The first assistant, Song Zhifu, personally introduced a group of virtuous Shandong gentlemen to the emperor.
"This is Xincheng Wang Xiangjin, named Zijin. He once served as the envoy to the right of Zhejiang Province. He is now eighty years old. He has lived in seclusion in the countryside and farmed for many years. He has taught his children and written books. I am the elder of Qilu."
Wang Xiangjin is over eighty years old, but he is still tall and tall, with a tall and straight body. Although his head is full of white hair, his face is rosy. When he came to see the emperor, he did not wear an official robe, but short-sleeved linen clothes and cloth shoes.
"In the past, the Tartars repeatedly summoned Mr. Wang to the court to confer officials, but Mr. Wang was unmoved. Xie Guan lived at home and made achievements in agriculture, medicine, and literature. He wrote many books, including the agricultural book "Qunfang Pu"
", "How to Save Famine" and several other books."
But the old man just waved his hand and said, "Old minister, I am not good at literature or martial arts. I just studied farming at home for thirty years and made some small achievements. After the Jiashen Incident, the old minister thought that the country was overturned, so he wanted to do something
He is an old Ming minister, so he calls himself the Ming Nong Hermit. He teaches his descendants and writes books behind closed doors. The Tatars did recruit him several times. However, in order to resist the invasion of the Tatars, the Wang family of Xincheng defended the city with the whole family. Three of his sons died in the battle.
If you are more than ten years old, how can you sacrifice your life for them, grandma!"
The old man's voice was loud and clear.
Zhu Yihai liked her very much when she heard that she was still very energetic.
He also did some homework in advance and got to know the people he was going to meet today. Wang Xiangjin was the younger brother of Wang Xiangqian, the Minister of War in Chongzhen. Seven or eight brothers of the Xiang generation of the Wang family in Xincheng were all Jinshi candidates, and all reached senior officials.
Wang Xiangjin's official career was quite average. He was awarded Jinshi at the age of thirty-seven, was awarded the title of Zhongshusheren, was promoted to Hanlin, and became a censor. Wang Xiangjin and his brother Wang Xiangqian were both members of the Donglin Party. They were attracted by the Qi Party, but flatly refused and resigned and returned to their hometown. Later, they rose up again.
After resuming his official duties, he went to Henan as an inspector and as Zhejiang's right envoy. During the Chongzhen period, there was turmoil, especially the invasion of the Qing army. After the Wang family in Xincheng suffered heavy losses, Wang Xiangjin resolutely resigned and returned home, taking on the responsibility of housekeeper, teaching his children, and taking care of the family business.
After Zhu Yihai came into contact with many prominent families in Shandong these days, he felt more and more that the Wang family in Xincheng and the Du family in Pennsylvania were worthy of waiting.
"There are three nobles in the world, one with nobility, one with teeth, and one with virtue. There is no more honorable person in the court than jue, no more honorable person in the township party than teeth, and no one can help the elders more than virtue. The Wang family in Xincheng is famous as the first Jinshi family in Qilu, just like Jin Gongbian
He was an old man with great ambitions to help the world, concerned about the national economy and people's livelihood, and left many immortal works." Zhu Yihai had many words of praise for Lao Wang.
Not only because the Wang family did not surrender prisoners or serve prisoners.
It was also because the Wang family had been forced to stay with the Sun family in Zouping after they suffered heavy losses in the late Chongzhen period. But the last time the Ming army passed through Zichuan, he asked several young members of the Wang family to take the initiative to welcome them and donate food and silver.
.
And now after he captured Jinan, Lao Wang personally came out and sent a hero letter to invite all the loyal and righteous people living in seclusion in Shandong.
For example, there are a large group of people including Song Wan and Jiang Cai from Laiyang, Zhao Shizhe from Donglai, Furuozhen from Jiaoshan, Yang Jun from Changshan, Sun Suiling, and Wang from Changshan.
After the Qing army entered Shandong, they actively resisted and led an uprising. Finally, the Qing army occupied Shandong. After the rebel army failed, they still refused to surrender, lived in seclusion, or claimed to be ill and refused to serve.
This group of gentry who had lived in seclusion or changed their names to escape the world, now all came to Jinan.
When they arrived, they were given a big gift.
Under the call of Wang Xiangjin, these gentry and powerful merchants in Shandong discussed a plan to mobilize all the gentry and powerful merchants in Shandong to raise a large sum of money to donate to the court.
Shandong has suffered great calamities in recent years, and many gentry have suffered a decline in their family fortunes and even went bankrupt. If each family was only asked to make up for ten years, many people would not be able to make up for it, and some gentry would not be able to make up the money either.
So they planned to raise funds and pledge allegiance to the imperial court.
Although the emperor had already issued a decree saying that Shandong, Henan, etc. would be exempted from past arrears, and this year's land tax would not need to be paid.
But these gentry sat together and discussed it, and they felt that the emperor was building the Yellow River embankment in Shandong, relieving the victims, and fighting troops, so he needed money and food everywhere.
It's just that the Yellow River has now taken over the Qinghe River and flows into the sea. To build this dike, at least millions of taels of silver will be needed.
Of course, the emperor did not pursue the Shandong gentry family's defection and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. They were also deeply moved. Whether it was accepting a Tatar official position or taking the Tatar imperial examination and winning the imperial examination, the Ming Dynasty
No one is pursuing it.
Former officials of the Ming Dynasty could go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Tokyo to register, undergo assessment and selection, and then be eligible for appointment and be hired on the basis of their talents.
Those who had previously obtained honors in the Ming Dynasty were not specifically retained and could continue to participate in the Ming Dynasty imperial examinations.
As for clearing the land, clearing away unreported reclaimed land, beach land, registered land, encroached land, etc., this is also normal and reasonable.
After the First World War in Jinan.
In fact, not only Wang Xiangjin, who lives in seclusion in the countryside and works as a farmer, is aware of the Ming Dynasty's resurgence, but others are also aware that the Ming Dynasty's resurgence is unstoppable, and the Tatars will inevitably be unable to defend Beijing and stabilize the world just like the obedient thieves.
So now I have to contribute.
So they decided to unite the powerful gentry of Shandong to raise funds. Those who had money would donate more, and those who had no money would donate less.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the amount of taxable land in Shandong was more than 724,000 hectares, accounting for about one-tenth of the country's cultivated land. Every summer, more than 855,000 shi of wheat were collected, and 190 hectares of millet were actually collected.
More than ninety-five thousand stones.
By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Shandong's tax and economic level had even exceeded the level of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
In fact, by the end of Wanli, the actual cultivated land area in Shandong had already increased a lot compared to the early period of the Kingdom. If all official land, civilian land, military farmland, reclaimed land and unreported land, etc. were all registered, it would probably have reached 100 million acres.
, with a population of approximately 10 million.
The per capita arable land is less than ten acres. The upper field yields about two dan per mu, the middle field yields about one dan and a half, and the lower field only one dan. The proportion of double planting and double harvest is not large. It can be converted into two years and three seasons, and the average yield per mu is one and a half dan.
In general, although Shandong also has many hills and mountains, it is still a good place for outstanding individuals and spiritual treasures.
With 100 million acres of land, the average yield per mu is one and a half dan, which means that the total grain harvest per year is about 150 million dan. For a population of 10 million in Shandong, based on the relatively low grain rations, the average monthly grain harvest is three buckets per mouth, which is equivalent to about 150 million dan per year.
Three stones and six, ten million people need thirty-six million stones a year.
However, in fact, three buckets of food per month is not enough. There is a lack of non-staple food, oil and water, and the consumption of staple food is relatively large. The strong labor force is five to six buckets per month. Taking into account the elderly and children, one person needs more than four stones per year.
In fact, during the Wanli period, the population of the Ming Dynasty reached its peak, so it may be far more than 10 million. At that time, the population of the Ming Dynasty was estimated to be more than 100 million. Shandong accounted for one-tenth of the world's population. If we count 12 to 3 million, then that is
It will cost about 50 million stones.
Of course, if you want to make a careful calculation, you must also have the conversion of staple grains, coarse grains and fine grains. For example, the rice yield rate of rice, if one hundred kilograms of rice is milled into rice, it may be about seventy kilograms.
Of course, Shandong's grain must also supply the capital and serve the prosperous industrial and commercial towns along the canal.
If we calculate more rigorously, at the end of Wanli, there were more than 89 million acres of farmland in Shandong, and the population may have been 12 to 3 million. Therefore, in the year of good harvest, Shandong can be completely self-sufficient, even except for turning over
After spending millions of grains, there is still a lot of surplus. It is a province with a large grain output and supply.
Of course, there are disasters such as the canal, the Yellow River and even coastal storms in Shandong, so the actual output may be reduced.
Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, land annexation has been serious. Zongs, vassals, relatives, gentry and powerful people have occupied most of the land. Most of the people can only be reduced to tenants or long-term workers, and the landlords generally divide the land equally with the tenants.
For example, in the Kong family, no matter whether there is a good year or a bad year, the rent will not be increased in a good year, and the rent will not be reduced in a bad year. It is called ten thousand years of rent. Half of the grain grown by the people must be handed over to them. After deducting the seeds and other costs, the remaining
As a matter of fact, when there is a disaster, they have to flee and even sell their children.
Originally, they normally cultivated ten acres of land, and the harvest was enough to feed the family, and there was still a lot left over. However, because they did not have their own land, after handing over half of the output, and paying various dings of silver to the imperial government, etc., the people
Although he grows dozens of stones of grain every year, he may only be able to keep a few stones, not even enough to drink porridge, so he has no choice but to flee.
In fact, in the current bleak and depressed situation in Shandong, the gentry and powerful landlords have also suffered heavy losses.
The land is lying waste there, no matter how high the rent is, what's the use? All the tenants have fled, the land is lying waste, where will the output come from, and where will the rent come from.
All the people have fled, and the industry and commerce in towns and cities have also been depressed. Naturally, these powerful people who control capital have also suffered great losses.
They also hope to recover soon.
They also hope to repair the Yellow River.
They also hope that the emperor will really forget the blame, so they have to save themselves.
In the past, the annual land tax in Shandong was only about 3 million taels of grain, and there was not much silver for various services. Shandong was just about to clear customs and collected more tariffs in the past, 80,000 to 90,000 taels a year, and the income was extremely high.
The powerful gentry in Shandong have indeed suffered great losses in recent years, but most of them have surrendered to the Qing court in Beijing and stabilized. Although the output of the fields has not recovered, a lot of the money accumulated by each family in the past is still buried underground.
They're all hidden.
Changbaishan nun Wang, who had previously sent a four-line poem flag, also came to pay homage to the emperor again this time. Her husband, the Liu family of Taihezhuang, Changshan County, was a well-known family.
His father-in-law, Liu Hongxun, was also the first assistant scholar of the Chongzhen Dynasty. It is said that Liu Hongxun was a good official with strong ability to do things and was extremely honest. He was also a member of the Donglin Party. His father was also a member of the Donglin Party and served as deputy envoy to Shaanxi Province.
It is said that his father Liu Yixiang lost his father when he was ten years old, and his mother Gao took care of the housework. The family was poor and lived frugally to raise his children. However, his family still had maids to serve him, so he was not really an ordinary person.
Later, Liu Hongxun became a Jinshi again, and worked all the way from official to first assistant, and he also had a reputation for integrity.
But in fact, the investigation report now in Zhu Yihai's hands shows that the Liu family owns more than 3,000 hectares of land, of which not many are registered. Although many of the more than 3,000 hectares are actually named fields, but the named fields are also