First Minister of Ming Dynasty

Lao Zhu thought for a while and said, "Since this is the case, we need to mobilize elite soldiers and generals, be prepared, and strive to be foolproof."

After setting the tone, the next step is to concentrate resources, the army has not moved, and the food and grass go first.

This is also the main mission of Li Shanchang.

Faced with Lao Zhu's request, Li Shanchang gritted his teeth, "My superiors, my subordinates can raise 80 shi of grain, as well as [-] sets of armor, and [-] cattle, horses and livestock."

This figure made Zhu Yuanzhang not so satisfied, "Can't it be more?"

Li Shanchang grinned wryly, "Master, our grain is still mainly in Huaixi, and in order to support Liu Futong's Northern Expedition, we sent 50 shi of grain, and another 20 shi to Fang Guozhen. Recently, in order to hire his fleet , and gave back [-] shi... Although there is a lot of food, it can't be used like this. The biggest hope right now is the summer grain in the south of the Yangtze River. This year is still the first year, how effective it is, we will only know when it is received!"

Zhu Yuanzhang recalled the events since he crossed the river. In fact, in less than a year, places such as Chizhou, Taipingfu, and Jinling had some harvests last year. In terms of grain production, it was much richer than Huaixi.

However, other state capitals are still unclear, and they still lack experience in agriculture in the south of the Yangtze River. Indeed, they can only know the situation after harvesting.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought over and over again, and finally said: "Food is still the key to everything. Mr. Li must go all out, not only to expropriate the food, but also to prevent corruption and embezzlement...Stealing food from the warehouse without permission, and using food to make wine, all must be severely punished." ! We don't care about chopping off hundreds of heads... Do you understand?"

Li Shanchang was shocked, and Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous intentions were all over the place, which was already obvious.

Li Shanchang also knew that he couldn't make mistakes, otherwise his status would be lost.

"Your Majesty, I have thought about it again and again. I have a proposal. Can you appoint officials to the food chiefs of various places?"

"Give the grain chief an official?"

"Yes!" Li Shanchang said with a smile: "When I was in Huaixi, there were local wealthy households who took the initiative to deliver tax and food. The superiors also said that they should be given official positions. I think it should be carried forward now, and some people who deliver food in a timely manner should be promoted. Chief of Grain, let them enter the Six Departments, at least give them a servant, and send them to the local area as magistrates, magistrates... Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men. Only when the people below actively send food can the treasury be sufficient to cope with the war, and the army food will be safe. "

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, and he was willing to be an official. Although the rank of servant is very high, it is not impossible to give it.

"Mr. Li, the administration of officials is our foundation. The food chief can be an official, but he must first go to the academy and take the assessment. You must not know a word. Just because you have meritorious service in delivering food, you can only be a high-ranking official, right?"

Li Shanchang nodded immediately, "The superior is very thoughtful, this is the most appropriate way."

After discussing with Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Shanchang immediately distributed official documents to various places, telling the localities to fully cooperate with the collection of taxes and grains.The food chief who can deliver the tax and food on time can meet with the superiors, and select those with outstanding talents to enter the bachelor's college and hold important positions.

After this order, Jiangnan Jiangbei, all places, all moved.

No matter when, being an official is very attractive.

You must know that although Lao Zhu held the imperial examination, it is not so easy to pass the examination.Moreover, the imperial examinations are not high-ranking officials, but this time there is hope to be a first-class minister, which is equivalent to directly entering the ranks of senior civil servants. How unusual!

The Jiang family attached great importance to this grain collection.

Their family was originally in the wood furniture business. Just a few months ago, they got a big job, and the establishment of the school advocated by Zhang Ximeng began. It was like Jiang’s family ordered [-] sets of chairs and benches, worth more than One hundred thousand.

The Jiang family does a lot of business, but this is the first time I have seen such a large sum.

What surprised the Jiang family in particular was that, logically, there would be people who would ask for favors, pick at each other layer by layer, and try their best to steal it.This is in line with past experience.

And they also heard that Zhu Jiajun was not so friendly to merchants.

At first, the Jiang family was uneasy, but after placing the order, they realized that was not the case at all.

Zhu Jiajun paid special attention to the establishment of the school, and indeed sent people over many times, but they did not embarrass them, but asked if they needed help, if there were enough raw materials, and if there were enough manpower... After dealing with the government for many years, they can help solve the troubles Yes, it's the first time I've seen it.

What surprised Jiang's family even more was that Zhu's army paid money very happily. Basically, they paid the money with one hand and delivered the goods with one hand, without any delay.

Doing business with Zhu Jiajun is even smoother than doing business with ordinary businessmen.

Of course, there is a premise, that is, you need to pay commercial taxes according to the rules.However, since this is for students, the tax rate is not high, only 5.00%.

After a single transaction, there are [-] yuan in the account.

The old man Jiang Yuan sighed very much, "Zhu Jiajun is worthy of being the teacher of the king. If you want me to say, this world will belong to Zhu Jiajun sooner or later. If you can follow Zhu Jiajun, you will surely be able to rise to the top and shine on your family."

Jiang Yuan glanced at his son Jiang Ke, and said to him: "This time, you must do your best to win the job of grain chief. It won't be easy for you!"

Jiang Ke nodded repeatedly.

According to Zhu's army's rules, the post of food chief is usually held by rich households with many fields, many Dings, and a lot of taxes and grains.

Jiang's family is a family of merchants. Although they have a lot of money, they don't have much land. When they equalized the land, their family only handed in less than [-] mu.

As far as Ding Duo is concerned, the Jiang family is not next to each other. Jiang Yuan is already over 60, and has only one son, Jiang Ke, and a young daughter. Strictly speaking, only his son, Jiang Ke, is considered a Ding, and the old man can already get rid of Ding Ji. .

Because there is not much land, there are not many natural taxes and food.

No matter how you look at it, the Jiang family is not qualified to be the grain chief.

However, the Jiang family also has an advantage, that is, they are engaged in the timber business, and they own a chariot and horse dealership, with livestock, horse-drawn carriages, and some coachmen.

Tax food is real food, and it needs to be transported long distances, even rich families may not be able to afford it!

Therefore, once the grain is transported, in addition to the extra livestock and vehicles of the grain growers, ordinary households also need to send young and strong people to help them carry it long distances, which is very hard.

The Jiang family promised to the common people in the area that as long as they were allowed to serve as food chiefs, they did not need to recruit civilian husbands, and the Jiang family would be responsible for all of them.

Not only transportation, but also loss. All in all, they will send the grain to Jinling smoothly.

Relying on the money ability, he finally snatched the job of grain chief.

Since the summer grain harvest began, the waves of wheat have surged, golden and endless.

Another bumper year.

For ordinary people, there is nothing more touching than these two words.

If there was one, it would be Juntian.

The land belongs to him, and the food is also his own. As long as he pays enough land tax, he can enjoy a good harvest.

The Jiang family is also well-informed, but this is the first time they have seen the common people scrambling to pay the land tax, and many of the common people have paid more.

Because they all know that the loss on the road is still very large.

"Young Master Jiang, thank you for your hard work, but you must send it to Jinling and give it to Duke Wu!"

Jiang Ke clasped his fists, "Relax folks, I will deliver it safely."

The 1 shi grains were all prepared, and Jiang Ke was responsible for loading the trucks himself, making sure everything was safe.When he was busy all night, a peasant held a torch and somehow bumped into a horse pulling a cart.

The horse in pain immediately galloped half a carload of grain, and hit Jiang Ke, not only knocked him down, but also the wheel ran over his thigh.

click!

Broken bones!

Jiang Ke was so painful that he passed out, but before he lost consciousness, there was only one thought left, it was broken, he was going to start at dawn, his leg was broken, his father was old, and he had no brothers, so it is difficult for the younger sister to Is Jiang Nan going to Jinling instead of herself?

Chapter 227 It's all here to buy food

Rice-wheat rotation is mostly used in the Yangtze River Basin, with two crops a year, that is, winter wheat is planted, and after one harvest, rice is planted again for the harvest of the year.

In other words, summer grain is mainly wheat, while autumn grain is mainly rice.

Li Shanchang led his six local officials to collect taxes and food, which was more than enough.Zhang Ximeng didn't need to care too much, but Zhang Ximeng soon discovered a problem. There were too many people staring at Zhu Jiajun Xia Liang.

First of all, Fang Guozhen, this guy sent his son Fang Guan here, this young master Fang went around eating and drinking all day long, entertaining guests, trying his best to curry favor with Zhu's army, of course, they were mainly civil servants who could manage food.

Chen Youding from Fujian also sent people over, the price is negotiable, and they also want 20 shi.

Apart from Chen Youding, the most surprising thing was that Zhang Shicheng also sent someone over.This guy doesn't mention things about Hangzhou, doesn't care about Miao Bing, or even the world-famous painting. Zhang Shicheng only talks about the alliance between the two sides when they divided the two Huaihe Rivers. good!

There are already three companies here to get food, and Liu Futong's Han and Song regimes have the biggest appetite. .

No matter what the conditions, as long as there is food, they will agree.

Liu Futong completely put on a casual knife, I just came to be slaughtered, you have the final say!

Looking around, except for Tianwan, all other forces have come, and they can all make up a mahjong table.

No matter how dull Zhang Ximeng was, he knew that things were not easy.

Although the lack of food is normal, but the lack of this kind of food is stunned.

Zhang Ximeng felt that he couldn't take it lightly, so he immediately invited Jia Lu and Zhu Sheng, and then Wang Guangyang, let's discuss it quickly, what happened...

"According to my calculations, in the lands south of the Yangtze River and north of the Yangtze River, you can get more than 180 million shi for summer grain alone. However, no matter how much grain there is, it can't support so many mouths... and now it seems that grain is already a very important thing. Weapons. How powerful is this weapon? We need to know, but don’t sell gold for copper money!”

When Zhang Ximeng said this, several people were shocked. Zhu Sheng proposed to build high walls and accumulate grain widely. His views on grain are naturally very clever.

"Fang Guozhen and Chen Youding, they may not be short of food. Don't look at the mountains and fields along the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian, but they are enough to support themselves. If I'm not wrong, they get food for their own use and sell it at a high price. After all, they have a fleet in their hands! Even if they send it to Dadu, it is also possible."

Zhang Ximeng nodded, "That's right, now that the Yuan court has cut off the grain in the south of the Yangtze River, and they have to raise soldiers and fight wars, the food shortage is indeed very large. I remember that before the Southern Expedition, the price of food in most cities soared ten times." times, I'm afraid it won't be cheap now. No matter how much we charge, these two second-hand dealers can earn back doubled."

Zhu Sheng nodded, "That's true. Next is Zhang Shicheng. I think his situation may not be so simple... Zhang Shicheng swallowed Suzhou and Hangzhou. There are millions of people in the city alone. The land of Suzhou and Hangzhou, Although there is no shortage of land, Zhang Shicheng is greedy for profit. Not only will he not stop overseas trade, but he will intensify it, so that the food shortage will be obvious."

Zhu Sheng analyzed this point, and was also a little confused, "These three families are both at the top and bottom, greedy for money and profit, there is nothing difficult to understand... But Liu Futong occupies the land of the Central Plains, and I heard that he also made some frivolous taxes, Regarding granting land to the common people, it seems that his food shortage should not be so big, what went wrong?"

Wang Guangyang pondered: "Mr. Fenglin, I have been to Bozhou, but I heard people say that in recent years, floods and droughts have continued, fertile fields have reduced production, and sandstorms and salinity have been very severe. And I don't want to plow the fields... All in all, Liu Futong's side is indeed very difficult!"

Listening patiently to Wang Guangyang's description, Zhang Ximeng looked at Jia Lu subconsciously. If he guessed correctly, these situations sound familiar, and Jia Lu should know it best!

Sure enough, Jia Lu heaved a long sigh, his face full of helplessness and misery.

"The people's livelihood is difficult, and it is the Yellow River... I am ashamed of the common people!"

Jia Lu brought a map, and several people gathered together, including Zhu Sheng, who didn't know much about these things, so he pricked up his ears and listened carefully.

"Look, once the Yellow River breaches and floods the Central Plains, what harm will it cause? Is it a flood?"

Wang Guangyang said: "My lord, water and fire are ruthless, isn't it the most serious flood?"

"No!"

Jia Lu shook his head, "I want the old man to say that this flood is the lightest, and the terrible thing is yet to come!"

Zhu Sheng also asked curiously: "People often say that after a catastrophe, there must be a catastrophe, but the plague?"

Jia Lu still shook his head, "This is all temporary, and the real killer is yet to come. Half of the water in the Yellow River is filled with sand. When the river bursts its embankment, the sand will overflow, and it will flood the fertile fields. When the water recedes, the sand will stay. .The sand is the real problem!"

Zhu Sheng's heart moved, and he couldn't help but said: "Can you explain in more detail?"

"The sandy soil covers the original fertile soil. If we continue to grow food, the yield will decrease. Moreover, the sandy soil has a problem, that is, when it encounters rain, it cannot hold water and cannot grow vegetation... The result of this is that every drought , the drought will cultivate, and the flood will be more violent!"

Zhu Sheng took a deep breath, "There is still such a thing?"

Jia Lu said solemnly again: "Not only that, if there is a lot of sandy soil, there will be more wind disasters, and the dust will be rolled up in the sky, and the crops will be lost. In addition, wherever there is a lot of sandy soil, locust plagues will also increase. This is the truth, old man I still can’t comprehend it for a while!”

Zhang Ximeng, who was listening patiently, suddenly coughed, "This... is related to the habits of locusts. They lay eggs in sandy soil, hatch larvae, and form a plague of locusts."

Jia Lu was also surprised. He saw Zhang Ximeng's words were firm, and he also knew that the young man's family background must be reasonable. He would just ask for advice when he had time.

"Besides, some prefectures and counties are low-lying, with accumulated floods that can't be drained out. After a long time, the ground is similar to the salt ponds in Shaanxi and other places. The saline-alkali is poor, and it is even impossible to cultivate! Once this step is reached, it is really the end of the mountain. Even if you grow food, you may not be able to harvest it, not to mention paying the land tax, even if you support yourself, it will be very difficult."

Jia Lu explained patiently, and Zhang Ximeng interjected from time to time. Gradually, they finally analyzed what happened in the Central Plains clearly... The source of everything is on the Yellow River, and the disaster caused by the breach of the Yellow River is definitely not a flood that destroyed the people. Houses are as simple as how many people have been washed away.

After the Yellow River flooded, it destroyed the entire ecosystem and caused all-round disasters.As the most powerful water conservancy expert in the world, Jia Lu has also seen all aspects of the matter.

The flood of sediment first destroys the fertile farmland... Although the nutrient-rich river mud can be used as fertilizer, this is not the case with the massive sediment washed down by the flood. The sediment does not carry much nutrients and covers the land. cause soil desertification.

And the sandy soil can't store water, and it can't grow dense vegetation.

The result is that the drought dies, and the flood dies.

After the desertification of the soil, sandstorms and locust plagues followed one after another. In addition, in some places, the accumulated water could not be drained out, resulting in salinization.

One disaster after another, all fell on the heads of the common people.

Therefore, the consequences of the flooding of the Yellow River are very serious, and usually decades or hundreds of years may not be resolved.

Today's flooding of the Yellow River can be traced back to the Yellow River breach in the Northern Song Dynasty... However, in the battle for the return of the Yellow River in the Northern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River tossed only the land of Hebei.

Then Du Chong in the Southern Song Dynasty dug up the Yellow River again, showing off the use of water to replace soldiers.

The result is the land of the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, which is also suffering from floods.

On the land of the Central Plains, a huge yellow flooded area in the shape of a fan surface appeared.

This area stretches for several provinces, during which there are tens of millions of living beings, all of whom suffer unspeakably because of this Yellow River.

The lesson of history lies here, a certain Huayuankou God of War, how embarrassing!

Otherwise, Lankao is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains. It should be a treasure land with beautiful water and soil, but it has been troubled by salinity, sandstorms, floods and droughts all year round. The reason is the ecological collapse caused by the Yellow River breach.

Even if you try your best, it will take several generations to barely recover some vitality.

It is really hard to appreciate the hardships if you are not in it.

"At the beginning, the old man blocked the Beihe River, dredged the South River, and diverted the water of the Yellow River into the sea from the old way. He just wanted to save thousands of lives. However, because of the old man's control of the river, it caused a catastrophe. Countless people fell into the pain of war. The land of the Central Plains is full of people. The displaced hungry people... old man, this old man is guilty of the heavens! They deserve to die!"

When Jia Lu said this, he was already crying and unable to speak.

Zhu Sheng took a deep breath, only then did he realize that the flooding of the Yellow River is so terrible, and how urgent it is to control the Yellow River!

"Up to now, the Yuan court is incompetent, causing endless disasters. Sooner or later we will find a way to clean up the mess...By the way, the Yellow River is also flooding in Haozhou and other places. How is the situation?"