I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 510 Immigration Plan
Immigration has always been an issue that Zhu Youxiao is concerned about, and it is even a national policy that he will implement in the future.

As a person who traveled through time in later generations, he knew that the population of the Ming Dynasty was extremely large, with a conservative estimate of at least 1.2 million people.This is still at the lower end of the scale.

Food, security, work, etc. for so many people are all big problems. No matter which problem cannot be solved, there will be refugees, rebellion and other things.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao has been trying to solve this problem since he took office, whether it is promoting new crops, annihilating the White Lotus Sect, or solving the southwest problem.

It’s just that he knows deep down in his heart that these things only treat the symptoms but not the root cause.Either it works slowly, or it only alleviates conflicts. The most fundamental population problem has not yet been solved.

The key to solving the population problem is to solve the problem of land and more people and less land.

As long as this problem is solved, people can have land or have livelihoods.Then they will not rebel and live peacefully.

It's just that it's not easy to solve this problem, otherwise the lifespan of the ancient dynasty would have exceeded 300 years.

But now Zhu Youxiao has this condition, due to the great geographical discovery, the introduction of new crops and other factors.

Zhu Youxiao found the most effective and direct measure to solve this problem, which is immigration!
There were 13 provinces in the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty. The population was mainly concentrated in the north, Jiangnan, and Huguang. The potential of other places was far from being tapped.

The population of [-] million during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty is an example. Therefore, Zhu Youxiao has always wanted to vigorously promote immigration. In the southwest, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou and other places have sparse populations and many chieftains.Encouraging immigrants to the southwest can not only strengthen important control over other places, weaken the power of chieftains, but also alleviate population conflicts in the places of emigration. Why not do it.

Therefore, last year Zhu Youxiao began to make arrangements to encourage people from Gyeonggi, Shandong, Henan and other places to migrate to Liaodong and Shuixi.He also promised the people that as long as they went there and waited, they would be given food and land and would be exempted from taxes.

Logically speaking, it is already March, the first batch of immigrants have arrived in Guizhou, and it is time to test the results.

But now after listening to Liu Yishui's words, he knew that there was something wrong with the immigration to the southwest, and he couldn't help but frown when he thought about it.

"The imperial court has formulated the immigration policy since last year, and some time has passed now. I don't know how effective it is."

Liu Yishen shook his head when he heard this, and then glanced at Ye Xianggao beside him.Seeing this, Ye Xianggao stepped forward and explained:
"Your Majesty, the imperial court issued an order in December last year, asking the chief ministers of Shandong and other places to encourage immigration and let people move to Liaodong, Guizhou and other places. Although there are many followers, many people prefer to go to Liaodong rather than Guizhou. Therefore. The migration of immigrants from Guizhou is also relatively slow. According to cabinet estimates, the first batch of immigrants in Guizhou will only be in March, and the number will only be about 6000."

"Are you willing to go to Liaodong?"

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, he was immediately speechless. It was bitterly cold in Liaodong and they were still fighting Jianlu. How could anyone be willing to run there?

"What your Majesty said is true. The people are more willing to go to Liaodong. According to the report from Shandong and other chief secretaries, the first batch of people going to Liaodong was about 3000 people, which was more than twice the number who went to Shuixi."

"Liaodong is bitterly cold, and people are unwilling to go to the southwest. Instead, they go to Liaodong, which is even more difficult. What is the reason for this?"

Hearing Ye Xianggao's explanation, Zhu Youxiao's doubts deepened.

"Your Majesty has clearly observed that the people have settled down and resettled, and even if they move, they are willing to go to places they are familiar with. Gyeonggi and Shandong are close to Liaodong, and their phenology is mostly similar. Especially Liaodong once belonged to the Chief Secretary of Shandong, and it can be reached by crossing the sea from Denglai .

Besides, although there is war in Liaodong, the imperial court has continued to win in the past year. Therefore, the people in Gyeonggi and Shandong are not afraid and are willing to go to Liaodong. The same is true in Henan. Most of the people in the north are in Liaodong, but the people in the south are close to Huguang, so most of them go there. Guizhou. "

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help having a headache after hearing this. It was good to be willing to go to Liaodong, but there were fewer people going to Guizhou, which was not conducive to the future plan to fill the southwest.

Besides, we are in the Little Ice Age now, and the southwest has relatively few temperatures and disasters.

If more people go there, it can not only promote development there, increase taxes, but also reduce the difficulty of disaster relief in the future.

"Now that the rebellion of the chieftains in the southwest has just been suppressed, it is a good opportunity to show the majesty of the imperial court and further reform the land. Therefore, immigrating to Guizhou and even the southwest is a top priority. It is for the sake of the imperial court and must not be taken lightly. But now the people feel that Guizhou is I'm in a remote place and I don't want to go there. I wonder if you, my dear friends, have any good ideas."

Although Zhu Youxiao had no choice but to force the people to move, he could easily cause trouble.

Everyone present began to think after hearing this. The people wanted to settle down and relocate, and generally they would not move unless it was absolutely necessary.However, after hearing this, Huang Kezhan, the Minister of Justice, thought for a moment and seemed to have thought of a way.

"Your Majesty, I have an idea. Since encouraging people to immigrate is not possible, it is better to force them to migrate. Your Majesty can issue an edict to grant amnesty to the world and stipulate that criminals in the world who have committed crimes and are in prison can reduce their punishment by going to Liaodong or Shuixi. For example, go to Liaodong Reduce one level, go to the water and go to the west and reduce two levels. You can also ask the chief secretaries in the north to transfer all the places of exile to Guizhou, and all the places of exile in the south to Liaodong. There are 13 provinces in the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty, and there are 430 counties. Among them, the criminals There is no shortage of a few, and there are also a lot of people every year. If it is implemented, there will be no need to worry about filling up Liaodong and Shuixi."

Zhu Youxiao's eyes lit up when he heard this. What Huang Kezhan said did make sense.

Isn't this just like the Manchus who exiled Ning Guta and the British who exiled prisoners to Australia.Thinking of this, he immediately nodded and said:
"What Aiqing said makes sense. As long as you go to Liaodong or Shuixi, you can reduce your guilt. If so, there will definitely be a lot of people going. But these are sinners. I'm afraid that going there will disturb the place and cause trouble for the time being."

"Don't worry about this. The imperial court has heavily stocked up troops in these two places. If they want to cause trouble, they won't cause any trouble. If your Majesty is still worried, you can choose a county in Liaodong or Shuixi as a fixed place of exile.

The law of Baojia and consecutive imprisonment was implemented in the local area. If one person violates the law, the other persons will be punished by one level of consecutive imprisonment.Such a two-pronged approach will naturally eliminate the guilt. "

Hearing the emperor's worry, Huang Kezhan shook his head, feeling that the emperor was a little too worried.

If the prisoner wants to have his crime and punishment reduced, he will naturally go there on his own initiative, and the government will not force him to do so.In addition, the government will strictly supervise it, so there won't be any problems.

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded slowly.This problem can be solved if the method of sitting together is implemented.

"If this is feasible, then the Ministry of Punishment will discuss a specific process with the cabinet, and then it will be sent to the Supervisor of Ceremonies for approval."

"The minister obeys the order!"

After discussing the matter of immigration to the southwest, Zhu Youxiao thought of the matter of immigration to Taiwan. This had been planned by him a long time ago and was an alternative to Liaodong and the southwest.

I remember that last year I issued an edict to Yuan Ke, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, asking him to prepare for this matter, but I don't know if he has taken any action now.Thinking of this, he immediately turned to look at Liu Yishui.

"Liu Aiqing, has Yuan Keli written in the title book recently? I have asked him to see the land of Taiwan before. If it is good, we can send immigrants and set up prefectures and counties in the future. It has been nearly half a year now, so there should be news. Alright."

After hearing Zhu Youxiao's inquiry, Liu Yishui thought for a while and found out that the cabinet had indeed received Yuan Keli's question book.

It's just that the cabinet really doesn't know much about Taiwan. It was only mentioned occasionally in the title book of the Fujian Chief Secretary. Most of the content was about the hiding places of pirates, and they didn't pay much attention to it.

If I hadn't read Sun Yingyuan's memorial last year, he said that the soil here is fertile, with rain and heat at the same time, and three crops a year, making it extremely suitable for farming.As a result, the emperor's interest in this place greatly increased, and he asked the cabinet to issue a document instructing Yuan Keli to go and see the situation, but they would not pay attention to this place.

"Your Majesty, the cabinet has received the inscription from Yuan Keli. He said that since he took office as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang in August last year, he had sent people to Taiwan and he also knew about it.

In February of this year, he published another title, saying that, as Sun Yuanhua said, the soil in Taiwan is fertile and suitable for planting.Therefore, he reestablished the Penghu Inspection Department and ordered the navy to patrol the Penghu Taiwan area.He also sent people to Taiwan to select a place, recruit refugees, and prepare for farming. "

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, he suddenly became calm.Secretly, Yuan Keli really took his words to heart, and his execution ability was good, so he started implementing it so quickly.

"It's very good. The land in Fujian and Guangdong is barren, and it is easy to be displaced once a disaster strikes. Therefore, I heard that the local people are restless and want to relocate, wandering around, and even going to Southeast Asia. As long as the court explains the interests and promises land and tax conveniences . The speed of immigration will definitely be much faster than that of Liaodong, Shuixi and other places."

Liu Yishen and others nodded secretly after hearing this. What the emperor said was indeed reasonable.But they were secretly worried, feeling that the emperor was too impatient.

In their view, immigration was originally just one of the means to resettle disaster victims or weaken the southwestern chieftains.

Although they also know its importance, they also understand that this kind of thing cannot be rushed.After all, to suppress the rebellion in the southwest, all we need to do is slowly establish prefectures and counties and slowly immigrate people.But they felt that the emperor did not see it that way. Not only was he very concerned about the immigration issue, he was even very anxious and felt impatient.

I am afraid that the number of immigrants will be small or the progress of immigration will be slow.Now I actually want to immigrate to Taiwan.

Although this place has always been under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, it is far away by sea and land, so it is still relatively wild.Now the emperor can't wait to immigrate to Taiwan and set up prefectures and counties.The governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, Yuan Keli, also personally arranged the execution, which really made them confused.

But the emperor has done too many amazing things this year, and they all have very good effects.The continuous correct measures made them unable to object to this suggestion and could only nod in agreement.

"I will obey your orders!"

(End of this chapter)