Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 38 Emperor Wanli's Spring Plowing

"This Huang Laifu is interesting."

In the East Nuan Pavilion next to Qianqing Palace, a young man in his twenties smiled, and casually threw a flipped secret book on the huge desk in front of him, causing the eunuch on duty to look around.

The young man was wearing a blue dragon robe with green piping on it. He was the ruler of hundreds of millions of people in the Ming Empire, Zhu Yijun, Emperor Wanli of Ming Shenzong.

This young man who is only 27 years old this year has been the emperor for 18 years. The career of the emperor for more than ten years has made him physically and mentally exhausted, and there is an unconcealable tiredness on his face. After Huang Laifu's secret performance, there was a rare smile on his face.

This Dongnuang Pavilion is where Wanli usually reads memorials and handles government affairs. There are voluminous books on the antique bookshelves next to him.On the front wall, there is a large lacquered plaque on a blackboard, with four big characters written on it: "Xiao Yi Shi Shi".

It is still cold and cold in Beijing in April, and the earth dragon is burned in the East Nuan Pavilion for warmth, which makes it look warm and peaceful.Coupled with the news brought by this secret book, the young emperor felt a bit lazy in his heart. This feeling has not been felt for many years.

The secret letter was sent by the Jinyiwei stationed in Ningwuguan, Shanxi Town. Originally, Huang Laifu, a small housekeeper who had not been replaced, could not attract the attention of Jinyiwei. The grand battle to reclaim hundreds of thousands of acres of land cannot be ignored.

After Jinyiwei at Ningwuguan noticed Huang Laifu, they sent spies to investigate in detail. They found something interesting, so they reported it to the capital with a secret letter. When it arrived in the hands of Liu Shouyou, the governor of Jinyiwei, his brother also thought it was very interesting. It was reported to Emperor Wanli.

After reading the secret book, Emperor Wanli had no other ideas, but became interested in Huang Laifu, the future little thousand household.Right now all over the Nine Borders are deserted by military settlements, but only this Huang Laifu is reclaiming land with great fanfare, and once he reclaims 20 mu of land, and according to the meaning of Xiaosheren, he will reclaim hundreds of thousands of mu of land next year.Even the commanders and envoys of the Nine Sides could not do such a big deal.

Emperor Wanli naturally knew what the weather in Daming was like at the moment. Over the years, he had devoted all his energy and energy to it.

At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind, no matter how Huang Laifu used his method to reclaim so much land, he wouldn't worry about losing all his crops in the future and losing all his money?Of course, the secret book also mentioned some things about Huang Laifu making well-filling water trucks, etc., but Emperor Wanli didn't take it seriously and ignored the past.

Thinking of this, Emperor Wanli suddenly wanted to know the follow-up of this matter, so he took out the secret booklet, read it carefully, and then approved a few words on it.

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Not only the Emperor Wanli, but the news that Wuzhaibao had reclaimed 20 mu of land in a few months spread to various places, and it also aroused different reactions from everyone.

Xiwei, Kelanzhou Town, the residence of the Commander of the Acropolis.

Commander Liu Jingchun of Zhenxiwei was leisurely listening to his concubine singing a ditty. When he heard the news, his eyes widened and he thought in a daze: "When did Huang Sihao get so much money? Why didn't I know?" ?”

He rubbed his fleshy face, and then thought of it: "I heard that Gu Xitang is Huang Sihao's in-laws. When he comes back, he should ask him carefully."

Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province.

Commander Liu Fuyu was chatting with his staff. After hearing the news, he was stunned for a while, and finally commented: "His ambition is commendable!"

Of course, Huang Laifu didn't know about these people's comments. At this time, he was busy in Wuzhai Fort.

The smooth reclamation of the land made Qu Yuanrui and others happy, and Huang Laifu was satisfied.

Although the 20 land reclamation army fought hard for several months, only 60 mu of land was reclaimed in the end.Compared with some construction corps in Xinjiang in later generations, the achievements of thousands of people working in a harsh environment and reclaiming nearly [-] mu of land in a few months are far from comparable.But considering the historical limitations, Huang Laifu is already very satisfied.

The newly reclaimed 20 mu of land in Wuzhaibao is divided into ten large farms, of which the farms along the Qinglian River and the Zhujiachuan River are the largest.On the farm, the village officials also implemented Huang Laifu's institutional measures in Huang's Dazhuang.Among the various farms, the largest farm has hundreds of Zhuang Ding.There are also 200 people in the small one.

As for the Zhuang Ding, they are recruited by the military households of Wuzhai Fort and some private households from non-local civilian forts. In addition to some of these private households, some are regular residents of nearby private forts, and some are from various places. refugees.

After hearing the news about Wuzhaibao, many people came from far away to apply, hoping to get a bite to eat, and the furthest came from Taiyuan and other places.There were as many as [-] refugees from various places.Crowded a small Wuzhai Fort to the full.

The problem of refugees existed as early as the early Ming Dynasty, and by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, refugees had become a serious problem.Especially during the Wanli period, the number of refugees was astonishing. Even near the capital, there were a large number of refugees.

Wuzhaibao is seriously short of population. Of course, Huang Laifu welcomes these refugees, but there is an iron rule, that is, these refugees must be incorporated into Wuzhaibao's military household registration, otherwise they will not be hired.

Moreover, in terms of remuneration, Huang Laifu implements a strict hierarchical system, and the treatment of military households and civilian households is different.Huang Laifu has always believed that fair rewards and punishments and different levels of treatment are good and effective measures to stimulate people's enthusiasm for work.The result of this is that the original Wuzhaibao people spontaneously formed a tight whole, and every newcomer who wants to survive and develop in Wuzhaibao must integrate into this whole.

The final result is that the military households capable of working in the original Wuzhai Fort were basically incorporated into Zhuang Ding, and even women and old people also had their own jobs. Although they were not strong laborers, they raised chickens and ducks. , Raising pigs, sheep and cattle, weaving and sewing, cooking, laundry and logistics, etc., a lot of work, they are indispensable.

Moreover, Huang Laifu still has a series of measures to carry out, such as various processing industries and labor-intensive industries in the future. In the future, Huang Laifu will need population to support a full-time army.Therefore, every population of Wuzhaibao is very precious to Huang Laifu.

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Time goes back to April 1590, 4 AD, the day of Qingming Festival.

This day is the Water Release Festival, the official start of the spring plowing season. Huang Sihao, Huang Laifu, He Fuqianhu and others led the Zhuang Ding to worship the God of Tugu and hold the spring plowing ceremony in the Tugu Temple of Wuzhaibao No. [-] Farm.

Everyone lit incense, slaughtered chickens and worshiped, praying to the gods to drive away evil, so as to bless the smooth spring farming.

Everyone's expressions were full of devotion and hope. Huang Laifu hoped for a bumper harvest in autumn to realize his wish.Everyone in Wuzhaibao hopes that the spring plowing will go smoothly, that the barn will be full of wheat and rice, and that they will have enough food and clothing.Qu Yuanrui hopes that Huang Laifu will have a good harvest so that he can earn a lot of money.

Everyone has different wishes, but the feelings are all sincere.

And on this day, not only Wuzhai Fort, but also all over the Ming Dynasty, whether it is private or official, will hold spring plowing ceremonies.Even the royal family held a plowing ceremony near the farm altar on this day.

At the beginning of the ceremony, two officials lead the oxen, two elders hold the plow, and other designated farmers carry various agricultural tools.There are also actors who dress up as village men and women and sing Taiping songs.Then the emperor himself supported the plow carved with dragons, held the whip in his left hand, and held the plow in his right. With the support of two elders, he walked three times in the field, completing the ceremony of plowing.

Emperor Wanli also ordered the world in March and April, saying to the people: "Now the soil veins are moist, so we must cultivate while the time is right, and don't be lazy."

Everyone's wishes are very good, especially the ordinary people who depend on the sky for food, but the reality is often very bad.

This year is the 18th year of Wanli, but as in previous years, since the beginning of winter last year, there has been a general lack of rain and snow in northern parts of the country. In early April this year, during the spring plowing, the drought was severe again. In many places, rivers bottomed out and there was no water in the wells.

The people in the north were deeply anxious about this. Emperor Wanli also led his ministers to hold a ceremony of praying for rain. Unfortunately, God didn't show face, and the drought remained the same everywhere, and there was no water for irrigation.

However, this situation does not exist in Wuzhai Fort.

Not to mention the Huang Family Farm, among the various farms in Wuzhaibao, there are Huanglaifu large water trucks near the river, which can suck the river water to a height of more than ten meters, even if the fields are ten meters away from the river bank, there will be no shortage of water for irrigation .For those not near the river, there are deep water irrigation wells and animal-powered waterwheels.The well water can also be drawn up from the ground more than ten meters deep, and the water source irrigation will not be lost.

At this time in previous years, when the gods were closed, everyone in Wuzhaibao had to cry, but now with these irrigation tools, there is no worry about water shortage in the fields everywhere. Everyone is excited and thank Huang Laifu from the bottom of their hearts.

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(Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, Lao Niu is here to wish everyone a happy New Year, a happy family and all the best. ＾＾＾)

(End of this chapter)