Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1070 Development

The three Northeastern regions are becoming more and more important now.

In the past, there were only 200 million people in Liaodong Province. After more than ten years, after continuous immigration, including unlimited construction of the Corps, exile, recruitment, etc., it has finally increased to 400 million today.

Although it is only half of the population of some large provinces, it is enough to reclaim this fertile land.

It is estimated that there are a total of more than 50 large and small manors in Liaodong Province, and 5000 hectares of land have been developed, that is, [-] million mu.

You must know that the land in Shandong is only 80 hectares. It can be expected that as long as the population continues to grow, the land area will continue to expand.

Excluding those large and small manors, ordinary people own [-] mu of land per capita, which can be regarded as a small landlord in the south.

And you must know that in Shandong, there are only about four acres per capita.

In feudal society, owner farmers were equivalent to the middle class. They could not deceive the imperial court, paid taxes, and served corvee. They were much more obedient than those gentry.

The same is true. Liaodong's society is stable, land conflicts have been alleviated, and productivity has greatly increased.

Especially grain, although it is harvested once a year, Liaodong transports 300 million shi of grain to the capital every year.

This almost ended the 400-year history of grain transportation from the south to the north starting from the Yuan Dynasty.

The bumper grain harvest in Liaodong also promoted the reclamation of Jilin and Heilongjiang.

"Developing the Northeast will be the imperial court's national policy for the next hundred years."

Zhu Yixi said softly, his words were full of expectation.

"Your Majesty, the Northeast is harvested once a year!" Liu Xiangke hesitated for a while, and really couldn't see these monarchs and ministers chatting without any sense of participation.

"But the yield is high."

Zhu Yixi didn't take it seriously, and said casually: "The production is high, the place is good, and tens of millions of people can be relocated. It is as dry as northern Shaanxi. What is the bitter cold in the northeast?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the tractor again: "This thing was built to reclaim the barren mountains and wild mountains in the northeast. What kind of grass roots can be poked out in a moment."

Although the current population in the south is larger than that in the north, the carrying capacity of the population in the south is far greater than that in the north.

Forests, lakes, and rivers, if you can't do it, you can go fishing in the sea, or go to Southeast Asia, and you can always find a way to survive.

But what about the North?There are few mountains in the Central Plains, the west is not as good as the local area, and the north is grassland, which is even more difficult to mention.

Therefore, in history, there have been crossing the Guandong and taking the west exit, and had to carry out population spillover.

Seeing a few people listening seriously, Zhu Yixi continued to instill his thoughts: "The land in the world is limited, but the reproduction of people is unlimited. The reason why the household registration in the Ming Dynasty has always been 6000 million is just a lazy local government."

"These people don't have enough land, and they can't do business or business. They become idlers. They are green-skinned hooligans in the city, and idlers and strongmen in the countryside."

"It's like the Yangtze River after a heavy rain. The waves are rough. It is urgent to find a pouring outlet to calm down."

"And Anxi and Northeast China are the places I chose."

"Shaanxi and Gansu can go to Anxi, Hebei and Shandong can go to the Northeast. If things go on like this, this so-called prosperous age can last at least a hundred years."

Zhu Yixi's voice was low and there was a hint of emotion in it, and it also had a sense of arrogance and intensity.

Several people listened carefully.

They understood that it was the emperor who instilled in them the ruling program.

In other words, Ming Dynasty's 20 years of development in Shaowu is about to end, and it will be fully transferred to ordinary civil affairs. The great development of the Northeast and Anxi is their task.

Immediately, the emperor turned his attention to Yan Qiheng: "You came from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so you naturally understand the destructiveness of government corruption. The country has been stable for twenty years. Although it is often cleaned, there are still many moths in those corners. "

"Jingcha, you have to pay attention."

"Yes!" Yan Qiheng responded hurriedly.

It suddenly dawned on the elders of the cabinet that this person joined the cabinet to pay attention to the administration of officials.

From the Northeast to Anxi, and then to the Peace Sect in southern Xinjiang, the cabinet has always chosen to appease religion.

"Southern Xinjiang is self-contained. Although it is scattered in various oases, the power of the Peace Sect has not diminished. The most taboo is its outsiders."

As the chief assistant, Du Yinxi has a far-sighted view, and immediately saw the disadvantages of southern Xinjiang:
saint.

The Peace Sect is foreign, and it naturally has no resistance to the holy descendants of the Arab region, such as the Mughals in the south, Afghanistan and Persia in the west.

After speaking, Du Yinxi pointed out the plan: "Let the Zhao Kingdom, or the Liao Kingdom, send troops to the south to take down the Badak Kingdom and completely seal off the southern border."

"As a result, it has completely become an isolated island and is at the mercy of others."

Zhu Yixi agrees with this plan. It is a purely physical plan, simple and direct.

Anxi is divided into southern Xinjiang and northern Xinjiang. There is one governor and two political envoys. The southern officials go north and the northern officials go south. This is the government's governance plan.

Even so, Anxi still stationed [-] to [-] frontier troops, which can be described as careful.

But the best way is to completely stabilize the southern border and defend the frontier.

In history, the Manchu and Qing pacified the big and small Hezhuo rebellions, and then they ran to the Badak Kingdom, which shows that the location here is dangerous.

At the same time, the Badakh region is an important part of the Pamirs and an important bridgehead for intervention in South Asia.

If you don't take it, others will take it.

Thinking of the area, Zhu Yixi smiled: "Let Zhao Guo go with the frontier army. If it is done well, I am afraid that the whole country can be closed."

Although the Persian and Mughal empires were powerful at this time, it would not take long before their momentum was greatly reduced and their country's power declined.

At that time, Badak, Liao, and Zhao will be the horns of each other, which will be enough to control the Central Asian region.

The outer northwest became a circle of vassal states, which was of great benefit to stabilizing the western frontier of the empire.

This is also his national defense policy: to surround the border with a circle of vassal states, with a good buffer.

No matter how bad it is, if there is a crisis in the court in the future, it can't be cheap for others, right?

This spring plowing performance ended at noon, but the Daming Gazette presented a portrait of a tractor.

Many people across the country felt baffled, but it still set off an upsurge of discussion.

The iron ox that eats firewood plows an acre of land in a quarter of an hour, no matter how you look at it, it seems like a fairy tale.

……

When Pu Songling came to Jilin, he thought he would come to a wild land, but he never thought that Changchun County was much better than ordinary inland counties except that it was a bit colder.

There are less than [-] people in a county.

The remaining villages and towns were basically built along official roads and were occupied by former construction soldiers and their families.

Therefore, the governance of each village is like a military camp, reasonable and orderly, which can be described as extremely convenient.

Taxes are paid in a timely manner, and at the same time, militiamen, road guards and other jobs are also taken into account.

Riding in the carriage, escorted by a patrol battalion of more than ten people, holding longbows and muskets in their hands, it can be said to be an exaggeration.

"This is on the official road, so there shouldn't be any bandits?"

Pu Songling was puzzled.

"Master, the Northeast is vast and sparsely populated, and there are more beasts than people. If you are not careful, you will be recruited."

Shi Chang said seriously: "It's just the beginning of spring, the heavy snow has melted, and the blind bear who has been nested all winter has a flat stomach, no matter what it is, he wants to eat two bites."

"We still have to be careful."

Sure enough, within two steps, he encountered a gray wolf on the official road.

It crawled on the ground, showing its fangs, and its eyes were extremely fierce.

Shichang immediately became vigilant and asked everyone to surround the carriage and not allow them to approach the side of the road.

"How is this going?"

Although there were so many people, Pu Songling was indeed a little frightened.

Although he loved ghost stories and often listened to hunters tell them, he was afraid of the beast.

"Master, this wolf is an introduction, specially designed to attract people. If it is not bad, there may be many wolves ambushing on both sides of the official road..."

"Fire the gun—" Shi Chang explained, while waiting sternly.

bang——

A gunshot sounded, and although Gray Wolf was not hit, he was startled.

Then a group of wild wolves ambushed appeared on both sides of the road, and they couldn't wait to escape here.

The loud noise is enough to scare off most of the beasts.

"My lord, this beast is afraid of gunshots. There are no beasts outside the city that are not afraid of it. It doesn't take any effort to scare it away."

"In addition, the voice can be heard far away, and the militiamen nearby can also know the situation and come to support."

Sure enough, a moment later, a group of militiamen came over, each with long spears, bows and arrows, and they were very imposing.

"Shibalipu." Shi Chang said, "That's the village in front."

The militiamen were a little more restrained about the arrival of the magistrate, but they were not very afraid.

Staying in a place like the Northeast for a long time, people become more courageous without knowing it. After all, they often hold weapons and fight wild beasts.

What's more, in such a place, the village is warm and warm, and the government officials in the county dare not mess around at all.

Because these people really served as soldiers.

Pu Songling didn't panic at all, he got out of the carriage and saw the eighteen mile shop in front of him.

Unlike ordinary villages, this is a fortress.

A circle of walls, one foot high, are all made of wood, enclosing the entire village, forming a rough small city.

After passing this wooden fence, there are many small earthen walls, which can also be said to be tripping posts, which completely limit the performance of the cavalry.

The houses inside are made of brick and clay, low but thick, one after another, looking extremely solid.

Even if there is no connected part, don't block it with many stones, it can be said to be careful.

The village head is a middle-aged man in his forties, with several scars on his face, showing his bravery in fighting fierce beasts.

"My lord, there are hundreds of households in Shibalipu, 180 strong men, 30 who are good at riding horses, and 50 archers..."

The man gave a detailed introduction to the armed forces in the village. If you compare them carefully, they are not even worse than those in the county.

Except for no cotton armor, there are some ordinary leather armors.

In terms of weapons, there are everything except muskets.

It's really full of martial arts!
Pu Songling sighed: "The expensive village is really no less than a county town."

The village chief smiled and said, "My lord, our village has no choice but to do this. The wild people and beasts in the vicinity come from some Tartars. They are often jealous of our food and want to come here to fight the autumn wind."

"We can't get used to them."

He knew that this Puzhi County was new to the county not long ago, so he explained casually: "Our village was originally settled by the military, and the village is ruled by the military law on weekdays. There are many people like us..."

Pu Songling smiled and shook his head: "This is what should be done."

"In such a wild place, without such a weapon, ordinary people may find it difficult to live for a day."

Of course, what makes Pu Songling satisfied is that these villages will pay taxes on time, and the county warehouse is not short of money, so it is naturally comfortable.

This time he toured the entire county, just to understand the reality of Changchun County.

"How much land is there?"

"About [-] mu." The village head sighed inwardly, "Our family farms [-] mu, and we won't be able to farm any more. We used to have [-] mu."

"What is missing?"

"Lack of cattle, lack of iron, and lack of people." The man said truthfully:

"The land here is very fertile, but it's not easy to plant. It requires manpower and animals to plow it. It's not easy to open up wasteland. The tree is thicker than a man's waist..."

After complaining, Pu Songling smiled and said: "As for cattle, I can still think of something. After all, those Mongolians on the grassland like to raise cattle. As for iron tools-"

Pu Songling felt tricky.

Because all the iron in Jilin is transported from Liaodong, there are no iron yards in the local area, expensive and scarce.

As for livestock such as pigs and sheep, almost every household has them, and the sheep pens are getting bigger and bigger.

Even, there are more than a dozen horses in the village.

If it is in the Mainland, a horse costs more than three and fifty yuan, but in Jilin, it can be bought for ten yuan.

Both sides benefited from Mongolian trade.

And this is the advantage of the sparsely populated land, the fodder is everywhere, and some pastures can even be planted to raise horses specially.

He calculated in his mind that there are 28 villages in Changchun County, that is 5000 households, enough to pull out [-] people.

Once encountering any war, Changchun County can fight independently, and even fight back.

After all, there is no shortage of cavalry or archers.

While inspecting, suddenly, Pu Songling saw a wooden workshop.

He sniffed it, and inexplicably felt a hint of sweetness.

"This is?"

The village chief wanted to hide it, but he didn't think it was a big deal: "This is a beet."

"The imperial court promoted it a few years ago, encouraging us to grow sugar beets."

"Oh? What can this thing do?" Pu Songling had a guess in his heart.

"Can squeeze sugar."

"Beets are like sugar cane in the south. They can be used to squeeze sugar, and the residue can also be used to feed livestock."

"How much is a pound?"

Pu Songling was surprised.

"It's about eight cents a catty. One mu of land can produce one or two hundred catties of sugar. It's much more cost-effective than farming, and it doesn't need to be carefully waited on. Everyone likes to grow..."

"When the time comes, many merchants will come to buy it, which will be very convenient."

Beets, sugar cane, the same purpose.

Pu Songling got a glimpse of the richness of Changchun.

There is enough food, a lot of livestock, and he can squeeze sugar and sell it for money, which is much better than his hometown.

He wanted to write letters to let the villagers migrate here and live and work in peace and contentment.

Pu Songling took a tour of the entire Changchun County, and felt that this place is really a good place, it is simply a paradise on earth.

Apart from being colder, there are no shortcomings at all.

(End of this chapter)