Chapter 223: People who have no long-term worries must have immediate worries

Compared with the decayed army of the middle and late Ming dynasties, today's Ming army can be regarded as a powerful army in the world. In addition to the frontier soldiers guarding important frontier towns, the rest are heavily stationed in southern Beijing and have thousands of guard posts in various places.

Although there are a large number of people, they belong to military households and usually work in the fields and farm during war. Their combat power is naturally inferior. There are 547 guard posts in the world. If we calculate them as 5,000 people per guard, the Ming army can

The number reaches nearly three million, and the number of real elite soldiers among these three million is quite considerable.

Take Shandong as an example. There are twenty or thirty guard posts under the command of the capital, but there are only two guard posts in Qingzhou Prefecture. The focus is on Dengzhou and Laizhou, precisely to guard against Japanese pirates. Nowadays, although the Ming Dynasty is strong,

However, Japanese pirates along the coast still often invade and cause trouble. In addition to Zhejiang and Fujian, the several Japanese guard posts in Shandong can be considered elite. As for other military households, they are also fully equipped with weapons and usually go into battle during military garrison wars. But in the event of a war,

There are still opportunities for promotion based on merit.

However, Zhang Fu, who has been in the capital for a long time and rarely goes out, still looks down upon the soldiers sent to him by the Shandong Dusi. This time he was under imperial orders but not an imperial envoy. Naturally, he couldn't carry the numbers with him like Zhang Qian did last time.

The elite of the Baijing Guards walked through the market with swagger. Although he knew that the King of Han's Tiance Guards would be difficult to deal with, he was determined during this trip - with the current Emperor of Horses here, the King of Han would not dare to make any counterattack no matter how courageous he was.

, this reduction of the guards is not the reduction of the king's title, and it may be reduced today and increased tomorrow.

Based on the old friendship between his brother Zhang Fu and the King of Han, wouldn't he be able to catch him with his little plan?

Even if there is no land reclamation, spring is originally the season for farmers to work hard. Although wheat is growing well in more than half of the fields now, other crops must be planted in the remaining fields. Starting from February, it is the spring for sowing peas.

Garlic, etc., and then cotton and sorghum in March. Even the small plots of land with less than an acre are planted with vegetables and fruits, and some people even planted castor beans. So we set out from Qingzhou. There were many places along the way.

They are farmers who face the loess and turn their backs to the sky.

Because he started late and sold several farmsteads at low prices, Zhang Fu's three farmlands near Beijing were given to him by his eldest brother Zhang Fuyun. On weekdays, this was not enough for him to eat and drink, so he found that there was a lot of mature farmland in Qingzhou Prefecture.

There was also a large area of ​​wasteland that was uncultivated, so he became a little concerned and had to ask Gao Ming, the commander who escorted him, about the price of the land.

"Master Zhang, if you want to buy land, it is not easy to buy land in Qingzhou Prefecture." Gao Ming is seven feet tall. He is the commander who inherited his father's business. He can be regarded as a native of Shandong. "We are from Diguang.

No one is willing to sell the cultivated land, and no one wants the newly reclaimed wasteland. As for those large tracts of wasteland, they can be given to you for free! Take the current farmland as an example, the manpower recruited is extremely limited. I heard that

The Chief Secretary and the Dusi Yamen are discussing to report to the imperial court. If they can recruit a hundred people to work in the fields, they will be granted to a hundred households, and if they can recruit a thousand people, they will be granted to a thousand households. In this way, a lot of people can come from the Shanxi area."

Tens of thousands of households in Beijing have moved back and forth, so they are now worried about not having enough and not having too much, so Zhang Fu never expected that this would be the case in Shandong. Since his hope of buying real estate to cover expenses has failed, he is somewhat interested.

Lanshan - He now has the title of Second Grade, but in fact he is only a Fourth Grade. After the lumi is converted into silver every month, he only has twenty-four taels of silver. Fortunately, when the family was separated, his eldest brother gave him a lot more.

Moreover, he can also put some money secretly, and there are several families in the family who run some industries. Otherwise, if he relies on these salaries to live, then the whole family will really suffer from the northwest wind.

"Master Zhang, that person on the edge of the field over there seems to be Mr. Zhang?"

When Zhang Fu heard this, he immediately clamped his horse's belly and stopped. He looked closely and saw that the young man wearing a green robe on the field ridge over there and talking to a few farmers was not Zhang Yue. He saw him and a few farmers.

He was making gestures to say what he was saying, and then thinking about what he said to his face that day when he actually confronted him, he suddenly felt angry, snorted angrily, and rode away.

"A fellow acquaintance actually associates with these idiots, and the Zhang family has been completely disgraced by him!"

Zhang Yue, who was questioning an old farmer, heard the sound of horse hooves on the official road and immediately turned his head to take a look. However, he only saw more than a hundred people whizzing away. Dust was rising all over the sky. He did not see Zhang Fu.

, but thinking about it carefully. At this time, the most likely person to lead so many people through this official road towards Le'an County is Zhang Fu. He frowned slightly, and said something to the old farmer with a smile.

In other words, because I walked forward along the field ridge again.

"Sir, although this reclamation of wasteland and farming is a good policy implemented by the Chief Secretary, why do you have to come down in person every time?"

Hearing the voice behind him, Zhang Yue said without looking back: "Fang Qing, there are hundreds of people in your Fang family. Some of them are older than you, and some of them are more senior than you. Since you have been elected as the clan leader, I must

It's not because you are a scholar, but because I believe you have real talent and knowledge and can bring the family out of trouble. Since you are like this, I am naturally the same. I am young, and I am not convinced in front of others, so instead of handling official business in the yamen,

If others are not feeling well, why not come down and personally deploy these people who may not be willing to do the work? Although the officials have the final say on the performance of the government, the people have the final say on the official reputation. Besides, there is Magistrate Ling and other officials in the yamen.

One more of me is not more, one less of me is not less.”

Fang Qing, who is in his early thirties, is only one head taller than Zhang Yue. He is wearing a green silk shirt, and the white-soled black cloth shoes under his feet have been ruined by the mud on the field ridge. He walks with one foot higher than Zhang Yue.

Low. He was described as quite embarrassed when he heard what Zhang Yue said and couldn't help but smile bitterly. He thought that this young and successful young master had a clear mind. Although he had a profound background, if he blindly overestimated his ability and competed for power with the prefect and other subordinate officials,

It’s hard to tell who will suffer at that time.

"The students heard that your Majesty's salt affairs regulations caused a great uproar in Beijing. After asking people to inquire about it, they found out that your Majesty is actually such a generous person. It is not limited to a temporary place, but has a long-term vision."

"That was the idea of ​​Magistrate Ling and I, and it's not a big deal." Zhang Yue sighed in his heart, thinking that the salt and iron industry has always been a state monopoly, and it will be almost inevitable in future generations. His experience in this matter

In fact, it is limited. Fortunately, he has a teacher who is not afraid of students taking credit. "Nowadays, there are very few people who have accepted the law. This is because the construction of Beijing City and several expeditions from north to south consumed a lot of food. The salt farm households have fled because there is no profit."

The output is low. One thing is going down and the other is going up, and naturally there will be no salt to support.”

"That's why you have come up with several good strategies." Fang Qing naturally would not let go of this best opportunity to flatter him, because he kept saying, "First, after a merchant pays grain and withdraws cash from the warehouse in the border town, if he is unable to pay it that year,

Salt can be paid to the court in exchange for banknotes, or transferred and sold to other merchants; secondly, the court still gives the Zaohu households ten shi per year of rice as usual, and no longer uses banknotes to deduct it; thirdly, the remaining salt from the Zaohu households is priced at a fixed price.

Acquire warehouses for later use. Fourth..."

"Okay, okay, do I still remember what I wrote?"

Zhang Yue smiled and waved his hand, thinking that the first and second clauses were the most critical. If the imperial court recovered the warehouse money, there would not be too many merchants guarding it, and it would not be possible thirty or fifty years later.

The ground salt had to be sold to the merchants at a low price, but the merchants were not happy yet. Stove households had a labor cost of ten kilograms a year, so they always had something to look forward to after a busy year. If they could survive, they would naturally not run away, and their output would increase.

.When merchants open Zhongnaliang, they include a certain amount of rice and grain into the salt farm, and the cost of the work is also guaranteed. As for the rest, they can only do it slowly.

"There are many merchants in the world who are guarding the branch. My suggestions may be beneficial to the future, but you are the only one who can help right now. With the imperial edict, Le'an and Shouguang Salt Fields both transported nearly 200,000 kilograms of salt to the Capital Transport Bureau.

Although the price is only 500 yuan, it can at least temporarily alleviate your collapse, otherwise you will not be able to produce so many cattle this time."

Hearing what Zhang Yue said, Fang Qing quickly became humble. The Fang family has a great business. Even if it was said to be a disaster before, it could actually last for a few years, but it has to be considered for the future. This time, after reaping the benefits, it can last for a few years.

He was ripped off hard, but he was happy in his heart. From the way Zhang Yue talked to the people in the fields, he vaguely felt that this young colleague seemed to be wary of something, so he spared no effort.

The land was pushing for farming and reclamation. But he couldn't figure it out after much thought, and he couldn't ask too many questions.

Zhang Yue was also thinking about something at this time. Everyone said that Jin Yiwei was famous for being ferocious and omnipotent, but he didn't expect that Jin Yiwei also had people he couldn't find. Although the group of White Lotus followers under the guise of Buddha Mother had been targeted by Jin Yiwei for a long time.

, and arrested a few people, but those who were arrested were all minor characters, and they frightened the snake because of this. Even though the woman he met in Wangjiazhuang that time was probably Tang Sai'er, now she is not

The place could not be found, but he only knew that she once practiced medicine in the name of a lay practitioner at Fuqing Temple in Anqiu. Unfortunately, when he visited Fuqing Temple, she was no longer there.

They spent the morning checking around, and had a simple lunch at a private house. In the afternoon, a new batch of cattle and seeds also arrived, so Zhang Yue stayed for a while longer. He and Fang Qing finalized a few more important things.

After agreeing to let the Fang family's embroidery shop sell some pieces of embroidery work on consignment, he suddenly thought of another way and asked if there were any maritime merchants in Denglai, Shandong, and how the going out to sea was going.

"Sir, although the imperial court has repeatedly sent lieutenants to the West, the maritime ban has always been in place." Although there are people in the Fang family who take care of industry and business, they are mainly local landowners. If Fang Qing had not always been extremely keen on amassing wealth,

I really can't answer this question about maritime trade. "Because there are often Japanese pirates in Fujian, Zhejiang and other places, heavy troops have always been stationed along the coast. The same is true in Denglai. Although a few people use sea boats to go to sea quietly, but they are caught by the government."

The word "dead". Except for the shipping companies in Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang, which can trade with overseas countries, there are no other maritime merchants. They are all small and sneaky. "

"I see."

Zhang Yue also thought that since Zheng He's voyages to the West in the Yongle era, maritime trade must have been extremely prosperous, but he did not expect that officials were dismissed and the people were banned. No wonder there was a complete sea ban after Renxuan, even Zheng He and others

The nautical charts were sealed tightly, and the Ming Dynasty treasure ships became history. However, maritime smuggling was extremely rampant. It seemed that even if he wanted to send ships to sea, it would be a dream.
Chapter completed!