Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 571
"Ah... Qiu!"

In mid-September, when Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youxiao were having a little leisure, Li Dingguo sneezed uncontrollably on the top of Yanran City in Mobei.

"It's about to change..."

Rubbing his itchy nose, Li Dingguo continued to look at the scenery in front of him.

In mid-September, Mobei has entered late autumn, and the temperature is also hovering around minus five degrees to plus ten degrees.

Yanran City is two hundred miles west of Anbei City. The entire city is backed by mountains and faces the grassland on three sides, with beautiful scenery.

The water source of the city comes from several rivers on the mountain. The flow of the rivers is not very large, but after converging, they also form a lake with a circumference of more than ten miles, which is enough for Li Dingguo to arrange people to cultivate some fields here.

Cultivating the fields does not require many people. Apart from the more than 1000 Han herdsmen grazing in Yanran City, there are also more than 1000 exiled criminals.

Although they are criminals, most of them only commit crimes such as stealing, picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and gathering crowds to fight.

For the herdsmen, Li Dingguo did not arrange for them to do anything, but let them graze east of Yanran City to avoid being attacked by the Zasaktu tribe in the west.

But for the exiled prisoners, Li Dingguo was not so polite.

After Anbei City delivered [-] tractors in May, Li Dingguo's Yanran City received [-] tractors.

Using these tractors, Li Dingguo reclaimed 2000 mu of cultivated land after three and a half months on the basis of the original [-] mu of cultivated land in Yanran City, and it is still being cultivated.

So in the scenery before his eyes, besides the 2000 mu of wheat fields that have been harvested, there are also more than 2000 mu of land that has been reclaimed and fattened, as well as many exiled residents reclaimed by the lake.

Li Dingguo promised to hand over all the reclaimed land to them, but they must obey the management of Yanran City and pay taxes on time.

There are [-] tractors. According to the current speed, it will take at least a month to reclaim another five or six hundred acres of land.

However, after this reclamation, winter is coming, and when the snow melts, it will already be March next year.

The latitude of Yanran City is about [-] degrees, which is similar to that of Hulunbeier in later generations, but the situation is even worse, with only seven months in a year above zero.

A tractor that can reclaim [-] acres a year in the south, but up to [-] acres a year in Yanran City.

The only advantage may be that the land here is fairly flat, and after using various plows and ground nets to filter the stones, it can be cultivated after a few months of fattening.

Based on the various climate, geography, population, water sources and other knowledge that Li Dingguo learned from Zhu Youjian, in his opinion, Yanran City can support at most [-] people. The lake is going to disappear.

However, even if there are [-] people, it may take many years to move here before the train is built.

Therefore, Li Dingguo is not worried about the population problem. He is more worried about the food problem.

"This year, Yanran City harvested [-] shi of wheat and [-] shi of sweet potatoes."

Looking down at the more than 2000 mu of cultivated land left by the Mongols, Li Dingguo spoke to the Deputy Qianhu next to him, and at the same time said:

"There are more than 200 soldiers and civilians in Yanran City. With the [-] shi of grain and the [-] shi of rice shipped from Anbei City at the beginning of the month, it should be no problem to eat until the beginning of spring in March."

"However, in order to avoid white disasters this year, it is better to save a little. After winter, each person's ration is based on a catty and a half of sweet potato porridge per day, and one meal of meat every five days."

"Yes!" The deputy Qianhu next to him bowed in response, and Li Dingguo also inspected Yanran City upon seeing this.

The walls of Yanran City are surrounded by four sides. Because of the Onan River as a waterway, the cement can be transported all the way to Dingyuan Station, about 150 miles east of Anbei City.

Although it is 350 miles from Dingyuan Station to Yanran City, it is not difficult to transport hundreds of tons of cement.

With cement, the construction of Yanran City is not a big problem. The whole city is built with scattered stones and mixed with cement. There are four gates in the west, south and north.

This city can only house 5000 people at most. Although it bears the name of Yanran County, it is actually the junction of the Ming army and the Mongols, and conflicts will break out from time to time, so it is mainly a military county.

Unless the Zasaktu tribe is wiped out and Mobei is completely taken over, the scale of this place will basically not expand.

Li Dingguo was walking on the city wall, and Deputy Qianhu also said when he saw this:

"The Zhasaktu tribe only has 6 or [-] people, but there are only [-] people in the battle. If His Highness gives an order, a few hundred of our Han cavalry are enough to attack tens of thousands of Hu cavalry."

"It's easy to fight..." Li Dingguo responded, "Governance is the hard part."

"It will take [-] miles to build the Liaomo Railway to reach here. According to the railway that has been repaired now, plus the annual construction speed of [-] miles, it will take at least three years to build Hanhai Mansion, and seven years to build Yanhai Mansion." Rancheng."

"It's easy to send troops, and it's easy to destroy the Zasaktu tribe, but how to govern is a problem."

"Jin Yiwei and our Tang Qi have also seen the local situation. Except for Helin City and Zhasaktu City, which combined have less than [-] mu of cultivated land, the rest of the land is only grassland."

"To get to Zhasaktu, at least the railway must be repaired to a place close to Hanhai Mansion, and then the Onan River transfer machinery can be used."

"Otherwise, the only option is to increase the number of machines in the province."

"This year we are late to get the machinery. If we can get the machinery in March, we can reclaim more than 4000 mu of arable land in seven months."

"Looking at it this way, counting grazing, our 4000-plus soldiers and civilians here can be self-sufficient in at most two years."

Li Dingguo said, and Deputy Qianhu laughed and said:
"If Guochao brings in more tractors, we may be able to double the size of Yanran City within two years."

"It's almost the same, but His Royal Highness Qi Wang has his own decisions about the mechanical matter." Li Dingguo opened the kettle and took a sip.

While he was drinking water, a Tang rider appeared on the horse path at the head of the city. He rode his horse and ran towards Li Dingguo, and reined in his horse when he was about to arrive.

"Thousand households! There is good news from Anbei City. The imperial court has decided to relocate [-] people and [-] tractors to Yanran City in March next year!"

Tang Qi got off his horse and bowed excitedly, while Li Dingguo and deputy Qianhu were slightly taken aback when they heard the words, but they quickly realized it.

Li Dingguo first signaled Tang Qi to flatten his body, and then said to Deputy Qianhu:
"Based on this, it is estimated that in the next two years, the imperial court will take action against Moxi or the Western Regions."

"Western Region?" Deputy Qianhu only dared to think of Moxi, not the Western Region.

"Well..." Li Dingguo nodded: "Six thousand people and two thousand tractors will be relocated all at once."

"If they arrive in March next year, then by October, the arable land in Yanran City will surely exceed 5000 mu, and [-] people will not need [-] tractors. It seems that next year we will have to ask herdsmen or brothers in the army to help cultivate them. "

"The imperial court can relocate 6000 people. The reason why they didn't is to save the rations of the more than 1000 people."

"If there are no accidents, I suspect that in the second half of next year, the imperial court will relocate thousands of herdsmen to Yanran City, and then rely on the three cities of Anbei, Yanran, and Shanyu in Anbei Prefecture to support the cavalry expedition to the west."

"If this is the case, we have to make plans early." Deputy Qianhu frowned, but he was not sure: "But we can't ask directly..."

"You don't need to ask directly, just ask General Cao to transfer [-] tons of cement to expand Yanran City." Li Dingguo shook his head and said:
"If you want to fight, Cao Zongbing will definitely agree!"

"Then I'm going to write a letter now." The deputy Qianhu bowed and left immediately after hearing the words. As for Li Dingguo, he also looked at the grasslands, lakes and cultivated land outside the city after the deputy Qianhu retreated.

A few days later, it turned out that they guessed right, because Cao Bianjiao readily gave them [-] tons of cement, and at the same time asked them to expand the military camp outside the city.

This reply basically allowed Li Dingguo to confirm that the imperial court was about to march west.

He and his deputy Qianhu began to gather soldiers and soldiers to rush to repair the barracks and make full preparations for the upcoming Western Expedition.

At the same time, Zhu Youjian in the south also spent a month leisurely, and received a memorial from the household department in mid-October.

"This year, the population of the country has reached 270 million, and the amount of arable land has also increased sharply to more than one billion and three million mu."

"After the annual income and taxes are discounted, it is more than 36 and 360 taels, and the expenditure is more than [-] million taels, and the amount owed to the Ministry of Industry is more than [-] taels."

Bi Ziyan in the Chengyun Hall briefly talked about the situation of the Ming Dynasty before October 17, the 400th year of the Apocalypse. Among them, the news that the population had increased by more than [-] million made Zhu Youjian more happy, but also worried.

"Of the sudden increase of 4701 million population, 200 million are the result of registered households in Qimin, and 270 million are new populations in various provinces."

Bi Ziyan explained the new population, which also made Zhu Youjian more happy.

Jiangnan's population is a bad debt, and he knows it better than anyone else.

In the 13-year census, Daming had already found out the population of other places except the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. As long as there are new populations found in the registration of Qimin households, all of them were found in the south of the Yangtze River.

The population detected in Jiangnan is all Han Chinese, which makes the status of Han Chinese as the main ethnic group more stable.

However, judging from Zhu Ciran's travel notes in Jiangnan, perhaps Zhu Youjian himself underestimated the population of Jiangnan.

In his estimation, the population of Jiangnan should be about 7000 million in the first year of Tianqi, but only 200 million on paper.

Over the years, checking for gaps and making up for omissions, the paper population of Jiangnan has been improved to about 6000 million, which makes Zhu Youjian think that the population of Jiangnan is almost clear.

As a result, Zhu Ciran's travel notes told Zhu Youjian that the population of Jiangnan was more than 7000 million.

Because Zhu Youjian has continued to reduce and exempt taxes since the first year of Tianqi, and at the same time opened government schools five years after Tianqi, promoted Chen Shigong's surgery, and added Huimin pharmacies in the local area.

To put it bluntly, these things are means to promote population, and Jiangnan, as a prosperous place, has never fallen behind in various new policies that benefit the people.

After receiving the policies of Huimin Pharmacy Bureau, government schools, tax reduction and exemption, and factory recruitment, the population of Jiangnan naturally ushered in an explosion.

According to Zhu Ciran's estimate, the population of Zhejiang alone is more than 3000 million.

Not only that, but when he was passing through Nanjing, he also heard a Jiangxi businessman say that after Jiangxi experienced 14 years of disaster and emigration, a large number of Jiangxi people divided their fields and started giving birth again.

According to Zhu Ciran's estimation, the population of Nanzhili and Jiangxi will not be less than 5000 million.

Therefore, the real population of the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River will not be less than 8000 million, and the maximum may even reach 9000 million.

Originally, the three provinces accounted for one-half of the population of the Ming Dynasty. The population of other parts of the Ming Dynasty was slightly subtracted from the local residents of Yingzhou, Luchuan, and Jiaozhi, and the population of the three provinces was obtained.

9000 million, this is not an imaginary number, and the population not in the household registration statistics is at least 3000 million.

But Zhu Youjian knows that these 3000 million people will not be hidden for too long, because the landlords and gentry cannot give the descendants of these people the qualifications to study in official schools.

As long as they take the initiative to organize households among the people, they will be citizens of Daming with status, their children can study, and they can divide their land.

What Zhu Youjian has to do is to publicize the benefits of Qi Min's account registration over and over again, which is enough.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian closed the memorandum of the household department, and looked up at Bi Ziyan:

"Tell Li Changgeng that the bank will loan Huangdian 3000 million taels of silver free of interest, and hand it over to Huangdian to buy grain from the south and overseas."

"At the same time, Huangdian sells old grain from last year's regular warehouse in winter to stabilize grain prices, and then returns the money earned to the bank."

Zhu Youjian finally used the deposits of the common people in the bank, but he didn't dare to use too much, he only dared to take out 3000 million taels.

Moreover, while the 3000 million taels of silver are being transported, the grain in the Changping warehouse in the north will be sold and returned to the bank.

"The outstanding debts from the Ministry of Industry..." Bi Ziyan asked cautiously, and Zhu Youjian also responded:

"The outstanding debts from the Ministry of Industry will be paid before the twelfth lunar month."

"Yes..." Bi Ziyan knew that Huangdian earned 2000 million taels of silver from selling grain last year and this year. He originally wanted Zhu Youjian to distribute the 2000 million taels of silver, but it seems impossible now because the batch of silver Zhu Youjian still has to keep it to buy food.

Thinking of this, Bi Ziyan bowed in return and left the Chengyun Hall.

After he left, Zhu Youjian also asked Cao Huachun:

"What is the profit of the Huangdian this year, how much silver is in stock, and how much grain can it buy when the price of grain in the south rises by [-]%?"

Seeing Zhu Youjian's inquiry, Cao Huachun also started beating with the abacus in his hand, and finally raised his head and bowed:

"Returning to Your Highness, the profit is more than [-] million taels, but from the beginning of the year to August, several sums of money were intermittently allocated to the household department, and the deposit is only more than [-] million taels."

"Counting the loan and circulating funds, we can exchange 9000 million taels of silver and buy more than [-] million shi rice and wheat overseas and in the south."

"However, this year's rice wheat was discussed last month, and the provinces can only squeeze out 1000 million stone rice wheat."

Cao Huachun talked about the reality, that is, although the Huangdian has a lot of money, it cannot buy so much grain without affecting the price of grain in various places.

"The twelfth lunar month began to release 4000 million shi of old grain in the north, at a price [-]% lower than the market price, to stabilize the grain price around the Zhengdan festival."

After Zhu Youjian listened to the problem, he couldn't help talking about the solution:
"Secondly, 1000 million shi of rice and wheat will be divided into 5000 million shi to the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, and 6000 million shi to the northern provinces."

"Your maidservant takes orders..." Seeing Zhu Youjian finished speaking, Cao Huachun immediately bowed in response.

After Zhu Youjian finished speaking, he continued to deal with the memorial, but compared with the previous two years, he was less panicked when facing the food problem.

After all, there is enough food for three years in the north and one year in the south, so he really doesn't have to worry so much.

Not only that, with the continuous application of tractors in the north and the continuous advancement of railways, the food problem will only be gradually solved.

Zhu Youjian can't guarantee that all the people will have enough to eat, but he can guarantee that all the people will survive.

There are still six years left, after these six years, he will be able to retire...

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian was in a much cheerful mood, but his cheerfulness was based on the sadness of his eldest nephew.

Maybe it was because the East Palace was too boring, or maybe it was because Zhu Ciran wanted to be refreshed. In short, in this winter weather, Zhu Ciran actually took the memorial and ran to the city wall of the capital on his four-wheeled bicycle that he had not ridden for a long time. superior.

He modified the quad bike, lengthened it slightly, and made a foldable desk in the back.

He just sat in the back row to review the memorials, and at the same time let the two young eunuchs ride slowly, not too fast.

Fortunately, in October, the capital has not yet entered below zero, and the temperature during the day is still hovering around seven or eight degrees, otherwise Zhu Ciran will definitely catch a cold.

It's just that Zhu Ciran can process the memorial much faster by processing the memorial in an environment where he can move.

Occasionally when his eyes got sore, he pedaled his bicycle with both legs while looking at the scenery under the city wall.

Since it was almost noon, the streets were filled with people who went to the imperial store to buy vegetables.

Trains from the south continuously transported various vegetables to the north, and many people carried vegetable baskets filled with various vegetables from Guangdong, Sichuan, and Jiangnan.

Watching this scene, Zhu Ciran thought of Luojiawan Town in Shaozhou Prefecture, Guangdong.

"I don't know how the old man and the old woman are doing. After the train opens, their life is better..."

Zhu Ciran sighed to the people in the city, and his thoughts had already flown to Luojiawan Town thousands of miles away.

He didn't want to be locked up in the Forbidden City, especially when he returned from Zhu Youjian and heard that many Shanxi villages he had visited had been relocated, Zhu Ciran felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.

If possible, he would like to travel south again to see the places he has experienced and see if the lives of those people have improved.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ciran looked at the memorial in front of him.

What the book memorials represent is not a troublesome matter, but whether people's livelihood can be improved.

Zhu Ciran knew this very well, so even though he was cursing, he still focused on dealing with it.

"It's just... a bit difficult..."

With a sigh, Zhu Ciran continued to lower his head and deal with the memorial.

Just when he and Zhu Youjian were dealing with the memorial, Zhu Youxiao, who had a small workload, had already taken the train to the south.

The sound of the whistle and the sound of the train running into Zhu Youxiao's ears, sitting in the empty carriage, Zhu Youxiao didn't feel bored, but leaned on the chair and looked out the window, from time to time laughing.

"Clang clang..."

When the bell rang to enter the border of Henan, Zhu Youxiao laughed even more happily.

This is the first time in his 33 years of life that he has crossed a province in the original territory of the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and in the next few days, he will cross another province, and then go to the place he has been curious about for a long time. Nanjing city.

Different from going to Guanwai, Kaiping Mansion, or Duoyan Mansion, this is cross-province.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but be happy, and the scenery of Henan in a flashback outside the window also made him feel extraordinarily beautiful.

"Long live, seafood stew is here!"

Following Wei Zhongxian's flattering voice, Zhu Youxiao quickly turned his head to look, and sure enough, he saw Wei Zhongxian, who was carrying a seafood stew, walking towards him.

He put the seafood stew on the table, and then flattered: "Long live, this is made by this servant."

"Well, good job, there are rewards and rewards." Zhu Youxiao gave Wei Zhongxian a wood carving he carved, and Wei Zhongxian took it with a smile, and at the same time flattered:
"Long live, your craftsmanship is superb. The last time the servant girl was in distress at home, she sold a Xuanwu wood carving, but it was actually sold for 200 taels of silver."

As soon as Wei Zhongxian opened his mouth, Zhu Youxiao stopped immediately, frowned and said, "There are so many?"

"That's Long Live. You don't know that your craftsmanship is so good. In the eyes of this servant, you can't buy it even for 1000 taels."

Wei Zhongxian patted the horse, he knew that Zhu Youxiao liked to hear words that recognized his skills.

Sure enough, Zhu Youxiao also smiled after hearing this: "Well, I will carve a few more for you in the future. In case you get old in the future, you can rely on these wood carvings to support your retirement."

"Slave, thank you Long Live Long En..."

Wei Zhongxian knelt down to thank the gift properly, but Zhu Youxiao waved his hand: "I'm eating, you should step back first, and come to collect the dishes later."

"By the way, how are the three of Concubine Fan Gui and the others doing? Are you still motion sick?"

Zhu Youxiao thought of the three concubines accompanying him. Since Zhang Yan didn't want to go south, he could only take Concubine Fan Gui and the others south.

"I got used to it after sitting for a while, and it's much better now." Wei Zhongxian responded with a smile, and Zhu Youxiao also nodded after hearing this, and stopped talking.

Seeing that Zhu Youxiao didn't speak, Wei Zhongxian also bowed to signal his departure, and at the same time turned and walked out of the carriage.

After he returned to his compartment, he looked at the receding scenery outside the car window, and rubbed his hands wretchedly.

"Nanjing, Qinhuai River...hehe..."

Wei Zhongxian rubbed his hands, but the next second, someone hugged his waist, so scared that he almost jumped up on the spot.

"What? Have you forgotten about me when you have a new love recently?"

When the familiar voice sounded, Wei Zhongxian turned his head to look, only to realize that the person who came was the Ke family.

At this time, Ke's eyes were like silk, and his hands unconsciously walked under Wei Zhongxian.

However, ever since he was castrated, Wei Zhongxian didn't like others touching his lower body, so he grabbed Ke Shi's hand.

"It's still daytime. My status is no better than before. It's better to be honest than anything else."

Wei Zhongxian has not yet lost his mind because of the Ke family. Although he is nearly seventy years old, he is still healthy and strong.

"Hmph! You have come to Henan, you are still so afraid, and King Qi is not here, what are you afraid of?"

Ke Shi pulled his hand out of Wei Zhongxian's hand, and firmly grabbed Wei Zhongxian's bottom.

It's a pity that without those two treasures, Wei Zhongxian didn't feel much pain, so he grabbed Ke Shi's waist, and after seeing that there was no movement in the front and rear carriages, he said viciously:
"King Qi has eyes and ears everywhere, you better be careful when you speak!"

After finishing speaking, Wei Zhongxian was afraid of hurting Ke Shi, so he squeezed her waist:

"I'll clean you up tonight..."

"Hmph!" After Wei Zhongxian gave her an inexplicable beating, Ke's expression was a little bad, but after snorting, she still looked around the carriage, and said in a low voice:
"I'll come to you tonight..."

After all, she turned around and left with a shaking posture, Wei Zhongxian couldn't help feeling a little back pain when he saw this.

It is said that thirty is like a wolf and forty is like a tiger. Only those who have experienced it will know how the 51-year-old Hakka is.

Even Wei Zhongxian, a 69-year-old man who is still healthy and strong, will inevitably rest for ten days to recover his energy every time he goes through a night.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian immediately touched his waist, then sighed, turned and went back to his room on the carriage...

(End of this chapter)