Zhang Tianru was stunned.
Is Daming so unlucky? When Emperor Taizu expelled the Tartars and restored China, the country's scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants rejoiced and looked forward to a prosperous age like the Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties.
Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty was always poor and weak, and it only rose to prominence for a short time during the reigns of Taizu and Chengzu. Starting from Renxuan, a large area of territory was lost.
Jeju Island is lost, Myanmar is lost, Vietnam is lost, Nurgandu Sibei in the Heilongjiang River Basin is lost, the Western Region is lost, Qinghai is lost, and Xuanwei Si in the old port of Sumatra Island is lost. The Malay Peninsula is lost. The Strait of Malacca, an inland sea in the early Ming Dynasty, has nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty.
If it weren't for Prince Mu's Mansion, Yunnan would probably be gone.
Over the years, the old lady’s New Year celebrations have really been worse than the last. Now the entire Liaodong and north of the Great Wall are almost completely gone.
Now the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue is only four million taels a year, and its annual military expenditure is as high as five million taels. The finances are already bankrupt.
This pitiful income was less than one-tenth of the Tang Dynasty and one-fortieth of the Song Dynasty.
According to historical records, the Tang Dynasty's fiscal revenue exceeded 50 million taels of silver. The highest annual fiscal revenue in the Song Dynasty reached 160 million yuan. That’s 160 million silver.
Yang Fan sometimes sighs when looking at the history books, how did the Ming Dynasty survive? It is really not easy to survive for nearly three hundred years with such a small income.
Everyone from the emperor to the ministers of the Ming Dynasty lamented that the emperors of Qin and Han had so much gold, and that they themselves were poor at this time. A proper dick.
Zhang Pu closed his eyes in pain and understood. It turns out that the root cause is here.
The agricultural dynasty relies on the sky for its livelihood. If God doesn't rain, there is nothing you can do. Cold weather will cause drought, and crop yields will also decrease due to the climate.
Yang Fan continued: "Every time the climate gets colder, it gradually moves from the north to the south, and the rainfall in the north will decrease significantly and become drought. This has resulted in the Hu people in the north being unable to make a living solely by relying on nomadic herding, fishing and hunting. They can go south to find warmer areas to survive. This is the case for Xianbei, the same for Turks, and even more so for Mongolia and Jiannu."
"The average annual precipitation is 400 millimeters, about that much," Yang Fan compared with a ruler. "It's actually the dividing line between nomadic pastoralism and farming."
"As long as the rainfall is lower than this level, famine will definitely occur. Even nomadic people need at least 300 millimeters of rainfall to maintain their pasture."
"For every degree the average temperature drops, the average annual precipitation in China will decrease by 100 millimeters on average." Yang Fan said with a ruler.
“If the precipitation in your southern region decreases by 100 millimeters, food production will be reduced by 10%.
"And in our north, if the precipitation is reduced by 100 millimeters, it will directly determine whether the crops in the field will fail."
"If the temperature really drops by one degree, it means that the Great Wall needs to be moved 800 miles south, because even the herdsmen here will not be able to support themselves, and agricultural civilization will not be able to take root."
Yang Fan turned the piece of paper over, hastily drew a map of the Ming Dynasty, and then drew the Great Wall of Qin, the Great Wall of Han, and the Great Wall of Ming.
"This explains why the Great Wall of the Qin and Han Dynasties was built in such a different location than the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty, because the climates of the two eras were completely different. Why was Tubo a big trouble in the Tang Dynasty? After the Tang Dynasty, Tubo invasions were no longer heard of. Because Their climate has changed, and there haven’t been many people on that plateau for nearly a thousand years.”
Zhang Pu nodded. He said he understood it completely.
This year is the first year of Chongzhen. Since the beginning of this year, I heard that it has not rained in Beizhili. The ground is bare, the vegetation is withered and yellow, and refugees are everywhere.
In many places, the bark of trees on both sides of the river is gone.
They came ashore from Beitang, and along the way they saw cracks in the land on both sides of the Ji Canal, and no grass growing.
Only after passing Zunhua City, the vast land to the west is covered with green rice fields as far as the eye can see on both sides of the river.
I don’t know what kind of rice they are, but they are much higher than the indica rice from Jiangnan, and they look very strong. The harvest of rice is approaching, and the heavy ears of rice are so full that the rice heads are bowed and swaying in the wind.
A huge waterwheel stands by the river. They had never seen such a big waterwheel in their lives.
I was shocked to see it.
The constantly rotating waterwheel raises the river water to a high place day and night, and then flows down automatically into the ditch for irrigation.
The semi-high ground in the distance was also lushly covered with unknown crops, as tall as small trees.
It’s also the harvest season, and the crops are dry and golden. It looks very spectacular, undulating and swaying in the wind, like waves.
Duolun City is very far north, where it gets cold early and the frost-free period is short, so the varieties grown there are all early-maturing varieties. The crops over there have been harvested.
There has been no harvesting here in Zunhua, so it was very shocking to see.
Zhang and Pu looked at the young man in front of them with complicated eyes.
It is said that he is the youngest commander of the Imperial Guard in the two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty. He almost didn't become the youngest commander in the place.
All these changes were brought about after he came, and it took only one year.
At that time, their jaws were almost dropped when they saw it on the boat. They almost thought that this was not Saibei at the foot of the Great Wall, but back to the south of the Yangtze River.
The boatman said that these lands belong to Mr. Yang. There are paddy fields beside the river, and every acre of dry land in the distance has a well for irrigation.
The four of them were dumbfounded. Even if they had to carry water from the well, they would be too tired to do it.
The captain of the ship laughed and said, these guests must be from the south. This well water is pressed out by a water press. How can we use people to carry water? We all use machines to lift water here, and many places even use windmills and keel water trucks to lift water. No manpower is needed at all.
While the four of them were amazed, they were also deeply jealous.
Now the food prices have skyrocketed. Mr. Yang, with so much land and such good harvests, how much food will be harvested?
Food prices in Beizhili are almost ten times higher than those in Jiangnan.
The most shocking thing is the huge dam that is still under construction when passing by the mouth of Zhouhe River, a tributary of Ji Canal.
I heard from the boat boss that when the dam is completed by the end of next year, a huge lake will be formed east of Jizhou. Water is stored during the flood season and released during the dry season.
From now on, there will be no more floods and droughts on both sides of the Ji River, and all wasteland can be developed into fertile farmland.
When the ship boss said this, his face lit up and his excitement left a deep impression on everyone.
Rice can be grown mostly along the coast, and dry fields can also be grown in a few highlands. These dry fields are also irrigated land.
This Yang Fan is actually so capable that he has almost transformed his territory into the north of the Great Wall and the south of the Yangtze River.
The people I saw along the way all had rosy complexions. Although their clothes were still shabby, they were washed very clean and their spirits were completely different from those of people in other places.
The eyes are bright, the waist is straight, and everyone is smiling.
Although most of them fled from various places in Beizhili last year. They almost didn't starve to death at that time, but now they have been completely changed.
They are either Mr. Chen's domestic slaves or Mr. Chen's tenants. But all of them are full of energy and as confident as scholars.
It is said that Beizhili is not the worst. I heard that Shaanxi and Ningxia in the northwest have not had much rain in three years. It's almost unimaginable what it looks like over there.
Yang Fan thought for a while, and even though Zhang Pu had been hit hard, he still said: "A severe drought will affect animals. Year-round drought will reduce food, and the rats will be weak. I am afraid that the plague may spread over a large area."
"It has been getting colder every year, and the price of fur has skyrocketed. Stimulated by huge profits, many people will take risks and hunt for furs outside the customs. Many animals outside the customs, such as marmots, are carrying plague. These hunters come into contact with animals, Will bring the plague back to Ming Dynasty."
"The drought is raging, and it's not just the refugees who are fleeing to save their lives. Rats also need to look for food everywhere. It's natural for a large number of rats to enter human settlements. The plague spreads the virus to refugees through the fleas that live on them, and the refugees' Migration has allowed the virus to spread to a larger area. Once an outbreak occurs, I don't know how many people will die. I am afraid that north of the Huaihe River, nine out of ten houses will be empty."
At this time, Zhang Cai and the other three people's faces were as pale as earth.
"Since God's will is like this, it cannot be resisted by human beings. Heaven and earth are unkind. The people are like stupid dogs. Is there really nothing I can do about it?" Zhang Tianru looked decadent and ashen.
At this moment, he suddenly felt that he was a joke. Why fight for the foundation of the country and fight against the eunuch party? What is the incompatibility of good and evil, and what is the righteousness of the people. In the face of the changes in the fate of heaven, earth and the country, and in the face of the great cycles of history, these are meaningless.
In front of heaven and earth, human beings are so insignificant, almost like ants and can be ignored. The mantis arm can block the car.
"It's so difficult to win half the world! It's better to go back and study behind closed doors. Go and rest! Go and rest!"
Zhang Cai and others were shocked. Yang Fan's words and picture actually made Zhang Tianru's heart drop to despair. This is really heartbreaking. chaptererror();
