"Your Majesty, the severe cold weather and the abnormal climate of the Little Ice Age will inevitably have a huge impact on our Ming Dynasty. I think we should make more preparations as early as possible to be prepared for any eventuality."
Liu Jin once again mentioned the Little Ice Age to Emperor Hongzhi.
Judging from the current situation, the world is gradually moving towards the Little Ice Age, and its power affects all parts of the world. It is not only the cold climate here in the Ming Dynasty, but also the frequent occurrence of various extreme weather.
The situation is similar across the world. The situation in Europe is not much better than that of the Ming Dynasty.
According to the situation reported by the Governor of Hong Kong, the temperature in Europe is much lower than in previous years, and when spring plowing begins in early spring, the weather plummets and rises, and the temperature changes greatly, which affects the wheat production in Europe.
Planting has had a huge impact, and the situation in Europe in the past two years has been even worse than in the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, the situation in the Golden Continent and the Southern Hemisphere is similar. Extreme climates occurred frequently during the Little Ice Age and had a great impact.
Although it is not the most severe period of the Little Ice Age yet, the most severe period of the Little Ice Age was probably during the Chongzhen Dynasty in history. At that time, there were consecutive years of drought, and there was an unprecedented seven or eight consecutive years of severe drought, which was accompanied by drought.
There were also great plagues that came and went, and even the population of the capital at that time dropped by more than half.
We are still several decades away from this period, but the power of the Little Ice Age has gradually begun to appear. Even in its incubation period, it has had a huge impact on the global climate.
"Hmm~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded solemnly. If he had listened to Liu Jin's words the year before last, the losses last year might have been smaller. At that time, he was confident that with the situation in the Ming Dynasty, even if there were any natural disasters, it would be enough to easily cope with it.
Who knew that the severe drought could be dealt with, but the plague that accompanied the severe drought almost caused heavy losses to the Ming Dynasty and made it unstable.
"Your Majesty, I think we should send officials now to thoroughly investigate the amount of grain in official warehouses in various places in the Ming Dynasty and understand the grain reserves in various places."
"For warehouses with insufficient grain reserves, grain should be mobilized from production areas in a timely manner to supplement the situation. Once a famine occurs, various regions can rely on the grain reserves to cope with and survive."
"Secondly, continue to vigorously promote the planting of sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn. These crops are relatively drought-resistant and cold-resistant, especially sweet potatoes, which have strong adaptability to drought."
"Planting more of these drought-tolerant and drought-tolerant crops will help reduce the impact of famines."
"Third, implement the plague prevention and control and defense system, requiring local governments to pay close attention to the local situation, and immediately initiate relevant containment measures once a plague occurs to kill the epidemic at its source."
"Fourth, the imperial court vigorously developed Guangdong, Guangdong, Ryukyu, Nanyang, Huangjinzhou and other places. These places are low in latitude, less affected by cold, and have a relatively stable climate, which is conducive to agricultural production."
Liu Jin took out another memorial he had prepared and put forward several suggestions of his own to Emperor Hongzhi.
To cope with this extreme climate, the most important thing is of course food.
According to historical records, during this Little Ice Age, the Ming Dynasty was in the process of changing dynasties. The population dropped sharply from nearly 200 million at its peak to only tens of millions. It was not until the middle of the Qing Dynasty that the population gradually declined.
Restored to the level of 200 million.
Of course, not only during the Ming Dynasty, but also in Europe during the same period, the population also experienced a sharp decline. Especially in the Nordic region, the climate was even colder and the population dropped sharply, to less than half of the original.
Even England, France, Spain, and Portugal, which enjoyed the benefits of the Age of Discovery, saw their populations decrease a lot during the Little Ice Age. The population of the Holy Roman Empire dropped by more than half.
This is mainly due to the impact of the Little Ice Age, which caused a sharp decline in food production worldwide, famine was very common, and the population dropped sharply.
Under the Little Ice Age, agriculture had the greatest impact, with food production plummeting and famine becoming very common around the world.
Nowadays, the population of Ming Dynasty is growing very fast and the population is huge. The demand for food is naturally very strong, even though there are many production areas.
However, these production areas were greatly affected by the Little Ice Age. Liaodong, Hezhong, and Black Earth are now the most important grain producing areas in the Ming Dynasty.
However, its dimensions are relatively high and the impact is greater. Once it is frequently affected, it will pose a huge threat to the food security of the Ming Dynasty.
Liu Jin thought of places such as Guangdong and Guangxi, Ryukyu and Nanyang. These places have low latitudes and high temperatures, and are less affected. As long as the land in these places is reclaimed to grow food and these places become large granaries, the food security of the Ming Dynasty will naturally be
It is more secure.
You must know that in later generations, these places were important grain-producing areas. With their superior climatic conditions, they could achieve two or even three crops a year, and in the Nanyang region, they could achieve seven crops every two years.
The reason why it is not taken very seriously in the Ming Dynasty is because these places have a small population. They have always belonged to Lingnan, where miasma is everywhere, and the population is relatively small.
In an era when medical technology was backward, people who immigrated to these places often fell ill and died easily. Therefore, many people were reluctant to immigrate to these places, preferring to go to the cool Liaodong, where the land is fertile and there are fewer diseases.
But now that Ming Dynasty's medical technology has made great progress, and even penicillin has come out, the development of these places is naturally no longer a problem.
"Hmm~"
Emperor Hongzhi listened carefully and nodded. Then he came to the world area, looked at the huge territory of the Ming Empire, and circled some places on it.
In fact, there is another place that is very suitable for growing food, and that is the Great Plains area of Northern Golden Continent. This place is also one of the three largest black soils in the world, and the land is very fertile.
The key is that the land here is also very flat and open, which is very suitable for large-scale mechanized farming.
However, Huangjinzhou is currently sparsely populated, and there are no mountains blocking the northern part of the Great Plains. The cold wave from the Arctic can spread directly from north to south to Penglai Bay.
During the Little Ice Age, it was still very risky to develop agriculture on the Great Plains, and agriculture could only be developed in the southern region.
Furthermore, transporting grain from Golden Continent back to the mainland of Ming Dynasty would be too expensive.
It is best to have grain-producing fields that bloom in many places on the mainland, so that the food security of the Ming Dynasty can be fully guaranteed.
“It’s better to plant less sugar cane in Nanyang and plant more grain.”
Emperor Hongzhi said while looking at the many islands in the Southeast Asia region.
The Nanyang region has always been the most important sugar producing area in the Ming Dynasty. The plantations here basically grow sugar cane and rubber, two cash crops.
The sucrose in Nanyang not only supplied the needs of the Ming Dynasty, but was also sold around the world to meet the world's demand for sucrose. The price of sucrose was very high at the beginning, and the profits were extremely high, which greatly stimulated the sucrose industry in Nanyang.
.
Later, as the scale became larger and larger, the price of cane sugar continued to drop, but even so, the income from growing sugarcane was still quite good, and the scale of planting in Nanyang has always been large.
"Your Majesty, sugarcane cultivation in Nanyang has been a tradition for many years and has formed a complete industrial chain. It is unrealistic to change it for a while. But if food prices rise, more people will naturally
Growing food.”
"What's more, our Ming Dynasty still has plenty of food. We are just worried about what may happen in the future."
When Liu Jin heard this, he smiled and said.
Directly using orders obviously won't work. People act for their own benefit.
During the Ming Dynasty, grain prices were cheap and growing grain was unprofitable. Given the choice, plantation owners in Nanyang would naturally choose to plant sugar cane, which is highly profitable.
If you directly say that sugar cane is not allowed to be grown, this is obviously harming their interests. It is strange that they would listen to you.
What's more, the Ming Dynasty has not actually reached that stage. It has to be said that sugarcane planting was banned and replaced by grain cultivation. The grain of the Ming Dynasty is still very safe.
There was a great harvest in the 39th year of Hongzhi. The grain produced in this year was enough to last for several years. Both the common people's granaries and the imperial court's granaries were now full.
"If there is really a shortage of food, Nanyang will still have to change to growing food."
Emperor Hongzhi nodded, he had been to Nanyang.
The tropical climate of Nanyang left a deep impression on Emperor Hongzhi. Even in winter, Nanyang is still as warm as summer, which is very suitable for growing food, vegetables and fruits.
It is winter here in the Ming Dynasty, and a large number of fruits and vegetables are transported from Nanyang, Ryukyu, Qiongzhou Island, Jiaozhi, and Xianglin. Even in winter, the people of the Ming Dynasty can still eat fresh vegetables and fruits.
"Of course, food security is the most important thing for our country."
Liu Jin nodded solemnly.
When Liu Jin and Emperor Hongzhi were discussing the possible famine, they were discussing expanding grain planting, increasing grain production, and ensuring food security.
Far away on the other side of the world, Europe is experiencing an unprecedented famine at this very moment.
From the British Isles to Italy on the Mediterranean, from Portugal in the west to the Ottoman Empire in the east, from the Vikings in the north to France in southern Europe, the Mediterranean and other regions.
The whole of Europe is in a famine at this moment. Food shortages, the spread of famine, coupled with the raging cold winter, the whole of Europe is experiencing a torment, and the cause of this famine is not only natural disasters,
