New Shun 1730

"One more. Brother, it's not like you don't know what the land here is."

“There are places to plant.”

“In some places, all that grows is saltwort, but it’s impossible to grow food at all.”

Speaking of this, this is Zhao Liben's specialty.

When we hired saltmen before, almost all the salt fields in Huainan used the method of spreading ash and drenching them with brine.

It involves digging pits on the tidal flats, and then burning plants such as saltwort into ash and spreading them inside. After the salt-alkali water gradually moistens the plant ash, water is poured into it to dissolve the plant ash, and then it is boiled to crystallize the salt.

Where other plants can grow, saltwort can certainly grow.

But where saltgrass can grow, not to mention grain, sometimes even reeds can't grow.

Zhao Liben's second brother took another sip of wine and sighed: "Brother, you don't know. The scholars on our side are divided into two groups. There is one group here at the Holy Church Reunion Meeting, and there is one group at the School Nongzheng and so on. Another wave. It’s like the people from Xiangxue Nongzheng, whose surname is Yan.”

"The gentlemen surnamed Yan in the end are some of the learned ones. I thought about it at that time and said that according to the "Book of Rites of Zhou", we can engage in some industrial, commercial and official businesses to gain profits, while raising widows, widows and lonely people, and burdened with rural education. Capital."

"After that, the year you ran away, brother, it seemed that the glass factory in the south was going to be expanded. Glass, you know, right? I went to study the thing on the window, it was so shiny..."

Zhao Liben smiled and thought that glass had been installed all the way from Yingkou to Huanglongfu and Sanjiangkou. How could he not have seen it before?

But since the younger brother said that, he was obviously a little bit superior, so he responded: "Yes, I have seen it."

Zhao Liben's second brother waved his arms and said, "At that time, there was a gentleman from Mr. Yan's faction who said that the glass factory there needed alkali noodles."

"After that, I said, whether it's a rural education or a temple for widowers, we should follow the "Rites of Zhou" and get some benefits from the mountains and rivers, so we don't have to take the money for the rural education from our hands."

"How do you get the advantage of the mountains and rivers? Isn't there a glass factory over there? I said you have to use alkali noodles. Finally, I said it is salt mugwort. After burning the ashes, add seaweed or something like that, it can burn the alkali noodles."

"You also know that most people here know how to make salt. It's just boiling salt. All you need is salt or grass ash brine. It's quite simple."

"Actually, some people also said that at the time. They said that if you boil grass ash alkali, you can get some salt by the way, so you don't have to buy salt. Although salt has become cheaper in recent years, you still have to spend money, right?"

"Then at that time, some people from Mr. Yan's side and people from the church started arguing."

"Just say that the 'salt class' is cheap. If we do this, is it considered that we are taking advantage of the imperial court? It is said that the salt tax collected by the imperial court also has to build rivers, fight wars, and raise troops. Some people say that we should not take advantage of this. No It’s both appropriate and unreasonable; on the other hand, it’s unreasonable for the court to collect salt profits.”

Zhao Liben patted his thigh and said, "Are these people stupid? If they don't make a profit, aren't they bastards?"

Zhao Liben's second brother also said: "Why don't you just say it? Mr. Yan's group of people may have some problems with their heads. They must not take advantage of this. They say this is sacred science and must be upright. They also say that the imperial court recruits classes, which is a matter of course. kind of.”

"They also said that we were going to do this and have people catch us, and we had to be humiliated again. It was said that Duke Xingguo had humiliated them quite a lot, so we didn't want to humiliate them."

"Finally, let's just say that as long as the grass ash is sold for money, the salt must be thrown back into the sea according to conscience. This... what do you think... oh!"

Ouch, at the same time, he sighed and shook his head. Apparently he was quite puzzled by the fact that this kind of inspection was not illegal.

If it were someone else, maybe he would also feel that there was a little bit of truth to it.

But what Zhao Liben did before was working for people and frying salt for private consumption, so it didn't matter that he didn't feel this fact.

Although I was working for others at the beginning, I was still in the business of frying private salt.

Ziye couldn't help but scolded: "Why don't people say that scholars can't do anything? You said it's not like going out to sell it. You don't have to spend money to eat some salt yourself. Anyway, you have to boil water to boil grass ash alkali."

Zhao Liben's second brother also said: "That's right! After all, that land is owned by others, so it's hard for us to say anything. People want to listen to the court and abide by the law, what can we say? Those people in the church can tell Okay, let’s have a public discussion, and the public discussion says that we can boil salt without buying salt, and don’t pay salt tax.”

"When it comes to discussing the township agreement, we must boil the salt."

"But Mr. Yan's people's heads are like elm wood, they just can't do it."

"If it's not allowed, then it's not allowed. Then let's just follow the "Book of Rites" and get some public land. Even the salt wormwood fields can't be planted, so everyone goes to work, saying they go to collect seaweed, salt wormwood, burn ashes, and boil alkali. ”

"That year...it was the winter of the second year after you left. We all worked for half a month. The gentleman at Mr. Yan's side was knowledgeable. He went to learn how to boil alkali and led us to work for half a month. ”

"The result is that the alkali has just been boiled out here, and the price has been reduced over there."

"It is said that several large alkali plants have been set up. That alkali plant does not use salt wormwood or seaweed. We don't know what kind of magic is used. Anyway, everyone has been busy for more than half a month. Finally, Once you count the money..."

"Hey, let alone the kids from the rural school...there's not much money left."

"Brother, you know, right? Not long after you left, all the big salt plates here were smashed. Just to prevent private frying. Our salt plate for boiling alkaline is also from Mr. Yan's place, and there has been a lot of trouble. The noodles are made with half a lifetime of knowledge and never fried, so I made a big salt plate."

"In the end, we couldn't make any money. After that, we used salt wormwood to make alkaline noodles, and it was a problem for everyone to make fire. We did this for a year, and we stopped the next year."

"Salt wormwood fields... Brother, you came from Songjiang and watched them grow cotton. But in summer, they have to cut grass and cover the furrows. Otherwise, the sun will make salt return."

"The salt wormwood grew the next year, and we wanted to learn. We just planted what others planted. The gentlemen also came forward to guarantee that we would never mix old cottonseed peaches into the cotton we planted here."

"The people in the temple told us a lot of reasons not to mix."

"After that, they gave us some new cotton seeds. The gentlemen on Mr. Yan's side also went to learn how to plant cotton, how to cover grass, and how to prevent salt return. ”

“But after we planted it, it was a completely different story. This stuff is very land-consuming. They use bean cake compost over there, how can we afford it here?”

“We learned to plant it according to their method. They produce 30 to 40 kilograms over there, but we only produce 11 to 12 kilograms here.”

“That’s easy, but everyone has to cook and make fire. The salt wormwood in the salt wormwood field is used to cover the ground to prevent salt back, and it’s a problem for everyone to make fire.”

“Old cotton seeds, planted densely. There are not many cotton bolls, but there are a lot of cotton stalks.”

“You know this place, there are no trees? If there were any trees, they would have been cut down when we boiled salt. We rely on burning grass. Now the land has been arable land, and the remaining salt wormwood fields have to be covered with soil to prevent salt. In the end, even for burning fire, who would be willing to do it? Plant the new cotton seeds?"

"The spacing between the new cotton seeds is two for the original five or six. Besides, without fertilizer, the yield of one acre of land is about the same as the old cotton."

"Besides, it's not that there are no new cotton seeds, but you plant new and I plant old, and it's not good to manage. When the cotton is ginned, the seeds are mixed together. After two or three years, those who planted new cotton have all degenerated into old cotton."

"Over there, one liter of bean cake is used for one acre of land, and there are also sheep manure, pig manure, cow manure and so on."

"In our baojia, five families use one cow. If you don't have money, where can you buy a cow?"

"Buying bean cake... this thing is like doing business. You have to invest capital, where can we invest capital?"

"It's not that I haven't thought about borrowing money from a loan shark, but they just don't lend money."

"Speaking of land None of them belong to us. What should we do if we can't pay them back? But let's be honest. If I'm a loan shark, I won't lend money. What should I do if I can't pay them back? The land is not ours. "

Speaking of this, Zhao Liben's second brother was mysterious... Even though there were no outsiders at home, he still said mysteriously: "Brother, I heard that we are going to sell 50,000 acres of land this year. We will sell some money as capital to improve the farmland and grow cotton, and buy new looms. "

"You know, the shit in the township is now piled up at home, not on the land. After selling 50,000 acres of land, we must re-grant the land this year. Who knows which piece we will draw when we re-grant it?"

"If you put shit on the land now, isn't it the same as raising a wife and children for others? Wait until this matter is settled, and then put manure on the land. "

Maybe Zhao Liben's second brother drank a little too much, and said in front of Zhao Liben: "Brother, after this matter is spread, everyone will be unhappy. ”

“There are widows and mothers in the village who don’t work and don’t go out to work, but they are exempted from taxes. There are also 25 children’s fields. Can children farm the land?”

“If you really want to sell the land, take back the land of widows, old men and women, and children. Sell their land.”

“To be honest, everyone is very unhappy. Why should you use the land you farm to support wives and children? Yes, the land is not yours, but it doesn’t grow food there, right?”

“Yes, when we gathered in the church, we said that ‘the human heart is happy by nature, and it will restrain its own desires. When the desires arise, the conscience is still aware. After a nap, it will be eliminated, and the human heart will still be happy.’”

“But we are not saints after all. After a nap, I don’t think that my desires have been eliminated.”

“The church village covenant also says that we should ‘love everyone well and treat everyone well. Respect the elderly and give way to the side of the road with our hands crossed. Get along well with neighbors, answer questions and talk with each other with a smile. Be charitable and help the widowed, the orphaned and the lonely. Be generous and give money to help floods, droughts and famines.'"

"Brother, I'm not talking about my sister-in-law and my nephews and nieces. After all, my sister-in-law is here, and I definitely don't support them giving up the land. I'm just saying this. The church says that conscience will come out after a good night's sleep, or that we should be charitable and help the widowed, the orphaned and the lonely...but it depends on the situation."

"Everyone supported it before. Widows with children have 25 acres of land. This family helps to plant it. These 25 acres of land do not need to pay the money of the township school or pay the grain to the community warehouse. Everyone can help if it is profitable. "

"But now we have to sell 50,000 acres of land as capital. Whose land are we selling? This is different from before, right?"

"In the past, the church said that we should be charitable, and everyone believed it. But when it comes time to sell the land, it becomes a different matter as to whose land will be sold and the land will be redistributed.”