Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 17: Land Dispute
Not long after leaving Shuntian Prefecture from the east gate, you can see Chen Ce's land.

Ten acres of good land, this was all Ning Cheng gave him after breaking off the engagement, as an equal exchange, Chen Ce did not ask for more.

He couldn't cultivate the land himself because he was not in good health and couldn't carry or lift anything with his hands, so he had to hire tenant farmers.

Fortunately, there were many tenant farmers around who were willing to farm for Chen Ce, and they were almost competing to farm for Chen Ce.

In the end, Chen Ce negotiated with the two families and agreed to give the tenant farmers 40% of the land tax. This ratio was actually very high. The more ruthless landlords might take about 80% and leave only 20% for the tenant farmers.

According to the current grain yield of two to three shi per mu, let's assume that ten mu of land yields thirty shi. Chen Ce can earn eighteen shi every quarter. Converted into the price of Hongzhi, one shi is worth about half a tael, so he can earn nine taels of silver every quarter, and eighteen taels a year. If the land tax is one in ten, after deducting the income from the levy and the tenant farmers, he can still earn about ten taels.

This will be Chen Ce’s net income in the Ming Dynasty in the future. He can earn so much every year without doing anything.

Chen Ce was talking to Zhu Houzhao while taking notes in his notebook.

Zhu Houzhao only now realized that the insignificant five taels of silver he had casually thrown to Chen Ce was actually so valuable. He was stunned for a moment.

What surprised him even more was that Chen Ce seemed to know everything and could recite these conversions almost fluently. He was the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, and to be honest, he didn't understand these things at all.

"What is Linjiantihuo?"

Zhu Houzhao suddenly asked Chen Ce. For some reason, Chen Ce seemed to have some kind of magic, and what he said always made Zhu Houzhao think.

Chen Ce thought for a moment and said, "I'll bring you to see it next year when the autumn grain harvest begins."

"Oh."

Zhu Houzhao nodded.

Chen Ce handed the small blue book to Zhu Houzhao and said, "I have recorded a lot of prices in this book just now. You can go back and take a good look at it. You should have a basic understanding of the basic prices and living conditions of the people in the Ming Dynasty."

"Don't learn from Emperor Hui of Jin, why don't you eat meat?"

Zhu Houzhao said stubbornly: "I won't learn... I'm not the crown prince!"

He finally realized something was wrong. Why did this guy act like he knew that I was the prince?
Zhu Houzhao believed that this was the only thing he had deceived Chen Ce about. This was something he was proud of, proving that Chen Ce was being fooled by him!

Chen Ce smiled and said, "Of course I know. You are a high-ranking official in the Jinyiwei. A high-ranking official should also be considerate of the people. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing if you don't know anything when someone asks you in court."

"That's right." Zhu Houzhao said with a smile, "Okay then, I'll keep this book for now."

Chen Ce looked at the fields stretching across the sky outside Shuntian Prefecture and was stunned for a moment.

Zhu Houzhao looked at Chen Ce who was in deep thought with curiosity, and unexpectedly saw the shadow of Fan Zhongyan in his expression. There was a portrait of Fan Zhongyan in the East Palace, in which he had an expression of concern for the country and the people. Zhu Houzhao had a deep memory of it.

"What's the matter with you?"

Chen Ce raised his hand and pointed to the fertile fields in the distance and asked Zhu Houzhao, "Do you know whose land that is?"

Zhu Houzhao shook his head.

Chen Ce looked at him and said, "You can go ask the old farmers and integrate with them."

Liu Jin snorted and said in a shrill voice, "How dare you! Those old peasants are so dirty, how dare my master question them?"

Zhu Houzhao ignored Liu Jin and went straight to ask several old farmers who were farming.

When he came back, he said to Chen Ce, "I found out that it was the royal manor."

Chen Ce sighed and said, "Zhang Yanghao is right. When a country prospers, the people suffer. When a country perishes, the people suffer."

"So many fields all belong to the royal family. The emperor took the lead in annexing the land, setting an example for the people below. How can the bureaucrats and big landowners not follow suit?"

Starting from the end of the Hongzhi period, imperial farms gradually became popular and became even more serious during the reign of Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty.

The emperor could completely wipe out the land of a household with just a word of granting land. The imperial farms in the four prefectures of Shuntian, Baoding and Changchun alone amounted to more than 10,000 hectares, and these fields were fertile land that squeezed out the common people.

When Zhu Houzhao heard Chen Ce's story about the royal family, he immediately retorted, "Don't talk nonsense. The emperor never competes with the people for profit!" Chen Ce glanced at him and nodded, "The emperor won't, but the eunuchs around him will."

"The imperial farm was given to the inner palace eunuchs to manage. The eunuchs in the inner palace eunuchs would try to enrich the treasury and commit more illegal acts under the banner of the emperor."

Zhu Houzhao looked at Liu Jin thoughtfully.

Liu Jin thought to himself, don't look at me, I am just your companion in the Eastern Palace, I don't have this power.

Also, why are you, a consumptive idiot, talking about this stuff with the prince for no reason?
When the prince ascends the throne in the future, I will be counting on this to make money. What should I do now that you say that?
"What should we do?" Zhu Houzhao asked, "If it doesn't work, just kill those eunuchs, okay?"

Liu Jin's neck shrank.

Bro, don't do it.

Chen Ce shook his head. The root of the problem was not the eunuchs, but the emperor's desires.

He glanced at Zhu Houzhao and said slowly, "Give me less land. The favor comes from above, and every reward should be given with caution."

"Change the way to make money from the treasury and stop competing with the people for profits."

Zhu Houzhao asked suspiciously, "How can we get money? After all, the money still has to come from the people."

Chen Ce thought for a moment and said, "As long as the money doesn't come from the land and salt industry, it's all fine."

"for example?"

Chen Ce was silent for a long time before he said, "Business."

Without waiting for Zhu Houzhao to speak, Chen Ce said, "But it's difficult."

"Why?" Zhu Houzhao didn't understand.

Chen Ce said: "Because of ideology, Confucianism determines that the national policy of the Ming Dynasty will definitely not be biased towards business."

"Then change it!" Zhu Houzhao said, "I have long been annoyed by those Confucianists."

Chen Ce smiled slightly. It was enough to plant a seed in his heart. It was not so easy to change it.

There are so many civil servants, each of whom can stop you from doing anything with just a word of spitting.

Plant a seed of business in Zhu Houzhao's heart, and then slowly build on it in the future.

"At this stage, as long as the emperor can control his desires, set a good example for future emperors, and stop letting eunuchs amass wealth like crazy, that will be enough."

"If those in power could show a little more compassion and demand a little less wealth, many families would have enough food to eat and land to farm."

"Otherwise, if this continues, it will eventually provoke a series of rebellions among the people."

He glanced at Zhu Houzhao and sighed, "Why am I telling you so much? You have no ability to change the emperor's mind."

Zhu Houzhao said: "You look down on people again!"

"I know the Emperor!"

Chen Ce pursed his lips and said, "Okay, okay, stop bragging."

Zhu Houzhao said: "I'm not bragging!"

"alright, I got it."

Seeing Chen Ce's perfunctory expression, Zhu Houzhao clenched his fists, gnashed his teeth, and said viciously in his heart: "Just wait!"

As they were talking, a group of people appeared on the ridge of a field not far away, and then the two sides began to fight.

(End of this chapter)