By the end of the third year of Hongxi, the imperial court had confirmed the right to households, and the total grain fields in the country were 11 million hectares (1.1 billion mu), of which 9.02 million hectares were in the Ming Dynasty, and more than 2 million hectares were in Jiaozhi, Saigon, Dayuan, Jiugang and other places.

Among them, the number of troops and the old port, which is still increasing, the Ming army has already taken Malacca, and is ready to concentrate the naval division to attack the coast of Siam first, and then advance layer by layer.

Based on two stones per mu and a minimum tax of one percent, 220 million stones of grain can be collected.

Of course, there are many places that will encounter natural disasters, and there are also bad ones, and there will be a lack of harvest, and there are many fields that are handed over by two or even three percent.

So in the end, Hongxi's tax grain for three years was 170 million stones, more than three times that of Yongle and eight times that of the late Ming Dynasty.

During the Yongle period, there were more than 8 million hectares in the Ming Dynasty, of which the official field gentry and clan accounted for 60 percent, and the military field accounted for 40 percent.

In the second year of Yongle, the Ming Dynasty collected more than 50 million stones, which was basically the peak of the Ming Dynasty.

After that, the rivers went down, and with the encroachment on more and more military farmland and Wang Tian, it remained at about 20 million stone in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

The Hongxi Dynasty levied a grain tax on the whole country, and no one was spared, including nobles, officials, clans, gentry, and even military generals, plus overseas colonization and plunder, so the tax grain far exceeded that of Yongle.

Hongxi's three years of national tax and silver income of more than 90 million taels, of course, this will not be so much silver, most of it is copper coins and treasure money.

At present, the bulk of the tax and silver is still the income from customs duties and the blockage of red mansions in various places.

Last year, there were more than 2,000 counties in the country, including Jiaozhi and other places, and each county had a red mansion and a blockage, and the minimum license tax was 12,000 a year, which was 40 million.

The commercial tax of other shops, land and real estate transaction tax, etc., is less than 20 million in the whole country, and it is basically concentrated in the rich coastal provinces.

The imperial court is quite rich now, not to mention the countless wars and plunders everywhere last year, and it also occupied the Iwami Silver Mountain.

However, Xia Yuanji believes that the investment in education is even more bottomless, and the emperor still has to pay for it free during primary and secondary schools, and all the imperial court pays for it.

He was originally resolutely opposed, but after seeing the last line written by the emperor, he was silent for a long time.

A few days later, Xia Yuanji took the prepared materials and made a special trip to present them to the emperor.

The Emperor summoned him in the Huagai Palace.

There were three people at the scene, the emperor, Xia Yuanji, and the historian.

After thinking about it, Xia Yuanji glanced at the historian.

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment, then turned around and waved his hand.

The historian looked unhappy, but he didn't dare to stay, and turned away.

After the historian left, Xia Yuanji said: "Your Majesty is eloquent and strategic, has great ambitions, the Ming Dynasty has today, the income of grain and money far exceeds that of previous dynasties, Your Majesty has made great contributions, and it can definitely be called an emperor through the ages, and his merit is better than that of the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty and Song Ancestors." ”

Zhu Gaoxu looked at him with a smile.

Xia Yuanji hardly slaps sycophants, and it's quite interesting to say that today.

Xia Yuanji continued: "Your Majesty's way of increasing income is to strike at the interests of the gentry and the noble royal family, and really benefit the people. ”

"This is also something that no dynasty has done before my Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Gaoxu still listened quietly.

"In fact, it is very simple to let the people live a good life, Your Majesty is using the right method, but all those in power in history attach great importance to their own interests and oppress the people as much as possible."

"Minister, I really have a heart for Your Majesty, and I have thrown myself to the ground."

When Xia Yuanji said this, he got up from his position, knelt down heavily, kowtowed, and gave a big salute.

Zhu Gaoxu was also very happy to receive such praise from Xia Yuanji, but he couldn't help but look back and think, if you let the historian go with such a nice word? Is it good to write it down? Well, when I go back, I'll talk to the historian in person and add it to me.

"Still." Just after Xia Yuanji got up, he looked at the emperor cautiously, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, do you really plan to open the wisdom of the people?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Xia Yuanji very interestingly: "Xia Butang can say whatever he wants, whatever you say today, I will count you innocent, there is no one else here, just the two of us." ”

Xia Yuanji was originally bold, and when he heard the emperor's promise, he immediately said: "The way to govern the country is to make the people stupid and the people poor--"

"Your Majesty has made the people rich and clothed."

"If you open up the wisdom of the people again, with all due respect, in a few years, I am afraid that it will not be good for Your Majesty's Daming."

When Xia Yuanji said this, he thought to himself, this matter has nothing to do with me, but I still have to remind the emperor, because the emperor does make him respect.

Zhu Gaoxu stood up with a serious face and walked slowly in the main hall.

Xia Yuanji thought that the emperor was going to be angry, and his expression was a little panicked.

After Zhu Gaoxu walked a few steps, he also said in a deep voice: "Xia Butang also said that after a few years, whether I can live when I arrive is still a question of whether I am alive or not. ”

"After I die, do you care about the flood?"

"I just want to sow the seeds of civilization for my Chinese land, that's all."

Hiss, Xia Yuanji's face changed greatly, and he stared at him incredulously.

"Do you think I really care about the Ming Dynasty? Concerned about my children and grandchildren? Zhu Gaoxu said.

Natsuhara didn't know what to say.

"Does Natsube believe in reincarnation?" Zhu Gaoxu asked suddenly.

"This-" Xia Yuanji didn't know what to say.

"I often think, if I am not reincarnated as an emperor's family in my next life, if there is a civilized society, will I live a better life?"

"What I really care about is my next life, not my future generations."

"It's still the same sentence, after I die, I don't care about the flood."

"Actually, I'm just a selfish person, just planning for the aftermath."

“。。” Xia Yuanji was surprised by Zhu Gaoxu's strange theory, and Lei was speechless for a long time.

But the ancients still believed in this, Xia Yuanji seems to make sense when he thinks about it carefully?

"Xia Butang also thinks like this, if you live in the era of the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty in the next life, are you still a poor and helpless farmer?"

"In the next life, if you live in Hongxi for four years, will it be better?"

Xia Yuanji's expression was crying and laughing, and after a while, a few words burst out: "Your Majesty is really far-sighted--" I thought of the next life, and the minister really couldn't keep up with His Majesty's thinking.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't tell him that he didn't care about the change of dynasty, and he didn't care if he could be the emperor, because if you said it, others wouldn't believe it.

How many things have you done and how many people you have killed in order to be the emperor, and if you say it now, are you a fool when I am Xia Yuanji?

But Zhu Gaoxu really doesn't care, he wants to be the emperor just because he knows that no one in this world can do it better than him.

He wanted to be emperor because he wanted to do something he wanted to do before, but couldn't.

Therefore, to open the wisdom of the people, he feels that it is imperative, as for whether there will be a Ming Dynasty in the future, after his death, it will be his business.

At least he won his posthumous name, and then the historian and history will remember his series of changes.

He Zhu Gaoxu will be the greatest emperor in the 5,000 years of Chinese history in the future, and there is no one.

The emperor said this, and the things in the next life were all said, Xia Yuanji immediately nodded and said, "The minister resolutely supports His Majesty's plan." ”

"The minister has made a budget these days."

Each county in Daming originally had a county school, but now it only needs to be split into primary and secondary schools, and then expand the place.

According to Zhu Gaoxu's words, all the imperial court paid for it, and there was no distinction between male and female primary schools, and middle schools were divided into boys' schools and girls' schools, and at least three should be built in each county.

Tuition fees and other expenses are all paid by the imperial court, and the people only need to pay a small amount of food, five cents per person per day.

This is a fairly low price, which is actually equivalent to the imperial court also paying for food.

Xia Yuanji estimated that after this plan goes down, there will be a lot of people going to school in Daming, and ordinary people can go to school, and they will rush to school.

Of course, in some remote areas, there is no way for the time being, and Zhu Gaoxu can only start to implement it at the county government level first, and then develop in the townships and towns when the conditions are in the future.

"In the first year, the school was divided and teachers were recruited, and the cost was about 40 million." Based on 2,000 counties, the average is 20,000 taels per county.

After that, there are various expenses such as food expenses, tuition fees, book fees, and teachers' salaries: "At least 10 million per year." ”

In this way, half of the financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty was gone.

This is still based on Xia Yuanji's calculation of 300 students and 30 teachers in each county, and it may be more than then.

"Ten million a year is not much for the current Ming Dynasty." Zhu Gaoxu said.

Xia Yuanji smiled bitterly: "In the future, there will be more and more students, and the investment will be bigger and bigger." ”

Zhu Gaoxu thought to himself, I haven't said free medical care for all, and saying it will scare Xia Yuanji to death.

This thing will definitely not be able to be done now, and there are not so many doctors, but after his medical school is perfected, ten or twenty years, if the Ming Dynasty's finances are still so good and there are enough doctors, then it will still be possible.

Because there is no serious illness now, there is no one who can't finish watching a watch that costs millions or tens of millions.

The next day, Zhu Gaoxu summoned important cabinet ministers and gave them the plan for the establishment of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the popularization of education for all.

The cabinets were shocked and couldn't believe it.

The key to their shock was that the entire investment cost more than 80 million taels in the first year (including the construction of four universities).

Of course, most of it will be converted into food, and it will not really cost so much money.

But this amount is also earth-shattering, equivalent to the entire income of Yongle for three years, and equivalent to the income of Hong Xi for three years.

Shock to shock, but no one at the scene objected.

Huang Fu was the first to support, he has been in Jiaozhi for many years, and he also knows that education is very important, and the emperor wants to carry out education overseas, erase the Chinese language of other countries, eliminate his national language, and let the colony completely become the land of Daming, this is a necessary step.

"Benjamin and Arutai have been broken by peace, and in the next three to five years, there should be no battles to be fought around my Daming."

"I want to fully promote education technology and accumulate talents for my Ming Dynasty."

"You have always said that you have to recuperate, and the construction of the country is also recuperation, and the construction is large, the people are working, and the economy of the Ming Dynasty will only get better and better."

"It seems that tens of millions of dollars have been invested, but they are all invested in their own country, and in the end, it is my Ming people and businessmen who benefit."

"If a merchant profits, he will have to pay taxes, and the court will also benefit."

"Your Majesty." Huang Fu took the lead, and the cabinet unanimously supported the emperor's decision.