I

  Chapter 786 783 [I don’t know where Wolf Juxu is]

  With the exception of Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Liaoning, due to the vast land and sparse population there was no investigation, and the rest of the provinces have all started large-scale land clearing operations.

  If a dynasty reaches the middle stage, Qingtian will become as difficult as ever.

  But in the early days of the dynasty, it was actually relatively easy to check the acres and clear the population. As long as the relevant policies are reasonable, the grassroots will be willing to cooperate, and officials and gentry will not dare to challenge the authority of the emperor.

  From the founding of the Ming Dynasty by Zhu Yuanzhang until the tenth year of Yongle, the fields and population of the Ming Dynasty were surveyed every ten years (population statistics were carried out every year, but a large-scale inventory was carried out every ten years).

  According to the statistics of "Ming Shilu", it can be seen that the population of Ming Dynasty has increased year by year, reaching 66 million and 65 million in the first year of Yongle and 10 years of Yongle respectively. After that, it went down all the way, always hovering around 50 million people. Zhu Di estimated that he was busy with the northern expedition to the grasslands, and his control over the local area declined significantly. Every time the population was checked, the officials were fooling.

  Until the Chenghua period, Zhu Jianshen, the faint king who favored the concubine Wan Gui, ascended the throne. Facing the mess of millions of refugees, the population of the Ming Dynasty skyrocketed to 60 million. By the fifteenth year of Chenghua, the population of Ming Dynasty had climbed to a peak of 71 million.

   Then, a generation of Mingjun, the lord of Zhongxing, and Emperor Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty succeeded to the throne, and the population dropped to 50 million in an instant.

   It is also very interesting to compare with the number of acres.

  In the twenty-four years of Hongwu, the country's cultivated land was more than 370 million mu. In the 25th year of Hongwu, the inventory of farmland was completed, and the country's cultivated land soared to 880 million mu—this was not the beginning, but the peak of the entire Ming Dynasty.

   During the period of Emperor Hongzhi, the amount of arable land in the country was directly halved from that of Zhu Yuanzhang.

  As the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang really did whatever he wanted. Let’s talk about checking the number of acres of land and making yellow books. In one year, the amount of cultivated land in the country has doubled, from 370 million mu to 880 million mu.

   Zhao Han was also the founding emperor, and he also wanted to do whatever he wanted.

   After an imperial decree went down, officials all over the country got busy. The province sent commissioners to the government to supervise, and the government sent commissioners to the prefectures and counties to supervise. Often the county yamen and household departments are short-staffed, and officials have to be seconded from other departments, and village and town cadres and peasant associations are also functioning.

  A large number of cases of violence or covert occupation of civilian land were exposed during the process of clearing land.

  With the support of the emperor, if local officials dare to hide it, there will always be farmers who go to report anonymously. Low-level peasants, every household has children who read books. Many anonymous report letters are written by elementary school students.

  More and more officials have been sacked, and more and more gentry and tyrants have been arrested, and then they are waiting to be collectively moved to the Heilongjiang capital.

  The capital city of Heilongjiang is too remote, and normal immigrants are unwilling to go there. Isn’t there enough immigrants now?

Guo Shunyu, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, summarized the situation in the two provinces around the capital, and reported to the emperor: "Your Majesty, most of the land invasion cases in Anhui and Jiangsu provinces took advantage of immigration. The imperial court organizes immigration every year. The original land Redistribution. Immigrants can designate an acre of land and donate it to relatives who stay in their original place. The rest of the land will be distributed by the government to the newly grown people nearby. This kind of distribution is done by local officials and gentry tyrants! Occupy people's land Most of them are not low-ranking officials or wealthy businessmen, but small officials in the county government and prominent families in the countryside."

   "What do you want to say?" Zhao Han asked.

Guo Shunyu said: "The four provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, and Liaoning have continuously immigrated nearly one million people. The imperial court's immigration plan can no longer be implemented, and it is better to wait for these provinces to reproduce naturally. The more immigrants to the north, the more land in the south. The more chaotic, and the court has spent countless money and food. Since the recovery of the north, the court has not fought much, but there is not much money and food left in the treasury, all of which are thrown into the immigrants. The transportation along the way, the resettlement of the refugees, the gift Cattle, seeds, clothing, subsidies... money is needed everywhere, food is needed everywhere.”

  Zhao Han said with a smile: "The treasury is now the head of the Ministry of Finance. It has nothing to do with your household department. What are you worried about when the treasury is empty?"

Guo Shunyu cried and said: "But the immigration is managed by the household department. From the central household department to the county government household department, the officials are all exhausted. One person is used as several people. The money and food needed for immigration need to be contacted with each government office. From application, review to approval, the whole day is extremely busy. Immigrants from their original places to new ones are all under the supervision of the household registration department. If there is a slight mistake, they will be suspended at every turn. There are finance and bank officials watching over them, and from time to time To cope with the review of money and food, we must also cooperate with the supervision of the Inspectorate.”

   This is to complain, the officials in charge of immigration are really tired. Moreover, immigrants’ money and food are supervised layer by layer, so there will be no problems if they are greedy for small things, but they will be easily exposed if they are a little bit greedy.

  Zhao Han said: "Delay the immigration."

  Guo Shunyu subconsciously wanted to continue persuading him, but suddenly realized something was wrong. Why did the emperor agree so easily?

   Zhao Han said: "There is going to be a big battle, and there is no money and food to emigrate."

  The finances in recent years have been very strange. The revenue of the treasury has continued to increase, but it has always been unable to save much food.

  First, the wages of officials have been increased, second, education expenditures have continued to increase, third, the proportion of local retained taxes has been increased, and fourth, immigration costs have continued to soar.

  In the past, when I immigrated to Shandong and Henan, the enthusiasm of the common people was very high, and many people signed up enthusiastically, and the cost of immigration was not very high. But when the destination is changed to the north, the common people are not so enthusiastic. The more remote and bitterly cold the place is, the more the treatment of immigrants must be improved, and the cost of each immigrant is rolling up.

Zhao Han continued: "After this war, there will be no more large-scale immigration. But small-scale immigration will not stop. Many places in the Mongolian territory north of Hebei and Liaoning are suitable for farming. A group of Han people must be migrated every year. In the past, this was the only way to consolidate the frontier."

   "Your Majesty is holy!"

  Guo Shunyu quickly flattered, as long as there is no large-scale immigration.

  Officials complain, but they all know that immigration work is a must. Just like in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, many places were destroyed, Zhu Yuanzhang also carried out immigration resettlement that lasted for many years.

  For example, Hongdong County in Shanxi was the northern immigration transfer station in the early Ming Dynasty.

  At that time, immigrants from all over the country were sent to Hongdong for registration under the big locust tree, and the final resettlement location was determined before being transferred away. Hundreds of years later in the modern society, it has become a sacred place for hundreds of millions of people to seek their roots. They all say that their ancestral home is in the big pagoda tree in Hongdong.

  Ask where are my ancestors? Big locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi. What is the name of the ancestor's former residence? The old raven's nest under the big locust tree.

  The emigration of the pagoda tree in the Ming Dynasty lasted for fifty years, even after Zhu Yuanzhang died! Due to the limited finances in the early Ming Dynasty and the busy fighting, large-scale immigration could not be carried out in a short period of time, and it could only be carried out on a small scale for decades.

  In this time and space, it is estimated that another collective memory will appear.

  Immigrants going to the north, except for Liaoning by sea boat, all the rest will be collected and distributed in Xuzhou. Xuzhou will become the dream hometown of countless people.

  …

   "Drive!"

  Nanjing Eastern Suburb, Royal Racecourse.

   This period of time is the opening day, and many people come to play. Even if you don't have the money to rent a horse to ride, you can still buy tickets to watch the game, and there is even a phenomenon of gambling.

  Whether it is horse racing or polo, there are people who set up bets in private.

  Of course, the scale of the gambling game is not large, so it can only be done quietly. After all, the imperial court has always banned gambling.

"come on! Come on!"

   "Flash the whip!"

  More than 2,000 spectators shouted wildly, and more than a dozen horses were galloping on the track.

  About the source of "refueling", some say it comes from Liu Bowen, some say it comes from Liu Yong, some say it comes from Zhang Zhidong's father, and some say it comes from the name of the oil press. But in this time and space, Nanjing people shouted "Come on", it must have come from Emperor Zhao in the Forbidden City.

  Zhao Han was watching polo one day, and when he got excited, he suddenly shouted "Come on", and the word gradually spread.

  At this moment, Fei Ruhe was watching the horse race with the crown prince.

  After this guy returned to Beijing, he played around and had fun, but in the end he still felt that the racecourse was what he wanted. Not only did he come by himself, but he also took the prince out on a trip. Zhao Han did not stop him from doing so. It is a good thing that the prince got to know his uncle well.

"Ugh!"

   Zhao Kuanghuan watched the winning horse cross the line, and suddenly sat down depressed. The horse he fostered here only ran third.

  Fei Ruhe said: "Prince, I have a horse, quite a steed, and I keep it in Datong. When the grassland is pacified, I will bring it back and give it to the prince."

  Zhao Kuanghuan said: "My uncle is going to fight in the battlefield, of course he needs a good horse. I just ride a horse for fun, and a few good horses are enough."

   "You are young and mature, as you...follow Your Majesty." Fei Ruhe laughed.

  After hanging out several times in a row, Zhao Kuanghuan and Fei Ruhe had become acquainted, and asked, "Uncle, are the Mongol Tartars really that cruel?"

Fei Ruhe complained: "You are so cruel, I have been suffocated to death these past few years. The Manchurian Tartars in Monan Mongolia have long since broken their bones, and they can sweep away all ministries with tens of thousands of people. But His Majesty ordered not to Zhun went north without authorization, saying that money and food would be used for immigration, and after the population and food in the northern provinces were sufficient, they would collect food from the north to go to war."

   "Isn't that right?" Zhao Kuanghuan asked.

"Yes, yes, but it's too late," Fei Ruhe said, "I understand what your majesty thinks. If the north is dying, you have to transport food from the south to fight the grasslands. It's easy to fight, but you have to immigrate and garrison troops on the grasslands. Supply lines It drags longer and consumes more food and grass. At most, it can reach Jining (Ulanchabu). After His Majesty emigrates and enriches the north, the food and grass will be abundant and the supply line will be shortened. Not only can it reach Jining, but also You can mobilize the army to conquer Mobei."

  Zhao Kuanghuan asked again: "What's Mobei like? Has uncle been there?"

Fei Ruhe explained: "I've never been to Mobei, but I worked in the caravan and found out a lot of news about Mobei. After crossing the Yin Mountain, the Gobi Desert is everywhere in the north. Without a guide, you will get lost in the desert. After crossing the Gobi Desert, you will find the grasslands of Mobei Mongolia. If you want to fight Mobei, you must have a lot of rations, such a long journey, and there are deserts everywhere, and if you don’t pay attention, you will starve to death without food."

   "Will Uncle seal the wolf from now on?" Zhao Kuanghuan asked excitedly.

"Sealing Langjuxu, I will definitely do it. This is the agreement with His Majesty at the beginning," Fei Ruhe became depressed as he spoke, "Unfortunately, I don't know where Langjuxu Mountain is. The Mongols have never heard of the wolf Juxu."

  Zhao Kuanghuan was speechless for a moment. He wanted to seal the general who lived in the wolf, but he didn't know the specific address.

  Fei Ruhe said again: "Le Shi Yanran's Yanran Mountain, I have already found out that it is on the territory of Khalkha Mongolia! So, regardless of the wolf's residence, Le Shi Yanran is also good."

  (end of this chapter)