Zuo Menggeng did not veto Xue Fengzuo's crazy plan on the spot.
He even thought that he could do something about it.
Xue Fengzuo said something that touched him.
"Your Highness, the population of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan has decreased significantly. It has never been easier to carry out such a project. If this opportunity is missed, can it still be implemented in the future?"
Zuo Mengeng knew very well that if he missed the period of the late Ming Dynasty, it would be impossible to dredge the Yellow River.
During the late Ming Dynasty, the Central Plains became a wilderness due to frequent wars, natural disasters, and man-made disasters.
There is no human habitation for thousands of miles, and there is no rooster crow in the countryside.
Sometimes, you can walk hundreds of miles without seeing a single house.
The wilderness is so clean that not even bones can be seen.
Bones will also become food for wild beasts.
This is Henan today.
It's all blood and tears, it's all a nightmare for innocent people.
But for dredging the Yellow River, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Fewer people means fewer stakes involved in the project.
At the very least, a lot of effort and cost will be saved in population migration.
In particular, big cities such as Luoyang and Kaifeng are right on the edge of the Yellow River. It is sheer fantasy to relocate the population here during peacetime to facilitate the construction of projects.
Don't say that Xia Guo doesn't have this ability, and it can't be done in any era.
After all, digging new river channels also requires land.
But this period in the late Ming Dynasty is fine.
Because too many people died, many areas were deserted, and there was no need to worry about destroying the original production environment.
Especially since Henan is the granary of the Central Plains, consuming cultivated land for such projects in peacetime is definitely an act of national subjugation.
Zuo Mengeng deeply understood that if he did not solve the problem of the Yellow River above ground at this time, there would be no chance from now on.
The land of the Central Plains will still exist fearfully under the threat of rivers on the ground.
Moreover, the time when construction can begin is only a fifty-year window.
Fifty years from now, when the world is at peace, the population will inevitably expand rapidly.
At that point, I couldn't move even if I wanted to.
In fact, the population problem has been bothering Xia State all the time.
"Although half a million people have been relocated from the Huaihe and Huaihe regions, the population growth rate is still too fast. Various industries have absorbed a large part, but the pressure still exists."
In the whole world, there is only peace and harmony in Xia Kingdom.
The people have enough food and clothing, and their lives are getting better and better. Coupled with the continuously improving level of medical care, the population survival rate has greatly increased.
According to statistics, last year, the number of newborns in the Huaihe and Huaihe regions reached an astonishing 750,000.
Coupled with the influx of foreign population, the migration of half a million people increased by one million.
One plus and one minus makes the pressure even greater.
"Although the Ming Dynasty is strictly guarded, the people can't survive, so they naturally have to find a way out. There is an endless stream of people smuggling to our side, and it even has an impact on public security. Especially the prevention and control of epidemics is really a headache. "
As soon as they met, Fu Yijian complained to Zuo Menggeng.
Today's Lianghuai Province, the main industries are divided into several parts.
Heavy industry in Xuzhou area, salt industry in Yangzhou area, water transportation in Huai'an Prefecture, aquaculture in Hongze Lake area, agriculture and handicraft industry in Zhuzhou and Luzhou areas.
The numerous and complex water systems have divided the Lianghuai region into countless fragments, which is really difficult to manage.
The officials here racked their brains and tried many methods, but with little effect.
Zuo Mengeng fully understood their concerns.
Even in later generations, the economy of the Huaihe and Huaihe regions was not very outstanding.
This is determined by the geographical environment and cannot be resisted by human beings.
"Then we should increase the intensity of population migration. Not only Jilin, but now that Taiwan has returned, we can also move there."
Taiwan is definitely a rare treasure island.
Because it is located in an area where the tropics and subtropics meet, the climate is hot and humid all year round, which is very conducive to the growth of crops. In particular, sugar cane and fruits have unique advantages.
The entire island cannot be fully developed based on the current population on the island.
Immigration has become a necessary choice.
Zuo Mengeng had another deeper consideration.
Nowadays, the population on the island of Taiwan is basically composed of Fujian immigrants and local indigenous people. The source of the population is too single, and it is easy to form groups, which affects the depth of the administrative system.
Only by adding sand into it and diversifying the sources of the population can people rely more on the government to solve problems.
"As well as Ryukyu and Luzon in the future, they need enough population to be able to defend them. Don't think that the increasing population now is a burden. For the country, these are the wealth of pioneering and enterprising. What you have to do is to ensure People should immigrate safely and properly, and do not turn good governance into bad governance."
After all, he was once his secretary and a top talent. Zuo Menggeng taught Fu Yijian words and deeds and told many external plans.
Under the premise that the level of science and technology cannot achieve a leap-forward breakthrough, if you want to expand the territory as much as possible and defend it, you can rely on a sufficient population.
The expansion of Tsarist Russia in the Far East does not count.
Because the eyes of the world are not here, they can easily occupy such a vast land at a very low cost.
Zuo Mengeng and Xia Guo's eyes were not just looking to the north, but to all over the world.
It is inevitable to compete with the world's powers in some places.
At that time, the advantage of population will be reflected.
Half a month after traveling, Zuo Mengeng and Wang Siyi arrived at Songjiang Mansion and moved into the Xu family.
After crossing the Yangtze River, Songjiang Mansion shows a different atmosphere.
The smell of money is in the air here.
Unknowingly, Songjiang Mansion already had a vague flavor of Xia Kingdom's economic center.
The location here is really too unique.
Inward, there is the Yangtze River that can communicate all the way to Bashu.
Looking outward, the sea extends in all directions, unimpeded.
No matter whether you go north to Shandong, Korea, or Japan, or go south to Ryukyu, Taiwan, Fujian, Guangdong, or Batavia, the distance is very moderate.
The prosperous economy has made Songjiang Mansion expand like a balloon.
The population here has exceeded three million.
This is definitely the largest city in the world.
Fortunately, due to the construction of the seaport, the east bank of the Huangpu River has been deeply developed. Otherwise, the increased population will not be able to be accommodated.
There are 73,000 factories of various sizes in Songjiang Prefecture, with more than one million industrial workers.
The types of business operations have expanded from the original single cotton textile industry to an industrial structure with thousands of categories such as garments, printing, construction, and home furnishings.
The local businessmen were really happy about Zuo Mengeng's arrival.
As soon as he came up, Xu Ji raised a major issue on behalf of everyone.
"Zhongheng, money. We need the right money. Silver, as a transaction currency, can no longer keep up with the needs."
