The entire Yingtian Mansion, or rather the entire people in Jiangnan, are engaged in the intense farming work.
The people need to harvest the rice that is already full of ears in the rice fields before it rains, and pack the grains of rice into the granary before the weather changes.
Then after a few rains come down, we will continue to be busy planting the rice seedlings harvested in the autumn into the ground.
This is the busiest season every year for people in the Jiangnan area, which is called double robbery.
Rush to harvest and plant.
While the people were looting, the government was not idle either.
The tax requirements specified by the imperial court are still recorded in the accounts, but today's officials do not dare to rush into people's homes and pull the undried grain back to the government's warehouses.
Officials and servants in the government now have to accompany the officials of the taxation bureau in various places to count the average grain yield per mu of the local area that year, and also review the local water conservancy situation, etc., to help the people complete the double grab.
As for the summer and autumn taxes, it is not unacceptable to collect them later.
It's just that the government is so considerate of the people's sentiments, but it actually makes the people more active in paying taxes, and there is no need for the government to go to the villages to constantly urge the people.
The young master of Shanglinyuan Prison is a powerful man.
Nowadays, the ears of rice in whose fields are not so cute?
The heavy and full ears of rice bent the rice stalks, but made everyone's waists straighten up.
After paying the quota set by the court, the family can still have a lot of surplus food.
You no longer have to worry too much about what your family will get to eat after paying taxes.
"It is difficult for the number of grains on the rice ear to increase anymore. Lao Chen and his colleagues at Shanglinyuan have no way to change the current situation. They can only continue to improve the farming methods and find new ways to increase soil fertility."
Outside Yingtian City.
Yuan Sutai, a meritorious young master of the Ming Dynasty, was wearing an official uniform, but his legs were rolled up high. His straw sandals were covered with mud and looked half-dry. He accompanied the emperor, who was used to sneaking out of the palace from time to time, and introduced him.
The current situation.
Zhu Yuanzhang's face was full of joy.
From a long time ago, summer has been the emperor's favorite season.
Even though it's hot and people sweat profusely just by going out, it still can't stop him from loving it.
Because summer is the harvest season.
The air surges everywhere you look like a heat wave, but it also brings a strong aroma of ripe rice.
Stretch out your hand.
Zhu Yuanzhang already held several ears of rice in his hands.
There are plump rice grains on the ears of rice.
Use your other hand to pinch one and squeeze it slightly until the husk falls off the rice.
Rice was put into Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth.
It's a bit hard, so you need to chew it slowly to taste the sweetness of the crops.
The emperor did not dare to waste it, so he stretched out his hand holding the ears of rice.
Sun Gou'er, the chief steward of the inner palace who was following the emperor, immediately stepped forward, carefully wrapped the rice ear in the emperor's hand with a piece of silk, and placed it close to his chest.
Zhu Yuanzhang said softly: "It is already very good now. I still remember that at times like this, how could I see smiles on the faces of the people. They were all worrying about the food harvested from the fields.
It’s not enough to pay taxes this year.”
Yuan Sutai was also elderly and was very familiar with the extortionate expropriation during the Yuan Dynasty, so he just gave a silent, bitter smile.
Behind the two people was an official wearing a red robe.
Zou Xueyu smiled, stepped forward and cupped his hands and said: "Now His Majesty's benevolent policies are not only forcing the government to postpone the collection of taxes, but also depending on the time and place. If some people suffered a disaster that year, they can reduce or reduce taxes accordingly. All of this
Under benevolent government, how can the people not smile?"
There were no major disasters in Yingtian Mansion this year, but a few villages near the river were flooded before summer.
The crops in the field were already bearing ears at that time. Although the harvest was not as good as other fields, it was not without a harvest.
Ying Tianfu just reported the situation and the number of acres of land to the Ministry of Household Affairs truthfully.
Unexpectedly, Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, changed hands and sent the memorial to the cabinet.
After some calculations, the taxes on those fields were reduced by half.
This is real good governance.
Yuan Sutai nodded, but gradually frowned: "Your Majesty's widespread benevolent government is a blessing to the people of the world. But I am worried that this move can be implemented in Yingtian. If it spreads all over the world, I am afraid that local officials, gentry and dignitaries will take advantage of it.
This will line your own pockets."
Zou Xueyu also looked sideways at the emperor.
The young master's concerns are not unreasonable.
Most of the time, the policies of the central court start from the lowest level of the people, but when they are passed down through the layers of administrative systems, they always change.
The people below will always have countless ways to deal with it.
Zhu Yuanzhang was not worried at all.
Looking at the golden fields in front of me, there are also the people who are bent over and busy in the crops.
There was only that rich joy on his face.
"There are more people in Jinyiwei, and the tax office's stall is getting bigger and bigger. Now I'm actually looking forward to someone jumping out."
Yuan Sutai stopped talking.
The emperor is good at everything, but he always likes to seduce those below him to do things like beheading.
Zou Xueyu glanced at Zhuangzi in the distance and blinked.
He glanced at the emperor secretly again.
Then he tentatively said: "Your Majesty, I have something to do..."
"If you have anything to say, tell me. Since when did you, the grumpy prefect Yingtian, become hesitant?"
Zhu Yuanzhang kept walking, leading a group of people on the field ridge. He turned slightly and glanced sideways at Zou Xueyu.
"I think... the imperial court should discuss the household registration system..."
After finishing speaking, Zou Xueyu knelt on the ground.
The air became hotter in an instant.
The smile on Zhu Yuanzhang's face remained, but his eyes gradually darkened.
He stopped, turned around, and looked at Magistrate Yingtian who was kneeling in front of him.
The bad-tempered prefect Yingtian was originally in the emperor's mind, and he was already planning to put him on the Zhili Road before the seals were sealed by the imperial offices at the end of the year.
Just now...
"Who brought this matter up?"
In the early years of the Republic of China, in order to quickly stabilize people's livelihood, the household registration system of the Ming Dynasty for nearly three hundred years was quickly adopted and adopted by Zhu Yuanzhang, and then implemented throughout the Ming Dynasty.
The effect is remarkable.
The country is stable and the people perform their duties.
After experiencing the wars in the early days of the Republic of China, the local area quickly recovered its strength.
There are no big problems with this system.
But now, the prefect Yingtian, who has fallen into his eyes, wants to discuss it.
The meaning of "discussing" does not mean that the current household registration system of the Ming Dynasty should be brought to the court and discussed with the officials to change it.
This is the foundation of Ming Dynasty.
If it is done easily, people's livelihood will be in chaos.
Zou Xueyu felt a little nervous.
In fact, this matter was not the first thing he thought of.
However, he should be the first to bring it up in front of the emperor.
Zou Xueyu knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head.
He could only say in a low voice: "At the beginning of the country, His Majesty decreed the national household registration system. This was good governance. Over the years, the country became stable and everyone performed their duties.
But today is different from the past.
The country's power is at its peak, and the New Deal is like fire. Can a weak son of a military household join the army to defend the country? A strong son of a farmer who does not want to farm, cannot guard the country's borders?
The son of a craftsman may not be able to inherit his father's ambition.
People's minds change, and they must abide by public morality and order, but they must not be swayed by the household registration system.
The Ming Dynasty will become stronger and stronger, and there will be more and more land.
I am the magistrate of Yingtian, and I don’t know what the people around me are like. Looking at Yingtian and the land alone, among the people in the city now, there are three or four families out of ten, and half of the population has entered the workshop to work.
Inside and outside the city, there are strong and ambitious men who are happy to hear about the country's frequent victories, but they are frustrated that they have no way to join the army.
His Majesty.
People are people, not vegetation.
As the saying goes, a dragon gives birth to nine sons. The nine sons are different, and so are people.
The country's fiscal and taxation is based on acres of land and business, not household registration.
Nowadays, the land tax varies from place to place. However, according to nature, the commercial tax far exceeds the land tax.
In the past, I wrote to Suzhou Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, Hangzhou Prefecture and other places. This was the case everywhere.
Changing the household registration is not to indulge the people's wantonness, but to increase the vitality of the people.
I believe that this is also the reason why Your Majesty should implement good governance."
Zou Xueyu's calling voice echoed in the surrounding crop fields.
What he means is simple.
The son of a mouse may not be able to dig holes.
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the officials accompanying him, his expression remained unchanged, and he just asked again: "Is this what you are thinking about?"
He needed to make sure that what Zou Xueyu said was not someone in the court or some important ministers who wanted to use his mouth to tell him, but just this young official who had done a very good job in the position of Yingtian Prefecture.
political thoughts.
Zou Xueyu finally raised his head.
Facing the emperor's scrutinizing gaze.
Zou Xueyu nodded heavily.
"These are all what Weichen himself saw, heard, and then said."
Zhu Yuanzhang did not say anything, but once again looked around at the officials accompanying him.
Everyone lowered their heads, and no one dared to look directly at the emperor at this time.
The household registration system was something that was settled at the beginning of the People's Republic of China.
In everyone's perception, almost no one would think that the Ming Dynasty would change this policy.
Zou Xueyu spoke again at this time: "Your Majesty, the sons of farmers do not necessarily have to farm, they can also serve as officials in the court, serving your Majesty, the court, and the world!"
This sentence really spoke to Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.
Most emperors are rebellious.
Especially for Zhu Yuanzhang.
He doesn't want to see the people suffer, and would rather see them all live a good life.
Let the sons of common people be able to serve as officials in the court and do things for themselves, the Zhu family, and the people of the world.
This is what Zhu Yuanzhang is happy to see.
Why can only those families who have been studying for generations be able to become officials?
Why can't a son who works in the fields become an official?
In fact, it is precisely this kind of ‘rebellion’.
This is the reason why a craftsman like Zhang Ergong, who was born as a craftsman, could become the minister of the Ministry of Industry in the Ming Dynasty.
The emperor just wanted to let the world's scholars and those so-called thousand-year-old and century-old families take a good look at it.
A craftsman he promoted can also be an official, and he can do better than them!
Change the current household registration system in the Ming Dynasty?
Zhu Yuanzhang had already begun to think about how to change the current household registration system in an orderly and stable manner while ensuring the stability of the world.
"What do you think, Young Master, of what this boy said?"
Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang did not confirm or deny, but asked Yuan Sutai's opinion with great interest.
Yuan Sutai thought for a while and did not rush to speak.
Instead, he made a gesture of invitation to the emperor, leading the emperor to continue walking forward while pressing the ridge of the field under his feet.
Zhu Yuanzhang was not anxious either.
He and Yuan Sutai can be considered as people of the same era. They both experienced the seemingly endless disasters in the late Yuan Dynasty.
The two of them walked in the front, surrounded by the rice that had not yet been harvested.
The busy people in the fields were no strangers to the emperor.
Seeing the emperor walking on the ridge of his field, he had no intention of approaching him for a chat. He just looked at him from a distance and then continued with the work at hand.
The crops must be taken home as soon as possible and then handed over to the government, who will give them to His Majesty the Emperor.
Yuan Sutai walked forward for a while.
Then he slowly said: "What do you think of our current rice production in Ming Dynasty?"
“Today is not what it used to be.”
Zhu Yuanzhang gave an affirmative answer.
It is precisely because the present is different from the past that Yuan Sutai became the number one civil servant in the current dynasty.
It is said that his power is not great, and his official position is still limited to Shanglinyuan Supervisor.
But even those in Wenyuan Pavilion did not dare to ignore Yuan Sutai's occasional words.
Yuan Sutai said again: "Yes, things are different now. If you want to make your majesty laugh, even if I look at this now, I feel like I am dreaming."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly: "I am not like that."
It really feels like a dream.
It's even more dreamy than when I, a mud-legged person, became the emperor.
Yuan Sutai smiled: "I don't understand the affairs of the country, but I know that even if it is difficult to increase the number of rice ears now, there are definitely ways to increase production. This is what I will do for the rest of my life."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Young Master will always be the supervisor of my Ming Dynasty's Shanglinyuan Prison. No matter when, the hundreds of millions of people in our Ming Dynasty should remember the merits of Young Master in their hearts. Even when the day comes that I will rest in peace in the future,
The young master also has to stay close to me."
Inadvertently, the emperor gave Yuan Sutai a great favor.
Yuan Sutai bowed to thank him and then said: "Since farming is like this, I believe that state affairs should also be like this. Although I am old, I have taught several apprentices now and they are all doing very well. I believe that they will definitely
He will do better than Lao Chen."
After saying this, Yuan Sutai rolled up his sleeves and walked into the open field on one side that had been harvested.
This old man, who was more like an old farmer than an imperial young master, bent over the field and picked up the rice scattered in the field bit by bit.
The farmer not far away saw it and was a little confused, but did not step forward to stop it.
It was just a few kilograms or taels of rice, so the old official just took it.
It would be best if I could let Your Majesty taste the crops grown in my own land.
Zhu Yuanzhang stood on the ridge of the field and laughed.
As a rebellious person, I have never had the temperament to stick to the rules.
So, he also took off his shoes, and under Sun Gou'er's fearful gaze, he jumped into the field nearby and followed Yuan Sutai to pick up the scattered rice in the field.