Chapter 464: Long Way to Go II
In July of the third year of Shengwu, Chen Cao personally received Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng who had returned from the Middle East at the Shanghai Puxi Military Port in Songjiang Prefecture. After being away from the Ming Dynasty for six years, the two of them were so dark that Chen Cao almost couldn't recognize them.
After the salute, Sun Chuanting looked around and said with emotion: "When I set out, Shanghai was just a fishing village under development."
"Bo Ya and Boya left for the Western Expedition under my orders. It has been six years now. How come, the Ming Dynasty has won the land in the Middle East?"
This was just a simple question. Chen Cao had naturally known it for a long time. He thought that the reason why he sent two people to conquer Central Asia was only secondary to oil. The most important thing was that Sun Chuanting, an old scholar, needed to get into trouble with the northern court. During the civil war, after all, he was a minister of Tianqi.
"Fortunately, I and the other two have lived up to their mission. Since His Majesty marked Yemen and Oman, they have all been naturalized. The civil servants sent by His Majesty three years ago have also begun to educate them there."
"At the beginning of the first year of Shengwu, Chen and Boya went north to the Arab Empire in two directions. At that time, they were ruled by the Ottomans, and their will to fight was low. After our army entered the desert, they were even led by the local people, and they attacked all the way. Going north from the east and west, they finally met up at Mecca, the so-called holy city of their generation, and fought a decisive battle with the Ottomans."
"How's it going?"
Sun Chuanting looked disdainful: "The territory of the Ottomans is larger than that of the Ming Dynasty. They are not too concerned about running the Arab Empire. They only stationed heavy troops in the holy city. At the time of the battle, the Ottomans claimed to have an army of 600,000, and the 14th Route Outflank our army..."
Lu Xiangsheng also smiled: "Many troops were turned back by the Arabs and attacked the enemy's formation. Our army was surrounded by two routes and lured the enemy in from the middle. Finally, we defeated the enemy in Mecca and killed more than 40,000 people. Nearly 100,000 people surrendered, and the rest all fled. Before the end of the year, Chen and Boya had eliminated all resistance forces in the entire Arab Empire."
"Where are the people?"
"There are very few people of that generation who are willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty..." Sun Chuanting shook his head.
Lu Xiangsheng said: "However, an Ottoman prisoner gave us an idea. They believe in Western religion, and their name is 'Islan'. As long as they control the Holy City, they control them..."
Chen Cao nodded. Religious politics is an absolute control for them. Of course, it is not needed at all in China.
"In other words, the Central Asian territory of our Ming Dynasty now covers Arabia, Oman, and Yemen?"
Lu Xiangsheng clasped his fists: "I follow His Majesty's policy of striking as far as possible. In addition, the new revolver that arrived early last year is invincible in the Middle East. The Tianxiong Army has pushed forward all the way and has entered Iraq. Since then, Everything west of the Euphrates falls into our hands;
As soon as the spring of the second year of Shengwu arrived, Chen and Boya once again marched north and south, annihilating the Iraqi Empire's forces in Baghdad, and driving the Ottomans completely out of the Middle East. They originally planned to march eastward to Iran after the spring of this year, but received His Majesty's order. recall. "
Chen Cao was filled with joy. After the oil-producing countries in the Middle East joined the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Empire would have the final say in the future world. No one dared to say no. Of course, this must be established without losing the Middle East. .
After talking non-stop all the way back to the temporary camp, Chen Cao said at this time: "After Iran is defeated, I plan to merge the five places of Oman, Yemen, Arabia, Iraq, and Iran into Xizhou Province. The five places will be the five prefectures. Although each prefecture is like a country, it can be combined with multiple counties and cities;
Anxi Dudufu was also established as a town, and Boya was the county magistrate of Xi'an at that time. Therefore, I decided to let you take over the first governor of Xizhou. How about it? "
Sun Chuanting stood up and saluted: "I will definitely not disappoint Your Majesty."
"As for the position of Governor of the Anxi Governor's Mansion, Jiandou, may you be qualified for it?"
Lu Xiangsheng saluted: "I will work hard to prevent rebellion in Xizhou."
The governor of Xizhou is in charge of the administration of the five regions, and the governor of Anxi is in charge of the military. After all, the civil and military affairs must be separated.
"Your Majesty, I ask you to immigrate Chinese people to enrich Xizhou Province. After fifty years, it will be difficult for them to be separated from our Ming Dynasty."
"What Boya meant is what I thought. The Green Camp soldiers were originally soldiers of the Guard. Now that the civil war in the Ming Dynasty is over, these people are inseparable just for production and construction, so I decided to choose from the surrendered troops and some of the people affected by the Central Plains. They immigrated to the West."
"Xizhou is not like China. I know that there are many desert lands within the five prefectures of Xizhou. Among the five prefectures, only the land next to the Euphrates River is suitable for farming. Therefore, I feel that it will be very uncomfortable for those people to leave when the time comes. willing."
"Compulsory migration is much better than voluntary migration. In addition to compulsion, I have also ordered that in Henan and Shaanxi, as long as the whole family moves there, priority will be given to enclosing land and setting up their own farms. According to the new farmland regulations, each household will have a minimum of 100 acres, and there will be a minimum of 100 acres per household. The imperial court provides all farming equipment. In addition to equalizing land and exempting from taxes, the local people in Xizhou have priority in enjoying part of the pension. Single men can marry Central Asian women locally, and the imperial court will allocate them. Everyone has a daughter-in-law. Since it was proposed at the end of last year, as of March this year, as many as 600,000 people have signed up in the two places."
Both of them praised, and Chen Cao continued: "The land in Shaanxi is no longer as prosperous as it was in the former Tang Dynasty. After soil erosion, the Loess Plateau has tended to become desertified, so I have ordered the Qinling Mountains to return farmland to forest first. The people of this place It is necessary to immigrate to Xizhou Province;
According to statistics from the Ministry of Household Registration last year, there are still 420,000 registered households in Shaanxi, with a total population of 2.47 million. According to statistics, there are only 280,000 registered residents in Shaanxi, less than one-fifth of the province's total. "
"Your Majesty wants to immigrate all of Shaanxi?"
Chen Cao nodded, stood up and sighed: "We must immigrate. The land equalization exemption has not yet arrived in Shaanxi. If we don't take advantage of this opportunity to implement it, I am worried that the people will not be willing to immigrate. In Xizhou Province, even if I go there myself, I will still have to do it." Preserved for posterity.”
Both of them knew that Chen Cao was talking about the oil resources in Xizhou, and they knew it tacitly.
"I have ordered a few days ago that all the land west of Fengxiang and southwest of the Yellow River will be relocated and farmland returned to forests. There will be no more than 500,000 residents in Xi'an Prefecture alone."
Shaanxi was originally a vast land with sparsely populated areas, and with the advent of the Little Ice Age, the drought in Shaanxi was no less severe than that in Henan. Therefore, relocating the people has become a top priority.
"The five prefectures of Xizhou are far away from mainland China. Only Iran has areas connected to Hami Guard. However, it is also blocked by heavy mountains and is not suitable for large force operations. Therefore, I decided to place a Chen family member in each of the five prefectures of Xizhou. You and the other two What do you think?"
The two looked at each other and thought that this was what they had to do, but...
Chen Cao said: "I know what you are thinking. After the prince sealed the land, did he behave like a pig raised in the local area like the Zhu family, or what exactly? After all, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. Even if you file a complaint, it will take time."
The two of them smiled sarcastically and said nothing.
Chen Cao said seriously: "I deeply believe that Xizhou is an important land, so five princes should be used to guard it. In addition to preventing a certain prince from the Emperor Tiangao from becoming independent, we also need to let them guard the place. It is easy to found a country, and it is easy to maintain it. The hardest.”
"Your Majesty the Holy Ming..."
"Well, I have also thought about this matter. Therefore, all future governors of Xizhou will be unique officials of our Ming Dynasty. Civil and military rule are divided. The governor of Xizhou is elected every five years, and the governor is elected every three years. The governor can be re-elected. The commander-in-chief must be changed, and you are clear about the intention behind doing so;
In addition, the governor of Xizhou must be appointed by the central court and select officials locally. The five prefects are also the largest prefects. Like the governors, they are elected every five years but cannot be re-elected. There is another important point. The governor of Xizhou Officials at the prefecture, prefecture, and county magistrate levels are not allowed to hold official posts for local people. This rule is not required at the mayor level;
You should be aware that within a hundred years, before Xizhou is completely assimilated, officials at all levels will be mainly local officials from the Ming Dynasty. "
"Your Majesty, I think there is no need to go to such trouble. In my lifetime, I can open up the connection between Xizhou and China."
makes sense.
After Iran passes, Afghanistan will be in the northeast and Pakistan will be in the southeast. These two countries are not good enemies, but they are not impossible to include in the territory.
Chen Cao nodded: "It is not a problem to defeat the two small countries to the east of Iran, but the Hami Guard side must be our Ming Dynasty territory. I have ordered Tang Yannian to lead three divisions to the west to Hami Guard, and wait until they take it After Xia Yili and other places, Yili and Hamiwei were renamed as Xinjiang provinces. At that time, the west of Xinjiang was connected to the land of Pakistan, and the construction of railways could continuously transport oil to the mainland through steam trains."
Fifteen days later, the group returned to Beijing, and Chen Cao issued an order that worried the clan harem.
"The emperor, who has been entrusted by heaven, issued an edict: The Dukes of Yong and Su have come together to help us control the territory of the five kingdoms of Oman, Yemen, Arabia, Iraq, and Iran. I will follow the will of heaven...
The five prefectures were combined to form the province of Xizhou. For the sake of future generations of China, we summoned the five princes of Qi, Yan, Chu, Han (Chen Bohui, the son of the noble concubine Zhou Yufeng), and Zhao Wang Chen Bozhi (the second son of Queen Li Xiang) to form a separate town in Xizhou. The Five Governments admire this..."
"The five princes are divided into five prefectures. They are hereditary and can open mansions. The princes of the five prefectures bring their own regiment of guards. The guard regiment is changed every two years. All military and state affairs within the five prefectures are reported to the provincial governor. Report to the guarding prince's palace."
"The prince and the prefect co-manage the five prefectures, and the governor of Xizhou is in charge of the princes of the five prefectures. Each of them will exercise restraint and use it for ten thousand years..."
"The guarding prince is going alone. You are all my wives and concubines, so you will naturally advance and retreat with me. If you are still alive after my death someday, you can choose whether to go to their fiefdom..."
Although Iran has not been defeated yet, Chen Cao blocked them out first. After all, it would be a matter of time.
"As for now, while I am strong, let's quickly have children and go to conquer Pakistan."
