Wang Qi said a lot, and as he spoke, he looked very strange when Chen Kangbo and the other two said it.

It sounds like the Southern Song Dynasty was ungrateful. It was obvious that they had done their best here, but they were still not satisfied.

Chen Kangbo and others were embarrassed and felt that they had become evil people.

That's not all, he's still talking.

"The Ming Dynasty was not as rich as the Southern Dynasties. Your Majesty could not bear to see the people suffering and enjoy themselves, and he did not allow us officials to enjoy themselves in luxury. So Your Majesty set an example and should eat and drink no differently from the food here, at most it would be four dishes and one soup.

His Majesty the Emperor set an example, how can our officials break their orders and enjoy themselves against their conscience? Oh...I'm not saying that the Southern Dynasties envoys are extravagant and enjoy themselves, I'm saying...oh...If, if the noble envoys need them, we can do our best to arrange them, really!"

Wang Qi said a lot, and it seemed that he noticed that what he said was a bit unfair. He quickly remedyed it, but the remedy method was particularly clumsy and could be broken as soon as he poked it.

But this was enough to make Chen Kangbo's face turn red and white. He was holding the rice bowl and looking at the white rice in the bowl.

Yu Yunwen and Lu You lowered their heads and ate quietly, not saying a word...

After a dinner, I felt that Chen Kangbo, who was publicly executed, did not want the dessert [prepared specially for them] after meals, went back to the room to rest and didn't want to make anything.

He is tired.

Yu Yunwen also refused the dessert mung bean cake after meals and went back to his room to rest.

Only Lu You accepted a portion of mung bean cake, thanked Wang Qi, and then returned to his room to rest.

Back in the room, Lu You sat at the desk and secretly took out the "Hongwu Political Commentary" he carried with him and started reading it. While watching it, he ate mung bean cake. Before he knew it, he turned off the lights and went to bed.

Lying on the bed, Lu You remembered what Wang Qi said, and the most informative thing in this conversation [an ordinary farmers in Ming Dynasty can also have three main meals a day], and he tossed and turned and couldn't sleep.

He kept thinking about why Ming Dynasty could allow farmers to have three meals a day in such a difficult state of finance, under the circumstances of being in chaos.

And the peasants of the Southern Song Dynasty...

A meal a day is considered a food and clothing level.

If what Wang Qi said is true,

Then it proves that Su Yonglin wrote in the book about his own governance and governance achievements in the country are true.

If such a key thing is true, then it is difficult to fake other things he said.

Lu You knows very well how difficult it is to let ordinary farmers have three meals a day.

As the poem says, [the one who is full of silk and silk,

Not a silkworm breeder],

In contrast,

People who can eat and have a lot of energy are never farmers responsible for agricultural production.

Lu You still remembered the living conditions of the Southern Song people who saw him when he was studying and after he became an official, he saw the life of the Southern Song people everywhere.

I still remember the old farmer with skinny faces and vegetables in the farmland, and the refugees who fled to death with green eyes.

He knew how difficult it was for the people and felt sympathy for them.

And once thought that living people were so difficult to live.

Even if the court does its best,

You can't let everyone eat enough,

Because this is really impossible,

The land in the world can only produce so much food, but it really cannot support everyone.

But when he saw Su Yonglin's book,

He heard what Wang Qi said again, and he was shaken.

If all this is true, if Ming Dynasty successfully lets the farmers eat their stomachs,

If the Ming Kingdom succeeded in leaving the world without starvation, then wouldn’t that mean that the perception he formed in the past was completely wrong?

Doesn’t that mean that everything the peasants in the Southern Song Dynasty encountered was man-made rather than destined by heaven?

Is the land of the Southern Song Dynasty enough to feed every farmer?

If there is no idle field in the world,

The farmer still starved to death] It is not destined by heaven, not to show that China's land cannot support the Chinese people,

So why did the peasants of the Southern Song Dynasty die?

Is it really because the Southern Song system is not good?

Is it really because of man-made disasters?

If the system is not changed, such a reality cannot be changed?

Lu You was in a mess and felt that he couldn't be sure what was right and what was wrong.

After tossing and turning, he couldn't calm down and couldn't sleep at all, so he finally gave up falling asleep, chose to get up, put on his clothes and take a walk outside to relieve his bad mood, so that he might be able to fall asleep.

So he picked up a piece of mung bean cake that he hadn't finished.

While eating, wearing clothes, walked out of the room, went downstairs, and walked out of the lobby of the station.

Come to the courtyard.

The moonlight on this day was pretty good. Lu You looked up at the sky and saw the bright moonlight, his thoughts gradually calmed down.

He felt that he could continue to watch the social situation in Mingguo in the days to come, use his own eyes to confirm what is true and what is false, and then confirm what he should do.

"Deputy Envoy Lu?"

Wang Qi's voice sounded behind him. Lu You turned his head unexpectedly and saw Wang Qi standing behind him in an intact dress.

"Master Wang? Haven't you been asleep yet?"

"Oh, there are still some things to do. It's been delayed for a while. I was about to wash my face, but I went to bed. I'd have to get up early tomorrow to rush."

Wang Qi walked to Lu You and asked, "Why haven't Deputy Envoy Lu been asleep yet? Can't you fall asleep?"

Lu You hesitated for a while, turned around and looked at the uninhabited hall, and sighed.

"I am really thinking about some things. I think too much and too complicated to get the answer, so I feel so confused that I toss and turn, and can't sleep."

Wang Qi thought about it and had some thoughts about it.

"What is Deputy Envoy Lu thinking? Can you tell me? I may not be able to answer your doubts, but if you know more, you will always have the possibility of an extra answer."

Lu You pursed his lips, looked around, and then lowered his throat.

"Master Wang, is it true that what you said about Ming farmers can eat three meals? I am very puzzled, why Ming farmers can eat three regular meals a day, but the farmers of the Song Dynasty cannot do this.

I was ordered to go out to work in Lin'an and wander around. I saw farmers everywhere who could not eat in the Song Dynasty. Even some places known as the hometown of fish and rice would have similar situations, but did the Ming Dynasty not?"

Wang Qi thought Lu You were going to ask something, but when he heard it was this, he burst into laughter.

Lu You didn't understand why.

"Why is the king laughing?"

"I...I have no malice."

After finishing laughing, Wang Qi shook his head and said, "I just didn't expect Deputy Envoy Lu would ask me this question. This... I know that the farmers in the Southern Dynasty lived a miserable life, often starved to death, had no land, and became refugees. We all know this kind of thing.

So I can understand that you have doubts about whether there is such a situation in the Ming Dynasty, but I must make it clear that this is true. At present, except for a few remote areas, farmers in most areas can already eat three regular meals a day, all of which are food."

"Is this... really true?"

Lu You still doesn't believe it.

"Why do you think it's fake?"

Wang Qi shook his head and said, "The Emperor of Ming Dynasty reduced and exempted farmers' taxes. In addition to the normal agricultural taxes, all the taxes were abolished, such as the taxes imposed on farm tools, oxen, fertilizer, water, firewood, etc. in the previous dynasty, and even the kitchen knives, scissors and other taxes used by farmers in daily life in certain places were also abolished.

After these harsh and miscellaneous taxes were abolished, the burden on farmers was greatly reduced. In the past, ten dou of grain was charged, and seven dou of taxes was paid, or even more than seven dou of food. It was normal to not be full, but now as long as one dou of grain was paid, everything else belonged to the farmers themselves."

Lu You was deeply shocked.

"The taxes on the Northern Dynasties are so light? Take them seriously?"

"The Ming Dynasty established a country without exploiting and oppressing peasants as the basis for establishing a country. Since its founding, the Ming Dynasty has relied on farmers. Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor resolutely abolished the harsh taxes, reduced the excessive agricultural taxes, and left most of the harvest to farmers. This is the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's agricultural policy."

Wang Qi said, "In order to take care of farmers and facilitate farmers to pay taxes, His Majesty even promoted tax reform, turning the collection of physical goods into levying copper coins, eliminating all transportation losses, and reducing the burden on farmers. How can farmers not be full if they are so two-pronged?
Chapter completed!