Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1945, The Increase and Accumulation of Wealth in Agricultural Society

At a manor a hundred miles away from Anning City in Ningguo, Liu Yang, the left prime minister of Ningguo, was accompanying Liu Da to inspect various parts of the manor.

"Although our Ning country cannot compare with Daming, the manor economy is also developing very well. There are countless large and small manors in our entire Ning country, mainly planting sugar cane, cotton, tea, spices and other cash crops. The one in front of us The manor is mainly to grow sugar cane."

Liu Yang is the Prime Minister Zuo of Ningguo. It is reasonable to say that he is very busy with a lot of affairs every day. How can he have time to accompany people to visit the manor? But Liu Da in front of him is not an ordinary person. To be precise, his father is not an ordinary person. He is the chief assistant of the cabinet of Ming Dynasty.

This Ming's chief assistant is equivalent to the prime minister in ancient times, the head of civil servants, and his status in Ningguo is almost the same. Of course, Ningguo can't compare with Daming.

There seems to be no comparison between myself and Liu Jin. The other party is the chief assistant of the cabinet who was born as the number one scholar in the Eight Classics.

However, this was not the main reason why he came to accompany Liu Da in person. Liu Jin was Liu Jin, and Liu Da was Liu Da, and it was already a face for Liu Jin to meet him.

The reason why I want to accompany me to see it is because I heard from Liu Da that this time I will go to South Africa.

As for the situation in the South African colony, everyone is of course very clear. Liu Da went to the South African colony, which was obviously arranged by Liu Jin, in preparation for taking over the South African colony in the future.

This also means that the young man in front of him will control the huge colony of South Africa in the future, and he can decide on incomparably huge interests and relationships. It is also beneficial and harmless for Ning to have a good relationship with him now.

Liu Da took a look at the huge manor in front of him. The manor covers a very large area, with tens of thousands of acres of land, and the owner of the land belongs to a Ming. Large tracts of huge land, plus certain slaves.

Gradually, the land became larger and larger, gradually forming the manor economy and plantation economy that are spread all over Ning country today. The owners of the manor or plantation are basically Ming people or slaves who have made contributions. Native Tianzhu aborigines.

In Ningguo, where the caste system is practiced, the people of Daming belong to the highest caste and are the people of God. As for the people of other castes, they all serve the people of God.

Brahmins and Kshatriyas are responsible for helping with management, while Vekas and Sudras are free farmers and handicraftsmen. As for the untouchables and slaves, they are the existence of farming and working for the people of God. Only the hard work of this life Work hard, suffer hardships, and be reborn as a high caste in the next life.

Under such propaganda and religious spirit, Ningguo's rule has always been very stable. In addition, Ningguo also knows some methods of winning people's hearts and ways of governing the country, so Ningguo has always been governed well.

In the manor in front of me, hundreds of slaves, low castes, and untouchables are constantly working in the fields, and the sun is shining on their heads, which makes people's scalp crack.

However, they are working without complaint or regret, and they are everywhere in the dense sugarcane forest.

The very interesting thing is that these people are obviously doing farm work and dirty work, but they are divided into several lineups. The low-caste Sudras and Vekas are a group, and they only have the same caste as themselves Work together.

Slaves and slaves are also a group. They gather together in an area to do things. The untouchables are the most unpopular, with the largest number and the most tiring work.

What's more important is that these untouchables have no chance to touch the Ming people. When they see the Ming people, they have to dodge far away and kneel down, lest they step on the shadow of the noble Ming people. In that case, they may be beaten to death.

And under the big uncle not far away, several Daming people gathered together, drinking herbal tea while watching the slaves, untouchables and people of low caste working.

They were accompanied by a group of Brahmins and Kshatriyas who were carefully serving them. Their identities were housekeepers, servants, and servants. They were responsible for serving the Ming people and conveying the orders of the Ming people.

Soon, these people noticed Liu Yangzheng, Liu Da and a group of people. Zheng Xianyi, the owner of the manor, came here in a hurry with his people.

Because he had already noticed the official uniforms that Liu Yangzheng was wearing on the people around him, so he knew that he was an official.

"Zheng Xianyi has met all your lords!"

Zheng Xianyi came to the side of Liu Yangzheng, Liu Da and others, and saluted respectfully.

"You came just in time, I have something to ask you here."

Liu Yangzheng nodded, motioning for Zheng Xianyi to come closer and speak. As for his housekeeper and servants, they couldn't go there because they were blocked by Liu Yangzheng's guards.

"Excuse me, my lord~"

Zheng Xianyi quickly said respectfully.

"How big is your manor, and how many people are there?"

"How much cane sugar can be produced in a year?"

Liu Da looked at Zheng Xianyi and asked.

Zheng Xianyi first looked at Liu Da, and saw that although Liu Da was not wearing an official uniform, he was standing in the core position, walking with Liu Yangzheng beside him, his status was obviously unusual.

"The area of ​​my manor is more than 5 mu. Currently, there are 1500 slaves and untouchables. In addition, during the busy farming season, I will also hire some people of low caste to work."

"In terms of output, about 5 million catties of sugarcane can be produced a year, and one season of rice can be planted every year, with an output of about 1500 million catties."

"I don't boil sugar myself. The sugar cane is mainly sold to nearby sugar factories. 5 million catties of sugar cane can be sold for about 2 taels of silver. The rice grown is mainly used for slaves and untouchables. No matter how much it counts, it can’t be sold for much money, so it is also used to raise pigs, chickens and ducks, and occasionally to improve food for the untouchables and slaves.”

After thinking about it for a while, Zheng Xianyi truthfully told the income of his manor.

Because it is on the Tianzhu continent, there is plenty of light, heat, and precipitation here, so rice can be grown three times a year, but now the grain can’t be sold at a high price, so basically rice is planted for one season, and then sugarcane or It's cotton, spices, things like that.

Mainly grow cash crops, supplemented by food crops, cash crops are used to sell money, and food crops are mainly used to feed the huge slaves and untouchables under their hands.

Slaves and untouchables are the private property of the manor owner. The slaves are bought or distributed by Ningguo. As for the untouchables, they used to farm and work for the high-caste Brahmin Kshatriya on this land.

But after the Ming people came, the land was taken back to Ningguo, and then distributed to the immigrant Daming people. These untouchables naturally became the private property of the new owner of the land and worked for the manor owner.

Of course, the manor owner is also responsible for feeding the slaves and the untouchables, not only feeding them, but also supporting their families, but the families of these slaves and untouchables also need to work for the manor owner.

"More than 1500 people produce about 2 taels of silver a year, and each person is only more than ten taels of silver a year."

"It takes more than 5 people to cultivate 1500 mu of land, which is too inefficient."

After Liu Da listened, he calculated silently.

On the way here, he has been to the plantations in Ryukyu and Nanyang. There are no slaves in the Ryukyu plantations. In the case of expensive manpower, either a lot of machinery is used for farming, or the planting of sugar cane is reduced.

Although there are a large number of slaves in Nanyang, the number of slaves is far less than that in Tianzhu, so it is also possible to see a large number of mechanized planting.

In addition, Liu Da has also been to the Liaodong region, and has seen with his own eyes the high efficiency of mechanized agriculture in the Liaodong region. The agriculture that uses a large number of cultivators, seeders, and harvesters is frighteningly efficient.

Thousands of acres of land can be easily cultivated, harvested, etc. only by a husband and wife. There is no need for so many people like the manor in front of us.

However, it seems that the manor owner is very satisfied with his current life.

After all, you don't need to work hard by yourself, just sit and eat and drink for a year, and these slaves and untouchables will create wealth for themselves.

More than 2 taels of silver a year, this income is very considerable. You must know that the annual income of workers in the Beijing-Tianjin area of ​​the Ming Dynasty is less than 100 taels of silver.

How could he be dissatisfied with his current life?
But soon Liu Da discovered a problem.

That is such a model, the growth of the economy and wealth is actually very problematic.

First of all, the growth of the economy and wealth is very slow. Relying on land to develop agriculture, such a huge piece of land and a labor force of more than 1500 people can only produce an output value of 2 taels of silver a year.

But if it is in the Beijing-Tianjin area, a random workshop employing dozens of people will produce tens of thousands of taels of silver a year, and only a little land is needed.

In addition, there is also a big problem in the distribution of wealth. The wealth is concentrated in the hands of the manor owner. As for the slaves, untouchables and their families, the wealth they can get is very small, and they only get some food for use. Just survive.

Under such a distribution method, social wealth is highly concentrated, and this consumption capacity cannot be released. It seems that wealth is constantly accumulating and growing, but overall, the growth rate of this wealth is extremely slow.

And this is also the situation and situation faced by the Ming Dynasty in the past. Land and wealth were highly concentrated in the hands of a few landlords and gentry, and the land and wealth owned by farmers and tenants were extremely pitiful.

With the continuous annexation of land, this kind of contradiction began to emerge continuously. Once there was a famine, there would inevitably be wars and smoke everywhere, and the people would be in dire straits.

This is also the case in Ningguo now.

"No wonder my father said that agriculture can only maintain food and clothing. If we really want to get rich, we still have to rely on industry. The difference in production efficiency is really too big!"

Liu Da quickly came to a conclusion that in the future South Africa should focus on the development of industry, and there would be no future for agriculture.

(End of this chapter)