Zhu Youzhen rode on horseback leisurely, and said to Bi Ziyan with his hands dancing: "In the books brought by those Western missionaries, such a story was once told. It says that man was not actually created by God, but evolved from monkeys.

Of course, it was not from a single monkey to a single person, but from a group of monkeys to a human race.

What was the key to the evolution of monkeys into humans? It's about labor... When humans learned to make and use tools for labor, there was a surplus of products. There are more fish for fishing, more salt for drying salt, and more cloth for weaving.

In order to be able to exchange what is available, everyone will take out the surplus products to exchange for the items they need, which is the most primitive economic activity. ”

Fifty and know the ear, sixty and know the destiny of heaven. Bi Ziyan admits that he is not the kind of pedantic person who is not stubborn, but it is a sin to say that his ancestor was a monkey.

If the person who said this was not His Majesty, he would definitely reprimand the other party for his nonsense. But now, his face has become very exciting, and he doesn't know whether he should be okay with Chongzhen's statement, or if he should react otherwise.

After being silent for a long time, he finally said with a wry smile: "The story Your Majesty said, well, is quite interesting. I think this person is also a very interesting character. However, what is the connection between this and the current situation in Shuntianfu? ”

Zhu Youzhen thought about it and said: "The point of this story is not that the monkey becomes a human, but that it explains the essence of labor. ”

"The nature of labor?" Bi Ziyan felt that his brain seemed to have become sluggish today, and he was a little unable to catch up with the emperor's jumping thoughts.

"It's about creating wealth. Laborers create all kinds of wealth and then exchange it in the market, which is the basis of the existence of human society. Chongzhen replied without hesitation.

After all, Bi Ziyan is a person who was admitted to the Jinshi, and he is also known as a rare talent, he recalled what the emperor said from the beginning, and said with some understanding: "Your Majesty means that as long as you pay for labor, whether it is farming or building roads, it is an action to create wealth?" But there was no exchange between them..."

Seeing that Bi Ziyan suddenly closed his mouth and fell into thought, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but say: "What is the so-called thing about the imperial court collecting taxes? Isn't it by investing in this kind of public service that the wealth created by the whole society is redistributed? Isn't it the meaning of the existence of the imperial court to enable everyone to share in the wealth created by this society? ”

The emperor's words shocked Bi Ziyan's heart, and he almost fell off the horse without grabbing the reins, but Chongzhen, who was beside him, helped him quickly, and finally let him stabilize his figure.

The emperor's words can be said to have completely subverted the worldview that Bi Ziyan had accepted since childhood, and he suddenly lost the idea of continuing to explore this issue with the emperor.

Seeing that Bi Ziyan couldn't accept it, Zhu Youzhen also changed the topic and said: "I heard that you went out to inspect this time to investigate the drought in Shuntian Mansion this year, so what do you think of the disaster situation in Shuntian Mansion?" How much arable land is expected to be affected? ”

Bi Ziyan took a few deep breaths, put aside what the emperor had just said for the time being, and after sorting out his thoughts, he said his judgment to the emperor.

"Shuntianfu has a population of more than 1 million, of which more than 700,000 live in the capital, and the remaining 300,000 to 400,000 people are distributed in counties outside the capital.

Shuntianfu has a wide area, and it is also the province with the most cultivated land in Beizhili, with a total of more than 13 million mu of cultivated land. Among them, only about 10 percent of the best irrigated land is about 1 percent, the worst Shimoda accounts for about 2 percent of the land, and the rest is Nakada.

Even if there is no rain throughout the year, watered land can harvest at least 80% of the yield of previous years, but the middle and lower fields are almost completely harvested.

Since the beginning of May this year, there has been no sign of rain in Shuncheonfu, and the minister asked several old farmers that there is a great chance of a major drought in Shuncheonfu this year.

Fortunately, since the end of last year, the imperial court has begun to remediate the tributaries of the Haihe River and build small reservoirs and other water conservancy facilities. As a result, about 40 percent of the affected cultivated land area has been affected, and 60 percent of the cultivated land has been reduced by about one-third to one-fifth. ”

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help frowning and asked, "Then how does Shuntian Mansion plan to help these affected victims?" Do you have any plans? ”

Bi Ziyan lowered his head and thought for a moment before he said to Chongzhen: "There are about 50,000 or 60,000 victims of the disaster in Shuntianfu, but compared to previous years, these victims can still find a way to live.

The coal, iron ore, iron-smelting yards, cement factories, and glass factories in Xishan, the newly built coal, iron mines, iron-smelting yards, and cement factories in Tangshan, Jizhou, and Zunhua, as well as the cotton textile factories in Beijing, have absorbed a large number of victims.

The Haihe River improvement project and the construction of several large reservoirs have also absorbed many victims, so the minister believes that there is no need for a large relief plan.

As long as the imperial court exempts the tax from the disaster-stricken areas of Suncheon, but allocates a part of the funds for drilling wells and a small amount of emergency food, the drought in Suncheonfu should be able to withstand this time. ”

Zhu Youzhen breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and continued to ask: "The imperial court probably can't allocate any silver taels, how many silver taels do you need, I let the inner library put it on first, and the disaster relief should not be delayed." ”

Bi Ziyan thought about it for a while and said: "If the Haihe River improvement project planned for next year can be advanced to this year, then the minister will need about 80,000 taels of silver as disaster relief funds; If the Haihe River remediation project cannot be advanced, then the minister needs 150,000 taels of funds. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while, and then replied: "I want to ask Jiang Shenbao about the project in advance, I think the problem should not be very big, as for the money and grain, I will order someone to allocate it to you after I go back." ”

Bi Ziyan hurriedly thanked the emperor, he hesitated for a moment and then added: "Actually, if Your Majesty can hand over the Zuo'anmen-Chaoyangmen railway to Shuntianfu to operate until the end of the year, Your Majesty can also reduce the allocation by another 30,000 taels. ”

Zhu Youzhen was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help asking: "Didn't this railway say that it would be completed in early August?" Can 4 months be worth 30,000 taels? ”

Bi Ziyan immediately said: "There are five or six thousand workers who go to work near Zuo'anmen from the Taiji factory every day, and after the opening of the horse-drawn railway, the fare for each person to go back and forth a day is five cents, and there are nearly 8,000 yuan a month, plus the round-trip transportation costs of other goods, the income is 30,000 taels in four months, even if it is not, it will not be very far behind." ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately shook his head and said: "The wages of those workers are only about 8 cents a day to a dime, and it is definitely not okay to let them take out half of their income to take the car."

And this railway has just been built, whether there will be problems when it is operated, everyone does not know, I think what you think is too ideal.

Besides, it seems unreasonable to hand over the investment in this railway palace to Shuntianfu for operation. I still gave you the money, and as for the railway, it was handed over to the urban transportation company that had been formed to operate it according to the original plan.

Well, I ordered that some areas should be planted with corn instead of millet after harvesting winter wheat, how has Shuntianfu implemented it? ”

Bi Ziyan also shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Except for the villages that have planted corn before, the farmers in most areas are unwilling to obey the orders of the imperial court.

They all said that this kind of land should rely on the experience passed down from their ancestors, and they should not be under the blind command of the government. People coax people for a while, and people coax people for a season. If they don't get a harvest of corn, they won't be able to survive.

The minister felt that the weather was not very good this year, and if there was a problem with the replanting of corn that they had not planted, it would hurt His Majesty's good intentions if something happened, so he had already taken the initiative to stop promoting the matter. ”

Zhu You suddenly had a toothache when he heard this, and he could only shake his head and say: "If the weather is dry again, there may not be a harvest when planting grain." In this way, before July arrives, you can ask the county officials from all over the country to go down and publicize it.

If you are willing to change to corn, you can first advance a part of the grain as a deposit for the purchase of corn, and change it to a few acres if you can. As for not being able to plant, let the people from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Shanglin Yuan Supervisor visit various places and teach the technology of planting corn..."

After entering the city, Chongzhen and Bi Ziyan broke up on Qipan Street and returned to the palace directly. As soon as he walked into the upper study, he called Wang Chengen and instructed: "You ask Neiku to allocate 80,000 taels of silver to Shuntian Mansion for disaster relief."

In addition, Xu Xingsheng was notified and asked to instruct the workshops opened in the palace to subsidize the commuting expenses of the workers. In addition, the person in charge of the railway operating the city was told that a one-month ticket system would be added, and that the whole month ticket would be pre-sold at half price, and the number of rides could be unlimited but limited to one person. ”

Wang Chengen nodded again and again and wrote down Chongzhen's instructions, he waited for a while, and when he saw that the emperor did not speak again, he withdrew from the door to do business.

Then Zhu Youzhen asked Lu Qi on the side: "When I go out, is there any important news delivered?" ”

Lu Qi stepped forward and saluted and said: "There are two things, one is that Yang Taichang has sent back news from Liaodong, Houjin has signed a peace agreement with my Daming, and Yang Taichang will return in a few days." ”

"That's good news, but what about the other one?" Zhu Youzhen loosened his brows and asked with a smile.

"Eight Macao officers hired by His Majesty have arrived in Tianjin with two red-coated cannons. But—" Lu Qi paused suddenly.

Zhu Youzhen asked curiously, "But what?" ”

Lu Qi then continued: "There is a person in Macao who is the commander of the Japanese trade fleet, and he hopes to be able to enter Beijing to meet His Majesty. ”

Zhu Youzhen groaned and replied: "He is allowed to enter the capital, but the number of people accompanying him must not exceed 3." In addition, after these Macao people entered Beijing, the medical school sent several doctors to conduct a physical examination on them. There is no problem, let the Army Military Academy receive these hired officers and artillery. ”