Xu Jie occupied 240,000 mu of land. Who knew how many jaws had dropped? But now he had taken out 360,000 mu of land. It could be seen how many people owned the land. Most importantly, they did not have to pay taxes.
With the current land and population of the Daming, Zhu Yijun was not opposed to the existence of large landowners. Furthermore, the Little Ice Age was approaching, so he was not worried about having food.
Zhu Yijun was concerned about taxes. It was not appropriate to have so much land and not pay taxes.
The land owned by the Honours and members of the royal family was fixed. These lands did not have to pay taxes. This was in accordance with the Daming law.
But the hidden land was not in accordance with the law. It was a complete hoodlum.
"What do you plan to do with these lands?" Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked.
"I plan to give the land to the people who have no land."
Zhang Juzheng bowed and said, "After all, these lands need to be cultivated. If the land is given to the people, the people who originally planted these lands will have a way to live."
"The court will also receive more taxes. This is killing two birds with one stone."
Zhang Juzheng's idea sounded good, but Zhu Yijun thought it was not very good. If he really did this, he would not get any money and it would be a waste.
As for taxes, Zhu Yijun could only laugh.
If it was given out, it would return to the original state in a few years. This could not be done.
Different from Zhang Juzheng's idea, Zhu Yijun wanted all the people to pay taxes. Even he, the Emperor, had to pay taxes.
After all, the palace treasury and the Royal Plantation were the Emperor's private property. The Daming's national treasury and the Emperor's palace treasury were clearly separated.
The Daming's problem was not land acquisition, but that the court had no money and could not collect taxes.
Zhu Yijun had already seen this clearly. The court had money to buy and store grain. In good years, grain was stored and the price was guaranteed to avoid hurting the farmers. In disaster years, grain was given to the victims because they did not have money. They did not even have money to buy grain. They were so poor that they had to wear their pants. This was the fundamental problem.
If all the manpower was tied to the land, what would happen to what he had to do later?
There were a lot of things that needed people in the future.
"I think it's better to sell these lands!"
Zhu Yijun said lightly, "Honours and gentry alike, as long as they want it, they can buy it with money.
The imperial court can hold another land trade with the provinces, and the highest bidder will get it. "
Zhu Yijun felt that these pieces of land could definitely be sold for a lot of money. When that time came, he could do a lot of things.
"Of course, taxes can't be ignored. These lands are all registered. No matter who buys them, they still have to pay taxes every year."
Zhang Juzheng was stunned. Would anyone buy it?
Zhang Juzheng didn't think it was possible.
The production of land was limited. The reason why the people were willing to invest was that the rent was lower than the taxes.
The landlord rented out the land and was exempted from taxes. The rent paid was his income. If he had to pay taxes on the rent, it would definitely cause the rent to rise.
Tenant farmers had to be responsible for both rent and taxes. It was a lot of pressure!
The yield of the land was low. If they farmed like this, the tenant farmers might not even have enough to eat!
Zhang Juzheng shook his head like a rattle drum and explained the matter to Zhu Yijun with a serious attitude. He clearly told Zhu Yijun that this wouldn't work.
These lands were originally owned by tenant farmers. If he sold them now, those Honours would only exploit the tenant farmers even more.
A family of five tenant farmers desperately farmed the land. After paying the rent and taxes, they would probably starve!
"Zhang Jing, go and get the things for Sir!" Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Jing, and the expression on his face didn't change at all. He smiled and said to Zhang Jing.
Zhang Jing agreed and then ordered the young eunuch to get the things.
Not long after, a few young eunuchs came in with trays. Zhu Yijun also walked down from the dragon throne and came to the front of the tray.
He reached out and picked up a round thing. He said to Zhang Juzheng, "Sir, this is called a potato!"
"It can be used to cook and also to satisfy one's hunger. This is boiled, and this is roasted. Sir, try it."
Zhang Juzheng looked at the round egg in his hand. He reached out and broke off a piece. Then, he took a bite. It was very soft and he nodded.
"The land can be stored for a few months without spoiling. It can produce 3,000 catties per mu!"
Speaking up to this point, Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "In my Imperial Plantation, the most productive year was 5,000 catties per mu."
"How much?" Zhang Juzheng couldn't believe his ears. "5,000 catties?"
Zhang Juzheng had been busy being an official all these years, so he didn't have the mood to care about farming. In fact, all the civil officials in the Daming Dynasty were like this.
The promotion of land and sweet potatoes had to wait until Xu Guangqi during the reign of Emperor Chong Zhen.
After Zhu Yijun came to the Daming Dynasty, he asked people to find seeds and let people plant them. Now, it was finally time to take them out. This was a divine tool.
"This is called a sweet potato. It can produce 1,000 catties per mu. This is roasted. Sir, try it. I like it the most." As he spoke, Zhu Yijun broke off a piece of roasted sweet potato and handed it to Zhang Juzheng.
Zhang Juzheng picked it up and took a bite. This could also produce 1,000 catties per mu?
Zhu Yijun picked up another piece of corn and said to Zhang Juzheng, "This is called corn. It is a grain. It can be ground into flour. This is a cornmeal cake. Sir, try it. It tastes pretty good."
Zhu Yijun didn't eat the cornmeal cake. It wasn't like it was a steamed bun. It was a bit choking and it was difficult to eat.
Zhang Juzheng broke off a piece of corn cake and said hesitantly, "Your Majesty, this … this …"
"I had people plant these in the Imperial Plantation. It has been a few years. I was thinking about how to promote it. This is a good opportunity.
The Imperial Plantation can provide seeds for those who buy the land. "
Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "After planting these things and paying rent and taxes, the tenant farmers can eat their fill. By the way, I have set the land rent."
"The people who buy the land can only collect the land rent according to the imperial court's rules. They can't collect more, but they can collect less. This is called the limit. We can't let them collect the rent randomly.
The imperial court's taxes are fixed. How can we collect the land rent randomly? "
"As for how to make them believe in the yield of these crops, I think no one dares to doubt our words, right?"
Zhang Juzheng nodded. Of course. In today's world, anyone who dared to doubt his and the Emperor's words had already lived long enough.
"I will ask Zhang Jing of Dongchang to bring the imperial edict out of the capital. We will auction the land one by one. The corresponding seeds will also be brought over.
The Imperial Plantation will send people who are familiar with planting to teach them how to grow these things. "
Zhang Juzheng listened to Zhu Yijun's words. Why was he, the Emperor's student, already prepared?
"What do you think of my arrangements?" Zhang Juzheng nodded and said, "Naturally, it will be good."