Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 167 Office

Guangxi has seven mountains, two rivers and one field, and the land is barren and the people are poor. Nanning is an exception. It is located in the Yujiang alluvial plain, with abundant grain production. Its natural conditions and geographical location are obviously better than Guilin. It has long been the political center of Nanning.

Generally speaking, when a dynasty was strong, had great military achievements, and actively expanded outward, Nanning would be the political center of Guangxi. For example, during the Tang Dynasty, Nanning was the seat of Lingnan West Road, and during the Song Dynasty, Nanning was the seat of Guangnan West Road. From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Jiaozhi was still under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains Dynasty. It was obvious that Nanning could better rule Jiaozhi when it was the political center of Guangxi.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, rose from a commoner and experienced hardships. After founding the country, he focused on recuperation and had little interest in expanding territory. The Ming Dynasty inherited the Yuan system and made Guilin the capital of Guangxi Province, which was a relatively conservative approach. This was because there were many chieftains in Guangxi, and making Guilin the capital would make it easy to get reinforcements from the north in case of trouble in Guangxi.

By the time of the Southern Ming, Nanning was still an ideal base. The Yongli Emperor and his ministers had no such foresight, which was a good opportunity for Cen Danchu. If he could manage it well, it could become the rear base of the Red Army.

You know, Nanning not only has sufficient grain production, but also abundant mineral resources, and has the potential to develop industry and commerce.

For example, Nanning and Taiping are rich in coal and iron mines. Iron mines mainly include Quxiang, Nalong, Xinning, and Dongluo. Coal mines mainly include Mashan, Longan, Shangsi, Haiyuan, and Xinning.

Since there are both iron and coal mines, we can build a steel plant here to manufacture firearms and repair military equipment. Taiping Prefecture also has rare earth mines, so if there is an opportunity in the future, we can also manufacture new guns and cannons.

What's more, Nanning also has the advantage of water conservancy. The Zuojiang River and the Youjiang River merge not far upstream of Nanning and flow through Nanning, providing excellent convenience for water transportation.

With coal mines, iron mines and waterways, manufacturing firearms in Nanning is much more convenient than in Yong'an.

From a military perspective, Nanning also has important strategic significance.

To the southwest, going up the Zuojiang River, passing Pingxiang Prefecture and Zhennan Pass, you can reach Lang Son, Jiaozhi; passing Longzhou, Shangxiadong Prefecture, and Shuier Pass, you can reach Gaoping, Jiaozhi. In the past, when sending troops to Jiaozhi, Lang Son and Gaoping were the only way.

To the northwest, going up the Youjiang River, passing through Tianzhou, Shanglinzhou, and Sichengzhou, you can reach Yunnan and Guizhou.

To the north, through Kunlun Pass, north to Liuzhou, you can reach Guilin, Qingyuan, Guizhou, and Huguang.

Going due east along the Yujiang River downstream, you can reach Xunzhou, Wuzhou, enter Zhaoqing, Guangdong, and reach the city of Guangzhou.

To the southeast, crossing the Qipo high hills, you can enter Lianzhou Prefecture in Guangdong and reach the South China Sea.

Danchu had been on a tour of inspection in other places these days. It was New Year's Eve, and Danchu had not rested yet. He and Liu Yuchun went to Xinning Prefecture (now Fusui County) to inspect the iron mine. Xinning Prefecture has both iron mines and coal mines. Both coal and iron mines are close to Zuojiang River, and the conditions are unique. It is one of the iron smelting centers in Guangxi.

In this inspection, in addition to Liu Yuchun, Danchu was also accompanied by a wealthy man from Nanning.

This man was named Wei Sishu. He was the richest man in southern Guangxi. His family had many businesses. In addition to owning tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, he also had a fleet on the Xijiang River, many shops in Nanning, Taiping and other places, and iron and coal mines. He was truly a wealthy man.

The most valuable thing is that Wei Sishu has great ambitions, a broad mind, and is willing to support the Red Army in its fight against the Qing Dynasty, which has won the favor of Danchu.

During the chaotic times at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were countless wealthy people willing to sacrifice their wealth to help the country. Zhu Minru, a general under Jiao Lian, was a wealthy man from Guilin. He spent all his wealth to recruit soldiers and build weapons, so he was able to form his own army.

Wei Sishu knew that he had no talent for leading troops in battle, but when he saw that Danchu had the ambition to help the world, he readily agreed to join him.

Danchu traveled around Nanning and Xinning, and had already come up with ideas on developing minerals and manufacturing military equipment. He also reached a consensus with Liu Yuchun and Wei Sishu.

Finally, the trip to Xinning Prefecture was over, and Danchu and the other two took a boat back to Nanning. It was already afternoon, the water in Zuojiang River was abundant, and the boat was moving very fast. The three of them leaned on the side and enjoyed the breeze, which was very pleasant.

As they chatted, Danchu asked about the population: "Mr. Wei, according to your estimate, how many people are there in Xinning Prefecture? How many miners are there? How many non-Han people such as the Yao people?"

The Yellow Book of Yongning Prefecture was revised in the eighth year of Chongzhen. Like the Yellow Books of other places, the numbers in them were too outrageous.

After traveling back in time, he has gained an in-depth understanding of the local political system of the Ming Dynasty. Take population for example, the Ming Shilu is quite different from the records of various places, and the estimates of later experts are also very different.

There are many reasons. First, the civil and military affairs of the Ming Dynasty were separated. The Ming Shilu recorded the civilian households in each province counted by the Ministry of Households, and did not include military households, artisan households, etc. Second, there were people of low status and ethnic minorities in the Ming Dynasty, and these people were not registered and not included in the official statistics. Third, in order to avoid taxes, the people had originally hidden a large number of people. The situation of land was similar. Military fields and military farms were not included in the statistics of the Ministry of Households. This gave later generations an illusion that the Qing Dynasty's policies were effective and the population and land had grown rapidly.

Danchu estimated that in the late Ming Dynasty, before the peasant army wreaked havoc, the actual population of the Ming Dynasty was at least 200 million.

"General, although I am from Xinning, I don't have an accurate number of Xinning's population. According to my estimation, Xinning Prefecture has a population of 120,000, including miners, Yao people, servants, and commoners. There are many miners, and their families should be 20,000. There are 30,000 Yao people and servants, and 10,000 commoners, slaves, and other lowly people."

This is not much different from what the officials of the provincial government said. The population of Xinning Prefecture was over 100,000, and Han people accounted for about half of them.

"Xinning Prefecture has a small land area and a large population. On average, each person only has one acre and six fen of land. Do you know how to feed so many people?"

The simplest way is to reduce rent and taxes. But forcing tenants to pay taxes is the Red Army's established policy, and Wei Sishu dared not say more: "Wei really doesn't know, maybe we can reclaim wasteland and increase the number of acres of land."

"As more fields are opened, the population will also increase. Moreover, the cultivated fields have been fully cultivated. To open up virgin fields, one can only go up the mountain and invade the territory of the chieftains, where the amount of arable land is limited. The population is increasing day by day, but the land is not increasing. There are too many people and too little land, and land annexation is the fundamental reason for the fall of dynasties."

Danchu felt that this question was too profound and it might be too advanced to tell Wei Sishu about it.

To solve the population crisis, fundamentally speaking, we must improve productivity. Agriculture cannot feed too many people, and only by developing industry and commerce can we feed more people and improve people's living standards.

Haha, I think too much. I just conquered Nanning and I'm a little proud. This is the Southern Ming Dynasty, there are constant wars, and the conditions for the first industrial revolution are not mature. I still want to improve productivity, haha.

Danchu collected his thoughts and said, "Mr. Wei, I have a way, and I want to try it out. I'm sure you've heard that I never discriminate against businessmen, and I've strongly encouraged industry and commerce in Yong'an.

"Industry and commerce can also feed the population, and can even feed more people. For example, how many miners does your Xinning Iron Mine employ? More than 600? Quite a lot. Look at these more than 600 miners, who do not engage in agriculture, but can still have enough food and clothing. What do they rely on? The iron mine and industry and commerce.

"But our industry and commerce are too small and subject to too many government controls, making it difficult to expand. Mr. Wei, Old Liu, have you ever heard of the foreign East India Company?"

Wei Sishu lives in the inland and is not as knowledgeable as Liu Tongchun, so he dare not speak carelessly.

Liu Yuchun was from Zhejiang and knew a lot about it. He said, "I have heard a little bit about it. It is said that the East India Company has an army, officials, and owns land in Southeast Asia, India, etc. It is like a kingdom."

"Yes!" Danchu admired Liu Tongchun very much and praised: "England, France, France and other foreign countries all have East India companies. These companies were established by merchants and have already invaded Southeast Asia. Their influence is not to be underestimated.

"As early as the Yuan Dynasty, the Chinese began to immigrate to Southeast Asia and had some influence there. But when the East India Company came, the Chinese were defeated one after another? Why? The company was engaged in industry and commerce, with financial resources, organization, and military force. The Chinese mostly engaged in gold panning and trade, without organization and discipline. How could they compete with such a company?
"Our current Ironware Bureau, and even the Garrison Military Equipment Bureau, are all government-run, following the will of the government, which is actually the will of the general manager. Once the general manager is replaced, for example, you, Liu Yuchun, once you leave, can the Ironware Bureau still be as clean and efficient as it is now? Obviously not.

"In the future, we will also set up companies! I will respect merchants like the foreign countries do, and merchants should also fight for their reputation. We will set up a few model companies, and the government will not interfere too much. We can adopt government-supervised private operation or government-private joint operation. We will set an example for Chinese merchants first. In the future, we will also open a few East India companies overseas and obtain cheap food, gold and silver from overseas. Isn't it wonderful?"

This idea is too advanced, but it is undoubtedly highly feasible.

Wei Sishu was skeptical and said, "Your Excellency has a brilliant idea. I admire you deeply."

Danchu was not polite and said directly: "Mr. Wei, do you have a thousand gold to marry me? If you can, please choose a thousand gold to marry me as your wife, how about it?"

His thoughts turned too quickly, and Wei Sishu reacted and said carefully: "I have a little girl who is not yet engaged. She just turned fifteen after the Chinese New Year."

Danchu did not ask anything else and said, "To be honest, I want to marry Mr. Wei for no other reason than to tell the world that I truly respect businessmen, truly encourage industry and commerce, and truly want to start a company. Seeing this, businessmen will also feel at ease to invest in industry and commerce, right?"

Wei Sishu smiled and said, "Your Excellency's intentions are admirable. My daughter is lucky to have you by her side. I will prepare a dowry and send my daughter off on a good day."

(End of this chapter)