Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 517
"I want power at the same time, but I also want to be brothers and sisters... how can it be so easy..."

"Boom--"

On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month in the 13th year of Apocalypse, along with Hong Chengchou's murmur, there was also a rumbling explosion in the distance.

Hong Chengchou raised his head, and at the moment he was standing on a high mountain, and below the mountain was a field, and in the distance was a mountain that was constantly being blasted.

It has been two years since he took over Luchuan. During these two years, he divided the labor camps in Yunnan into two halves, built more than one million yuan to build the Kunzhan Railway, and more than one million yuan to cooperate with Luchuan's more than [-] yuan to build From Kunming to Longchuan, then to Xihai County (Yangon) in the south of Luchuan, and then go north along the coast to the railway in Dimasafu (Assam).

The total length of this railway is [-] miles, of which more than [-] miles need to cross mountains and mountains.

It is very difficult to build such a railway, but as long as it is repaired, Hong Chengchou's credit book will be marked down by the historian.

The Kunlong Railway and the Luchuan Railway built by more than 170 million people have actually been three and a half years, if the time is really counted.

In three and a half years, the railway was built from Kunming to Longchuan, and then from Longchuan to Miaodang. The total length of the railway is more than 300 miles, and [-] miles have been completed so far.

From this point of view, it seems that there are still four thousand one hundred miles, which is a bit far away.

However, in the next [-] miles, except for less than a hundred miles that need to build bridges and holes, the other [-] miles will be built on plains and hills.

Hong Chengchou estimated that as long as he was given another six years, he would be able to complete the remaining [-] miles.

Right now, the railway construction of Daming is going on rumblingly, and its purpose is not to consolidate the imperial court's control over the frontier.

As long as Hong Chengchou can consolidate Luchuan, the time for him to become the chief assistant will be just around the corner.

It seems that as time goes by, when Hong Chengchou enters his 40s, he is no longer in a hurry.

This is not to say that he no longer compares with others, but that he can understand Zhu Youjian's thoughts better.

It is true that Zhu Youjian favors Sun Chuanting, but if Sun Chuanting's character becomes the chief assistant, he will die badly.

Therefore, there must be someone above Sun Chuanting's head, and this person can only be himself.

Hong Chengchou stroked his beard with a smile, and looked at the reformed laborers who were reclaiming wasteland at the foot of the mountain, and the workers who were constantly blasting roads and bridges in the distance, feeling extremely satisfied.

"Briefly, the documents have been compiled."

Mu Yi's voice sounded from behind Hong Chengchou, and then he saw him handing over a booklet with both hands, and this booklet was the result of Hong Chengchou's battle in Luchuan this year.

He took the file, opened it and glanced at the ten lines.

[Build 120 four mines and three steel factories, producing [-] tons of iron and [-] tons of steel. 】

[220 million mu of uncultivated land was reclaimed, 880 million mu of cultivated land was distributed, 920 million mu of undistributed mature land was relocated, and 34 Han people moved in. 】

【cement……】

"Hmm..." Hong Chengchou looked at the various amounts on the document with great satisfaction, but Mu Yi hesitated and said:
"Analyses, although there are nearly 35 immigrants this year, 15 of them are from the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guizhou."

"Will this make Long Live and His Highness unhappy?"

"Unhappy?" Hong Chengchou shook his head: "You underestimate Your Highness."

"After all the chieftains in the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guizhou were abolished, although there are still fewer locals than Han people, the overall situation is still dominated by my Han family."

"Without the chieftain's left and right, plus the ten mu of land distributed by the imperial court to the young people, and the official school opened...do you think they will rebel?"

"Besides, immigrants from Huguang and Jiangxi not only came to Luchuan, but some also went to these three provinces."

"So on paper, the number of Handing in these three provinces has not decreased much."

As Hong Chengchou said, he walked to the tent set up next to him.

He sat on the chair, took a sip of the tea made on the table, and Mu Yi followed and sat down.

The two of them just watched the labor camp workers at the foot of the mountain open up wasteland, and the workers blasting and repairing roads in the distance, feeling very comfortable.

It was not until an hour later that an official rode up the mountain and handed in a booklet, and Hong Chengchou returned to read the booklet.

"This year's rice grains are good, 500 million shi are left, and the remaining [-] million shi are divided into two batches, one part is sold to Nanzhang, and the other part is sold to Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces."

"In this way, the profit is probably more than six million taels of silver." The official responded with a bow, but Hong Chengchou took a sip of tea: "Keep half, and the remaining half will be sent to the capital together with taxes."

"Your officer obeys..."

The officials stepped back and left after receiving the instructions, while Hong Chengchou and Mu Yi continued to look at the reform-through-labour workers who opened up wasteland and blasted.

However, while they were watching here, a huge fleet also arrived at Tianjin Port in Beizhili.

"Bang bang bang-"

When the sixteen gun salutes were fired one after another, Tianjin Port Wharf also presented a lively scene.

The ship's ladder was put on the pier, and an emaciated official emerged from the ship.

"came back……"

Seeing thousands of soldiers and horses neatly lined up on the pier, and the crowd of tens of thousands of people far behind the soldiers and horses, Xu Xiake couldn't help but feel happy, especially when he saw a carriage and the "Qi" behind the carriage. After the "Wang" banner, he walked down the boat ladder excitedly.

With the fleet of voyages to the West, Xu Xiake returned to Daming Tianjin Port on the third day of the twelfth lunar month, ending his second voyage to the West in 29 months.

"Xu Xiake, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, has returned from a voyage to the West by order. I will see His Highness King Qi, and I respectfully greet you..."

When he came to the carriage, Xu Xiake didn't forget that Zhu Youjian didn't like to kneel down, so he bowed honestly.

Soon, the door of the carriage was also opened. Zhu Youjian looked at Xu Xiake with a smile on his face, and waved his hand: "Let's talk in the carriage."

"Yes!" Xu Xiake smiled excitedly and got into the car. At the same time, the captains of the fleet also disembarked one after another, and saw their princes at the pier.

Among them, Tang Fan, Huai Fan, and Ji Fan were the most eye-catching, and their long histories also boarded their respective carriages in their palaces, and met their own princes and princes who had been away for two and a half years.

"how?"

On the carriage of Tang Fan, the person who came to pick him up was Tang Wang's grandson Zhu Yujian, and the person who boarded the carriage was Tang Guozhangshi who Zhu Yujian relied heavily on.

Since Zhu Youjian decided that the feudal vassals would become vassals overseas, he gave the vassal king the power to appoint and dismiss officials of the vassal state. Therefore, the governors of all countries are basically people trusted by the heads of the vassal states, and the Tang Dynasty is no exception.

"The place is good. It is similar to what you said in the letter you sent me. There are gold mines and the land is fertile. However, it is not known whether the nutrition will be lost due to continuous cultivation. We need to send people to cultivate it."

The long history of the Tang Dynasty is called Gu Shou, Zhu Yujian's capable general in the war among the feudal vassals, so he let Gu Shou go to the West as the long history of the Tang Dynasty.

As soon as Gu Shou got into the car, he immediately shared what he had seen and heard during this voyage.

From Central Asia to the Arabian Peninsula, and then to the Red Sea, the east of Levia, the South Kunlun Supervisory Commissioner, and the vassal territories of the three countries of Kyrgyzstan, Tang, and Huai, as well as the Mediterranean Sea in the north, and southwest Europe...

In short, all kinds of knowledge were told by him, and he also analyzed the pros and cons of Tang Guojiufan's painting in Zhu Youjian.

Generally speaking, Zhu Youjian did not lie to them. The situation in Tang State was similar to what Zhu Youjian described. The only drawback of becoming a feudal clan here was the food problem.

If it is the same as what Zhu Youjian said, no matter how fertile the local rainforest is, as long as it is reclaimed as arable land, within five years, the land will lose nutrients due to heavy rain and eventually lead to complete waste.

This is not without the possibility of improvement. For example, after Zhu Yujian heard this, he immediately thought of the chemical fertilizer that Daming was currently using.

However, even with chemical fertilizers, in the case of composting and fattening, the land in Tang country is doomed to not be able to guarantee continuous cultivation, and must be left fallow at certain times to fatten the fields.

Zhu Yujian frowned slightly, and Gu Shou bowed when he saw this:
"Your Highness, forgive me for speaking bluntly. Judging from the current situation of the Tang Dynasty, there is no need to worry about the problem of arable land in the short term. There are too few people we can relocate, and there are many local Kunlun slaves."

"As long as it is done properly, it is unlikely that the Tang Kingdom will run out of food within a hundred years."

"That's true..." Zhu Yujian nodded his head slightly to express his approval. After all, they don't have much money in their hands, and the number of people who can be relocated is only 10,000+ people.

Even if mines can be opened locally, the production of gold and silver mines is very slow. Unless they have millions of reformed laborers like the old port, the annual gold and silver production will only be 30 million taels.

After the silver was converted into military pay, only tens of thousands of taels could be used for emigration, and at most tens of thousands of people could be relocated to the Tang Dynasty.

Every year, 1 people migrate to the Tang State. The Tang State only needs to ensure that [-] mu of arable land is reclaimed every year, and it can guarantee one year of cultivation and one year of fallow and fattening, so that the land can be used sustainably.

Although the cost is high, it will not be stuck in the neck.

In this way, even after a hundred years, the population of the Tang Kingdom would probably be less than a million, so there was no need to worry about the food issue. Anyway, there were many Kunlun slaves in Levia, and under the guidance of the Tang Kingdom, they would cultivate land.

Therefore, after thinking about it for a while, Zhu Yujian breathed a sigh of relief, and made up his mind to let his younger brother lead the troops to the Tang country first.

Consistent with his thoughts, there are also the vassal kings and county kings of the remaining vassals.

However, compared to the issue of the land they were concerned about, Zhu Youjian in the carriage of Prince Qi's Mansion was reading letters from Kings such as Felipe IV of Spain, Charles I of England, and Louis XIII of France to himself and his brother.

These letters are very different. To put it bluntly, they want to deepen trade cooperation, and at the same time reject Zhu Youjian's proposal to sell the American colonies.

In this regard, Zhu Youjian is not surprised, anyway, he is already prepared.

This 30-year war between Catholic and Protestant countries will only intensify under the control of Ming Dynasty and continue to prolong it.

At the end of the war, the tragic victory of the Catholic League led by Spain was the result that was most in line with the interests of Ming Dynasty.

The catastrophic victory of the Catholic Church represents that the follow-up Protestants will continue to provoke wars against the Catholic Church, and then the second "30 Years War" will break out.

During this process, for the countries under the vassal system of the Ming Dynasty, it is enough to practice their internal skills honestly and hard.

After the two religious wars are over, I am afraid that the Han Chinese will already occupy a dominant position in the world. Many Han Chinese countries will appear in most of Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. It will be impossible for Europeans to compete for it.

As for the American colonies that they refused to spit out, Zhu Youjian also had a way to let them out.

"Any anecdotes about Europa?"

Zhu Youjian on the carriage closed all the letters and put them back in the envelope.

Xu Xiake nodded when he heard the words: "Although I don't know much about it, I feel that they seem to be speeding up the development of flintlock guns, which may have something to do with Guochao."

"I know this, so don't worry." Zhu Youjian had already known through Jin Yiwei that Europe was speeding up the equipment of flintlock guns.

This matter did not start in the past few years, but since the Ming Dynasty ended the war of the feudal vassals, Western European countries have noticed the benefits of flintlock guns.

Since the Ming Dynasty, the world has been connected. For example, Europeans used Ming products, and Ming used European artillery and matchlock guns.

The rifles of the Ming Dynasty shined brilliantly on the battlefield, from Southeast Asia to India, they fought against each other everywhere. There are too many such cases, and it is impossible for European countries not to notice.

To put it bluntly, weapons and equipment are spread through battles. Europeans have suffered so much from the rifles in the hands of Ming soldiers. It is strange not to learn. After all, not every dynasty is the Qing Dynasty, nor is it Every emperor is Qianlong.

Qianlong is commendable for opening up territories and recovering the Western Regions, but he sneered at European flintlock guns and various machinery. This is worth reflecting on.

European countries are promoting the equipment of flintlock guns, but Ming Dynasty has begun to gradually replace breech-loading guns.

Judging from the memorabilia of the Dudufu of the Five Armies, the [-]th Guards of the Shangzhi, the [-]th Guards of the Navy, the [-]rd Guards of the Imperial City, the [-]rd Uzang Battalion and the [-]th Battalion of Hexi in the Northern Army Dudufu's Mansion have all been equipped with breech-loading guns. .

With 17 veterans retiring and changing jobs, not counting the three guards of the imperial city and Xiaoling guards directly under the emperor, the current strength of the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion is 26 guards and 75 battalions, 800 people.

In other words, there are still 56 people who have not successfully changed their outfits. According to the productivity of the Suncheon Ordnance Bureau, it will take at least eight years to complete the transition for all staff.

However, although Ming had 10,000+ breech-loading infantry, the Ordnance Bureau could not supply much ammunition.

Currently, the Suncheon Ordnance Bureau produces 200 million paper bullets per year, which is only enough for 10,000+ breech-loading infantry training plus a small battle.

For this reason, Zhu Youjian has already prepared four ordnance institutes in Taiyuan, Xi'an, Kunming, and Jinling, but it may be several years before they can be put into production.

Right now, apart from Mobei, Hezhong, and the Western Regions, which still need the Ming Dynasty to use force, there is no place for the Ming Dynasty to use force in the short term.

It's too far away to be controlled, and it's too close to be understood.

What Daming has to do is to take down the territory first while Europe is mired in the quagmire of the 30-year war, and then let the feudal vassals fight against Europe, and develop with peace of mind.

When Daming has completely digested the current territory, then it will be the time to use large-scale external force.

Now the Ming Dynasty uses more than 3000 million Han Chinese to digest more than 500 million minorities. This digestion process will be a bit slow, and it will be difficult for these people to have a sense of belonging after decades.

Zhu Youjian's thinking is very simple, that is, to fight the battle that should be fought, and then the two generations of kings Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Ciran are responsible for maintaining stability.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty's Guozuo may last for 400 years, because the remaining land is enough for a hundred years to be annexed.

"The voyage to the West was done well. You should go home and rest for the time being. The apocalypse is 15 years old. Daming still needs to go to the West again. But this time it is not going to Europe, but traveling around the world."

"Around the world?!"

When Zhu Youjian uttered the words "traveling around the world", Xu Xiake's first reaction was shock, and the second reaction was excitement.

He already knew that the earth is an ellipse through some manuscripts given by Zhu Youjian and books compiled by him. Since the earth is round, traveling around the earth is not a problem.

He had long thought of traveling around the world, but he also knew that it would consume a lot of Ming's national power.

Daming's two voyages to the West before, to put it bluntly, were to make the feudal vassals willing to surrender, thereby reducing the burden on Daming, so it is normal to invest millions of taels of silver in the voyages to the West.

But now that all the vassals have succeeded in vassalage, it would be inappropriate to go to the West again, so Xu Xiake is already ready to go to the West to be accused.

As a result, I never thought that not only did Zhu Youjian not stop voyaging to the West, but he would directly go on a round-the-world tour.

"You go home in the past two years and make some preparations, and take care of your body by the way. The country still needs you, so you can't fall ill first."

Zhu Youjian told Xu Xiake with a smile, which made Xu Xiake a little moved.

But he is good at pen and ink, but not smart with his mouth, so he can only express his gratitude by bowing again and again.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian smiled and shook his head, then remembered the matter of the South Kunlun Supervisory Commissioner, and couldn't help asking: "How is the Southern Kunlun Supervisory Commissioner?"

"Very good! Inspector Wu and the prefects Yan and Yan are geniuses!" Xu Xiake gave the highest evaluation in his cognition and explained:

"On the ninth day of June in the 11th year of Tianqi, Xiaguan and Yan Zhifu were separated. At that time, there were only two dilapidated market towns in the Southern Kunlun Supervisory Division, which were located in East Kunlun and Nankunlun respectively. By the time Xiaguan returned, it was already July of the 12th year of Tianqi Seventeen."

Speaking of this, Xu Xiake couldn't help but lost his eyes, as if recalling what he saw and heard that day, he couldn't help saying:

"In just thirteen months, one county and nine towns have sprung up in Nankunlun Prefecture, and more than 12 acres of land have been reclaimed."

"The county town is built with stones, and the felled trees have built government offices, county offices, and street houses in the style of my Ming Dynasty. There are already imperial stores and markets in the local area."

"After a short rest for half a month, the officials brought people back eastward, and arrived at East Kunlun Mansion in August."

"Although the East Kunlun Prefecture is a big island, the prefect Yan prefecture managed it properly. One county and six towns were established in the east, and the natives of the island were used to reclaim paddy fields and grow rice."

"It's a pity that the rice hadn't been harvested when the next official returned. Otherwise, I'm afraid I could bring some local rice to His Highness and Long Live."

Xu Xiake felt a little regretful, but Zhu Youjian kept listening with a smile.

What Xu Xiake said was similar to the news he got from Jin Yiwei.

Right now, the Southern Kunlun Supervisory Commission has a total of 1 towns in two counties and four battalions of soldiers and horses, with a total of [-] people.

In addition, there are 6000 craftsmen of various types, 2 female immigrants from Yingzhou, and 4000 native immigrants from Daming.

According to the news that the South Kunlun Supervisory Commissioner sent to the Xiaoxiyang Supervisory Commissioner in September this year, and then the Xiaoxiyang Supervisory Commissioner sent someone back to the capital.

During the time when Xu Xiake returned to Daming, Wu Aheng, Yan Yingyuan, and Yan Yinshao managed the place properly. In the two years before and after, they reclaimed more than 26 mu of paddy fields and 33 mu of irrigated fields, totaling [-] acres of cultivated land. More than seven thousand acres.

The yield per mu of these fields was only forty catties of rice in the first year after reclamation, and rose to more than ninety catties in the second year.

According to the past when the Ming Dynasty reclaimed fields, the fourth year was the normal yield per mu. Next year, the yield of Levia’s fields should reach one stone per mu, and in the fourth year it could reach one and a half or even two stones.

"It's a pity that there are fewer fields suitable for growing rice and wheat..."

Zhu Youjian sighed, thinking of the climate and environment in Africa, he couldn't help shaking his head.

At this time, they also drove to Tianjin Railway Station.

"The train thing is really a heavenly thing..."

Xu Xiake had already taken the train before departure, but he still couldn't help sighing when he took the train again.

In this regard, Zhu Youjian also smiled and said: "The steam engine ship has also been successfully developed, and the [-]-ton steam engine ship will be put into production soon, but it cannot participate in the third voyage to the West."

"You don't have to be depressed. When you come back from your third voyage to the Western Ocean, when the country needs to inspect the overseas feudal vassals, Nanzhou, and old ports in the future, you can ride this boat to ride the wind and waves."

Zhu Youjian felt that Xu Xiake might be very happy because of this, so he couldn't help chatting with him on the train.

However, something happened that Zhu Youjian didn't expect.

Xu Xiake bowed to him and shook his head, "His Royal Highness, if the third voyage to the Western Seas is over, I don't want to continue cruising the ocean."

"Why?" Zhu Youjian frowned, his first reaction was that Xu Xiake was threatened, but...

"Xiaguan feels that there are too many scenery in the world, and the scenery of the sea, Xiaguan has spent five years."

Xu Xiake looked at Zhu Youjian, and explained with genuine emotion: "It took two and a half years for this voyage to the Western Ocean. If the third voyage to the Western Ocean is to travel around the world, I am afraid it will take another four or five years."

"Adding up all this, Xiaguan has already spent ten years at sea."

"Ten years to see the sea, I think, is enough."

"Therefore, if His Highness does not dislike it, I would like to take a walk on land to have a look."

After Xu Xiake finished speaking, he stared at Zhu Youjian's expression, but found that Zhu Youjian was just taken aback for a moment, and then shook his head with a wry smile.

"That's right..." Zhu Youjian said with a wry smile: "It is impossible to remain unchanged in life. You can see that ten years has been a long time."

"The territory of the Kingdom is vast, and when the third voyage to the West is over, you can travel to the mountains and rivers for the court, for the orphan, for the long live, and for the people of Ming Dynasty, and record the magnificent scene of the Kingdom."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Xu Xiake's nose turned sour when he heard this. He thought Zhu Youjian would be angry, so he was ready to be dismissed.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Youjian was so open-minded, but instead he came up with an excuse for Xu Xiake's personal "selfish desire".

"Travel mountains and rivers for the people of Ming Dynasty, and record the magnificent scenes of Ming Dynasty..."

Such a sentence, how can Xu Xiake and He De bear it.

(End of this chapter)