar to the policies implemented by Zhu Youzhen in this plane, starting from saving resources and opening up streams, cutting redundant troops, reviving and restoring tuntian, and local officials were evaluated by the speed of economic development.

Twelve policies related to merchants were added to the system, including policies that benefited the country and the people, such as increasing the introduction of salt, ordering merchants to transport millet to the real border, cutting out redundant soldiers and redundant labor, inspecting military salaries, developing paddy fields in Jingdong, checking the hidden fields in the world, and setting up military camps.

When all the officials insisted on raising more than 5 million taels to the people, Bi Ziyan asked the emperor to pay attention to the fact that the people had reached the situation where every family was hanging in the kettle, and suggested that the Liao affairs should be suspended, and the taxes in the world should be reduced, so that the small people could have savings to tide over the drought.

Of course, his opinion is not only Chongzhen, but also unacceptable to all officials.

In general, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the financial resources were exhausted and he could not make ends meet, he was able to carefully coordinate and make careful calculations to support the Ming Dynasty's finances for nearly ten years, and unlike ordinary officials, he only knew how to collect taxes and was not sympathetic to the people.

I have to say that an official like him, who knows who to tax and who to exempt from taxes, and who dares to make suggestions, is a miracle in the officialdom of the late Ming Dynasty, which is also the reason why Zhu Youzhen remembers him and reuses him.

Counting up, Bi Ziyan has been in the household department for four or five years, and what he has done during this period has really satisfied Zhu Youzhen.

When the people were affected by the disaster, he would raise food and prepare food stamps according to Zhu Youzhen's words.

When it was necessary to march to fight, he would coordinate the money and food in advance to ensure that the money and food arrived at the front line in advance and did not let the soldiers go hungry.

When the war was not tense, he would suggest that the war be suspended and recuperate, so that the small people would have a surplus of money.

If Zhu Youzhen raised enough money and food, he would support Zhu Youzhen's policy of opening up to the outside world.

He does not form a party, does not engage in personal gain, does not be greedy for money, knows the hardships of the small people and plays up, and is a rare good official.

It's just that no one is perfect, and Zhu Youzhen is a little suspicious of everyone after going through the corruption of Yanshan, Qi Wangdang, Yuma Supervisor, and Jinyiwei.

Therefore, he sometimes wonders whether Bi Ziyan is acting out, or his shortcomings are in places that he can't see.

"Sichuan's new policy, tax collection will begin to resume next year, according to the estimation of the Ministry of Households, if there is no disaster in Sichuan, can it collect 8 million stone fields?"

Zhu Youzhen often puts things on hold for the time being when he can't figure it out, and it's the same now.

Putting aside the issue of Bi Ziyan, he set his sights on Sichuan's new policy.

On the recital of the Sichuan New Deal, Li Banghua clearly promised that he would receive 8 million rice and wheat from Shitian in case of disaster, but Zhu Youzhen remained skeptical.

He wanted to see what Bi Ziyan thought, so he asked specifically.

In response to his inquiry, Bi Ziyan pondered for a moment, and then explained:

"Xia Guan thinks that eight million stones should not be a problem, but the premise is that the yield per mu of grain cannot be reduced."

"But Your Highness, you also know that to explain in the words of the "Yanshan Textbook", it is normal for grain production to decrease during the Xiaoice River period, and Sichuan's previous yield per mu was likely to be two stones, six or seven buckets, and this year it is rumored that there are only two stone ......."

Bi Ziyan paused, glanced at Zhu Youzhen's expression, and found that there was no change before continuing:

"According to the grain yield per mu, as well as the ten endowments stipulated in the new policy, then next year's field endowment is probably about six million stones."

"But...... The people of Sichuan are less than 4.3 million, and the local needs are only 378 million stone rice and wheat, so in addition to the 6 million fields of grain, the imperial court can also purchase and store tens of millions of stone rice and wheat in the local area. ”

Bi Ziyan is very clear about Zhu Youzhen's demands, and to put it bluntly, he is storing grain.

It is useless to produce more grain, it depends on how much can be saved.

For example, Nanzhili is just a province, with more than 85 million mu of cultivated land and an annual output of more than 160 million stone rice and wheat.

At present, the population identified by Nanzhili is more than 24 million people, and the rations of these people alone require nearly 200 million stone rice and wheat, which is not counting hidden households.

Therefore, Nanzhili, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi are all major provinces that compete for grain with the north, and the grain of Sichuan and Huguang, two major grain-producing provinces, is basically imported into these three provinces.

At present, the situation in Sichuan can store nearly 20 million stones of grain every year, but even so it is still unable to supply the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.

Zhu Youzhen is clear about this situation, unless the population of the three provinces is reduced, otherwise the people of the three provinces will be able to consume half of the rations of the Ming Dynasty.

The drought in the previous three years was only more than 30 million, which made Zhu Youzhen very busy, and the household abacus was ringing day and night, and the population of these three provinces was more than 40 million on paper, and the real number was probably no less than 60 or 70 million.

Let these sixty or seventy million people go hungry, and the Ming Dynasty will not be far from extinction, even if it is only hungry for a year or two.

The most serious time of Li Zicheng's resurgence was when these three provinces suffered from a major drought.

Because the people in Jiangnan had silver, they could buy grain at a high price, so the grain was snapped up before it could be transported to the north.

In this way, on the surface, the people of Jiangnan are hungry, but in fact, the people of other provinces are hungry.

To solve the problem of grain shortage in the south of the Yangtze River, one is to resettle, and the other is to develop Jiaozhi and the old port.

The same is true to solve the problem of food shortage in the north, but it is the northeast that needs to be developed.

Even if the yield per mu outside the Guanwai is only six or seven dou, as long as there are enough machines, 300,000 people can completely manage tens of millions of acres of fields, and their rations only need one-tenth of the output of these fields.

First survive the drought and ensure that people survive, and then Zhu Youzhen needs to think about how to solve the employment problem of nearly ninety percent of the peasants in the Ming Dynasty.

"You go down first, tell Li Banghua not to have too much pressure, the reduction in grain production is a natural disaster, and it has nothing to do with him."

Zhu Youzhen appeased Bi Ziyan and asked him to appease Li Banghua.

Li Banghua's data is correct, but he did not read the Yanshan teaching materials and did not know the impact of the Xiaoice River on crops, so his judgment was wrong.

Zhu Youzhen didn't blame him, after all, it was a bit difficult for them to ask people in this era to accept Yanshan-style education and teaching materials from the beginning.

Even if it was the late Ming Dynasty's westward learning, the process was the result of decades, and Yanshan was promoted to the present in only six years.

"The lower official retired ......"

Bi Ziyan saw that Zhu Youzhen ordered the eviction of passengers, and immediately got up to make a move, and then withdrew from the carrier hall.

After he withdrew, Wang Chengen came out of the corner and put the chair back.

During this process, Zhu Youzhen kept looking at Wang Chengen, and only after he finished asking: "How is the factory of the steam engine put into production?" ”

"At present, it has temporarily reached the level of one-third, with an annual output of 200 large high-pressure steam engines, 600 industrial steam engines and 2,000 agricultural steam engines." Wang Chengen responded, and explained:

"There are still four steam plants that are not ready for machines, and according to this situation, it should reach four-fifths next year, and the year after that, all six plants will be operational, and three more plants will be built in the second half of the year."

With the support of the state apparatus, the development of the steam engine factory was very rapid, especially in the case of the national strength of the Ming Dynasty.

There is demand to have production capacity, and the demand of Daming is undoubtedly desperate, and Zhu Youjian's investment in the steam engine factory can also make countries dumbfounded.

Just this year, the investment in the steam factory has reached 3 million taels, and you must know that at this time, Britain's fiscal revenue is less than 4 million taels, and Zhu Youzhen has almost invested a British annual finance.

This was just the beginning, because Zhu Youzhen's plan needed enough machines to support it, and the territory of the Ming Dynasty also needed enough trains and ships to control it.

"In the second half of the following year, we can prepare factories and gradually expand the scale and production volume of factories according to the standard of 200 industrial steam engines per factory."

"The steam engine for agriculture is temporarily stored, and when the Jianyu is destroyed next year, after the people move north in the spring of the following year, the steam tractor will be distributed to the village as a collective."

"The standards outside the customs and inside the customs cannot be the same, and the northeast and the old port are distributed according to one for every ten households in each village."

Zhu You opened his mouth with a restrained gaze, but Wang Chengen hesitated after hearing this: "Your Highness, will it be too much for ten households in each village?" ”

Wang Chengen's hesitation is justified, because the cost of a tractor is 130 taels, and the number of people in 10 households ranges from 20 to 70.

Giving a steam engine to ten households is equivalent to giving each person two to six taels of silver, which is a living amount of money.

If the slaves moved north to more than 100,000 households at once, the imperial court would be able to pay tens of millions of taels of silver and more than 10,000 tractors.

"Don't underestimate the people's ......" Zhu Youzhen glanced at Wang Chengen:

"The imperial court will send a machine to the people this year, and next year you will be able to see hundreds of acres of fields appear outside the customs, and the year after next it will be more than 200 acres, and more than 100 acres of cultivated land in the previous year can be handed over to five or six stones of rice and wheat."

"This number increases every year, and it will not stop until the earth is open and the human race is no longer available."

"At that time, I am afraid that those ten families will be able to open up 600 or even 2,000 mu of cultivated land, and pay dozens or even hundreds of stones of rice and wheat."

"A machine can pay back in six or seven years, so don't worry too much."

Zhu Youzhen carefully calculated this account, otherwise he would not have set this policy.

He dared to be sure that as long as the imperial court dared to send machines to the village collective, and then distribute the machines in a group of ten households, there would be no need to distribute the migratory grain, and the people in the north would rush to the slaves to do it.

Operating this initial version of the tractor was tiring, but it was much less labor-saving than digging with a hoe and a hoe.

When operated properly, hundreds of acres are cultivated every year, which is equivalent to at least one and a half acres per person in each group.

In the past ten years, it has been fifteen acres, and in twenty years, it has been thirty acres.

Although it is not as tempting as the direct division of land from Jiaozhi, Yingzhou, and the old port, the intensity is not small.

For example, the more than 30 million mu of cultivated land in Liaodong only needs 100,000 tractors, and 300,000 people can easily cultivate it, but it still needs one million people to manage.

But even so, it is more than 30 acres per capita, which is no worse than overseas, and there is no need to cross the ocean to stay away from the homeland.

The Northeast will be the initial place for Zhu Youzhen to use machines to attract immigrants, as long as the people of the Ming Dynasty know the benefits of machines, then Zhu Youzhen can use machines to attract people to Qi and Jiugang immigrants.

Qi has few people, and it is completely possible to reach the level of an industrialized country during the years of Zhu Youzhen's rule.

Three million people can manage nearly 100 million mu of cultivated land and feed 20 million people, and the life of the people of Qi will be even better than that of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youzhen is confident that the construction of Qi is better than that of Daming, which is why he dared to let the generals accompany him to Qi State.

At present, Huanglong is the most unstable factor, so Zhu Youzhen plans to industrialize towns in northern America first, let Huanglong see the power of industry, use him to appease other generals, and then let the generals go to Qi one by one before the end of the great drought.

It was one of the few ways he could think of a smooth transition of power.

"Your Highness, if Yang Wenyue replies to the letter and the fleet that explores North Asia Melica returns, does it need to put a batch of tractors for Qi State for construction?"

Wang Chengen's sudden opening made Zhu Youzhen look at him.

There was doubt on his face, and as a person who had seen the industrial power of tractors, Wang Chengen knew very well that these two thousand tractors were a drop in the bucket for Daming, but if it was given to Qi Guo, it would be the foundation of his life.

With the cooperation of 10,000 laborers, these 2,000 tractors can reclaim more than 200,000 mu of cultivated land in a year to feed the local garrison and laborers.

Starting in the second year, the local area will be able to accept 20,000 or 30,000 immigrants a year.

Wang Chengen made up his mind to go to Qi Country with his Royal Highness, and he naturally wanted to develop Qi State, so he took the initiative to speak.

His words made Zhu Youzhen frown slightly, but it was undeniable that these two thousand agricultural tractors were more useful to the Qi State.

He has been entangled in this issue, and now that Wang Chengen mentioned it, he is naturally a little moved.

The expansion of the steam engine factory mainly required large high-pressure steam engines and industrial steam engines, and the agricultural steam engine was only an accessory.

Therefore, the appropriation of these two thousand tractors will not slow down the industrial process of the Ming Dynasty much, but it will allow the Qi State to take root in North Asia more quickly.

"Do as you wish."

Zhu Youzhen finally chose to send these 2,000 steam engines to the Qi State, but that was only if Yang Wenyue was sure that the expedition had gained a foothold in North Asia Melica.

This comes and goes, I'm afraid a year will pass, and by next year, the output of tractors may reach more than 4,000 units, and 2,000 units is only half a year's output.

In the following year and the fourth year, more than 2,000 units will be produced in a few months or even a month.

Only by building the State of Qi well can the generals rest assured that Zhu Youzhen will go to the State of Qi, which is also a helpless move.

"Yes......" Wang Chengen couldn't help but be a little happy when he saw Zhu Youzhen agree, but Zhu Youzhen still reminded:

"Tractors can be transported, but no one can move large high-pressure steam engines and industrial steam engines without my orders."

"The slave takes the command." Wang Chengen responded, and he also knew why Zhu Youzhen gave a special explanation.

To put it bluntly, the steam engine of the agricultural tractor is simply not enough to make other steam engines, and there is a generation difference between these three steam engines, and the materials used are different.

If the tractor is lost and stolen by the Europeans, then they may improve, but it will not be too big, and the Ming can still crush them with technology.

But if the industrial steam engine and the large high-pressure steam engine are lost, then the research results of the Armaments Institute for so many years will be stolen.

Zhu Youzhen's order, Wang Chengen took it to heart, so when he turned around and went out of the carrier hall to explain the matter, he deliberately explained it over and over again.

It's just that when he confessed, he glanced at the gate of the palace, but saw that Cao Huachun, who had been snubbed by his Royal Highness for a long time, finally appeared in this palace.

“……”

The two nodded and said hello, and then Cao Huachun cautiously walked into the carrier hall, and Wang Chengen glanced at it worriedly.

Cao Huachun's back disappeared into the hall, and when he reappeared, he was already in the side hall.

"His Royal Highness Chitose ......"

Cao Huachun did not forget that Zhu Youzhen did not like to kneel, so he acted respectfully.

Zhu Youzhen leaned back in his chair, half-sideways and looked at the music in his hand, and did not respond to Cao Huachun.

He was already relieved in his heart, and he also knew that Cao Huachun was not capable of managing the emperor's store and the army at the same time.

But he knew that this did not mean that he was satisfied with Cao Huachun's attitude.

The most old man in the Qingong Palace, Zhu Youzhen has always been more tolerant of Wang Chengen, Lu Wenzhao, and Cao Huachun.

Among the three, Wang Chengen made the least mistakes, because he was the most idle in his affairs, while Lu Wenzhao and Cao Huachun managed the most things and made the most mistakes, but Zhu Youzhen had tolerated them again and again.

In June, Zhu Youzhen felt that if Cao Huachun honestly admitted his mistake, this matter would be like this, after all, it was not once or twice tolerant.

It's just that what made him misjudged was that Cao Huachun didn't come, and he didn't appear in front of Zhu Youzhen until today.

"Your Highness, the slave is guilty......"

Cao Huachun finally admitted his mistake, although it was a little late.

He bent his back and lowered his eyes, staring at the expensive gold bricks on the ground.

"It seems that you recognized this mistake a little late."

Zhu Youzhen didn't look at Cao Huachun, but just took the Zhu pen to revise and revise the middle play.

"The slave wants to wait for His Highness to come back when he is out of breath." Cao Huachun's voice echoed in the side hall, and Zhu Youzhen looked at him sideways.

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The sunlight outside the window sprinkled into the room and shone on Zhu Youzhen's face, and his eyes were crystal clear, not angry and arrogant.

"Am I ever angry?" Zhu Youzhen asked knowingly, Cao Huachun also waved his hands, ready to raise his hand to cover his face, and replied at the same time.

"Head up......"

Zhu Youzhen interrupted his move, and Cao Huachun only raised his head slowly, looking at Zhu Youzhen's non-angry and self-righteous appearance, he was a little afraid in his heart.

This fear was reflected in his eyes from the heart, and Zhu Youzhen saw it clearly, and he frowned slightly:

"The three of you are the old men of the Qingong Palace, things can't be done well, admit your mistakes, continue to do it, what you want is attitude."

"Don't you think that Lone will change when he walks out of the palace?"

"......" Cao Huachun didn't respond for a while, just dodging Zhu Youzhen's gaze.

His appearance made Zhu Youzhen's eyebrows wrinkle slightly, and when Cao Huachun saw this scene, he could only respond hard:

"You...... It has indeed changed......"

"......" The air froze for a while, and the two horsemen standing at the door of the side hall sweated profusely when they heard this, and Wang Chengen, who had returned, also quickly stopped after hearing this, stood on the side of the side hall door, and listened while hiding.

When Zhu Youzhen heard Cao Huachun's words, he felt a little aggrieved, but he was more angry.

He suppressed his anger and put the Song Shu and Zhu Pen on the table, and then got up and walked to Cao Huachun, saying as he walked:

"What? Like those Confucian scholars, you feel lonely and tyrannical, murderous, and moody? ”

Zhu Youzhen used the self-title of "lonely", which is enough to show how angry he is.

Since he presided over the new policy in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, he has killed batch after batch of corrupt officials and exiled batch after batch.

Some civil officials and Confucian scholars scolded him for being cruel and unkind among the people, far surpassing Hongwu.

It must be known that during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, nearly 150,000 corrupt officials and corrupt officials were executed, implicating nearly one million people, so that when hundreds of civil and military officials left home to go to court, they would cry and say goodbye to their families, just like experiencing life and death.

But compared with Zhu Youzhen, Zhu Yuanzhang has become a "gentleman of benevolence".

Zhu Youzhen began to meddle in cabinet affairs in the fifth year of the Apocalypse, and in the six years since then, nearly 500,000 corrupt officials and corrupt officials have been executed, affecting nearly 4 million people.

The corrupt officials and corrupt officials killed by Zhu Yuanzhang were less than one-third of those killed by Zhu Youzhen, and the corrupt officials and corrupt officials he exiled were less than one-third of Zhu Youzhen's exile, and the degree of impact was even worse.

During his reign, the four eucalyptus of Hongwu have been regarded as cruel to the extent that they have not been seen in all dynasties, but even so, the time span of the four eucalyptus is thirteen years.

To Zhu Youzhen, in the five years since the Apocalypse, there have been "three ladies of ordnance smuggling", "northern Shaanxi people have become eucalyptus", "Jiangnan flood and corruption eucalyptus", and "Sichuan embezzles military tuntian eucalyptus".

The four eucalyptus with a intensity not inferior to the four major eucalyptus of Hongwu broke out in less than five years, an average of one a year, and each caused tens of thousands or even 100,000 heads to the ground.

In the mouth of Confucianism, his reputation has long been stinky, but he doesn't care.

He always believes that he is still accompanied by old people such as Brother Huang, Wang Chengen, Cao Huachun, Lu Wenzhao, Man Gui, Huang Long, and Sun Yingyuan.

It's just that Cao Huachun's sentence "You have changed" immediately made his heart full of grievances and incomprehension.

Others don't know him Zhu Youzhen, but Cao Huachun and a few people who have followed him for ten years still don't know him?

Zhu Youzhen's questioning was full of anger, which anyone could hear, the palms and foreheads of the two horsemen were sweating, and Wang Chengen was also ready to go in and intercede for Cao Huachun.

It's just that Cao Huachun's next sentence made him dispel this idea......

"Your Highness, you have changed too much, the slave and maid can't keep up with you, you have become more decisive, more thoughtful, and more means than back then."

"Slaves and maids respect you, but they are also afraid of ......"

Cao Huachun said, spread out his clothes and knelt on the ground of the gold bricks, and kowtowed three times before saying:

"The slave knows that she can't get the military tuntian, please find someone to receive it on your behalf......"