Chapter 24 The second section advises farming and mulberry to develop production

In 1251 AD, Mengge became Khan and ordered Kublai Khan to be in charge of Monan Han.He moved his mansion south to the capital of Zhahu (Jinlianchuan) and "gathered handsome men from all over the world to visit and rule the way. At that time, the wise men and officials gathered together and competed to get what they heard" (Volume 50 of "Yuan Wen Lei" Eight "Zhongshu Zuo Cheng Zhang Gong Shinto Monument").In December of the first year of Zhongtong (1260 A.D.), Kublai Khan clearly stated in his edict that the ancestors "started a business with martial arts", but "the culture has not been cultivated".Determined to "reform and reform, serve ten thousand places" ("Yuan History·Annan Biography").He witnessed the tragic situation of population exile and rural barrenness caused by the "death of Han land". He "obeyed the Han law" and carried out reform practices in Xingzhou, Henan, Shaanxi and other places in Hebei.Kublai Khan deeply realized that the development of agriculture and mulberry is "the source of the country's economy and endowments, and the foundation of people's livelihood and food". Until he ascended the Khan throne, he still took "persuading agriculture and mulberry as an urgent task" and vigorously developed agricultural production.

Kublai Khan carefully cured and corrected the various ills caused by Mongolian nobles abandoning farming in favor of animal husbandry to the agricultural production of the Central Plains, and advocated "safety and farming", mainly taking the following measures. "The people's land shall not be used as grazing land."Kublai Khan ordered many times to prohibit the Mongolian princes and nobles from converting farmland into pastures, and to return the converted pastures to cultivated land.When Kublai Khan was in power, the Mongolian princes and nobles occupied nearly a thousand hectares of farmland in Shandong and raised livestock.King Anxi, the son of Kublai Khan who guarded the central part of Shaanxi Province, was in charge of animal husbandry and seized ten thousand hectares of land.Kublai Khan issued an edict strictly prohibiting the occupation of farmland as pasture.In the thirteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1276 A.D.), the Mongolian army conquered Lin'an (now Hangzhou), and he announced: "In the Huaihu area of ​​​​Jiangsu, Zhejiang, "everyone in charge of the generals and officials of the Song Dynasty who seized the people's farmland and property with their power, let them all belong to them." If there is no owner, it will be given to the nearby people who have no property" ("Yuan History Shizu Ji VI").Kublai Khan set out to maintain the feudal land ownership system, except that the land was collected by himself in the lawsuit, "everyone cultivates the land and collects tax stones".It also ordered the pastures to be returned to farmers for farming, or the people were called to farm by renting out tenants, and taxes were collected.For example, King Anxi distributed thousands of hectares of pasture land along the Jingshui River to 2,000 farmers for farming.In order to protect agricultural production, Kublai Khan also ordered that the army be prohibited from trampling on the fields and livestock from destroying crops.The implementation of this measure is conducive to the rapid recovery and development of agricultural production in the north.

Change the old habits of massacres and plundering, and protect social productivity.Kublai Khan accepted the advice of Yao Shu, Xu Heng and others, "do a benevolent government, not bloodthirsty", and reversed the policy of the Mongolian nobles to attack cities and seize territories.He took Cao Bin, the general of the Song Dynasty, as an example of not killing a single person in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and forbade the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians.In 1253 A.D., when the Mongolian army arrived in Dali City, Yunnan, Kublai Khan ordered Yao Shu to split the silk as a banner, wrote an order to stop the killing, and divided them into streets, so that "the people will be able to protect each other."In 1259 A.D., when the Mongolian army invaded the Southern Song Dynasty, Liu Bingzhong, Zhang Wenqian and others said: "A teacher of the king, if there is a conquest but not a war, he should be treated equally, and he should not be bloodthirsty." , don’t burn people’s homes, and let them know about the lives they get” ("Yuan Shi·Zhang Wenqian Biography").In the eleventh year of Zhiyuan (1274 A.D.), Kublai Khan said to Boyan, the commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition: "Cao Bin is not addicted to killing people, and he will settle Jiangnan with one action. You now embody my heart, and the ancient method (Cao) Bin does things. My young son was hit by a sharp edge." Kublai Khan repeatedly issued "no killing edicts", which were also quite effective. In the war of conquest, the number of murders by Mongolian cavalry was indeed significantly reduced.During the extermination of the Song Dynasty, Kublai Khan repeatedly reiterated the prohibition of plundering people as slaves, and those who have been plundered as slaves must be released. The purpose is to allow the people to engage in production with peace of mind.In the eighth year of Zhiyuan (AD 1271), the "Hukou Tiaohua" was promulgated, stipulating that those who were illegally taken as slaves by nobles and powerful families should be chased out according to their status and classified as private households.In the seventeenth year (1280 A.D.), generals such as Ali Haiya and Hushi Timur were ordered to release more than 32,000 prisoners and free them for the people.Afterwards, the 1,695 prisoners captured by Yushitai sorting and sorting by the general manager of eastern Zhejiang were also released as civilians.Kublai Khan's approach was to protect social productivity, and it was also an important reason for the rapid recovery of the social economy in the early Yuan Dynasty.

The establishment of the official office of agriculture and agriculture, so that the people can work in peace and work hard.Before the annihilation of the Southern Song Dynasty, under the persuasion of his close ministers Yao Shu and Zhang Dehui, Kublai Khan had already begun to pay attention to agricultural production, "extensive taxation, saving corvees" and developing agriculture and mulberry.Liu Bingzhong suggested: "It is advisable to send a member of the agricultural official to lead the people all over the world to farm and mulberry, and to run industries, which will really benefit the country." ("Yuan History·Liu Bingzhong Biography") Kublai Khan all adopted it.In the second year of Zhongtong (AD 1261), the Department of Encouraging Agriculture was set up, and eight envoys were dispatched to inspect agricultural production in various places.In the seventh year of Zhiyuan (AD 1270), the Sinong Division was established, and later renamed the Da Sinong Division, which was in charge of agriculture, mulberry and water conservancy. It also promulgated 14 regulations on agriculture and mulberry, affirming the law of rewards and punishments for persuading and teaching agriculture and mulberry.In the twenty-sixth year (AD 1289), the Yingtian Division was set up again to supervise the construction of farmland and water conservancy in Daxing.Repair canals, build ponds, prevent floods and droughts, and ensure high agricultural yields.For example, digging Jing canals to irrigate the fields in Guanzhong, so that the Weishui plain can be harvested from drought and flood.

After the unification of the country, Kublai Khan paid more attention to the development of agriculture.In his letter to the Southern Song general Gao Gao, he said: "Those who fight for the country take the land and the people. Although they have the land but no people, who will live with them? Now I want to preserve the newly attached cities so that the people can work in peace. The Mongols don’t know it. You know it well, so you should add Mianzhan (zhanzhan). Hunan’s prefectures and counties are all your old trilogy. How can those who have not attached themselves be recruited? How can the living people settle down? Listen to you.” ("" Yuan History Shi Zu Ji 1) This passage fully reflects that Kublai Khan attached great importance to agricultural production and feudal land ownership, and he must protect the tenancy system and "persuade farmers to enrich the people."In order to promote agricultural development, Kublai Khan also advocated the improvement of production technology and the popularization of agricultural knowledge.He ordered Da Si Nong to collect ancient and modern agricultural and mulberry classics, select the key ones, compile them into a book "Nong Sang Collection", and publish them everywhere. "Use it to save effort and double the effort", Zhuo sees the effect.After half a century of hard work, the Mongolian nobles gradually adapted to the advanced production methods in the Central Plains, abandoned the traditional nomadic economy and its exploitation methods, vigorously supported the Han landlord class, and developed agricultural and mulberry production. Transformed into feudal landowners.The stable growth of the feudal economy laid a solid material foundation for the consolidation of the Mongolian nobles' rule in the country.