Chapter 936: The numbers at Baiyun Lake are terrifying

Yu Dafu replied: “Your Majesty, those are two utility rooms. One is mainly used to store farm tools, firewood, and honeycomb coal. Our farm has a honeycomb coal factory. We transport several train cars of coal from Henan or Luanzhou several times a year. Then, the honeycomb coal factory uses machines to press it into honeycomb coal. It is cheaper than in Jinan City and will be delivered to each household regularly along a fixed route.

They are usually placed in the utility room outside.

The utility room inside is usually used to store grains such as corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. There is still a part of uncultivated wasteland in the Baiyun Lake Farm area, and the farm encourages employees to use their slack time to reclaim and grow grains.

According to the decrees of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Revenue, these lands will be unconditionally returned to the farmers who reclaimed them for fifty years, and all taxes will be exempted for five years.

After visiting this family, we went to another one not far away. There was an elderly couple in their seventies in that family. They were in good health. One of them even climbed the stairs to go to the roof of the utility room in the yard to dry corn.

They were very happy to see Yu Dafu and Zhu Yijun and his party coming to visit. When they heard that it was the Holy Emperor Wanli who came to their house in person, they were so excited that they knelt on the ground and wanted to kowtow. Zhu Yijun quickly asked someone to help them up.

“The Wanli Dynasty has new rules. You don’t have to kowtow. And you are over 70 years old. The rule passed down from Emperor Taizu of our dynasty is that people over 70 don’t have to perform formalities.”

Guided by the old man, Zhu Yijun took a tour of the house, then placed long benches and stools in the yard and sat in a circle.

Zhu Xuanni took her younger brothers and sisters to the woods behind to play, and her entourage of guards were there to protect them.

“What’s your name, old man?”

“In reply to the emperor, my last name is Meng.”

Although Mr. Meng is very old, he has a clear mind and good listening skills, and he doesn’t respond without thinking.

“You are very old.”

“There are seventy-nine common people.”

“You are a blessed person. It’s rare.”

Old man Meng grinned, revealing that most of his teeth were missing, no wonder he had a lisp when speaking just now.

“How many sons and daughters do you have?”

“In reply to the emperor, I and my wife gave birth to four sons and three daughters, but only two sons and one daughter survived to adulthood. Now they are all grandfathers, and the sons have separated from the family.”

“Who do you live with now?”

“I live with my eldest son’s family. He has two sons and one daughter, all of whom are married. Now they help take care of my second son’s children, who are also my third great-grandson and second great-granddaughter.”

“Great, four generations living under one roof, how rare. Old Man Meng, in the new era of Wanli, as long as they are filial, it doesn’t matter whether they have sons or daughters.”

Old Man Meng nodded repeatedly: “Your Majesty is right. As long as you are filial, it doesn’t matter whether you have a son or a daughter. Two years ago, my wife suddenly fell ill and was admitted to the farm clinic. It was all thanks to my daughter who took care of her.”

“Are your children on the farm?”

“They are all here. My oldest son and I are in the sixth team, my second son is in the first team, and my daughter and son-in-law are in the tenth team. They are not far away, but my second son’s family has to row a boat across the lake.”

“That’s good, Mr. Meng, where are you originally from?”

“In reply to the emperor, I am originally from Ningyang County, Yanzhou. I am said to be a descendant of Saint Meng, but unfortunately we are too far away to even be included in the family tree.

“I have been tenants of the Confucius Mansion in Qufu for three generations. Now, I finally have my own land in Baiyun Lake. I, my whole family, burn incense to you, Your Majesty, every day and wish you a long life!”

I saw it in the main hall of his house just now. Above the shrine is a color portrait of Zhu Yijun with incense burning on it.

Zhu Yijun smiled and waved his hand: “No one in the world can live for 10,000 years, but I thank you.”

Then he asked, “What crops do you usually grow?”

“In reply to the emperor, our farm has sufficient water resources. Half of the fields are planted with rice, and the other half, which is farther away, is planted with wheat.

Rice fields can be used to plant rapeseed, and now everyone is busy planting rapeseed. The remaining corners and newly reclaimed fields are planted with corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes.

These are all the treasures that you, Your Majesty, have brought back for us from overseas. Once planted, we don’t need to take care of them. They are drought-resistant and cold-resistant, and the harvest is not small. Especially potatoes and sweet potatoes. Once you dig a hoe, my goodness, they are all over the ground.

Otherwise, everyone would say that our generation was lucky to have met the Holy Emperor and live a good life.”

“So do you still raise pigs, chickens, ducks and fish?”

“keep.

In the past, each household raised their own dogs, but it was too hard.

In the seventh year of Wanli, a capable person emerged in the third team. He was raised by the team and all households shared the cost of supporting him.

He selected good pig breeds, built brick and tile pig sheds, selected meticulous people as breeders, and often went to the Jinan Agricultural Science Institute to find pig farming technicians for guidance.

In one year, the third team raised more than 400 pigs, all of which were fat and strong. Not only did each household get one pig to enjoy a good year, but the rest were sold to the supply and marketing cooperative, and each household also received a large sum of money.

When the other teams saw this, they thought it was a good idea and followed suit, so each team had its own pig farm.”

Old man Meng is very talkative and talks nonstop.

“The chicken farm is run by a farm and it seems that it can produce two to three thousand chickens a year. It is said that the Dezhou Braised Chicken uses chickens from our Baiyun Lake Chicken Farm.

Thousands of eggs are produced every day and sold exclusively to the city of Jinan.

Only the 10th, 11th and 12th production teams raised ducks, but not many, only a few hundred. They were used to eat pests in the rice fields. The year before last, when there was a locust infestation, these ducks played a great role, and later the farm raised hundreds of ducks every year.

Old Man Meng is worthy of being one of the first employees of Baiyun Lake Farm. He can talk about all kinds of situations at will, as if he knows them all in his stomach.

After chatting for another half an hour, Zhu Yijun asked someone to leave six pieces of Shanghai Peony brand cloth, stood up to say goodbye, and continued his inspection.

Around eleven o’clock, some peasant women went home to make lunch. Zhu Yijun then selected a few households and conducted a “surprise” inspection to verify the situation. He found that although there were arrangements, the situation was generally true.

Standing on a lawn at a road intersection, Zhu Yijun looked around, then turned to Dafu and other farm and reclamation bureau personnel and said, “Last year, your Baiyun Lake Farm made a profit of 187,670 yuan. According to the custom, 20% was handed over to the reclamation bureau, 30% was kept for farm operations, and the remaining 50% was distributed to every household.

There are a total of 1,676 households in your Baiyun Lake Farm, and each household received an average profit of 56 yuan.

In factories and mines in Luanzhou, Huzhou and Tianjin, a skilled worker earns between 90 and 120 yuan a year, which is enough to support a family and is equivalent to the family’s income.

If both spouses work, their annual salary can reach 120 to 200 yen, which is equal to the family income.

This is far higher than the annual income of only 56 yuan per family in Baiyun Lake Farm. However, the employees of Baiyun Lake Farm grow their own crops and raise pigs collectively, so they have rice, wheat, rapeseed oil, vegetables, radishes and pork to eat.

Factory workers and miners have to buy everything, but agricultural products are purchased collectively by the factories and manufacturing bureau groups, so the prices are relatively cheaper than on the market. However, they spend a lot on food and clothing every day, and in fact their life pressure is no less than yours.

Their only advantage may be that they have internal prices for industrial products, which is more favorable than yours.”

Yu Dafu, the deputy director, Wang Xuecheng and other farm staff, as well as the staff of the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau were stunned.

They had long heard that the emperor was extremely shrewd, and now they finally saw it for themselves.

Have you ever seen an emperor in any dynasty who could calculate for you the income and living expenses of every household in the common people?

But they couldn’t help feeling moved. Only an emperor who cared about his country and the people would remember these complicated data and information in his heart and then blurt them out.

Only when the emperor is wise can he have virtuous ministers.

It was because of the wise emperor and virtuous ministers that the Wanli Dynasty was able to achieve such a glorious era that far surpassed all previous dynasties.

Zhu Yijun counted the accounts on his fingers and said to Dafu and others, “Now that the accounts are settled, I am very satisfied with your work. The people’s granaries are full, no one is hungry, no one is naked, the elderly are well cared for, and the young are well taken care of. You, and you are also well cared for.”

Zhu Yijun pointed at Yu Dafu, the deputy director, the director and deputy director of the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau, as well as Wang Zongzai and Chen Dake.
“You local officials are competent.”

Everyone stood up quickly, bowed their hands and said in unison: “We are so terrified that we have failed the grace of Your Majesty.”

“Okay, Baiyun Lake, you all have passed.”

The ministers looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts at the same time.

We returned to the canteen at around 1:00 p.m. and had a farm meal.

The rice was harvested last year, the pig was slaughtered yesterday, the vegetables were picked this morning, and the chef prepared a set of Shandong cuisine, with six dishes and one soup on each table.

Zhu Yijun and the four princes and princesses sat at one table, and the rest of the six people sat at another table, eating voraciously.

Everyone was tired after running around for the whole morning and was hungry.

The energetic Zhu Xuanni had already changed her clothes and said while chewing rice: “Father, the rice from Baiyun Lake has a special taste. It is somewhat similar to the rice from Heishui, Jilin, and also to the rice from northern Jiangsu.

The pork is sizzling and fragrant, and the vegetables taste sweet.”

Zhu Yijun raised his head and replied, “Eat quickly, or else the slices of meat you want will be eaten by the second and fourth brothers.”

Zhu Xuanni glanced at Zhu Changhao and Zhu Changhan who were working hard and shouted, “Wrong decision! Let’s talk about it after we finish eating.”

After dinner, Zhu Yijun called Wang Xuecheng, Yu Dafu, the deputy director, the director and deputy director of the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau, as well as Wang Zongzhai, Chen Dake, Xu Zhenming, Zhang Siwei and Pan Yinglong to hold a small-scale symposium. The rest went to the farm guesthouse to rest temporarily.

“Tell me, how did you make a profit of 187,670 yuan last year?” Zhu Yijun said, pointing at Yu Dafu.

“Your Majesty, our two major specialties in Baiyun Lake are rice and fish.

Not many people eat rice in Shandong Central Plains, and not many businesses sell it. However, in important cities such as Jinan, Jining, Dezhou, and Linqing, there are still many people who love to eat rice.

The rice from our Baiyun Lake is blessed with unique advantages and sells very well.

Every year before the autumn harvest, grain merchants from Jinan, Dezhou and other places would wait at the market entrance.

Our Baiyun Lake Farm has 24,500 acres of excellent paddy fields.

Previously, we planted the Subei No. 4 rice variety bred by the Jiangsu Agricultural Science Institute. However, the yield of this rice variety in Xuzhou and Huai’an is about 500 kilograms per mu, but in our Baiyun Lake Farm, it is only about 450 kilograms.

In the seventh year of the Wanli reign, we introduced the Bohai No. 6 rice variety developed by the Beijing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the yield per mu exceeded 520 kilograms. In the eighth year of the Wanli reign, it reached 590 kilograms, but has remained stable at around 550 kilograms in the past two years.

Yu Dafu reported in an orderly manner, “Last year, our farm produced 132,000 dan of rice, which is 6,600 tons according to the new system.

660 tons of grain were handed over to the government, and the rest was kept by the people, with an average of 3.54 tons per household. How could we possibly eat so much rice? “

Zhu Yijun smiled and replied: “Yes, you eat wheat.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We still have 23,700 mu of semi-dry land in Baiyun Lake Farm, where we plant the Beijing Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ Suihua No. 4 wheat variety, which can produce up to 170 kilograms per mu. Last year, we harvested 2,010 tons of wheat.

One hundred and fifty-two tons of public grain were handed over, and the rest was kept by the people, an average of 1.1 ton of wheat per household.

Every household on our farm has at least five people and at most seven. Even if there are seven people, there are an average of 300 kilograms of wheat to eat per year, which is more than enough for the old and the young. “

Yu Dafu had been told long ago that the emperor liked to speak with numbers, so he made preparations early and memorized the relevant data overnight.

Just now at the Tiantou intersection, Zhu Yijun’s words, with all kinds of data coming out of his mouth, scared Yu Dafu. While eating, he hid in a corner and recited it again.

Xu Zhenming, Wang Zongzai and Chen Dake were shocked by the number reported by Yu Dafu.

Wang Zongzai and Chen Dake looked at each other in surprise. The people in Jinan area, especially the farmers in nearby counties, said that the people in Baiyun Lake Farm lived a life like gods.

After hearing this number today, even a god wouldn’t do it!
Xu Zhenming had tears in his eyes, stroked his beard, and tried to suppress the excitement in his heart.

The emperor is wise and has implemented such a good law. The people are fortunate!
Zhu Yijun laughed and then asked Yu Dafu: “Then how will you deal with it?”

(End of this chapter)