Chapter 53 Letters in the Storm
"My mentor is here, my disciple Huang Zicheng is safe."
Also under the oil lamp, Huang Zicheng was also concentrating on writing a letter. It’s also a letter to He Xi.
But Huang Zicheng looked much more excited than Lian Zining.
"My disciples were surveying in Dongshengwei. The Yellow River is full of dangers, but only one thing is profitable. It's true. I saw that there was an old city in the Yuan Dynasty here. Although it was abandoned, I dug out two clay pots, and they were all filled with millet. As I walked, I saw There are several acres of wasteland, and more than a few feet of ground have been dug, showing traces of farming. This land is sufficient for farming."
"Hundreds of miles from Fengzhou River to the Yellow River, there are abundant water and grass, and the old Chile River is also called "Chile River". Its song goes, "Chile River", at the foot of Yinshan Mountain. The sky is like a dome, covering the four fields. The sky is blue, the fields are vast, and the grass is low in the wind. Cattle and sheep.”
"After a long time of operation, it is enough to fortify the south of the Yangtze River. One stone of grain produced here is equivalent to five stones of Yanyun, ten stones of the Central Plains, and twenty stones of Jiangnan."
"However, there is no grass in the city walls, the Mongolian herdsmen are not familiar with farming, and the only soldier who lives in Dongsheng position is short of everything. An iron pot is worth ten times the price in China. Other things have different values, and there is no market for them."
"There is a long way to go to run this place. Just garrisoning soldiers is totally unacceptable."
"------"
When the two of them wrote letters and traveled across thousands of mountains and rivers to Nanjing, it was already summer in Nanjing.
As one of the four largest furnaces in the Yangtze River, He Xi could not survive day and night without sweating without cooling conditions. Without air conditioning, this is literally life-threatening.
At any rate, He Xi made some preparations. There were copper pipes under the walls and floors of her bedroom. Hot water was poured in for heating in winter, and cold water was poured in for cooling now. But under the sun, the water in the water tank is a little hot. So the cooling conditions are not very good.
But it's better than others.
He Xi simply gave the students a holiday. They could come to ask for advice if they had anything to do, and let them make their own arrangements for the rest of the time. After all, they are not elementary school students anymore. It doesn’t hurt to have more time for self-study.
He Xi was sweating profusely while looking at the letter. He didn't even dare to pick it up with his hands. When he took the brigadier general's letter, he wet it with sweat.
He Xi read these two letters several times, feeling filled with emotion. I can be regarded as someone else’s backstage. Although the backstage thing seems to be standard equipment for villains. However, he thought about it for a long time. I think their analysis is really good.
Daning, where Lian Zining went, was the Chifeng area in later generations, and was also around Chengde in the Qing Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was almost a purely pastoral area. Emperors of the Qing Dynasty also went hunting in Chengde. Those who don’t listen are farmers.
Of course, as He Xi said in the previous article, most of the Monan area is used for grazing, and a small part can be planted. Even if we force it, it is not impossible to plant it in most places, but it will cause serious grassland desertification. The sandstorm that hit Beijing a few years ago is inseparable from the large-scale reclamation of grasslands in the late Qing Dynasty.
The Dongshengwei, Fengzhoutan, and Huaibo areas are different. These places are close to the Yellow River. Even if there is insufficient rainfall, if water from the Yellow River can be diverted for irrigation, they can actually be used as farming areas.
After all, the rise of Mongolia and the city of Guihua in later generations illustrate this point.
During the Qing Dynasty, this area was the most cultivated.
He Xi thought about it and immediately replied a letter to the two disciples. Express condolences to Lian Zining and ask him to guard against arrogance and impatience. Work with peace of mind. Once he has merit, he will definitely report it to the court and ask him not to say anything about life or death. Many things may not be successful, just save what is useful and do it again.
The letter to Huang Zicheng was a severe reprimand.
He said that he was so arrogant when he got off the bus. I don’t know that as a special envoy of the imperial court, his every word and deed will affect the imperial court’s decision-making. Once the imperial court adopts his decision and invests countless resources in Dongshengwei, if it fails, even if he is cut into pieces, it will not be enough to thank the world. He was asked to carefully investigate the local water, soil, temperature, climate, the original farming site, etc., and finally he wanted to cultivate several acres of fields by himself. He had to choose the acres with the best conditions and the ones with the worst conditions. A few acres, a few acres of medium, and various crops, wheat, millet, soybeans, you have to try it, and you can only report it if you are absolutely sure.
Of course, He Xi told Huang Zicheng this, but he still believed the content of Huang Zicheng's letter.
After doing these things, he pondered for a moment. Decided to go to the palace.
Although the relationship between the two disciples is in the secretary's prison. If you don't return, He Xi will be in charge. But He Xi himself was assigned the official position of Secretary Supervisor. Secondly, the reason why they were sent out was also because of He Xi.
Everyone knows this.
He Xi couldn't ignore it. Furthermore, it is better to let Zhu Yuanzhang know this kind of first-hand information.
When He Xi left home, the wind suddenly blew and a cool breeze blew. He Xi felt much cooler. I didn’t think much about it. But when we arrived at Qianqing Palace, the sky was already overcast.
The palace is very deep, even when the sun is shining. There are some areas in the innermost part of the palace that are not well lit. Not to mention, it was already overcast at the moment. The wind was also whining strangely.
Xu Zheng wisely lit the lamps in Qianqing Palace.
He Xi met Zhu Yuanzhang, exchanged a few words, and handed the letter in his hand to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang stepped back and looked at the lights. He pondered for a while and said, "Is what Huang Zicheng said true?"
He Xi said: "I thought it was true, but I don't dare to be careless in national affairs. So I asked him to investigate carefully and report it again. It's just that that area in history has always been cultivated."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "One stone here is equivalent to twenty stones from the south of the Yangtze River. It is true that it costs more than twenty stones to transport grain from the south of the Yangtze River to the grassland. But according to his idea, almost millions of people would be moved here. Among them, the cost I’m afraid it will be no less than a Northern Expedition.”
He Xi thought for a moment and felt that what Zhu Yuanzhang said was correct.
First of all, we must face the fact that the population of the Ming Dynasty has not yet recovered from the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Moreover, in terms of the overall population structure, there are more people in the south and less people in the north, and the number becomes smaller as you go north. To move Southerners to the North, coercion had to be used. And coercive measures may not be effective.
It’s not like Zhu Yuanzhang had never engaged in immigration. From Shanxi and Shandong to Henan and Hebei, and from Jiangnan to the Huaihe River, we know how difficult it is to move people. Moreover, Henan and Hebei areas have always been traditional farming areas, even if there are no people. Some water conservancy measures are still in place. But it's different here in Dongshengwei.
This is not a traditional farming area, it is on the grassland, and it is even the front line facing the remaining elements. In addition, many places are undeveloped, and the cost of farming here is several times that of Henan and Hebei.
This time in the Northern Expedition to the Monan region, more than a dozen cavalry troops were sent out, and the number of infantry and civilians estimated to be more than one million. The cost of building this area is estimated to be no less than that of this war.
Because war is a one-time event, while investment in farming is long-term. After all, these places may not be self-sufficient for a long time. All need to transport supplies from the rear.
It is not certain how long it will take these places to become self-sufficient.
He Xi said: "Your Majesty, apart from the one thing that can be settled, I think there is one thing that your Majesty must consider."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "What's the matter?"
He Xi said: "From the perspective of industrial development, this place is a place of dominance. It can even prosper a country if it is gained. It can destroy a country if it is lost."
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows and said, "Why do you say this?"
He Xi said: "The Western Yi have a country called Germany. Their strength is based on the Ruhr Industrial Area. Why, because the Ruhr has coal and iron, and the cost of producing steel is very low. Therefore, Germany It prospered because of this. This is exactly what happened in the Hetao area. On the north bank of the Yellow River, that is, in the jacket, there was a city called Baotou in later generations. There were many iron mines, and in the inner corner of the Yellow River, there was a city called Ordos, which was called a sea of coal. There was coal and iron. , and there is a river running through it. If it is acquired by outsiders, it can be enough to build countless armors and prosper a country."
"Although there has never been a powerful country based on this foundation in history, Your Majesty, when I came, I also brought a lot of technology from later generations. The spread of technology cannot be stopped. If Mongolia uses this as a foundation to build industry, I don’t know what history will be like by then.”
