Chapter 899 0894 [The Amount of Farmland in Jiangxi Is Decreasing as Time Goes By]

Luoyang Imperial City, imperial meeting.

Bai Chongyan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, took the work report sent back by Wei Liangchen and said to the emperor and all the ministers present: "This time in Zhangtian, Jiangxi, a lot of hidden fields were found. Although the inventory has not been completed, the total area of ​​cultivated land is estimated to be Reduce millions of acres.”

Many hidden fields were identified, but the total area of ​​cultivated land was reduced?

The ministers were startled when they heard this.

When Zhu Ming first learned about this situation, he also felt it was very outrageous and even suspected that Wei Liangchen was indiscriminately clearing his father.

Bai Chongyan took the field report and continued: "During the former Song Dynasty, Jiangxi's field roots and fields were very chaotic, and there were many duplications in official statistics. The gentry and the big families colluded with the officials, which aggravated the confusion and spread taxes to ordinary people. Next. In addition, for the sake of political performance, officials in the former Song Dynasty deliberately increased the number of acres of land and forcibly allocated taxes according to the tax amount. By the Ming Dynasty, Jiangxi officials had difficulty in checking the acres of land and could not figure out the actual amount of cultivated land. The tax amount was generally based on the area of ​​​​the former Song Dynasty. collection."

Prime Minister Liu Yao couldn't laugh or cry, and concluded: "In other words, we have clarified the land acres in Jiangxi, but the total land tax in Jiangxi will be reduced."

"Yes," Bai Chongyan nodded, "land taxes will be reduced by about two-fifteenths, and the number of acres will be reduced by about six million (Song acres). These six million acres of farmland in Jiangxi were added out of thin air by the officials of the former Song Dynasty. If it weren’t for this time, no one would be able to figure out how much the increase was, not even the local officials and gentry.”

Fang Mengqing sighed: "For more than a hundred years, farmers in Jiangxi have been subject to expropriation of land and taxes!"

Ju Ming tapped his fingers on the table: "Actually, it's not just Jiangxi. Sichuan and Zhejiang also have similar situations, but they're just not as outrageous as Jiangxi."

It's not just outrageous, it's downright outrageous.

Due to slight differences in statistical units in the past dynasties, all cultivated land areas are converted into square meters.

During the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the total cultivated land area in Jiangxi was 266.5 billion square meters (excluding Jiujiang, Poyang, Jingdezhen, Shangrao and other places, which belonged to Jiangdong Road at that time).

During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the total cultivated land area in Jiangxi was 247.3 billion square meters.

During the epidemic in New China, the total cultivated land area in Jiangxi was 292.7 billion square meters.

From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, to the Republic of China and New China, the cultivated land in Jiangxi has been increasing. Even after the reform, land was occupied to build commercial housing and infrastructure, but the total area of ​​cultivated land in Jiangxi has always been increasing.

If Jiujiang, Shangrao and other places are included in the cultivated land in Jiangxi during the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the total area actually exceeded that during the epidemic period in New China!

This is impossible because the vast southern Jiangxi area was not fully developed until the middle of the Ming Dynasty. In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was still a continuous primitive mountain forest.

It's definitely not a statistical error.

Take Fujian as an example. During the epidemic in New China, the area of ​​cultivated land doubled compared to the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty!

Not to mention the low development level of Fujian in the Northern Song Dynasty. It was famous for its large number of people and limited land. A large number of Fujian farmers even went to Guangdong to reclaim wasteland.

Comparing the two, you can see how outrageous the number of acres in Jiangxi is.

On one side, Jiangxi's wealthy families are hiding their land, and on the other side, Jiangxi's cultivated land has been falsely increased by millions of acres by officials.

The life of farmers in Jiangxi can be imagined.

Bai Chongyan continued: "Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, due to the effective promotion of sweet potatoes and corn, hundreds of thousands of acres of new mountainous land have been added in Jiangxi. In the past two years, the new mountainous land in Nangan Prefecture has increased rapidly. There are not many wealthy families there, and the government They also encouraged reclamation of wasteland, and both prefects managed it effectively, so this time the land was cleared at the fastest speed.”

Nanganfu is southern Gansu, which was formed by the merger of Nan'an Army and Qianzhou (Ganzhou) in the Northern Song Dynasty.

The degree of desolation there can be seen from the setting up of county-level units.

Counties such as Chongyi, Quannan, Dingnan, and Xunwu have not been established yet, and their county seats are all on the scale of villages and towns. Some places are simply small villages, with only a few dozen households in the village.

Ju Ming said: "Write the results of this Jiangxi land expansion into an edict and tell the world. By the Ming Dynasty, the people of Jiangxi will be able to pay six million acres less in land tax, and hundreds of thousands of acres of dry land will be added!"

This result is really dumbfounding.

The imperial court made great efforts to establish land in Jiangxi. As a result, the number of acres decreased and the total land tax also dropped sharply.

Thankless!

Which dynasty's monarchs and ministers are willing to do this?

Zhu Ming said to the ministers: "This is very worthwhile. The Ming Dynasty is not the Sui Dynasty, and I am not Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. I will not blindly ask for an increase in the number of acres. It is as much as it should be. The court seems to have suffered a loss, but the hidden land of the rich family has been It was found out that the people in Jiangxi paid more taxes. How much less tax could the people of Jiangxi pay? The people in Jiangxi have become richer. As long as they pay taxes according to the law, the whole of Jiangxi will become richer."

"When people have extra money and food, they are more willing to cultivate wasteland for production and buy commercial goods. Industry and commerce will be more prosperous, and commercial taxes can also be collected. Gentlemen, please think about it, is this true?"

This is true benevolent government, and the ministers are convinced: "Your Majesty is wise!"

The discussion on Jiangxi has been completed.

Zhang Guangdao, Secretary of the Ministry of War, said: "Yang Zaixing conquered Annan and won several battles. He has conquered Shenglong Mansion, the capital of Annan. The leader of Annan promised to return the lost land of the former Song Dynasty and ceded the important gates of Menzhou and Langzhou. In addition..."

Zhang Guangdao's expression was a little strange: "In addition, Lord Annan, please give your biological mother to me, the Ming Dynasty Emperor, as your concubine."

As soon as these words came out, all the cabinet ministers were stunned.

Huan Guo, the Minister of Rites, sneered: "They are indeed barbarians, and they dare to call themselves Little China in the South of China."

The elderly Zhang Shuye asked: "Even if you want to offer a beauty, you should offer a young woman. Why offer the Queen Mother of Annan?"

Zhang Guangdao explained: "Yang Zaixing said in the victory report that the Queen Mother of Annan had a strange phenomenon when she was born, and the fortune teller had determined that she was extremely noble. The King of Annan was terrified and did not dare to leave his mother behind. Also, since the woman was over 30 years old, it was not convenient to offer her to the Holy Emperor, so he dared to offer her to my Great Ming Emperor."

"It's really funny." Cabinet Minister Zhao Quan laughed.

Chen Dong said: "The ruler of Annan violated the ethics of filial piety, and this woman must not be accepted."

"It is the ruler of Annan who violated filial piety, what does it have to do with my Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Ming was full of evil taste, "This woman can be accepted. For the sake of Ming Dynasty, we must also wrong the emperor."

Hu Anguo questioned: "Your Majesty is familiar with the Six Classics, don't you know that two sons are riding a boat? The ruler of Annan is as shameless as Duke Hui of Wei!"

Zhu Ming said: "It is not Duke Hui of Wei who offered his mother, but Duke Xiang of Qi who married his sister. With this analogy, do you want to compare the emperor to Zhaobo of Wei?"

"I dare not, but this matter violates the ethics of filial piety." Hu Anguo said.

Zhu Ming said: "Again, it is the ruler of Annan who violates filial piety, and it has nothing to do with my Ming Dynasty."

The story told by the monarch and the minister is very famous in the Book of Songs.

It is Duke Xuan of Wei who married his father's concubine and gave birth to three sons: Prince Ji, Prince Qianmou, and Prince Wan.

When Prince Ji grew up, he asked to marry a princess of Qi.

Duke Xuan of Wei heard that the princess was very beautiful, so when he was preparing for the wedding, he snatched away the fiancée of his son born to his stepmother. The princess was then called Xuan Jiang.

Duke Xuan of Wei and Xuan Jiang had two more sons: Prince Shou and Prince Shuo.

Prince Shuo wanted to succeed to the throne, so he kept telling tales and instigated Duke Xuan of Wei to kill Prince Ji.

Prince Shou couldn't bear it, so he pretended to be Prince Ji and died in his place. Prince Ji didn't want to live in humiliation, so he revealed his identity and was also killed by an assassin.

Prince Shuo succeeded to the throne, but was driven away by Prince Qianmou and fled to his uncle Duke Xiang of Qi.

In order to help his nephew regain the throne, Duke Xiang of Qi actually married his sister Xuan Jiang to Prince Wan and used Prince Wan's power to kill Qianmou.

Well, this relationship is a bit confusing.

It's probably like this: Xuan Jiang's new husband is not only her stepson, but also the brother of her original fiancé, and the son of her original father-in-law and first husband who married her stepmother.

By the way, Xuan Jiang's brother, Duke Xiang of Qi, also played very fancy - not only did the brother and sister have sex, but also killed the victim's brother-in-law.

Seeing that the ministers were all disgusted, Zhu Ming smiled and said: "According to the news sent back by the spies, the King of Annan is addicted to wine and sex, and he may not live long. His uncle Du Yingwu is becoming more and more favored. Not only is he gradually controlling the government, but he was also granted military power last year. If the Queen Mother of Annan marries to the Ming Dynasty, the King of Annan will be slightly surprised, and the uncle Du Yingwu will most likely wear the yellow robe!"

Hu Anguo hesitated to speak. He was disgusted with the King of Annan's behavior, but at this moment he felt that he could accept this woman.

He actively supported external expansion!

After the imperial meeting was over, Liu Yu summoned all the ministers to a meeting in the cabinet and warned: "This matter cannot be seen in the light, so don't spread it."

"Never spread it!" said the ministers.

They are all important officials of the cabinet and the ministry. They certainly dare not talk about such a bizarre incident. They also have to protect the perfect moral body of the emperor.

Zhu Ming ran to his father excitedly to tell him the good news. The father and son were cleaning the BMW in the secret room: "President Zhu, I got you another concubine."

"I'm old and can't handle too many women." Zhu Guoxiang did not refuse, and even swallowed his saliva quietly.

Zhu Ming said: "It was presented by Annan. I heard that she is the most beautiful woman in Annan. Moreover, this will help annex Annan. The identity of this woman is very special."

Zhu Guoxiang walked down the stairs: "Since it is helpful to the country, I can accept it. It's just an extra set of bowls and chopsticks."

"Then it's settled." Zhu Ming smiled very meanly. He really wanted to see his father's expression when he learned the truth.

Zhu Guoxiang said, "Half of the construction work at Wangchuan Villa has been completed. I plan to move there in the spring of next year. I will not care about Luoyang anymore."

Zhu Ming said, "Come back occasionally."

"It depends. I will come back when I get bored there." Zhu Guoxiang continued to scratch the car.

Just as his son left the secret room, Zhu Guoxiang suddenly asked, "That Vietnamese beauty, is she a widow again? Don't ruin my reputation!"

Zhu Ming said, "Don't worry, a foreign woman will not spread in Luoyang."

"That's good... No, she is a widow again!" Zhu Guoxiang was quite angry.

Zhu Ming laughed and opened the door to escape from the secret room.