Bringing the Railway to Daming

"First, New World crops fill Yunnan's biggest shortcoming: sloping land farming."

"Yunnan is four times the size of Jiangsu Province, so there's no shortage of land, but the land is incredibly steep. Generally, if the slope is greater than 2 degrees, soil erosion is likely; if it's greater than 6 degrees, mechanization becomes difficult."

"For the two major staple crops, rice is difficult to grow if the slope is greater than 5 degrees, and even wheat is difficult to grow if the slope is greater than 8 degrees."

"Yunnan, however, is located in the southernmost part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Hengduan Mountains. It's surrounded by mountains from east to west and north to south. 77% of the cultivated land has a slope of more than 6 degrees, and only 2% of the flat land has a slope of less than 11 degrees."

"The largest dam in Yunnan is not even as big as Chongming Island. What should we do? Terracing is one solution, but terraces have very strict requirements on slope, water source, and technology..."

The video describes from a scientific perspective how difficult it was to grow traditional crops in Yunnan before the introduction of new crops such as corn and sweet potatoes. Even the spectacular terraced fields were a last resort and are not suitable for large-scale promotion throughout Yunnan.

However, there is no problem in growing corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes in mountainous areas like Yunnan, with corn being the main crop.

It is precisely by promoting the cultivation of corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes that Yunnan is able to feed its growing population.

"After solving the food problem, Yunnan still has another problem: poverty."

"In ancient times, Jiangnan was prosperous not only because it was a land of fish and rice, but also because it was a major production area for sericulture and cotton. Once the textile industry developed, the task of farming was handed over to Hunan and Hubei."

"By contrast, when Yunnan was impoverished, not only did it lack food to survive, it also lacked cash crops that could make money. Even those cash crops were blocked by congested transportation."

"But since modern times, with the expansion of agriculture and improved transportation, Yunnan's cash crops have begun to flourish, with advantages far exceeding farming. For example, tobacco, tea, and traditional Chinese medicine are very profitable..."

Through the introduction of the video, Lao Zhu and his family learned which economic crops are suitable for growing in Yunnan.

In addition to tobacco, tea, and medicinal materials, there are also coffee beans, rubber, and various tropical fruits from the Americas.

While the others were reading intently, Zhu Xiongying wrote down all the key points quickly.

The video focuses on fruit cultivation in Yunnan - although Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan also have the conditions for growing tropical fruits, they do not have the altitude gap and complex geographical environment of Yunnan.

Because of this, Yunnan can grow almost most of the plants from all over the world.

After talking about fruit, the video points out that a population of 50 million is almost the limit of what Yunnan can support with current technology. If there are more, it will really fall into the Malthusian trap.

Because the development of mountains cannot be unlimited. If the damage to the natural environment is too great, it will cause a series of geological problems such as soil erosion, frequent mudslides, etc.

Although Zhu Xiongying felt that this issue was far away from the Ming Dynasty, he still carefully recorded it.

At this time, the video was also placed at the end.

"Over the past few hundred years, a large number of American crops have traveled halfway around the world to the subtropical mountainous areas of Asia. This is a reverse geographical discovery of New World plants."

"And they happened to encounter the Chinese, who had a great talent for farming. As if it were destined, they flourished here, greatly increasing China's population ceiling."

"Yunnan has also transformed itself from a frontier mountainous area with a shortage of food and people into an indispensable center in China's agricultural landscape..."

After watching this video, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that he had a better idea of ​​how to govern Yunnan.

He asked Zhu Biao, who was sitting next to him, "How was the promotion of corn and other crops in Yunnan last year?"

Zhu Biao said, "The garrisons we set up in Yunnan are naturally strictly in accordance with the imperial court's orders. We plant as much corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes as we are told to."

"But local people, especially ethnic minorities, are quite resistant to growing new crops."

"Fortunately, Yunnan has only been pacified for a few years, and the imperial army is still in place, so the various ethnic minorities have managed to grow some."

"Even if they didn't plant properly, they know that new crops like corn can be grown and eaten, so they probably won't be reluctant to plant them this year."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "You're right. As long as they know the benefits of new crops like corn, they'll rush to plant them without the court's urging. We're all ordinary people, and who wouldn't want to produce more food?"

"However, for now, we can only encourage Yunnan to focus on producing more grain and supporting its people. As for improving transportation and making Yunnan's people rich, I'm afraid it will take decades or even centuries to achieve."

At this time, Zhu Xiongying said, "Grandpa Emperor, I believe that as long as we work hard, we can make the people of Yunnan rich within three generations. After all, Yunnan doesn't have as many people now as it will in the future."

"Haha, what Xiongying said does make some sense."

After talking and laughing, Zhu Yuanzhang asked for the second video to be played.

Then the Zhu family discovered that the second video was still hosted by the same old lady, and was narrated by the same woman.

The title is "Without Kinkela, Indonesia feeds 2.7 million mouths this way."

Indonesian Zhu Zhu, Zhu Biao and others knew about it, and it mainly referred to the land of the present-day Majapahit Kingdom in Southeast Asia.

Judging from the title, this video is clearly about how this land supported 2.7 million people in later generations. The Ming Dynasty's current business focus is on Southeast Asia, which is of great interest to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and others. As for the princes who are interested in establishing vassal states in Southeast Asia, this video is even more interesting.

"A civilization without a sufficient population will find it difficult to survive through history. Looking around the world today, there are 14 countries with populations exceeding million, and there are four more waiting in line."

"People need to eat, but feeding hundreds of millions of people is a global challenge. With the exception of countries like China, India, and the Bald Eagle, which are blessed with vast territories and favorable conditions, other populous nations are all faced with the question of how to avoid the Malthusian trap."

"Although their conditions vary greatly, some are born in poverty, some are raised in wealth, their proportion in the future population will definitely increase, and it is worth studying in advance..."

After starting with a global perspective, the video naturally moves on to talk about agricultural conditions in Indonesia.

Only then did Lao Zhu and others realize that most islands with tropical climates are not very suitable for agricultural cultivation because the frequent rain will take away the nutrients in the soil.

Take Indonesia as an example. Before modern times, only Java Island and its surrounding areas were suitable for agricultural development.

Because there are many active volcanoes there, and there is a world-class volcano in the Xunfeng Strait - the eruption of these volcanoes can bring various minerals, or fertility, needed for agriculture to the local soil.

The video then takes Bali as an example, telling how, in order to survive, the locals started terraced farming in the area in the 10th century AD, during the Song Dynasty.

Next, the video talks about the development of agriculture when Indonesia was colonized by Europeans.

"As the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Indonesia's locational value is self-evident. The Netherlands, as a major maritime commercial power at the time, decided to seriously develop this colony."

"Today's Indonesian capital, Jakarta, was historically known as Batavia, a name given by the Dutch. It was the crown jewel of the Dutch colonial empire."

"Europeans brought new crops to Indonesia, including corn and potatoes that could be grown in the mountains, and peppers and tomatoes that made food more flavorful."

"Due to Indonesia's exceptional hydrothermal conditions, these crops can grow rapidly with minimal cultivation, spreading more rapidly than in East Asian countries like China and Japan..."

Seeing this, Lao Zhu and others thought that the Indonesians’ food crisis would not come until at least after a population explosion.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the video commentary changed its tone, Indonesia’s food crisis came.

Because European colonists went to Indonesia not to reproduce the population, but to make money.

So they used various means to coerce and bribe the locals to plant cash crops such as sugarcane, rubber, spices, cocoa, palm, abaca, and fruits.

At the craziest time, the Dutch even expropriated all the land on Java Island to grow cash crops.

This disrupted the balance between population and food production in Indonesia, causing severe famines to break out repeatedly in this fertile and productive land.

In modern times, Japan briefly occupied Southeast Asia, replacing the rule of European colonists.

At that time, Japan did not allow Indonesia to grow cash crops, but instead required it to grow grain and rubber. However, famine still broke out several times in the area because all the grain was shipped to Japan.

Seeing this, from Zhu Yuanzhang to the princes and princesses who knew something, everyone couldn't help but sigh: The people without a strong country are truly miserable.

The video goes down the timeline to the "modern times" of later generations. Indonesia finally gained independence. Although the ruling group changed several times, out of historical memory, they all attached great importance to food planting, and finally allowed Indonesia to initially solve the food problem.

Subsequently, in order to feed more people and ensure national food security, the Indonesian authorities began to vigorously promote land reclamation.

"In the 90s, the agricultural planting part of the immigration program reached its peak with the launch of the 'Super Rice Program'."

"According to the plan, Indonesia is preparing to convert one million hectares of swamp forests in southern Kalimantan into rice fields to alleviate the increasingly serious food problem."

"The Indonesian government has invested heavily in digging more than 4000 kilometers of canals in this area to prepare for rice field development."

"The forest used to be an obstacle to developing rice paddies, but now it's become a source of income. We dig canals and cut down trees to sell for money. From an economic perspective, it's a positive cycle."

"But the Indonesian government's plan to clear land was even faster than logging. Halfway through the project, the government, driven by its desire for results, began to tacitly allow workers to burn the forest to make way for the canal."

"But those bureaucrats didn't realize that the forests in southern Kalimantan are a vast expanse of 'peat swamp forests'. The peat covering the surface is plant decomposition and can be considered a semi-finished coal product."

"If you light a fire on a pile of coal, you can imagine the consequences!"

Seeing this, Zhu Xiongying quickly recorded it - although the Ming Dynasty court has not set foot on the island in the video yet, it will most likely develop the island in the future.

Zhu Zhen also wrote down this important information.

He took over Zhu Di's position in charge of Japanese affairs for several years and finally accumulated enough merits. Last autumn, he and Zhu Yuanzhang passed the civil service examination for overseas fiefdoms and became qualified to establish fiefdoms overseas.

His ideal place was the area around present-day Majapahit, or its surrounding areas.

It was located in the southern part of the Nanyang Islands, right on the edge of the area Zhu Yuanzhang allowed him to establish as a vassal, and not far from the Australian continent, making it a place he favored. (End of this chapter)