The Ming Dynasty’s Prodigal Son - Chapter 1716

[1716. Chapter 1632 The good news is that you don’t have to be beaten anymore.]

. With great ability comes great responsibility.

Very simple truth.

This is all the purpose of Xinxue, and Fang Jifan is using his life’s energy to implement it.

Emperor Hongzhi breathed a sigh of relief and felt that it made sense.

If everyone does this, they can rest easy.

But…

he still felt that it was a pity for the boy from the Xu family.

So, he glanced at Xu Yan and said regretfully: “Xu Qing’s family, Ling Sun Jiren has his own destiny, the Qing family doesn’t have to…”

“Hey…” Xu Yan just sighed, seeming to be very distressed, but he also Helpless, he said: “Your Majesty, the old minister is indeed very worried now, but… what the Duke of Qi said is not unreasonable. The old minister has been blessed by the country in his life, and his grandson Xu Pengju will be willing to serve your majesty even if he has to die ten thousand times. “Old minister, I have nothing to say.”

Emperor Hongzhi said, “It would be great if the Xu Qing family understood the righteousness. Come and give the two Qing families a seat.”

As he said this, a eunuch moved to Jindun .

, the two sat down, and Emperor Hongzhi asked about Nanjing.

Xu Yan seemed absent-minded, but he managed to calm down and said: “There are countless bankrupt landowners in the south of the Yangtze River, because it is difficult to make profits from the land… so… they are quite complaining.”

Emperor Hongzhi raised his eyebrows: “Oh “What’s the reason for this?”

Xu Yan couldn’t answer for a while.

Fang Jifan, on the other hand, said: “Your Majesty, this is a matter of reason. The Ming Dynasty has been in peace for a long time. With the natural disasters coming one after another, even if they do not cause man-made disasters, ordinary people cannot withstand the risks. Therefore… the land has to be devalued. More and more people eventually lost their land through selling, and the local gentry continued to annex land through this.”

Fang Jifan paused and continued; “Thus, those who have land can resist disasters. The stronger the ability, the more land. The poor lost their land and became refugees. Tuntian Wei once conducted a survey in Nanchang Prefecture, Jiangxi, and found that more than 40% of the local land was owned by hundreds of families, large and small. These hundreds of gentry are almost related to each other through marriage. They produce the most land and have the most surplus grain. Even if the poor have three to five acres of land, they can barely get enough for themselves. Just eat and drink, Your Majesty… In this way, wouldn’t the excess food in Nanchang Prefecture be piled up in the granaries of more than a hundred families? The people in the city want to buy food, and the hungry people want to eat, ah, no, To eat a bowl of porridge, you have to go to their rice shop to buy grain. To a certain extent, they have the final say on the price of the grain. “

Emperor Hongzhi nodded after hearing this.

Fang Jifan added: “But now, after Xishan Bank started rent-free land, the situation has improved. The price of food in this place is no longer decided by more than a hundred of their relatives. Many families get thirty to fifty acres of land, and they are free of rent and do not have to hand over grain to the gentry. Therefore, they will have more surplus grain in their hands. One household does not have much surplus grain, but if thousands of households have surplus grain, then… even that Hundreds of families want to unite to determine the price of food, but it is not that easy. After all, there are fewer people in need of food, because they can farm on rent-free land. There are countless people selling grain. “

Emperor Hongzhi said with emotion: “The money bank is free of rent, which is really good governance. This is the cornerstone of the Ming Dynasty.”

Fang Jifan added, “In addition, because people can rent their land free of charge. Even if some people are not qualified enough to apply for rent exemption, the situation faced by the gentry is that they have a lot of land, but the number of tenant farmers they can recruit is greatly reduced. They cannot let their land go barren and not cultivate it. . Therefore, in order to attract bankers, we have to use low rent. The original rent was as high as 70% to 80%, but now it is only 20% to 30%, which is not easy. “It’s natural that their income will decrease

.

To a certain extent, with the large-scale increase in production in recent years, the higher the land production, the more food will be surplus, and everyone will have food to eat, which is exactly right.” Their damage was huge. Only when a famine occurred and grain production was reduced, they took advantage of the crisis and sold grain at high prices, and at the same time, purchased land at ridiculously low prices. “

It’s not surprising that they are complaining now.”

“After all… regardless of their moral character, from their standpoint, it would be weird for the emperors of all dynasties. He only wanted to be the king and father of these more than a hundred families, supporting them in everything and ruling the world with them. Therefore, he also received their praise, but as for the thousands of ordinary people, they were ignored. , no one cares about their life and death, and this is what I admire most about your majesty. Compared with the so-called holy kings in the past dynasties, except for Emperor Taizu, your majesty is the only one who truly cares about the welfare of all people in the world. Your Majesty has become the father of thousands of people.”

Emperor Hongzhi felt that Fang Jifan was flattering him, but there seemed to be no evidence because what Fang Jifan said clearly made sense.

Emperor Hongzhi said: “Since this is something that has never happened before, and this is my first time, I am thinking about how people in the world will treat me now, or thousands of years from now. I don’t believe in ghosts and gods. I feel that if I die, I will not be able to enjoy the incense of future generations. This is more of a memory for future generations…”

Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and sighed: “But I know, If I think it is the right thing to do, then just keep doing it. In the past, I had the ambition to govern the world, but I could not realize this. Now that I have realized this, I have no choice but to fight through the thorns, right and wrong, and it is useless to think about it. “

Emperor Hongzhi immediately told Xu Di: “Jiangnan is an important area for grain production, and it is of great importance. Moreover, there are many families living there, which is of great importance. The Qing family must pay special attention to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

Xu Di said: ” The old minister obeys the order.”

Emperor Hongzhi said: “There is no need to blame Fang Jifan for what happened to Lingsun. He was also thinking about the country. If it is true that Xu Pengju suffered an accident, I will apologize to you on his behalf.”

Xu Di immediately said: ” How dare I…Your Majesty…Old minister…”

Emperor Hongzhi was a little tired, and Fang Jifan had just stayed here for a long time, talking here and there, but refused to leave, so he ordered Fang Jifan and the others to leave.

Fang Jifan said: “My son, I still want to…”

Emperor Hongzhi said tiredly: “I want to go to bed and have a rest. Do you want to go to bed with me?”

These words… the meaning of disgust is very obvious.

Fang Jifan: “…”

So Fang Jifan had no choice but to resign angrily.

After he left the palace, Wei Guogong and Ding Guogong chased him quickly from left to right.

Xu Yan shouted: “Where are you going, Duke of Qi?”

Fang Jifan saw that although the two old Dukes were old, their physical strength was not bad. Come to think of it… they were still good at bow and horse. He sadly found that although he was young, Maybe he couldn’t outrun them, so he immediately showed a submissive look, squeezed out a sincere smile on his face, and said obediently: “How do you do, two uncles?”

At this time, you must smile and show some of your teeth. Simple and childish.

Xu Yan snorted coldly: “I’ve heard about your bad reputation for a long time. I’m a bad person and entrusted my grandson to you. Come here…”

Fang Jifan looked innocent and shook his head: “What are you doing? “

Xu Er said seriously: “I have something important to tell you! “

It’s important…

Fang Jifan saw that Xu Er looked very serious, as if he was very serious, and he murmured in his heart, this is not a trick on me, right? Are you a villain?

He hesitated for a moment, but still stepped forward: “I wonder if Uncle Shi has anything to ask for advice.”

“Someone wants to rebel!” Xu Er said seriously.

Fang Jifan thought for a while, and countless suspicious individuals flashed through his mind, and he subconsciously said: “Your Highness the Crown Prince?”

Xu Yan and Xu Yongning: “…”

(End of this chapter)