Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 552 Crop Promotion and Abolition of the Poll Tax
After the two prime ministers finished speaking, Lu Jin also said, "The suggestions of the two prime ministers are all wise and insightful for the country, but I would like to add a few points."

"The promotion of new crops will be technically handled by the Internal Security Forces, while local officials will supervise the planting by the people. In terms of the types of crops to be promoted, the main focus should be on staple grains and miscellaneous grains such as corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, while other crops should be adapted to local conditions."

"For example, tobacco is currently only being tried in Anhui, Henan, the mountainous areas of southern Zhejiang, and Sichuan. Fujian will focus on developing the tea industry. We will only promote tobacco to Guizhou and Yunnan after we have conquered those areas."

"There are also peanuts, sunflowers, and continental long-staple cotton from Lizhou, which are mainly promoted in provinces north of the Yangtze River. Currently, the largest textile base in the Ming Dynasty is Songjiang Prefecture in Jiangsu. In the future, the entire cotton textile industry will have to move north, and we cannot allow wealth to concentrate too much in the Jiangnan region."

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged bewildered glances, seemingly not quite understanding. Li Shanchang immediately asked, "Your Majesty, what do you mean by 'wealth should not be excessively concentrated in Jiangnan'?"

Lu Jin immediately explained, "Take the cotton textile industry as an example. Currently, cotton is widely grown in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces, but the technology for cotton textile production is controlled in the Songjiang Prefecture area."

"This resulted in the cotton that other provinces worked so hard to grow being sold at a low price to merchants in Songjiang. Songjiang then wove it into cotton cloth and sold it back to inland provinces at a high price. In this back and forth, the cotton growers didn't make much money, while the already wealthy Songjiang Prefecture made a fortune, making the people in inland provinces even more indebted, and the wealthy provinces even wealthier. This is unfair."

"Furthermore, the Three Lakes region in the south is the main grain-producing area of ​​the Ming Dynasty. The land here is fertile and the climate is warm, allowing for two harvests a year. Such high-quality farmland should be used for grain production. We should try to avoid events like converting rice paddies to mulberry fields and limit the planting area of ​​other cash crops."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Li Shanchang then said, "Without grain, the country cannot be stable. It is indeed necessary to increase grain production in Jiangnan. But what about the existing cotton mills in Songjiang Prefecture?"

Lu Jin immediately said, "If they move north, they can either immigrate to Jiangsu, Shandong, or Hebei, or they can wait for the north to develop and then be squeezed out and forced to close down."

"Furthermore, after a few years, once the cotton planting area in the north has increased, we need to reduce the cotton planting area in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and southern Jiangsu to ensure the grain planting rate. Of course, the imperial court doesn't need to issue any coercive orders; it only needs to increase the taxes on cotton and raw silk in these areas so that they feel there is no profit in planting cotton and mulberry trees, and they will honestly plant grain."

This is equivalent to a transfer payment, but not the kind of transfer payment in the form of fiscal appropriations. Instead, it keeps the entire industry in the upstream raw material production areas to avoid cross-regional exploitation and the price scissors between industry and agriculture.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan was a major exporter of commercial grain, exporting millions of shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain annually. However, by the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, a large number of farmlands in Jiangnan were converted to cash crops, resulting in a significant reduction in grain production. This led to a situation where Jiangnan could not even be self-sufficient and became a province that still needed to import commercial grain from outside.

Then what happened? When natural disasters struck at the end of the Ming Dynasty, people in the prosperous Jiangnan region starved to the point of cannibalism.

In terms of cotton planting and processing, cotton planting in the Yuan Dynasty was mainly concentrated in the south of the Yangtze River basin. However, by the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, the largest cotton-producing area had become Shandong. But Shandong did not make any money at all. The cotton produced was bought up at low prices by the Jiangnan region, woven into cotton cloth, and then sold back to Shandong and Hebei at high prices.

This is the ancient cross-regional industrial and agricultural price scissors. By exploiting other provinces, the landlords of Jiangnan, the Donglin Party, were enriched. The Xu family of Songjiang Prefecture alone owned hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land and countless textile workshops, to the point that a place name like Xujiahui appeared in Shanghai in later generations.

Lu Jin did this for two reasons: firstly, to transfer payments and promote balanced development; secondly, to eliminate the breeding ground for the Donglin Party, depriving them of their economic resources, and at the same time to cultivate emerging forces in other provinces to compete with the traditional Confucian scholars of Jiangnan. "You're supposed to be a family that values ​​farming and reading, so go and honestly grow grain."

Furthermore, the Jiangnan region at that time was indeed unsuitable for industrial development due to a lack of energy resources.

In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, when coal was used to power steam engines, the lack of coal production in southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang was a major drawback. Even if they wanted to set up steam plants, coal would need to be imported from elsewhere, and transportation costs were significant.

Setting up a steam-powered factory in the Jiangnan region inherently involves higher energy costs than elsewhere. So why not move the textile factory to coal-producing areas like Xuzhou, Shandong, Anhui, and Henan? Wouldn't it be better to mine coal locally and build factories locally? Even if the price scissors between industry and agriculture still exist, at least the wealth, tax revenue, and jobs will remain in the local area.

There was no railway system at this time, and no Spring Festival travel rush. Relying on inland provinces to export labor to coastal Jiangsu and Zhejiang for work? Forget about it.

After hearing Lu Jin's explanation, everyone nodded and said nothing more. Now they understood His Majesty's style of doing things. His Majesty's decrees must be executed whether you understand them or not. You must understand them while executing them. If you neither understand nor execute them, then you should be dismissed and get out of office. Don't occupy a position without doing anything.

Lu Jin then said, "We don't have many seeds right now. For the time being, we'll focus on trial planting at the Inner Guard farms in Jiankang, Luzhou, and Xuzhou. The Inner Guards in other provinces will send capable personnel to these locations to learn planting techniques. Once they've learned them, they'll take the seeds back with them."

"People from Shandong and Hebei go to Xuzhou and Gaoyou to learn, people from Henan go to Luzhou to learn, and people from Zhejiang and Jiangxi come to Jiankang to learn. We divide them into these three points and gradually spread the knowledge and skills to the whole country."

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly wrote these down.

"Furthermore, Li Zhen, the former agricultural promotion commissioner of the Marshal's Office, has been promoted to the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, and is fully responsible for the promotion of new crops."

Li Zhen is the biological father of Li Dingbang (Li Wenzhong) and the brother-in-law of Zhu Chongba. Before Lu Jin crossed the river, the father and son came to seek refuge. At that time, Lu Jin appointed him as the Agricultural Promotion Commissioner, in charge of inspecting the agricultural planting situation in various places. Now he has been promoted to the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, in charge of promoting new crops, which is quite a good fit for his profession.

Finally, Lu Jin added, "There's one more thing."

He raised his palm and extended five fingers. "Five years. Within five years, the new crop must be promoted to every county and town in the country. When you promote the new crop to the whole country, I will abolish the poll tax!"

"At that time, every official who promotes the new crop will be credited, and the people will be grateful for the court's benevolence. This will also reduce the burden on the people."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in surprise. Since Emperor Wu of Han first levied the poll tax, the poll tax had been collected for over a thousand years. If the abolition of the poll tax were accomplished in their hands, they would surely be recorded in history and go down in history. The people would also sing their praises. Naturally, everyone was very excited.

However, Prime Ministers Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong remained relatively calm. Upon hearing this, they immediately considered whether abolishing the poll tax would have any negative impact, such as reducing the court's fiscal revenue.

However, after careful consideration, they realized that once the new crops were widely adopted and the poll tax was abolished, overall fiscal revenue would not only not decrease, but might even increase. Why? Because the poll tax was only about 150 coins per person per year (adult males were counted as one "zhengding"), which was not a large amount.

However, if the new crops are fully promoted, all the land north of the Yangtze River will be used for wheat and corn rotation, with two harvests a year, doubling the grain output. The imperial court's grain tax revenue north of the Yangtze River will also double, which will make up for the loss of abolishing the poll tax by using the grain tax from these new crops.

Note that this was not a hypocritical "equalization of poll tax and land tax" by Emperor Yongzheng, which was a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul and nominally abolishing the poll tax while actually finding other sources of income to supplement it, thus increasing the tax burden. Rather, it was a net increase in revenue brought about by the improved productivity after the implementation of two-season crop rotation in the north!

Previously, when wheat was planted alone, the yield was only 120 to 150 catties per mu. Even if the imperial court collected one-tenth of the yield, it could only collect 12 to 15 catties per mu. However, after two seasons of crop rotation, the yield per mu was about 330 to 350 catties when corn was added. Even if the imperial court collected one-tenth of the yield, it could collect 33 to 35 catties per mu. This was more than double the yield.
Moreover, the amount of grain in the hands of the people has also increased, and the taxes collected by the imperial court have also increased. This is a win-win situation!
Thinking of this, the two prime ministers quickly stood up and bowed to Lu Jin, saying, "Your Majesty loves the people like your own children and cares about the common people. Now that the dynasty has just been established and the nine provinces have been pacified, the people can finally have a peaceful night's sleep. However, everything is in ruins and needs to be rebuilt. The restoration of production has also exhausted the people. If taxes can be reduced and corvée labor can be lightened at this time, it will surely be a blessing for all the people."

"Your Majesty's grace is boundless, and you are willing to abolish the poll tax to reduce the burden on the people. We will do our utmost to share Your Majesty's burden and complete this matter as soon as possible so that the people can rest at an early date."

With the two prime ministers taking the lead, the others quickly rose and followed suit, shouting in unison, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Lu Jin waved his hand to let everyone sit down before saying, "Therefore, we, as ruler and subject, need to work together with one heart and one mind to accomplish this as soon as possible. All officials in charge of this matter must be thorough, meticulous, serious, and conscientious."

"In addition, there are the Inner Guard farms. After the new crops are promoted, farms in various places can also try raising pigs with sweet potatoes, summarize their experiences, and report to those who raise them well and who make the most profits. I will not hesitate to reward them."

"Once the experience is disseminated, I will not only ensure that the people of the world have enough to eat, but also that they can eat meat."

"Yes!" Feng Guoyong quickly agreed and wrote the matter down in his notebook.

After discussing the promotion of the new crop, Lu Jin brought up several related military and economic policies.

First of all, promoting new crops is not only a matter of people's livelihood, but also cannot be neglected in military affairs. At present, there are many troops stationed in the north, and the military food is entirely supported by the sea transport from the south, which is definitely not feasible. The huge military expenditure is too much of a financial burden on the imperial court.

In the future, we will continue to migrate people to places like the Hetao region, southern Mongolia, Hebei, and Liaodong, while promoting new crops. Within five years, we will not only abolish the poll tax, but also try our best to make the garrison in the north self-sufficient, at least able to meet most of the garrison's food supply, thus reducing the financial pressure on the court.

In terms of the economy, especially the textile industry, several centers will be formed in different regions in the future. The climate in Liaodong and southern Inner Mongolia is relatively cold and not suitable for growing cotton, but it is suitable for growing flax. Flax planting and textile production can be vigorously developed. Flax cloth is cool and breathable and is a summer essential. It will not have to worry about sales in the south. Flaxseed oil is also a good source of economic benefits. The printing and paint industries need it in large quantities.

In Shanxi and the Hetao region, where the Ordos Grassland is located, we should develop the wool textile industry and the leather industry in accordance with local conditions. In addition, all ships that go to Lizhou should bring back a batch of alpacas on their return trips to promote alpaca wool, woolen fabrics, and so on in Shanxi and the Hetao region.

The North China Plain and the Yellow River and Huai River basins mainly developed the cotton textile industry, with cotton planting and textile production concentrated in this region.

Zhejiang can support downstream industries of cotton fabrics, such as dyeing and printing, or, once sewing machines are manufactured, develop the garment industry and the foreign trade industry of fabrics in the Jiangnan region. After all, it is close to the port, and foreign trade will definitely go through here.

Sichuan and Hubei provinces are primarily developing the silk industry. Shu brocade is already very famous. In the future, we can focus on Sichuan to develop mulberry tree planting, silkworm breeding, raw silk, and a series of silk industries. This is China's traditional industry, and we cannot abandon it.

As for Hunan, it has Dongting Lake and is a major grain-producing area. In the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, it was known as "When Hunan and Hubei are prosperous, the whole country is well-fed." So, let's focus on growing grain and limit cash crops.

Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian should develop their tropical economies according to local conditions, focusing on their advantageous crops such as sugarcane, tea, tobacco, sisal, cassava, and cocoa beans.

After discussing the key military and political points, the group then started talking about the tens of millions of taels of gold and silver that Wang Dayuan had brought back. It was foreseeable that the gold and silver in Lizhou was not a one-off deal. Wang Dayuan might bring back a batch of gold and silver from Lizhou every year. It might not be as much as the first year, but it would definitely be several million taels each year.

After careful consideration, Lu Jin decided to take three million taels of the money, about a quarter of it, into his own private treasury. After all, Lu Jin was the one who taught the people, Lu Jin built the ships, and Lu Jin also dispatched the troops to Lizhou. It wouldn't be unreasonable for Lu Jin to ask for a share, would it?

However, the money will remain in the bank for the time being. The workshops of the Privy Council will be in charge of designing and developing the minting machinery, upgrading the equipment of the Central Mint, and then minting all the gold and silver into gold and silver coins.

Another matter is that Lu Jin's long-planned Jinling Academy, the future Nanjing University of Science and Technology, and the temporary palace of the Ming Dynasty, has been designed for two years and prepared for more than a year. Now, outside the west gate of Jiankang City, there are mountains of bricks, stockpiled steel bars, homemade cement (Portland cement), and glazed tiles stockpiled by the Shen family in Liulichang.

The materials are sufficient, the design is complete, and the funds are in place. We will officially break ground after the Spring Festival next year!
In addition, the former Chu King's Mansion in the city has also been demolished, and the entire building has been moved to the rear palace area of ​​the imperial palace. Now, the Chu King's Mansion is just an empty space.

Lu Jin decided to build a primary school for the imperial city on this vacant land. After all, the crown prince was already three and a half years old and would be starting primary school in two years. If construction started now, he could start attending the new school in two years. Moreover, the primary school was right across from the palace, just across the street, so his safety would be guaranteed.

After settling these matters that required money, there was nothing else to do for the time being. However, there was still one thing to do at the end of the year: to confer titles upon meritorious officials.

The granting of the title of Marquis of Bowang to Wang Dayuan has made many people envious. Now that the war in the country is almost over, except for Yunnan, Guizhou, Gansu and Qinghai, which are not yet under our control, the rest of the territory has been recovered. It is time to bestow titles upon the founding heroes. Otherwise, those generals would probably be waiting for it long ago.

Thinking of this, Lu Jin took out his little notebook that recorded the personnel appointments of generals in various departments. Now, this little book was not only a record of personnel appointments, but also a record of the merits of each general. Lu Jin knew who had participated in which battle.

It's already the end of the second year since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Let's get this done by the end of the year so they can have a happy New Year.
(End of this chapter)