Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1617, this speed is too fast
"Siberia?"

Both Liu Jian and Li Dongyang silently wrote down that Liu Jin never lied to anyone, he said it was a good place, it was definitely a good place, and he could not be wrong.

Just like the Golden Continent, the incomparably vast Golden Continent has now become the most important source of gold and silver for the Ming Dynasty. Every day, there are many treasure ships traveling to and from the Pacific Ocean, continuously importing boatloads of gold and silver into the Ming Dynasty.

This speed is much faster than the speed of relying on trade input in history.

Historically, in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, with the arrival of Western colonies to the East, the trade between the East and the West developed rapidly, and a large amount of silver was continuously imported into the country.

This kind of import is formed purely by trade surplus. In itself, the scale is still determined by the scale of trade between the two sides. Besides, the Western colonists are not fools. It is impossible to say that such a deficit has been maintained. One of the reasons why Britain wants to buy opium is to reverse the trade deficit.

It's completely different now. The Golden Continent belongs to the territory of Daming. The gold and silver here are in the hands of the Daming people. They can be mined casually, and there is no need for so-called trade at all. As much as they can be dug out, they can be transported back to the mainland of Daming. , You can also stay in Gold Island.

Anyway, it's all Daming's territory, it's all the same.

It's just that those who occupy the gold and silver mines here on the Golden Continent are basically powerful big business houses, nobles, and families on the local side of the Ming Dynasty, and the wealth mined will naturally be transported back to the local side.

The influx of a large amount of gold and silver also made the local silver of the Ming Dynasty worthless. In the past, it was too difficult for ordinary people to see silver, and the most used ones were copper coins. Now, they can work casually without making any money for a year. Dozens of taels of silver, that's what no one does.

That is to say, Ming can now colonize the world, and at the same time, capitalism is developing rapidly, and a large number of machines are used in production, so the prices of various materials have not risen much. This income has increased a lot, and prices have not changed. This life Naturally, it is constantly improving.

If Ming could not colonize the world, it would not be able to plunder wealth and resources from around the world, if it did not have a rapidly developing capitalism.

The influx of this large amount of silver will inevitably lead to expensive money and cheap silver. The final result is that although there is more silver in hand, everyone will find that the price rise is even more outrageous. In the end, it may not be as good as before. better off.

This was the case during the mite Qing period in later generations.

The inflow of a large amount of silver has made money expensive and silver cheap. If there is no way to plunder resources from the world, and there is no rapid development of capitalism, the lives of ordinary people will become more difficult.

That is to say, relying on sweet potatoes introduced from the Americas, it is possible to feed 4 million people, but the 4 million people are only on the verge of starvation. It was just the prosperity of the Qing rulers.

The reason is actually very simple. This is like the issuance of additional currency in later generations. The additional issuance of a large amount of currency will inevitably lead to worthless money, skyrocketing prices, and the invisible disappearance of wealth in the hands of ordinary people.

The reasoning is the same.

That is to say, the current Ming Dynasty is able to plunder resources from all over the world, coupled with the rapid development of capitalism, so the Ming Dynasty has lived an unprecedentedly good life.

It's a little too far.

Liu Jin would not lie, he said it was a good place, so it must be a good place.

"How does this Siberia work?"

Both Liu Jian and Li Dongyang became deep in thought.

There are few affairs of state that bother them now.

Even if there is a flood in the south of the Yangtze River and drought in the northern provinces, the impact on the Ming Empire seems to be minimal.

If you want grain, you can use the railway to transport it to you in a very short period of time, or you don't even need to transport grain at all.

Sweet potatoes and corn have been vigorously promoted in various parts of Daming. The planting area is very wide, the yield is high, the land is not selected, and the demand for water is low, so it is easy to grow alive.

It is usually used to feed livestock, or to eat as coarse grains. During famines, sweet potatoes and corn can easily survive. Coupled with the disaster relief from the imperial court, famines are not terrible at all.

The court situation is very stable. Emperor Hongzhi has been in very good health since he cut off his appendicitis. He is only in his forties now, and he is in his prime of life.

The crown prince also grew up and had dozens of sons. This Ming Dynasty has a long and long history, and there are people inheriting it.

There is no need to worry about the fact that Emperor Hongzhi is gone that day, the prince is still young and loves to play, and the Ming Dynasty is in turmoil.

As for the border problem, it has already been solved.

Now everyone is worried about whether they will be invaded by the Ming Dynasty, how dare they provoke the powerful Ming Empire, the territory of the Ming Dynasty is extremely vast, but they never have to worry about border troubles.

The major countries in the world are now in dire straits, but the Ming Empire can watch the fire from the other side, and is still selling arms to various parties, not to mention how comfortable this small life is.

The pillars of the Ming Dynasty no longer need to work as hard as before, and they are all interested in getting some property for their family to pass on.

"Liu Gong, Li Gong~"

"There are floods in the south of the Yangtze River. I have ordered Luzon, Ryukyu, and Cochin provinces to transport [-] tons of rice to the south of the Yangtze River for relief. The latest steam ships are used. It is estimated that they will arrive in the south of the Yangtze River in two days for disaster relief."

"There is a severe drought in Henan. I have also sent a telegram to Liaodong Province to transport [-] dans of flour overnight by train for disaster relief. It is estimated that it will arrive in Henan almost tomorrow."

Liu Jin saw that the two of them were deep in thought, and after thinking about it, they were talking about important national affairs.

The most important thing now is the flood in the south of the Yangtze River and the drought in the north.

Fortunately, water transportation is extremely convenient, and the grain production and storage capacity in the areas of Daming production are very amazing, and grain can be easily dispatched to support.

"Is this too fast?"

When Liu Jian heard this, he couldn't help being amazed.

"Liu Gong, of course the telegram will come soon. As soon as the drought in the two places breaks out, our capital will know immediately through the telegram, and we will issue orders to the provinces through the telegram. It will not take a day."

"In addition, now there are railways and roads, and sea and river transportation are also extremely developed. It is also very easy to mobilize food for disaster relief."

Liu Jin said with a smile.

"Oh, yes, yes, I forgot about that telegram."

"It's really old!"

"The telegram is really miraculous. It can be contacted in real time across a long distance, and my Ming government can be more smooth."

Hearing Liu Jin's words, Liu Jian remembered the telegram.

If this happened in the past, for example, when there was a drought in Henan, the officials in Henan might not have reported it to the capital, even if they did.

At the traditional speed of the report, it may take ten days and a half months to be delivered to the capital, and the emperor and ministers in the capital still need to decide whether to provide disaster relief and how much to do according to the report.

If this time is delayed, it may have been a month. In the place where the drought occurred, the common people may have no food to eat, they can only eat bark, or flee to beg.

The disaster spread to the surrounding areas, and reports continued to come up.

Only then did the emperor and the ministers in the court realize the seriousness of the disaster, and hurried to deal with it, allocating money and food.

But when it reaches the victims, it may take another ten days and a half month, or even a month.

The situation in the disaster-stricken area may have reached the point where children are being replaced and starvation is everywhere. Wars are raging and there are countless thieves. The imperial court still needs to dispatch a large army to rescue the disaster.

If the imperial government is strong in disaster relief, and the food and money come down in time, the common people can drink the porridge for disaster relief, and if they stop for a while, once the disaster is over, naturally nothing will happen.

However, if you encounter corrupt officials, if there are grain merchants wantonly driving up food prices, natural disasters and man-made disasters, then the situation may be different. possible.

This is why the ancient emperors were most afraid of disasters, because once a disaster happened, the country would be turbulent, the country would be unstable, and various things would emerge one after another.

But now, there is such a major disaster.

Floods in the south and droughts and floods in the north occurred at the same time, and they were both very serious.

But Daming had to worry about something.

After receiving the news and reports, Liu Jin can make arrangements immediately.

With the existence of telegrams, you can grasp the situation in the disaster area at the first time, and then arrange disaster relief at the first time, and mobilize food from the surrounding provinces. From the occurrence of the disaster to the mobilization of food by the court, it may only take a few days. up.

For a few days, the common people must still have food in their homes. If there is food to eat, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Once the imperial court's disaster relief food arrived, there was nothing to worry about.

Those merchants who want to make money in the country and take advantage of the opportunity to drive up food prices have no chance. Before the common people have finished eating, the relief food from the imperial court has already arrived. Even on a large scale, the price of food will drop a lot .

Do you still want to make money for the country?
Your business may not be as good as usual, and it is still a normal business at any rate. Now that there is a disaster, the imperial court mobilizes food and distributes a large amount of food to the common people, so there is no need to buy food.

This kind of disaster relief speed can not only minimize the harm of the famine, but also minimize the cost of disaster relief on the court's side.

There is no need to pay for the money, the food is directly delivered, and now the most important thing in the Ming Dynasty is food. The granaries set up by the imperial court in various places are already full, and they only need to be transported there.

(End of this chapter)