I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 811: Start operating the God-given Land

The person standing at the front of the door is Liang Menglong's chief secretary Shen Mingchen.

He said respectfully, "Mr. Mingquan, everyone is here."

Liang Menglong said happily: "Everyone, please come in and sit down."

Shen Mingchen stood sideways at the door and politely extended his hand to invite everyone, "Please come in."

Seven people filed in and entered the small living room, which was packed tightly.

Seeing so many scholars, Lu Xiang and Deng Zilong stood there, not knowing how to start the conversation.

"I'd like to introduce you. This is Vice Admiral Lu Xiang, Lu Shenji, son of Lord Beishan (Lu Tong), who has been appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Azure Dragon Fleet.

This is Deng Zilong Deng Yunqing from Fengcheng, Jiangxi Province, a major general of the navy, who was appointed as the deputy commander of the Qinglong Fleet and concurrently the commander of the First Fleet.

After introducing the two naval generals, Liang Menglong introduced the seven scholars.

"This is Gu Yangqian, Gu Yiqing, from Tongzhou, Jiangsu. He was a Jinshi in the 44th year of Jiajing. He is currently a councilor of Guangdong. This is Xiao Lin, Xiao Kefa, from Wan'an, Jiangxi. He was a Jinshi in the 44th year of Jiajing. He is currently a councilor of the Household Department of Shaanxi.

Wang Jiaping, also known as Wang Zhongbo, was born in Datong, Shanxi Province. He became a Jinshi in the second year of Longqing reign. He is currently the director of Sinong Temple, a member of Gansu Agricultural Support Group, and deputy director of Gansu Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department.

Jin Xuezeng, Jin Zilu, was born in Qiantang, Zhejiang Province. He was a Jinshi in the second year of Longqing. He is now the director of the Ministry of Works. He was one of the construction officers of the Beijing-Qin Railway that you all took the train to Luan.

Wang Shisong, also known as Wang Zhongshu, was born in Linhai, Zhejiang. He was the son of Jiangxi Governor Jing Suogong (Wang Zongmu), graduated from the School of Law and Politics of Jiajing University, and is currently a prosecutor at the Wuchang County Procuratorate and Judicial Bureau.

Hu Yinglin and Hu Yuanrui were born in Jinlan, Zhejiang. They were the sons of Bo'an Gong (Hu Xi), the governor of Hunan Province. They graduated from the School of Arts of Nanjing University and were the favorite students of Zhuo Wu Gong. They are currently assistants in the Academic Affairs Office of Nanjing University.

Zhu Lian, also known as Zhu Wenqing, is from Linjiang, Jiangxi. He passed the Jiangxi provincial examination in the second year of Longqing and is currently a clerk in the Tongzhengsi.

Lu Xiang, Deng Zilong and the seven people greeted them: "So you are all pillars of society, what a privilege, what a privilege!"

Shen Mingchen asked the hotel servant to bring six stools and place them in the empty space.

Everyone exchanged polite words and sat down.

Liang Menglong sat on the sofa at the top, Lu Xiang and Deng Zilong sat on the sofa to his left, Gu Yangqian and Xiao Lin sat on the sofa to his right. The rest of the people sat on stools.

Shen Mingchen sat next to Liang Menglong, and the other five people sat around the sofas on the left and right.

"The living room is a bit crowded, please make do with it and bear with me."

"Mr. Mingquan is too polite."

Liang Menglong got straight to the point: "Today, the imperial court held a meeting and my appointment was formally approved. The imperial edict will be issued soon. I will be the governor-general of the Eastern Expedition, in charge of the army and navy of Genxunzhou, and the governor of Xiashang and other states."

Everyone looked at each other with different expressions.

"General Lu and General Deng happened to be in Qinhuangdao for some business, and passed through Luanzhou on their way back to Beijing. So I invited you two to discuss the Eastern Expedition.

The two of them will lead the Qinglong fleet to rotate warships and set off with me to replace Generals Lu Zhifu and Qiang Ang as the chief and deputy chief of the Genxunzhou Navy.

The chief and deputy generals of the army are Xue Yi, Dong Yiyuan and Li Rusong. I have already talked to them in the capital."

Liang Menglong's voice is deep, slow and powerful.

"Genxunzhou is called the land bestowed by the great Ming Dynasty by the emperor. Not only are there dangerous mountains and rivers, fertile fields and abundant natural resources, but also the remnants of the Xia and Shang dynasties have long lived there.

It can be said that it has all three elements: time, place and people.

The two admirals, Li Chao and Lu Zhifu, overcame all difficulties and worked hard to lay a solid foundation for the Ming Dynasty in Genxunzhou within a few years. They also won over more than 200,000 survivors of the Xia and Shang dynasties to serve as their wings.

Previously, the strategy of our Ming Dynasty in Genxunzhou was to attack by sea and defend by land. The navy was proactive and cooperated with the marines to attack Spanish forces along the coastal route and rescue the descendants of Xia and Shang, Yan, Huang and Miao.

Castles and fortresses were built on land, and farmlands and roads were built, with defense as the main focus.

Now the Spanish navy was driven to the east of Genxunzhou and retreated to several places. Li Chao and Lu Zhifu sent several survey teams to find that there was a large area of ​​land east of Xiashangzhou, which was far more fertile than Xiazhou.

There are still millions of remnants of the Xia and Shang dynasties, trapped in ignorance and being humiliated by the Western barbarians.

The emperor has given us the holy will that it is time for Genxunzhou to expand eastward and southward by land. "

Liang Menglong paused and scanned the faces of everyone present, especially the seven people brought by Wang Mingchen. He scanned their faces back and forth two or three times.

"In the past six or seven years, the Ming Dynasty has immigrated more than 80,000 men and women to Xiashangzhou, and countless materials. However, the court has decided that starting this year, it will vigorously recruit immigrants from Shaanxi, Gansu, Suiyuan, Heishui, Jilin, Liaodong, and Haidong.

According to current statistics, 25,000 people can be immigrated this year. In addition, the cabinet has allocated a large number of materials, including mining, smelting, gunpowder, forging, textiles, cement, shipbuilding and other large-scale factory and mining equipment.

In the future, the Xia and Shang states must not only be self-sufficient in food, but also establish a basic industrial system so that they can be self-sufficient in cotton cloth, cement, ironware and gunpowder.

All materials have to be transported thousands of miles by sea. How can we rescue the remnants of the Xia and Shang dynasties and liberate the God-given land of Genxun from the Spaniards? "

Everyone listened in silence as Liang Menglong described the court's strategic plan for Genxunzhou.

"In the past few years, the Ming Dynasty's strategy in Gen and Xun continents was very rough. It can be said that it was mainly focused on development, with only fighting and no management.

According to the holy will of the Emperor, starting from this year, Genxunzhou should improve its strategy, focusing on economic management and advancing both combat and management.

Therefore, in addition to continuing to develop agriculture and laying the foundation for industry, education is also very important.”

Liang Menglong decided to test the seven people present.

"I would like to ask why the education work in Xia and Shang states has been suddenly elevated to such a high position?"

The seven people looked at each other. The older Gu Yangqian and Xiao Lin smiled and said, "Let Zhongshu and Yuanrui speak first."

"Let the younger generation have the chance."

In fact, Wang Jiaping is the second oldest among the seven, only after Xiao Lin, and a few months older than Gu Yangqian.

However, Gu Yangqian was a Jinshi in the 44th year of Jiajing, and Wang Jiaping was a Jinshi in the 2nd year of Longqing, the last batch of “official Jinshi”. Those who passed the exam later are considered juniors, regardless of age.

Wang Jiaping said bluntly: "Because of people!"

Liang Menglong nodded, "Uncle Zhong, please continue."

"Now that the Ming Dynasty is revived and industry and commerce are flourishing, there is a shortage of people in all walks of life. Newspapers such as the Commercial Daily, the Three Wu Newspaper, and the Zhejiang Government Newspaper have reported that in the southeast and other places, due to the shortage of people, some areas have become barren fields. This shows the extent of the shortage of people.

Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, diverse terrain, and extremely unbalanced distribution.

When I was a young man, I went to Gansu and worked in the Northwest Development Agency headed by Governor Xu. I was deeply impressed by the fact that in this drought-stricken area of ​​the Northwest, there were actually quite a few ordinary people living there.

Unfortunately, those places were dry and barren, and could not support so many people. In recent years, the imperial court relocated about 400,000 people from the drought-stricken areas of the northwest to Huguang, which was a benevolent policy.

It’s just that Huguang is easy to migrate to, but Genxun and Xunzhou are thousands of miles away by sea, so it’s not easy to migrate on a large scale.”

The Ming Dynasty was short of people, and so was Genxunzhou. It was not possible to carry out large-scale immigration at the moment, so it was necessary to find ways to win over as many of the remnants of the Xia and Shang dynasties there as possible.

We are all descendants of the Yan, Huang, and Miao peoples, and we share the same ancestors and clans. If we educate people widely, we will definitely gain something.”

Liang Menglong then asked: "If there are some people among the Xia and Shang survivors who are stubborn and determined to follow the barbarians, how should we deal with them?"

Wang Shisong replied: "If you treat each other with sincerity and fairness, you will surely be able to exchange sincerity for sincerity."

Hu Yinglin replied: "Those people are indeed traitors to their ancestors and should be killed without mercy! Since ancient times, the government has been governed by a combination of firmness and flexibility, with one hand holding a gun and the other holding scriptures and principles. Those who obey will prosper and those who rebel will perish!"

Everyone looked sideways.

Is this Li Zhi’s favorite disciple?

It is said that Hu Yinglin's father, Hu Xi, the governor of Hunan, was kind-hearted, benevolent and generous, and was called "Son of Buddha".

If the father is like this, why is the son like this?

Liang Menglong patted the armrest of the sofa happily and said, "Good! You all said it well!

This time, I was ordered to supervise the two continents of Gen and Xun and carry out education. I need talents with both virtue and learning. I have been recommended by everyone and I have recruited you. Please follow me to set sail and travel thousands of miles to manage this heaven-sent land for the Ming Dynasty and its people!"

Shen Mingchen has already talked to them one by one and explained the situation. Those who can come here tonight are all those who agree to follow.

"Mr. Mingquan sincerely invites me, and I am deeply grateful. Moreover, managing Genxun is a major national strategy, which concerns the Ming Dynasty for thousands of years. I will gladly obey your order!"

"it is good."

Liang Menglong nodded and said, "I have already drafted an appointment plan, intending to invite Gu Yiqing and Xiao Kefa to be the governors of Xia and Shang states."

"The students are happy to accept the order!"

Gu Yangqian and Xiao Lin answered.

"Wang Zhongbo, I would like to invite you to be the governor of Taiping County and concurrently the minister of the Ministry of Revenue of the Jinglüe Prefecture."

Wang Jiaping replied cheerfully, "I obey your orders."

"Jin Zilu, I would like to invite you to be the governor of Changle County and concurrently the minister of engineering of the Jinglüe Prefecture."

Jin Xuezeng readily responded: "I will obey your orders!"

Changle City, the county seat of Changle County, is the second largest city built by the Ming Dynasty in Genzhou. Changle Port (Long Beach, Los Angeles) in the south of the city is also the second largest port after Songmen Port.

It was built under the supervision of Lu Zhifu, the second admiral of the Qinglong Navy. It is closer to Mexico City, the center of Spain's rule in the New World.

Why is it called Changle City?
Because Lu Zhifu was originally from Changle County, Fuzhou.

"Wang Zhongshu, I would like you to serve as the assistant clerk of the Administrative Office of the Governor's Office, and to be the acting clerk in charge of official affairs."

Wang Shisong's qualifications were not high enough, so he was assigned a high-ranking position with a low-level assignment and presided over the establishment of Xia Shangzhou Administrative Court in an acting manner.

"Students obey orders."

"Hu Yuanrui, I would like to invite you to serve as the Chief of Police and the Doctor of the Ministry of Education."

"Students obey orders."

"Zhu Wenqing, Zeng Sanxing said that you are good at calculations. I would like to invite you to be the director of the Finance Department of the Jinglüe Prefecture."

"Students obey orders."

After assigning the appointments one by one, Liang Menglong said: "I will report your appointments to the cabinet and wait for the official approval of the Ministry of Personnel.

It is May now, and the south wind is still strong. We have to wait until August, when the autumn arrives and the north wind rises, and then we will board the sea boat together and sail eastward. "

Liang Menglong stroked his beard, scanned everyone's faces one by one, and sighed.

"It takes many years to get to Genzhou. The journey is dangerous and full of unexpected events. When I can return home is entirely up to God.

There is still three months left, so you can make preparations early and bring your family to the capital for a good reunion.

The court has regulations that provide preferential treatment for the families of officials in Zhidong. You don’t have to worry about your family’s livelihood, the court will take care of it for you.”

"Student Xie Mingquan cares about me."

Liang Menglong continued, "Luanzhou is the most important industrial base in the Ming Dynasty. You are lucky enough to come here, so you can take a look around. I will greet the Tongzhengsi and Luanzhou Government Office to make things convenient for you.

Look around, maybe one day in the future, we will build a similar industrial center in the distant Xia Shangzhou, and spread the power and virtue of the Ming Dynasty to the new world!"

"As ordered!"

The next morning, Hu Yinglin, led by Shen Mingchen, together with Gu Yangqian and others, visited the Lulong Iron and Steel Plant of Luanzhou Iron and Steel Group Corporation.

As soon as you enter the gate and turn a corner, you will see a freight yard filled with railroad tracks, so densely packed that it looks like a spider web.

There were dozens of railway carriages parked on the tracks, more than half of which were loaded with coal, and the other half were various goods, mostly large pieces of steel, some of which were of strange shapes.

A deputy section chief from the steel plant came out to greet the group. After they turned around a train, they saw a group of people standing on the platform. They were another visiting group.

Hu Yinglin saw an old acquaintance at first sight!
The man turned his head inadvertently, saw him, and greeted him enthusiastically.

"Yuanrui, I didn't expect to meet you here again!"

(End of this chapter)