Zhu Cixiang was extremely happy when he learned that the Ming Dynasty Royal Bank had hundreds of millions of taels of silver in deposit.
Because this not only means that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is no longer short of money, but also means that the gentry and merchants in Jiangnan have formed a close alliance of interests with the Ming royal family.
However, the Crown Princess frowned.
"My beloved concubine, you don't seem happy?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
Crown Princess Kang Xi snorted slightly and said, "I am worried about the money."
"You still have money to worry about?" Zhu Cixiang said angrily, "What's there to worry about?"
"How can we not worry?" Kang Xi said, "More than 100 million taels of silver are saved, and we have to pay hundreds of thousands of taels every day just for interest. That is to say, when we open our eyes every day, our family has already spent money before we even do anything.
Go out and get hundreds of thousands of taels."
"Ah, that's right." Zhu Cixiang was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He suddenly realized that the more than 100 million silver coins only existed in the royal silver number, and did not really belong to the royal silver number.
Moreover, these silvers are stored in the Royal Bank, and interest must be paid.
Based on that, it seems like this has become another money-losing business?
But Zhu Cixiang reacted quickly and said: "No, you are wrong. How can the bank lose money? If the bank loses money, how can the previous bank make a profit?"
The princess said: "Qianzhuang relies on lending to make profits."
"Then let's borrow money too." Zhu Cixiang clapped his hands and said, "Let's borrow money too."
"It can't be that easy." The Crown Princess shook her head and said, "Now I think there are a lot of people depositing money in the Royal Bank, but there are almost no people borrowing money. So far, the total loans have only been less than one million taels."
[Note: The late Ming Dynasty was in a stage of deflation, with poor economic vitality, a serious shortage of good investment channels, and a sharp increase in the risks of doing business. The gentry and merchants were more willing to hide their money than use it to start a business, which led to the economy becoming worse.
Poor, there are fewer opportunities, entering a vicious downward spiral, and then a seemingly contradictory economic phenomenon appears. On the one hand, the Ming Dynasty clearly had a large amount of silver, but on the other hand, due to insufficient money in the market, there were
Deflation]
"How could it be possible?" Zhu Cixiang said in disbelief, "There are not as many people borrowing money as there are people saving money."
"Before today, I didn't believe this was true." The princess said, "But now it's true. Seven of the ten people who entered the bank came to deposit money, and only three came to borrow money. Among them, there are also
There are two people who have no collateral at all, and only one of them is qualified to borrow money, which is really worrying."
Zhu Cixiang thought for a while and said: "Father must have a solution. I will write to you after I ask him."
"Your Highness, let me follow you to Xuzhou." Kang Xi said, "Don't worry, I won't pester you. When you arrive in Xuzhou, you, your father and Prince Ding will live in the military camp, and I will live in the Xuzhou branch."
This time I went north to inspect the Xuzhou branch.
Although the person responsible for managing the Xuzhou branch is an old shopkeeper who has been with Kang for more than a million years, and there is absolutely no problem in terms of ability or loyalty, Kang Xi, as the chief shopkeeper of the bank, cannot stop going there.
Thinking of this, Zhu Cixi nodded: "Okay, let's go together."
After being separated for two months, Zhu Cixiang really missed his father and Zhu Cijiong.
…
"Hahahahahaha!"
Zhu Cijiong sneezed twice in a row.
Chongzhen immediately asked nervously: "Jiong'er, you won't catch a cold, right?"
These days, if you catch a common cold, you may end up going to hell. Now is the early winter season, when the weather is suddenly cold and warm, which is the time when you are most likely to catch a cold.
"Father, I'm fine." Zhu Cijiong touched his nose.
"Brother Huang must be talking about us and missing us."
While they were talking, Chongzhen, his son and his entourage arrived in front of a farm.
From a distance, I could see Gao Qiqian and several young eunuchs coming towards him excitedly.
"Long live Lord, there is hope for the Ming Dynasty and ZTE! We have hope for the Ming Dynasty and ZTE!"
Gao Qiqian came closer and knelt down on the field stem with a bang, kowtowing and crying loudly.
Seeing Gao Qiqian being so excited, Chongzhen knew that there must be a bumper harvest of corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes, and it was probably an unprecedented bumper harvest.
"Get up quickly." Chongzhen stretched out his foot and kicked it high, then dived.
At the same time, I thought in my heart, Gao Qiqian, this eunuch is really a blessed general.
Several things he was asked to do came to fruition, including farming this time.
In the past few months, these more than 10,000 acres of "royal land" were managed by Gao Qiqian and his eunuchs.
Gaoqiqian stood up quickly and said with a coquettish face: "Long live my Lord, I am really convinced. The three crops you asked the Marquis of Nan'an to present have achieved an unprecedented harvest!"
"The harvest of more than 10,000 acres of corn yielded more than 30,000 shi. The yield of 3 shi per mu is extraordinary!"
"More than 100 acres of potatoes have yielded more than 400 shi, and the yield of 4 shi per mu is amazing. The most unbelievable thing is sweet potatoes. More than 1,000 acres of sweet potatoes have yielded more than 6,000 shi. The yield per mu is 5 shi."
Shi Youqi!"
"So many?" The accompanying scholars Qin Wang were extremely excited.
For the same cultivated land, the wheat yield cultivated by the refugees is less than 2 dan per mu.
Chongzhen was unfazed, and there was obviously still a lot of room for improvement in this output.
It is estimated that this is related to the fact that the cultivated land in Xuzhou has been abandoned for too long. When the land matures, the yield will increase.
You must know that the yield of sweet potatoes can easily reach 7,000 to 8,000 kilograms per mu. Even without chemical fertilizers, there is no pressure to achieve a yield of two thousand kilograms per mu. In other words, the yield per mu can reach more than 12 shi.
Unfortunately, the most productive sweet potato cannot be used as a staple food and can only be used as a supplementary food.
But even if it can only be used as supplementary food, it can greatly alleviate the food crisis of the Ming Dynasty.
Sweet potatoes can not only be eaten directly, but can also be ground into powder and processed into vermicelli, which is light in weight and durable for storage.
But the most anticipated thing is corn. Although the yield is not as high as sweet potatoes and potatoes, it can be used as a staple food.
Now, because the wasteland is being re-cultivated and there is no selective breeding, the corn yield is not high. However, once the land is cultivated, Fang Yizhi can find a few experienced farmers to carry out seed selection, and the corn yield will be very fast.
It can be raised up, and there is no pressure to produce four to five stone per mu, and seven or eight stone is also possible.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! At that moment, Chongzhen waved to Fang Yizhi to come forward.
Fang Yizhi immediately trotted up to him and asked, "What are your instructions?"
"Fang Mizhi, in your physics knowledge, there are instructions on how to cultivate peony, planting techniques, growing wolfberry, and tamba wild rice, but why is there no introduction to growing wheat, growing bean sprouts, growing rice, or even growing sweet potatoes and growing bracts?
"Chongzhen said, "But do you think wheat, bean sprouts, and rice are not as important as peony and other herbs? Is there some other reason?"
"This..." Fang Yizhi froze on the spot.
Yes, why doesn’t the physics trivia say about growing wheat, growing bean sprouts, and growing rice?
Since ancient times, the country has been unstable without agriculture. The production of crops is the foundation of the country. How can other countries ignore the foundation of the country with their wisdom? This is simply a shame and a great shame.
Chongzhen pointed to the corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes that had just been harvested, and said: "I heard from the Marquis of Nan'an that the yield of corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes is far more than this number. The reason why the yield will be lower after transplanting to Xuzhou
, one is because the land is abandoned, and the other is definitely because the seeds have not been selected."
"So I will give you a task."
"You find a group of old farmers, select a few scholars, form a team, and help me increase the yields of corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes for the Ming Dynasty. The higher the better."
"Since ancient times, food has been the most important thing for people."
"If the army does not have sufficient rations, it will be vulnerable!"
"So, Fang Mizhi, if you have done this well, it will be a great success for the country and benefit the future!"
Hearing this, Fang Yizhi could no longer hold himself back, and immediately bowed his head to the ground and said: "My lord, accept the order!"
Chongzhen continued: "By the way, I am not asking you to take charge of this matter personally. I am asking you to find a few scholars and experienced old farmers to take charge of it."
Fang Yizhi certainly cannot be responsible for specific agricultural affairs.
After all, there were not many scholars like Fang Yizhi in this era who had certain scientific literacy, so his job was mainly to take the lead in establishing various disciplines.
The first subject to be established now is agricultural science.
After this battle was fought, if the defense line could be held fast, the Ming Dynasty would not have been destroyed. Chongzhen planned to set up another engineering department and begin the systematic research and development of flintlock muskets and even rifled guns and other firearms.
Of course, only God knows to what extent it will be developed and how soon it will be ready.
If luck is good enough and Bumika really tricks a few scientists from Europe, then he will establish subjects such as physics, chemistry, mathematics and even astronomy, thus truly introducing natural science to the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, many things are easy to say but difficult to do.
Fang Yizhi suddenly said: "Your Majesty, I remember that the former Wenyuan Pavilion scholar Xuan Hugong once served a sweet potato dish, and it seems that the sweet potato was mentioned in the recipe."
"Yes, Xu Guangqi once served a sweet potato planter." Chongzhen said, "Unfortunately, he has been dead for many years."
Fang Yizhi continued: "Although Duke Xuanhu is no longer here, the Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs compiled by him is still there, and as far as I know, the Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs compiled by him was actually compiled by his students."
"A student of Xu Guangqi?" Chongzhen's heart moved when he heard this, "In the scholar camp?"
"Of course." Fang Yizhi said, "Chen Zilong, a student of Duke Xuanhu, is in the scholar camp at this time."
Speaking of this, Fang Yizhi turned around and shouted in the distance: "Renzhong? Renzhong brother? Call Renzhong brother!"
Not long after, Chen Zilong came over with a piece of sweet potato vine. When he saw Chongzhen, he bowed his head to the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to promote the planting of sweet potatoes on a large scale in Xuzhou and even in Nanzhi. This plant is drought-resistant, barren, wind- and rain-resistant, and is not easy to grow."
In the year of great disaster due to insect infestation, no grains of wheat or rice can be harvested. However, this product can still yield several stones per acre, which is a real treasure in times of drought!"
Chongzhen smiled and asked: "Did you compile the complete book on agricultural affairs?"
"Yes." Chen Zilong said, "The Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs has a total of twelve titles and sixty volumes, with more than 500,000 words. I have proofread and edited them one by one and compiled them into a volume."
