Da Ming Tai Shi

Chapter 250 The Central Plains Restoration Project and the National Abolition of Slavery Act

"Next, the Ministry of Household Affairs will report to the cabinet on the number of Dingkou households and the number of acres of land in the first year of Yongle."

On the first day of April in the first year of Yongle, the regular office meeting of the cabinet was held in Wenhua Hall presided over by Chen Yunfu.

In addition to the five cabinet ministers, Cai Xuan, the envoy of the general government, and Ge Xun, the minister of the household department, attended the meeting.

The latter was named by Chen Yunfu, and Dingkou and Tian Mukan got up to report after taking out the latest report.

"Zhejiang Chief Secretary counts households, 210, 220 and [-] households.

Ding one thousand four hundred and eighty-seven thousand five hundred and sixty-seven.

There are 17 hidden households with four members.

There are 150 households counted by the Jiangxi Chief Secretary.

Ding 890 eighty-two thousand four hundred and eighty one.

There are 680 hidden households.

There are 77 households in Huguang Chief Secretary.

Ding 470 mouths.

There are 39 hidden households, and 420 households in Yongshun Prefecture.

There are 81 households counted by the Chief Secretary of Fujian Province.

Ding 390 [-].

There are fifty-six thousand four hundred and forty-nine hidden households.

There are 33 households in Hebei and Beiping Prefecture.

Ding 190 twenty-six thousand five ninety five.

There are 630, [-] three hidden households.

There are 75 households counted by the Chief Secretary of Shandong Province.

Ding 520 fifty-five thousand 870 six.

Hidden households, 11 and seven people.

There are 59 households counted by Shanxi Chief Secretary.

Ding four hundred and seventy-two thousand one hundred and twenty-seven.

There are 430 hidden households.

There are 31 households counted by the Chief Secretary of Henan Province.

Ding 190 540 [-] two.

There are 610, [-] and three hidden households.

There are 29 households counted by the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province.

Ding 230 560 nine.

There are 4 hidden households.

There are 21 households counted by the Chief Secretary of Sichuan

Ding 140 sixty-six thousand seven seven seven eight.

There are 420 hidden households.

Guangdong Chief Secretary counts households, 67 and nine households
Ding 300 two.

Hidden households, 29 people.

There are 21 households counted by the Chief Secretary of Guangxi.

Ding 140 eighty-two thousand four hundred and eighty one.

There are 14 hidden households with six members.

There are 570 households counted by the Chief Secretary of Yunnan.

Ding 25.

There are four thousand and 260 hidden households.

There are 1901 households in Zhili.

Ding one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four thousand two hundred and one.

There are 39 hidden households.

There are 24 households in Liaodong.

Ding 190 twenty-four thousand five hundred and sixty seven.

No hidden household.

In addition, according to the requirements of the cabinet, Guizhou, Ganxi, Qinghai and Meng Qiwei are not included in this statistics and will be combined.

The total number of households in the country is 90 and 570 households.

Ding six thousand 240 eighty-eight thousand 640 two.

There are a total of 190 people in Yinhu and Yongshunfu.

The total number of fields in the country is 76 mu. Last year, the tax and grain was nearly 360 million shi. According to the ratio of 3000 to 18 tax set by Hongwu in [-] years, the total grain output of the country last year was [-] Billion stones, the yield per mu is only more than one stone.

The above is the total number of all household registers, Dingkou, and fields in the country, and it will be reported to the cabinet for information. "

With the end of Ge Xun's report, Chen Yunfu finally stopped tapping his fingers on the table.

He already had an approximate number in his mind.

There are more than 400 million Dingkou and 5000 million mu of grain fields. This number is not much different from the Hongwu Dynasty itself in history.

In addition, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's consistent policy core of persuading farmers to teach farming and mulberry, lightening taxation and reducing taxes, the vitality of the Ming Dynasty did recover rapidly and even reached its peak in just a short Hongwu period.

However, there is one point here that makes Chen Yunfu question.

"How can the yield per mu be more than one stone? Among them, some areas in the south of the Yangtze River even produce twice a year. Could it be that the yield per mu can't even reach a hundred catties?"

Thinking about the grain output of future generations, not to mention the technological product of hybrid rice, it is at least five or six hundred catties per mu.

Even if one catty in the Ming Dynasty was 120% more than that in later generations, that one hundred catties would only meet the [-] catties of the later generations, which is unreasonable.

What's more, as early as the Song Dynasty, according to the records of "Hejian Zhi" and "Song Huiyao", the output of rice at that time was already [-] pebbles per mu.

According to the measurement unit of the Song Dynasty, 340 pebbles should be converted into a range of [-] to [-] jin.

How could the output per mu in the Ming Dynasty drop to one-third of that in the Song Dynasty?

In addition, if Chen Yunfu remembers correctly, according to the data of many Chinese agricultural history studies, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the rice yield per mu in Jiangnan was 570 seven catties!

Even if this number has a certain amount of moisture, the fluctuation up and down cannot exceed [-]%, and it must account for more than five hundred catties, which is three stones.

The number of acres of fields in the south of the Yangtze River is more than half of that of the Ming Dynasty, which is more than 4 million mu. It should be more than a billion shi. This is good, and the country's 8 million mu of fields has only produced more than 9 million shi of grain.

The [-] million shi was allocated to the people of the whole country, and each commoner was only allocated [-] shi of grain. Of course, there must be more than enough to eat.

But this data is indeed watery, and too watery.

Ge Xun explained: "The calculation of acres of land is a general calculation by the local government. In fact, a large number of fields are uncultivated fields, and the number of Dingkou in the north is far less than that in the south of the Yangtze River. Many families often allocate [-] acres of land. I can't take care of it.

Therefore, at present, [-]% of the country's annual revenue depends on Jiangnan. "

It is not good news if there are too many people and too much land to cultivate.

Chen Yunfu continued to ask: "What is the ratio of the per capita field in the south of the Yangtze River?"

Ge Xun replied: "If calculated according to the total number, then it is about [-] mu of land per capita, but not all of these [-] mu of land are cultivated by people. If tenants and tenants are considered, then the per capita land holding in Jiangnan The number is about six acres and eight minutes."

"The total is [-] mu, but in fact there is only [-] mu of land. In other words, the population and acres of land in the south of the Yangtze River have not yet reached saturation. Is that what you mean?"

Ge Xun nodded: "Only one Jiangnan is enough to enable 500 million people to reach six mu of land per capita. Calculated at saturation, it can produce more than 13 billion shi of grain per year. In other words, the country relies on one Jiangnan, and taxation and grain can For more than 200 million shi, this is still a ratio of [-] to [-] tax.

In fact, since the 18th year of Hongwu, the imperial court has set a policy of one tax per 18, the purpose of which is to encourage farming and mulberry and stimulate the increase of cultivated land. However, in the end, the amount of cultivated land has not increased because cultivated land needs people. It has only been seven years since the [-]th year of Hongwu, and it is not enough for a generation to grow up.

After 30 or even 9000 years, when Dingkou is rich enough to reach [-] or even [-] million, the national policy of [-] tax per [-] yuan will be changed. The low price of grain will hurt farmers, and follow the example of the Tang and Song Dynasties. is a reasonable tax code. "

Seeing that Ge Xun could give accurate data one by one, Chen Yunfu nodded in satisfaction.

"Thank you Ge Butang, please sit down."

After talking with Ge Xun, Chen Yunfu said: "Several cabinet elders have also heard that this year's Dingkou and Tianmu accounting work is over. You can talk about what you think."

Among them, Shao Zhi knew Chen Yunfu's plan best, so he took the words directly.

"I don't know what the young masters and elders think, but I find it shocking that there are nearly 200 million hidden households among the 200 million Dingkou in the country.

What is a hidden household is nothing more than changing the name of a servant who lives in the mansion of a dignitary.

200 million people, this is more than the population of Henan Province, and most of these more than 200 million people are still young, neither old nor children.

They can completely plow tens of millions of acres of grain fields for my Ming Dynasty, weave millions more bolts of silk cloth, and even carry knives and guns to open up thousands of miles of territory for my Ming Dynasty.

Now they are all living in the dark without seeing the light of day. The old man is very sad. The old man thinks that if he wants to make the country rich, this hidden household can no longer be held in his hands. Let it multiply and let it fill the place. "

"How does Mr. Shao Ge plan to release?" Qi De asked: "They have no land and land, and they are all released rashly. If they don't have a livelihood, they will become 200 million refugees. That will turn the world upside down.

What's more, back then, the Supreme Emperor issued an edict to release the slaves, and he even mentioned the official as a redemption. Now there are 200 million hermits in the world, and the imperial court came forward to buy them. Does the imperial court have so much money, so Mr. Shaoge's proposal is too urgent. I In charge of the household department, I know much more about how much money is in the treasury than Mr. Shaoge. "

Xu Ben frowned: "It is indeed difficult for an official to redeem and buy, but Mr. Shao Ge said a lot. What's the point of keeping 200 million hermits? It's better to release them."

Just as Qi De was about to speak, Chen Yunfu's voice suddenly rang out.

"Ge Bu Tang."

Ge Xun hurriedly responded: "The next official is here."

"When you are counting these hidden households, have you specifically calculated the ratio of male to female?"

Ge Xun was stunned for a moment, and immediately said: "Young master, wait a moment, I will go to the household office to have a look, there must be some."

"Let someone from the household department deliver it."

Chen Yunfu turned his head and said, Yang Shiqi, who was sitting not far behind Chen Yunfu, hurriedly got up and left the Wenhua Palace, and hurried back with an official from the household department after a while.

Those who came did not dare to delay, and hurriedly reported the specific numbers.

“除永顺府外，全国一共有1507万两千340九口隐户，其中女子98万四千720人，男丁58万七千620九人。”

Chen Yunfu nodded, and said to the crowd: "The so-called female hermits should be maidservants, maidservants, etc., 98. If this is released, our bachelors in the Ming Dynasty will celebrate the New Year."

Everyone couldn't help laughing.

"What Young Master said is true. If we really want to match 98 bachelors with wives, in a few years, our Ming Dynasty will be born with millions of new people." Shao Zhi took the words and said: "But Young Master, It’s not just bachelors who celebrate Chinese New Year, there are also 58 unmarried people.”

"That's right, right, look at Benfu, it's not good, it's not good, it's not good, it's not good."

Chen Yunfu smiled and sang two oboe lines with Shao Zhi, and then his face straightened.

"Everyone, let's discuss how to release these 150 million hidden households."

"Listening to what the young master said, is it necessary to let go?"

Chen Yunfu smiled at Qi De: "How can this be said to be the meaning of Benfu? If Mr. Qi Ge has any opinions, he can raise them. Later, we will hold a plenary meeting of the cabinet and everyone will vote together. After it is passed, it will be the collective opinion of the cabinet." Meaning, if it doesn’t work out, that’s what the cabinet meant, and Bensuke must obey.”

Let's talk about the plenary meeting again. Who doesn't know that among the 18 members of the cabinet, you, Chen Yunfu, won at least nine votes by yourself.

Instead of going through that cutscene, it's better to just make your own decisions.

Zid said with a sullen face: "Shnuzi is a big deal, how to settle down with only a million people is not a trivial matter."

"How did the Supreme Emperor release the slaves?" Chen Yunfu looked at Xu Huizu.

The latter didn't intend to open his mouth at first, but now that Chen Yunfu asked himself, he could only say: "The number of slaves who were released back then was not large. His Majesty the Supreme Emperor ordered a total of more than 400 military guards in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, about [-] Thousands of households, I can’t remember the exact number, it’s about the same.”

Chen Yunfu nodded, and then said to Ge Xunyan, "Henan is a large province in the Central Plains, and it has less than 200 million people?"

"Yes, when we fought in the early years, Henan could be said to be empty. Even though I have established the country for more than 20 years in the Ming Dynasty, Dingkou in Henan is still weak. In addition, since the 15th year of Hongwu, the Yellow River has returned. Later, in the 18th year of Hongwu's Northern Expedition As a result of corvée, many people in Henan moved away."

It's not easy for old cousins ​​in Henan.

Thinking about the future generations, the population of Henan has exceeded 200 million, but now it is good, the pitiful one is only [-] million.

It is estimated that there are not as many people as a county-level city in later generations.

"Hasn't the yellow troubles been eliminated now? The imperial court has spent so much money on the Ministry of Industry to deal with the yellow troubles. It should be useful."

Chen Yunfu pondered: "Well, now that the slaves have a direction, the provincial government will organize the hermit households in the province to move collectively to Henan to settle down. All the food consumption on the way will be fully borne by the household department. This is our Yongle Dynasty cabinet. The No. [-] policy since the formation of the cabinet is called the Central Plains Revival Plan!"

150 million and [-] hermits all moved to Henan to settle down!

As for the wastage on the road, it can be more. It will cost less than 50 shi. If it is calculated in terms of money, 20 taels will be enough.

"Notice to the Chief Envoy of Henan Province that the land will be allocated immediately after the entire collection is received."

Chen Yunfu then pondered again: "At the same time, set up weaving factories in Luoyang and Kaifeng, and select girls who can weave from those female hermits to form the Henan Weaving Bureau.

For the rest, pick some young men from the local military guards in Henan, and marry them as much as possible. The first requirement of the Central Plains Revival Plan is to hurry up and have children! "

Everyone laughed lowly, and then they all became thoughtful again.

Central Plains Revival Plan.

Talent is the most primitive productivity.

In such a huge Henan Province, there are only less than 200 million people, which is indeed too short of people.

"Young master, it seems like we haven't discussed how to redeem these 150 million [-] hermits." Qi De is still struggling with this point: "The imperial court doesn't have any."

"Who said the imperial court will come forward to redeem it?"

Chen Yunfu directly turned cold: "Today there is another agenda item in the cabinet, which is also the second cabinet policy of this year, the "National Abolition of Slavery Act"!"

"All the people of our Ming Dynasty, regardless of their origin, rich or poor, high or low, are not allowed to be slaves. Those who voluntarily sell themselves into slavery cannot be allowed to do so, and those who rob people and turn them into slaves must not be forgiven. Therefore, the release of hermits is a must. Mandatory, non-negotiable.

In addition, what is buying for the official's sake, hidden households are also people, they are not goods, let alone livestock, the word "buying" is not allowed to be used on the people of my Ming Dynasty.

The imperial court does not give a penny to those who release the hermits, but those who keep the hermits privately and do not release them will be punished as slavery. As for the specific statutory standards and penalty standards for the crime of slavery, after the meeting, Mr. Shao Ge will organize a joint meeting of the three law departments. discuss.

Now, let's vote on the No. [-] Central Plains Revival Policy and the No. [-] National Abolition of Slavery Act. "

Chen Yunfu stopped listening to any opinions, directly entered the voting process, and took the lead in raising his hand.

Followed by Shao Zhi and Xu Ben.

Zid moved his lips several times, and finally raised his hand.

Three votes were also passed, and four votes were also passed. There was no need for me to continue to fight against Chen Yunfu when the situation was done.

So far, the new cabinet has been formed, and the No. [-] and No. [-] documents in the true sense are officially promulgated.

Central Plains Restoration Project and the National Abolition of Slavery Act.

(End of this chapter)