The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 81

In Gansu, poppies are grown everywhere. Every year in May and June, when they bloom like beautiful flowers, women, children, old and young, use bamboo knives and copper pots to scrape and refine the pulp; traders from all over Jiangsu and Zhejiang gather in Gansu with their money. According to Admiral Sauven, this alone has annual sales of more than one million taels in various states and counties. In my opinion, even if there is not that much, there are still about three to four hundred thousand taels, no more, no less. This money was spread to remote areas, allowing people everywhere to benefit to some extent. When I first took office, Governor Yue issued a statement to Hou Tingyue of Ganliang Dao on the collection of opium taxes. The general idea was to ask the governor's office to issue notices in advance and set up cards to collect lijin from opium trafficking; and then ordered the local prefectures and counties to collect crops per mu If there is tax evasion, tax evasion will be severely punished. I laughed after watching it. Hou Tingyue is from Shanxi, and he is full of business knowledge. He only knows how to make profits, but does not know the harm. So I personally drafted a reply to the rebuttal: "Cultivation of opium locally is still prohibited by the imperial court. What does it say on the notice? Set up spot checks. If traders resist killing, isn't this another cause of provocation? Collection on a per-acre basis will definitely reduce the number of people. Positive income. All the above show that this suggestion is difficult to implement and there is no need to discuss it further. "

Admiral Suo Wen set up a card bureau in Ganzhou City and appointed military attachés and soldiers to collect the goods together with the county officers. The cigarette dealers then encouraged the farmers to gather in crowds and cause trouble, and the card bureau was demolished. Military attachés and soldiers were also injured, and the card bureau was cancelled. Fortunately, this matter has nothing to do with the feudal government.

Naxun Agula, the deputy governor of Guide Mansion, had a good relationship with Ledu. This man was already over seventy years old, but he still made big talk and boasted. He stated in the previous article that there are free pastures in Yemachuan and Dacaotan outside Xiningkou, which can be cultivated for investment and cultivation. Tens of millions of hectares of fertile land can be reclaimed. By then, there will be no need to worry about the three million taels of military salary each year. ; For those farmers who are willing to plant their crops, if they are asked to pay the land fee first, they will not be given a million silver. I wonder if there is such a beautiful place outside the customs, why have the local magistrates never mentioned it? During the Daoguang period, Mr. Deng Tingzhen was good at reclamation. Why did he leave out this place alone?

I asked my colleagues again, and they all thought his words were not credible. However, Yuedu believed it and thought he was very sure, so he sent Zhang Zhao, who was promoted to the magistrate of Qinzhou, and Zhang Guiwen, who was acting as a fellow magistrate, to explore. These two places are infested by wild beasts, and herdsmen are often kidnapped and robbed of their herds. They were exploring deeply at this time. If they encountered a wild beast, they would not be afraid of it, but they did not dare not to go away.

Two months later, the two men returned to the provincial capital to sell their goods and attached a map. According to them, the Yema River was not a big place and was close to Shengban. Xining Town sent soldiers to escort them to inspect. The area to the south was still full of lush aquatic plants, but the area to the north had no aquatic plants at all. The garrison carried weapons to graze their cattle, and they were often robbed and killed by wild beasts. How could the farmers dare to farm in such a dangerous place? They asked the border residents, but no one was willing to go to reclaim the land. There is not even a single person who is asking for money for land as mentioned by Naxun Agula. Moreover, the temperature there is very low. It only thaws in April and already has frost in July. Even if artificial fertilizers and manure are reluctantly used, the growth cycle is too short and there is no hope of harvest. As for the Dacaotan, Shen Shouzeng, the prefect of Ganzhou Prefecture, was appointed to explore it. It is said that it is basically a desert with no aquatic plants and no possibility of cultivation. I was still worried that their investigation was not thorough, so I wrote to Admiral Sovan asking him to send someone to investigate again. I soon received a reply that was exactly what the commissioner had said. It can be seen that Naxun Agula was just talking nonsense, while Ledu just followed the rumors---Le Bin was doing things, which was mostly like this.