When these words came out, Zhu Di felt that these words were a bit lacking in quality and that he was actually hasty.
However, what Zhu Di said did express Zhu Di's true feelings.
"It is Suzhou and Hangzhou of my Ming Dynasty." Yang Shiqi said calmly: "Of course, Yingtian Mansion and Taiping Mansion are far inferior. They can only be compared with Suzhou Mansion or Hangzhou Mansion."
He looked very humble.
But when he said these words, Zhu Di and the officials were still shocked.
You know, more than ten years ago, without the freak Taiping Mansion, Suzhou and Hangzhou would have been one of the richest areas in the world.
The annual taxes collected here, the money and grain generated, and the prosperity of commerce are all very few.
Zhu Di was extremely surprised. He pondered for a while and then said: "Suzhou and Hangzhou? This is really rare. How can this barbaric place like Xinzhou, which has only been in existence for more than ten years, compare to Suzhou and Hangzhou?"
"The annual taxes, especially the silver tax." Yang Shiqi said: "As far as I know, the annual silver tax in Suzhou is six to seven hundred thousand taels, while in Xinzhou, it has reached 1,370,000 taels."
As soon as this statement came out, no one expected it.
Yang Shiqi continued: "Xinzhou now has seven shipyards, which can build more than 140 ships every year. In addition, around this shipbuilding, a large port has been built, as well as various workshops, especially steel-making workshops.
In Xinzhou, Chen led the people to discover a large amount of iron ore. The iron ore in Xinzhou is of particularly good quality and is much better in quality than the iron ore in Daming Dynasty."
"In addition, coal is also everywhere in Xinzhou. With the help of cheap coal and iron ore, steel can be produced, which can be traded with Western countries. It can also take this opportunity to recruit a large number of manpower."
Yang Shiqi paused and continued: "The situation in Xinzhou is a bit more special than that of other vassal states. There have not been a large number of natives here, but it is rich in minerals, and these minerals are especially easy to dig.
If the coal and iron were excavated in Daming, it might require three laborers, but in Xinzhou, it might only require one laborer."
"I believe that to govern a place is to discover the strengths of the place, analyze its weaknesses, and then use the strengths to avoid the weaknesses. Therefore, ten years ago, I made a policy of focusing on steel and industry and commerce."
Zhu Di listened carefully and couldn't help but wonder: "How can a thousand kilograms of coal and iron require so little manpower?"
Yang Shiqi replied: "Yes. On the one hand, this place is rich in mineral veins, and because it has been a barren land for thousands of years, almost no one mines the minerals here. Because of this, this place is different from the Ming Dynasty.
There are continuous mountains, and many minerals are located deep in the mountains. Extracting them is time-consuming and labor-intensive."
"What's more...for thousands of years, most of the minerals that are easy to mine in shallow layers have been completely mined by successive dynasties. Therefore, if you want to continue mining, you have to continue to use time-consuming and labor-intensive methods to dig deep mines. All of these
The manpower and material resources required are also unimaginable.”
"But many of the minerals in Xinzhou don't even require mines. They are located in shallow depths, so the cost is naturally much lower."
Zhu Di nodded.
Yang Shiqi continued: "So this has become the advantage of Xinzhou. Since it has advantages, it must be used. After all, Xinzhou is not far from the Western vassals. Xinzhou has established ports and transported a large amount of steel.
, and purchasing many Western specialties to meet the needs of the army and the people is enough to make the soldiers and the people rich."
"After Changshi Mansion made profits from coal and iron, the next thing to do is to spend a lot of money to recruit soldiers and civilians to move to Xinzhou. On the other hand, it is to build ports, railways and roads, and to build irrigation and water conservancy. Your Majesty, just
Coal and iron cannot last long, not to mention that if it is too single, it will inevitably fall into an embarrassing situation. Therefore... the essence of the minister's massive construction of ports, water conservancy, and roads... is to revitalize the industry and commerce of the entire New Island. In this way, not only coal
The transportation of iron is more convenient. The vast land of Xinzhou can also promote animal husbandry and open up thousands of hectares of fertile farmland."
“With livestock, wool can be produced, and wool can promote weaving. There is enough food, and there is a large amount of meat brought by livestock. Coupled with the convenience of transportation, there are coal, iron, workshops, and the port brings
The large amount of income will make the military and civilians even more prosperous."
Zhu Di listened carefully and felt that Yang Shiqi was very interesting.
Yang Shiqi's speech was really one-dimensional, but if he chewed it carefully, he felt that it was very organized.
I saw Yang Shiqi continue: "I personally conducted a survey and found that in this Xinzhou, each household eats up to fifty kilograms of meat, five hundred kilograms of rice and noodles, and many other fruits and vegetables every year."
As soon as this statement came out, the officials were in an uproar, and all of them opened their eyes in disbelief.
Can you eat fifty pounds of meat every year? What is the concept?
At least in the Ming Dynasty, this was something that even the small gentry could not understand. Ordinary poor people might not even have a bite of meat in a year.
As the emperor, Zhu Di was most concerned about the people's food and clothing. Hearing Yang Shiqi's words, he couldn't help but be moved and said: "Really, there are so many?"
Yang Shiqi smiled calmly and said: "The land in Xinzhou is vast and there is a lot of reclaimed land, and there is also a lot of land suitable for farming after increasing water conservancy and irrigation. There are also a lot of pastures where cattle and sheep can be grazed.
, agricultural land... can also be cultivated. And because there is so much arable land, the vast majority of farmers own hundreds of acres of land."
Hundreds of acres?
Yang Rong asked subconsciously: "Hundreds of acres? Does this wealthy farmer own it?"
Yang Shiqi said surprisingly: "This is a relatively poor farmer..."
"..."
Then everyone opened their eyes in shock.
Yang Shiqi's words really shocked people.
Yang Shiqi even said: "Because there is so much land,...even the criminal prisoners exiled by the imperial court were given hundreds of acres of land for resettlement in Xinzhou. They did not farm intensively, but most of them raised cattle and horses, and they mostly used animal power for farming.
, the yield per mu may not be high, after all... the manpower is insufficient, and there is no inclination like those in the Central Plains and Jiangnan. After repeated manipulation of more than ten acres of land, the food grown is far higher than what each household needs. Therefore.
, every household raises more cattle, horses, chickens and ducks, just to teach these animals and poultry to eat the excess grain."
"..."
I have to say that if this Xinzhou is really as Yang Shiqi said, it will really be a paradise model.
There is almost no land conflict. Everyone can own hundreds of acres of land, but manpower is scarce. Minerals are available as soon as they are dug. Sowing the land is waiting for harvest, and there is no need to mess around. There is a lot of pasture for grazing.
Doesn't this mean that a random household can be compared to the middle-class gentry and landowners of the Ming Dynasty?
The impact of this realization is of course huge.
While everyone was shocked, Yang Shiqi smiled and said: "Of course, the above are Xinzhou's strengths. If these strengths are not brought into play, they are useless. Just like coal and iron, if you can't train steel machinery by yourself, then no matter how many
What is the use of coal and iron? After spinning a large amount of wool, how can we make a profit without port transportation? There is also a large amount of land. If we do not build water conservancy, roads and bridges, I am afraid... it will be nothing more than barren land.
That’s all.”
"But with these, we can attract the population. In order to attract the population, Chang Shi's Mansion spent a large sum of gold and silver, or hired workers at high prices to place them, or took in prisoners, even if they were criminals.
Prisoners also teach them that they have a place to shelter from the wind and rain, so that they can have food and clothing without worries. In this way, there will be nothing to worry about."
"In the past ten years, Xinzhou has worked hard to attract a population of 130,000 households and 790,000 people. Together with the new children, it has also increased by 170,000. With people, more can be cultivated
With more land, more minerals can be mined.”
Everyone listened and felt excited.
Some people couldn't help but smile bitterly. In the Ming Dynasty, everyone fought for land annexation. This was a good thing, because in Xinzhou, there would be no people to reclaim the wasteland and annex the land.
Comparing people to each other is really irritating.
Calculated in this way, Xinzhou actually has a population of one million. This number is indeed no longer smaller than that of a single city.
Although it is not as good as Suzhou and Hangzhou, if it has so many minerals and cultivated land, as well as a large amount of pasture, and can handle goods through the port, it is obviously not a boast to say that it is comparable to Suzhou and Hangzhou.
Zhu Di nodded and said with emotion: "Well... Calculated in this way, it is an outstanding political achievement."
What is unexpected is that Yang Shiqi actually said: "The jurisdiction of the Changshi Mansion does not stop here! Your Majesty, in fact, the way to govern is to be flexible. It needs to be adapted to the circumstances of the time and the local conditions. Just like the military of Xinzhou, because in
In Xinzhou, there are no major foreign invasions, and the local natives are few and far between. Therefore, Xinzhou does not have a permanent health post, but instead establishes a few inspection departments and orders them to maintain public order. However, because Xinzhou has
Xinzhou is a large island, but it urgently needs a navy to attack nearby pirates and ensure the routes between Xinzhou, the West, and the Ming Dynasty."
"I set up a navy in Xinzhou, recruited personnel, and built new ships. Today, the Xinzhou Navy has more than 70 large and small ships. There is also a naval school in the navy to teach water warfare.
The ships in Xinzhou are not expensive. The ship I am traveling on this time has twelve thousand materials. It was recently launched. It has sails as power. If it is wartime, it also carries a steam engine.
Its propeller can be used to double its speed. Such a huge ship is the flagship of the navy. It can carry nine thousand pieces of cargo and supplies. It can be said to be the best ship in the world."
After Zhu Di heard this, he frowned slightly.
In this world, the largest Fu Ship is probably about 6,000 in size. This is already the largest ship in the Western Pacific Navy.
Of course, what Zhu Di didn't know was that at this moment, a huge ship with 4,500 pieces of material had appeared in Venice. Xinzhou, on the other hand, was quite wealthy and actually launched an even more ruthless ship.
It's just that Zhu Di doesn't understand ships after all, and actually doesn't know much about them.
I just feel that Yang Shiqi, as a long history official, knows everything about Xinzhou affairs very well.
I have to say that such a person is a talent no matter where he is.
Zhu Di was very satisfied with Yang Shiqi. Although he was older now, he still had a strong thirst for knowledge, so he said: "What is the use of building such a ship?"
Yang Shiqi smiled and said: "Such a ship costs Xinzhou 190,000 taels of silver. This cost is huge, and it's easy to calculate, but it can't just be calculated like this."
There was obvious curiosity in Zhu Di's eyes. He pursed his lips and said nothing, as if he was waiting to listen seriously.
So Yang Shiqi continued to talk eloquently: "The biggest shortcoming of the imperial court is that it only focuses on immediate benefits. When I was in Hanlin, I saw the official documents of the imperial court, especially the Ministry of Household Affairs, and most of the shortcomings lay in this. It should be noted that the expenditure of money and food, in addition to
In addition to trying your best not to lose money, you also need to have your own considerations. For example, the cost of the Xinzhou ships and warships is indeed huge. But building such ships can greatly enhance the naval combat power and ensure Xinzhou
It’s safe and sound.”
"On the other hand, it is possible to supervise the construction of such a giant ship and train a large number of craftsmen. In addition to a group of skilled shipwrights, it is also because the ship being built is an unprecedented ship, and the shipbuilding dock will
, adopting some of the most important new technologies in today's world. Since then, the craftsmanship and design of Xinzhou Shipbuilding have far exceeded that of other places. Not only have there been more talents, other civilian shipyards can also slowly follow suit.
This improvement will also be of great benefit to Xinzhou's shipping. This so-called killing three birds with one stone may cost 190,000 taels on the surface, but in fact, the hidden benefits collected may not be worth millions."
"Therefore, when I set the annual expenditures, I divided them into two accounts, one is the open account, and the other is the secret account. As long as the expenses in the open account do not cause a big deficit, then the long-term benefits of the secret account must be considered.
, Xinzhou is originally a barren land, and it is thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty. In such a barren land, if you want to survive, you need to work step by step and constantly summarize a set of effective rules and regulations. If you only focus on the immediate income and expenditure, you will
It will become a barren land forever. Therefore, the money and food, public security, water conservancy, roads and bridges, education, refugee resettlement, ports, industry and commerce, animal husbandry, litigation, and all the above under the jurisdiction of the Changshi Mansion must be complementary to each other."
After listening to this, Zhu Di kept nodding his head and did not hesitate to praise: "What you said is really refreshing."
Yang Shiqi said very sincerely: "It's not that your majesty is refreshed, but that the situation in Xinzhou is different from that in the Central Plains, so a different strategy was adopted. If the Xinzhou method was applied to the Ming Dynasty, it might not work."
Yang Shiqi told the truth, but Zhu Di was not disappointed, and even said sincerely: "It is really rare to have such a unique talent that can govern a barbaric land and achieve such results."
Zhang Anshi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, in fact, what Yang Gong said is indeed easy, but it is really difficult to do it. With a population of millions in Xinzhou, all kinds of complicated affairs, from military affairs to civil affairs, to the promotion of talents, are even more difficult.
Disaster!"
"Your Majesty, the reason why Mr. Yang... has this skill is not only that he is extremely smart, but if not, he is well-read in poetry and books, otherwise how could he become a Hanlin scholar. The second reason is that he has gained experience in Xinzhou.
Xinzhou is a place that, to put it nicely, is called the Land of Abundance. It is blessed with natural resources. But on the other hand, it is a barren land. How can it be easy to open up?"
He paused for a moment, seemed to have thought of something, and then said: "Your Majesty... I heard that prime ministers are born in states and counties, and strong generals are sent to soldiers. Only people like Yang Gong who are born in states and counties, after experience, can
Only then can we benefit the world."
As soon as these words came out, it was like a sudden thunder.
There was a deathly silence in the palace.
At this time, Zhu Di suddenly trembled.
Because he realized that Zhang Anshi seemed to have hit the key to the problem all of a sudden.
All fools know that prime ministers originate from prefectures and counties.
However, the negative influence of the prime minister from the state and county is also great.
In the process of becoming the feudal officials, they themselves had a large number of disciples and former officials, and promoted many talents. As the prime minister became more and more powerful, his team became stronger and stronger, and a large number of people who followed him at the beginning became prominent.
This is why Hu Weiyong had the capital to be arrogant and domineering, and even dared to confront Emperor Taizu Gao.
After all, all the ministers in the dynasty, and even the state officials below, are all Hu Weiyong's subordinates, who were promoted by him. So guess who these people listen to?
I have been Hu Weiyong's confidant for decades, so I can't possibly listen to you, Zhu Yuanzhang, right?
This is also the source of the contradiction between imperial power and prime ministerial power in the past dynasties.
But when it comes down to it, the world really needs these frontier officials.
The talents who rose up from the prefectures and counties step by step were more capable of governing the world. With the help of a group of Hanlin, they entered the Wenyuan Pavilion and assisted the emperor in governing the world. The final result was that many of the imperial decrees were taken for granted.
this ability.
Zhang Anshi solved this problem perfectly.
Zhang Anshi's implication is, Your Majesty, what do you think of this long history?
This long history has been overseas for a long time, and the conflicts overseas are more intense, which further sharpens people's abilities.
Xinzhou is okay, but if it is in the West, it will be even worse. In addition to development and food, you also need to think about dispatching and military affairs all day long. Such people, after ten or eight years of hard work, can achieve political achievements in the vassal country.
Counting each one, their talents will not be inferior to Yang Shiqi's.
What's even better is that, in his position of long history, he has nothing to do with the officials of the Ming Dynasty. Even if he is called into the court, he has no foundation, and he will not worry about the powers and responsibilities granted by the court to a bachelor.
Just like Hu Weiyong.
This is tantamount to using this method to directly solve the problem of the prime minister originating from the state and county.
Zhu Di's eyes brightened slightly, and he suddenly understood what Zhang Anshi meant by living regulations.
This guy... really has a different approach!
But Zhu Di immediately fell into deep thought. Many times, when he has a good idea, it is easy to be inspired.
Although Zhang Anshi's proposal is a bit hasty, and a complete set of methods are needed to ensure the path of recruiting talents, with inspiration, many ideas can be slowly understood.
But...this time it was the officials' turn to be confused.
Zhang Anshi really... lacks great virtue!
…………
I recommend a book called "The First Powerful Minister". He takes over the power of the world while drunk, and falls into the beauty stream drunkenly. Well... that's it!