Tibet

Spring in the Hexi Corridor is about half a month later than that in Longyou. When Li Ye and his party arrived in Liangzhou, spring plowing in the Hexi Corridor also started to be busy.

Li Ye's inspection of Hexi and Hehuang this time had two main purposes. One was to inspect the living conditions of Hebei farmers in the Hexi Corridor, and the other was to inspect the defense of Hehuang.

Among the one million immigrants from Hebei the year before last, more than 300,000 people were resettled in the Hexi Corridor. Last year, a return wave broke out, and more than 100,000 people from the Hexi Corridor returned to their hometowns in Hebei.

But soon, news came from Hebei that people who returned to their hometowns were taxed very heavily. Not only were the taxes heavy, but corrupt officials colluded with local bullies to brutally exploit farmers. Many of the people who returned regretted it and started to fall into disgrace after the autumn harvest. Flee Hebei and return to Helong.

However, those who returned to Helong had no choice as before, and almost all were resettled in the Hehuang Valley, which needed a large number of farmers for development and farming.

At present, there are still 60,000 households in Hexi, and about 200,000 farmers from Hebei have settled here. They are basically landless farmers, and they work as tenant farmers when they return to their hometowns. In Hexi, you can be allocated 100 acres of fertile land and 3 acres of homestead land, and you can also Ten years of tax exemption, and lifetime tax exemption if a family member joins the military.

Li Ye's team arrived in Guzang County, Liangzhou. Pei Xiu, the deputy governor of Liangzhou, Shi Liyu, the governor's governor, and Wei Yingwu, the acting county magistrate, came to welcome Li Ye's arrival.

The highlights of the entire Hexi Corridor are in Liangzhou and Ganzhou. Ganzhou is mainly engaged in animal husbandry, while Liangzhou is focused on agriculture. Most of the farmers from Hebei who moved to the Hexi Corridor settled in Liangzhou.

On the ridge of the field, the acting county magistrate Wei Yingwu pointed to the farmland in the distance and introduced it to Li Ye: "Your Highness, Guzang County has a dense network of rivers, almost all of which are formed by melting water from the mountains. The land is fertile, although it only lasts one season a year. But the yield per mu is very high. One acre of farmland can yield three stones of wheat. Selling grain from 100 acres can earn hundreds of dollars. In addition, you can grow vegetables, fish, raise pigs, sheep, and poultry, and you can also work in military camps to make money. , the family is more diligent, and the income is much higher than the income of 20 to 30 yuan a year in Hebei. Everyone has their own account in mind, why don't they want to go back to Hebei? Who doesn't want to live a good life?"

Li Ye smiled and asked: "Is this Mr. Wei's inference, or is this the reality?"

"Of course it is a reality. I have visited a large number of people's homes in my humble position. Your Highness can also go and find out in person and choose one at will."

Li Ye smiled and nodded, "I'll watch while walking! If necessary, I will find a household to discuss."

As everyone walked slowly along the official road, Li Ye saw farmland distributed on both sides of the Macheng River, and he could not see the edges at a glance. He really admired: "Compared with the year before last, it has completely changed!"

At this time, Li Ye discovered that there was a large piece of farmland in the southeast, at least tens of thousands of acres, but it seemed different from other places. He pointed his finger and asked, "It seems different over there?"

Governor Shi Li Yu said with a smile: "Your Highness, that's the military field over there."

Li Ye nodded. It turned out to be a military field. No wonder it was different. He had discovered a different place. No one was cultivating the military field. Other fields were very busy. Every household was busy cultivating their own land. Over there, the military field was busy. But it was empty, no one was there.

Li Ye frowned and asked, "Why is there no one cultivating the military fields?"

Everyone looked at each other, and Pei Xiu said cautiously: "Your Highness, there are cotton fields over there, which are dedicated to growing cotton. The farming time is a little later."

"Is this really the case?" Li Ye sneered.

Pei Xiu suddenly became a little unnatural, and Li Ye asked Wei Yingwu again: "Mr. Wei is here to speak!"

Looking at the sharp gaze of His Highness King Qi, Wei Yingwu did not dare to hide anything, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Growing cotton is one thing. The main thing is that when the farmers here finish plowing the fields, they will run to take over the work and replace the military fields. arable land."

Li Ye nodded, this was the truth, and he asked Pei Xiu, "Since it is a military field, why do the soldiers not plow the fields and have to wait for these farmers to plow the fields?"

Pei Xiu said with a face full of shame: "I know my fault because of my humble position, so I will arrange for soldiers to farm!"

Li Ye shook his head, "I didn't say you did anything wrong. Military fields are not equal to farming. I just want to know the reason."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Chief Shi Li Yu quickly explained: "The key is what Your Highness said. Military fields are not equal to farming. We implement the military field system, not the farming system. The military field system has specialized farming soldiers, and they are all older. Large, there is no need to participate in combat, and it specializes in agriculture. It was also done in the past when the leaves were broken. There were specialized soldiers farming, specialized soldiers raising fish, and specialized soldiers raising pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks. It is the same now in Hexi. We have a total of Two thousand soldiers farm, and there are 20,000 acres of military land. One soldier is responsible for ten acres, which is a thousand acres, half of which is cotton and half of which is grain. The limit of farming for one soldier is two hundred acres, so there are still eight hundred acres of military land. If we don’t have any seeds, what should we do? We can only ask farmers to help plant them, Your Highness, this is the reason!”

Li Ye nodded, "I know the reason, but what is the cause of this problem? Is it too much military land, or are there too few soldiers for farming?"

This is actually because they have reclaimed too much land and are short of manpower. Li Yu couldn't answer for a while. Wei Yingwu said from the side: "Your Highness, as a local official, I think this is not actually a problem, but a good way to get the best of both worlds." .”

Li Ye said happily: "Then please ask Magistrate Wei to explain why it is the best of both worlds?"

Wei Yingwu bowed and said calmly: "Your Highness, each household is allocated one hundred acres of land, but in fact the maximum farming capacity of each household is about three hundred acres. After they have cultivated one hundred acres of land, they still have There is still a lot of energy left, and they need to use this energy to make money, so we give them the opportunity to make money.”

"How much do you give them?"

"Report to Your Highness, I will give you a hundred cents for cultivating one acre of land."

Li Ye frowned, "A hundred cents per acre of land?"

"Your Highness, it's already quite a lot. It's just plowing the land. They don't need to take care of it or harvest the grain. We own the cattle and seeds. The grain for one acre of real estate only costs about 1,000 yuan. If it's all covered, For them, even 500 cash per acre of land may not be enough, and the sharecroppers are only half and half."

Li Ye smiled and said: "I can't calculate this account clearly, but these people should know it clearly. Since they are willing to do it, they will definitely not suffer."

"Of course there is no loss. A family with a small labor force can rent a hundred acres and earn ten dollars in half a month. A family with a large labor force can make twenty dollars by renting two hundred acres. How can they not do it?"

Li Ye frowned again and said, "If you calculate it this way, is one hundred cents per acre too much?"

Everyone was startled and burst into laughter. Wei Yingwu held back his laughter and said: "Your Highness, one hundred cents per acre is not determined by us, it is the market price. The price is the same in Hebei and Guanzhong, but there is less land and more people. , If you can’t lease a hundred acres of land, you can’t earn so much money.”

"what about now?"

Li Ye smiled and asked again: "Hebei now has a small population and a small population."

"Reporting to Your Highness, there is a lot of land over there now. Although the market situation has not changed, it is good for farmers to get 20 cents per acre of land. They are exploited at all levels and have to pay heavy taxes. That is like here. , all obtained in real time.”

Li Ye originally wanted to ask where the money came from? This was a lot of money, but he still held back. He should ask Pei Xiu about this in private!

Li Ye quickly glanced at Pei Xiu. Pei Xiu remained silent. Li Ye also guessed that he had something to say to him.

At this time, Li Ye saw a village not far away, pointed to the village and said with a smile: "Let's go to the village and have a look!"

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[The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and there are too many messy things at home. I’ll give you two updates today. I’m really sorry! 】