Ming Zuo

Chapter 427 Population Replacement
The most forward outpost of the Lushun Ming Army is the fortress in Songshu Mountain, adjacent to the Dragon River.

A small banner with a dozen soldiers stationed here, when Huang Sanhu came, these people were huddled in the stone fort with air leaks everywhere.

Seeing Huang Long rushing in with a group of strange soldiers, the little banner officer trembled in fright.

"The chief town wants to fight?"

Huang Long scolded with a smile: "Are you crazy? Waiting for Bai Maoxue to fight, there are not enough people to die."

Since ancient times, wars have been fought in autumn and winter, because at this time the autumn harvest is over, the food and grass are sufficient, and the horses on the grassland are fattened, and some of them are running with strength.

Only in Liaodong.

The heavy snow was waist deep, and it was impossible to march.

Therefore, here, except for hunters, no one will go out in winter, let alone fight.

Hearing that there was no war, the little flag officer couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, looked curiously at Huang Sanhu and the others, and looked enviously at how tightly wrapped these people were from head to toe.

Huang Sanhu did his part, and said: "From now on, the defense here will be changed, you don't need to stay here, go back to the city and wait for arrangements."

Xiaoqi was a humble official, so he hurriedly led others to make way for him, and didn't dare to ask more questions.

Seeing their pity, Huang Sanhu asked people to distribute the cotton-padded clothes and cotton-padded shoes they had brought to them.

Putting on thick and warm cotton-padded clothes and cotton-padded shoes, these soldiers burst into tears, and the last trace of doubt was wiped away.

Huang Sanhu observed the situation on the other side of the Long River with binoculars, worried, and asked, "Will the Tartars come here?"

The Dragon River has long since frozen over, and has lost its hindering effect.If Houjin comes to attack, crossing the river is very easy.

There were only a few hundred people in their advance detachment, but they couldn't stop the attack of Hou Jin's army.

Huang Long was very determined.

"Brigade Commander, don't worry, the Tartars will definitely not come to attack. They are all in Jinzhouwei, and they have traveled a hundred miles to this side. If they dare to send troops at this time of year, they will all die on the way."

This guarantee somewhat reassured Huang Sanhu.

However, according to the tradition of the new army, when things happen, they always estimate the worst outcome, and Huang Sanhu will not pin his hopes on the enemy's thinking.

He called Diao Jiasheng, the company commander of the reconnaissance company, and said, "Take your soldiers and spread the reconnaissance outward, and go as far as you can."

Huang Long and the others all changed their colors when they heard this.

Entering the wild in this kind of weather is going to die.

But Diao Jiasheng didn't hesitate and accepted the order on the spot.

Among the new army, the special forces and scouts never complained of suffering or tiredness.Their slogan is, go to the most dangerous place where you want to go.

More than a hundred soldiers of the reconnaissance company, divided into three teams, brought enough supplies, and quietly submerged into the snowstorm.

As for when they will be able to return, no one knows.

But these people will be Lushun's security barrier for the next period of time.

Although he took over Lushun's defense, Huang Sanhu couldn't make a big move because of the cold weather.In order to help the soldiers keep out the cold, the only thing that can be done is to take some simple measures to keep warm in each fort.

Fortunately, the supplies brought by the advance detachment were very sufficient, and the soldiers of the new army lived in such a simple place, but they could still endure it.

In Lushun City, with the distribution of food and clothing, the hearts of the local soldiers and civilians were immediately conquered, which made Zhu Qinglan's work much smoother.

He took people and completed the demographics in just one day.

It's just the result, which is very unsatisfactory.

"County magistrate, there are currently a total of [-] people in this area. Among them, there are [-] soldiers, and most of them are old, weak, sick, and disabled. Among the people, there are more men than women. Many people are old and young, and many people are suffering from diseases, and it is not known whether they can survive this winter."

This is the current situation of Lushun, which makes Zhu Qinglan very depressed.

But since he took this job and wanted to make achievements, Zhu Qinglan knew that the difficulties in front of him were actually opportunities.

He thought for a while, and said to his assistant: "When the first batch of ships return tomorrow, you will go back and report the situation here to the attendants. Remember, you have to cry a little bit more, and ask the attendants to give you more benefits." .”

The people below were holding back their laughter, but they also knew that crying poor was a necessary means for the development of Lushun.

Zuo Menggeng quickly received the report from here. Although Zhu Qinglan's assistant was crying, it's a pity that his acting skills were not good, and Zuo Menggeng didn't take it seriously at all.

"There are priorities. Although Lushun is important, mastering Shandong is an established strategy and cannot be changed."

Li Banghua made a statement on behalf of the Administrative Committee. Even though he has not yet communicated with Hou Xun, Chen Zhi and others, he is confident that this is the common meaning of everyone.

From the planning in the second year of Chongzhen until now, seeing that there is going to be a complete territory, this makes everyone work hard, and they don't care about other places at all.

Even if possible, they would rather give up Liaodong than allow the current strategy to be affected.

The idea of ​​the administrative committee was approved by Zuo Menggeng.

"Meng Angong is right. We can no longer invest more resources in Liaodong. After you go back, tell Huang Sanhu and Zhu Qinglan that they must try their best to find their own way out."

Zhu Qinglan's assistant, Xu Xinsheng, is also a top student in the School of Administration and knows how to bargain.

"Sensei, Mr. Meng An, it's really not that we complained deliberately. Lushun is surrounded by a lot of people and the land is narrow. If there is no support, it is impossible to support so many people in the local area. We are also clever women who can't cook without rice, so there is no room for display."

Unexpectedly, Zuo Menggeng's thinking was very clear.

"You said Lushun has a lot of people and a little land?"

Xu Xinsheng nodded, thinking that he didn't explain clearly enough?
Zuo Menggeng, however, proposed an unconstrained solution.

"Lushun has a lot of people, but there is a shortage of manpower everywhere. It's better to move the excess population of Lushun here, as much as you want."

To what extent is the area currently occupied by the new army short of manpower?

The reservoir project in Mengyin County had to be stopped.

Now all the manpower has been allocated to the fields of military industry, agriculture, and people's livelihood, which is still insufficient, and some not so urgent projects have to give way.

The Administrative Committee is really racking its brains for manpower.Not only went to the areas controlled by the imperial court to recruit people, but even went to the neighboring Gyeonggi, Henan, and Nanzhili to recruit people.

Today all parts of the world are impoverished, and countless people have no food or clothing.Therefore, it only needs to pay a very small price, and refugees from all over the world flock to it.

Everyone is still thinking and working hard for the manpower problem, and they don't know that this is actually the population absorption effect of economic centralization.

Thinking about the population concentration effect of several core economic areas hundreds of years later, the current situation can only be regarded as trivial.

With the rapid development of Shandong's economy and industry, it will definitely absorb people from all over the world in the future.

Zhu Qinglan and others in Lushun are worried about the extra population, but Shandong is worried about the shortage of manpower.

Among other things, Laizhou was slaughtered by the rebels, and now it has become a ghost town.

So much land is uncultivated and so many resources cannot be used, it is really worrying.

In view of this, Zuo Menggeng immediately thought of using the surplus population of Lushun to fill the gap in Laizhou.

In the past, the people of Shandong and the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong hated each other, but now that the local population of Laizhou has been completely lost, the introduction of manpower from Liaodong will no longer cause any conflicts.

Shandong in the early years of Chongzhen was a hell on earth.

And the most serious place is Laizhou.

First, the White Lotus Sect rebelled and wiped out the countryside of Laizhou.Then Wuqiao Mutiny, Dongjiang rebels destroyed Laizhou City once again.

So much so that in today's Laizhou Prefecture, the bones of the dead are exposed in the wild, and there are no chickens crowing for thousands of miles.

According to preliminary statistics, the population of the entire Laizhou Prefecture is now less than [-], which is even smaller than that of Liaodong.

After driving out the rebels and occupying Laizhou, how to restore the local people's livelihood and economy has become a top priority.

When he heard that Lushun was worrying about too many people, Zuo Menggeng immediately thought of population migration.

In today's barren Laizhou, there is no problem of regional hatred. Even if the population of Lushun is moved here, it is not enough to fill the vacancy.

Hearing Zuo Menggeng's method, Xu Xinsheng was dumbfounded.

Is it still possible to do this?

But after thinking about it carefully, he suddenly realized that this method is really good.

First of all, of course, it can greatly relieve the tension of people in Lushun.

Secondly, the combat methods of the new army do not rely much on civilian husbands.The new army itself has a complete logistics and engineering system. In many cases, the participation of civilians will affect the combat.

One of the fundamental reasons why there are so many people in Liaodong is to support the battle.

Since the new army does not need the support of the people, Lushun naturally has no need to keep too many people.

In the end, Shandong has a vast land and rich resources, and the surplus people are resettled here. They don't have to worry about survival issues at all, but they will greatly improve their lives.

"It's amazing to see thousands of miles away from the seat. I'll rush back and tell the county magistrate Zhu about this method."

Xu Xinsheng couldn't wait, just in time for the third fleet to Liaodong to leave.

On Zuo Menggeng's side, knowing that it is imperative to relocate the people from Lushun, he immediately discussed the layout of Laizhou with Li Banghua and others.

(End of this chapter)