The sun is shining, the sky is blue and the clouds are white.
On the straight concrete road, dozens of cars were driving leisurely, and on both sides of the road, vast fields stretched to the end of the field of vision. Autumn was about to begin, and the wheat fields gradually turned into golden waves.
When you look at it from a distance, it looks like an endless golden ocean.
"parking!"
Emperor Hongzhi looked at the large wheat fields outside the car and decided to get out of the car to have a look.
Soon, the motorcade pulled over and parked slowly. Plainclothes palace guards and factory guards got out of the cars one after another and quickly guarded the surroundings. The eunuchs quickly held up large umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun.
He started to boil water on the stove to prepare tea, and even moved the coffee table, seats, etc. from the large truck at the back so that Emperor Hongzhi could rest for a while.
Although everything is kept simple, he is the emperor after all, and he still needs to have what he should have. The several large trucks that followed were filled with various items that Emperor Hongzhi would use at any time.
Emperor Hongzhi went directly to the field, pulled out an ear of wheat, looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but nodded and said to Liu Jin: "This wheat is good, the grains are full, and the ears are heavy. This year it's another year."
A good harvest year.”
"Yes, Shandong has been a major grain-producing province since ancient times, with outstanding people and abundant resources. In the past, Shandong's wheat saved the lives of countless people."
Liu Jin also looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but nod after reading it.
"Hmm~"
“Shandong is a great place!”
Emperor Hongzhi nodded. Among the northern provinces, Henan and Shaanxi have always been the most prone to problems. Henan and Shaanxi are the most prone to droughts. Henan is also particularly prone to floods because the Yellow River is hanging in Henan.
It is higher than the fields on both sides. It is very easy to break the embankment. Once the embankment breaks, it will cause flooding.
Shaanxi, because of the Loess Plateau, is extremely prone to famine. Any disaster will cause trouble.
Of course, this is old history from the past. Now these two provinces have the largest number of people migrating out, and almost all of them have migrated out of the Loess Plateau.
Even if some problems occur, they will have little impact.
Henan and Shaanxi are most prone to problems, while Beizhili and Shanxi are most prone to snow disasters. Once a snow disaster occurs, famine will occur in the coming year, which is also worrying.
The one that is really more worry-free is Shandong. Qilu is a land with fertile land and outstanding people. It seems to be blessed by the gods. There are few droughts, floods or snow disasters. It has always been the most important granary of the Ming Dynasty.
Dezhou Granary is one of the four major granaries of the Ming Dynasty. It is located in Dezhou, Shandong Province. This is because Shandong Province pays a particularly large amount of grain every year. In the past, it was the core of stability in the north.
It doesn't matter if other places are in chaos. As long as Shandong is not in chaos, Shandong's grain can be transported out and other places can be stabilized. But if Shandong also becomes chaotic, then the north will really turn into a pot of chaos.
Just when Hongzhi Emperor Liu Jin was discussing that this year would be another good harvest year, the owner of the wheat field in front of him drove a harvester and slowly walked over, but was stopped by the accompanying guards.
When Emperor Hongzhi saw this, he waved his hand, indicating that he should not be too nervous, and ordered the eunuchs to prepare tea to entertain this man.
"Two gentlemen~"
Gao Chenglin looked at the people in front of him who were looking around in his field. Then he looked at so many people, so many cars, and their postures. At first glance, it seemed that they had status and status.
People also smiled and saluted Emperor Hongzhi Liu Jin.
"This wheat field is yours, right?"
Emperor Hongzhi smiled and nodded, then pointed to the wheat field in front of him and asked.
"It's mine. This large piece of land of several thousand acres belongs to my family."
Gao Chenglin nodded and said that his family is a landowner family, and this land has been passed down from generation to generation.
"In this way, you are still a big landowner."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at the other party and saw that the other party seemed to be dressed like a scholar.
"Hey, what kind of landlord are you? They are all old people."
When Gao Chenglin heard this, he immediately smiled and shook his head and said: "Even if you have fields at home now, no one will farm them for you. I didn't plant the thousands of acres of land in my family myself."
"Oh, you grew the land yourself. It seems to me that you are still a scholar."
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he smiled and asked again.
"Mr. Dissatisfied, I do have a great reputation and am a scholar."
"But times have changed. In the past, some people still farmed for our family, but in recent years, no one has farmed for us anymore."
"Everyone has gone to work in the city. Now it is very convenient to work in the Beijing-Tianjin area and the income is high. Who will farm the land for the landlords?"
"But, this field has been passed down from my ancestors. I can't leave it abandoned forever, so I have no choice but to plant it myself, so I also bought a lot of machines. No, I
I'm just going to inspect my harvester, and after a while, the wheat will be almost ready to be harvested."
Gao Chenglin said helplessly.
The times of farming, reading and heirlooms have changed.
In the past, with thousands of acres of land, the Gao family was a well-known landowner family within a ten-mile radius. The people in the family never had to do anything, and they could just focus on studying and gaining fame.
But times change, and gradually no one helps the Gao family farm. More and more people choose to work in the Beijing-Tianjin area, or choose to immigrate to the Liaodong area.
I used to be able to live a leisurely life of farming and reading family stories just sitting down, but now I have to cultivate the fields myself.
Thousands of acres of land would be left uncultivated, which would be too much of a waste. With this kind of farming, you would really become a farming heirloom, and you would have to work as hard as farmers to farm their own land.
Fortunately, he is a landowner. He has savings and can afford all kinds of machinery. He can be quite busy with this farming. If he had used the previous farming method, he would have been exhausted even if he had to farm these thousands of acres of land.
It may be cultivated.
After farming and reading, I estimate that all that is left is farming, and there is no time to study.
"Do you still have time to study and take the imperial examination?"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly. Times have indeed changed very quickly. Now even the landowners have to pick up their own hoes to work. The common people will not farm the land for you. Even if you have thousands of acres of fertile land, it doesn't matter. You still have to do it yourself.
Come to farm.
"Of course time can't be compared with before. No, I'm already over thirty, and I can't even pass the examination."
Gao Chenglin shook his head helplessly.
A person cultivates thousands of acres of fields. Even with the help of machinery, he is still very busy. Naturally, he has much less time to study.
"Fifty young scholar, thirty is not too late."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at Liu Jin next to him. Others in their thirties were already the chief ministers of the cabinet. You haven't even passed the exam, so the gap is a bit far.
“Are there fewer and fewer people farming now?”
Immediately, Emperor Hongzhi asked again.
Agriculture is the foundation of the country. If you have food in your hands, you will not panic. Although the Ming Dynasty increased production year after year and had bumper grain harvests every year, Emperor Hongzhi was still very concerned about agriculture because he knew the importance of food all too well.
"Yeah, almost no one is farming anymore."
"Basically, everyone chooses to work in the Beijing-Tianjin area, or immigrate to Liaodong, Nanyang, overseas and other places. Now we are the only landowners who are farming."
“I really can’t bear to let the land at home go unused, so I can only plant it myself.”
“Not only is there no land left to farm, but there are also fewer people. In the past, there were hundreds of tenant farmers who farmed the land for my family, and they were concentrated in several big villages. Now there are fewer and fewer people in these villages.
"
"Immigrants are immigrating, and those who are moving into the cities are moving into the cities. Now the only people left in rural areas are those of us who have fields."
Gao Chenglin nodded and said.
When I mentioned this, I couldn't help but feel sad. In the past, landlords were so prosperous.
The tenants begged grandpa and grandma just so that the landlord could give them more fields to cultivate. When the harvest season came, the first thing to do was to send the best grain to the landlord's house, so that the landlord would continue to farm the land next year.
The land is rented to you.
During this time of year and festival, it is inevitable for the tenant farmers to greet the landlord's family, and they are expected to be treated politely wherever they go.
But now, farmers have turned around.
Everyone is working smoothly in the city. Many of them have bought houses and live in the city. They come back occasionally. They are all dressed in fashionable clothes and look richer than him, the landlord.
As for those who immigrated, they are even more arrogant. Many people immigrated to Liaodong. It is said that every household has thousands of acres of fields and harvests more food than themselves every year. Occasionally, some people come back, which is quite a blessing.
Welcome, I am no longer so respectful when I see myself as a landlord.
There are also some farmers who came to the city to work and slowly started to make a fortune. They opened their own factories and became bosses. There are also some who went to sea and bought their own boats and became captains. They traveled all over the country and met overseas.
Now that he is more knowledgeable, when he looks at himself as a landlord, his eyes are full of contempt.
In short, everyone's life is much better now than before. They are no worse than themselves, the landlords. They don't have to beg themselves, the landlords, and they lack the awe and respect they had before.
"Isn't this great? Everyone is living a better life. Only then will Ming Dynasty be richer and stronger."
Liu Jin looked at Gao Chenglin and looked at the memories of the glorious past in his eyes. Liu Jin wanted to laugh. The good days of this landowner were over. He even had to cultivate his own fields, but this was the real landowner.
