Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 374 Good things keep coming
"Is this what you said can increase production by 20%?"

In the Wuying Palace, when Zhu Di stretched out his hand to grab the treated soil and fertilizer, Zhu Gaoxu said:

"To say 20% is a bit exaggerated, but there is no problem in stably increasing production by more than 10%."

"To make these things, you mainly need to obtain struvite from guano islands on the sea, and then mix it with some plant ash after processing. The fertility is much higher than farmyard manure."

"As for the experimental fields in Taixue, when no fertilizer is used in the experimental fields, the yield per mu is about 300 kilograms. When using farmyard manure, it can reach about 360 kilograms. However, the experimental fields using soil fertilizers have a yield of about 300 kilograms per mu. It can reach an average weight of four hundred kilograms."

Zhu Gaoxu reported the situation of the experimental fields and continued to report: "If I want to go into more detail, it would be the yield of paddy fields and irrigated fields."

"In the experimental fields using soil fertilizers at the Taixue Agricultural Institute, the average yield of irrigated fields was 400 jins, with a maximum of 462 jins, and the average yield of irrigated fields was 340 jins, with a maximum yield of 382 jins per mu."

"In addition, there are also studies in the north, among which the yields of the experimental fields of Jilin Agricultural Science are used."

"The average yield per mu of paddy fields is 167 jins, with a maximum of 185 jins; the average yield of irrigated fields is 122 jins per mu, with a maximum of 147 jins."

After talking about the data, Zhu Gaoxu continued:

Zhu Gaoxu had also thought about Zhu Di's idea, but he thought that allocating soil and chemical fertilizers to the military garrisons was too scattered.

"At present, our country only has a large amount of guano on the islands in the South China Sea. I have calculated that even if we arrange a hundred ships with 5,000 materials and horses, they can make at most three trips a year. Three trips can probably bring back 150,000 tons of guano. Stone, after production, can produce 450,000 tons of soil fertilizer."

With the good stuff, Zhu Di's first thought was to use it for military farming. After all, most of the output of military farming is still handed over to the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, and only in this way can the court's interests be maximized.

"If you want to use Su Song's Second Mansion, you have to start measuring the cultivated land..."

In this case, it is better to divide a certain area to facilitate management.

"Yes." Zhu Gaoxu knew that this was a sign of Zhu Di's uncertainty, so he explained in detail the changes he would make to Su Song's Second Mansion in the future.

As for this place, Zhu Gaoxu chose Suzhou and Songjiang.

He didn't say anything else, but Zhu Di understood what he meant.

Zhu Di murmured this amount, and he understood the benefits of this soil fertilizer with just a little calculation.

Zhu Gaoxu bowed and Zhu Di frowned slightly when he heard this: "I..."

"In that case, there is no problem."

He pondered for a long time without saying a word, and finally looked at Zhu Gaoxu and said: "I will help you convince them, and I will ask Ji Gang and Chen Ying to help you."

He also knew what the ton in Zhu Gaoxu's words was. One ton is one thousand kilograms, and one thousand kilograms of soil and fertilizer can take care of twenty acres of land.

When he heard that Zhu Gaoxu wanted to use Su Song's Second Mansion to build a soil and fertilizer demonstration area, Zhu Di reminded him of something in his words.

Firstly, most of the floods in these two prefectures have been controlled. Secondly, it is close enough to Nanyang, the Yangtze River and the canal. Thirdly, the grain yield per mu here is high and the cultivated land is vast enough.

The problem for the second government is that the quantity of farmland is not a problem, but the quality of farmland is a big problem, and the problem of household registration is even greater.

“Based on spreading 50 kilograms per acre, we can take care of at most 9 million acres.”

After he finished speaking, the whole Wuying Palace became quite quiet. Zhu Di's original gaze towards Tu Chemical Fertilizer was changed from the dislike of bird droppings to the importance of increasing the yield by 100 kilograms per acre.

"How about using this thing for the army to farm?"

The Second Prefecture has a population of nearly three million people and 14 million acres of cultivated land. It is also a place with extremely high yield per mu, with an average of two stones per mu.

"Nine million acres..."

Nine million acres may not seem like much, but nine million acres of land will produce an increase of one hundred catties, which is six million shi of grain.

"Based on experimental field data, the greatest benefits can be achieved by placing chemical fertilizers in the south of the Yangtze River, because the output of soil chemical fertilizers is very limited."

To tamper with Su Song's Second Mansion would be to tamper with the cake of most people above the temple.

Zhu Di was not an emperor who didn't know the people. He knew very well that many people in Jiangnan could not afford farmyard fertilizer. Therefore, for wealthy households, the emergence of soil fertilizers could increase production by forty kilograms at most, but for ordinary people, it could increase production by hundreds of kilograms. .

Almost all the officials and ministers who could be named in the court had purchased fields and houses in Su Song's Second Mansion.

As the two most prosperous prefectures among the six prefectures in Jiangdong, except Yingtian Prefecture, Susong Prefecture not only has 4% of the population of the Ming Dynasty, but also controls 10% of the land tax of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, they not only have a prosperous economy, but also have intricate relationships. .

"People born in Bohai can be persuaded by their sons and ministers."

Zhu Gaoxu returned the greeting, but Zhu Di asked: "You have to tell me first what you plan to do with the second house."

"Because struvite needs to be excavated to make it, and a 5,000-horse ship can recover at most 500 tons of struvite. After 500 tons of struvite and plant ash are made together, 1,500 tons of soil fertilizer can be obtained. Therefore, soil fertilizer production depends on struvite production and plant ash production.”

Such an existence can undoubtedly be called a 'national weapon'.

After saying this, Zhu Gaoxu did not forget to add: "Of course, this is when there is enough struvite. If there is not enough struvite..."

But if we want to concentrate the land for military settlements, it will undoubtedly be more difficult and affect more people.

Zhu Di looked at the soil fertilizer in the pocket in front of him, unable to move his eyes away, and his breathing became even more rapid.

Suzhou and Songjiang are geographically connected and are the most fertile and prosperous places in the south of the Yangtze River. Songjiang alone, with a capital of 800,000 shi per year, is a world-famous rice-producing area.

Under such climate, geographical and population conditions, it is undoubtedly the best place to intensively use soil fertilizers.

Zhu Di's hesitation was due to the civil servants and generals from the Yan Mansion. Once they could be persuaded, no one else could stop Zhu Di.

Zhu Gaoxu explained: "It's easy to talk about vegetation ash. There are as many as needed on the wasteland reclamation roads in Northeast China and Nanyang. The difficulty lies in struvite."

"What I want to do is to distribute soil fertilizers directly to the people of Songsan Prefecture in Suhu, and then collect taxes and buy grain locally."

"You said production is limited, how limited is that?"

It is precisely because of this that the division of cultivated land in Susong and Songfu is prone to problems.

"Susong Second Prefecture has a population of nearly three million and 14 million acres of cultivated land, but it bears a land tax of 3.85 million yuan."

"My minister believes that this land tax does not need to be reduced, and can even be slightly increased to four million dan."

"But the premise here is to measure the local field conditions and collect taxes based on the conditions of the cultivated land."

"Although this is a bit complicated, the imperial court only collects taxes in this way in the Susong Prefecture, and the number of district chiefs, grain chiefs, and officials dispatched will be twice that of ordinary prefectures."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, Zhu Di whispered: "Four million stones..."

He did a little calculation and found that if Zhu Gaoxu's suggestion was followed, the Susong Second Mansion would have to collect 42 kilograms of grain per mu of land.

"It's not easy to get people to switch from farmyard manure to soil fertilizer." Zhu Di reminded, looking at Zhu Gaoxu.

"How many people can afford farmyard manure?" Zhu Gaoxu asked Zhu Di, and at the same time he said:

"The fertilizer given by the imperial court is sold at one penny per catty, and if you produce a hundred catties of grain, you can still have three hundred and fifty or sixty catties after paying the tax, which is fifty or sixty catties higher than the original output. Today, the price of Susong rice At three cents per catty, people can earn more than a hundred cents per acre."

"Besides, even if it is farmyard fertilizer, it is not cheap. It requires at least three trucks per acre, and each truck costs thirty or forty cents. It is not cheaper than chemical fertilizers."

"As long as the imperial court gives out policies, I don't believe that people who can't afford farmyard fertilizer will use soil-based fertilizers."

Zhu Gaoxu is confident that no one understands farmers' desire to increase food production better than him.

Even if they become very conservative when faced with new things, as long as the officials in the court take the lead in using soil fertilizers, the people will rush to follow suit.

"What is your policy?" Zhu Di asked, and Zhu Gaoxu followed suit and said:

"The trend among the people is dominated by officials, and officials are dominated by the palace."

"My son is going to persuade the officials in Susong Youtian to use soil fertilizers and ask them to order publicity. At the same time, he will open official stores in the government offices of counties and towns to display and sell soil fertilizers in the name of the imperial court."

The "persuasion" he refers to is rather coercion. After all, the current officials have better control than the common people.

How many officials in Su Song's Second Mansion have clean fields, and they know it better than anyone else.

Zhu Gaoxu's admission this time about the fields in their hands can be said to have saved many people from jail.

After so many years of running the country, Zhu Gaoxu has almost looked away.

If the fields can be equalized, it will naturally be the best.

If it cannot be equalized, then strengthen taxation and administrative control. As long as the taxes can be collected and used rationally on the people, it will be conducive to managing the world.

Direct taxes such as land taxes, miscellaneous taxes, and commercial taxes are too troublesome to collect, but indirect taxes such as salt, tea, and iron are easier to collect.

If the current currency reserves of the Ming Dynasty were not enough to support the collection of currency taxes, Zhu Gaoxu even wanted to carry out tax reform in advance.

When the market is immature, if currency collection is carried out in advance, it will only be counterproductive. Zhang Juzheng's one-whip policy in the late Ming Dynasty was originally a good policy, but this policy had a strong "Pan-Jiangnan" doctrine.

This so-called "pan-Jiangnan" doctrine is to determine the national market based on the economic markets of the central and southeastern regions of the south of the Yangtze River, such as Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Huguang, and Jiangxi.

Against the background of the continuous influx of silver from the great voyages of the Ming Dynasty, the four provinces of Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Fujian that dealt in silk, porcelain, and tea were like factories, not only facing the ocean trade routes, but also in the industrial chain of production, processing, and sales. Steadily moving forward, the economy prospered.

Next came the two provinces of Guangdong and Huguang. The former joined the maritime trade as a merchant, while the latter continued to cultivate grain while extensively planting cotton and mulberry trees in the south of the Yangtze River, becoming a large granary after Susong, Changhu and other prefectures in Jiangdong.

Although there are fewer people growing grain in Jiangnan than before, they earn more from doing business and can buy grain from Huguang at high prices.

In other words, the silver flowing in from overseas basically poured into the pockets of these six provinces, which were also the first provinces to start currency marketization from east to west.

There is no problem in imposing monetary taxes on these places. This can be seen from the fact that Zhejiang in the late Ming Dynasty frequently shipped hundreds of thousands of taels.

But compared with them, the problems in other provinces of Ming Dynasty are worse.

Except for Shandong's gold mining situation in the entire north, the other provinces do not have much mining output at all. Therefore, after the one-whip law, it became normal for people in the north to sell grain for money and then use it to pay taxes.

The key point is that there are not many currency reserves among the people in the north. After the imperial court collected currency, it failed to centrally invest the southern currency in the north and distribute it to the people. Not too high.

If things go on like this, the currency reserves in the north will naturally become less and less, and money shortages will also begin to occur.

Coupled with the unresolved problem of official corruption, people's dissatisfaction with taxation and doubts about legal authority began to increase.

In this case, if the administration of officials is properly organized and appropriate policies are tilted toward the north, public opinion can still be saved, but by this time the Ming Dynasty has entered the seventeenth century.

With the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in Europe and the seclusion of the country by the Tokugawa Shogunate, these two world political changes occurred. The inflow of silver from the world into the Ming Dynasty began to decrease rapidly, while the outflow of copper coins brought by trade continued.

Not only that, the rise of the Jurchens in the Northeast and the spread of natural disasters in the Northwest have aggravated the already precarious financial problems.

These various problems are all problems that Zhu Gaoxu needs to prevent. Therefore, he does not blindly follow the world economy, but gradually turns the world economy into the domestic economy.

The silver and copper mines in the southwest, the gold and silver mines in Luzon and Japan, these minerals are important pillars of the monetization of the Ming Dynasty market.

As long as they can remain stable for decades and continue to transport gold, silver and copper mines to the mainland, then as the market's currency reserves gradually become sufficient and monetary policy tilts toward the north, the Ming Dynasty can begin to reduce direct taxes and increase indirect taxes.

The price of salt in the Ming Dynasty was undoubtedly the lowest in the history of the dynasties, and the illegal salt situation was also the most rampant.

Compared with the official salt of the Song Dynasty, which cost tens to hundreds of fen per kilogram, the price of official salt in the Ming Dynasty was only more than 10 fen, but even so, people still thought it was expensive. This was because private salt was too cheap.

In the early Ming Dynasty, illicit salt was not rampant, but according to Zhu Gaoxu's understanding, people basically ate more illicit salt, because illicit salt was five cents cheaper than official salt.

Although it is only five cents, if calculated, each of the 70 million people in the Ming Dynasty paid five cents less, and the court's income would be reduced by 350,000 yuan, not to mention that each person would have to eat a minimum of three kilograms of salt per year.

If private salt can be cut off and the price of salt can be bought and sold according to the normal official price, then the salt tax of Damingguang can be stabilized at around three million guan, and will continue to grow with the growth of the population.

In a situation like the Wanli period with a population of 150 million, the salt tax alone could collect 7 million guan. If the salt price was slightly raised, it would be absolutely no problem to collect a tax of 10 million guan.

After all, during the Wanli Period, even in a northwest city like Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, an ordinary laborer's daily salary could be maintained at 20 cents. The salary spent on salt in a year was only three days' work, and the whole family was only half a month. .

As long as this tax revenue can be used to improve people's livelihood, it will undoubtedly be beneficial to the entire world.

Thinking of the market currency issue, Zhu Gaoxu also said to Zhu Di:

"In the past seven years, the imperial court has harvested silver and copper ingots from the southwest and overseas and gone through the coin-making process. Now it has released more than 8 million guan to the people in the north through work-for-work relief, and more than 6 million guan to the south. In the treasury There are still more than six million guan in new money."

"Therefore, in this new policy for Su and Song's second government, I am also planning to use currency collection to test the situation in Jiangnan."

Zhu Gaoxu also had something to learn from the one-whip method, so he planned to use Su Song's Second Mansion as a pilot to collect currency taxes.

If this method is feasible, the imperial court will collect currency taxes in the south of the Yangtze River in the future, and then transfer the currency to the north through work-for-work relief to alleviate the money shortage in the north.

At the same time, the imperial court could invest part of the currency into the southern market, transport southern grain to the north, and accelerate the currency marketization of the inland southern provinces.

Once money marketization is achieved, indirect taxes can begin to be collected.

This is a big game. Even Zhu Gaoxu himself is a little messed up, let alone Zhu Di.

Regarding what Zhu Gaoxu said, Zhu Di just felt a headache: "In the future, you should handle this kind of thing yourself. Just tell me when you're done."

"Yes." Zhu Gaoxu also had a headache. He just felt that the economic knowledge he had could not support such a huge country.

Therefore, he had to discuss the specific policy content with Xia Yuanji, Huang Fu, Guo Zi and others before he could come up with the result.

"father……"

Zhu Gaoxu was about to say something more when he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

He looked back and saw Yi Shiha walking into the Wuying Palace with two memorials and bowing calmly: "I see you, Your Majesty, Your Highness."

"Your Highness, this is the memorial sent by Luzon and the Navy Governor's Office."

Yi Shiha handed the memorial to Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu first opened the memorial to the Navy Governor's Mansion, and then he breathed a sigh of relief after reading it.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaoxu also handed over the memorial:
"The imperial court needed plant ash, but it was too expensive to transport it from Southeast Asia and the Northeast. There were not enough mountains and forests in the south of the Yangtze River, so I set my sights on Xiaoliuqiu (Taiwan)."

"Xiaoliuqiu is still primitive. Although the area is not large, due to abundant rainfall and rich vegetation on the island, burning plant ash will not only facilitate future development, but also solve the plant ash problem."

"Plant ash and charcoal are all good resources that can solve the agricultural and firewood problems of the people in Jiangnan."

"My son was most worried about malaria and miasma on the island before. However, as the second voyage to the West begins, the imperial court will also obtain medicinal materials that can alleviate the symptoms of malaria from East China."

"Isn't it said that you can only get it by sailing to the West for the third time?" Zhu Di asked with a frown, but Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and said:
“The third voyage to the West was to obtain a large amount of tree bark, while the second voyage was to send an advance fleet after arriving at Cape Kunlun (Cape of Good Hope), where they learned the local language, searched for the animals and plants needed by the court, and waited for the third voyage. He made three voyages to the West and arrived there and acted as an intermediary to introduce both parties."

Zhu Gaoxu did not think that South Africa could support the huge supplies Zheng He needed. Therefore, before that, the imperial court would first send an advance team to South America to establish diplomatic relations and learn the other party's language to introduce both parties.

At the same time, the Xuanwei Division will also be built in the Kunlun Cape area to provide certain supplies for the fleet during its third voyage to the Western Ocean.

In this way, when Zheng He arrived in Central America on his third voyage to the West, he would be able to purchase supplies locally, and at the same time send a land advance team to the western region of Central America to build the Xuanwei Division.

When Zheng He returned to the Ming Dynasty, his voyages to the West came to an end, and would be replaced by the Daming Ocean (Pacific) trade activities to the East.

You only need to rent an island in the eastern part of Japan and the Ashikaga Shogunate to establish an official factory, and then follow the circulation of the North Pacific to reach western North America in about forty days, and head south in about ten days to reach the third expedition to the Western Ocean. Construction of Xuanwei Division supplies.

When we come back, we will follow the central Pacific circulation. Counting the time to avoid typhoons, we can return to Daming in two months at most.

Avoiding the two seasons of frequent typhoons in spring and winter, the fleet can basically make two trips a year.

As long as a Propaganda Department is established in Central America and South America respectively, and diplomacy and trade are established with the local areas, the next thing will be much simpler.

Even if it was unable to colonize, the Ming Dynasty could still obtain large amounts of gold, silver and copper ingots from the Americas with its excellent products and support the local government.

Compared with Ming Dynasty's options, Europe's options are much less.

Europe could not move eastward, so it could only move south and west. Therefore, they were destined to invade the Americas in the future. Because they did not have outstanding commodities like the Ming Dynasty, and they could not peacefully seize the local market, they had no choice but to use force.

The more frequently they use force, the more people in the Americas will lean towards the Ming Dynasty, causing Europe to fall into a difficult situation and have no choice but to start from Central Africa.

"It's a bit far-fetched."

Zhu Gaoxu returned his gaze and focused it on Zhu Di. Zhu Di also nodded and said after reading the Xiaoliuqiu military report:

"They said there is a natural port in the north that can be built. This is good news, but when are you going to land on the island?"

"If I remember correctly, Zheng He is still in Alisha Kingdom now, right?"

Arissa is also the later Indian state of Orissa. Zheng He has been cleaning up pirates in the local waterways in recent months, so he also seized a lot of things.

However, compared with the maintenance of the fleet, these things can be said to be nothing worth mentioning.

"It is difficult to mine struvite. Erchen is planning to form a fleet to mine struvite first, and then start developing Xiaoliuqiu after Zheng He brings back some bark and tree species."

"But before that, this little Ryukyu can be renamed Ryukyu Mansion, and no officials will be dispatched for the time being."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished explaining, Zhu Di nodded and said, "You can handle this matter yourself. What is the content of the other memorial?"

He curiously asked about the memorial from Luzon. Zhu Gaoxu also opened it and took a look at it, then handed it to Zhu Di with a smile on his face.

"This is even better news than before."

"More good news?" Zhu Di couldn't wait to take it, and then saw a row of "golden" words.

[Eight hundred miles north of Luzon City, gold was found in the earth...]

(End of this chapter)