Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 6
Wang Chengen took Zhu Youjian's arm and got out of the carriage.

After getting out of the car, Zhu Youjian looked around. There were fields that could not be seen in the surrounding area. Several farmers were working in the fields in short clothes. Now that the wheat had been harvested, the farmers were all using hoes to hoe the field.

Not far in front of the carriage was a farm, a middle-aged man dressed as a eunuch trotted towards this side, followed by a school lieutenant in brocade and a few old men dressed as farmers.

The Huangzhuang of the Ming Dynasty began in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. It was named Huangzhuang during the reign of Emperor Xianzong. After the rebellion of the eunuch Cao Jixiang was quelled, the fields under his name were confiscated by the palace, and Huangzhuang began to be established.This move of Emperor Xianzong started the evil tide of the royal family's search for land.

The powerful concubines in the harem, the princes, and relatives and ministers scrambled to follow suit.

Up to now, the land ownership of Huangzhuang, a land in North Zhili, has accounted for one-seventh of the entire field area. This is all land that does not pay taxes to the government. Such a large area of ​​land is produced without paying taxes. Invisibly increased the burden on the remaining households.

Moreover, in Huangzhuang, land ownership is combined with judicial and administrative powers.The management of Huangzhuang is very chaotic.Generally, eunuchs are sent to manage the Huangzhuang. The eunuchs lead a flag school, and then support a gang of scoundrels, "occupation of land, collection of property, and defilement of women", doing everything.

Zhu Youjian was thinking about it, and the group of people who ran out of the village had come to him. The leading eunuch was thin, with a shrewd look on his face.

About ten steps away from Zhu Youjian's body, everyone knelt down on the ground, and the eunuch said in a high-pitched voice: "The servant and the horse supervisor Feng Yu Liu Chao kowtowed to the emperor!" "

The rest of the people who knelt down just kowtowed and dared not speak.

Zhu Youjian paused when he heard the name Liu Chao, feeling a little familiar.In my memory, this person also fought and died for his country in the end. The specific details are unknown, but there is a heart of loyalty.

"Get up!"

After Zhu Youjian finished speaking, he started to walk towards the village. Liu Chao and others hurriedly got up to avoid them. When the emperor and Luo Yangxing walked a few steps and were about to follow, a few guards in brocade clothes raised their scabbards to stop them with cold faces. The few village households who came out to greet them only let Liu Chao and the school captain of the village go.

The few peasants shrank from the fear of the situation, and Liu Chao said to Wang Chengen who was behind with a smile: "My lord, these are the heads of the Huangzhuang village. They are responsible for the size of the village when the slaves are away. Affairs. If the emperor wants to know the big and small things in Huangzhuang, they can't understand it the most, let them follow behind!"

Wang Chengen cast a sideways glance at him and asked, "Are these people reliable? It's about the emperor's safety. This is a huge matter, and there is no room for negligence!"

Liu Chao hastened to swear and swear: "Don't worry, Wang Gonggong, he is a good citizen who has lived in Zhuangzi for generations, slaves and servants can guarantee that they are absolutely reliable!"

"Then follow! Remember, let them stay away, and only come closer when the emperor calls!"

Wang Chengen ordered.

"Yes, yes, just follow the father-in-law's order!" Liu Chao hurriedly responded.

Wang Chengen lagged behind because he had something to ask Liu Chao. Seeing that the emperor was about to enter the manor, he walked forward quickly, and Liu Chao hurriedly followed.

Wang Chengen asked: "This morning, the emperor suddenly wanted to visit Huangzhuang. Someone in our family informed you. Time is running out. How are you preparing?"

"So that the father-in-law can know that after the slaves get the news, they will immediately have someone clean up the village and sweep the best house in the village! It's just that it's too late to pad the road with loess! As for the farmers in the village, the slaves have already told them not to When you go out, all of you are waiting at home. There are only a few farmers in the field showing off, if there is no one around, the emperor will think something is wrong, right?"

Liu Chao replied with a smile on his face.

"That's the only way! Right now, I just hope that the emperor doesn't care about trifles, otherwise we won't be able to afford it!"

Wang Chengen said worriedly.

Liu Chao couldn't answer his words, thinking to himself: Who would have thought that the emperor would suddenly want to see Huangzhuang?And the one chosen was Zhuangzi under his own management!In the past, the emperor would never leave the palace except for the sacrificial ceremonies, and I don't know why he came here for inspection.Could it be that I have read too many scripts and want to learn the private interviews in micro-services?
Of course, he only dared to think so in his heart, and never dared to tell anyone.

Zhu Youjian led Luo Yangxing into the Zhuangzi without any haste, surrounded by brocade-clothed guards with knives and guns dozens of steps away, and on the roof in the distance there were also school captains with bows and crossbows watching the surroundings.

The scale of this village is not small. The houses in the village are basically made of yellow mud for the walls and thatch for the roof. The road is fairly flat, but it is very narrow. It is many years old, the ground is covered with green shade, and the sound of cicadas is ringing.

"Let Liu Chao come forward and answer!"

Zhu Youjian ordered, and the guards beside him rushed back.

After a while, Wang Chengen led Liu Chao to catch up, and when he came close, Wang Chengen said: "My lord, let Liu Chao lead the way to the house. You can ask questions while resting?"

Zhu Youjian nodded, Liu Chaoji took a few steps to lead the way, and turned a few turns to near the center of Zhuangzi.

In front of me was a small house with blue bricks and black tiles, very neat, the gatehouse was a bit dilapidated, the two gates were open, there were already two rows of guards standing at the gate, and two guards with bows and arrows on the roof were guarding the surroundings .

Liu Chao came to the door, bowed and said: "My lord, this is the courtyard of Zhuangtou of this village. The servants and servants have been arranged properly, please come in and rest!"

Zhu Youjian stepped into the yard.This is a courtyard with only one entrance. There are three main rooms in front of it, and a side room on each side. A few pagoda trees and jujube trees are planted in the corner of the courtyard, casting a shady place on the small courtyard.

The window paper of several houses is clean and flawless, and it can be seen that it has just been replaced.The yard is spotless, and the ground seems to have been sprinkled with water, and the water has basically evaporated. Walking just can't bring dust.

Zhu Youjian nodded, and walked into the main room with his hands behind his back.

Facing the main hall is a brand-new carved red sandalwood table, on which is a blue and white porcelain tea set, behind the table is a rosewood chair, with several seats on each side.

At a glance, Zhu Youjian knew that it was carefully arranged, because it was impossible to see such furniture in the farmhouse.

After sitting down on the grand teacher's chair, Zhu Youjian ordered: "You all sit down, you are tired after driving for a long time."

Luo Yangxing and the others said they didn't dare, Zhu Youjian said impatiently: "I told you to sit down, don't make any noise!"

Then Luo Yangxing sat down on a chair beside him, only dared to sit on a third of his buttocks.

The remaining two dared not sit down, Wang Chengen stood behind the emperor, and Liu Chao stood sideways a few steps away from the emperor.

"Liu Chao, tell me about the general situation of Huangzhuang first, just stand up and report back!"

Zhu Youjian said.

Liu Chao hurriedly came to Zhu Youjian's body, bowed and stood still, cupped his hands and said back: "This servant is telling the emperor, this village is the largest of the four emperor's estates under your name, with a total of more than 580 mu of land. There are 730 households with 630 six households, including [-] males, [-] females, and [-] adult males.

"How much grain was produced last year? How many large livestock are there in the village? How is the land irrigated?"

Zhu Youjian continued to ask.

"My lord, there has been very little rain since the year before last, because the harvest has not been good for the past two years. Last year, a total of more than 47 shi of wheat was produced, and more than 83 shi of other miscellaneous grains were collected for the palace. There are currently [-] cattle and [-] mules and horses. In the past, the irrigation of the fields was mainly done by the Bailang River outside the village. Since last year, the water in the river has become increasingly scarce. and for irrigation."

Speaking of everything in Huangzhuang, Liu Chao is very familiar with it. It seems that he is more concerned about the affairs of the village on weekdays.

After hearing this, Zhu Youjian became thoughtful.

This Liu Chao seems to be a caring person, unlike the materials he read in his previous life, where eunuchs ran rampant in the village, and a group of thugs under him existed like an emperor in the village.

The grain production in the village was not bad. After all, there were no chemical fertilizers and pesticides in this period, and it was purely dependent on the weather. One stone per mu was considered a good yield, and there were miscellaneous grains, which were probably soybeans and their stalks.

"Why don't you grow corn and sweet potatoes?" Zhu Youjian remembered that corn and sweet potatoes had been introduced to China during the Wanli period. Could it be that he had made a mistake?
"Forgive me, my lord. What the lord just said just now is that the food is not enough? The slaves have never heard of it, let alone plant it!"

Liu Chao replied in a daze, even Wang Chengen and Luo Yangxing were puzzled.

Zhu Youjian suddenly realized.

In this era of extremely slow information dissemination, the lives of ordinary people are limited to no more than ten miles around them.The vast majority of people are illiterate, and many people have never even been to the county town, let alone other places, from birth to death.

It's not like in the later generations, when a certain star cheated, and before he put on his pants, everyone on the Internet already knew about it.

"Those who don't know are not guilty. The corn and sweet potatoes I mentioned are both drought-tolerant crops, and their yields are extremely high. For the same acre of land, if sweet potatoes are planted, the yield is several times or even dozens of times that of wheat! If the entire Ming Dynasty If planting can be promoted, then there will be no more people dying of starvation in Ming Dynasty, and no people who will leave their homes and be displaced due to natural disasters! Luo Qing, as soon as you go back, arrange the guards in various places to investigate the corn and sweet potatoes. Those who do it will be rewarded heavily!"

Chongzhen gave instructions to Luo Yangxing, and Luo Yangxing hurriedly got up and bowed to agree, but he was half-believing in his heart, he seemed to have heard of what the emperor said, but he seemed to have never heard of it.

Liu Chao suddenly slapped himself across the face, and said, "My lord, are you thirsty? The servants are just talking back and forgot to make tea and water for the lord!"

After saying that, he went out after saluting and gave orders.

Wang Chengen hurriedly followed, and said to Liu Chao: "The tea set used by the emperor is brought by the guards. You don't need it. You can arrange someone to boil the water."

After speaking, he waved his hand to a guard, who immediately followed the water-boiling man into the kitchen, Liu Chao came to his senses, and said with a smile on his face: "Your servant is in a daze, how dare you let me The emperor uses things outside the palace to drink water."

At this time, Zhu Youjian walked out of the house with his hands behind his back, and Luo Yangxing followed behind him. Zhu Youjian said to Liu Chao: "Take me around and have a look!"

After Liu Chao bowed and agreed, he led the way out of the courtyard.

The village was quiet, and it was hard to find anyone in the alleys. Zhu Youjian was surrounded by dozens of guards. The guards looked around vigilantly as if they were facing an enemy.

Occasionally, you can see pairs of curious eyes looking at Zhu Youjian and his party behind the closed doors of several houses.

Of course Zhu Youjian knew what was going on, but he also knew very well in his heart that as an emperor, it would be unrealistic for him to talk cordially with the people like the leaders of later generations.

People who have lived in such a closed environment for many years will be terrified when they see Zhuangtou, let alone see the emperor.

Now that Liu Chao has been resettled, there is no need to put on an attitude of being close to the people. What I can do is to make their lives better.

After walking along the main road of the village for about a quarter of an hour, Zhu Youjian and others came to the west end of the village.

Looking around, there is a small river a few hundred meters away from the village. Due to the continuous drought, the river is almost dry, and the riverbed is basically exposed. Only a small stream flows slowly in the middle of the river.

The trees by the river are lush and lush. After all, the roots of the plants can extend underground and can fully absorb the water from the groundwater.

(End of this chapter)