The main source of financial expenditure for the Northern Song Dynasty was royal expenses.
Few people dare to mention this.
Only Zhao Jun was bold enough to cancel the celebration of the Queen's birthday and just have a simple meal in the back garden instead.
"Well, this is because the government loves the people and works hard."
Zhao Jun bowed towards the Chongzheng Hall in the north, causing Zhao Zhen, who was playing on the computer, to sneeze.
"It is a blessing for the Song Dynasty that the government can show sympathy to the people of the world."
Zhao Jun continued, "We should also learn from the government and reduce extravagance. Aside from necessary expenses, we should cut government spending as much as possible."
"OK."
Everyone responded, although they didn't know how many of them were sincere, but they still had to do what they had to do.
Then Zhao Jun looked at Jiang Tang and asked, "How are people's livelihoods?"
There are more than fifty departments under the Constitutional Yuan, but they are divided into three levels.
The first-tier institutions include the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Police, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Taxation, the Censorate, the Censorate, as well as the traditional six ministries of Rites, Personnel, Military Affairs, Justices, Households, and Works.
After the title of Deputy Observer of the Constitutional Council was abolished, the ministers of these thirteen departments were all given the title of Deputy Observer of the Constitutional Council, and the rank remained the second rank.
Next are the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Taxation, Ministry of Agriculture, Dali Temple, Court of Criminal Justice, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Transportation, Court of Imperial Examinations, Ministry of Statistics, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ordinary departments.
The ministers of these departments are of the third rank, and their weight is slightly lighter than that of the first-tier departments mentioned above, but these departments pay more attention to people's livelihood.
For example, Jiang Tang is currently in charge of several major departments, including the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Taxation, and the Ministry of Agriculture, which are related to people's lives.
When Zhao Jun asked him, Jiang Tang said, "Since August of the previous year, the Ministry of Agriculture has been planting corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts and other crops in our Song Dynasty. We have been experimenting with planting them in the imperial farmland outside the city. In just four months, after applying fertilizer, we have been able to achieve a yield of one to three dan per mu."
"One to three dan is only about 200 jin. It's not as high as Han Long said, with yields of 1,000 or even several thousand jin per mu, but this is autumn and winter farming. We started spring farming at the beginning of last year, and six months later, the yield per mu reached 4 to 5 dan, with the highest yield per mu reaching over 700 jin."
"So, starting in the second half of last year, the Constitutional Yuan has included the promotion of crops like sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, and peanuts in the production and production law. After more than six months of hard work, the first batch of sweet potatoes and corn and other crops have basically been harvested across the country."
"In terms of yield, these things are only slightly higher than the rice and wheat we usually eat. Our rice and wheat yields are generally between two and four stone. However, their advantages are obvious. They are extremely resilient and can survive as long as they are watered. If fertilized, the yield will be much higher, greatly improving our productivity."
"The National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs began conducting research and summarizing results in counties and prefectures across China in the second half of last year. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and peanuts are now being bought and sold on the market, and their prices are much lower than grain prices. However, ordinary people don't eat much of them; much of it is fed to pigs."
At the end of the story, Jiang Tang was also a little bit amused and helpless.
The emergence of Champa rice can actually fully meet the current population needs of the Song Dynasty. The emergence of things like sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn can allow the Qing Dynasty to have a population of 400 million. This shows that if these things are promoted now, grain production will completely exceed people's needs.
If the imperial court had not spent money every year to purchase grain and store it in the Changping Warehouse as disaster relief reserves, and also exported it to Western Xia, Liao, Goryeo, and Japan, I am afraid that the current grain prices would have been extremely low.
Therefore, the emergence of new crops cannot change anything. Unless policies are adjusted to encourage more births and more children, which leads to explosive population growth, the problem of increased grain production can be alleviated.
"But I heard that many poor people still eat these things. Although these things are originally eaten as food, it is difficult for most people to change their living habits in a short period of time. If there is rice or flour, no one will choose to eat sweet potatoes and potatoes."
Fan Zhongyan objected, “This seems to illustrate some fundamental issues.”
"yes."
Jiang Tang lamented, "Although the imperial court has reduced labor service and taxes in recent years, there are still many impoverished people, especially in the mountainous areas. Even though the grain production is enough to feed several times the population of the Song Dynasty, many people still struggle on the brink of life and death."
Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "This is a problem of uneven distribution of social wealth. Starting this year, the court must continue to implement new policies. All policies must be constantly updated and cannot be rigidly adhered to."
"What do you think?"
Yan Shu asked.
“We need to definitely improve the situation of the poor.”
Zhao Jun pointed out: "Many mountainous areas have inconvenient transportation and underdeveloped information. In addition, clan power is strong and people are conservative. Even if there are good policies, it is difficult to spread them. We must increase publicity work at the grassroots level."
There is now enough food for everyone. Many people in the plains, such as the North China Plain in Henan and Hebei, can easily obtain channels and information even if their families are in financial difficulty.
They could go to nearby places such as Henan Prefecture, Kaifeng Prefecture, Daming Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture to work, and the wages they earned were more than enough to support their families.
Moreover, as the economy developed, the handicraft manufacturing industry became more prosperous, and various workshops sprang up like mushrooms after a rain. The problem of labor shortage gradually became exposed, and merchants began to compete with landlords for people, forcing the landlord class to reduce rents to win back the tenant population.
In a sense, this is definitely a virtuous cycle. Whether landlords lower rents or bosses increase wages, it is good news for farmers and workers.
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