Daqin: Compared with his sons, Ying Zheng is jealous

【After rewarding the Ministry of Industry and the farmers, King Ying Zheng of Qin looked at the Crown Prince Fusu and said,"Everything is established by planning, and failure to plan leads to failure."】

【"If the Daitian method farming experiment is successful, it will indeed increase the grain production of the people."】

【"So how do you plan to promote the Daita method?"】

【Prince Fusu thought for a while, and then replied:"If the Daitian method is indeed proven to be feasible, then it can be carried out in three steps at the same time."】

【"The first step is to gather the"three elders" from the counties and villages around Xianyang, as well as experienced farmers, with Xianyang as the center."】

【"Then they were sent to Shanglin Garden in Xianyang to learn the specific farming process of Daitian Law from the children of farmers in the Ministry of Agriculture."】

【"When they see with their own eyes the increase in grain yield per acre of land cultivated using the first round of the Daitian method, they will naturally study the Daitian method of farming more seriously."】.

【"After they learned the farming method of Daitian, they were allowed to return to their respective counties and towns to teach the farming method of Daitian to the people in their respective counties and towns."】

【"Finally, through them, the Daita method was gradually promoted and spread."】

【"The second step is to select a group of children from farming families from the Ministry of Agriculture and have them go to various counties and townships. In the counties and townships, a piece of land is designated as an experimental field for the children from farming families."】

【"Then, they used the method of"daitian" to cultivate the experimental field, and when the harvest came, they harvested it in front of all the people."】

【"By then, the local people will be able to clearly see the benefits of using the Daitian method to farm."】

【"Then the farmer's son taught the local people the farming method of Daitianfa."】

【"Maybe in the first year, the local people did not dare to use it rashly."】

【"However, as long as the grain yield per mu of the farmer's experimental field is still higher than that of the land that did not use the Daitian method in the second year,"】

【"Then starting from the third year, the local people will basically learn to use the Daitian method to farm."】

【"After the local people have learned to use the Daitian method to farm and get a good harvest,"】

【"Then, we will select more people from the common people who have mastered the Daitian farming method to go to other more distant counties and prefectures to carry out Daitian farming demonstrations like the children of farmers."】

【"After that, they repeated the behavior of the farm boys."】

【"The third step was to order the governors of various local counties to work with the"three elders", old farmers, and farm children who had mastered the farming method of Daitian to promote the Daitian method."】

【"If we take these three steps at the same time, in three to five years at the shortest, five to seven years at the longest, and no more than ten years at the most, ordinary people all over the world should be able to master the use of the Daitian method to farm."】

【"This is not only true for the Daitian method. If farmers find other methods that can help increase grain yield per mu in the future, they can also promote them in this way."】

【After listening to Prince Fusu's story, King Ying Zheng of Qin pondered for a while before looking up at Prince Fusu and praising him:"This method is very good!"】

【"If the Daita method is successful in the future, it will be promoted accordingly!"】

【After approving the promotion plan of Daitianfa, King Ying Zheng of Qin asked:"What do you think should be done with the plow and the curved plow?"】

【"Was it produced by the imperial court and then directly distributed to the common people for free?"】

【"Or does the imperial court set the price and then let the common people pay for it?"】

【"Or do you have other different ideas?"】

【This time, Prince Fusu took longer to think】

【King Ying Zheng of Qin did not rush him. He looked around at the land that had been reclaimed by the Agricultural Bureau, imagining the grand scene of the harvest in the future, and waited quietly.】

【After a moment, Prince Fusu raised his head and spoke out his thoughts:"How to arrange the plow cart and the curved plow depends on the fundamental positioning of the court for the plow cart and the curved plow."】

【Hearing this, King Ying Zheng of Qin also became interested and asked,"What do you mean?"】

【Prince Fusu further explained:"If the court's fundamental positioning for the plow and the curved plow is not to make profits, but to promote the plow and the curved plow as soon as possible and further expand the amount of cultivated land in Qin, then"】

【"Then directly distributing them to the people for free would be the fastest way to promote the plow and the curved plow, and the fastest way to increase the amount of cultivated land in Qin."】

【"But there is also a problem"】

【"That is, if all the hoe carts and curved plows were borne by the imperial court and distributed to the people for free,"】

【"Even the imperial court would find it difficult to bear such a huge cost expenditure, and it might even overwhelm the imperial court."】

【"Because the number of plows and curved plows that the imperial court would distribute to the common people was not dozens, hundreds, or even thousands, but tens of thousands, or even a hundred thousand!"】

【"If the fundamental purpose of the imperial court for the plow and the curved plow was to increase the revenue of the treasury and to benefit the country, then setting a good price and then selling it to the people would be the best option."】

【"As long as the court set the selling price of the plow cart and the curved plow slightly lower than that of the plow cart and the curved plow sold by folk craftsmen,"】

【"In order to obtain the plows and curved plows that can greatly improve the efficiency of sowing and farming, most of the people in Guizhou would work hard to save money to buy them, even if they had to save money on food and clothing for the whole family."】

【"It can be said that there will be no worries about the sales of plows and curved plows in the future, so there will be no worries about the treasury income of the Qin State in the future."】

【"But this also has a problem"】

【"That is, the people of Guizhou are poor, and most of them cannot afford to buy a plow or a curved plow in a short period of time."】

【"In other words, in a short period of time, the plow and the curved plow could not be truly applied on a large scale to the farming work of the people."】

【"If the plow and the curved plow cannot be truly applied on a large scale to the farming work of the common people in a short period of time, then the amount of cultivated land in Qin will naturally not be able to increase significantly."】

【"Similarly, if the amount of arable land in Qin could not be increased significantly, then the amount of grain that Qin could harvest would not be increased significantly."】

【"Finally, the amount of military supplies and logistics for Qin could not be further increased."】

【King Ying Zheng of Qin nodded slightly, indicating that what Prince Fusu said made sense, and then asked with a smile:"Then is there no way to have the best of both worlds?"】

【"It could not only increase the revenue of the Qin treasury, but also quickly promote the application of plows and curved plows, thereby greatly increasing the amount of arable land in Qin in a short period of time."】

【Prince Fusu nodded and answered affirmatively:"Yes!"】

【"Previously, when Master Xu was teaching me the"Di Yuan" in the"Guan Zi"》、《Pastoralists》、《When I read the thoughts of Quanxiu and other works, I also read other works of Guanzi."】

【"Among them,"Guan Zi·Riding Horse Numbers" once said:"If the year is bad, drought or flood, and the people lose their foundation, then repairing palaces and terraces, those who have no dogs in front and no pigs behind are considered ordinary. Therefore, repairing palaces and terraces is not for the sake of beauty, but for the sake of peace.’"】

【"This means that if there is a severe drought or flood, the people will be displaced and unable to farm, and have no means of livelihood."】

【"Then they could start large-scale construction projects, build palaces and towers, and employ the poor people who were so poor that they couldn't even afford to raise pigs and dogs to work for a living."】

【"Therefore, the construction of palaces and terraces was not for the king to enjoy, but to implement the economic policy of state investment in construction to restore people's livelihood."】

【"I call this kind of approach work-for-relief."】

【"This means providing paid work instead of direct free disaster relief."】

【"In this way, the monarch gained palaces and terraces, and the common people also gained a chance to survive. It can be said to be a win-win disaster relief method."】

【"The core of my idea is the same as"】

【"First, after the plow and the curved plow were manufactured, the imperial court directly set prices for them and sold them to the public."】

【"Those who can afford it can choose to buy it directly, and the national treasury can also gain direct financial income from it."】

【"As for the common people who could not afford it for the time being, they could exchange the court's plows and curved plows for them by reclaiming wasteland for the court, or by building roads, digging and dredging rivers."】

【"For example, if a commoner could reclaim ten mu of wasteland for the imperial court, the imperial court would directly reward him with a plow cart."】

【"If a commoner could reclaim thirty mu of wasteland for the imperial court, the imperial court would directly reward him with a curved plow."】

【"Even when the tribute cattle from the Western Rong and Northern Di arrive, the people can exchange them for cattle."】

【"For example, if a commoner could reclaim fifty mu of wasteland for the imperial court, the imperial court would directly reward him with a calf."】

【"If a commoner could reclaim 100 mu of wasteland for the imperial court, the imperial court would directly reward him with a strong working ox."】

【"The imperial court also allowed the common people to piece together the wasteland they had reclaimed."】

【"For example, if five people from Guizhou each reclaimed only two mu of wasteland,"】

【"Then, as long as the five people agree to it, they can pool ten acres of wasteland to exchange for a plow."】

【"As for how to take turns using the plow in private, they can discuss and decide on their own."】

【"Of course, the court can also issue an official contract for it."】

【"For example, they draw lots to decide the order in which they use the plows, and who should be held responsible if any damage occurs during use."】

【"In this way, if they have a dispute, they can directly judge"】

【"In this way, when the common people could not afford to buy plows and curved plows, they could work for the court to get the plows, curved plows and oxen they needed."】

【"The imperial court could not only use this to quickly promote the use of plows, curved plows and ox-drawn plows among the common people, but also reap the benefits of the many acres of land reclaimed by the common people."】

【"In the future, the imperial court will have more land to reward meritorious soldiers, and the military merit system can be maintained for a longer period of time."】

【"I call this method a variation of work-for-relief: labor for tools, labor for livestock."】

【"Even if the court has other corvée services in the future that require the people to perform, they can also see if the Ministry of Works has invented any other tools that are convenient and beneficial to the people."】

【"Or see if the Ministry of Agriculture has discovered other grains and vegetables, and whether new livestock have been domesticated, etc."】

【"If so, then we can continue to use this paid method to make the people of Qianshou perform corvee labor."】

【"I think this paid corvée service should be replaced by unpaid corvée service, which will be easier for the common people to accept and will also cause them to have fewer complaints."】

【"Father, what do you think?"】

【After saying this, Prince Fusu looked at his father expectantly, hoping that his father would adopt his suggestion.】

【King Ying Zheng of Qin did not answer immediately, but closed his eyes and pondered the proposal of Prince Fusu,"Work in lieu of relief, labor in exchange for tools, and work in exchange for livestock.""】

【After a while, King Ying Zheng of Qin slowly opened his eyes and looked at his eldest son and crown prince Fusu, who was still staring at him with sparkling eyes.】

【King Ying Zheng of Qin could not help but smile, and he reached out and touched the head of Prince Fusu and said,"I have not thought of any drawbacks in what you said."】

【"However, this matter involves many things, and I will have to discuss it with you later."】

【"If all of you agree, then I will do as you said,"use work instead of relief, use labor for tools, use work for livestock," and promote the use of plows, curved plows, and oxen."】

【Prince Fusu straightened his messy hair, then looked at his father and said,"Father, you see, the plow and the curved plow were invented by me, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture."】

【"So, can the task of manufacturing the plow cart and the curved plow be entrusted to me and the six ministries?"】

【King Ying Zheng of Qin looked at Prince Fusu and asked,"Why do you want to be in charge of making the plow and the curved plow?"】

【Prince Fusu also said frankly:"Because I want to share my father's worries, and I also want to do something within my ability."】

【"The task of manufacturing the hoe cart and the curved plow is neither too big nor too small, and I think I can do it well."】

【"Even if it fails for a while, it will not have much impact on Qin."】

【To put it bluntly, I just want to find something to practice.】

【The task of manufacturing the plow and the curved plow was very suitable for training. It was not too troublesome, and if it was messed up, it would not have much impact on the Qin State. The Qin State and Ying Zheng could easily cover it.】

【So after thinking about it, King Ying Zheng of Qin nodded and agreed:"Okay, I will leave this matter to your six ministries."】

【"Regarding the raw materials needed to manufacture the plow and the curved plow, as well as the manpower of the craftsmen, etc., you can write a formal memorial to me later."】

【"Can you write a memorial?"】

【"If you don't know how to do it, go ask Gang Chengjun"】

【Prince Fusu nodded and said,"I can write a memorial!"】

【After all, he usually needs to review and approve the memorials from the six ministries, so writing memorials is not unfamiliar to him, let alone a difficult task.】.

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