Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 657 Extra Story ([-]) Heart Like a Mirror
Time never stops. When it comes to the 27th year of the apocalypse, all countries in the world seem to be more stable in this year.

After Mongolia captured half of the Crimean Khanate and its capital, it quickly slaughtered some men who were unwilling to convert to the Yellow religion, and gained a huge amount of wealth.

According to the records of the people who survived the incident, the Mongols slaughtered at least one-third of the population in the east and north with their butcher knives.

While slaughtering the population, Lin Dan Khan also moved the Mongols who had multiplied to 86 in the rear to the territory of Crimea, which was slaughtered.

Due to the lack of males, a Mongolian man could marry two or three women.

In Lin Dan Khan's memorial, the population of Mongolia is about 200 million.

In order to digest these populations and learn how to defend the city, Lin Dan Khan sent his youngest son Abnai and [-] descendants of Mongolian nobles to study in Beijing.

At the same time, Lin Danhan used a lot of wealth to buy firearms, food, cloth and other materials.

Lin Danhan's westward advance gave Daming a larger space for science and technology, with the isolation of the Mongols, Zhu Ciran dispatched [-] tractors to Xihai Prefecture on the ninth day of March to engage in reclamation and cultivation.

On the tenth day of April, Ming Dynasty signed a trade treaty with Mongolia as suzerain.

These include weapons and artillery that can equip 4 people, as well as an increasing amount of food every year, as well as various living materials such as coal, cloth, and salt.

The signing of the trade treaty allowed Daming to obtain the first market in Eastern Europe, which brought an annual trade volume of several 10 taels to Daming.

This is just a microcosm of a local area, and there are still many places that really need to be concerned.

In May, the Ming army successfully went south again, further attacking the Mughal Empire, destroying most of the Mughal supply points in the border areas, and killing more than [-] Mughal troops.

In July, the British royal army received the support of Ming Dynasty, and Charles I trained the army, hoping to end the civil strife in Britain as soon as possible.

On July 23, Spain attempted to attack France and was defeated by Prince Condé.

In August, the slave hunting war initiated by the Tang Dynasty ended, and the territory of various countries penetrated into the Leviian continent one after another, hundreds of miles away, and more than a hundred miles away.

In September, the army of the State of Qi ended the suppression of the rebellion, and most of the cannibals in the area of ​​Zhulin Mansion were wiped out. Qi Wang Zhu You ordered the army to cut down trees in the territory of Zhulin Mansion and build camps for a short rest.

In October, floods broke out due to heavy rains in the south of the Yangtze River. Emperor Zhu Youxiao ordered Sun Yuanhua, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, and Song Yingxing, Minister of Industry, to visit.

In Dongyue, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Industry, about [-]% of the steam engines produced by the Military Armament Academy are used in agriculture, and the remaining [-]% are used to provide rotary power for textile mills, iron furnaces, flour mills and other industries.

As cotton spinning machines and steam engines and tractors required large quantities of iron, steel and coal, the supply of these materials also increased.

This increased demand needed to be met by a series of improvements in mining and metallurgy.

The coke of the twelfth lunar month was discovered, and coal can be turned into coke, as regular wood can be turned into charcoal. The coke proved to be as effective as charcoal, and much cheaper.

In April of the 28th year of Apocalypse, the Armament Academy developed the first mechanically operated blast furnace, which greatly reduced the cost of iron.

The new blast furnace ditched the leather and wood bellows and replaced them with a pump.

The pump consisted of four metal cylinders with pistons and valves, and was driven by a steam engine. At the same time, the Ordnance Institute further improved the method of smelting iron in the blast furnace.

After adjustments, Daming's ironworks can produce hot iron that is more ductile than the original brittle molten pig iron or pig iron.

To keep up with the rising demands of the iron industry, coal mining technology has also improved.

Daming introduced Qi's safety light design, which greatly improved the safety of miners underground.

As a result of these various developments, Great Apocalypse 28 produced more coal and iron than the rest of the world combined.

Daming's coal production has risen from 25 million tons in the 200th year of the Apocalypse to 28 million tons in the 8000th year of the Apocalypse.

Similarly, Daming’s iron production has further increased from 25 million tons in the 760th year of the Apocalypse to 28 million tons in the 200th year of the Apocalypse.

Behind such a huge output of coal and iron is a huge group of workers. The coal and iron produced by 120 million miners and iron smelters are already abundant enough for general construction.

Therefore, Daming not only entered the age of steam, but also successfully entered the age of steel.

The mass-produced steel made Daming no longer have to be constrained in local construction, and the breakthrough of 3000 million tons of cement declared that Daming was about to enter a new era.

In October of the same year, Shen Tingyang, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty, went to Shu, hoping to print 3000 million taels of banknotes to build local facilities, deepen, heighten, and widen local rivers and reservoirs, and distribute the money to the people.

After the memorial was handed in, the emperor, the East Palace and the cabinet approved the redemption, and it is expected that the construction will start after the busy farming season in the 29th year of Apocalypse.

In the twelfth lunar month, according to statistics from the Department of Finance, in the past 30 years, the value of gold, silver, copper and other minerals flowing into Daming was as high as [-] million taels, with an average annual inflow of more than [-] million taels.

At the same time, the total amount of currency in circulation in Ming Dynasty is about 47 billion taels, which means that Ming Dynasty is facing inflation every year on average, and the rate of inflation is 0.25% per year...

In comparison, in the past ten years, the population of Daming has increased by about 490 million people, an average of 2.23 million per year, and the population growth rate is [-]% of the total population...

Therefore, Shang Shu, Secretary of Finance, proposed to increase the minimum wage for imperial employees to [-] renminbi, and to [-] renminbi in more economically developed areas.

At the same time, the imperial court printed 2000 million taels of banknotes every year.

After this memorial was played, Emperor Zhu Youxiao did not immediately approve it, but wrote a letter to send the situation and content to Qi State.

At the end of the twelfth lunar month, the reply letter from Qi Wang Zhu Youjian reached the emperor Zhu Youxiao.

At the Great Court Meeting on the first day of the first month of the 29th year of the Apocalypse, Emperor Zhu Youxiao agreed to the Secretary of Finance’s memorial, but at the same time reduced the amount of banknotes printed from 2000 million taels to 1000 million taels.

At the same time, Shen Tingyang, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, reported the total number of acres and population of the Ming Dynasty.

As of the fifteenth day of the winter month in the 28th year of Tianqi, the Ming Dynasty had a total of more than 11 billion mu of arable land, about 60 billion mu of pasture, and a population of more than 220 million, including [-] million Han Chinese.

Comparing the 23 years of Apocalypse, Daming increased about 8000 million mu of arable land and 2000 million people.

Of course, in the past five years, Daming has also relocated more than 370 million people, so the population increase should be close to 400 million.

In five years, the population of the dynasty increased by one-tenth. Such a population increase was inseparable from Daming's medical care and the improvement of the people's quality of life.

Regardless of each era, the cause of childbearing difficulties is environmental problems.

In the semi-industrial and semi-agricultural environment of the Ming Dynasty, land was the means of production, and once a newborn was born, the imperial court would allocate three acres of cultivated land as a congratulatory gift.

Three acres of arable land is huge wealth for a child. Under the background of tractors going to the countryside, planting three acres of land does not take much effort, at least compared to the previous situation where people carried the plow.

One mu of land is enough to feed a baby, so the three mu of land allocated by the government is equivalent to adding two mu of land to a family's income.

This is just the beginning. After the child enters the household registration book, he will be a member of the production team.

The land reclaimed by the production team every year is also shared by the children.

Normally, even if the land is allocated only two points a year, then there will be three acres of land by the age of 15.

These three mu of land plus the three mu of land given as a gift from the government made a total of six mu of land.

These lands are under the management of the father at least until the child finishes middle school. After middle school, if he wants to continue his studies in university, his father can still have the land use rights for another five years.

Moreover, letting children go to college is a process that can maximize their benefits.

As long as you go to university, the school will solve the problem of accommodation and meals, and the family only needs to pay for books and pen, ink and paper needed for study.

The cost of education in Ming Dynasty was extremely low, and the imperial court had to spend 25% of its finances on education every year. This was the reason why education was cheap.

As for where the money comes from, it is naturally through overseas trade and overseas minerals, as well as huge agricultural taxes.

Therefore, due to various reasons, there is no such thing as foolish peasants not letting their children go to school.

Not only will children go to school not increase the burden on the family, but it will reduce the burden.

This whole set of designs originated from the period when King Qi Zhu Youjian was in power. Zhu Youxiao and the cabinet never made any changes, and the effect was surprisingly good.

For children who have experienced farming in this era and do not have much entertainment, schools with various interest classes are the places they most want to go.

In addition, there is no so-called midterm exam in Qi State, but only a final exam, so the children's academic pressure is not too great.

Therefore, the imperial court, adults, and children are all willing to continue this system, and the only dissatisfaction is only with the localities.

After all, Daming’s schools are based on a farming-study system, and students need to grow their own vegetables, and the school needs to provide arable land where they need it.

If it is a school in the countryside, it is not bad, it is enough to mark out a piece of wasteland. After all, the school can ask the production team to borrow a tractor.

But if it is in the city, the cultivated land needs to relocate the population, flatten the houses, or occupy part of the land to be built.

These lands in the city are closely related to the local finances, so the local government often appeals to the cabinet, requesting that the schools be relocated outside the city.

However, the local power is too small, even if they don't want to, they can't affect the decision of the center at all.
If things go on like this for a long time, local governments will naturally do many illegal things in order to make up for their finances.

On the second day of March in the 29th year of the Apocalypse, "Daming Daily" reported a piece of news in Mayi County, Shuofang Prefecture, Shaanxi Province.

The content is mainly about the chaos of the Mayi County government using various names to fine people and collect taxes.

Mayi County has insufficient arable land and a small population in the city. Therefore, in order to meet the government's expenses, the people of Mayi County may face fines even when they go out for a walk.

The common people think that the yamen is poor and crazy, not only Mayi, but the entire Shuofang Mansion is fined everywhere, even if they go out for a walk, they may be fined.

One piece of firewood tax, one piece of carriage and horse tax, five pieces of river tax...

Taxes such as these are reasonable, but many taxes are scary.

Among the taxes and fines exposed by the newspapers, some vegetable growers produce better vegetables than other villages, so they bid ten catties more than neighboring villages. However, the Mayi county government fined the village three taels of silver for price gouging.

Three taels of silver may not seem like a lot, but you need to sell [-] catties of vegetables to earn it back.

The key point is that after the fine was collected, the government did not allow the vegetable farmers to return to normal prices, but ignored it.

In this way, the normal transaction income of vegetable farmers and vegetable merchants was obtained by the Mayi County government, and this was only a phenomenon in one village.

This phenomenon still exists in various villages in Mayi County.

According to the "Daming Daily" report, officials in Mayi County used various means to fine 200 taels in the past year, while the number of people in Mayi County was only 3.

It is equivalent to say that every citizen of Mayi County has paid an average of 140 fines and arbitrary taxes.

Even at the latest wages of the Ming Dynasty, it would take them ten days of work to earn this fine.

The appearance of this report made many people who already regarded newspapers as a form of entertainment sigh, and what followed was the "Da Ming Pao" rushing to report on the arbitrary tax collection in various places.

Farmers in Shanxi, Henan and other places were all taxed by the local government, and the tax was a land reclamation tax that did not exist in Ming Dynasty.

In Daming, since the five years since the apocalypse, people have never had to pay taxes for land reclamation, but now this tax has revived.

"Isn't this a blatant money grab?"

"One mu of wasteland needs to be collected as a tax of [-] yuan? Doesn't the Ming Dynasty have to pay nearly a million taels of silver to open up tens of millions of acres of wasteland every year?"

"The "Law of the Great Ming Dynasty" clearly encourages land reclamation without collecting taxes. Isn't the yamen in these two places too rampant?"

"Oh... it's better when His Royal Highness Qi Wang is around."

"Hehe... When His Royal Highness Qi Wang was around, this kind of official would have been beheaded long ago, and the three clans had been exiled!"

"Unfortunately, Your Highness..."

At the tea stalls on the streets of the capital, some people were discussing the contents of the "Da Ming Pao" newspaper, and the owner of the tea stall also put a few steamed dumplings on the table, and sighed:

"You think it's only in those places? Our son of heaven collects a lot."

"Sewage discharge tax, labor tax, gate tax, city tax, passenger tax..."

"These miscellaneous taxes, my small tea shop has to pay two or three hundred cash every month."

"Two or three hundred words?!"

"Why don't they grab it?"

"Does the emperor dare to collect taxes like this?!"

As soon as the owner of the tea stall uttered the words, everyone was in an uproar, and one of the younger workers couldn't help wondering: "Can't you report to the government?"

"Reporting to the officer? Hahahaha..." The crowd roared with laughter, with a bit of bitterness in their smiles.

A worker in his forties explained helplessly: "It's really not something you can apply for if you want to report to the government these days."

"The newspaper officer has to write a pleading paper, and the pleading paper must be written by a lawyer fixed in the yamen, and you will be charged fifty cents for one pleading paper."

"That's not counting. With the pleadings, you still have to go to the Yamen to line up. It doesn't matter whether there is anyone in front of you. You have to line up anyway."

"Would you like not to be in the queue? Then hand over fifty cash to the yamen guard at the door to help pass it on, and then you can be in the queue."

"This is only part of it. If you really want to report to the official, go through all the steps, don't even think about three or four hundred."

The Lent worker explained, and the people next to him also mocked:
"Besides, it doesn't necessarily work if you report it. If you encounter an official protecting you, not only will you not help you, but you will also tell other yamen your pleading paper and shop name."

"At that time, I'm afraid it will not be a problem that can be solved by two or three hundred pennies per month..."

"In today's world, it is enough to make do with it, at least in terms of land distribution and wages, those corrupt officials dare not do anything."

"It's really the day when the land and wages will be divided..."

Everyone didn't say anything, but shook their heads and sighed.

At this time, they felt the difference when King Qi was there.

Everyone lowered their heads to eat and drink tea, but the two young people sitting in the corner stood up and left the tea shop.

The young man in charge was handsome and beautiful, and he was tall, so the tea guests couldn't help but look at them a few more times.

After the two walked away, the tea drinkers looked away and continued to discuss work and life matters.

"Brother's judgment is indeed not wrong. The people of the world have long been complained about by miscellaneous taxes. This time, we have dealt with this group of corrupt officials, and it is estimated that some people's grievances can be appeased!"

Walking on the street, Zhu Cihong, who was wearing a sky-blue round-neck robe, was talking to the people around him, and next to him was naturally Xia Wanchun who was waiting for him to graduate before returning to the country of Qi together.

Although the 19-year-old Xia Wanchun is two years older than Zhu Cihong, his height is only five feet five inches, far inferior to Zhu Cihong who is already five feet seven inches (182).

In addition, Xia Wanchun's appearance is only delicate, so once he goes out, he looks a bit like a follower.

But he didn't care about these, but he cared more about the content of Zhu Cihong's words.

"Da Ming Pao" is a state-run newspaper, and it is a sharp weapon to grasp the public opinion of Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the news on it can only appear after the emperor, prince and cabinet have read it.

This miscellaneous tax incident made such a big fuss, in the final analysis, it was Zhu Ciran who wanted it to make such a big fuss.

Zhu Ciran received a letter from Qi State a month ago, and the letter was naturally written by Zhu Youjian himself.

The content of the letter was very brief. Zhu Youjian mainly told Zhu Ciran about some economic issues.

When the economy is rising, many things and conflicts will be suppressed, so many emperors don't care about things, thinking that future generations have their own solutions.

In this way, the drums are passed on from generation to generation. When the problems accumulate and the economy goes down, the problems will be detonated because they cannot be solved.

Zhu Youjian's meaning is obvious, that is, after five years of peace, Daming has accumulated a lot of problems.

He didn't say what the specific problems were, but as the supervisor of the Ming Dynasty, how could Zhu Ciran not know what problems the Ming Dynasty had?
The reason why he didn't deal with it was because he felt that these were minor problems, and he could deal with them later.

Having been in power for many years and Daming has no opponents, it is normal for him to slack off for a while.

However, when Zhu Youjian's letter was placed in front of him, he knew he couldn't do this anymore.

Therefore, this "miscellaneous tax" incident is only Zhu Ciran's first attempt to rectify the administration of officials.

Next, he still has many methods to use one by one...

"Next is an opportunity. We can see how the prison country deals with this group of corrupt officials. If the Qi country encounters these in the future, we can also have some ideas."

Xia Wanchun reminded Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cihong also nodded slightly, and glanced around the stalls.

Seeing the diners at the stalls discussing the "miscellaneous taxes" incident, Zhu Cihong also thought of the group of princes above the temple:
"The state of Qi shares the world with the common people, not with the scholar-bureaucrats..."

(End of this chapter)