Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 548 Cochin Rebellion
"It smells so good~~~"

In the field, Liu Shun was sitting under the shade of a tree with his trouser legs rolled up, holding a bowl of rice full of vegetables in his hand.

Although Zhu Ciran said that there is no need to kill the chicken, the husband and wife still cut a piece of bacon.

Garlic sprouts picked fresh from the ground are paired with bacon that has been smoked for several years. Even if you don’t put oil in it, just rolling it in the pot for a while can make people eat their tongues, not to mention the refreshing pickled radish on the side of the bowl up.

For Liu Shun and the others who had been working for an hour and a half, this big bowl of food was simply a delicacy in the world.

Not only him, but even Zhu Ciran kept putting rice into his mouth.

They ate a two-jin bowl of vegetables and rice in their stomachs, and they didn't forget to lick the bottom of the bowl at the end.

This behavior does not mean that the food is delicious, but that they are really hungry.

I got up early in the morning for more than forty miles, half of which was uphill. I finally stopped and worked for another hour and a half. It is normal to be hungry.

However, Zhu Ciran didn't open his mouth, and Liu Shun and the others were too embarrassed to ask for a second bowl.

"Okay, old man, it's getting late, and it's time for us to set off."

Zhu Ciran was full because of his young age, so he got up and wiped the oil from his mouth, then motioned to leave.

Hearing this, the old man hurriedly said to his wife, "Go home and bring a piece of bacon."

"Hey!" Hearing this, the woman got up quickly, put the dishes and chopsticks away, put them in the basket and turned her back to the house.

"Then we'll wait for the bacon to come, and then we'll do some work for you."

Seeing that it would take time to wait for the bacon, Zhu Ciran immediately jumped off the field and began to skillfully harvest the cabbage.

"I'm not full yet..."

Liu Shun complained in his heart, feeling his half-full stomach, Liu Shun wanted to cry without tears and started working with the two Jin Yiwei.

After they had harvested another half acre of cabbage, the woman returned to the field with a piece of bacon that was as thick as an arm and long and short.

After a few simple greetings, Zhu Ciran bid farewell to the old man with ten catties of cabbage and bacon.

It's just that he made a trick, and when a passing woman was carrying the basket, he threw a hundred silver coins and Xiaoping coins into it.

It is estimated that this silver coin will be found when the women are drinking water from the kettle.

"gone!"

After finishing this task, Zhu Ciran walked to the township road with a cabbage in his arms and bacon in his hand.

Their bikes were also left unattended, but no one was stealing them.

The four of Zhu Ciran put the cabbage in their hands on the shelf, then continued to sit on the cushions, exerted force with their feet, and stepped on the car again.

The car drove along the country road, and there were fewer vegetable merchants on the road, and many vegetable fields were harvested.

Some farmers who sold out their vegetables did not leave because the vegetables were sold out, but became helpers in other people's homes. With half a day's wages, they harvested cabbage for others.

Of course, there are also some carpe diem farmers on their way home.

When they saw the four-wheeled bicycle they were riding, they all cast curious eyes. After Zhu Ciran and the others walked away, they pointed to the bicycle and began to discuss the practicality of this thing.

In just 5 minutes, Zhu Ciran rode from the field to the town, and the residents of Luojiawan Town are mostly farmers, and they are basically in the fields at the moment, and there are only some vegetable merchants waiting to harvest vegetables in the town. Eat at roadside stalls and restaurants.

Liu Shun saw the familiar Huangdian, and saw a bun shop next to the Huangdian.

After saying "Apologize", he stopped the car, and then ran to the Huangdian to buy more than a dozen steamed buns.

After he came back, he shared steamed buns with the three guards in Jinyi. During this period, Zhu Ciran inevitably complained that they had a "big appetite".

He had the nerve to say that, but Liu Shun and the others could only swallow with tears in their eyes and broken teeth.

"Eat, I'll just stroll around the street."

Zhu Ciran looked at the three people sitting in the car eating buns, got out of the car with a look of disgust, and looked around Luojiawan Town.

Like many market towns in Daming, Luojiawan Town is basically a town built around the cement road.

The cement road seems to be a commercial street in many market towns, and Luojiawan is no exception.

Rows of shops stretched far along both sides of the cement road, and they didn't end until a mile away.

Some of these shops are residential buildings. People rest on the second floor, and some small shops are opened on the first floor, or the doors are opened for ventilation.

On one street, there are more than [-] shop signs in the picture scroll, such as cloth shop Fadui, Yonghe Cloth Shop, Net Towel Fake, Old Shoes and Boots Store, Famous Tea Fake, Fadui Guanyan, Zaozhuang, Yutang and other shops have everything you expect.

It can be imagined that there are many shops in this Luojiawan market town, a wide variety of categories, and active business transactions.

"Woooo-"

In an invisible place, the siren sounded, Zhu Ciran didn't pay much attention to it, but looked around.

In the chat with the old man, he already knew that there are more than 3000 people living in Luojiawan Town, but most of them are farmers.

Therefore, in this season, the people who can go shopping on the street are basically vegetable merchants and some children under the age of seven.

They gathered around the four-wheeled vehicle, and some lay on the glass door of the imperial store, looking inside.

Zhu Ciran also walked over, but instead of lying on the door, he opened it and walked in.

The area of ​​this imperial store is not large, but about three-thirds of the land (184 square meters), the store is against the walls on the left and right, and there are two glass windows on the roof as the lighting surface.

Walking in the store, the center of the store is the grain and oil area, where lard, rapeseed oil, peanut oil, soy sauce, mature vinegar, rice, wheat, soybean noodles and other commodities are placed.

Near the inside, there are white cloth and various colored cloth, as well as two bicycles and a pedal sewing machine.

In addition to these, there are white sugar, brown sugar and other goods that are more "luxury" for the common people.

After walking around, Zhu Ciran didn't find any difference between this imperial shop and other imperial shops, and then walked out without interest.

Compared with the Huangdian, the nearby shops are much more interesting.

Some flower shops are open, and there are various potted flowers and some flower seeds in the shop.

Zhu Ciran went in and smelled the fragrance of flowers, then walked out again, going to the bookstore next door.

There are all kinds of books in the store, from serious classics and historical classics, entertaining novels about gods and demons, world affairs novels and koan novels, to unscrupulous pornographic picture books, in short, everything that one expects to find.

Among these books, except for pornographic picture books, Zhu Ciran has read most of the other novels, and left without interest.

Afterwards, he went to other shops, but none of them were new. After a quarter of an hour, he returned to the bicycle.

Recently, due to the heat, they often ride until night before setting up camp, so for them, this point is not too late.

The gradually west-sloping sun became the background board, and as the four stepped down, the four-wheeled vehicle continued to drive towards Guangzhou.

Since there is no country road to the south, there is only one county road, so there is no doubt that after riding for a while, they can gradually see the railway tracks not far to the west.

During the ride, trains with whistles appeared on the rails from time to time.

It's just that the speed of the train is not fast, at most it is faster than Zhu Ciran and the others, and this is because Zhu Ciran is lazy.

"Tell me, if my car is equipped with a steam engine, can it run faster than this train?"

Looking at the train whose speed was about the same as the four-wheeled vehicle under his feet, Zhu Ciran said "whimsically".

Normally, Liu Shun should try to dissuade him at this time, but after months of riding, Liu Shun nodded immediately when he heard it, and kept nodding:

"Naturally! This four-wheeled cart can hold coal, so it can definitely move!"

"Hmm..." Zhu Ciran nodded slightly, and after thinking about it, he raised his head and said seriously to Liu Shun: "You are right, it makes sense!"

"Er..." Liu Shun only felt that he seemed to have said something wrong.

He wanted to test if he said something wrong, but Zhu Ciran didn't say a word during the rest of the journey, leaving him nowhere to vent.

From Shenshi to Xushi, they rode for more than 120 miles today as the sun slanted towards the west and the sun set at dusk.

When they finally saw the horses rushing to the camp set up by the guards in front, Liu Shun only felt his nose sore, and his eyelids drooped and he could barely open them.

On the other hand, Zhu Ciran, the laziness along the way made him full of energy.

When Liu Shun and the others went to sleep without even eating, this fellow went to ask the other Jin Yiwei if there were any villages around them.

If it wasn't for the fact that there were no villages around, maybe Zhu Ciran would really go to see the village again.

Exhausted all night, Liu Shun slept until the early morning. He rubbed his eyes and crawled out of the tent in a daze until the Jin Yiwei who patrolled the camp shook him awake.

When he climbed out, Zhu Ciran had packed everything up and was sitting in the driver's seat looking at Liu Shun.

Liu Shun dragged his tired body after sleeping for five hours and looked around.

Surrounding him, among the more than a hundred Jinyi guards, none of them was fat, they all had mantis legs and wasp waists.

This scene made Liu Shun touch his general's belly subconsciously, but it was a pity that his touch was in vain. The former general's belly had become very flat.

"Liu Shun!"

Zhu Ciran got impatient waiting for Liu Shun, so he urged him.

Liu Shun had no choice but to get up and take the two Jinyiwei, and walked tragically towards the four-wheeled vehicle that they all found very novel at first.

Get in the car, pedal...

The skillful movements of the three made people feel distressed. Fortunately, just as they were about to set off, a Tangqi rushed out of the thick fog on the county road ahead.

He rode his horse to the front of the carriage, then got off his horse and bowed to report:

"His Royal Highness, there is a turmoil in the Jiaozhi labor camp, and Feng Guogong has brought Qi Wulong to fight the rebellion."

"Qi Wulong's general ordered him to report back to His Highness, and he didn't want His Highness to fail."

"Rebellion?" Hearing Tang Qi's words, Zhu Ciran frowned first, and then asked: "Where is the rebellion? What is the scale?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, it was the labor camp rebellion in the Cochin Champa Mansion. About [-] labor camp workers rebelled. Duke Feng confiscated ten steamships from Huangdian to transport grain, and led two battalions of soldiers and horses to quell the rebellion."

Tang Qi's report was very detailed, which made Zhu Ciran nod his head.

It is not a problem to transport 6000 people on ten steam ships. According to the speed of the steam ships, it can reach Champa Mansion in at most three days to suppress the rebellion.

Zhu Ciran didn't think it was because Qi Yuangong felt that he would win him over and deliberately made excuses, because he had seen the deployment and equipment replacement of the Southern Army before.

At present, only the [-]th Battalion of Guangdong and Fujian have completed their rifle refitting, and the [-]th Battalion of Jiaozhi, Old Port, Nanzhou, Liuqiu, and the [-]th Battalion are still serving in India. They're all using rifles.

There are only three battalions of troops in Jiaozhi right now. Although the rebellion of [-] reformed-through-labor workers can be suppressed, who knows whether the scale of the rebellion will expand due to the stalemate.

In this case, it is the safest way for Qi Yuangong to personally lead troops to suppress the rebellion.

Zhu Ciran expressed his understanding, and Liu Shun's sunken cheek beside him showed a smile: "Your Highness, after this, it seems pointless to go to Guangzhou..."

"No! Last time I went to Guangzhou, I didn't visit Guangzhou, but I ended up going to Zhongzhou. I heard that Guangzhou is prosperous in business and trade. I must go and see it. Let's go!"

Zhu Ciran's words instantly made the three of Liu Shun who were sitting in the car feel as uncomfortable as if his own mother had died.

Faced with this discomfort, they can only be silent cows and horses, pedaling bicycles silently...

At the same time as they went south, information on the Cochin labor camp riots was also sent from Shaozhou Railway Station to Beijing by train.

In just four days, Zhu Youjian, who was far away in the capital, received the memorial sent by Qi Yuangong.

"Did you find out the cause of the labor camp riot in Champa Prefecture?"

When the memorandum arrived, Zhu Youjian subconsciously asked Lu Wenzhao, and Lu Wenzhao also bowed in reply:
"Reporting to Your Highness, according to the news from the local Jinyiwei, it seems that Zheng Fang, the prefect of Champa, withheld Mi Mai, a labor camp worker."

"Detain Mi Mai?" Zhu Youjian frowned, unable to understand the reason.

After all, there is plenty of rice and wheat in Cochin, and it is not worth causing a riot for a little rice and wheat.

"Who does this Zheng Fang belong to?" Zhu Youjian leaned on the chair and asked, and Lu Wenzhao quickly replied, "It's an official from the sixth phase of Yanshan."

"Chengen!" Zhu Youjian raised his voice, and looked at Wang Chengen who was not far away, who was dealing with the memorial: "Go and ask Chengde about the whole story."

"Your Highness..." When Zhu Youjian asked, Cao Huachun walked in from outside the hall, bowed respectfully, and then got up and replied:

"The Metropolitan Procuratorate has sent news that the rice and wheat that Zheng Fang withheld seems to be for the purpose of completing the Changping warehouse of Champa Mansion."

"..." Hearing this, Zhu Youjian was silent for a moment.

The Changping granary, to put it bluntly, is Daming’s disaster relief food, and this year, due to Zhu Youjian’s decree, there must be 3000 million shi Changping granaries in the south of the Yangtze River, so the food task falls to officials and emperors from all over the country. store body.

In other words, Zheng Fang of the Champa Mansion did things for the order issued by Zhu Youjian, but the way of doing things was a little stupid.

However, is it really so stupid to be able to sneak into the magistrate...

"Go and check again." Zhu Youjian felt that this matter would not be so coincidental.

Just when Zhu Ciran was going to visit Qi Yuangong, Champo was in turmoil. After the turmoil, Champa did not ask for help from Guangxi and Yunnan, but from Guangdong.

Although it is most convenient to seek help from Guangdong in terms of the speed of the ship's movement, the support on land will not be delayed for a few days. Could it be that the cross-toed soldiers and horses cannot hold for a few days?

"Resign from a humble position..."

Lu Wenzhao bowed in response, and then slowly exited the Chengyun Hall.

At the same time as he withdrew, Zhu Youjian also asked Wang Chengen sideways: "How about the breeding of big draft horses, big white pigs, and Western cattle in the officialdom?"

The reason why Zhu Youjian asked this question was because Zhu Ciran wrote about the weight of southern pig breeds in his travel notes.

To this, Wang Chengen also bowed back with a smile and said:
"There are more than 12 large draft horses. Large white pigs are basically promoted in Beizhili, with a number of no less than 300 million. Western cattle are also bred on the grasslands of Modong, Donghai and other places, with a number of no less than [-]."

Wang Chengen spoke with a smile, and Zhu Youjian nodded slightly when he heard the words, and asked, "What is the weight of the remaining hybrid white pigs?"

"About five hundred catties." Wang Chengen replied with a bow, and happily explained:

"Due to the large number of breeding pigs, after crossing with several local large pigs, it can basically meet the slaughter of 150 catties in six months, 240 catties in a year, and [-] catties in two years."

Because of trial and error in history, Zhu Youjian avoided the cost of trial and error and directly selected the best breeding object.

Five years may not seem like much time, but for thousands of breeding pigs and [-] breeding sows, this combination is enough for them to reproduce millions of offspring.

It's just that the millions of domestic pigs just look at a lot. Without the rich feed of later generations, their growth rate will be slower.

At present, most of the small white pigs are only about [-] catties. If you want to ensure the subsequent growth, you can only increase the cost.

As Wang Chengen said, it takes two years to raise 2000 catties. During these two years, they can eat more than [-] million stones of feed.

Counting the other cattle, horses and livestock in the Ming Dynasty, the grain for the livestock is no less than [-] million shi every year.

If it was placed in the Ming Dynasty during the previous Wanli period, or the Chongzhen period during the Little Ice Age in history, let alone feed the livestock, the feed was eaten by humans, and the hungry people would eat it too.

But it’s different now. Daming’s livestock feed is basically purchased from Sidang, India, processed in Luchuan, and then transported to China by railway and water.

In Zhu Ciran's travel notes, Yunnan and Guangdong eat the most meat, and the most frequent reason is that they are one of the nearest provinces to contact with feed.

"How are you preparing for the food purchase?"

Knowing that the introduction of the new species had been successful, Zhu Youjian was not so concerned, but asked the most critical thing.

"As of now, Huangdian has transferred 630 shi of grain from various provinces to store in the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River."

"The twelfth lunar month should be able to adjust more than 900 million shi, and then continue to adjust the grain in the follow-up. Counting the local Changping grain, it should be able to reach 5000 million shi Changping grain on the eve of the Zhengdan Festival."

Cao Huachun answered Zhu Youjian's question, but Zhu Youjian didn't stretch his brows, obviously not very satisfied.

"Before the first day of June, the local Changping granary should be able to reach about 9000 million shi, and before the autumn harvest, it should reach 3000 million shi."

Cao Huachun then added something, which made Zhu Youjian frowned a little.

Daming's sea transportation capacity can transport hundreds or even tens of millions of stone materials every month, which is already a remarkable feat.

Of course, this shipping capacity is nothing compared to the total tonnage of ships that have been continuously launched in the past 16 years of Ming Dynasty.

With the Old Port and the Northeast, hundreds of large wooden cargo ships can be launched every year, and all of them are ships with a displacement of more than [-] tons, which is enough to transport thousands of stones of rice and wheat.

Just these cargo ships can actually carry tens of millions of stones, plus other small and medium-sized cargo ships, the annual sea transportation capacity of Daming is very terrifying.

The reason why not all of them are used right now is because the ships not only have to transport food, but also have to carry out trade and commodity delivery.

Daming's treasury can have such a high income because Daming almost monopolizes all kinds of raw materials and bulk commodities in the territory, and only reserves small commodities and part of the market for private merchants.

This is a helpless move, because without doing this, it would be impossible for Zhu Youjian to develop Daming into what it is now in 16 years.

For example, at present, more than 3000, nearly 5000 million taels of silver are needed just to buy 6000 million shi of grain.

Only a state-run institution like Huangdian can take out such a large amount of money and fill in the account.

Similarly, only when these grains are in the hands of the imperial court can they be kept "stable" when they flow into the market, rather than "fried prices".

"Based on the fact that grain prices in Nanzhili and Zhejiang have fallen back to about [-] Wen, these grains purchased at [-] Wen or [-] Wen will basically not make any money after they arrive in the south of the Yangtze River."

Cao Huachun was giving Zhu Youjian eye drops. After all, he was also worried that Zhu Youjian would be overwhelmed by the benefits from the grain trade in Huangdian this year.

But his worries are useless, not to mention that Zhu Youjian's philosophy is to save the people, not "financial management". Just the situation next year, he is not worried that the Huangdian will not be able to make money.

There are still 5000 million stone rice and wheat in the Changping warehouse in the north. If they are sold at this year's price, the Huangdian will immediately return millions of taels of pure profit.

But the problem is that next year the north, including the southern Zhili area, will experience a wide range of drought...

South Zhili, the most densely populated place, will experience a long drought in the next three to six years, and nearby Zhejiang and Jiangxi will also encounter province-wide disasters from time to time.

The water network in the south is dense, and it is certain that irrigated fields will not change into dry fields like in the north, but the transformation of paddy fields into irrigated fields is unavoidable.

The change of paddy fields to irrigated fields means that the grain yield per mu will be reduced. For Jiangnan, which is densely populated and already short of food, even a [-]% discount can make millions of people hungry.

"Have you calculated how much the yield per mu has been reduced due to the severe drought in Zhejiang this year?"

Zhu Youjian played with the Zhubi on his fingertips, and asked Cao Huachun without raising his head.

Cao Huachun didn't know why Zhu Youjian asked this, but he still told the truth...

"According to reports from Jinyiwei and local officials, it should range from [-]% to [-]%. Some dry lands have no harvest and can only be used as vegetable fields."

"Twenty to forty percent..." Hearing this, Zhu Youjian thought about the food he had prepared.

Except for the two years when the three provinces suffered severe drought at the same time, they should be able to survive other times.

When did those two years come... Is it the 21st year of the apocalypse, or the 22nd year...

Zhu Youjian calculated the time, and then calculated the speed of railway repair and development of cultivated land in Northeast China.

Zhu Youjian's face showed a serious expression, which puzzled Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun.

Facing their puzzlement, Zhu Youjian muttered to himself: "There should be time..."

　Afternoon update around six o'clock
　　
　
(End of this chapter)