In early May, Shao Xun went to Henan West Market again.
This time he came alone.
Hutou was sent to Yiyang, while the other children were studying and practicing martial arts in the palace. Shao Xun took Yu to the throne to handle some government affairs and then listened to the report.
At this time, the closed-door trading in Henan West Market has ended, but the big merchants have left, and a bunch of small and medium-sized merchants have come to continue selling. However, they are traditional commercial trade forms, no longer book-keeping bulk wholesale
.
""Historical Records: Biography of Huozhi" says, 'No firewood is sold for a hundred miles, no millet is sold for a thousand miles.' There are grain merchants in Yecheng who sell grain to Luoyang, and then we see that the price of grain here is still high, and it is profitable." Shao Xun said:
"However, I am curious, how far can food be sold now? A thousand miles?"
"In peacetime, at most a hundred miles." Yu has a reputation of being greedy for money and is very interested in money.
He immediately said: "If there is a disaster, even if it is hundreds or thousands of miles away, you can still make money. If there is a severe famine, as long as it is shipped here, no matter how expensive it is, you can make money."
"That's true." Shao Xun said with a smile: "In the Three Kingdoms and Jin Dynasty, how far was the food trade?"
"I don't know much about the ministers of Shu, I only know about Wei and Wu." Yu said: "During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, a 'grain market' was set up in Luoyang, which relied on grain from other counties. It was sold from as far away as Jizhou, and it was often transported to the post office through Baigou.
City. Big merchants distributed it there and then transported it to Luoyang by river."
"How much does shipping cost?"
"There are two types of grain ships, large and small. The small ship carries 1,500 dendrobium and has two boatmen. The large ship carries 3,000 dendrobium and has one more boatman." Yu said: "There is no need for trackers when going with the current, but seven or eight trackers are needed when the water is still or against the current.
Even for more than ten people, they need nine liters of food per day and a salary ranging from five to ten yuan."
"Salary" means "firewood", and "drawing water" means a subsidy, which was later extended to include daily expenses and even wages.
"The cost of water transportation is really low." Shao Xun sighed: "If it were replaced by an ox cart, the freight would be dozens of times higher."
"Exactly." Yu said: "When Quanrou was appointed as the governor of Guiyang, he sent his son (Quan) Cong to bring thousands of dendrobiums of rice to Wu to trade."
"From selling rice in Changsha to Jianye————" Shao Xun was speechless. How far is it?
"This is just Soochow." Yu said: "After all, the water transportation in the north is not as good as that in the south of the Yangtze River. The wealthy people in Soochow have fields spread over thousands of miles, thousands of merchants, and thousands of rotten grains."
"Yu" means open-air barn, which means that the powerful families of Soochow calculated grain in barns. This is similar to how Jincheng and You two calculated cattle and sheep in valleys.
"The fields are spread thousands of miles away, I'm afraid it's too much to boast about." Shao Xun said with a smile.
Yu Qian smiled and said, "Your Majesty has learned from this."
"So the key lies in shipping." Shao Xun said.
Business in the Middle Ages was inseparable from canals because they had such a cost advantage.
Compared with the cost of land transportation, which is a few tenths, long-distance resale has become possible.
This is the main reason why after the chaos of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Bianzhou surpassed Luoyang and became the largest metropolis in Guandong, because this city is at the node of water transportation.
In the same way, as important water transport towns, Pengcheng and Yecheng also became rich rapidly.
After all, Luoyang's location advantage is not as good as Bianliang. After arriving at Bianliang, Gein's fleet has to enter the Yellow River.
If you enter Luoshui again, you will have to go through two more procedures in vain.
"Bianliang is the eastern capital of the country. I have to find an opportunity to live there for a few years." Shao Xun said: "Let's not talk about it for now. You have also been shopping in the West Market of Henan for a few days. Do you have any insights?
"
Yu hesitated to speak, obviously he didn't want to say anything.
"Speak directly if you have something to say."
"Conquering the fields is useful, and soldiers in the government are also of great use." Yu sighed.
"How do you say that?"
"There are 80,000 soldiers in the country, and together with their families, there are almost 400,000 soldiers." Yu said: "The basic necessities of life include food, clothing, housing, and transportation.
Birth, old age, sickness and death, even honing martial arts and going on an expedition, all must be purchased. Every year during the Yuan, Winter, Cold Food and Double Ninth Festival,
Funerals, weddings, etc. can completely empty out the market."
Eighty thousand government troops released 400,000 consumer groups, almost creating two large consumer cities and expanding the market.
To put it bluntly, many consumer goods are consumed by people, and the number of consumers in the manorial economy is still limited.
Even if the manor owner and his management staff spend wildly, how much can be used?
Small military landowners such as Fu Bing are the most suitable consumer groups.
Yu actually already understood this truth.
So Shao Xun then asked: "This year, I want to continue to farm, which counties do Yu Qing think are more suitable?"
"The fields in Guanxi have not yet been conquered, so we can do this in a big way." Yu replied.
"The situation in Guanxi is complicated, and not all counties can farm." Shao Xun said, "Yu Qing said, "Feng Yi County has rebelled several times, and the Qiang thieves have long been frightened. Now there are three military governments to suppress it, so we can use a lot of force.
Tian." Yu Shu said.
Shao Xun nodded and said, "Not bad."
He didn't want to conquer Feng Yi County before, because the Qiang clan was too powerful. Once they conquered the fields, they would inevitably rebel, so he didn't care about it. But now they have caused rebellions again and again. The Four Corners King, the Xuchu clan and the like have been severely beaten.
It seems that this can be done.
At worst, if there is another chaos, Jin Zheng will just kill people again.
Rebellion will only be very powerful in the beginning, and will become less and less effective as time goes by.
"Jingzhao County is where General Zhenxi is stationed. It is the heart of Liu Han. Although there are many large families, they have been invaded and plundered many times, and they may be able to conquer their fields.
Fufeng County has the residence of the King of Qin, and the household registration has been checked, and the land can also be transferred."
"Just these two counties?"
"Feng Yi, Jingzhao, Fufeng, there are three counties in total." Yu said.
The seven counties of Beidi, Xinping, Shiping, Anding, Diaoyin, Xinqin, and Shang were not mentioned.
As for Qinzhou, Yu didn't think it was suitable for farming, at least not now.
"Although he is a little timid, he is still a mature man who plans to seek the country. Regarding the land transfer in Yongzhou, I will rely on your words." Shao Xun said.
It's not that the other seven counties don't have farmland, it's that they're not suitable for the time being.
Generally speaking, Shao Xun's strategy was to start with the easy and then the difficult. The first batch of land transfer targets were the 20 counties of the Liang Kingdom. After repeated plowing and repeated inspections, the household registrations found were really amazing. Now it is the most stable under the rule of the Liang Dynasty. It can provide taxation and the area with the largest population.
The second batch of nineteen counties either experienced the devastation of war, or experienced serious disasters, or the power of their wealthy families was not strong enough, so there was relatively little resistance to land transfer.
After an inventory of these thirty-nine counties, there are only a few that can be easily farmed, and they will enter deep water areas from now on.
According to Shao Xun's idea, the third batch of land transfer targets will be those counties where there is a certain amount of powerful families, but the united front value is not high enough.
To put it bluntly, if you oppose me or even rebel because of your farmland, I am certainly not happy with it, but I am not unable to kill you. You are a target that can be cut off.
Of course, after so many years of farmland turmoil, coupled with the "encirclement of three buildings and one" tactics, as well as business assistance, the attitude of some natives has been softened. It may not be as difficult as imagined, but compared with the previous three In the 19th County, the resistance will definitely be greater.
"Where are Sizhou and Bingzhou?" Shao Xun asked.
"There are only three counties left in Sizhou: Hedong, Shangluo and Guangping. I think we can handle them all together." Yu lowered his head and said.
"You can't go to Luoke, Hedong, or Guangping." Shao Xun said directly without hesitation.
"Your Majesty is wise." Yu said: "There is still Kelan County in Bingzhou that has not yet consecrated the land. I think it can be postponed. The conquest of the land by the Shangdang is not complete, so I think it will not be asked."
"Keep talking."
"There are six counties in Jizhou, Zhao, Julu, Anping, Bohai, Pingyuan, and Qinghe, which have not yet been cultivated. These are all populated areas, and the fields can be cultivated and cleared. However, there are also military towns and Hu people's grazing lands among them, which is quite complicated. I think You can figure it out slowly." Yu said.
"Yu Qing's intention is to postpone the land transfer in these six counties?" Shao Xun asked.
"Your Majesty wants to conquer the south, and there must be no chaos in the rear." Yu said, "Among these six counties, we can choose Zhao, Anping, and Bohai to go there. Qinghe, Pingyuan, and Julu will not go to the fields for the time being."
Shao Xun was noncommittal and asked, "Where are Qingxu and Qingzhou?"
"All the five counties of Qingzhou, Chengyang, Changguang, Beihai, and Le'an can farm."
"Why not mention Xuzhou?"
"The Prime Minister looks at the two prefectures of Qing and Xu, with Langya, Dongguan, Lanling and other counties being particularly prosperous. I think that the Prime Minister's hard work has made great achievements, so I can postpone the land transfer." Yu said.
Shao Xun suddenly laughed.
Yu was puzzled, and Shao Xun didn't say much. He just said, "Lanling County can cultivate fields."
After saying that, he waved his hand and said, "If you have anything to do, please step aside."
Yu bowed and left quietly.
Shao Xun thought about it again. He only had half of Xuzhou. He had already conquered the East China Sea and the two counties of Pengcheng. The rest was either not in his hands, or he shared half with the enemy, or the nobles gathered together, and they were still the core group that supported him. Indeed, I could postpone it, so in the end I only chose five counties in Lanling.
There are four counties in Yanzhou, including Taishan, Jiyin, Dongping and Gaoping, which have not been cultivated. Shao Xun thought for a long time and decided to take action against Gaoping and Dongping counties because there were government soldiers in the area and the strength of the gentry was not exaggerated.
As for Yuzhou, he chose Lu County.
All sixteen counties will start to reclaim their fields from the second half of this year. The old rule is that the fields occupied after the Yongjia New Year will not be counted and will be cleared one by one.
In other counties, land reclamation has either been completed, or it is not suitable for operations at the moment.
This was a tacit understanding between Shao Xun and the gentry officials in the court.
The selection of the sixteen counties this time was also a silent dialogue between him and the aristocratic family. It all depends on the subsequent reaction.
He is very determined.
At this point, he was even willing to postpone the southern expedition and fight a civil war with those who opposed Dutian.
Historically, the Northern and Southern Dynasties did not spend their time in the fields well, so that the foundation was shaky and the city's head changed into a king's flag.
Previously, when Shi Le took control of Hebei Province, it was said that a household registration census was carried out, and the result was that there were 10,000 households in one county. It was a joke.
Later Zhao died unjustly in history. Even if Shi Hu did not act in reverse, Guo Zuo would not survive.
As soon as the word "our army is defeated" came back from the front line, the king's flag immediately changed on the city wall in the rear.
Overnight, the wealthy families stopped sending troops and people, and stopped sending food, grass and military supplies to the front line. They were all sitting back and watching the success or failure.
Who can bear this?
Even if the front line suddenly reverses and the battle is won, the waiting nobles can only be punished with a small amount of punishment, a few typical examples can be used, and then the rest can be appeased.
If you do this, they will wait and see next time instead of fully supporting you.
May flew by quickly, and by the beginning of June, the order for the sixteenth capital to be transferred to the fields was finally issued.
Although there are objections in the DPRK and the Central Government, they are not very loud, and it is not clear at the local level.
Chapter completed!