I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 304
He really didn't know who to vent his anger on.

Beat up Jiang Bao and Wang Fu, the two chief executives?
But what is the use of this? At best, let them spit out the offerings they have eaten all these years, and what problem can they solve with a mere tens of thousands of taels of silver.

In order to fundamentally solve the problem of farmers, we must start from the root.

Huangzhuang is different from ordinary fields.

Other farm households rent and plant the land of the big landlord’s family, and pay [-]% of the harvest every year, and at least [-]% of the [-]% of the land tax, which is actually enough to support a family.

However, because Huangzhuang is the private property of the royal family, and they are farmers in name, they are actually more like slaves. Not only do they have to hand over more than half of the harvest, but they are also exploited by the eunuchs in charge.

After a year, it is already very good to have three or four achievements in the harvest that falls into the hands.

To change this situation, it seems that there is no good way except to reduce their tax burden.

But Huangzhuang was originally the private property of the emperor and princes, and it was used to save pocket money for them.

If the land tax paid is the same as that of ordinary farmers, although they will get benefits, the meaning of Huangzhuang's existence will be completely lost.

Li Tian already had the royal bank and workshops to make money for him at this time, and the royal expenses were actually not a big problem anymore.

Even if Huangzhuang is completely reformed, it is not impossible.

But he didn't want to.

After all, Huangzhuang is a part of the royal family and a feature of imperial power. It is not only a pity to abandon it rashly, but also loss of face.

Li Tian designated that he would not do such a thing.

What he is thinking now is what should be done to make Huangzhuang exist and at the same time improve the living standards of these farmers.

He originally had many ideas.

It is to let everyone in Huangzhuang grow relatively rare but valuable crops, such as peppers, potatoes, and corn.

It's a pity that these things are still lying in the wilds of the American continent.

This method does not work, and there is only one left.

That is to build vegetable greenhouses and let them grow off-season vegetables. In this way, not only can they supply the royal winter melons, fruits and vegetables, but the extra part can also be sold to the dignitaries in the capital, making a lot of money.

But building a greenhouse in this era is not an easy task.

First of all, he does not have transparent plastic, so he cannot maintain the temperature in the greenhouse while ensuring light transmission.

Although he can use glass instead of broken materials, the amount of glass needed for vegetable greenhouses is definitely not a small amount, so the investment is too huge, and the gains outweigh the losses.

In fact, what Li Tian didn't know was that as early as the pre-Qin period, there was already the concept of off-season vegetables.

Whether it is the Tang Dynasty or the Song Dynasty, there are records of off-season vegetables.

However, due to technical limitations, only those things that can grow without much sunlight can be grown in greenhouses.

Such as leeks, green onions, garlic, bean sprouts and the like.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty and the middle of the Qing Dynasty.

It has been developed to the point where flowers can be grown in greenhouses.

The method is actually very simple, that is to burn a kang at one end and place a few large vats filled with excrement and soil at the other end.

Although this method is very cumbersome, it is also a rare breakthrough.

In the Qing Dynasty, such small-scale planting had a scientific name called Diwozi.

Diwozi can not only grow some vegetables and flowers, but also store a large amount of non-perishable vegetables.

Although there are not many, it is no problem to supply the royal family and some dignitaries with a few mouthfuls of fresh vegetables in winter.

Although Li Tian didn't know much about the early ancient greenhouses.

But he is still very familiar with the way of storing vegetables for winter in cellars in modern rural areas.

Thinking of the cellar, he suddenly thought of the method of growing vegetables in a cave.

Although this method is far inferior to later generations, the effect of the transparent greenhouse is good.

But there is nothing wrong with simply planting some easy-to-grow vegetables.

The principle of this kind of cave-style greenhouse is actually very simple, so one end is made transparent, and the rear buttocks are all sealed with a wall mixed with thick soil and straw.

Then a circle of something like a stove pit is built around the edge to keep the cave warm.

The transparent window part faces the sun. If the rear butt part is not made too long, it can at least ensure that it can be illuminated by the sun for three or four hours a day.

In this way, it is basically guaranteed that the things planted inside can survive and grow.

Since only the sunny side is transparent, the amount of glass used is greatly reduced.

Originally, only enough glass to build a greenhouse can be used to build a simple greenhouse that is more than ten times larger.

Although such a cave-style greenhouse requires artificial fires to ensure the warmth of the greenhouse, it may consume a lot of firewood.

But once things can be really grown, the selling price will definitely far exceed the price of firewood consumed.

In addition, countless blast furnaces will be built here soon. At that time, it only needs to be slightly modified to let part of the hot gas of the blast furnace pass into the cave dwelling through the tunnel.

As long as the operation is reasonable, 80.00% of firewood consumption can be saved, and there is no problem at all.

After repeating these, Li Tian started to design this new type of cave shed on the basis of the drawing given by the third wife.

After writing and drawing for more than an hour, Li Tian finally got the idea done.

At the same time, Wang Fu and Jiang Bao knelt on the ground for almost an hour.

Although both of them have kung fu, kneeling for such a long time consumes a lot of energy for them.

After Li Tian regained his composure, the faces of both of them began to turn blue, and their whole bodies began to wobble.

Seeing their unlucky appearance, the anger in Li Tian's heart finally subsided a lot.

With a cold snort,

"Do you two know you were wrong!"

The two of them were almost delirious at this moment, and they dared to argue, so they hurriedly said,

"Your Majesty, this old slave knows that he is wrong, he really knows that he is wrong!"

"Hmph, where's the mistake!"

Compared to Jiang Bao, who is obsessed with martial arts, Wang Fu is actually more tactful, and he also knows that the matter of Huangzhuang has little to do with them.

And Li Tian punished them so because they failed to truthfully tell Li Tian the situation.

Wang Fu wiped the sweat from his brow and said,
"The life of the households in Huangzhuang is so difficult. As the chief steward of the imperial court, the old slave failed to understand the people's sentiments for His Majesty. This is a crime.

In vain of His Majesty's trust, failing to correct the point in time, this is the second crime..."

Wang Fu didn't know when he practiced his eloquence, and he said a dozen of his crimes in one breath.

But even so, none of them was a real felony.

The most serious thing is a person who knows the truth and does not report it.

(End of this chapter)