Reborn Regent of Ming Dynasty

"Yellow paper won't work, you need better paper."

"It's a pity that I don't have one at home. Otherwise, I would ask you to roll it up and show it to me now. However, if you use paper like this, will there be ghosts and gods?"

"Schools make up things that don't have a shadow, and it's frightening. Just use the paper you've written on."

"Shou-jen is well-informed and knowledgeable, it's right to listen to you!"

"Hehe, if there is a chance, I will definitely show it to my father."

The two smokers were very speculative. There was no topic just now, and now they found the key to communication, and they talked very well.On the side, Lin Wenyuan laughed, while the women in the kitchen were in a daze.

On the contrary, Lin Yunniang saw that Langjun liked smoking so much, so she remembered it in her heart, and planned to go to the room when she had some free time, and pick some good tobacco for Zhang Shouren to take back.

People at that time didn't know that tobacco was harmful to the body, even if Zhang Shouren knew it, he wouldn't say it.These days, war and malnutrition are the most murderous killers, and nicotine is far from it.

While speaking, Zhang Shouren had a vague idea, but he couldn't be sure, it was just vague, hard to grasp, hard to figure out, like a fleeting shadow, not very reliable.

"How's the field work? It's easy, isn't it?"

After chatting about the tobacco for a while, Zhang Shouren saw that his father-in-law's feet were covered with mud, obviously not long after returning from the field, so he asked about the work in the field again.

"I'm not tired. Although I'm an old bone, it's still strong. Besides, I'm just planting for fun now, and only half of the land is left for planting. It's too hot and there's a lot of grass. I don't want to hoe for a day. No. Also, pick some water if you can, but it doesn’t work, the weather is too dry and there is too little rain, alas.”

This refers to the land conditions in the entire north at that time. The weather during the Little Ice Age was much colder and drier than normal.

The annual rainfall is astonishingly low, with no rain in summer and no snow in winter.If there is no rain, there will be drought. If there are insects and weeds, the production will definitely decrease. If there is no snow in winter, the crops will not be able to withstand the severe cold and will freeze to death. Moreover, it is too dry. After winter, the wheat seedlings will only be two handfuls long. In places with poor water conservancy in the northern area, there is no harvest at all.

In addition to the locust plague caused by the drought, the entire Liaodong, Jizhen, Xuanda, and Yulin, these original nine-border towns, were self-sufficient before Wanli, and later needed the court to provide food. There is a possibility that the whole family will starve to death.

In the uprising wave in the early years of Chongzhen, many frontier troops from northern Shaanxi joined in. Therefore, when the peasant army first started the uprising in the early days, it was these uprising frontier troops that were able to defeat the officers and soldiers.

Here in Shandong, which is also in the north, is not less affected by the overall climate, but in terms of the situation, it is much stronger than in Henan.

One is that the weather is not that bad. After all, it is close to the sea, and there will be a few light rains occasionally.The second is that when they are out of reach, they can still rely on fishing or something to cover their stomachs, unlike Henan, where they can only eat grass and peel bark.

During the period from the 11th year of Chongzhen to the 13th year of Chongzhen, Henan was plagued by disasters year after year, and hungry people were everywhere. Later, as soon as Li Zicheng entered Henan, he immediately exploded like water into a frying pan.

If it was in Shandong at the same time, I am afraid the effect would be far worse.

"Hey, there's no other way. Don't work too hard, Dad. Anyway, we have money, so we won't be short of your food."

"That's not the case," Father Lin took a puff of a cigarette, and said with a smile, "We say we are military households, but we have been farming crops for a lifetime. To be honest, no matter how much money there is, it is better to see the food stockpiled. These years, the weather has been bad, and there is nothing to do about it. But the weather can't keep going bad, and I just hope that the weather will be good again, that's good."

This was probably the mainstream opinion of ordinary people at that time, and Zhang Shouren had heard it too much.

The main reason is that Fushan has employed a lot of workers recently, and many of the elite have become soldiers, and there are far fewer people doing farm work.Most of the work in the field now is done by old people and half-grown children, and most of the labor is used by him. When everyone discusses it in private, they also feel flustered and do not make decisions. [

This food is fundamental at any time. Even after hundreds of years, the country attaches great importance to food production. At any time, no matter how much money there is, it must guarantee agriculture.

If a big country is not self-sufficient in food, it will be too much trouble.

Importing food, once someone strangles your neck, what can you do then?

At a time like this, food is the most important thing, and Zhang Shouren is also quite depressed when it comes to this matter.

In the past few months, the production of salt has been very smooth. The official salt fields in Dengzhou and Duzhou have long been crowded out. Sell ​​Fushan salt, or just change careers and quit.

Several large commercial firms have their carts waiting in Fushan every day, and their boats are also in the area of ​​Fangjiaji and Jiaozhou.

The Jiaohe, Baihe, and Xiaobaihe rivers send out whole boats of salt every day.

Dozens of salt ponds have already produced a lot of salt, and new salt ponds are under construction.

Haizhou, Tongzhou, and Taizhou produce hundreds of millions of catties of Huaiyan salt a year. Huguang, Zhejiang, Nanzhi, and Huguang all eat Huaiyan.Zhang Shouren couldn't grab the market for these southern salts for the time being, and he didn't have the strength to grab them, but Jining, Jinan, and Tai'an were originally the boundaries of Huaiyan, and Zhang Shouren planned to eat them.

In addition to the existing market in Jiaolai and Qingzhou, even if there is still a part of the people who boil salt themselves, the market share of about 600 million shi a year should not be a big problem.

However, these are the goals for next year or even the year after. If they can be completed, the annual income will be between 300 and [-] million. This silver is almost the same as the annual salary of the imperial court in Liaodong, and it is enough for Zhang Shouren to support his soldiers.

Fighting against the big salt merchants in Huaiyan must be under great pressure, including manpower, court connections, and support from local commercial firms. It must be an extremely difficult battle.

Fortunately, the profit is enough to support the risk. The profit of salt is so rich, but the Ming court did not grasp it. It is really a big mistake.So much income, which should have been national revenue, is now in the hands of private individuals.

This is the prospect of the future, but there is one thing that is giving Zhang Shouren a headache... that is, the food problem.

Disasters and self-sufficiency are everywhere in the north, which is expected.

But now a large amount of manpower is used for the project. Zhang Shouren's food production was insufficient in the past, and now the fishermen are also being used, either as laborers or as soldiers. Fishing can be done from time to time to make up for it, but it’s not urgent, and the level of fishery is not high these days. It would be foolish to expect fishing to supplement the rations of tens of thousands of people.

It's not just the problem of pure food, it's also about meat. Now Fushan has [-]% of the meat in Fushan, including Jimo, and Jiaozhou. There are already complaints from all sides.