Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 026 Primitive Capital Accumulation (I)
"Listen carefully, fellow villagers. My last name is Wei. From now on, you can call me Eunuch Wei or Old Wei."
At this time, Honghezhuang had completely changed its owner. Wei Zhongxian, who was appointed by Zhu Youdong, was now standing on a stone at the dam of Honghezhuang Village, shouting at the villagers who had gathered around him.
"We work for the young master, the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty. You all know who the Crown Prince is, right? Four years ago, white cranes flew around the beams and a blue dragon appeared in the sky above Beijing. Even if you haven't seen them, you must have heard about them. So, if you farm, work, or serve for the Crown Prince in the future, you will have accumulated virtue for eight lifetimes!"
When Lao Wei said this, the people below couldn't help but whisper: At least in this era, the Chinese people still have a lot of awe for God. The strange scene over Beijing that year could actually be vaguely seen in Honghe Village, which is not far from here. Even if they didn't see it, this kind of fairy-like thing is the most popular among the people. So, when Lao Wei said this, many people who were still a little nervous because of the new village head suddenly felt more at ease.
"By order of the Crown Prince, we are now the head of Honghe Manor. The Crown Prince is kind and has already told us that all rents for this year will be waived!"
"ah?!!"
"Long live!"
"Shut up! How can you say long live the emperor?"
"Oh! The Crown Prince is truly a benevolent ruler!"
"Of course, otherwise how could he be the reincarnation of Canglong? Prince Xin is the best!"
"Your Majesty is so kind and virtuous. We are so grateful to you."
"Yes, a good man like the prince must live a long life."
"Alright, alright, everyone, be quiet." After letting hundreds of villagers pray for their master, Wei Zhongxian spread his hands repeatedly, and with the help of the guards around him, he finally calmed down these hundreds of villagers.
"Everyone, the rent is waived this year. But the owner of Honghe Manor has changed, so the rules must be changed."
After the Li family was severely reprimanded by the Queen Mother and stopped bothering the family, the entire Honghe Manor, with 2,300 acres of land, fell firmly into Zhu Youdong's hands.
After preliminary statistics, Wei Zhongxian reported to Zhu Youdong the following figure: Of the 2,300 acres of land, more than 800 acres were prime fields along the river or very close to water sources, all of which had been developed into wheat fields.
Of the remaining 1,500 mu, about 700 mu of the land had average production, some of which were used as wheat fields, and some were used to grow cash crops such as mulberry trees. There were also more than 300 mu of land with a thin soil layer, or in corners and corners, where sorghum, millet and other grain crops and various vegetables were grown. In addition, there were more than 400 mu of land, which were small hills or small ponds. These lands were not effectively developed: the woods on the hills were where the villagers collected firewood, and the small ponds were left to cope with drought.
In addition, there is about fifty or sixty acres of land used as residential land or cemetery for villagers.
There were ninety-eight households, nearly five hundred people, who rented the farm. Only twenty-five of them had their own land, but because they did not have enough land, they had to rent the farm to make a living. The remaining seventy-three households were all pure tenants who did not own an inch of land.
Among the more than 500 people, there are only more than 200 real strong laborers.
Although Lao Wei was a scoundrel in his early years, he was born into a peasant family and was very familiar with farming. In his opinion, the land of Honghe Village was excellent. If it was managed well, it could bring Zhu Youdong at least 700 to 800 taels of silver or even nearly 1,000 taels of silver in a year.
The yield per mu in the Ming Dynasty varied greatly due to the geographical differences between the north and the south. But overall, thanks to the advancement of agricultural technology in this era and the deepening of understanding of fertility, soil fertility, and circular farming, the annual output of land near Beijing in the Ming Dynasty was about two shi.
During the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, farmers rented land from landlords and paid rent on a share basis: all output was divided according to the proportion. Generally speaking, the landlord and the farmer shared half.
As an imperial manor, Honghe Manor certainly did not have to bear any state taxes. Therefore, the half of the rent that Zhu Youdong received was pure profit. Calculated in this way, if the weather was good, Honghe Manor would give Zhu Youdong at least more than 1,000 dan of grain, various vegetables, silkworm pupae, cash, etc. every year.
Although the current Ming Dynasty is in financial difficulties, society is still stable. So the grain is not sold at a high price these days, but no matter what, two dan of grain can always be exchanged for at least one tael of silver (with the influx of silver in the Ming Dynasty, the purchasing power of silver is gradually declining. In the middle and late Wanli period, one dan of grain can be sold for about 0.5 taels of silver). That's why Old Wei said that he could earn seven or eight hundred taels of silver for the grandson every year.
Seven or eight hundred taels? Haha, after listening to Lao Wei's report, Zhu Youdong just smiled slightly, and then handed Wang Chengen a piece of paper: Lao Wei can't read, you read it to him.
"Fellow villagers, follow the order of the Crown Prince. We will not collect rent this year. Starting next year, the rent will be reduced to 40%! But..."
Without waiting for the villagers to cheer again, Old Wei quickly continued, "Starting this year, the 800 acres of land along the river will no longer be rented out!"
"Ah? Why is that?"
"Eunuch Wei, this won't do! My family depends on those ten acres of paddy fields along the river for our livelihood!"
"Yes, father-in-law, what's going on? We planted all the wheat last year. We'll be harvesting soon in the spring. It doesn't make sense to not let us rent it out now!"
"Everyone, be quiet, be quiet!" Facing the villagers' questions, Old Wei was also very unhappy: Such good land, why can't we plant it? If my family had 800 acres of paddy fields like this before, how could I have committed suicide and entered the palace? Besides, even if the prince has plans for these lands, can't he wait until the winter wheat is harvested in June or July this year? These wheats have finally survived the winter, and now they are all abandoned, what a pity!
However, Old Wei, who no longer wanted to go back to the palace to sweep the streets, had one good thing: he had recognized the crown prince as his master, so he would faithfully carry out the crown prince's orders. He would carry out what he understood, and he would also carry out what he did not understand.
"Fellow villagers, please be quiet! Who is the Crown Prince? How could he let everyone suffer and even have no food or clothing? The Crown Prince said that he would use this land for other purposes. Because time is urgent, he will not be able to wait for the harvest of wheat this season. Well, in short, the villagers who rented these 800 acres of land last year, please come to me to register later. No matter how much of the 800 acres you rented, the Crown Prince will subsidize you two taels of silver per acre!"
As mentioned above, in northern China at that time, the yield per mu was no more than two dan, worth one tael of silver. Even if this was good land along the river, its output was worth at most 1.5 taels of silver. After paying the rent, the farmer could only get 0.75 taels at most. So, when they heard Wei Zhongxian say that he would subsidize two taels of silver per mu, everyone calmed down a little.
However, the farmers of this era may have little knowledge and a narrow vision, but they are definitely not stupid. Especially when it comes to land, their brains work very quickly. Soon, some villagers reacted: this year, the silver subsidy is paid, and other lands are not rented, so life is fine. What about next year? Just lowering the rent ratio is not enough. In this village, there are many villagers who have been farming for the imperial farm for generations, and the land they rent is all in these 800 acres.
"The Crown Prince has also thought about this problem for everyone. He said that he will soon send people to build a factory here. In the future, the products produced here will be sold to the Ming Dynasty and make a lot of money. In the future, everyone will not have to farm at all, and can directly work in the factory, which will only make more money!"
