North Zhili, Baoding Prefecture, Royal Farm No. 14.
"Manager Fang, we are seriously short of water here. Of the more than 20,000 acres of land, only 5,000 acres can be irrigated. The rest are all dead from drought. There is no way. There has been no rain for more than five months in a row. We are digging desperately.
We fetch water from wells and carry water from the river, but we are exhausted and can only take care of a small part of the land." said the person in charge of the farm.
"What is the grain output this year?" Fang Yizhi asked.
"Potatoes and corn cost more than 50,000 shi, and wheat costs 8,000 shi. The total is 60,000 shi." The person in charge said.
"Can you hand over food to His Majesty?"
"There are almost 10,000 people in the village. This amount of food is only enough for our rations. If we hand it over, some people will starve to death or have no energy to work." The person in charge said with a bitter smile.
"I understand. I will explain to His Majesty and waive the need for food this year. Your ability to be self-sufficient is an achievement worthy of commendation." Fang Yizhi gave him reassurance.
"Thank you, Manager Fang, thank you, Manager!" the person in charge was overjoyed, and the people in the village knelt down and kowtowed in gratitude.
Fang Yizhi didn't have much joy on his face. Instead, he was worried. There were bubbles on his mouth and his throat was so dry that it became hoarse and smoking.
Because this is the hundredth royal farm he has inspected.
Almost all I got was bad news.
The harvest is almost dead and needs rescue.
Production is severely reduced and requires assistance.
Reduce production and barely be self-sufficient.
The yield is low and only a small amount of grain can be delivered.
As for the royal farms that have achieved bumper harvests, none have been seen so far.
How is this possible?
Didn’t Fang Yizhi introduce a large number of drought-resistant, high-yielding varieties and pesticides from Xujiazhuang?
Didn’t you buy a lot of water pumps?
Plus sophisticated and useful farm tools.
It should not be difficult for the people on the farm to huddle together for warmth, pool their strength, and overcome difficulties together to achieve a bumper harvest.
Even if we can't have a big harvest, we must at least have a small bumper harvest.
Having said that, under the severe drought in the north this year, even if Fang Yizhi tried his best and guided the work non-stop, the total output of the Royal Farm this year would make it difficult for the farm to become self-sufficient.
One of the reasons is that in order not to 'compete with the people' and avoid criticism from civil servants, most of the land occupied by the royal farm is dry land, which is far away from water sources. Irrigation is troublesome and costly.
The second reason is that the Royal Farm has expanded too fast this year. The number has increased from more than 100 to 1,000. Most of them are newly established Royal Farms. Not only are the infrastructure imperfect, but the number of talents is insufficient, and recruitment is difficult.
The displaced people who arrived are also complex in composition, with many contradictions and disunity in their hearts. It is very difficult to manage them. They cannot take advantage of "the power of many people", so it is strange that they can achieve a good harvest.
Coupled with an unprecedented severe drought.
crisis.
The Royal Farm has fallen into a difficult crisis this year. Not only is it unable to deliver food to the royal family, but there is also a gap in food rations. If this gap cannot be filled, the Royal Farm system that Fang Yizhi has worked so hard to build will face a huge crisis.
.
Think of this.
On September 5th, Fang Yizhi had to go back to Beijing and asked to see the emperor Zhu Youjian to report the severe situation encountered at the imperial farm.
Inside Dongnuan Pavilion.
"Your Majesty, the production of the royal farm has been greatly reduced. It cannot deliver food this year. Instead, it is short of food rations for 500,000 people. It needs internal funds to help!"
"The drought is really too serious! I have tried my best to ensure that only a few royal farms can achieve high yields, and the royal farms are expanding too fast. I can't control them at all. I can't control many aspects, which has led to many newly established farms.
The management of the royal farm is chaotic and full of ills, and it is impossible to devote all its efforts to large-scale production..."
"Your Majesty, I really tried my best! But there are too many places that are unlucky this year, and they should not expand so fast. After all, our area is not Southern Zhili. We do not have the favorable development conditions like Xujiazhuang. If it is an area with lots of water in the south of the Yangtze River,
, it will definitely be an unprecedented bumper harvest.”
Fang Yizhi lowered his head, like a general who had lost a battle, and had to emphasize the various conditions encountered this year that were not conducive to the Royal Farm.
"My dear, you don't have to blame yourself. Sit down and talk slowly. I believe you."
Seeing Fang Yizhi, who was obviously much thinner and darker, reporting in a hoarse and tired voice, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but feel a little distressed. He immediately asked him to sit down and Wen Yan comforted him.
In fact, Zhu Youjian is by no means the kind of person who is good-tempered and easy to talk. He especially hates pie-in-the-sky and deception. He will be severely punished if he doesn't do things well. Yuan Chonghuan, who was cut to pieces with a thousand knives, is a lesson learned.
Now Fang Yizhi's "Royal Farm Plan" has been implemented for more than three years. There are only two years left before the five-year term expires, but it has encountered a serious overturn. Not only can't deliver a grain of grain this year, but also have to dig out internal funds.
Providing money and food to help 500,000 villagers was a drain on the internal funds and increased the emperor's burden.
If it had been left to his early years, Zhu You would have been furious. Even if he did not order Fang Yizhi to be killed, he would definitely be dismissed from his post. If he was beaten to the end, he would never be reused again and could only sit on the bench.
This time Zhu Youjian was very tolerant. He not only comforted Fang Yizhi, but also said that he also had some responsibilities and should not be too impatient. If he chose to be safe, the number of royal farms would be less expanded this year, with only one or two hundred more.
, maybe the situation will be much better.
By the way, did the sun rise in the west? Zhu Youjian would also take the initiative to admit his mistake?
no way.
This is the age of public knowledge, and as early as March, the Oriental Times anticipated the drought and described the seriousness of the problem.
By August, the Oriental Times did not know where it had collected the data, and concluded that Hebei's grain production had dropped by 45%, which means that the general production had been reduced by half, and the production reduction would only be more severe in areas with poor irrigation conditions.
"The Rebirth of Financial Giants"
Now, the number of royal farms has increased to one thousand, housing about 7 million villagers. However, under this year's severe drought, Fang Yizhi was still able to ensure the supply of food rations for 6.5 million villagers, with only 500,000 villagers.
The proportion of human food shortage is less than one tenth.
Compared with those areas where the food deficit is as high as 40 to 50%, this is not a defeat, but a quite outstanding achievement, which helped reduce the burden on the court.
It should be praised and encouraged!
"My dear, don't worry about the food rations for 500,000 people. I will allocate funds from the internal funds to buy a batch of cheap grain from Xujiazhuang to solve the problem of food shortage. The "Oriental Times" said that the drought is likely to continue next year, so your next year
The goal is to realize the self-sufficiency of the royal farms. It would be better if a small amount can be handed over, and there should be no further expansion. A thousand royal farms are enough."
Zhu Youjian said grandly that this year there was a bumper harvest in the Jiangnan region, and the amount of money turned in reached 24 million (of which Xujiazhuang accounted for one-third and was sent to the internal funds), accounting for 9% of the total fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty.
It can be seen that the imperial court is rich now and can do more things, but it is also more dependent on Jiangnan. This is by no means a good thing.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Fang Yizhi burst into tears with gratitude, but immediately gritted his teeth and said unwillingly: "Your Majesty, in addition to filling the food gap, can you give me another 5 million silver dollars? I want to renovate at least 500 royal farms. This year
We started to prepare for drought in winter, digging large water storage cellars, digging deeper wells, building a large number of dams, and doing everything possible to retain water resources for next year's irrigation."
"Your Majesty, my goal next year is to have more than 500 royal farms have a bumper harvest. Not only will they achieve self-sufficiency, but they will also have to send at least 10 million dan of grain into the internal coffers. Your Majesty, the price of food in the north is very high now.
Growing grain is profitable. Even if it only sells for 1 silver dollar/stone, your Majesty’s investment of 5 million silver dollars will get at least double the return... Your Majesty, just let me do something big. I will never let your Majesty do it again.
Disappointed!”
Unwilling.
Fang Yizhi was very unwilling.
And he also has the kind of perseverance and never admit defeat. If he made a mistake this year and overturned, he will learn from the lessons and solve the problem. Next year, he must achieve a great victory and a bumper harvest, and give His Majesty the Emperor a big surprise!
So he wants to increase investment, do something big, and make a turnaround next year.
"Five million silver dollars?"
Zhu Youjian was shocked. The total income of the royal family this year was about 10 million. Fang Yizhi would eat half of it if he wanted to use it to fight back. This fighting spirit is worth encouraging.
But I want too much.
"Your Majesty, this is not much at all..."
Fang Yizhi explained that after dividing the five million silver dollars, each farm would only receive ten thousand. However, the construction of water conservancy facilities is a huge amount of work, which is already very economical.
Zhu Youjian immediately regretted it. If he had known that the investment would be so huge, why would he build so many royal farms? If the drought continued for another three to five years, wouldn't it mean that long-term investment would be required, and a lot of money would be spent every year, but the income would not necessarily be large.
In addition, despite the fact that he has money in his internal funds now, the more money he receives, the greater the expenses, such as the expenses for the New Year at the end of the year, the expenses for training 50,000 new troops, and he is blackmailed by civil servants from time to time, and is called poor.
Extortion from the vassal and clan, as well as disaster relief expenses, etc., as long as someone is not careful or has a weak ear, all the money will be spent in the blink of an eye, because those people have rich experience in extorting internal funds.
, you can always think of ways to achieve your goals.
Or find a way to spend all the money and food in the Ministry of Revenue treasury in a short period of time, and everything will be spent by the end of the year. As for what to do in the first half of next year, it depends on how much can be extorted from the emperor, Zhu You
However, there is no good way to deal with them. Who makes the Ming Dynasty's finances accumulate huge debts over the years, and there are too many places to spend money.
"My dear, I have no money. How about I give you 500,000 silver dollars to solve the irrigation problem of fifty farms and ensure that we can be self-sufficient next year. When the so-called Little Ice Age passes, we can enter the stage of great development."
Zhu Youjian said that his lack of grandeur was highlighted again. Although the royal farm is very important and food is very important, there are too many expenses to spend this year. He also plans to have a good year at the end of the year. Five million silver dollars is impossible.
Take it out.
"Only this much?"
Fang Yizhi was immediately disappointed. He was poured a basin of cold water on him. What could he do with only half a million silver dollars? It would be much better if he was given one million silver dollars. As for the bright prospect of being able to double his income, he only asked for capital preservation.
Just run it.
Is this still the wise emperor who was ambitious and bent on reviving the Ming Dynasty?
"Your Majesty, since we have no internal funds, why not borrow money from Tianxiatong Bank? With the guarantee in the name of the royal family, we can definitely borrow five million silver dollars." Fang Yizhi came up with another idea and borrowed money.
"No, we can't borrow it anymore!"
Zhu Youjian immediately refused: "The money in Xujiazhuang is not that easy to borrow, and there will be many conditions attached to it. I was fooled last time and gave away the 'free right to build roads'. Who knew there was such a huge money inside?"
Interest, if I borrow it again now, I'm afraid there will be a bigger trap."
"Then can I borrow money in my own name? As for the collateral, I will use the Royal Farm as a guarantee. If the money is not paid, let Xujiazhuang send someone to take over the Royal Farm. I wonder if Your Majesty can authorize this?" Fang Yizhi asked again.
"this……"
Zhu Youjian hesitated, and even became suspicious, as to whether the transfer of the Royal Farm, which had finally been managed, to Xujiazhuang was a ruse and conspiracy.
"Your Majesty, I work with all my heart and work hard. I just want to bring you countless money and food and help your Majesty become strong and prosperous. Do you think your Majesty should be suspicious of my sincere heart?" Fang Yizhi knelt down, extremely disappointed.
and the sad way.
"My dear, that's not what I meant..."
Zhu Youjian looked ashamed and helped him up. He immediately agreed to his request and allowed him to borrow money from Tianxiatong Bank in his own name, but he could not use the royal farm as a mortgage.