Chapter 1178 Inspecting Hebei and Henan!
March 29th, Feiquan Township outside Yujing City
Surrounded by hundreds of guards in plain clothes, Ye Mingsheng was inspecting the farmland, and the current Yujing prefect Hu Mingyuan introduced it to Ye Mingsheng:
"Marshal, Feiquan County currently has a total of 3,900 mu of farmland, of which about 900 mu are paddy fields and about 3,000 mu are dry fields. According to the reforms you have promoted, there are 11,000 households in the county that own more than five mu of land. We have truly achieved the goal of "land to the tiller"..."

"There are about 2,000 mu of land planted with rice, 1,300 mu of land planted with wheat, and 600 mu of land planted with sorghum in the county. There are more than 10,000 households with an annual income of more than 5 taels of silver in the county, and another 3,000 households with an annual income of more than 10 taels of silver. Among the 11 counties and towns surrounding Yujing, Feiquan Township's income is at an upper-middle level!"

Because Ye Mingsheng had already ordered in advance not to disturb the farmers while they were farming, the people in the rice fields did not line up to welcome Ye Mingsheng's arrival, but continued to work hard in the fields.

As Hu Mingyuan was explaining, Ye Mingsheng was also observing the situation in the farmland from time to time. After Hu Mingyuan finished his introduction, Ye Mingsheng asked:

"You know Jiyu's situation very well!"

In response to Ye Mingsheng's question, the fourth-rank Yujing Qingtian Grand Master also said respectfully:
"I am originally from Jiyu. I was a Jinshi in the third year of Anhe. I have served as the county magistrate of Zhongxu County and the prefect of Ruyang. I have served in Jiyu for more than thirteen years. I was born and raised here. I think I have some understanding of some of the situations in Jiyu!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly, and then continued to inspect the farmlands, walking here and there. Although the people in the farmlands were a little surprised to see Ye Mingsheng and his party, because Ye Mingsheng and his party were all in casual clothes, they were not afraid and still did their own work...

After looking around, Ye Mingsheng finally locked his eyes on an old man who was sitting on the ground drinking water and resting. He immediately went over and asked:

"Old man, what's your last name?"

"There's nothing expensive or not for country folk. My last name is Wang!"

Old man Wang, who was taking a rest, answered subconsciously when he heard Ye Mingsheng's question. After he finished speaking, he instinctively looked at Ye Mingsheng, but he saw that hundreds of people were looking at him. Seeing this, Old man Wang was suddenly a little scared. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng also realized that something was wrong, and immediately gave a look to the people behind him.

At Ye Mingsheng's signal, everyone dispersed immediately, leaving only a few officials such as Zhao Wanxian, Song Haibo, and more than a dozen guards to protect Ye Mingsheng's safety.

Ye Mingsheng immediately sat down next to Old Man Wang and asked him again with a smile:
"Uncle Wang, how old are you this year?"

"I'm forty-seven!"

Ye Mingsheng was quite surprised when he heard this. The man in front of him with mottled hair and beard, old face and a hunched back was only 47 years old. If he hadn't said it, Ye Mingsheng would have thought he was at least 60 years old!

After answering Ye Mingsheng's question, Uncle Wang couldn't help but glance at the guards around Ye Mingsheng. Then he seemed to realize something and asked Ye Mingsheng carefully:
"Are you a high-ranking official?"

Ye Mingsheng laughed loudly upon hearing this, then said without blushing or beating his heart:
"Uncle Wang, do you think I look like a high-ranking official?"

"I'm just a businessman from Youyan. I came to your precious place to see if there is any profitable business. Does your place look like a place where high-ranking officials come?"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Wang shook his head and said:

"We live in a poor and remote countryside. Where would those officials come from?"

After these words came out, Zhao Wanxian and Hu Mingyuan, who were standing next to him, suddenly felt a little embarrassed. However, at this moment, Uncle Wang looked at Ye Mingsheng seriously and said:
"But you do look like a high-ranking official! But you only look like one. I once went to Yujing City to sell our own chickens. I saw a high-ranking official traveling. He always sat in a sedan chair, with servants on both sides clearing the way!"

"Although there are many people around you, you are walking instead of riding in a sedan chair, and there are no people in official uniforms around you!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled slightly when he heard this and continued:
"So I'm not a high-ranking official. I'm just a businessman. Those guys just now were my employees and shopkeepers!"

After saying this, Ye Mingsheng did not want to discuss this issue with Mr. Wang any further, and immediately changed the subject and asked:

"Uncle Wang, how is your spring farming going this year? What did you plant?"

At this time, Uncle Wang had already believed that the young man next to him was a businessman, so he said without hesitation:
"The government officials came early in the morning to urge us to plant the land and not let it go idle. They said that anyone who planted late would be taxed, so we started planting early, and now the planting is almost done!"

“I only planted some rice and sorghum in the land. I originally wanted to plant cotton in all the land. Now the price of cotton is high, and I can make more money by planting cotton than by planting grain…”

After hearing this, Ye Mingsheng was also a little surprised and asked:
"In that case, Uncle Wang, why don't you grow cotton?"

Uncle Wang heard this and said helplessly:
"Although I want to grow cotton, the government officials won't let me!"

"Why not?"

"The officials said a lot, and I, a country boy, couldn't understand what they were saying, but they just said they wouldn't let me go!"

After hearing what Uncle Wang said, Yujing Prefect Hu Mingyuan seemed to be hesitant to speak, as if he wanted to explain to Ye Mingsheng, but when he saw that Ye Mingsheng didn't look at him, he could only give up.

Ye Mingsheng kept this question in mind, and then asked Uncle Wang:
"I heard that Jiyu Daxinchang Bank lends money to farmers like you. Uncle Wang, have you borrowed money from Daxinchang Bank?"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Wang nodded and said:
"Last year, I borrowed five taels of silver, and the annual interest rate was only five percent. At first, we didn't believe it. How could these black-hearted banknote houses be so kind? Later, we found out that it was stipulated by Marshal Ye. Marshal Ye finally did a good thing!"

Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised when he heard this, and then he asked:

"Do you think Marshal Ye is bad?" Uncle Wang shook his head and said:

“I think Marshal Ye is a good man. Since he replaced Marshal Gao, we have our own land, and the annual taxes have been reduced. Those bullies don’t dare to do evil anymore. Now even the interest on borrowing money is much lower…”

"When I was a tenant farmer for the landlord, I worked hard all year round to pay the rent and taxes, and there was nothing left. I didn't even have money to buy medicine when I was sick!"

"But some people say that Marshal Ye is not a good person. They say that he is called a minister of Zhou but is actually a thief of Zhou. They say that he is the number one treacherous minister in the three hundred years of the Great Zhou Dynasty. They say that his followers shout "Long live him" every day and that he will soon usurp the throne and become emperor!"

Ye Mingsheng laughed in silence when he heard this, but Zhao Wanxian, Hu Mingyuan, Song Haibo and others beside him all changed their expressions. At this time, Uncle Wang seemed to realize that he had spoken out of turn, and asked Ye Mingsheng with some caution:
"Why do you, a businessman, ask so many questions?"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:

"I came to Jiyu to do business, so of course I have to understand your local customs and practices. Otherwise, how can I do business?"

After saying this, Ye Mingsheng took out a small piece of silver and handed it to Old Man Wang, saying:

"Tell me more about the silver!"

Seeing the silver, Old Man Wang's eyes lit up immediately. He quickly took the silver and said to Ye Mingsheng:
"As long as you have money, I will tell you whatever you ask!"

"Uncle Wang, besides farming, do you do other work, such as raising chickens or planting fruit trees?"

"After I borrowed money from Daxinchang Bank last year, I actually wanted to plant a jujube tree. I think that as long as I plant the tree now, I will be able to have a harvest in two or three years if I am lucky. By then, I can make several taels of silver every year by selling the jujubes..."

"But my wife wouldn't let me plant trees. She said I didn't know how to grow them. It's hard to grow jujube trees. Even if I'm lucky enough to plant a successful jujube tree, someone else will take it away. So she wouldn't let me plant trees. She told me to raise chickens instead!"

"I was also bewildered at the time and listened to her advice. I bought a few roosters and hens, thinking that the hens would give birth to chicks, which I could sell for eggs and chicken, and I could make a few taels of silver a year. But I didn't expect that there was a chicken plague here last year, and the authorities killed all the chickens without thinking!"

"They killed the animals, but they didn't give us any compensation. We worked for months in vain, and my wife was so upset that she almost fell ill. Fortunately, the harvest was good last year, and we made some money from selling the grain, so we could barely pay off the debt to Daxinchang Bank!"

"I won't think too much this year. I'll just plant crops honestly. I didn't borrow money from Daxinchang this year, so if this year's harvest is as good as last year's, I can earn more money than last year and try to find a wife for my eldest son!"

Listening to Old Man Wang's mumbling, Ye Mingsheng silently memorized some useful information. At the end, Ye Mingsheng threw another tael of silver to Old Man Wang.

After bidding farewell to Old Man Wang, Hu Mingyuan, the prefect of Yujing, immediately apologized to Ye Mingsheng and expressed to Ye Mingsheng that he would rectify public opinion and severely investigate those who slandered Ye Mingsheng...

In this regard, Ye Mingsheng also asked Hu Mingyuan to seriously deal with those who have ulterior motives, but not to investigate people like Old Man Wang who just follow the crowd.

After dealing with this political issue, Hu Mingyuan also explained to Ye Mingsheng that the order not to plant cotton was issued by him as the prefect, and he had his reasons for doing so. Hebei and Henan have a large population, so the demand for food is also very large. Nowadays, in good years, the grain production in Hebei and Henan is surplus, and in bad years, the grain grown is not enough to eat.

Therefore, if people are allowed to grow cotton, then since they can make a lot of money growing cotton, many people will definitely go to make money from cotton. As more people grow cotton, fewer people will grow grain. This will inevitably lead to a decrease in grain production and trigger a new round of food crisis.

On the one hand, Ye Mingsheng agreed with Hu Mingyuan's explanation. On the other hand, he also said that on such issues, as the prefect, you, Hu Mingyuan, can consider adopting market methods instead of directly using one-size-fits-all orders. Such a one-size-fits-all approach will instead push up the price of cotton and make some people grow cotton secretly!

You can increase taxes on cotton planting to reduce the profits of the people from cotton planting. With less profits, the enthusiasm for planting cotton will naturally decrease.

Ye Mingsheng's words opened a new door for Hu Mingyuan. He was a traditional manager who came from a Jinshi family, so he relied entirely on simple and crude XZ commands to do things and lacked knowledge and understanding of the market!
Then Ye Mingsheng asked six or seven farmers in a row. He got a lot of useful information by following Ye Mingsheng’s method, which made Ye Mingsheng understand the real thoughts of the general public better...

Ye Mingsheng finished his inspection when the sun was setting. On the way back, Ye Mingsheng moved Zhao Wanxian to his carriage and asked him:

"You have been in Jiyu for more than a month. I heard that you have visited many places during this period. What do you think about the development of Jiyu now?"

Zhao Wanxian had expected Ye Mingsheng's question, so he said without hesitation:
"I plan to maintain the current high-pressure situation at FF and strictly require colleagues at all levels while also implementing a bonus system to ensure a clean and upright atmosphere in Hebei and Henan!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly. This was the suggestion Zhao Wanxian had made to him in Yijing. He agreed with his idea and expected his plan to be effective!

Seeing Ye Mingsheng nod, Zhao Wanxian continued:
"Marshal, my experience in promoting the development of Liaoyang was to increase the development of mineral resources and vigorously develop the smelting industry. At the same time, I encouraged the people to open up the wasteland in Liaoyang and increase grain production!"

"But these experiences are not feasible in Hebei and Henan. The mineral resources in Hebei and Henan are not as abundant as those in Liaoyang. At the same time, Hebei and Henan are located in the Central Plains, unlike Liaoyang, which is located on the border and has a lot of undeveloped wasteland. The land that can be reclaimed in Hebei and Henan has basically been reclaimed. It is difficult to expand the arable land area and increase food production by reclaiming wasteland!"

"But Jiyu has a very prominent feature, that is, there are many people in Jiyu!"

“I think if this feature can be used properly, it will be a huge advantage. Otherwise, it will be a huge burden…”

(End of this chapter)