Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1022 Two Sides of Things
The disadvantage of Xingyan: the method of taking brine is the method of spreading ash and pouring brine.The method of obtaining salt is the method of decocting grass and trees.

This method requires a hundred loads of ashes to get the brine.And to boil a pot of salt, it also takes several loads of firewood.

For Xingyan, this is a disadvantage because the cost is too high.

But look at it the other way around.

The grass ash used for brine and the firewood used for cooking salt all require a large amount of grassland and forest farms to maintain, which also proves that Huainan has a large amount of land that can be reclaimed.

Moreover, one hundred loads of grass ash is needed for each side of the farm. It can be seen that a salt cooking farm needs at least about [-] mu of firewood land to maintain its operation.

In Funing and other places, there are grass patrol halls, and officers and soldiers need to patrol every year to ensure that these salt-cooking grasslands are not reclaimed.This also makes these grasslands no longer saline-alkali lands after years of vegetation growth.

This is where land reclamation is beneficial.

The two disadvantages of Xingyan: salt households suffer, salt merchants squeeze, and there are many fugitives.

Your Majesty has clear ears and eyes, and must know the suffering of Yanhu.

Just take a salt field one hundred and thirty miles south of Funing as an example. In the year before last, 750 salt households were recruited. After floods and salt merchants squeezed out, only 80 households have fled so far.Recruiting again this year.

The bitterness of Yando can be told.It's just that I'm a salt household, but I can't go to Nanyang, and the grass patrol hall can't cultivate it.
These are all disadvantages, and the people are getting tired and resentful day by day.

But look at it the other way around.

These disadvantages have also become advantages.

For example, in water transportation, the most difficult thing to change is the food and clothing of millions of waterworkers.

Huainan also has tens of thousands of people who cook salt for a living, but they are not the same as water workers.

The water workers were replaced, and they had to rely on the arrangement of the imperial court to provide them with food and clothing and live a stable life.

In addition to the low-level water workers, there are also some water workers who have the advantage of smuggling and carrying, which makes them unwilling to abandon the canal and cut off their way of life.

That is: the water workers were unwilling to abolish the canal, so the imperial court forcibly abolished it.

But for the salt households, their attitude towards the use of salt to reclaim wasteland is not opposed to reclaiming wasteland because of the exploitation of salt merchants, natural disasters and suffering, and the inability to reclaim wasteland.

On the contrary, they are very supportive of going to salt reclamation.

That is: the salt households wanted to waste salt to cultivate wasteland, but the imperial court forcibly refused.

Because they lived too hard before, these disadvantages are now the advantages of the reform.

And because of the obsolete methods of extracting and boiling brine, a large amount of pasture is needed. In fact, each salt household has the right to use a large amount of land.

A salt farm needs at least [-] mu of pasture to provide them with brine and salt.

Converting these grasslands into capital for land reclamation and investment in shares, even if it is forced to convert it into an amount of one mu or two, each person will earn hundreds of taels.

How could they be unwilling to go to salt to cultivate wasteland?
It benefits both the people and the country.

The three disadvantages of Xingyan: Huainan is rainy and rainy and hot at the same time.

According to the measurements made by the Academy of Sciences for three consecutive years, Funing, for example, has an average annual precipitation of 60.00 feet [-] inches; More than [-]% of the annual rainfall.

Five, six, seven and three months are the hottest time in Huainan.

The concentration of rainwater and the same period of rain and heat make the content of ground brine daily low.

If the rain is not concentrated and the rain and heat are not in the same period, it will cause anti-salt in hot weather and increase the content of ground brine.

Because Huainan is rainy, the brine is weak, and the rain and heat are at the same time, it is not good for the development of the salt industry.

However, look at it the other way around.

Due to the fact that Huainan is rainy, the sun is light, and the rain and heat are at the same time, it is very beneficial to the development of Huainan.

For farming, it is best to have rain and heat at the same time. The reason is that your majesty is so wise that you don't need to say anything.

Disadvantages of Salt Prosperity [-]: the impact of the Huanghuai River, the extension of the coast, the accumulation of soil is increasing day by day, and the ground brine is getting weaker day by day.

In the Song Dynasty, the place where the Huaihe River entered the sea was at today's Yunti Pass.Today's Yunti Pass is 120 miles away from the sea.

Because the Yellow River flows into the sea and the Huaihe River flows into the sea, the seawater is too weak, so it is not suitable to directly extract the brine and boil the salt.That's why there is the method of spreading ash and pouring brine.

It is necessary to find a special saline-alkali land and rely on the salt in the land to extract bittern.

Over the years, more and more impacts have been made, and the extension has become farther and farther, making the penetration of seawater more difficult, and the ground brine has become weaker.

But the method of boiling salt has to use a lot of firewood. Although the sea water is receding day by day, it is impossible to follow the sea water every year. It is also necessary to consider whether the firewood land can keep up.

The officials of the salt administration are too dull, and they are not allowed to change jobs even though the brine is already weak.And the officials of the salt government are dull, and there is nothing they can do about it, because if they are caught, they will die, and if they are released, they will be chaotic.

It is not necessary for the imperial court to make up its mind to completely abandon the Huainan salt industry and make overall plans for the development of reclamation, which is also conducive to the implementation of a one-size-fits-all policy.This dynasty can only implement a one-size-fits-all policy, and officials from all walks of life cannot be counted on for more flexible means.

From the perspective of Xingyan, the sea water is receding, the silt is getting higher, and the ground brine is getting weaker. These are the disadvantages of the salt industry.

But look at it the other way around.

The seawater is receding, the silt is getting higher and the ground is getting weaker, these are the great benefits of reclamation.

As the sea water recedes day by day, there is no need to worry about sea water intruding into the cultivated land that will be reclaimed in the future.

The silt is getting higher and higher, so there is no need to worry about the seawater infiltrating the land along the ground in the future, making the land in northern Jiangsu counter-salt.

... The two sides of these things, I can't list them one by one, and there are other booklets besides the memorabilia.

If your Majesty has the intention of using up salt to reclaim land, is it feasible to reclaim land?
The ground brine is getting weaker, to what extent is it suitable for reclamation?
These cannot be determined in a general statement, and I also have data.

According to the calculation of the Academy of Sciences.

The salt content of ground brine is below 0.385%, which is not only harmless to cotton growth, but also greatly beneficial.

At 0.385% to 1.09%, cotton does not grow well, but reeds, thatch and broccoli can grow luxuriantly.

At 1.09% to 2.62%, Artemisia salina can also grow.

The Yellow River is the north boundary, Nantong Prefecture is the south boundary, Fangong Dike is the west boundary, and the sea is the east boundary.

Calculated with a salt content of 2.62%, there are about 650 million mu of wasteland that can be reclaimed.

With the construction of the Huaihe River and the improvement of water conservancy, there are still about 200 million mu of wasteland that can be reclaimed.

How to reclaim the 800 million mu of wasteland south of the Yellow River is most beneficial to the country and the people?
I invite you to follow the story of Ezo, enter the market with capital, and enclose land for reclamation.

The entry of capital has four advantages.

Its benefit one:

The capital is abundant, beyond the reach of small farmers.

If smallholders reclaim wasteland, they can only reclaim land with a salinity below 0.385%. Once it is higher than this, the salinity cannot be cultivated.

Capital is not.

After the capital encloses the land, the land is divided into three parts according to the ratio of 1:1:2.

One area is planted with cotton, the second area is planted with forage grass, and the third area is planted with Artemisia salina.

Covering the ground with wormwood can avoid counter-salt; fertilizing the field with wormwood can improve the soil quality; raising cattle and sheep with forage grass can get manure.

In this way, we will not be able to run out of land after three years of cultivation, go bankrupt and flee famine.

The second benefit:
Small farmers are unable to build water conservancy projects, build seawalls, or improve the soil when they reclaim wasteland.

Capital is not.

After the capital enclosure, in order to benefit from the land, it is necessary to build water conservancy to irrigate the fields and remove salt; build seawalls to protect the fields and soil.

If the small farmers are not willing, they really cannot.

Three benefits:
Small farmers reclaim wasteland, grow food, and fill their stomachs first.However, the price of grain is falling day by day, and rice whales and sea wheat from the South Seas are pouring in, and the price of rice in coastal areas is falling day by day, and there is no shortage of rice.

If the capital is used for land reclamation, other crops can be planted according to the needs of the market.

Nowadays, with the development of sea trade, Songjiang cotton cloth is selling well, but there is a shortage of cotton.

However, the price of cotton is volatile, sometimes high and sometimes low, which is beyond the reach of small farmers.Not to mention cotton planting, soil conservation, and cotton picking are beyond the reach of small farmers.

Capital is not.

If the capital is strong, there is no fear of bankruptcy. If you lose cotton this year, you will make money next year. On average, you will still make money after all.

afford it.

And if a small farmer loses money this year, even if he makes money next year, he can only sell his land to survive. How can he wait until next year?
With strong capital, you can calculate the average annual return.

However, small farmers lack capital and are not eligible to calculate the average annual income.

Even if small farmers understand the simple truth, if something is cheap, everyone will grow less. As long as they persist in planting, there will be a day when it will be valuable, and all the losses before that time will be earned back.

The problem is that even if the small peasants in this dynasty understand this truth, they are unable to participate in it.

All they can think about is whether they will be hungry this year.Even if cotton is cheap this year, they are not qualified to consider it. Isn't it cheap this year and expensive next year?They can only consider that they have lost money growing cotton this year and owe a lot of debt, so they should sell the land to pay back the money or borrow usury.

Its four benefits:
If His Majesty decides to waste salt and promote reclamation, the capital of Lianghuai salt merchants will no longer be able to enter the salt industry.

There is too much capital to invest in the salt industry, and these capitals must find a way out.

Or lending usury, or buying land, or pawning, such mergers must be heavy.

If the cultivation is carried out by capital, the capital of Lianghuai salt merchants can also enter the market.Entering the market for reclamation means less investment in buying land and easier mergers.

It seems to promote capital, but it actually protects small farmers.

After the reclamation of the Lianghuai River is successful, the profits from the reclamation capital can also be invested in textiles, cotton cloth, cashmere, etc.

When the industry and commerce prosper, the people who have lost their land will have jobs to survive, and they will not be refugees. This is to protect the society for a long time.

... The above-mentioned disadvantages of salt and benefits of cultivation have been described by the minister.

If His Majesty decides on the strategy of abolishing salt and promoting reclamation, it should be done for five years.

Only the first year of the new year, May: Reform the salt administration and abolish the introduction of Xingpiao.

In the first year of Weixin, in June: the right to reclaim wasteland is granted, the enclosure is measured, and the saltworks are not moved.Attract capital and undertake Huaibei Sun Salt Headquarters.

Only the first year of the new year, October: Absorb capital, build Xuzhou's Haizhou transportation, open water and land routes, and prepare for coal transportation.

In the second year of Weixin: the Hunan-Chu salt area was changed and owned by Sichuan Salt, Kuizhou Salt and Huaibei Salt.The second phase of Huaihe River project was built.The Huaibei salt field developed the method of drying salt, using steam engines to extract brine, etc., and built Haizhou Port.

Weixin three years: Xingchuan South Well Salt, completed the Three Gorges waterway.Build a new seawall.

In the fourth year of Weixin: the salt area of ​​Hunan and Chu was collected and owned by Sichuan Salt.Salt from Huaibei entered Huainan, and Huainan abandoned the salt to start reclamation.

Weixin five years: Measure the barren land in Huainan, issue a license to enclose land, set up a reclamation company, reclaim Huainan, and release grassland and forest farms.

In this way, five years later, the disadvantages of the two Huaihe Rivers can be resolved.Increase taxes, no less than one million.The number of refugees accepted was no less than 30.

The term of the minister is five years, and it is for His Majesty to restore the prosperity of the two Huaihe Rivers.

(End of this chapter)