national surname chiming

From spring plowing to summer grain harvesting, during the four full months, the Nanming court and the people rested, and basically did not do any troubles that required a lot of people's power to be mobilized.

Zhu Shuren and Shi Kefa just sorted out the population and land situation at the internal political level, eliminated the long-standing disadvantages, and reformed the old.

In addition, work such as checking land and population will naturally bring a convenience, that is, it will facilitate the court to vigorously promote new high-yielding crops.

After all, after checking the land situation, a large number of immigrants who fled from the north will be resettled to cultivate unowned land. The seeds of these people are provided by the government. The government will naturally send small officials to check the local land situation. replant.

It's just that Zhu Shuren also knows that when officials go wrong, they can get benefits if they can, so he didn't set performance indicators for his subordinates this time, and he didn't use the promotion rate to evaluate it. It was purely a suggested promotion.In addition to promotion, supervisory officials from other systems that are not affiliated to each other are also asked to observe the people's conditions and find out whether there is any forced replanting.

Otherwise, it might be possible to create a situation similar to "Wang Anshi's Green Crop Law has become a forced apportionment of usury".

Ever since, after the spring plowing and summer replanting in the first year of Longwu, many barren farmlands in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong and Guangxi were replanted with potatoes.

Although part of it is flat, due to the high terrain and insufficient water irrigation, the originally unusable land was replanted with corn. Although corn is not suitable for planting in the south, the advantage of less water used by corn is beyond the reach of other staple foods. of.

In the south of the late Ming Dynasty, even though many farmlands were flat, they were still rated as Xiatian because the terrain was too high to focus on irrigation.In this special case, corn can be used as a good supplement.

As for the rest of the muddy and low-lying land, where rice was originally grown, try not to toss as much as possible, and rectify as appropriate for those who could not even grow rice.

If it can be dredged deep and shallow, then plant taro on the land dug out after dredging.If the local labor force is insufficient and the land cannot be reorganized to make polders, the cultivation of lotus roots in mud ponds and shallow swamps can be directly promoted, which can also subsidize staple food.

Both lotus root and taro are crops that have existed in China since ancient times. Taro became popular relatively later, but these crops, even though their starch content is not low, have not become effective staple foods for a long time. Being low doesn't matter.

The shelf life of taro is far less than that of potatoes, and lotus root is even more perishable.If farmers try to use pure lotus roots as their staple food, the most likely thing is that the leftovers will rot if they don’t eat them for two months, and then they will starve to death for most of the year.

In the Song Dynasty, the popularity of taro and lotus root planting should be much higher than that in the Ming Dynasty according to later researches. An important reason is that the commodity economy in the Song Dynasty was developed, and the emperor did not suppress business.Therefore, farmers who grow these high-starch vegetables can sell large quantities of vegetables to buy rice for storage during the harvest season.

The grassroots commercial social security in the Ming Dynasty was relatively poor, and everyone was more inclined to a self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy. Farmers who grew food were too lazy to trade and grew for themselves.After the exchange atmosphere deteriorated, everyone became more and more conservative, lest something with a short shelf life would lead to life and death in the hands of others.

However, as the administrative atmosphere of the Longwu Dynasty changed, and Shen Tingyang, who was born as a wealthy businessman, became the secretary of the household department, Zhu Shuren also encouraged the military settlements organized by the imperial court to provide transaction guarantees for the refugees under his command.

After these refugees who went south planted perishable high-starch vegetables, the local military station guards organized them to buy them, and asked the local army and other grain-growing people to replace part of the staple food with taro and lotus root during the harvest season to maintain two or three vegetables. moon.

Then the saved staple food was traded to the refugees who sold lotus roots at the official protection price, and this part of the agricultural economy that had been stifled was revitalized.

Many northern refugees who went south in exile at the beginning of the year, after being resettled in Huainan, planted lotus roots on the muddy and bad Chaohu and Shaopi plains.After the first batch of lotus roots were harvested in May, the local garrison immediately took charge of the purchase and gave them the official price in exchange for food.

After receiving real benefits, these refugees couldn't help but start to waver and reflect: they had been brainwashed by Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming Dynasty ideology for many years, and they always felt that business was competing with farmers for profit.Farmers who grow food should grow and eat by themselves (the farmers who grow cash crops originally had to trade, because sericulture, cotton and tea cannot be eaten).

But now there is solid evidence in front of us that farmers who grow vegetables should also join the transaction. At least this form of commercial prosperity is releasing agricultural productivity.Let more people who were worried about the shelf life of crops and did not dare to grow them have an additional choice for making a living.

It seems that the idea of ​​emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce in the Ming Dynasty needs to be fine-tuned from the root.There are also many types of merchants. Some types should be encouraged, while others need to be suppressed. One size fits all cannot be done.

……

Under the governance of the Longwu regime, agricultural production in the South recovered very well this year.

As the time comes to the end of May, the busy farming season is finally over. After the summer replanting is completed, the people will be relatively free until the autumn harvest.
If the imperial court has a large-scale construction project, if it is willing to give money to work for relief, it will just allow the people to earn a little extra money and better restore people's livelihood.

Therefore, Zhu Shuren, who had been living in Nanjing for so long, finally planned to leave the customs again and go out to exercise his muscles and bones.

Of course, in the past few months in Nanjing, Zhu Shuren has not been idle, and has been living a very healthy life—as early as this year’s Lantern Festival, just after the conferment of Wang Qinggong, Zhu Shuren began to quit drinking.

I also pay attention to adjusting my work and rest, eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and using all scientific methods of health preservation.In ancient times, there was absolutely no other young man in his twenties who could maintain his health like this.

And Zhu Shuren, who had a daughter long ago, soon proved to the world again that of course there was nothing wrong with his body.In April, Zhu Shuren's first wife, little princess Zhu Yuchan was actually pregnant.It's just that the initial reaction was too slight, so I didn't notice it immediately.

At the end of April, because the relative didn't come for a long time, the imperial doctor had to confirm repeatedly, carefully checked again, and dared to announce the good news to the emperor and prince.Anyway, regardless of whether it is confirmed or not, you can first follow the anti-birth and health-preserving prescriptions and diet, without delay.

After learning about this situation, Zhu Shuren finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After only staying at home for more than two months, I let my wife have some movement, which is already very efficient.The only suspense left is whether it is a man or a woman.

"I hope it's a son. We don't value sons over daughters, but this time it's about the country. If you want to stabilize the people of the world, you have to give a son first. It doesn't matter how many daughters you have in the future."

Zhu Shuren, who has always been open-minded and has the soul of modern people, is also rarely feudal, and often thinks so.It is true that the situation of the times is such that he cannot be willful.

At the end of May, counting the days, Zhu Yuchan's belly has been two and a half months, almost three months, and the period of anti-pregnancy that is most prone to accidents has passed. The follow-up should be relatively stable, and Zhu Shuren is ready to go out with confidence.

Naturally, Zhu Yuchan was still very reluctant to let go. There was movement in the belly of a weak woman, but her husband had to go far away, which made her feel very insecure.

Zhu Shuren warmly comforted: "Don't worry, we won't be out for a few months. We don't have to do everything by ourselves now, but we will be back before the autumn harvest. At the end of the year and the next spring, we will definitely stay in Nanjing. Stay with Madam well."

This promise from Zhu Shuren was the only way for Zhu Yuchan to feel at ease.

The imperial doctor has also calculated that the expected date of delivery is around the end of the Chinese New Year next year. If it is sooner, it is normal at the end of the first month, and if it is slower, the whole of February is normal.It will also be the slack season for farming, so there should be nothing to worry about about other things during the Chinese New Year.

……

After bidding farewell to his wife, Zhu Shuren called in his aide, Gu Yanwu, to sort out the key points of work worthy of inspection in the near future.

Because it was just an idea, Zhu Shuren didn't have any plans before, so he needed to understand the situation in various aspects in the past few months.

Gu Yanwu brought a lot of files, and Zhu Shuren read them first, focusing on the recent progress of army building and armament planning.

In terms of army building, Zhu Shuren took a rough look at the progress reported by various ministries. Considering that the North-South truce window will be relatively long this time, Zhu Shuren estimates that it will be at least one year, so this year's army building mainly stays in a thorough investigation of vacancies, Improve the treatment of the military and crack down on the drinking of soldiers' blood.

As for the level of technical and tactical training, it has not been put on the agenda for the time being.Anyway, if you have time, let's do the laying of the foundation first. The appearance and loyalty of the army have generally improved, so we can give them new weapons and rest assured after they have practiced.

Otherwise, the will to fight and the loyalty have not yet been guaranteed, and the new weapons will be practiced first, which will only become a double-edged sword. Do not contribute to the court.

It can be explained that when Baozong was captured by Oala, the Ming army already had these problems, so it is said that the 50 army was under the control of the Tatars. It was so vulnerable in front of him.

Now that Zhu Shuren wants to improve, there must be some resistance.But in the final analysis, he still relied on two hole cards to have the confidence to push slowly and gradually:
The first is that the Shen family is rich and is willing to invest in the army.Regardless of whether it is Zhu Shuren, the governor of the provinces, or his father who is in charge of appropriating funds from the household department, at least since this year, "no money will be withheld before the household department leaves the capital."

When Shen Tingyang was defending the city in Nanjing, he actually issued 200 million taels of silver to the army defending the city. It was all donated directly by the Shen family out of their own pocket, and the money from the treasury was not used.Such a role model power is placed over there, with both kindness and strength, the following will have to be greatly restrained.

Second, relying on the prestige of the great victory in the foreign war, Zhu Shuren's family's prestige in the army has been unprecedentedly improved. succeed.

Of course, there were very few generals who almost tried to mutiny in order to drink the blood of soldiers.But the soldiers below didn't listen to their generals anymore. As soon as the court came to suppress them, they immediately surrendered to the court, and those scum officers who stubbornly drank the blood of soldiers were eliminated a lot.

Killing hundreds of people just by killing people is also considered as having to do with heavy codes in troubled times.Considering that the total number of the old armies in Nanzhili, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang is also nominally less than 20, killing hundreds of bloody scum is not too much.

After these rectifications, we will strive to clear up the military vacancies in the above-mentioned provinces within this year, so that the soldiers will have enough money to eat, and next year they will be able to issue new weapons for new technical and tactical drills.

……

After learning about the work of army building, Zhu Shuren glanced at the progress in the field of armaments and industry.

In the first half of this year, the arsenals in Wuchang and other places did not seem to have any new trends worthy of inspection, and they were all producing the new "Made in Wuchang" rifles in a satisfactory manner.Daye's iron and steel plant is also developing steadily without any qualitative changes.

That kind of rifle was originally the first-generation mass-produced model last fall, and then gradually increased production. In the final decisive battle with Duoduo, the Nanming army had a total of only 3000 of this new rifle, and it was divided among Huguang and Nanming. On the two battlefields in Zhili, Zhang Huangyan had less than [-] rods, while Zhu Shuren had more than [-].

Since it is a new model, naturally there is no need to make drastic changes and start anew, just expand the production capacity directly. This is all a matter of spending money and resources, not technical work.

At most, after several battles with Azig and Duoduo, Fang Yizhi and Song Yingxing also listened to the feedback from the soldiers in front, integrated some improved ideas that had been tested in actual combat, and fine-tuned them.

If it is said that the previous Wuchang made, it is roughly equivalent to the French Charleville 1728, and only a few indicators can reach the Charleville 1763.

Na Fang Yizhi and Song Yingxing's newly adjusted "Made in Wuchang 2.0" basically reached the level of the French Charleville 1763 in an all-round way, and even surpassed it in terms of material quality, reaching the level on the eve of the Napoleonic Wars.

Such a standard rifle is enough for future large-scale eradication equipment, and the continued production in the past two years will be enough.

Zhu Shuren took a look at the progress of the production capacity. In the second half of last year, he switched to the production of new rifles in about four or five months, and produced a total of more than 5000 rifles.According to this speed, the annual output will be about [-] to [-] this year, and it will be similar next year.

If we want to further speed up, we must continue to expand the production capacity of the iron and steel factories, and increase the employment scale of craftsmen in military factories, or consider replicating the factories in Wuchang and Daye, and follow suit in Nanzhili.

After all, Zhu Shuren is now the governor of the seven southern provinces and armaments, and he is still in control of Chinese and foreign military forces, and will be stationed in Nanjing.There is really no need for him to keep his foundation in Wuchang, and it is also necessary to back up a set of production capacity around Nanjing.

After thoroughly sorting out the current situation, Zhu Shuren asked Gu Yanwu to provide some new information:
"This year's slack season, I want to copy a set of military and iron factories similar to Huguang in Nanzhi. I don't know how the copper-iron peat deposits in Nanzhi are being rectified. Are there any mines worthy of expansion?
If we want to engage in military industry, we still have to start from scratch at the iron factory, and we can't rely on Daye to supply steel, so that we can be prepared for any danger. "

Zhu Shuren's thinking is a bit similar to the third-line national defense construction of later generations. If half of the country in the south has only one key iron ore and steel plant, it is too prone to accidents, and there must be a full set of backups.

And the relevant work was obviously done by someone before. Gu Yanwu has a lot of information here, and he sorted it out immediately:
"My lord, have you forgotten? You told me a few months ago that you want to explore and expand the mine. The people from the Ministry of Industry have recently harvested something in Taiping Prefecture, Chizhou, Huzhou and other places. Wuchang also sent craftsmen to give guidance. "

After Zhu Shuren compared his memories, he knew that the Ministry of Industry was talking about the iron ore in Ma'anshan in later generations, and the copper mine in Tongling, which had been discovered in ancient times, and could be further expanded.Both of these places are in the south of the Yangtze River in Anhui in later generations, and now belong to Nanzhili.

In the east, there are also some coal mines in the Changxing area of ​​Huzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang Province, and in the adjacent area of ​​Xuancheng, Anhui Province. It is bituminous coal with relatively high sulfur content.

But the advantage lies in the convenience of transportation, and it is very close to iron ore and copper mines.If some pre-processing can be done to pre-treat the coal, then the combination of the Zhexi Coal Mine in southern Anhui and the Ma'anshan Iron Mine and Tongling Copper Mine may produce a larger-scale metallurgical complex than the Daye system in Huguang.

After all, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhidong advocated Han Yeping. An important reason was that the country did not know much about coal pretreatment at that time, and the iron and steel factories were too picky about coal. There are many places in Ma'anshan.

"Make arrangements. During this period of time, I will go to Taiping Mansion (Ma'anshan), Chizhou (Tongling), Huzhou, and Ningguo (Xuancheng) for a round trip. Don't be too nervous about the schedule, just return to Nanjing before winter." Zhu Shuren casually ordered .

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PS: I also reminded that there will be farming, so let me remind you in detail.Those who don't want to watch farming can raise one next week.By next weekend, this truce period will basically be over, and we can start fighting with the Tartars again.

It can also be regarded as a reminder to readers who only watch the drama of killing Tartars.