After many days of psychological struggle, although he was still a little tangled, Jiao Xun decided to go to Northern Jiangsu to have a look. This was mainly because he had admired Wang Zhong's knowledge and reputation for a long time. Jiao Xun made up his mind that if things went wrong then
Run away now.
Estimating that it was almost time to leave, Jiao Xun asked his wife Ruan not to tell anyone, not even to the servants in the family; if anyone asked, just say that he had gone to Jiangning to wait for the results of the provincial examination.
On the first day before Jiao Xun's departure, Hong Liangji also set off from Changzhou. He was a man who traveled around the world all year round and had friends all over the world. His wife asked him where he was going, and Hong Liangji said he was going to the capital to find Ruan Yuan.
Ruan Yuan is a native of Yizheng, Yangzhou. He is twenty-six years old this year. In the spring of this year, he has ranked twenty-eight in high school, ranked third in the top two in the imperial examination, and was granted a Jinshi background. This man was a famous Confucian scholar and official in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Historically,
The most famous one is that he proposed banning opium earlier than Lin Zexu. When he was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, he adopted a stricter policy towards British businessmen and built new forts. He also wrote to Jiaqing, believing that the British should be "suppressed with power but not exhausted".
"With virtue and sui". However, Jiaqing did not take it seriously at the time.
By the way, Jiao Xun's wife's surname is Ruan, and his father-in-law is Ruan Yuan's uncle.
Early in the morning, Jiao Xun left Tongsimen with only a baggage. When he arrived at Dongguan Pier, several people from Yaxing gathered around him.
"Sir, are you going to Gaoyou, Baoying, or Qingjiangpu? Our boat is big and comfortable."
"Our ship goes specifically to Suzhou, Changzhou, and Nanjing. Master, I will choose the best ship from our family."
Jiao Xuandao: "Is there a boat to Huai'an Mansion?"
A Yaman answered loudly: "Yes! Yes! That's the boat. It'll arrive in nine days."
Just as Jiao Xun was about to ask about the boat fee, he heard someone behind him laughing and saying, "Hey, isn't this the wise brother in the hall?"
"Litang" is Jiao Xun's name. He turned around and saw that he was an acquaintance. Seeing that the other party also had a baggage on his shoulder, he quickly cupped his hands and said, "Cousin Zheng? Are you going out too?"
The man who is called "Cousin Zheng" has a surname of Jiang Mingfan and a courtesy name of Ziping. He is also from Yangzhou. His nickname is Zhengtang. He is twenty-eight years old this year.
Jiang Fan stepped forward, looked at Jiao Xun's back, and said, "Brother Litang, where are you going? Why didn't you bring any of your servants with you?"
"Hey, well, I plan to go to Jiangning..." Unexpectedly, before Jiao Xun finished speaking, the Yaren next to him said again: "Sir, the boat to Huai'an Prefecture will leave soon.
Is there a seat reserved for you?"
Jiao Xun's face suddenly became extremely embarrassed, and he said in his heart that the old saying is true: a car, boat, shop, foot and teeth, even if he is not guilty, he should be killed.
Jiang Fan had a bold personality and said with a wink, "What a coincidence. My brother is also going to Huai'an Mansion. Why don't you and I go together?"
"This..." Jiao Xun was hesitating when he saw Jiang Fan approaching and whispering: "Brother, it's true as expected, but Mr. Rong Fu..."
Jiang Fan's friendship with Wang Zhong was earlier than that of Jiao Xun. He became friends with Wang Zhong when he was a teenager. When he was young, he studied under Yu Xiaoke and Jiang Sheng, who was a disciple of Hui Dong, a great classics scholar.
"Shh!" Jiao Xun looked at the other party's indifferent expression and then nodded slightly.
The two of them had negotiated the boat fare with Yaren, and just as they were about to board the boat from the gangplank, they heard someone behind them ask loudly: "Is there anyone going to Huai'an Prefecture?"
When he turned around, he saw that it was Zhong Huai, and behind him was a young man. Needless to say, this man was also from Yangzhou, and he was good friends with Jiao Xun. The young man he brought with him also knew Jiao Xun, his name was Huang Chengji.
He was intelligent and well-educated since he was a child, and he was an outstanding figure among the younger generation of scholars in Yangzhou.
Jiang Fan looked at it, smiled at Jiao Xun, and then waved to Zhong Huai. In fact, Zhong Huai felt that the figure behind him was familiar just now, so he deliberately spoke loudly. After the four people got on the boat, they all exchanged pleasantries and whispered. Except for Huang Chengji, everyone
After receiving Wang Zhong's letter, he rushed to Huai'an Mansion. Huang Chengji was summoned by Zhong Huai, saying that he wanted to pay homage to the celebrities.
Okay, Jiao Xun broke into a cold sweat when he heard this, and thought to himself that Mr. Rong Fu thinks the movement is not loud enough!
In fact, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, news of the Qing court's defeat in Jilin spread to the south of the Yangtze River. Although Qianlong tried his best to block the news, the question was how could such a thing be blocked?
The imperial court was defeated time and time again by Beihai Town, losing troops and generals, and even the green battalions began to transfer north. At this time, the literati in the south of the Yangtze River began to turn their attention to the north, paying attention to the regime under the banner of Zhu Ming.
In addition, among the salt merchants in Lianghuai and Huaihe, besides Hui merchants, they were also Shanxi merchants, so news about Mobei also spread to the south along the tea route of Shanxi merchants. For example, people like Jiang Fan and Hong Liangji who like to travel and pay attention to the world, find out the map
When I saw it, I immediately gasped.
Beihai Town, which they originally thought was just a small group of thieves, now has jurisdiction over thousands of miles from east to west and thousands of miles from north to south. Although it is located in a remote and barren area, its territory is one of ten in the world.
Especially Jiang Fan, in addition to his outstanding literary talent, he can also seize power, and he has the boldness of the ancients. Thinking that Beihai Town can conquer Rakshasa in the west, capture Beihai (Lake Baikal), and expand the territory thousands of miles away, I can't help but feel excited.
Wei Huo was eager to find out.
It's not far from Yangzhou to Sheyang Lake. You can reach Huai'an by boat along the canal 340 miles north, and then change boats to transfer to Wusha River. Although the transportation period of water ships from various places has passed at this time, you can go from North Tongzhou
Cattle boats going south would stop at Huai'an Prefecture and Yangzhou to sell goods brought from the north. In addition, soybeans produced in Huai'an Prefecture were sold in the south of the Yangtze River, resulting in an endless stream of ships traveling from Yangzhou to Huai'an.
When there are too many ships, the speed cannot be increased. The speed of canal shipping in the Qing Dynasty varied depending on the upstream and downstream flows. Because going north is downstream, it is stipulated that the maximum daily voyage cannot exceed 58 miles; coupled with the inspection of ship locks along the way,
The actual daily voyage distance for loading and unloading passengers and cargo is only forty miles.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The four great talents in Yangzhou had nothing to do on the boat and chatted about everything along the way. Among the four, Jiang Fan was the most knowledgeable and the oldest, so the other three
People mainly listened to what he said about what they saw and heard in various places.
"For example, when it comes to grain, we can divide it into positive rice and depleted rice."
"The 'real rice' that brother Ziping mentioned is what the government collects according to the grain roll, right?" Jiao Xun, Zhong Huai and Huang Chengji are three young people who usually study hard and do not know much about water transportation.
.
"Of course. Each of our provinces has a total grain collection of 4 million shi each year. The rice transported to the capital for storage is called Zhengdui rice, and the rice transported to Tongzhou for storage is called Gaidui rice. Just like Yangzhou Prefecture, the annual Zhengdui rice is 93,600 shi.
The exchange rate is 46,990 shi. Since the Holy Emperor has been in power, he has been able to receive 80% every year, which is considered a pass. However, due to the deployment of troops in the north, I heard that it will rise to 90% next year."
Jiang Fan pursed his lips and added: "In addition to the main items, there are also light items."
Huang Chengji asked curiously: "What's the point of this?"
"Light tax is also a waste of rice. When it is levied, it is discounted in cash and handed over to the Tongji treasury in the warehouse. Some of it is handed over to the household department as an expense for handling water affairs. The proportion of light tax in each place depends on the distance of the road.
It is certain that the farther the road, the greater the cost of transporting grain, and the heavier the amount of light grain levied from grain households. For example, in Yangzhou, the amount of light grain levy is 2 hu and 6 dou for every stone and square meter, which is equivalent to one cent and three cents of silver.
Huguang and Zhejiang charge one cent and eight cents per stone."
Jiao Xundao: "It is already difficult for ordinary people to make a living, so if they add light things to their job, alas!"
Jiang Fan shook his head slightly and said: "You think this is all gone? There are other additional additions. For example, reed mat tax, canal gifts, water and foot silver, these are all stipulated by the imperial court. In addition, the government servants are cheating and extorting money. All the names are too much.
too much."
The "reed mat tax" he refers to is one reed mat tax for every two stones of rice, and each mat costs one cent of silver. In Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang and other provinces, every meter and stone is taxed with corrugated wood and pine boards, and each pine board is taxed.
The price of the piece ranges from 1.7 to 2 taels of silver, and the amount of silver charged in prefectures and counties is 4 to 5 times higher.
The "canal gifts" are specially used for long-distance transport of troops, exploitation and other expenses along the way. Some places give silver and some give rice. As for "water-foot silver", it belongs to the canal consumption of silver rice. This silver rice is regarded as
Subsidies are provided for transporting troops to replenish grain and miscellaneous expenses and for administrative expenses related to canal expropriation.
The other three people were silent after hearing this, and even the sailors on the deck outside sighed. Seeing that everyone was in a low mood, Jiang Fan smiled slightly and said: "Actually, I am a little curious about how the people in the north collect money and food. This time I met
You must ask Mr. Rongfu when you come."
At this time, a businessman sitting in the corner of the cabin spoke with a Shandong accent: "Sir, what you have said is really insightful. But from my point of view, leaving aside the barbaric places, where in the world is there?
Don’t they all follow the royal laws of the imperial court? They’re all pretty much the same.”
...
In the ninth month of the lunar calendar in 1789, Beihai Town’s annual autumn grain purchase began again.
Like later generations, Beihai Town Civil Affairs set up a general grain station, and set up reserve granaries in Beihai Town and Fuldan City. Each township set up sub-stations, which were mainly responsible for purchasing from villages. At the same time, they were accompanied by inspectors sent by the Civil Affairs to prevent fraud. In addition to
Grain station, other private individuals are strictly prohibited from getting involved in the grain business.
This system will not be implemented in the newly occupied areas that year, and will not be implemented until the land recovery and redistribution work is completed.
In fact, the main reason why Beihai Town did this was that it was troublesome. In order to collect grain in the newly occupied areas, taxation is indispensable. To collect taxes, there must be grain rolls, and the original officials must continue to be used. Once they are used by interested people to cause conflicts,
Troops had to be sent to suppress the situation, and the antagonism became even more serious.
For example, there will be no grain requisition in Hunchun this year. The Beihai Navy directly posted notices explaining this and welcomed those willing to sell grain.
The land reform in Ningguta is still in progress. The biggest problem is the division of residents. Unlike Jilin or Shengjing, the urban residential structure outside the wicker wall in the Qing Dynasty was mainly Manchus, with exiles
and the refugees and others. Once the problem of Ninggu Pagoda is solved, the problems of other exile places in the outer Northeast will also be solved.
Generally speaking, the land form of Ninggu Pagoda is the coexistence of state-owned land and private land. Among them, state-owned land in Manchu and Qing Dynasties accounts for the vast majority, and private land accounts for about 10%.
The state-owned land is mainly the Eight Banners Guanzhuang, which is divided according to 120 rates (15 acres per rate, a total of 1,800 acres); the other is the station land of the post station, each acre covers an area of 1 to 100 rates. The land acres of the above two items
The number is 413,920 acres.
This part is easy to say. We can directly take back the public property, and then allocate 50 acres for farming according to the share of each banner household. Currently, it is levied at 30% after the autumn harvest. Due to the disaster, more than 70% of the harvest was lost (compared with other areas in Beihai Town where the yield per mu
Comparative) are exempted from agricultural taxes. If the harvest fails between 70% and 20%, the tax will be reduced in five grades. If the harvest fails by 10%, there will be no reduction.
However, the biggest problem facing Beihai Town is private land. In the early Qing Dynasty, there was not much private land in the Ningguta area. Until the seventh year of Emperor Yongzheng's reign when Taining County was abolished, there were only 32 households in total. Later, they were all moved to Fengtian.
During the Qianlong period, natural disasters often occurred in Shandong, Zhili and other provinces. Because they were close to the northeast, many poor people fled outside the customs and entered the Ningguta area to reclaim wasteland with the banner people. The policy adopted by the Qing government was "the return of the banner people."
Banner people and people pay for their farming." By the 52nd year of Qianlong's reign, there were more than 50,000 acres of private land in the Ningguta area.
The current method adopted by the civil administration for private land is to redeem it. The price is negotiated based on the degree of cultivation of the land and the harvest and grain payment data of the past three years. At present, the redemption work is nearly 30% completed, and most of the time is spent on consulting Manchu files and measuring the land.
superior.
In early September, a convoy of three carriages arrived at Xingkaihu Village No. 2. The first carriage carried a flag with the four characters "Beihai Grain Station" written on it. When the convoy arrived at the entrance of the village, Zhu Dagui took two
The villagers have been waiting for a long time in advance.
"Hey, why are there three cars this time? It's always one car." The three of them murmured inwardly, but still headed towards the leading car.
When Zhu Dagui walked to the first car and said hello to the driver, and then turned to look at the second car, he saw a man sitting behind the driver wearing a badger skin hat and waved to him. However, when he came up
After taking two steps to see the other person's face clearly, Zhu Dagui rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"Haha, Village Chief Zhu, you haven't seen me for only two months and you still don't recognize me?"
Zhu Dagui's heart skipped a beat, his knees softened and he almost fell to the ground, thinking: "God! Why is he here?!"
The man jumped off the carriage, came over, held Zhu Dagui's hand and said with a smile: "Village Chief Zhu, I am Xiao Zhao from the Civil Affairs Bureau, don't you remember?"
"Remember, remember, remember." Zhu Dagui's mouth trembled. When he saw the other party's eyes signaling, he stammered: "Wang...Mr. Zhao, why are you here? This is causing trouble.
Yeah, I'm not even prepared for this."
The man said: "What are you preparing for? If you are not sent down from above, you will follow the people at the grain station everywhere. You will always sit in the room. It is really frustrating."
"Oh!" Zhu Dagui said in his heart that this should be regarded as a private visit mentioned in the play, right?
The person opposite him was none other than Zhao Xin.
By the way, it has been two months since the Hunchun Battle ended. Although Tsarist Russia is also mobilizing troops in Irkutsk, because the communication lines are too long, it will definitely not take a year to prepare.
After Zhao Xin returned to Beihai Town, he first stayed with his wife for more than half a month. After that, he either went to the military camp or visited Zhao Liang every day. After visiting various places, he had a general understanding of the situation.
I also thought about visiting various villages. So I planned to take advantage of the autumn grain purchase and follow the people at the grain station to see the situation in the immigrant villages below.
Although Beihai Town has been saying that no tax will be collected for the first five years after the land is divided, and only 10% tax will be collected after five years, but who knows whether they will follow suit? Is there any "kicking" like leading upright officials during the acquisition of grain stations?
What are the methods of "Linjian" and "Foojia Dendrobium noodles"?
It would be difficult to discover this kind of thing without going down to experience it in person. Furthermore, Zhao Xin’s eyes and ears are now limited to Beihai Town, and his tentacles have not yet reached the immigrant villages in various places. Instead of waiting for the people below to spread the news, it is better to do it himself