Chen Hushi's performance was perfect and the audition was very successful.

He was immediately hired and became a literary team member.

Chen Laoshi, who is about to start a new life, feels a little helpless, and he feels unbelievable until now.

Is this hired?

Chen Laoshi had never had any acting experience before, but was just an honest farmer.

Stay on the fields all day long, facing the loess and facing the sky, leaning against the land to dig food and eat.

His only wish is to own a few acres of his own land and no longer have to be a tenant farmer for others.

Now this wish has come true. Chen Laoshi has his own land by reclaiming wasteland. The only problem is that the harvest this year may not be too good.

But it doesn't matter. In the past few years, the land will get better when the fertility of the land increases.

Having a full meal every day and having surplus food at home is Chen Houshi’s all wish.

He never thought that he would be able to eat imperial grain one day and get two taels of silver a month.

That's two taels of silver!

If the price of grain no longer soars, you can buy at least one stone of rice for two taels of silver. Although it is not as good as in the Wanli period, the price of grain is generally stable and not as good as the people can't survive.

What's more, joining the art team did not affect his continued farming!

You only need to perform ten scenes a month, and even if you count the time for rehearsal, you can still have a lot of time left to farm.

Chen Zhen is not afraid of hard work.

On the contrary, he is a person who can't rest. He will feel awkward if he really lets him stay there and do nothing!

If you farm yourself, you don’t need to buy grain. If you spend another year, you can save twenty taels of silver.

Twenty taels!

When Chen Houshi thought of this number, he felt dizzy.

He never thought in his life that he would have so much money one day, but now he could save so much in a year.

It's really a good day!

Chen Chen made up his mind to perform well in the art team, work hard to act, and keep this job no matter what!

...

...

The first batch of potatoes are ripe in May.

The Imperial Garden is busy.

Zhu Cixuan went to the field to collect potatoes himself. Under the inspiration of the emperor, a group of eunuchs and guards also started to work hard.

This scene was unimaginable in the past. If the censors saw it, they would not be able to submit a memorial and give a direct advice.

Although the emperor of the Ming Dynasty would also turn the ground, he pretended casually during the sacrificial ceremony.

But now Zhu Cilang really went to the field to collect potatoes, just like an ordinary farmer.

Of course no one can understand Zhu Cilang's mood at this moment.

If potatoes are promoted on a large scale, they will solve the problem of millions of people eating.

Why could the Qing Dynasty support hundreds of millions of people? Isn’t it because it relies on promoting high-yield crops such as potatoes?

There is no problem with potatoes being a staple food, and this is the case in Europe.

Let’s see which Europeans have fewer potatoes on their dining table?

French fries, fried potatoes, potato cakes, mashed potatoes...

Compared with rice, wheat, potatoes are of course considered coarse grains, but they have advantages that these two crops do not have.

Potatoes have very low requirements for land and can be planted in any piece of wasteland. They are also extremely drought-resistant and cold-resistant, just suitable for the climate of small glaciers.

Although Zhu Cilang is doing his best to curb the rise in grain prices, the grain prices are still twice that of the Wanli period.

When Zhu Cilang thought that many people starved to death because they could not afford food, he felt heartbroken.

But after promoting potatoes, you don’t have to worry about this happening anymore.

The yield per mu of potatoes is very high, and even if the climatic conditions are harsh, the yield will not be severely reduced.

The poor people can’t afford rice and flour, but they can still eat potatoes.

Now we must first solve the problem of food and clothing, and then pursue quality of life.

Zhu Cilang was sweating profusely in the fields. Liu Chuanzong felt distressed when he saw it. He wanted to go forward and use a square scarf to wipe Zhu Cilang's sweat, but Zhu Cilang refused.

"Panpa Liu, please leave and wait until I finish my work."

Liu Chuanzong said helplessly: "I obey the order."

Although Zhu Cilang pays great attention to daily exercise, practices bow and horse frequently, and plays a five-animal show every day, he is still very tired.

The farmers have worked so hard.

Zhu Cilang just returned to the field when collecting potatoes, but the farmers needed to work in the fields every day. The physical consumption was amazing. No wonder they needed to eat a lot of food every day.

Ordinary people in this era did not have much oil and water, so they naturally ate more staple foods.

This further strengthened Zhu Cilang's determination to increase commercial and maritime taxes.

Compared with farmers, merchants, especially maritime merchants, are really rich.

Chongzhen’s biggest problem was that he only fleeces the farmers and is too indulgent to the merchants.

Zheng Zhilong can earn 10 million taels a year by collecting maritime taxes. Why can't the court do it?

Businessmen have already seized a lot of wealth, so they should pay more taxes and fulfill their responsibilities.

As for the mining tax, it must be strictly imposed.

Since Zhu Cixuan announced that the national minerals would be returned to the court, he received two million silver in less than half a year, and a conservative estimate of five million taels of silver would be included in a year.

This is all a lot of money!

Next step, Zhu Cixuan is preparing to start an operation on the salt industry.

Salt merchants are a wealthy group no less than maritime merchants, and each one is rich enough to rival a country.

As a monopoly resource, the income input of salt merchants can be guaranteed.

The Ming Dynasty originally had strict management of the salt industry, and it relied on selling salt to control upstream resources.

The amount of salt induction is certain, so the amount of salt that each salt merchant can allocate is certain.

But in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the salt system was abolished and private salt was everywhere.

Especially in coastal provinces, private salt is everywhere.

The government basically turned a blind eye and took filial piety to you and I, everyone. But this seriously harmed the interests of the court.

During the Chongzhen period, the salt tax could only be received by hundreds of thousands of taels per year. How ridiculous is this!

Even if it is conservatively estimated, the salt tax should be received by millions of taels a year. These salt merchants really treat the court as fools!

Zhu Cilang is not willing to be this fool!

Since the opening of China and France has been abolished, we must come up with a new solution.

Zhu Cilang's initial vision was to establish an organization such as the Huangming Chamber of Commerce as the only responsible department for managing the salt industry.

This kind of institution is neither a court department nor a private chamber of commerce, but an institution between the two.

Of course, this institution is directly responsible to the court and the emperor.

This is equivalent to setting an entry threshold in this industry. In the past, this threshold was Yan Yin, but now it is a membership.

To join this institution, you must pay a huge deposit and regularly accept supervision and pay taxes.

Of course, salt merchants can still do their own thing and sell private salt. But the court will no longer compromise.

Zhu Cixuan decided to order the troops in various places to strictly investigate private salt sales, and once discovered, they were arrested and executed immediately to correct the national law.

...
Chapter completed!