I

Yongyang Town, General Military Mansion.

Fei Chun hurriedly walked in and threw his hat on the table: "Another group of refugees have returned, clamoring to divide the land."

"This is a good thing," Zhao Han said happily. "The fighting was so fierce before that the people were scared away by the officers and soldiers. Even though we have half a county, there are less than 50,000 people in Dingkou. We need to call back more." A few will do.”

"Food, there's not enough food!"

Fei Chun's job was to supervise money and grain. He said depressedly: "After the Xiao family donated their land, many landlords followed suit. Their land was divided, but their money and grain were not confiscated. The homeless people who followed from Fucheng, The refugees who came back from Anfu and Taihe have no food in their hands, and they even have to borrow seeds from the government. The local tenants don’t have much food in stock either, and the lean season is about to begin!”

The more Fei Chun talked, the more anxious he became: "You still have to run so many schools and provide lunch for school children. In addition to Wuxing Town, the mayors and household department heads of each town came to me to ask for food. I arrived Where can I turn it into food?"

"Haha," Zhao Han stood up and poured tea for Fei Chun, and comforted him with a smile, "Don't be impatient, and don't be impatient."

Fei Chun took a sip of hot tea, moistened his throat and said, "The school has to stop. Even if it is really necessary, we have to wait until the summer grain collection is done."

"Everything can be stopped, but the school cannot be stopped." Zhao Han said.

It really doesn’t take much money and food to run a school. It only caters to children aged 7 to 12, and it can barely count as four years of compulsory education.

Today, there are only more than 40,000 people (over 12 years old) under Zhao Han's rule, and there are only more than 3,000 school-age children aged 7-12 years old. How much can you eat for lunch every day? Only 200 stones were consumed in a month.

Moreover, the teaching content is mainly about literacy, and the requirements for teachers are also very low. It is nothing more than popularizing elementary education on a large scale.

Four or five teachers can teach a town.

I didn't consume much pen and ink in books. I used chalk soil as chalk and wrote on black boards to teach. Students who have money can bring their own pens and ink, and even study at home, and they don't look down on public schools at all. In families without money, parents use hair to make brushes, and students dip their hands in water to practice calligraphy on wooden boards.

As long as you are determined, there are always more solutions than difficulties!

The real food consumption was caused by a large number of refugees, vagrants and tenants, who had to rely on Zhao Han to borrow food to survive.

Fei Chun warmed his hands while holding the tea cup, and gradually calmed down. He said, "There is another way, and that is to requisition grain from the landlords!"

Zhao Han asked: "How long can our food reserves last?"

"I was very optimistic before and thought I could hold on until the summer grain harvest," Fei Chun said. "But more and more refugees are returning to their hometowns. If this trend continues, there will be a food shortage in March, and we can hold on until April at most."

Zhao Han thought carefully for a moment and said, "Then borrow food from the landlord."

"Borrow food? Just requisition it directly!" Fei Chun is responsible for supervising the money and food. He doesn't want to have food back to the landlord in the future.

"Listen to me," Zhao Han said with a serious expression, "Since these landowners are obedient and hand over their land honestly, we can't break our promises. Only by spitting a nail and saying what we say will be done, will these landowners be stable and safe." There will be no worries about the future being in jeopardy.”

Fei Chun asked: "Do you really want to borrow food?"

Zhao Han nodded and said, "Call Mr. Pang and the others another day, and let's set up a grain store."

"What is a grain store?" Fei Chun asked confused.

Zhao Han explained: "We build warehouses and store grain. Anyone can store grain in it and pay interest to them on a monthly basis. Farmers who borrow grain also have to pay interest. But the interest must be low, and no usury is allowed!"

Fei Chun tried to understand: "For example, I am a landlord. If I store grain in a grain store, I can withdraw it in a few months, and can I still get interest from the grain store?"

"Yes, that's it." Zhao Han said.

"Oh, my brother," Fei Chun's head suddenly hurt. "Storing grain is expensive. Rats will come to eat it, rice bugs will come to eat it, and it may get damp and moldy. Do you still get interest for storing grain? I don't charge storage fees. It’s all about giving face! This is a loss-making business!”

Zhao Han smiled and said: "Now we are saving and borrowing food. In the future, we can save and borrow money."

"Qianzhuang?" Fei Chun's eyes lit up.

Zhao Han nodded: "You can also call the bank."

Ming Dynasty banks originated from the Zhengtong period and were mainly engaged in the exchange of silver, official money, and private money.

During the Jiajing period, private money was rampant, the imperial court banned the copper money exchange business, and banks across the country went bankrupt on a large scale.

In the early years of Wanli, banks were allowed to exist again. In fact, the banks all over the country actually became the terminal for issuing official money - the imperial court minted copper coins, and the banks used the silver to buy money, helping the court issue new money to the market.

By the Chongzhen period, banks had become very similar to later banks.

Large banks have begun to provide foreign exchange services, and money orders even have the function of credit circulation (similar to checks).

In the vast rural areas, there are countless money exchange shops or money and rice shops, where silver, copper coins, and grain can be effectively exchanged.

Zhao Han said: "Qian Mipu cannot be in the hands of the landlords. We must take the opportunity to take it."

"We're short of manpower!" Fei Chun cried bitterly.

This is a technical job. Silver and copper coins all have good and bad quality, so it must be checked by a senior master.

Zhao Han said with a smile: "So open a grain bank first, and then run a bank when it gets bigger. You take people and go from house to house to borrow grain. Write down clearly how much grain you borrow, issue notes to these landowners, and promise that after the summer grain harvest, you can The capital will be returned with interest. From now on, farmers will always borrow grain from grain banks. There are two urgent tasks, one is to survive the grain shortage, and the other is to establish credit."

Fei Chun suddenly felt dizzy and wanted to return to Qianshan immediately and become a slave of the Fei family.

He doesn't have many literate people under his command, and there's also a serious shortage of warehouses to store grain. Why the hell do he have to go to the landlord to borrow grain?

"Headquarters, Mr. Li wants to see you!"

"Please!"

Zhao Han was suddenly overjoyed. He had communicated with Pang Chunlai and knew what a great talent Li Banghua was.

After going out in person to welcome Li Banghua in, Zhao Han poured tea for the old gentleman and asked, "Mr. Meng An, are you homesick?"

Li Banghua was too lazy to beat around the bush and asked directly, "When do you plan to attack the state capital?"

"Within two or three years." Zhao Han said.

Li Banghua asked again: "After occupying Jiangxi, which province are you planning to attack?"

Zhao Han replied: "Fujian and Guangdong."

"Aren't you going to fight in Nanjing?" Li Banghua's expression was a little playful.

Zhao Han said with a smile: "Why should I attack Nanjing? Even if I can defeat it, I will become the number one rebel in the world."

Li Banghua said: "If you could monopolize Jiangxi, you would have become the number one rebel in the world."

"It's different," Zhao Han argued. "As long as I don't attack Nanjing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, or even Huguang, the imperial court's primary target will definitely be the bandits in the northwest. If Emperor Chongzhen dares to mobilize a large army to conquer If Jiangxi cannot be defeated within half a year, the bandits and Tatars will be able to break through the capital!"

Li Banghua strongly agrees with this statement.

Jiangxi is too far from Beijing, and the rogue bandits and Tatars are too close. As long as Chongzhen is still clear-headed, he must put Jiangxi aside first.

Li Banghua asked again: "What about after occupying Fujian and Guangdong?"

Zhao Han replied: "Consolidate the territory of the three provinces, open sea trade, and practice firearms. If you have time, take over Guangxi as well."

Li Banghua suddenly stood up and walked around the room, seeming to be thinking about something and struggling with something.

After pacing back and forth for a long time, Li Banghua asked: "Do you think the imperial court can wipe out the bandits?"

Zhao Han replied: "The rogues are like leeks, they grow one after another. Shanxi and Shaanxi have been hit by disasters for several years, and the court continues to collect taxes. How can the farmers survive? Unless all the farmers in the two provinces are killed, Otherwise, the rogue bandits will never be wiped out."

In fact, some situations in the north are more serious than Zhao Han imagined!

Even before Chongzhen ascended the throne, the north was already in ruins.

In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Wu Yingji recorded his experiences. The general content is as follows -

After leaving Zhenyang County in Henan Province, I walked continuously for forty miles. Along the way, all the acres of land were abandoned and the fields were full of weeds.

Wu Yingji asked the coachman: "How much land in this county has been abandoned like this?"

The coachman replied: "Nine times out of ten. The area in Xixian County is much better. Only 40 to 50% of the land is abandoned."

When they arrived at the post station, Wu Yingji asked the postman again: "Why don't the people in this county cultivate land?"

The postman replied: "There are many horse households in this county, and the horse administration and corvee are strict. Those who serve can't afford it, so they have to flee to other places. The people are gone, but the taxes and servitude are still there, and the government implements the law of continuous sitting. One household can hold ten households in a row, and the neighbors can sit in a row. It's over, and relatives are still sitting together. The rich pay money to serve, while the poor have no choice but to run away, and the whole county has almost escaped."

Wu Yingji felt very strange: "Why didn't you sell the land before running away?"

The postman replied: "The Ma Zheng corvee will be transferred to the landowner. No one dares to buy the land in this county, so we can only abandon it."

Then he talked about other harsh policies, and then talked about local officials. From the county magistrate to the magistrate, many were not Jinshi, but came to buy officials for tribute. They were exploited immediately after taking office, otherwise it would be difficult to recover the cost of buying the officials.

In a large and wealthy county, more than 80% of the land was abandoned!

Not only were the tenant farmers unable to survive, but also the yeoman farmers and small landowners had to flee. And those big landowners did not dare to invade the land, and the grain harvest was not enough to bear the horse government corvee.

Therefore, when the northwest bandits entered Henan, many Henan people spontaneously revolted.

Not coerced, but a spontaneous uprising!

The same is true for Shanxi.

After the Shaanxi bandits entered Shanxi, in just six months, the number of local rebels in Shanxi far exceeded that in Shaanxi.

How could Li Banghua not know about this situation?

Many officials in the court knew it!

Li Banghua took out a letter, handed it to Zhao Han and said, "Send someone to Jishui Valley Village and give the letter to my father."

Zhao Han said happily: "It will be done!"

"Tell me what you want me to do." Li Banghua said straightforwardly.

"There happens to be a difficult matter," Zhao Han explained the food shortage situation, bowed his hands and said, "I'll leave it to you to borrow food from rich households, sir. They don't trust me for the time being, so I guess it won't be a problem for you to take action."

Li Banghua said with a smile: "Smart people will believe it. If you don't want to return the food, then why borrow it? Just grab it."

In addition to borrowing grain from landlords, Zhao Han also wanted to borrow grain from the government.

There are rogue bandits and refugees in Taihe and Anfu counties, and officials and gentry are walking on thin ice.

Then let them raise money and food, and Zhao Han is responsible for taking away the refugees. With Zhao Han getting food and people, the refugees can live and work in peace and contentment, and the government and gentry will no longer be afraid.

Not a win-win, but a win-win-win, what a bargain!