Under the scorching sun, the once raging Yellow River water began to recede, leaving only patches of muddy land.
The fertile soil was washed away, leaving only barren soil.
In this case, even if your own land is visible, it is expected that without long-term land cultivation of three to five years, or even ten years, it will be impossible to recover.
We can only grow some beans and grains, but the yield is extremely low. After paying the taxes, there won’t be much left.
Ordinary people naturally cannot bear such costs, and small and medium-sized landowners can only endure it. Only the big gentry will buy large-scale land for the sake of their children and grandchildren.
The moment Jiang Dakui saw his land, he decided to sell half of it.
If you don’t have any food at home, what kind of land can you talk about?
Now that he saw Qi Guo recruiting people, he was immediately excited.
"Our family has twenty acres of land. If we sell ten acres and suffer for a few years, we can still live on the remaining ten acres!"
The mother-in-law couldn't help but persuade: "Head of the family, let's have a hard time."
"If it doesn't work out, I'll sell my eldest sister..."
She whispered this sentence.
Before Jiang Dakui could respond, the second son beside him cried: "Mom, don't betray the eldest sister, don't betray the eldest sister, I will never cry out that I am hungry again——"
The ten-year-old daughter beside her was bursting with tears, but she was sensible and only cried without shouting.
The mud on the little face was washed away by tears, revealing white and tender stripes, which looked extremely pitiful.
The youngest son was only three years old and didn't understand why his sister and brother were crying, so he could only grin and cry together.
"You bitch." Seeing this, Jiang Dakui said angrily: "What nonsense are you talking about? If others find out that you sold your daughter, we will be laughed at to death."
"It's not like there's no food to eat——"
"Isn't it because I can't bear to leave the field..." the mother-in-law said in a low voice with a look of discomfort on her face.
"Even with these ten acres of land, if I want to have a good life and raise a family, I have to be exhausted to death."
Jiang Dakui sighed: "All the food has been washed away, the family has no savings, and no cattle. How can we support this land? I have to rely on my blood and tears to support it!"
"I'm exhausted, how can you guys have a good life?"
The mother-in-law lowered her head and said nothing.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, land reclamation basically belonged to the family. The project of a large family could only be carried out by small households.
It’s definitely not possible during busy farming times, because it depends on the year’s harvest.
You can't make extra money by clearing land during the off-season. Likewise, you need to eat hard food when doing farm work, otherwise you'll be bored.
Therefore, if a family of five wants to open up one acre of land, they have to accumulate food and money for three years and work hard for two years before they can obtain a piece of land.
If we encounter corvee labor, there will be no free time in the slack season, and we will have to postpone it year after year.
Long-term hard work will exhaust the body and make it weak. At this time, illness may kill a young man at any time.
Naturally, cultivating land is very tiring, and it is only a little easier than clearing land.
Clearing the silt, raising the land, restoring field drainage, and cultivating the land require a large amount of fertilizer.
It consumes a lot of energy and money.
For a small family like them, Qing Zhuangli might die from exhaustion.
"Go to Qi State!"
Jiang Dakui raised his head and touched his daughter's head: "Henan is too bitter, but the south is better. They can harvest two crops a year and the rice is delicious."
"And there is also a hundred acres of land. How many times in our lives have we been blessed with this!"
Having made up his mind, Jiang Dakui came to the village ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall is built on a high place to prevent floods.
Although it has become a dilapidated building now, it can barely accommodate people, and several tribes have always lived here.
The city was controlled by the county government, while the countryside was dominated by clans. Even the gentry had to bow their heads before clan power.
Yuan Shikai became the governor of Zhili and wanted to bury his biological mother in the ancestral land, but was stopped by his eldest brother, who was the clan leader. He was not allowed to bury her in the main cave, nor could she be buried in the coffin with his wife.
Because his mother Liu was a concubine, she was not qualified at all.
Yuan Shikai became so angry that he turned against his brother and was even buried in Anyang after his death instead of his hometown of Xiangcheng.
The governor of Zhili also had to behave modestly when facing the clan leader.
This is the traditional restriction of Confucian clan. The higher the official rank, the harder it is to resist.
For example, Jiang Kui wants to sell land. Since it is the place where the clan lives, the land can only be sold to the Jiang clan and cannot be sold to others.
Similarly, it is impossible to aggressively lower prices, as this will harm your reputation.
Therefore, in ancient times, those who were bullied were basically small families or ethnic groups with small power.
The greater the power of a clan, the more likely it is to survive in war-torn times.
After explaining his purpose clearly, the clan elders coughed a few times and agreed to his request to sell the land.
Twenty acres of land was taken over by a wealthy family member.
Because although their land is gone, they still have shops in the county and can still live a prosperous life.
Therefore, people are naturally thirsty for something as scarce as land.
Although there were many casualties in Henan during the Chongzhen period, after more than ten years of development, the population has once again become swollen, and the land is naturally owned, making it difficult to open up wasteland.
Therefore, twenty acres of land was sold for sixty silver dollars, which was considered an affordable price.
The serious land price in the market is only six or seven silver dollars per mu.
Sixty silver dollars was considered a sudden wealth for his family.
But Jiang Dakui was not happy at all.
The family is sitting on nothing, and this little money can be spent in two or three years.
Therefore, we must go to Qi State.
Before leaving, Jiang Dakui went to a pawn shop and bought some old clothes for his family to wear, and some medicine to take with him.
Finally, he bought ten pounds of wheat and made many steamed buns. The family had a full meal and the rest was used as rations.
"You want to come to our Qi country?"
“A family of five, including a boy and a girl, very good, very good.”
The officials were overjoyed and registered directly.
Later, some servants took him to various wooden houses.
Although it was a temporary structure, it was able to block wind and rain, which was much better than the straw hut they lived in before.
Jiang Dakui felt relieved when he saw sincerity.
A month later, as the governor started to store grain, a large amount of money and grain were imported, the price of grain stabilized, and the victims who were being rescued also stabilized.
Those with connections and abundant wealth will naturally not leave their homes and go to Qi.
Therefore, after recruiting 10,000 people, the officials of the Prince of Qi had no choice but to end the journey and take this group of people directly by boat from west to east to Xuzhou.
Then pass through the canal and arrive at Songjiangfu.
This is where the customs is located, and it is also the second palace of the Ming Dynasty. It is extremely wealthy.
Naturally, there are ships to the Southeast Asia.
When Jiang Dakui and his family saw the prosperous Songjiang Mansion, they were so shocked that they couldn't even close their jaws.
Shops gather on the wide streets, and a large number of vendors sell goods non-stop.
Looking around, silk, cotton, and porcelain are placed in the shop, almost in the blink of an eye.
Pedestrians coming and going, even if they are traffickers and lackeys, wear short clothes, their faces are full, and their feet are cloth shoes. It can be seen that they are always well fed and well clothed.
Not to mention, the scholars and young men in plain clothes were even more excited.
Even a few red-haired Xiyi people in robes were walking around talking and laughing, and the pedestrians were not surprised at all.
All this made Jiang Dakui feel like he was in another country.
Of course, he couldn't understand Wu Nong's soft talk.
Everyone enters the city from the dock in batches, which is also an important burden for a city that can accommodate 100,000 people.
Therefore, under the leadership of officials, hundreds of big men acted as agents and purchased goods from the shops together.
Grain, salt, cloth, ironware, porcelain and even books were purchased in large quantities.
Two or three days later, the sea ship arrived.
In order to cooperate with Qi State, the Nanhai Navy and Donghai Navy had to send hundreds of ships, which was extremely spectacular.
Jiang Kui's family was taken into the cabin and lived in hammocks with others.
Shi Lang, the commander-in-chief of the Donghai Navy, felt incredible when he saw the draft was so heavy: "We only transport a few people, how can it be so heavy?"
The deputy general soldier on the side sighed: "Qi State has loaded a lot of goods in the warehouse. We are not only transporting people, we also have to transport goods!"
"That's true." Shi Lang wanted to scold his mother, but he could only do it in his heart.
The majestic King of Qi just borrowed naval ships and used them as merchant ships, transporting people and making a lot of money at the same time.
What a wonderful person.
There is no way, he is a prince.
By the time the immigrants arrived in Qi, it was already late September.
At this time, Qi is about to enter the dry season.
Throughout Southeast Asia, there are distinct dry seasons and rainy seasons.
Even in the dry season, there is just less rain, which is exactly the period of agricultural development.
The Qi State plundered the people in the Sulu Kingdom and returned to the country, and declared the destruction of the Sulu Kingdom, established two counties, Dongdao and Dongdao, and divided the two areas of Dongwang and Dongwang.
Since then, after nearly two years of development, Qi State has five counties under its jurisdiction.
They are Linzi, the capital of the country, and Jimo and Langya, the basic cities.
Now add Tongdao County and Dongdao County.
Among the five counties, Linzi is the most prosperous, with a population of 50,000 and an area of nearly 300,000 acres.
Jimo and Langya protect Linzi on the left and right. They both belong to the coastal plain area with fertile land and abundant rainfall. They can achieve two or even three crops a year.
Each has about 10,000 people.
Of course, there are hundreds of vassal tribes of various sizes surrounding the three counties, reaching as many as one hundred thousand.
Nowadays, together with Tongdao County and Dongdao County, there are fifty or sixty thousand people. For Qi State, it is no less than taking a big tonic pill.
In the real sense, there are 120,000 people under the rule.
Ten thousand Han people poured into Qi State. The King of Qi was very happy and brought a group of ministers to the dock to welcome them.
Looking at the endless stream of heads, King Qi sighed: "No matter how many people there are in Sulu, there is no joy in my heart, only fear. However, although the Han people are few, only tens of thousands, I feel peaceful in my heart."
As the Prime Minister of Qi State, although Gu Yuan was a hunchback, he was trusted by the King of Qi. He had been running the State of Qi for nearly two years, and it could be said that he had worked hard and achieved great results.
Hearing the words of King Qi at this moment, he looked at the group of immigrants with their families and said: "The Han people in Qi are like the ballast stones of ships in the wind and waves. Naturally, the more the better."
"Yes!" King Qi shook his head slightly: "In the Ming Dynasty, we didn't think much about the people. Once we go overseas, we will realize how important it is."
"However, more ballast stones are not always better."
"Gu Qing, how many more Han people do we need in Qi?"
Gu Yuan thought for a while and then immediately replied: "Now that the three counties have developed 700,000 acres of cultivated land, it will take at least two or three years to become mature land, so it can support another 100,000 people."
"We still need 100,000 Han citizens."
"One hundred thousand? Is that enough?"
King Qi asked softly.
Gu Yuan naturally knew how natural it was and said decisively: "That's enough."
"Although the savages do not know etiquette, after two years of education, many of them can already speak Chinese and take Chinese names. As long as there are 100,000 Han people, education will get twice the result with half the effort. In three to five years, these vassals can become real
the people.”
King Qi agreed with his words.
If calculated this way, adding 100,000 Han people would be equivalent to civilizing 100,000 barbarians, and Qi's population could easily increase to 300,000.
In the Ming Dynasty, this was also a common people.
"There are nearly 3,000 households among these 10,000 people. Each household has 100 acres, which is 300,000 acres."
The King of Qi counted the number and said in surprise: "One hundred thousand people, at least 20,000 households, that is two million acres. Does Qi have that much land?"
Zhang Chun limped and raised his head and said: "Your Majesty, although this number is large, there are nearly 30,000 wild slaves in Qi State. Together with the cattle and iron tools, we can open up 300,000 acres a year."
"If we capture some more wild slaves, 50,000 wild slaves, we can cultivate 500,000 acres during the dry season."
"It will be completed in four years."
"In other words, it will take another four years?"
Gu Yuan listened to the question and answer between the two people and couldn't help but smile: "Your Majesty, no matter what, one family can't cultivate a hundred acres of land."
"Therefore, I ordered people to draw the boundary of the 100-acre land, make stone tablets, and let the wild slaves clear 30 acres of wasteland, and the remaining 20 acres every year."
"In this way, only 600,000 acres of two million acres will be enough. Hurry up and take your time. One year is enough."
King Qi sighed: "Even if you have so many fields, I can't ask for so many people!"
"This disaster affected more than 100,000 people and affected three counties, but it only attracted 10,000 people. Unless the court forces it, it will be difficult."
"Your Majesty, it must be gold."
At this time, Zhang Chun suddenly said: "Money can make ghosts grind."
"If the imperial court can receive one hundred thousand taels of gold, what does it mean to have one hundred thousand people?"
One tael of gold equals ten silver coins, which equals one million silver coins.
The Ministry of Industry casts gold rounds with only 90% gold content, and the net profit is 10%, which means that it can earn 1.1 million silver yuan.
Gold circles are rarely circulated in the market, and the annual casting volume is limited by gold production.
If Qi Guo contributed one million yuan at a time, the cabinet would have to agree immediately.
"In addition to gold, silver and raw copper are also urgently needed by the imperial court..."
"Open the mine, start the mine immediately."
King Qi said loudly: "When my father is on the throne, who dares to steal my gold mines?"
"When Qi has millions of people and 100,000 soldiers, no one will dare to snatch it."
"Zhang Chun, I will give you 10,000 wild slaves and go immediately to the place called Surigao to open a gold mine. I can't wait any longer."
After calming down, King Qi regained his composure.
At this time, Gu Yuan continued: "Among these ten thousand people, there are sixty-seven who are literate. It would be quite good for them to serve as officials."
"How much can the autumn tax be?"
Suddenly, King Qi turned his head, his face full of seriousness.
"Your Majesty, Qi will export three types of sugar, rice and jute this year. Rice and jute go to Luzon. The Dutch and Spanish want sugar."
Gu Yuan smiled and said: "Twenty thousand shi of rice, 160,000 pieces of silver, 50,000 shi of jute, 30,000 pieces of silver."
"If you export 30,000 shi of sugar, you can get three pieces of silver for each shi, which is 90,000 pieces."
"The total is 280,000 yuan, and there are still 50,000 shi of grain stored in the warehouse."