Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

Chapter 101: Was the negotiation between the Eastern Depot and the vassal king a legitimate negotiation?

Seeing the crowd's reaction, Zhu Jian continued, "I am exempting taxes for three reasons: first, to combat natural disasters; second, to stockpile goods for the people; and third, to prepare for a restructuring of the supply chain."

"Supply and demand relations?" Everyone was completely baffled by this new term.

Zhu Jian nodded slightly: "That's the idea. When the amount of silver is small and the amount of goods is large, the price will naturally go up. In other words, one tael of silver may be able to buy two taels of silver worth of goods in the next year or the year after. Conversely, if the supply and demand relationship continues to develop in this way, in the year after next, you may only be able to buy half a tael of silver worth of goods worth half a tael of silver at present."

Zhu Jian could only give them an analogy. As for the economic structure of the entire society and Capital, he couldn't explain it to those who studied the Four Books and Five Classics, nor could they understand it. The reason he explained these things was to get their support. After all, if the entire court of officials didn't support something, he, as an emperor, couldn't implement it. He couldn't expect the army to do everything, could he? What would the army look like if it were bloated? Wouldn't it be like the sun on the peninsula?

Upon hearing this, Li Banghua, Sun Chuanting, and Lu Xiangsheng nodded emphatically. They knew how much grain one tael of silver could buy ten years ago, but now it would take twice as much grain to buy the same amount, because the amount of silver remained the same while the amount of grain decreased.

"So His Majesty means to reformulate copper coins and official silver?" Li Banghua asked, then muttered to himself, "Don't we already have the Ming Dynasty silver coins?"

In his view, the silver coins of the Ming Dynasty were very useful. Previously, the losses from the melting of official silver in various counties and prefectures were all handled by the mint. Now, with the fixed melting and firing techniques for silver coins, local governments had no way to impose the losses on commercial taxes.

Zhu Jian waved his hand, saying that the issue of the silver coin loss had already been resolved and was not the most urgent matter at the moment. He then said, "With natural disasters rampant right now, many people are planting sorghum. This crop is only so-so in terms of resistance to locust plagues and droughts, and its yield is low. But there is another crop called sweet potato, which has a high yield, three times that of rice! Moreover, the fruit grows underground, making it very effective in resisting drought and locusts."

In Shanxi, Henan, Beizhili, and Shandong, sorghum is mainly grown in reclamation areas. In Huguang, Nanzhili, and parts of Jiangxi, rice is still grown. Rice is more expensive and has a higher yield than sorghum. Most importantly, these areas are less affected by disasters and can produce better quality crops.

The main reason why Zhu Jian has been planting sorghum in several provincial reclamation areas in the past two years is that sorghum is better at resisting locusts and droughts than wheat and millet, and it also has more seeds. Ordinary people have also seen this crop. Apart from the fact that the taste is not as good as wheat and millet, the stalks are also edible. So he chose sorghum. Now these people have been exempted from taxes for a year, and there are still two years left. They can start promoting sweet potatoes, a high-yield crop. Once this crop is in full bloom, the natural disaster crisis will be more than half over.

"Three times!!!" everyone exclaimed.

Zhu Jian nodded: "The governors of Fujian, Xiong Wencan, and Guangdong, Chen Wenjia, have both submitted memorials, saying that some people in the area are growing these things and the harvest is very good. They are not picky about the land and can be grown even on the mountainside. Thirty boats of old farmers who have grown vines and sweet potatoes have been transported from Fujian and Guangdong to Huguang and Nanzhili."

"I plan to begin planting in the reclamation areas of these two provinces after the harvest in July, and then plant in Shandong, Henan, and Zhili provinces next spring."

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The reclamation areas in Huguang and Southern Zhili are not large, only a few million mu of land. If we want to increase grain production, we must mobilize the local gentry to also plant some, rather than letting them continue to plant rice. The sorghum harvest time in the north is too late to plant sweet potatoes, and these seeds cannot be transported in a short time. Only with waterways in Huguang and Southern Zhili can we send a large number of vine growers and experienced farmers to spread the seeds.

After hearing this, the others nodded slightly. According to the planting season, that was true, but at present, Huguang and Nanzhili only had three million mu of land, which is 30,000 qing, far from enough to plant for disaster relief. Even if there were three times the grain production, it would not be enough.

"Currently, there are only about 30,000 qing of reclaimed land in Huguang and Southern Zhili. I wonder if Your Majesty intends to expand grain cultivation or rely on the output of these lands?" Li Banghua asked.

"Sweet potatoes don't need to be grown as grains; they can be grown simply by using vines. My intention is to plant sweet potatoes on all 30,000 hectares of land."

Then, changing the subject, he added, "Of course, the more people who plant it, the better, so we can continue to grow vines."

Sweet potato vines can yield enough to plant dozens of acres from just one acre of land, which is a lot. Guangdong Governor Chen Xinjia and Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan have already scouted the area and prepared everything. These thirty ships mainly contain personnel who have already planted the vines, several ships carrying seedlings, and the remaining supplies are being loaded onto ships in preparation for the second batch to be transported north.

"Your subject is willing to go to Huguang and Southern Zhili to oversee this matter," Li Banghua said, rising and bowing.

Having said all that, if he still couldn't understand what the emperor meant, then he was no good as a military and political minister. What he meant was that planting in the reclamation areas would definitely follow the orders of Yuan Shu, the supervisor of the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau under the Military and Political Bureau, but others wouldn't listen. Those were their own lands, and they could plant whatever they wanted. Forcibly promoting it would cause chaos, but the court couldn't afford any more trouble in the Jiangnan region.

"Summon Fan Jingwen, the Minister of Revenue, and the two of you will handle this together."

"I hereby issue an imperial edict to Zhu Dadian, the governor of Huguang; Yang Sichang, the governor of Southern Zhili; Xiong Wencan, the governor of Fujian; and Chen Xinjia, the governor of Guangdong, instructing them to assist you two in this matter."

Zhu Jian planned to use the influence of the two officials to see how many gentry would follow him. After all, these were the highest administrative officials of the two provinces. If they didn't give them face, the governor's office and the three commissioners would definitely make things difficult for them. This was the best way. These local gentry might not listen to the emperor, but they would definitely listen to the local officials. A county magistrate who ruins a family and a prefect who exterminates an entire family are not just talking about it.

"Your subject obeys the decree." Just as Li Banghua was about to get up, he was stopped by Zhu Jian.

"I will have the Eastern Depot negotiate with the eight princes—Prince Hui, Prince Rong, Prince Ji, Prince Gui, Prince Min, Prince Jingjiang, Prince Yi, and Prince Huai—to try and get all the land under their names planted with sweet potatoes. It's estimated to be about seven million mu. Adding the reclaimed land, there will be ten million mu of land in Southern Zhili, Huguang, and Jiangxi that can be used to grow sweet potatoes. The Eastern Depot will come to you after the negotiations are over," Zhu Jian said calmly.

Li Banghua was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, but quickly realized what he meant and bowed, saying, "Yes."

Sending agents from the Eastern Depot to negotiate with these princes—is that even a proper negotiation? The moment those Eastern Depot agents enter the princes' residences, wouldn't the people there be terrified...?

The princes usually only cared about collecting money and didn't care what was planted. What was planted was decided by the officials in charge of the estates. But the Eastern Depot didn't care whose estate you were in charge of. They might go to the prince's mansion and tell you that the emperor had ordered your land to be planted with sweet potatoes. If the local officials in charge disagreed, the people from the Eastern Depot would kill you.

Since Zhu Jian abolished several centuries-old feudal lords and killed three of them, the remaining feudal lords have become much more obedient and no longer submit memorials demanding land...

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