Chapter 291: 289: What I Say Goes

The "Ordinance Restraining Cotton Fields" has already been implemented. It does not compel anything, only slightly raises the tax on cotton fields.

At the same time, if natural disasters strike, the preferential policies for cotton fields are halved. That is, if grain-field taxes are fully remitted due to disaster, cotton fields receive only a 50% remission; if grain-field taxes are halved, cotton fields receive only a 25% remission.

Northeast Jiangxi is excepted — cotton may be planted there without restriction!

In recent years, Northeast Jiangxi, which suffers drought every year without fail, has been the finest cotton-producing region in all of Jiangxi.

The cotton produced there rivals Shandong cotton in quality, and using water-powered spinning machines on it would simply be a waste of material. It must be spun and woven by hand, made directly into fine cotton cloth, which sells for many times the price of coarse cotton cloth.

The Jiangxi provincial government is based in Nanchang. Left Provincial Administration Commissioner Ouyang Zheng and Right Provincial Administration Commissioner Huo Tao made a special trip to Ji'an to report on their work.

Ouyang Zheng presented an agricultural development plan and reported: "The various offices of the provincial government, having assessed the province's overall conditions, believe that in farming, priority should be given to developing tea, cotton, tung oil, ramie, and tobacco leaf. Especially ramie and tobacco leaf!"

"Explain in detail," Zhao Han nodded.

Ouyang Zheng analyzed:

"Jiangxi tea needs no elaboration; it has been renowned throughout the realm since the Han and Tang dynasties. 'The merchant prizes profit above parting, last month he went to Fuliang to buy tea' — the 'Ballad of the Pipa' speaks of Jiangxi tea. Jiangxi has much mountainous land, very suited to tea cultivation."

"Jiangxi is also one of the four great cotton-producing regions of the empire. Cotton should be planted, but it is best to allow unrestricted planting only in Northeast Jiangxi. In other parts of Jiangxi, the acreage of cotton fields must be restrained."

"Tung oil and tobacco leaf are better planted in southern Jiangxi, where the land is all great mountains, and planting grain yields little harvest. Southern Jiangxi can also develop tea mountains, but tea mountains, like tung oil, take shape slowly — only yielding a harvest several years after planting. Therefore, tung trees and tea bushes should be planted gradually, with no need to rush; tobacco leaf can be promoted rapidly."

"The main crop to promote across Jiangxi should be ramie..."

Jiangxi was one of the four great ramie-producing regions in the Ming dynasty. This plant is not very picky about land. Once wasteland has been cleared and matured, it can be planted casually on hillsides, and its economic returns are certainly far greater than sweet potatoes.

Moreover, the great water-powered spinning wheel was originally designed for spinning hemp yarn. Jiangxi is densely crisscrossed with rivers. If ramie is widely cultivated, even without improving the great water-powered spinning wheel, the two can mesh together perfectly.

Ramie is mainly used for weaving summer cloth — that is, cloth worn in summer, breathable and cool.

At present, the bandages in Zhao Han's army are uniformly made of ramie summer cloth. Ramie fiber contains components such as purine and pyrimidine, which inhibit many kinds of bacteria and also have antiseptic and anti-mold properties — it is practically the first choice for making medical bandages.

After the water-powered spinning machine was popularized, the most rapidly increasing output last year was not coarse cotton cloth or coarse cotton yarn, but summer cloth!

Even Guangdong merchants are buying it in large quantities, and it can be exported to Southeast Asia.

Because Jiangxi summer cloth suddenly became extremely cheap, Zheng Zhilong bought twenty thousand bolts in one go. Sailors are particularly fond of this material; it is cooler and more breathable than cotton cloth to wear, and in the Southern Seas there is no worry at all about finding a market for it.

Ramie can also be used to make matchcord for matchlock guns, hawsers for seagoing ships, and so on.

"Ramie is a fine thing," Zhao Han nodded approvingly. "Take your agricultural plan and go to the Government Affairs Office to consult with Director Huang. Remember, agricultural development must consider supporting industrial and commercial development — the two complement each other."

"Yes!"

"Go."

The two Provincial Administration Commissioners left together.

Serving as a Provincial Administration Commissioner under Zhao Han is no easy task; one must be thoroughly familiar with the province's industrial, agricultural, and commercial landscape.

By contrast, in the Great Ming, because Governors-General and Governors had become permanent fixtures, the Provincial Administration Commissioner — who was supposed to oversee all provincial government affairs — saw his authority shrink to that of a provincial government office director.

Truly, those Provincial Administration Commissioners in the late Ming, as soon as the court dispatched a Governor-General or Governor, immediately became provincial office directors, their actual power less than that of the prefects below them.

This situation was abnormal, yet in the late Ming it was entirely normal.

Except for the Ministry of War, which was somewhat better, the Grand Secretariat, the Six Offices of Scrutiny, and the Six Ministries of the Great Ming were all functionally disordered!

If the Chongzhen Emperor wished to reverse the course of events, he would first have to regulate the various central government departments and clarify the duties of officials at every level before anything else.

Back when Zhang Juzheng carried out his reforms, he too began by reforming the court, reorganizing the Grand Secretariat, the Six Offices of Scrutiny, and the Six Ministries, and implementing a performance evaluation system. Otherwise, with the central government in chaos, how could reforms be enacted in the localities?

Chongzhen did exactly the opposite — he took the lead in throwing the central government into disarray!

He planted eunuchs in the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, crippling those two ministries with a single blow.

Yet Chongzhen had no choice; the corruption in the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue was too outrageous. He did not trust the civil officials, so he could only send eunuchs in... and then the corruption grew even more outrageous. The eunuchs took their cut first, and the civil officials went on taking theirs.

Having finished a pile of government affairs, Zhao Han glanced at the clock, stretched, and went home to eat.

At present, the two places in the country with the finest clocks are Suzhou and Guangzhou.

Unfortunately, they only have hour hands, no minute or second hands.

When Zhao Han was in Guangzhou, he summoned several clockmakers and told them to develop a minute hand.

Developing the minute hand still requires time.

Just like the Provincial Administration Commissioners of Hunan and Guangdong, who will need at least another year before they can thoroughly grasp the conditions of their entire provinces. First formulate a province-wide agricultural plan, then develop industry and commerce to support it — one must not develop recklessly in defiance of local realities.

By the time he strolled back to the rear residence, the meal was already prepared.

Little Sister ate lunch at school, leaving only Fei Rulan and Pan Qimei. Both women had slightly swelling bellies — both were pregnant, and their due dates were quite close.

"Husband, I can recite the Three Character Classic all the way through now!" Pan Qimei said excitedly.

Zhao Han smiled encouragingly: "Very clever. Keep up the good work, and study your numbers alongside it."

Fei Rulan smiled and said, "Seventh Sister is indeed clever; she learns the Three Character Classic very quickly. It's just her writing that needs more practice."

Since they were pregnant together and could not run about everywhere, they simply spent all day at home studying.

Pan Qimei treated the Three Character Classic as a Chinese-language textbook. Apart from her accent being a bit odd, she had no problem at all communicating in everyday Chinese.

The three chatted as they ate.

Suddenly, a guard came to report, presenting a letter.

Zhao Han set down his chopsticks, opened the letter while chewing his food, and after reading it said, "Have them come to the Regional Commander's residence to see me at one in the afternoon."

"Yes!" The guard withdrew.

To be honest, Zhao Han did not have deep feelings for that elder sister; after all, he had not seen her since he transmigrated.

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

The pendulum in the office swayed, making its sound.

Xu Fengcai, Xu Nianzu, Wang Wei, Lin Xue, and Liu Rushi — the five of them had already been waiting a long time in the reception room.

Secretary Tao Aizhi walked in: "The two young masters Xu, please follow me. The three young ladies, please wait a moment longer."

The Xu brothers hurriedly followed. Xu Fengcai was somewhat apprehensive; Xu Nianzu was extremely excited.

At last, they met Zhao Han.

Zhao Zhenlan was also only in her twenties, so her younger brothers were naturally even younger. The two brothers had long been mentally prepared for this.

"Greetings, Mr. Zhao!"

"Please, both of you, sit."

One a direct descendant of Xu Jie, the other a descendant of Xu Jie's younger brother — Zhao Han was still quite interested.

The Xu clan are great landlords!

Xu Fengcai cupped his hands and said, "My third younger brother, Xu Zhiyuan, and a woman fell deeply in love. According to my sister-in-law, her original name was Zhao Zhenlan, and she was separated from her younger brother Zhao Han in Tianjin."

"Then it matches — she is my eldest sister," Zhao Han said.

Xu Fengcai said, "My sister-in-law is now a proper concubine, living alone with my third brother in a separate villa. Apart from her, my third brother has only his principal wife and no other concubines."

Zhao Han nodded and said, "I understand."

What kind of reaction was that?

Xu Fengcai grew more and more uneasy. The Xu clan truly dared not divorce the wife. The principal wife also came from a great clan; if they divorced her without fault, and moreover because they were currying favor with Zhao Han, the Xu clan's reputation would be utterly ruined.

At last, Zhao Han spoke: "I will send a few men to bring my elder sister and brother-in-law to Jiangxi."

Xu Fengcai sighed with both regret and relief. Zhao Han had given them enough face, intending to handle the matter coolly for now. As for the future, it would very likely be an amicable separation — if not divorce, then divorce it must be.

The Xu clan still had time to do the ideological work. Otherwise, after an amicable separation, what if my third brother's original wife committed suicide?

By then, not only would the Xu clan lose face, but Zhao Han's reputation would also be affected.

"The matter is settled. The Xu clan's loose ends, you will handle yourselves." Zhao Han gave the order directly, not consulting Xu Fengcai at all.

Xu Fengcai cupped his hands and said, "The Xu clan will handle it properly."

Zhao Han suddenly asked, "The Xu clan has a great deal of land?"

The Xu clan's landholdings were not merely "a great deal" — the whole clan combined had over a million mu!

However, they had divided the family property several times. Take Xu Fengcai and his two brothers, for example: this branch probably owned about two hundred thousand mu of land.

"Mr. Zhao, rest assured, the Xu clan will certainly cooperate with the land redistribution," Xu Fengcai said hastily.

Since his third brother had married Zhao Han's elder sister, they could maneuver in all sorts of ways. Sell off the family land in advance, convert it into various goods and wealth, and then wholeheartedly pursue official careers and commerce.

Zhao Han said, "The Xu clan's influence in Jiangnan is too great; some must be relocated. Dispersed and relocated to five provinces — how about that?"

"This…" Xu Fengcai dared not agree, nor did he have the authority to decide.

"Then it's settled," Zhao Han once again made the final decision. "If any of the Xu clan refuse to divide the land, or refuse to relocate far away, I will send people to persuade them. I am a reasonable man, and I believe the Xu clan can also listen to reason."

Xu Fengcai started to speak, then stopped, and in the end dared not object.

The Xu clan was finished.

Land divided, family property divided, dispersed and relocated to five provinces — they would likely be scattered across more than ten counties. By then, the hearts of the Xu clansmen would be scattered, and it would be utterly impossible to bind them together again.

Xu Nianzu felt a twinge of fear, even breaking into a cold sweat on his back.

What Zhao Han had said proved that he was incomparably wary of the Xu clan. Had he not married Zhao Han's elder sister, the Xu clan would probably have been made an example of, and then it would not have been as simple as dispersal and distant relocation.

A close call, a very close call!

Even as he feared, Xu Nianzu's blood surged with excitement. This was the bearing of a true overlord.

Which founding monarch of a dynasty was not forceful?

If Zhao Han had shown any sign of compromise, Xu Nianzu would have looked down on him instead.

Xu Nianzu abruptly rose, cupped his hands, and said, "I request that the Regional Commander immediately dispatch troops to Jiangnan!"

"So impatient?" Zhao Han said with a smile.

Xu Nianzu said, "This year, the Southern Metropolitan Region has suffered another severe drought. Although Zhejiang has not been stricken, Jiangnan will inevitably face famine this year. The court's taxes are far too heavy, and with repeated surcharges, the common people have long been unable to bear it. If the Regional Commander does not dispatch troops, at the very least several hundred thousand people in Jiangnan will starve to death this year!"

(End of Chapter)