In the blink of an eye, we have entered the harvest month of August during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
People pay a lot of attention to agricultural harvests in various places.
For the Ming Dynasty, this year is another year of floods in the south and drought in the north. The impact of natural disasters has not receded. Many individual farmers still experienced severe reductions in production or no harvests this year. Most provinces in the north still cannot achieve self-sufficiency in food production.
.
Even in the Jiangnan region, which originally performed best, due to the booming development of animal husbandry and breeding, the opening of a large number of factories, and the large-scale expansion of Xujiazhuang, many people have no intention of farming. The total grain output in Jiangnan is expected to decrease by about 20%.
——That is to say, the production will be reduced by about 300 million stone.
The construction of four heavy-haul railways has also attracted more than two million young road builders, making the construction speed of these railways quite impressive.
Not to mention that the mines developed all over the Ming Dynasty had endless demand for labor, and there was even a labor shortage and difficulty in recruiting people.
Anyway, everyone seems to be busy.
Opportunities for development and fortune are everywhere.
The various types of information received every day are also dazzling and cannot be digested quickly. Some topics that arouse national discussion can stay hot for an increasingly shorter time.
In order to improve the timeliness of news, the publication frequency of "Oriental Times" has also been increased from once every three days to once every two days, and should soon be increased to five issues per week.
It can be said that today's Ming Dynasty has entered an explosive development stage, which can also be said to be a golden development period.
Taking food as an example again, if the food production in the Jiangnan region is reduced, and the reduction is as huge as 300 million stone, in normal times, it will definitely cause a huge panic, and the food price will immediately skyrocket by 30 to 50%, and even lead to a
food crisis.
But this time, the news of reduced grain production did not cause panic, nor did it lead to an increase in grain prices. Instead, the public response was mediocre and did not attract much attention.
Because most people know very well that the price of food in the Ming Dynasty is completely controlled by Xujiazhuang. If Xujiazhuang wants to increase the price of food, the price will rise a little. If he wants to lower the price of food, the price will immediately drop a little without being affected.
Due to the influence of the atmosphere of panic and worry, once some grain merchants appear and want to confront Xujiazhuang over grain prices, they will quickly be taught how to behave.
After all, the amount of rice that Xujiazhuang could levy from Nanyang could easily exceed 200 million shi, and it already had the ability to feed half of the Ming Dynasty's population with the power of Xujiazhuang alone.
And although the current Ming Dynasty is still under the influence of the climate of the Little Ice Age, many people are unable to make a living from farming. However, because of this, it has become a golden development period for industry and mining, providing countless labor resources, and has become a
In order to promote the development of industry, huge energy exploded. Driven by the huge demand in Xujiazhuang, every Ming Dynasty citizen was so busy that they couldn't stop, and they were extremely happy making money (of course, there were also a lot of ugliness.
Phenomenon).
all in all.
In this atmosphere where "everyone cares about money and everyone is busy making money".
The slight decrease in grain production in Jiangnan has become a minor problem that is not taken seriously.
Naturally, although the 'King's Manor', which is being constructed in full swing in North Korea, and the universal tax exemption reform have created a huge response in the Kingdom of North Korea, not many people paid attention to it in the Ming Dynasty. Out of low profile, the "Oriental Times" did not
The report was deliberately carried out, so in the mainstream public opinion, no one discussed the significance of the so-called "King's Manor".
This is also the result of Xu Yuan's deliberate request to keep a low profile. After all, the 'King's Manor' model has not yet been proven to be a successful model. Once it is publicized, it will only cause unnecessary preparedness and panic.
only……
Xu Yuan's goal of keeping a low profile ultimately failed.
Mid August.
In the Forbidden City of the capital, Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian is preparing for this year's internal financial income, which will definitely exceed 35 million yuan and will most likely reach 40 million (20 million financial support, 10 million royal shop income, 6 million royal factory income, and 3 million royal farm income). ~4 million other income) and feel very satisfied and happy.
Shen Tie, the commander of the Jin Yiwei, suddenly sent a piece of top-secret information, saying that it was collected by the elite Jin Yiwei from North Korea, saying that great changes had taken place in North Korea, which might have a considerable impact on the Ming Dynasty.
"North Korea is just a small country. How much trouble can it cause?"
Zhu Youjian didn't take it seriously, feeling that he was making a fuss out of a molehill in an attempt to attract attention and gain a sense of presence here.
But I opened the intelligence document and scanned the contents.
Zhu Youjian's face changed, and it changed wildly, and his expression suddenly became extremely serious.
Read all the content.
Zhu Youjian's face was no longer serious, but a little pale and frightened, and there was an emotion in his heart that he didn't want to face directly.
That is fear.
He admitted that he was really scared.
I became afraid of the so-called "King's Manor" and became seriously anxious about the related supporting systems.
Then there was anger, huge anger!
What to do?
What does Xujiazhuang want to do this time?
Why did he suddenly build a king's manor covering an area of one million acres? Why did he let one of his concubines become the queen of the Kingdom of Korea and suddenly become the ruler of Korea's three thousand miles of country and millions of people?
So what was Xu Yuanju's intention? He hadn't emphasized it many times before, saying that he was not interested in the Ming Dynasty and did not want to rebel and become emperor. Why did he suddenly make this move and take over North Korea, which was not actually a small kingdom?
And this time we were able to capture North Korea and establish a stable rule. Will we be able to follow the same example next time and build a large king's manor or an even larger emperor's manor in the Ming Dynasty, enclosing tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of acres of land and recruiting thousands of people? Eight million core citizens vigorously develop industry and achieve self-sufficiency in food. Coupled with a financial printing machine that can print money at will, they can easily rule an empire with extremely strong productivity and low consumption. You will not face the problem of not having enough money.
In addition, it can also win the hearts and minds of the people and gain the support of the gentry and scholars. There will not be a few people who stand up to oppose it, only a few.
Because it is tax-free.
Tax exemption for ordinary people!
Tax exemption for the gentry!
This is a sharp weapon that can quickly conquer people's hearts. After all, for ordinary people, the government does not collect any taxes. What is this if not an eternal sage? If you don't support such a sage, do you support those who charge justice on their heads? There is no imperial court that has dozens of kinds of taxes and miscellaneous taxes.
This principle is also true for the gentry class.
Once Xujiazhuang also promoted the "King's Manor" in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjian could foresee that within a few days, his old Zhu family's Jiangshan Sheji would easily and quickly fall into the hands of Xujiazhuang.
The power of this ruling order far exceeds that of a million elite troops! It is impossible for the Ming court to resist it.
what to do?
How can we deal with it and break Xujiazhuang's scheme?
Or, we can only compete with Xujiazhuang for welfare, and not only announce tax exemptions for the common people and gentry, we must also provide more benefits to stabilize their support and recognition of the Ming Dynasty.
If it's just about spreading welfare, how could Zhu Youjian be Xu Jiazhuang's opponent? Xu Jiazhuang is now unimaginably rich, and even has the ability to lead a large number of collaborators to become rich, and has the ability to create countless millionaires. It is not an exaggeration to describe him as the God of Wealth.
.
Competing with Xujiazhuang for wealth is self-defeating. There is no possibility of victory. It will not even be comparable in fifty or a hundred years.
Lost.
There is no doubt that you will lose.
That is to say, as soon as the huge "Emperor's Manor" appeared in the Ming Dynasty, the Zhu family's empire would be over, and the common people and gentry would abandon the Zhu family royal family like garbage without any reluctance.
So now Zhu Youjian's mood has become very bad, he feels extremely anxious, and he will fall into a state of irritability, insomnia, and poor appetite, which is difficult to relieve.
Countless extreme ideas have also emerged.
For example, think of a way to directly kill Xu Yuan, the culprit!
Or from now on, desperately expand the army and prepare for war, engage in militarism, work hard, give up all personal enjoyment, and then work hard to make money and plunder, find a way to raise an army of one million, and then destroy Xujiazhuang in one fell swoop.
There are also Hongmen Banquets, beauty traps, etc., to lure Xu Yuan to kill or imprison him. As long as there is no lower moral limit, you can always find a chance to succeed.
but……
Zhu Youjian is 27 years old this year and nearly 30 years old.
I have experienced a lot, dealt with many smart people, and paid countless tuition fees. I have become quite mature and am no longer as emotional and childish as I was when I was young.
He knew that if he dared to take some extreme actions, no matter whether he could succeed or not, he would not be able to bear the consequences.
What's more, Xujiazhuang's intelligence system is mysterious, powerful, and omniscient. If the changes on his side are a little bigger, I'm afraid his intentions will be exposed in advance, and then he will quickly meet the end of destruction.
Anyway, no matter how hard he tries, the probability of him winning is infinitely close to zero.
Besides, life is so good now. He has a lot of money to spend, a harem of women, nearly twenty children, and a very warm and happy life - he has so many things that he cares about and values.
, with so many bottles and cans, he is no longer a barefoot pauper. He will never go to any extreme until the moment of life and death, and he will not dare to take even slightly larger risks.
His way of thinking has begun to resemble that of a greasy middle-aged man.
So first of all, for extreme things, you can think about them in your mind, but you can't do them.
Secondly, for negotiations, we still need to send someone to summon Qichunnian into the palace to conduct negotiations and ask Xujiazhuang to give an explanation to eliminate his worries and anxieties. It is best to make a binding guarantee, which must not be done within the Ming Dynasty.
What kind of 'King's Manor' or 'Emperor's Manor'? If you dare to do this, the consequences will be extremely serious.
Finally, we still need to improve our relationship with Xu Yuan and win over him. The best way is to arrange for a woman that Xu Yuan cares about very much to be by his side, and try our best to make this woman become Xu Yuan's.
The head wife, push that Fang Qingyan aside, so that when Xu Yuan is away from Xujiazhuang, this woman, the mistress of Xujiazhuang, can make decisions, deepen cooperation with the royal family, bring a lot of benefits to the royal family, and become
Help the royal devil'.
And this woman is naturally Zhang Yan, the emperor's sister-in-law. Only she can make Xu Yuan fascinated.
"Royal sister-in-law, only you can save me and the Ming Dynasty! Are you just unwilling to make a small sacrifice for the Ming Dynasty and the royal family? What's more, you have been a widow for many years, don't you need the comfort of a man? I think you marry Xu Yuan
, there is no disadvantage at all, why are you just unwilling?"
Zhu Youjian sighed secretly, suddenly realizing that the continuation of the Ming Dynasty was actually dependent on the personal consciousness of the emperor's sister-in-law Zhang Yan.