Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 693 The Influence of Business

(First of all, I would like to thank the editor for his care. I am fortunate enough to be serialized. Secondly, I would like to thank the book friends for their support. I would like to thank the book friends who have supported step by step until now. The author is writing history for the first time, and it is already very surprising to have the current results. The author will continue to work hard.)
Wang Yan moved his family to Wuchang at the end of last year, and set up the Xingyuan in the thoroughfare of the nine provinces, so a large construction project was inevitable.

After Wang Yan sent the news to Wuchang, He Tengjiao sent envoys to build Guoxue, Wuxue, Dudufu of the Five Loyalty Army, Six Departments, Yizheng Hall, Jiantai Yamen, etc. according to Wang Yan's requirements, according to the vassal state. It is tantamount to returning to the situation before the vassal was cut down in the early Ming Dynasty, and even returned to the suzerain vassal in the early Han Dynasty, becoming a country within a country.

With the massive construction of the government in Wuchang, some keen businessmen and aristocratic families have also noticed that as the front advances northward, the territory is expanding day by day, and Guangjing is no longer suitable as the center of the Ming Dynasty. The establishment of Hengyang Fan in Wuchang has already indicated This means that the political center of the Ming Dynasty will move northward accordingly.

Naturally, these businessmen seized the opportunity and sent people to Wuchang to buy land, houses, and establish a branch. Those who were courageous even moved their families to Wuchang directly.

Chinese society has been like this from ancient times to the present. If a businessman wants to grow bigger, he must understand politics and rely on bureaucrats. Otherwise, the above policy can cause the huge chamber of commerce to collapse instantly, and being in the center of the imperial court undoubtedly makes it easier to obtain information from all aspects. , So as to achieve advantages and avoid disadvantages, and obtain benefits.

The arrival of these businesses and families brought new population, wealth and job opportunities to Wuchang, which undoubtedly made the construction of Wuchang more busy.

Large-scale construction will inevitably cost a lot of money. Wang Yan was not willing to spend more money, but now he is starting from scratch. Some superficial work must be done, otherwise it will be too shabby and unable to gather people's hearts.

As for the money?It is the taxes that were originally to be turned over to the imperial court, but now they are all concentrated in Wuchang in the name of preparing for war.

Taxes in Guangdong, Huguang and other places are no longer turned over to the Ministry of Households, but Wuchang pays the Longwu court a symbolic 30 taels of silver every year.

Last year, the tax revenue of Suiguang Shipping Department exceeded 300 million taels, and the tax revenue of the Longwu court also reached 800 million, far exceeding the 500 million taels of Hongguang period.

This is the result of Wang Yan's commercial reforms. Naturally, Guangdong and Hunan, which have not experienced wars, have seen the fastest tax growth. If these two places hadn't been destroyed, the taxation of the Longwu court could not have increased so fast.

Now that Wang Yan controls these two places, the Longwu court is a little embarrassed. Only Jiangxi and half of Fujian are left. Among them, Zheng Chenggong has considerable independence. Jiangxi has not recovered from the destruction of the war. As a result, Longwu's finances shrank sharply, leaving less than 150 million taels.

Pang Tianshou was in a hurry to drive Wang Yan out of the court, and he did not hesitate to sacrifice some interests, but when he achieved his goal, he suddenly found that it was not the case. Wang Yan was driven out, but the resources he brought along with him also disappeared. Longwu withdrew from the court.

The finances of the Longwu court, which had just been ample, suddenly tightened up again. Pang Tianshou sent someone to the Shibosi to ask for money, but was blocked by soldiers from the Zhongwu Camp.

Later, the imperial court ordered the local governments in Guangdong, Huguang, etc. to pay taxes to the imperial court, which caused confusion in the local government orders. Many local officials were still interested in the Longwu imperial court. Wang Yan had to order troops to be stationed in various places and directly take over the treasury. , guarding the main road to intercept the imperial documents, and preparing to start a large-scale purge.

Some imperial parties and officials who supported Longwu were extremely disappointed with Wang Yan and abandoned their posts one after another, which paralyzed many local government affairs under Wang Yan's rule.

Since the Song Dynasty, China's system has generally been strong in the center and weak in the localities. This made Pang Tianshou form an inertial thinking, thinking that after occupying the center, he could control the power of the world, but he failed to consider the actual situation.

This struggle caused turmoil in the Ming Dynasty, and the financial collapse of the Longwu court. Pang Tianshou regretted it at this time, but it was hard to recover, and everything was over, and Wang Yan's life was not easy. He lacked a large number of officials who were proficient in government affairs.

This time, Wang Yan saw the power of tradition, and made him realize that his foundation was really unstable, but he also became more convinced of the correctness of this big strategic shift.

After experiencing the turmoil at the end of the year and the beginning of the year, the time gradually came to March in the fourth year of Longwu, which was the season when the weather warmed up and the spring thunder began to sound.

The various systems of the Hengyang feudal kingdom were also slowly established, like seedlings in early spring, growing slowly.

In the original city of Wuchang, there was a radish and a pit, which had already been occupied by people. There were so many yamen in the Xingyuan, there was nowhere to put them, and it was too expensive to expropriate the houses because the land price was too high.

Outside Wuchang City, on the north bank of the Yangtze River, a large area has been planned for various government constructions. Some businesses have also bought land and built houses here. The entire area is very busy.

Once these government offices, mansions, and shops are established, a new city will soon be formed.

Wang Yan led a group of officials to inspect the newly built martial arts and Chinese studies on the north bank. At this time, it was a place to train civil and military teams for the vassal state, so Wang Yan paid special attention to it.

The two academies were built next to each other. At present, they are just a framework. Apart from erecting a few beams and columns, they are just a pile of loess. Beat the stake with a chant.

Wang Yan and the others stood on a small slope. He looked at it for a while, and then asked You You Lun beside him, "The vernal equinox is the busy season for farming. Seeing that there are nearly [-] peasants in this construction site alone, will it affect the construction site?" Where are the people plowing in spring?"

You Youlun shook his head, "Your Highness, don't worry, many people in Wuchang Mansion this year have changed to planting cotton, and they will not start planting until April, so they just take advantage of their leisure time to work for the government to earn some change. After the people return to their hometowns, the lower officials will recruit rice farmers to work, which will not affect the production of the people, but will increase their income by a percentage."

Wang Yan nodded after hearing this. He was very worried about the large-scale construction in the past dynasties.

According to You Youlun's approach, he doesn't disturb the people now, but hurts the money twice, but the money is nothing to worry about. When the people have money, Wuchang's business will be revitalized, which is conducive to the prosperity and development of business.

But what happened to the people who changed to cotton?Wang Yan frowned and asked, "Food is the foundation of a country. How can the people of Wuchang change to cotton?"

You Youlun was taken aback for a moment, "Your Highness, this kind of trend has been on the rise last year. In February this year, the government made statistics, and [-]% of the rice fields in Wuchang Prefecture have been converted into cotton fields. The same is true in Jingzhou, Yuezhou and other places."

Chen Yonghua at the side saw that You Youlun didn't say anything, so he answered, "His Royal Highness, in the Song Dynasty, there was a saying that Suhushu was familiar with the world, but in this dynasty, it has become Huguangshu. It is because Jiangsu and Zhejiang became the cotton textile center of this dynasty, and it is more cost-effective to grow cotton among the people than to grow rice, so Jiangsu and Zhejiang generally switched to cotton, and the center of grain production in this dynasty began to move to Huguang, and at this time Jiangnan was in the hands of the Qing Dynasty. , The Hong bandits changed the cotton fields into rice fields, and the merchants of the dynasty wanted to weave cotton cloth for trade, but the folks lacked cotton and it was difficult to buy raw materials, which made the value of cotton go up.

After what he said, Wang Yan immediately understood, but the worries in his heart were not eliminated, on the contrary, they became stronger. A map of the current Ming Dynasty immediately appeared in his mind, looking for a place that could replace Huguang for grain production, but he After searching in his mind, he found pessimistically that there was no granary that could support Daming at all.

If we grow cotton blindly, that's fine.

Seeing Wang Yan's serious expression, Chen Yonghua guessed his thoughts, and quickly said, "Your Highness, Nanyang!"

Hearing what he said, Wang Yan's eyes lit up. He started to manage Guangdong, and he would buy grain from Nanyang every year. There are three crops a year in that place. In comparison, Huguang can't compare, but Nanyang countries are foreign countries after all. Allowing them to grasp the lifeline of Daming's grain, Wang Yan only felt that the eggs were being pinched.

"This food is the foundation of the country, so it's better to keep it in your own hands." Wang Yan said in a deep voice.

Chen Yonghua smiled, "Didn't Your Highness set up the Lifan Academy? And the navy is now joining forces with the vassals to attack the city. These opportunities can be used to strengthen the dynasty's control over the vassals."

Several people were talking, at this time a cavalry suddenly galloped to the bottom of the high ground, a general hurriedly dismounted, ran up, and reported on one knee: "His Royal Highness, Governor He asked the last general to invite His Highness to return to the city, saying yes Lu Jianguo sent envoys over."

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(End of this chapter)