Xu Junyang, of course, this is his first test question.
Just as Feng Ziying had conducted an investigation on him early on, of course he also had some understanding of the young governor.
However, his sources of information are definitely not as professional and broad as Feng Ziying's, so he can only learn about it through some of his classmates and fellow villagers in Beijing.
Xu Junyang knew very well that an official at his level should not be able to get involved in high-level struggles.
Although he also wanted to cling to Lu Chuan, in fact, he was just an insignificant and marginal person in Lu Chuan's camp.
He is only a seventh-grade official, how can he get into the eyes of the Chief Minister Zuo?
What's more, there are hundreds of counties in Shaanxi, as well as prefectural officials. Mizhi is just a slightly important county.
So he didn't think he would be targeted by the governor.
However, this young governor is coming with a fierce attitude, and his performance in Wubao is enough to show that this person may not follow the steps of a normal official, and everything needs to be done according to his likes and dislikes.
If we directly recruit the rebels, this should be done when the situation is unfavorable. However, after defeating the rebels in Boyan Village and Baitang Village, we still have to agree to their surrender. This makes many people feel uncomfortable.
Puzzled.
A gentleman would not stand under a dangerous wall, but this one was not afraid at all and faced off against the rebels in Wubao City. This is enough to show that this governor is extraordinary.
This also made Xu Junyang put away a lot of small thoughts. He had to try to figure out this person's thoughts, so as not to go against the other person's intentions and suffer a big loss.
Now that the test questions have finally been published, Xu Junyang feels more at ease.
When it comes to dealing with things, Xu Junyang thinks that he is still confident that Mizhi is in Yan'an Mansion.
"It depends on what result you want," Xu Junyang replied calmly.
"Oh?" Feng Ziying was a little surprised. This person was a bit arrogant, and he could actually answer her in such a tone. If he said that he didn't have any real information and just wanted to impress people, Feng Ziying was going to let it end there.
"Appreciate further details."
"If your Excellency simply wants to clean up these border villages, it is actually not difficult. Your Excellency is the right minister of the Ministry of War. He ordered Yulin Town to allocate a department to clean up. On the other hand, in the name of the government, the local gentry and merchants, especially Shanxi merchants, were targeted.
Restrict and resolutely prohibit these merchants and gentry from providing all kinds of materials, especially food, to the border villages in the mountains. Within three months, these border villages will collapse on their own and surrender."
Xu Junyang talked eloquently, "The reason why these border villages have been able to last for so long is because of the indulgence of the border troops and the ineffective management of the local government..."
"Master Xu, are you talking about yourself again?" Feng Ziying laughed.
"Sir, we can't control the border troops. Even a few words will cause backlash and even worsen the relationship between the two sides. As for the Shanxi merchants, they are very comfortable in these border areas. Even the border troops rely a lot on them, so
It’s difficult for us at the local level to intervene.” Xu Junyang told the truth.
"Well, what you just said was to treat the symptoms. Is there anything else?" Feng Ziying continued to ask.
"And as the adults said, we need to cure the root cause." Xu Junyang spread his hands, "As far as the current situation is concerned, it is difficult to cure the root cause. At least I can't see the possibility of treating the root cause. Northern Shaanxi is narrow and densely populated, and the soil is poor.
Far inferior to Huguang and Jiangnan in the Central Plains, and the folk customs are tough and difficult to survive, so they can only become bandits. However, with the current government policies, taxes and labor, ordinary people simply cannot bear it. If there is a slight drought, it will be difficult to survive, so
Border villages in mountainous areas will always reappear, and businessmen value profits. As long as they can make a profit, they will take advantage of every opportunity to look for opportunities..."
Xu Junyang's words will also be very straightforward. There are many people, little land, poor soil quality, low grain yield per acre, great influence from God, and heavy taxes and labor. Under this situation, if there is a drought and locust plague, there will definitely be chaos, and from then on
Judging from the situation in the past ten years, it is very rare to have a drought every other year. Most of them are two droughts in three years or three droughts in four years. This is almost an unsolvable problem.
Feng Ziying understood what the other party meant. The cultivation of corn and wheat has very high requirements on the climate. If it is a normal year and the weather is good, then the people in a place like Mizhi can have a bowl of rice to eat. But if the weather is bad, it will be a problem. There have been droughts for many years.
Everyone has no choice but to flee. In a situation like this year, it can be said that except for the powerful gentry, it is almost impossible to survive.
To put it bluntly, northern Shaanxi cannot support so many people now. The output of corn and wheat has dropped sharply due to the climate, not to mention the tax and labor. Even without it, it would be difficult to survive.
Feng Ziying doesn't know exactly how big the population of the Zhou Dynasty is now, but the feeling in almost every place is that there are more people than land. According to the population of the late Ming Dynasty in the memory of the previous life, the population of the Ming Dynasty at the end of Wanli should be more than 120 million. Most scholars prefer
The population of Shaanxi is between 140 million and 160 million, and the population of Shaanxi has rapidly expanded from more than 2 million when the Ming Dynasty was founded to more than 5 million and nearly 6 million now.
"You mean Northern Shaanxi can't support so many people anyway?" Feng Ziying didn't expect that Xu Junyang could still see this.
"If we go by the current situation of the court taxing labor and landowners collecting land rent, it basically has to be a good harvest year for ordinary farmers to make ends meet. If there are few floods, droughts and locust plagues, it will be impossible." Xu Junyang added: "Unless the landowners
Land rent was reduced, and the court reduced taxes and labor.”
Feng Ziying laughed. This last sentence was about subverting the system. How is this possible?
"Well, I understand." For Feng Ziying, he also knows that it is difficult for Shaanxi in this timeline to calm down through normal methods. The most difficult time of the Little Ice Age has not yet come, even if he tries his best
The method has been implemented for the time being, but if a disaster occurs next year or the year after, won’t it have to happen again?
He has two countermeasures. One is to introduce potatoes and corn on a large scale and with high intensity. In the previous life, this was the key to Shaanxi surviving the Little Ice Age and even reaching a population of over 10 million in Jiaqing and Daoguang. Otherwise, northern Shaanxi would have to go through war.
To eliminate the population, it would be difficult to survive the Little Ice Age relying solely on corn and wheat.
There is another one that is more difficult and requires adequate military preparation, which is to recapture the Hetao Plain. The Hetao Plain is divided into Qiantao Plain, Houtao Plain and Xitao Plain. They are all currently controlled by the Mongols. It can be said that these three places are
It is true that the northern land is most conducive to the development of agriculture, but it is occupied by the Mongols for grazing. Even if only a part of it is recaptured, it can greatly alleviate the population pressure.
But no matter which one it is, it is a long-term solution, and it cannot be solved immediately.
Therefore, he also agrees with Xu Junyang's point of view. There is currently no solution to treat the root cause, so we can only treat the symptoms.
How to treat the symptoms is to destroy everything, destroy all the gentry and landlords entrenched in this land. When everything is smashed and they are all physically destroyed, naturally everything can start again.
Feng Ziying was unwilling to do this from the bottom of her heart, but she had to do it.
Even this would probably only take a few years, but it was enough for Feng Ziying.
We still need to investigate Xu Junyang. This guy has good vision and seems to have pretty good abilities, but the key lies in whether he can be used for his own purposes.
He Shixian finally arrived, and Feng Ziying greeted him outside the city.
He Shixian didn't dare to rely on him. Although this guy was just a junior a few years ago and called him "Uncle He" very affectionately when Ningxia suppressed the rebellion, now, he can be regarded as his boss.
Seeing He Shixian about to perform a military salute, Feng Ziying quickly supported him: "Uncle He, aren't you breaking my nephew? You are an elder. I invite you to come for a while. I also hope that you will support my nephew. He is chasing ducks now.
Put it on the shelf and be roasted over the fire."
He Shixian laughed loudly and took advantage of the opportunity to accept the gift, "Ziying, the Governor has sent me a letter. Uncle Yu, if there is anything else you want to say here, or what you need, just say it. But now that you are serving as the Minister of War, you can't
You should know that the north is not stable, the Tumut people are worried, Su Nang Taiji is a little bit ready to make a move, the Ministry of War and Chai Guozhu both sent me letters, and the worse news is that Fengzhou Bailian is preparing for war, and Cha Cha
People from Harr have close contact with each other..."
Feng Ziying frowned when she heard that. Chai Guozhu's Shanxi Town is now weak. If it faces the Tumut people, Fengzhou Bailian and Chahar people who are also in trouble, I am afraid it will be really hard to bear.
What He Shixian said was not to shirk the blame, but to explain the current difficulties in Yulin Town. Feng Ziying also believed that since He Shixian came, he would definitely give her an explanation.
"However, if my nephew is in need, Yulin Town is naturally responsible for it. I have arranged two of them, one in Longzhou City and one in Yinzhou Pass. They can go south at any time."
As expected, He Shixian had already made arrangements, which made Feng Ziying feel relieved.
Two troops and two battalions would be enough, and there would be no problem in solving the border villages in the north of Mizhi and Suide.
"There are more Uncle He. I am new here and I still need Uncle He's strong support. When the situation in northern Shaanxi is settled, I will definitely ask for credit for Uncle He." Feng Ziying said sincerely.
After the main goal was achieved, the atmosphere suddenly became more harmonious. He Shixian also accompanied Feng Ziying on a walk around Mizhi City. He Shixian also wanted to explain some things clearly to Feng Ziying.
"Ziying, the Governor also wrote to me. Maybe he will step down as the Governor of the Three Borders. After all, you are the governor of Shaanxi and it is against the rules for him to be the Governor of the Three Borders. But if you need anything, just say, Qingyang and Hepingliang Mansion
Over there, I'm afraid Uncle Yu can't help. You have to contact Ningxia Town, but I guess they are in some difficulty, after all, the elite have been taken away by your father."
Yulin Town only borders Yan'an Prefecture, while Qingyang and Pingliang are facing Ningxia Town, and Ningxia Town's elites have been basically all emptied, making it difficult to come up with troops. What He Shixian said is true.
This chapter has been completed!