The three Northeastern regions are becoming more and more important now.
Previously, there were only two million people in Liaodong Province. More than ten years later, after continuous immigration, including unrestricted construction of corps, exile, recruitment, etc., it has finally increased to four million today.
Although it only has half the population of some large provinces, it is enough to cultivate this fertile land.
It is estimated that there are a total of about 2,000 large and small manors in Liaodong Province, and the land has been developed to 500,000 hectares, or 50 million acres.
You must know that the land in Shandong is only 800,000 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 estates, ordinary people own an average of thirty acres of land, which is considered a small landowner in the south.
You should know that the average per capita in Shandong is only about four acres.
In feudal society, yeoman farmers were equivalent to the middle class. They could not deceive the court, pay taxes, and perform corvee labor. They were much more obedient than the 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, the grain transported from Liaodong to the capital every year reaches 3 million shi.
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 land in Jilin and Heilongjiang.
"Developing the Northeast will be the imperial court's national policy for the next hundred years."
Zhu Yixi said softly, her words full of expectation.
"Your Majesty, the Northeast is harvested once a year!" Liu Xiangke hesitated for a long time. He really couldn't see these monarchs and ministers chatting, and he had no sense of participation at all.
"But the yield is high."
Zhu Yixi didn't take it seriously and said casually: "The output is high, the place is good, and tens of millions of people can be relocated. It is as dry as northern Shaanxi and is thousands of miles away. What does the bitter cold in the Northeast mean?"
As he spoke, he pointed to the tractor again: "This thing was built to reclaim the barren mountains and ridges in the Northeast. The grass roots can be dug out in a moment."
Although there are currently more people in the south than in the north, the population carrying capacity of the south is much greater than that of the north.
If you can't go to mountains, forests, lakes, or rivers, go fishing in the sea or go to the Southeast Asia. You can always find a way to survive.
But what about the north? There are very few mountains in the Central Plains. The west is not as good as the local area. The north is grassland, which is even more difficult to mention.
Therefore, in history, there was a population spillover when traveling to the east of Guandong and taking the west entrance.
Seeing that several people were listening attentively, Zhu Yixi continued to instill his own 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 60 million is just because of lazy local government."
"These people don't have enough land, and they can't do business or industry, so they become idle people. They are green-skinned hooligans in the city, and they are idle strong men in the countryside."
"It's like the Yangtze River after a heavy rain. The waves are turbulent and they are eager to find an 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 deep and full of emotion, and it also had a sense of grandeur and intensity.
Several people listened carefully.
They understood that this was the emperor instilling the governing program into them.
In other words, the Ming Dynasty's twenty-year development in Shaowu is about to end, and it will be fully transferred to ordinary civil affairs. The large-scale development of Northeast China and Anxi is their task.
Immediately, the emperor turned his attention to Yan Qiheng again: "You came from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so you naturally understand the destructiveness of official corruption. The country has been stable for twenty years. Although it is cleaned frequently, there are still a lot of moths in the corners.
"
"Jingcha, please be careful."
"Yes!" Yan Qiheng responded hurriedly.
It suddenly dawned on the cabinet elders that this person joined the cabinet just 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 a self-contained entity. Although it is scattered in various oases, the power of the Peace Sect has not diminished. The most taboo is its outside presence."
As the chief assistant, Du Yinxi was far-sighted and immediately saw the shortcomings of southern Xinjiang:
Saint.
The Peace Religion is foreign and naturally has no resistance to the saints from the Arab region. This is true for the Mughals in the south and Afghanistan and Persia in the west.
With that said, Du Yinxi pointed out the plan: "We can let the Zhao State or the Liao State send troops south to capture the Badak Kingdom and completely seal off the southern border."
"As a result, it has completely become an island, open to anyone's manipulation."
Zhu Yixi approved of this plan. It was a purely physical plan, simple and direct.
Anxi is divided into Southern Xinjiang and Northern Xinjiang, with one governor and two chief envoys. The southern official goes north and the northern official goes south. This is the government's governance plan.
Even so, there are still 20,000 to 30,000 border troops stationed in Anxi, which can be said to be very careful.
But to completely stabilize the southern border and defend the border, this is the best way.
In history, when the Manchus suppressed the Hezhuo rebellion, they fled to the Badak Kingdom, which shows that the location here is dangerous.
At the same time, the Badak region is an important part of the Pamir Plateau and an important bridgehead for intervention in South Asia.
If you don't occupy it, others will.
Thinking about the area, Zhu Yixi smiled: "We can let the Zhao State and the border troops go. If it is done well, I am afraid we can even seal a country."
Although the Persian and Mughal empires were powerful at this time, it would not take long before their momentum was greatly reduced and their national power declined.
At that time, Bardak, Liao and Zhao will be the horns of each other, which will be enough to control Central Asia.
The outer northwest became a circle of vassal states, which was very beneficial to stabilizing the western frontier of the empire.
This was also his national defense policy: to encircle the vassal state on the border and create a good buffer zone.
No matter how bad things go, if there is a crisis in the court in the future, you can't take advantage of others, right?
This spring plowing performance ended at noon, but the Ming Dynasty Gazette showed a portrait of a tractor.
Many people across the country felt baffled, but it still sparked an upsurge of discussion.
The iron ox that eats firewood can plow an acre of land in a quarter of an hour. No matter how you look at it, it seems to be a miracle.
…
When Pu Songling came to Jilin, he thought he would come to a wild land, but he never thought that Changchun County, apart from being a bit colder, was much better than ordinary inland counties.
A county has less than ten thousand people.
The remaining villages and towns were basically built along official roads and were occupied by former construction soldiers and their families.
Therefore, the management of each village is like a military camp, reasonable and neat, which can be said to be extremely convenient.
He pays taxes in a timely manner, and at the same time takes on the duties of militiaman, road guard, etc. It can be said that he is multi-talented.
Riding on a carriage, he was escorted by a patrol battalion of more than ten people, holding long bows and muskets in their hands. It was an exaggeration.
"This is on an official road, there shouldn't be any bandits, right?"
Pu Songling said puzzledly.
"Sir, the Northeast is a vast country with few people, and there are more wild animals than people. You may be attacked accidentally."
The chief said seriously: "Spring has just begun, the snow has melted, and the blind bear who has been sleeping all winter has a flat stomach and wants to take a bite of everything, no matter what."
"We still have to be careful."
Sure enough, before walking two steps, I encountered a gray wolf on the official road.
It was lying on the ground, its fangs exposed, and its eyes extremely fierce.
The chief immediately became vigilant and asked everyone to surround the carriage and not go near the roadside.
"How is this going?"
Although there were many people, Pu Songling was indeed a little frightened.
Although he likes ghost stories and often listens to hunters telling stories, he is afraid of this beast.
"Master, this wolf is a lure, specially designed to attract people. If the prediction is correct, there may be many wolves ambushing on both sides of the official road..."
"Fire the gun--" the chief explained and treated it sternly.
Bang——
There was a gunshot, and although the gray wolf was not hit, he was startled.
Then a group of ambushing wild wolves appeared on both sides of the road, and they couldn't wait to escape.
The loud noise is enough to scare away most wild animals.
"Sir, this beast is afraid of the sound of gunshots. There are no wild beasts outside the city that he is not afraid of. You can scare them away without any effort."
"In addition, the sound can travel far, and the nearby militiamen can also know the situation and come to support."
Sure enough, after a while, a group of militiamen came over, each with a long gun, bow and arrow, and a majestic look.
"Shibalipu." Shi Chang said, "That's the village in front."
The militiamen were a little cautious about the arrival of the county magistrate, but they were not very afraid.
After staying in a place like the Northeast for a long time, people become bolder without realizing it. After all, they often hold weapons and fight against wild beasts.
Moreover, in a place like this, the villagers are united and warm, and the county government officials do not dare to mess around at all.
Because these people have really been soldiers.
Pu Songling didn't panic at all. He got off the carriage and saw the Shibalipu in front of him.
Unlike an ordinary village, this is a fortress.
A ring of walls, a foot high and made of wood, surrounded the entire village, forming a rough small city.
After passing this wooden fence, there are many small earth walls, which can also be said to be horse tripping stakes, which completely restrict the performance of the cavalry.
The houses inside are made of bricks and earth. They are low but thick. They are connected one to another and look extremely solid.
Even if there are no connected parts, don't block them with many stones, so be careful.
The village chief is a middle-aged man in his forties. He has several scars on his face, showing his bravery in fighting ferocious beasts.
"Sir, we have hundreds of families in Shibalipu, with 180 strong men, 30 people who are good at riding horses, and 50 archers..."
The man introduced the armed forces in the village in detail. If you compare them carefully, they are not even worse than those in the county.
Except for the cotton armor, there are some ordinary leather armors.
In terms of weapons, except for muskets, everything is available.
It’s really full of martial virtue!
Pu Songling sighed: "Your village is really no less than a county town."
The village chief smiled and said: "Sir, our village has no choice but to do this. The savages and wild beasts nearby are from some Tatars, and they are often jealous of our food and want to come here to catch the autumn wind."
"We can't spoil them."
He knew that the Puzhi County magistrate was new to the county, so he explained casually: "Our village is originally settled by military personnel, and we usually rely on military law to govern the village. There are many like us..."
Pu Songling smiled and shook his head: "This is the way it should be."
"In such a barbaric land, even without such weapons, ordinary people may not be able to survive for a day."
Of course, what satisfies Pu Songling is that these villages will pay taxes on time, and the county warehouse is not short of money, so naturally he feels comfortable.
This time he toured the entire county to understand the reality of Changchun County.
"How much land is there?"
"About three thousand acres." The village chief sighed inwardly: "Our family cultivates thirty acres, but we can't cultivate more than that. We originally had one hundred acres."
"What is missing?"
"We are short of cattle, we are short of iron, and we are also short of people." The man said truthfully:
"The land here is very fertile, but it is difficult to plant. It requires manpower and animals to plow, and it is not easy to open up wasteland. The trees are thicker than a person's waist..."
After complaining, Pu Songling smiled and said: "I can still think of something about cattle. After all, those Mongolians on the grassland like to raise cattle. As for iron tools-"
Pu Songling found it difficult.
Because the entire iron in Jilin is transported from Liaodong, there are no iron yards locally, it is expensive and scarce.
As for pigs, sheep and other livestock, almost every household has them, and each sheep pen is larger than the other.
We even saw a dozen horses in the village.
In the mainland, a horse costs more than thirty or fifty yuan, but in Jilin, you can buy it for about ten yuan.
Both sides benefited from the Mongolian trade.
And this is the benefit of the vast land and sparsely populated areas. Forage is everywhere, and you can even grow some pasture specifically to raise horses.
He calculated in his mind that there were twenty-eight villages in Changchun County, that is, 2,800 households, enough to bring out 5,000 people.
Once there is a war, Changchun County can fight independently or even fight back.
After all, there is no shortage of cavalry or archers.
While patrolling, Pu Songling suddenly saw a wooden workshop.
He sniffed it and felt a hint of sweetness inexplicably.
"This is?"
The village chief wanted to hide it, but he thought it was nothing: "This is beet."
"The imperial court promoted it a few years ago to encourage us to grow beets."
"Oh? What can this thing do?" Pu Songling had a guess in his mind.
"Can squeeze sugar."
"Beets are just like sugar cane in the south. They can be used to extract sugar, and the residue can be used to feed livestock."
"How much does it cost per pound?"
Pu Songling said in surprise.
"It's about eight cents per catty, and one acre of land can produce one or two hundred catties of sugar. It's much more cost-effective than farming, and you don't have to take care of it carefully. Everyone likes to grow it..."
"When the time comes, there will be many merchants coming to buy it. It's very convenient."
Sugar beets and sugarcane are both equally effective.
Pu Songling got a glimpse of the richness of Changchun.
There is enough food to eat, there are many livestock, and you can also squeeze sugar and sell it for money. This is much better than his hometown.
He wanted to write a letter asking the villagers to move here and live and work in peace and contentment.
Pu Songling took a tour of the entire Changchun County and felt that this place was really a good place and it was simply a paradise on earth.
Apart from being a bit cold, there are no shortcomings at all.