eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 865: Mass Relocation Plan of 3 People

A month later, autumn has entered, and the scorching heat of the north no longer lingers on the earth.

The emperor Long Hu also returned to the capital from the Rehe Palace.

In addition to this reason, there are also droughts in Henan, Shanxi, and North Zhili that affect the emperor's heart.

This ancient and vast land has never been short of natural disasters. In Zhu Houzhao's memory, the Yellow River would cause damage once every three years on average, and droughts and floods in small and medium-sized areas were not lacking every year.

In addition, the lower reaches of the Huaihe River are flat and there is no barrier when the water level rises.

In fact, the superior agricultural conditions in the Huanghuai region were obtained after a generation of local farmers dug a main irrigation canal in northern Jiangsu just by manpower after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Although the peace and tranquility of working at sunrise and resting at sunset is fascinating, the hard work of agricultural work and the instability of watching the sky make it really unsuitable as the only method of production.

People were coming and going in Qianqing Palace, and everyone was speeding up their pace, which already showed that the situation at this time was somewhat urgent.

In order to provide disaster relief,

Two days after receiving the report, the emperor ordered the cabinet to immediately select temporary working groups to go to the three provinces.

At the same time, imperial envoys were dispatched, asking them to take command in various provinces and make every effort to help the affected people tide over the difficulties.

At the same time, the Ministry of Household Affairs allocated three million taels of silver to purchase grain from neighboring provinces.

In the past twenty years of his life, plus the twenty years of his father, Emperor Hongzhi, it can be said that the world has been very stable, and there has never been any behavior that was very depleting of the people's power.

Therefore, the Central Plains region is densely populated, and the number of households reported in each county is constantly growing.

According to his own estimation, the current population of the Ming Dynasty definitely exceeds 70 million, which is also a super country in the world. Not only that, because of the introduction of high-yielding crops like sweet potatoes,

Abolition of the poll tax.

It is estimated that there will soon be 100 million people.

However, because of the idea of ​​settling down and relocating, ordinary people are not willing to travel far away from home at all.

Even if places like Hetao and Sichuan are suitable for farming and have favorable conditions, people who can survive will basically not leave their hometown in pursuit of a better life.

Population migration in history all occurred in turbulent times. Life has never been good, and large-scale population transfers suddenly occurred.

This forced Zhu Houzhao to focus on the victims.

Therefore, when the drought comes, in addition to the disaster relief emergency plan, another supporting immigration plan is also launched.

Considering that the scale of this drought spread across three provinces, and he got a sum of smuggled silver recovered by Zhang Cong, it can be said to be an unexpected fortune.

Anyway, there is no shortage of money in the national treasury and internal funds.

What's the use of these broken metals? It's better to put them to use.

So after returning to Beijing, in addition to disaster relief, Zhu Houzhao also proposed an ambitious immigration task to the ministers.

"Three hundred thousand!"

The emperor gestured this number to the three cabinet members, "The Central Plains is densely populated, but the land will not grow. At the same time, the vast areas newly conquered have spent a lot of money to attract people from Fujian and Guangdong due to lack of manpower. , the effect is not good yet. We cannot let this situation go on now."

This number is huge.

Not to mention the 300,000 disaster victims, even the 300,000 forbidden troops have to travel long distances, and the cost is huge.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding industry is now developed.

From Ningbo Zhoushan Port to Qingdao Port, from Songjiang Port to Nanjing Port, there are now many sailing ships all the time, with no end in sight.

Thanks to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, it is also very convenient to take a boat from the north to the south.

Therefore, the transportation route is not difficult to determine. As long as the people in the Central Plains area are concentrated on ships, first inland river transportation, and then ocean transportation, it will take three or four months.

But not all of these ships belonged to the imperial court.

It would be quite laborious for the imperial court to temporarily build ships capable of transporting 300,000 people.

Zhang Cong said: "With such a huge population, it is absolutely not enough for the imperial court to recruit ships. We must mobilize the power of the people. I remember that in the second year of Zhengde, a little Tatar prince entered the capital.

At that time, in order to ensure the food security of Jingtongcang, the Ministry of War mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to carry grain on their shoulders through "paid grain transportation". In two days and one night, millions of stones of grain were transported into the capital.

If this model could be learned, the imperial court would not only save a lot of manpower costs, but the effects would also be obvious. "

Zhu Houzhao thought about this method,

The victims were forced to live under pressure, so even if they were not given any money, as long as they were guaranteed food rations and had full stomachs as a condition, many people could agree to board the ship and go south.

The governments of Taiwan and Lu can pay remuneration based on the number of people transported by ship.

But isn’t this official human trafficking?

"Your Majesty, I think it's inappropriate. Transporting food is different from transporting people. Food can't speak, but people can. If the court sets the rule that you can get money by transporting people, then many people will take risks and even rob people. Forcibly shipped and transported. This will be a human tragedy." Gu Renyi retorted.

He and Zhu Houzhao thought of going together.

Zhang Cong still did not give up, "It is human nature for Mr. Gu Ge to have such concerns, but a living person cannot die of urination. Naturally, we can also think of some ways to prohibit this behavior."

"But I don't know what Mr. Zhang Ge has to do?"

"Didn't Mr. Gu say that people can talk? Let's start with those who are lucky. The imperial court can stipulate that the officials in Taiwan and Lu must verify the certificates issued by the imperial court, and require the immigrants to sign their own consent to enter Taiwan and enter Taiwan. Lu's proof. Only after passing these two levels can the people be accepted and the money paid, even if one is missing. This level can stop most human traffickers.

In addition, the court can impose heavy penalties to deter those who want to break the law. In this way, some people can be persuaded to retreat. "

Zhu Houzhao asked: "Is there anything else?"

Zhang Cong hesitated slightly, mainly because it was sudden. He had no perfect solution in such a short period of time, so he just said what came to his mind. "Your Majesty can give it another day or two and ask the ministers to think about it carefully. There will definitely be a better way."

"It's hard for you." Zhu Houzhao felt cruel and nodded in agreement.

He knew that in this way, family tragedies such as wives and children being separated would definitely occur.

But running a country is not about making fresh romance movies.

As long as the proportion of such tragedies is compressed within a certain range, it will be a good deal overall.

After all, relying on normal population growth, the populations of Taiwan and Luzon will not increase significantly until at least ten years later.

However, western Taiwan and the Central Plains of Luzon are areas that can support several million people.

All right,

On one side, the Central Plains are crowded with people, and on the other side, there are large areas of wasteland that cannot be cultivated due to lack of manpower.

What a waste.

Not to mention immigration, which is also a major strategy related to national defense.

A month ago, Zai's island network defense strategy inspired him that Nanyang islands must be in his hands.

In addition to relying on a powerful navy, there is actually another way,

That is relying on overwhelming population advantage.

Even if the Ming Dynasty dissipates one day, the heroes of the era who emerge later will still have to find ways to bring the island back into their own jurisdiction. After all, there are Han people there, and national sentiments cannot be separated.

And when the real interests are in front of you, you will naturally try your best to get them back.

Furthermore, in the Age of Discovery, Western business people explored new areas one after another in order to make a fortune.

But the agricultural peoples of the East lack such primitive power.

Taiwan and Lu are both agricultural planting areas, so it seems that there are defensible reasons to seize these places, but if there are more, that is another matter.

In this way, no matter how large the territory Zhu Houzhao laid down, not enough people would always be a problem.

It’s just that you can’t hold on.

So he needs to use this artificial method to supplement it.

The reason is sufficient and the operation is feasible. Zhu Houzhao explained his words, "Mr. Zhang Ge, you will come up with a more detailed method in two days. But this matter can also be settled. From now on, within the next two years, mainland China will The region will transport a population of 100,000 to Taiwan and a population of 200,000 to Luzon! As for the money consumed by Taiwan and Luzon, let the governor-general offices of the two places report the figures, and the imperial court will allocate them!"

Unbalanced population distribution,

This is a very important problem that Ming Dynasty is facing now.

"Yes, I obey the order."

Zhang Cong, Gu Renyi and Wang Tingxiang walked out of Qianqing Palace together.

No matter how Zhang Cong was impeached, he was still the chief minister.

Moreover, not only did he get through the official silver smuggling case smoothly, but his favor doesn't seem to have weakened much now.

"Mr. Zhang Ge."

Gu Renyi took two more steps to catch up.

Zhang Cong turned around and asked, "Is there something wrong with Yishan?"

Gu Renyi held up his hand and said, "What are you going to do, Mr. Pavilion? You need to know that if this decree continues, a single mistake will cause great resentment among the people."

"I'm about to go to the hospital. Yishan please come with me. I'll tell you on the way."

"Medical clinic?"

Zhang Cong frowned and said: "Most of the people who are willing to stay away from their homeland are disaster victims. Most of their physical conditions are not good, and sufficient medicines must be prepared for them during long-distance sea transportation."

Gu Renyi already knew him very well and thought that he was already thinking of a specific solution.

This is why the emperor likes him.

Withdrawing his thoughts, he said: "But didn't Mr. Ge just say to use private power?"

"Yes, but the imperial court can also stipulate which drugs must be carried on ships carrying out this kind of transportation business..."

The voices of the two people discussing became more and more distant.

When he returned to Zhu Houzhao, he actually received a report from Zhu Feng officially ordering a clearing out, so he knew that major events in Luzon could be decided, and the mainland had to start making preparations.

As for King Suleiman II of Luzon, he is no longer considering it.

Although he would not kill all the aboriginal people in a new place like Westerners do, the sinicization of Luzon Island is imperative.

Language, writing, currency, official system...all follow the customs of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the indigenous people and the Ming people, they have been integrated for a long time.

As long as you speak Chinese, write Chinese characters, and observe Chinese etiquette, you are one of our own. Even if some ethnic groups in later generations look different from the traditional Han people, so what?

Now it seems that preparations for various conditions, including colonial thinking, have gradually matured, as if it was the eve of an explosion.

Therefore, it is time to sort out the military system and gradually move south.