The imperial estates of the Ming Dynasty were basically concentrated in the southern and northern Zhili areas. Over the past two hundred years, the number and land area of ​​the imperial estates have fluctuated, reaching their peak during the Wuzong Dynasty, with approximately 37,000 hectares. Jiajing

In the early days of his accession to the throne, in order to create the appearance of a wise king, some imperial estates were returned to local prefectures and counties. However, the symbolic significance of such a return was greater than the actual significance. Therefore, in the Wanli dynasty, the total of all imperial estates on the books was

The land area is more than 30,000 hectares.

According to the calculation that one hectare equals one hundred acres in ancient times, the current area of ​​the imperial village is about three million acres. The Wanli Emperor only allocated two thousand acres to Zhu Youdong. Isn't he too stingy?

Actually this is not the case.

The imperial family has a huge business and a large population. If there are so many people in the palace, if they really expect funds from the depleted treasury, they will starve to death a long time ago. Therefore, the income of the imperial palace is stable and can be paid at a certain time.

Reliable income that can be realized.

Therefore, in addition to the emperor, in the imperial estate of more than 30,000 hectares, there are also the names of empresses, princes, concubines, some favored concubines, and more powerful eunuchs and many other people - these are many prominent figures in the palace.

One of the main sources of private money. In this environment, Emperor Wanli was able to give Zhu Youdong two thousand acres of Zhuangzi, which can really be called a great favor.

Of course, this was what Zhu Youdong asked Wanli for. At first Wanli thought that Zhu Youdong was still young, so he could just give the money to Ciqing Palace every month according to the salary of the prince. But Zhu Youdong was unwilling: you give me a Zhuangzi, one-time

Give me some start-up capital. Then I won’t ask the royal family for money. If I don’t manage well, I deserve to starve to death!

"Zhongxian?"

"Master, please give me your instructions."

"The imperial estate given to me by the emperor's grandfather is located in Honghe Village in Changping Prefecture. The village is irrigated by the Yu River, and the land is the most fertile. But I looked at last year's account books, and this imperial estate was only handed over to Ouchi for a hundred dollars last year.

There are only five pieces of silk and silk left... Huh, it seems that the head of this village is extremely rampant. Go and take a good inventory of the account books of that village over the years, and visit the emperor on the spot.

The people in the village. If necessary, I allow you to arrest them directly!"

"Please rest assured, young master, I will get this matter done as soon as possible!"

"Well, you can't do anything alone. Shi Zhong."

"Your Highness, your minister Li Shizhong is waiting for your orders."

"Grandpa Huang has given me forty imperial guards to act as bodyguards. You will be in charge of these people from now on. I usually stay in Huangji Hall and Yangxin Hall in the morning, and in Ciqing Palace in the afternoon. I have never even been out of the Forbidden City.

.So, you don’t need to have too many guards around you. You can arrange some people to follow Zhongxian to the Honghe side to do things."

"I accept my order."

"Well..." Zhu Youdong stood up, then patted the shoulder of Wei Zhongxian, who was still kneeling on the ground: "Zhongxian, I am young and cannot ride a horse, but this Imperial Mansion is only more than forty miles away from the Forbidden City.

Even if you take a sedan chair, it's a little harder and you can go back and forth once a day. So, I'll give you ten days. Ten days later, during the Lantern Festival, plus the rotation, I will have two days off. At that time, I will go to Huangzhuang in person

Come on. If you don't do your job well, hey, you know the consequences, right?"

"My slave understands! If the errand is not done well, I don't need to tell you, I will cut off my head myself!"

"Very good, you go and do some work."

There is no doubt that a guy like Wei Zhongxian, who is ruthless to his relatives and himself, can definitely get things done. But such a guy must always be on the lookout. Otherwise, he will inflate himself, which will ultimately harm him.

He hurts himself and everyone around him.

The Ming Empire has been established for more than two hundred years, and problems have arisen in many places. The internal management of the royal family is also full of loopholes, and it can only be maintained without any effort.

Take Huangzhuang as an example. This is land directly under the name of the royal family. The emperor sent eunuchs to manage it and recruited nearby farmers to cultivate it. The output was divided between Ouchi and the farmers.

This kind of thing has been very common in all dynasties. The most famous one is Shanglin Garden in the Han Dynasty.

But unfortunately, in the Shanglin Garden in the Han Dynasty, nearby farmers rushed to cultivate land for the royal family: they did not pay taxes and were not bullied by powerful families. The royal family had a lot of income and did not care much about the output of this cultivated land. The autumn harvest

Time, it doesn't matter if it's a little left or a little right... Who doesn't like to farm land for the royal family?

But the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty was full of bad governance.

The reason is that there are too many people asking for money, serious mismanagement, etc., which makes nearby farmers unwilling to farm land for Huangzhuang: there are too few allotments.

The peasants received less, and the emperor received less, so where did the output go? Of course, the eunuchs and their minions who managed the imperial estate on behalf of the royal family took too much.

Some people may ask: Why didn’t the Imperial Village of the Han Dynasty have such problems? Was it because the people of that era had higher moral standards?

Well... maybe there is a reason for this. But the most fundamental thing is: the princes of the Han Dynasty had to manage themselves from a very young age and manage part of the land in Shanglin Garden - if you can't manage a small manor well, what will happen in the future?

How about running your feudal kingdom or the entire Han Empire? As for the princes of the Ming Dynasty. Tsk, tsk, tsk, our Ming Dynasty is a country governed by morality. How can a gentleman do such a despicable thing as asking for land and housing?

During the Ming Dynasty, the owners of various imperial estates were constantly changing. Emperors, princes, queen mothers, empresses, concubines, etc. all had Zhuangzi in their names. But without exception, no Zhuangzi was managed by the owner himself.

. This is the biggest difference between the Ming Dynasty Imperial Mansion and the Han Dynasty Shanglin Garden.

Besides, since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it has become increasingly difficult for royal heirs, and the death rate of princes is extremely high. Even if the emperor wants to train his princes, there are no princes who are healthy and mentally sound to do so.

Therefore, when Emperor Wanli allocated an imperial estate of about 2,000 acres to the name of his grandson, most of the people, including the prince, concubines, eunuchs, and ministers outside the Forbidden City, just said "Oh."

In their opinion, how much could the emperor's grandson understand at such a young age, even if he was born smart? He was not entrusting full power to the management of the village leaders. It was nothing more than the small income from this land being transferred from Wanli's name to the emperor.

It's just in the grandson's name.

However, as a time traveler, isn’t what you want most the most, isn’t this situation?

"Cao Huachun!"

"My slave is here."

"This is a thousand taels of tickets, which can be cashed at the household bank in both capitals. In addition, I also asked Mr. Ju to get you a new identity."

"...Thousands of households in the East Factory? This, my servant, cannot afford such a heavy responsibility now."

"Humph, that's a nice thought. You're only a teenager, but you really want to be a senior executive in Dongchang? This is just an identity that makes it easier for you to do things outside."

"Oh...then what do you need your slave to do outside?"

"Yeah." Zhu Youdong turned around and took out a few pictures from the bookcase behind his seat.

Hey, even though he drew a lot of pictures when he was studying regional anatomy, the body was still too small and couldn't keep up with the strength and so on. Therefore, he spent a long time on these drawings.

Finish.

"Look, this is a potato. Some people call it potato or yam egg. It is said that it has been planted in Shaanxi and Shanxi areas, but I can't be sure whether this news is true. But there is no doubt that Fujian,

There must be people planting it in Guangdong. This is called corn. This is called sweet potato or sweet potato. You should be able to find people planting it in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong. Your mission is to leave Beijing immediately and go south to find these three crops.

Plant things and bring me as many of their seeds and plants as possible."

"I have taken note of this. I will definitely handle this matter for you."

"Well, along the way, you collect rice plants or seeds from various provinces and bring them all back to me. In addition, there is another person. After you arrive in Jiangnan, arrange for the Jin Yiwei there to be sent to Beijing as soon as possible. I will be of great use.

!”

"Yes, slave, I obey."

"You don't have much time. It's already the first month of the year. Except for the gentleman who sent someone over immediately after finding him, I want you to bring all these things back by May of this year at the latest.

!You are still young, it is your first time out of Beijing, and time is so tight. That’s why I asked Mr. Ju to get you such a high status. This status is given to you to facilitate your work. If you borrow

This identity is used to show off and show off one's power outside. Humph, you know what I will do!"

It's a bit funny for a four-year-old child to say to a fifteen-year-old boy that you are still young, but Cao Huachun didn't feel any sense of disobedience at this moment: "Please rest assured, young master, I will do my best when I am out there. IV.

Within a month, this slave will definitely come back."

"Yeah." A little beating is enough for Cao Huachun. After all, this guy is not a scumbag like Wei Zhongxian: "Do it well, you are my big companion. If you do a good job, why should I be stingy with rewards?
Chapter completed!