Huo Erhuai settled down with Huo Wuniang's family and was going to inspect his property. He told Huo Xi about the mulberry field.
"Dad is going to go to our mulberry field in Jiahu to find some silkworm seeds from the silkworm farmers. Mulberry seedlings have been planted on the slopes of Zhuangzi. When the silkworm seeds are brought back, Dad is going to let the villagers raise silkworms."
Huo Xi nodded. Last year, he planted mulberry trees on the village with the intention of letting the village servants raise silkworms.
"Okay, dad has taken care of the hard work. When dad comes back with the silkworm seeds, I will go back to the village to have a look. Dad, please see if anyone in our village has raised silkworms. If not, see if you can hire someone nearby.
Come and teach, or else go to Kingswood and invite some of our tenant farmers to come back and teach us."
"Okay, Dad has written it down. By the way, Xi'er, our family's mulberry fields made a good income last year. Do you want to plant some mulberry seedlings in the village? I heard that many people have switched to rice to grow mulberries. Should our family follow suit?"
Huo Xi knew about changing rice to mulberry.
When Taizu established his dynasty, he encouraged the people living in the south of the Yangtze River to switch to rice and mulberry cultivation.
When the dynasty was first established, the national treasury was empty. When the ministers saw that raising silkworms was several times more valuable than growing grain, they proposed to plant mulberry instead of rice to fill the treasury.
At that time, it was stipulated that of the ten acres of land, one and a half acres must be planted with mulberry and three acres with cotton. The court would also provide tax incentives.
But at that time, the war had just ended, and the people were panic-stricken and worried about running out of food. They knew that mulberry fields were highly profitable, but not many people actually implemented it.
Then there will be no food to eat, and money will not be able to buy food. Why do you need so much money?
Nowadays, the country is at peace. One acre of rice field can only produce four shi of grain at most, while one acre of mulberry field can yield nearly one shi of cocoons for one round of silkworm rearing.
A pound of silkworm cocoons sells for 100 taels of silver, which is already more than 10 taels of silver.
If it is stripped into raw silk and sold, a pound of silk is five times the price of a pound of cocoons.
About three kilograms of silkworm cocoons can produce one kilogram of raw silk. Nowadays, silkworms can be raised three to four times a year in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. After deducting the cost of labor and mulberry tax, one acre of land can earn at least 20 taels of silver, which is more than one acre of land.
The production value is much higher.
There are not a few people who have switched to rice cultivation and mulberry cultivation.
Last year, the Huo family had three hectares of mulberry fields. From the rent they collected, they could get 8,000 taels of silver from selling raw silk. She also agreed with the tenant farmers that all the cocoons and raw silk the tenant farmers got could only be sold back to her family. This was an extra income.
More than two hundred stones were used to produce silk.
Including the fishermen with whom her family has good relations and the Guangfeng water purchased from abroad, she collected nearly a thousand stones of raw silk last year. She made a lot of money just from selling raw silk. She also made a lot of money from weaving raw silk into silk.
More.
Huo Erhuai's heart was moved, and she understood.
After thinking for a while, he said: "Dad, the three hectares of mulberry fields we have in our hands are quite a lot. We have also planted a lot of mulberry trees in the two villages. We should keep the rice fields for growing food."
Huo Erhuai nodded repeatedly: "That's what your mother advised me too. No matter how rich we are, if we don't have food to eat, it will be useless no matter how much money we have. Dad understands. Dad just knows that you are going to sea and thinks that you may be short of money."
use."
Huo Xi sighed inwardly.
She smiled at him and said, "Don't worry, Dad, there is no shortage of money for going overseas, and our sugar factory can make a lot of money. You can't put all your eggs in one basket. You still have to grow food when you need to."
"Okay, Dad understands. Dad is going back now. He has to arrange top dressing at Zhuangzi. In two days, Dad will take people to Jiahu to get silkworm seeds. I can't go to the city to see you and Nian'er these days.
"
Huo Xi nodded in agreement, took his hand and sent him out.
The father and daughter were talking about converting rice to mulberry, and the court was also discussing this matter.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue may have watched the money flowing out of the warehouse, with more going out and less coming in, and he was so anxious that the corners of his mouth blistered. He complained to Emperor Yongkang that the money was being spent too harshly.
Some officials suggested to Emperor Yongkang that the area south of the Yangtze River should be planted with rice and mulberry.
Nowadays, everyone knows that mulberry fields have high income and are more cost-effective than growing grain. Now that the sea ban has been imposed, the merchants like the silk of the Wei Dynasty the most, and they will transport it back to the country at all costs. However, because the output is too small, the current dynasty has no interest in silk.
There are various restrictions on transactions.
If rice can be grown instead of mulberry, there will be more silk, and the national treasury will be filled up a lot.
Some people agree, and some people disagree. If all the people in Jiangnan switch to rice and mulberry cultivation, where will the food for the people in Jiangnan come from?
"Can be dispatched from Huguang area."
"Then the people in Jiangnan will have to eat high-priced grains?" When thinking of spending a lot of money to buy grains every year, the low-salary officials felt distressed.
"The high output value of mulberry fields can make up for the money spent on buying high-priced grain."
The two factions in the DPRK and China were quarreling fiercely.
Officials with a lot of land naturally hope that the court will issue a policy to change rice to mulberry. But those with less land and not much land naturally disagree.
As for Emperor Yongkang, doesn't he want more money in the treasury? He wants to build cities, build mausoleums, and fight against the foreign tribes in the north, so why don't he need money?
But after losing the Jiangnan granary, what will his soldiers eat? Will they eat silkworm cocoons and silk?
Mu Yan went down to court and was summoned by Mrs. Cheng.
"Auntie heard that everyone is talking about planting mulberry trees instead of rice. Do you want to plant some mulberry trees in your farm? Will Your Majesty issue a decree?"
Mu Yan guessed that Emperor Yongkang would not agree to this national policy. He estimated that his Majesty would send troops to the north this year, and now he would need to transport a large amount of food from the south of the Yangtze River to the north.
"His Majesty probably won't issue this decree, but now that the national treasury is short of money, he probably won't stop it." There are probably many people who are changing their rice cultivation to mulberry cultivation in private.
"Then would Auntie want to plant some mulberry seedlings?"
Mu Yan thought for a while and shook his head: "Let's keep it as it is. Rice is still planted in the original rice fields, and we will see if we can plant more mulberry seedlings in the mulberry fields. I heard that some places now use dense planting methods in mulberry fields, and one acre of mulberry fields can be planted with more mulberry seedlings."
There are a lot of mulberry trees, Auntie can let Zhuangtou study them."
"Okay, Auntie listens to you."
The Mu family is different from other families. The Mu family has been guarding the border for three generations. Two hundred thousand soldiers need to eat and drink. They cannot live without food.
Sometimes the imperial court's military pay was not paid in time, or was in arrears, and grain had to be transported from the family and the women's dowry fields.
From the generation of the old marquis, he has ordered his family's fields to be planted with a variety of grains.
Mrs. Cheng was thinking about whether her son might need money or a lot of food in the future. She was in a dilemma. Seeing everyone talking about it, she came to ask her son.
Now that I have a son, my heart is settled.
It seemed that her son still needed food. Then she asked the village to grow more grain, and also asked the head of the village to study the dense planting method that her son mentioned. The mulberry fields could bring in more profits, so why not.
Went in a hurry.
Mrs. Geng and Mu Wang had been waiting for so long, but no good news came. Mrs. Geng couldn't sit still and finally called Mu Yan to ask.
Mu Yan's expression was calm: "If Mu Zhan is willing to take my biological mother's name as his legitimate son, your Majesty may approve it."
What does this mean? Your Majesty thinks Mu Zhan is a bastard?
"Don't even think about it! My brother will never adopt someone out!"
While Mrs. Tai was still thinking about it, Mu Wang jumped up. His brother had a father and a mother, so why should he be recorded in someone else's name?
Of course Mu Yan knew that Mu Zhan would not pass into the name of the Cheng family. Not to mention that his biological mother did not agree, the Jun family would not agree either.
The madam frowned. Mu Yan was acting as an errand in front of the emperor. Is this what the emperor meant?
"Did His Majesty say that Mu Zhan was a bastard, so he suppressed the request for the title?"
"My grandson doesn't know, so I don't dare to speculate on the holy will. I just heard that your majesty occasionally mentions his grandson Mu Jie."
Geng's whole body froze. She had forgotten that there was a fourth bedroom and a Mu Jie.
Now the fourth room is His Majesty's daughter and son-in-law, and Mu Jie is the emperor's grandson! Does Zhan'er have no chance?