Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 645 International Situation

"From Zhengdan Festival to May 23th, the Armament Academy distributed a total of [-] tractors."

"The objects of distribution are Anxi, Beiting, Hexi, Shanyu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Liaodong, Henan and other places in the north, including Beijing and thirteen provinces."

"Among them, the three provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan are especially important. The reason is that the drought in the north has subsided, and the land needed for recultivation in the three provinces is difficult to recultivate by manpower."

"As of the first day of March, more than 9000 million mu of land had been reclaimed in the three provinces, and a total of about [-] million mu of land had been reclaimed in the thirteen northern provinces."

"This year's northern agricultural tax can roughly increase by more than five million taels, but this year the whole country is exempted, and the agricultural tax will not be collected for the time being..."

On June [-]th, with the respectful return from the eunuch Li Yongzhen of the Eastern Palace, he was also anxiously waiting for the response from the first two people who could decide his life or death.

"My younger brother was eaten by me."

Zhu Youxiao picked up a white chess piece with a smile, but Zhu Youjian didn't take it seriously. Although his eyes were still on the chessboard, his heart had already flown to the vast northwest.

"How much cultivated land has been reclaimed in the north and south this year? How much is the total number?"

Zhu Youjian quietly ate Zhu Youxiao's chess pieces, and at the same time absent-mindedly asked Li Yongzhen who was sent by Zhu Ciran to the south to report the memorial.

"Long live, Your Highness, after the end of spring plowing in each province this year, the time for reclaiming fields varies, so the number varies."

"In general, spring plowing in the south ended early. Therefore, as of May 620, according to the report of the Ministry of Household Affairs, about 500 million mu of cultivated land has been reclaimed in the [-] provinces in the south, and it is estimated that the annual area will not be less than [-] million mu. .”

"As for the north, after adding the three provinces of Hezhong, Yingzhou, and Lingbei, the amount is only 340 million mu, and it is estimated that the annual area will not exceed 200 million mu."

Li Yongzhen reported the amount of newly cultivated land in the north and south, and at the same time more intuitively demonstrated the potential of Daming after entering semi-industrialization.

Since the dust settled in the fifth batch of industrial zones, the industrial strength of Daming has grown substantially. The entire society, with the imperial court as the main body, distributed a large amount of industrial machinery, allowing the common people to reclaim acre after acre of arable land.

In just one year, Daming's newly cultivated land reached 700 million mu.

Although this power is not comparable to later generations, the newly reclaimed land of Ming Dynasty every year is almost the total amount of cultivated land in the UK.

Even if the grain yield of newly reclaimed land is less than five buckets per mu, after three years of continuous composting, their yield will only increase year by year.

Especially after the fourth year of reclamation, even in the north, with the use of various chemical fertilizers, the yield can reach about two stones per mu.

Two stones of rice can produce about four buckets of rice per stone, that is to say, the yield per mu of normal cultivated land in Daming is about 220 catties, which is equivalent to 132 kg in later generations.

This kind of yield per mu may be ridiculously barren for the output of six to seven hundred kilograms in later generations...

But what needs to be known is that from the Three Emperors and Five Emperors to the 70s, on the land of China, although there were situations and regions where the yield of three or four stones per mu appeared, the overall yield of finished grains hardly exceeded 100kg per mu. quantity.

During the Little Ice Age, when the yield per mu decreased and the population of various countries declined, the Ming Dynasty not only realized the grain yield per mu surpassed that of the warmer Han and Tang Dynasties, but also achieved positive population growth. This is actually a great achievement.

The credit for all this is naturally not only chemical fertilizers, but also a large number of water conservancy projects built in various places.

The Department of Agriculture even produced a memorandum proving the increase in yield per mu, which showed that water conservancy projects contributed about [-]% of the increase in land yield, while chemical fertilizers accounted for [-]% and scientific planting accounted for the remaining [-]%.

Although the people of Ming Dynasty did not know what scientific planting was, when the picture book written by King Qi and illustrated by the Ministry of Industry was placed in front of them, they had to follow suit.

If you don't do so, then the year's exemption will be abolished, and the family must pay agricultural tax.

Naturally, such a method cannot be ordered by Zhu Youjian, but by his eldest nephew who sits on the position of supervisor of the country.

Although this method is harsh and cruel, it is very effective.

Since the 19th year of Tianqi, farmers in Ming Dynasty have been used to farming according to the manual.

The subsequent results satisfied everyone, with an increase of more than 30 kilograms per mu, which can almost feed an adult man for ten days and a half months.

It's nothing if it's just one mu of land, but in fact, this kind of increase in production is almost all fields in Daming, regardless of whether it is north or south, the production has increased by [-]% to [-]%.

There is no problem with feeding 5000 to [-] million people with these increased grains.

In today's era, the total amount of arable land and grain per mu basically represents the population of a place, because more grain means more people can be fed.

"Approximately how many babies have been born in Guochao this year..."

Zhu Youjian took a sip of tea and asked casually, and the reason why he was able to count the approximate number of babies with confidence was mainly because Huimin Pharmacy had absorbed a large number of private stable women and provided them with professional training.

Therefore, when there are few stable women in the market and the technology is not high, the free stable women of Huimin Pharmacy have become the first choice for most civilians to deliver babies.

As for Mrs. Wen, with the annual salary of six to ten taels of silver from the Huimin Pharmacy Bureau, they traveled from the county town to the market town, and they could basically record the newborns of more than [-]% of the population of Ming Dynasty.

In addition, since babies cannot enroll in government schools without registering and registering, folks will also take their children to register after giving birth.

Therefore, the basic gap between the statistical data and the real number of newborns in Ming Dynasty is about [-] to [-] percent.

This is a statistic with a large error in later generations, but it is already very rare in this era.

"In the past five months of this year, the Huimin Pharmaceutical Bureau and the Ministry of Households have reported more than 220 million yuan."

"According to this situation, the number of newborns this year is about 600 million, which is about [-] more than last year."

Li Yongzhen reported the population of Daming, about 600 million, and it was not easy to have newborns with this number.

The newly added [-] newborns, Zhu Youjian didn't need to think much to guess that it was the rebound of the northern population.

Since the drought in the north began to subside last year, the lives of the people have also begun to be nourished.

The improved environment can be seen with the naked eye, which naturally allows the people to live boldly.

If nothing else happens, starting next year, Ming's population growth will return to normal.

In the absence of technological development and existing resources, the peak population of the 28 provinces in the two capitals of Ming Dynasty is estimated to be around [-] million.

If the technological level of the second industrial revolution can be achieved, the peak population can be further increased to 12 billion.

Not to mention 12 billion, even the peak population of [-] million, I am afraid it will take the people of Ming Dynasty to spend hundreds of years without restraint to reach it.

It is very likely that Ming Dynasty's Guozuo can easily go through 400 years with the filling of massive resources.

"The population needs to be encouraged, and Guochao brings back so much gold and silver from overseas every year, all of which have to be digested."

"If this continues, the population does not grow and the market does not expand, then the country will always fall into a situation of inflation."

"Remember these things, go back and talk to Brother Ran."

While Zhu Youjian was speaking, he devoured Zhu Youxiao's advantage on the chessboard.

"Yes..." Li Yongzhen answered cautiously, and looked at Zhu Youxiao, who was the emperor.

However, at this time, Zhu Youxiao's attention was on the chessboard and he had no time to take care of him.

"Immigrants and the population of each province must be careful. Provinces with fewer people and more people will be relocated. Han Chinese will be moved in, and fewer people will be relocated away."

"In addition, for the three provinces of Anxi, Beiting, and Hezhong, the population must be relocated according to local conditions. It is best not to exceed the local land carrying capacity of each province."

While Zhu Youjian said, Li Yongzhen and the eunuch behind him recorded it, and Li Yongzhen was relieved until Zhu Youjian finished speaking.

"Go back."

Zhu Youjian dropped a son, which also means that he has maintained his 230 four-match winning streak against Zhu Youxiao.

"Come again!" Seeing that he lost again, Zhu Youxiao clamored to come again like a gambler.

Li Yongzhen retreated, and the eunuch who was serving beside him stepped forward to sweep the chess pieces off the board, and took out two boxes of chess pieces again.

Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youxiao started playing chess again, but while playing chess, Zhu Youjian also looked at the eunuchs on both sides:
"The number of eunuchs in the inner court has decreased in recent years, and in the future they will still be dominated by court ladies."

"Hmm..." Zhu Youxiao thought about the chessboard, and subconsciously replied:

"After all, it's hard to find Tianyi people. Tens of thousands of people are recruited every year, and only a few hundred people have passed the assessment. Most of them are just self-doubts, but the result is nothing more than illness."

"After being treated by the imperial doctor in the palace, this group of people fled quickly, for fear that they would be dragged into the palace to castrate after being judged as eunuch."

Speaking of this, Zhu Youxiao fell down and couldn't help laughing:

"It is said among the people that if a man doesn't lift, he can go to the court, and then ask the imperial doctor to help him heal, and he can get a thorough treatment without spending money."

Zhu Youxiao smiled wryly and shook his head, Zhu Youjian didn't expect the common people to do this.

If this continues, 24 Yamen will soon become the No. [-] male hospital in Ming Dynasty.

but……

"Hehe, it's a great way to open the door."

Zhu Youjian couldn't help laughing, and Zhu Youxiao was also very helpless:
"Actually, there is no need for so many people in the palace. The main thing is to take care of the imperial grandfather and the concubines left behind by Huang Kao."

"Currently there are 620 concubines, ladies, and talented people in the inner court, and more than 540 of them are left by the emperor's grandfather and Huang Kao."

"It takes more than 8000 court ladies and eunuchs to take care of them, while the inner court only has [-] court ladies and eunuchs."

"When they are all gone, the palace maids and eunuchs should keep [-], which is enough."

Zhu Youxiao talked about his own ideas, but Zhu Youjian didn't say anything when he heard the words. After all, the inner court was his brother's family business, so he couldn't say anything.

"Did my brother choose enough maids and eunuchs in the Qi Palace in Xijing City?"

Zhu Youxiao suddenly became a little curious about Zhu Youjian's Qi Palace, but Zhu Youjian said after hearing the words:

"The palace was too big for Jin Xuan and Xia Yunyi. I originally thought about getting rid of the [-] court ladies and [-] book officials in Qi Palace, and then going to Qi to recruit a few hundred people."

"However, looking at the scale of the palace, I'm afraid that even if 1000 people are stuffed in, they will not be found. Therefore, about 3000 people need to be hired."

Speaking of this, Zhu Youjian has a headache. After all, the population of the Han family in Qi is only about 400 million. If he chooses [-] court ladies to enter the palace at once, it may delay many people.

Fortunately, the maids of Qi State only need girls between 20 and [-] years old, so they will not be delayed.

On the contrary, after entering the palace and staying until the age of 20, they can save a lot of money, which can be regarded as solving part of the employment problem.

Zhu Youjian just hoped that his descendants would not have that kind of lewd and immoral person, otherwise he might have to be stabbed in the back.

While Zhu Youjian was praying, a familiar sound of footsteps came. The person who came was Lu Wenzhao, and Zhu Youjian could hear it from the sound of footsteps.

His arrival made Zhu Youxiao nervous, and Lu Wenzhao bowed when he entered Qianqing Palace:

"Your Highness, the princess, the ladies, the six princesses and the five princes have all boarded the boat and headed for Qi."

Lu Wenzhao reported his work, which is why Zhu Youxiao was nervous.

Among his younger brother's seven concubines, eight sons and six daughters, except for the older Zhu Cihong, the others have all gone to Qi.

This move undoubtedly reveals Zhu Youjian's determination to become a fan, and this move also means that he is not far from being a fan.

The winter solstice is less than five months away, and Zhu Youxiao doesn't know why his younger brother chooses the winter solstice. He actually wants to spend another new year with his younger brother.

"Just send it there, let Huang Fei send a boat to escort it."

Zhu Youjian responded, and seemed not very concerned about this matter, but Zhu Youxiao asked:
"How is Qi State now? Is Xijing City prosperous? If it doesn't work, it's okay to delay it for another year."

"Eh... this..." Lu Wenzhao didn't know how to speak, so he could only glance at Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian was well aware of his brother's indecisive character, so he said decisively:

"Xijing City currently has more than [-] people, and Jingzhao Mansion also has a million people. In terms of prosperity, it is no less prosperous than Su and Yang. Brother, don't worry about me."

Zhu Youjian was making a decision for Zhu Youxiao, Zhu Youxiao was silent when he heard the words, the two brothers could only bow their heads and play chess silently...

While the two were silent, the news that Princess Qi brought many concubines and county kings to move to Qi country spread quickly.

Whether they are interested or unintentional, everyone is contributing to the flames.

After such news spread, many uneasy people accelerated their pace of relocation to Qi State, and many officials and generals had mixed feelings.

When the news reached the capital, Zhu Ciran was discussing matters with the cabinet, and Zhu Ciran was stunned when he heard the news, with a complicated expression on his face.

Besides him, many cabinet ministers in Chunhe Palace also had different expressions.

Li Changgeng, Sun Chuanting, Jin Xuan, Shen Tingyang, and Yan Yinshao frowned, Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru looked at each other, Hong Chengchou was expressionless.

Everyone has different expressions and different moods. They all know that the news that King Qi is about to leave the feudal clan will cause an uproar, and at the same time, it will cause many people and forces to celebrate with each other. Therefore, they focused on Zhu Ciran and prepared to see what happened. What is the Ming Dynasty Supervisor going to do.

But for this, Zhu Ciran returned to normal after a brief moment of stupefaction. Facing everyone's attention, he said calmly:

"Continue to report on Nanzhou..."

"Yes..." Seeing Zhu Ciran so calm, both Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren felt a little uncomfortable.

After finally sending away a Zhu Youjian, another Zhu Ciran was ushered in.

Fortunately, Zhu Ciran was much worse than Zhu Youjian, and they still had room to maneuver.

only……

The two cast a vague glance at Hong Chengchou, then at Sun Chuanting, and finally fell silent, listening to Li Changgeng's report on things in Nanzhou.

"As of May 39th, there are 720 and five households in Nanzhou, with a population of 180 people and 750 arable land..."

Li Changgeng reported on the situation in Nanzhou. As a separate continent, Nanzhou is rich in resources, and there are countless places to be developed.

The current Daming is nothing more than 72 counties, more than 500 market towns and more than 2000 villages set up along the coast of Nanzhou.

As for the inland area, due to the drought and the incomplete construction of the coast, the local yamen have not gone deep into the construction of market towns.

"Have all the local natives been appeased?"

Zhu Ciran asked Li Changgeng, to which he bowed and replied:
"The Chief Envoy of Nanzhou has not fully developed the coast, and many local natives often attack the people."

"I talked about the matter of Nanzhou today, mainly because it involved the memorial of Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Nanzhou."

"Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Nanzhou, went to the shuffle, hoping to increase the strength of Nanzhou to five battalions."

"At present, there are only three battalions in Nanzhou, one of which is stationed in Dongzhou Capital (New Zealand), and the remaining two battalions need to be stationed in Rinan Island, so there is only one troop on Nanzhou. There are less than 500 people in the four outposts of the battalion."

"It seems that there is nothing wrong with adding two battalions of [-] soldiers. Besides, there is no fighting in the Confederate Governor's Mansion right now. It should be no problem to send two additional battalions."

Li Changgeng told about the matter of the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies. Since the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies is still in the process of being separated from the cabinet, and Zhu Youjian is also in charge of the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies, the cabinet can only temporarily deal with the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies. Government matters.

"I remember that there were fifty battalions of troops in the Southern Army's Governor's Mansion, right? Where are they all stationed now?"

Zhu Ciran did not directly agree to Li Changgeng, but asked about the stationing of soldiers and horses in the Southern Army's Governor's Mansion.

To this, Li Changgeng bowed and replied:

"After the third adjustment of jurisdiction in March this year, the Southern Military Governor's Mansion now controls eight regions including Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiaozhi, Jiugang, Nanzhou, Nankunlun, and Xiaoxiyang."

"For the three provinces of Guangxi, Guangdong, and Nanzhou, the Southern Army mainly stationed nine battalions, three battalions in each province."

"Eight battalions will be stationed in Yunnan and Jiaozhi provinces, four battalions in each province."

"For the old port, the Confederate Army stationed seven battalions."

"For Xiaoxiyang, the southern army stationed twenty battalions, and the western army stationed ten battalions."

"For South Kunlun, the Southern Army stationed six battalions, a total of fifty battalions."

"If you need to dispatch, you can only dispatch one battalion from Yunnan and one battalion from Jiaozhi."

Li Changgeng suggested, and his proposal seemed to be good.

After all, Yunnan and Jiaozhi still have tens of thousands of soldiers, horses and yamen servants in the local area. Moreover, both Yunnan and Jiaozhi have a majority population of the Han family, so they can quickly recruit troops during wartime, without maintaining the strength of the fourth battalion.

"Since this is the case, let's do it like this. Remember to remind Wu Sangui that if the rebels do not accept Wang Hua, they will be chased away."

Zhu Ciran nodded in agreement with Li Changgeng's suggestion, and Li Changgeng also responded when he saw this, expressing that he knew what to do.

He didn't speak anymore, but when Sun Chuanting saw that he had finished speaking, he immediately bowed and said:

"In April, news came from the Thousand Households of Europa, Fusi of Beizhen, that King Louis XIII of Française (France) passed away, and was succeeded by his youngest son who was not yet five years old, named Louis XIV."

"Right now, Franz's prime minister, Richelieu, and King Louis XIII have passed away one after another, and the Franz nobles have become active again, and their domestic prince Condé has formed a party."

"Because Louis XIV was under five years old, the Empress Dowager Anne of Austria was regent, but it was Richelieu's loyal successor Mazarin who held the real power."

"Mazarin is not only the prime minister of Louis XIV, but also his godfather, and his position is respected. Therefore, the minister estimates that there will be a party struggle within Franz."

"In addition, Aelia (Britain) also broke out in civil war, unable to participate in the European situation."

"Therefore, once partisan struggle breaks out in França, and Franji gets the help of the government, I am afraid that the situation in Europe will be reversed in an instant, and Franji and other alliances will gain an overwhelming advantage."

"For this reason, I would like to ask Your Highness, whether you still want to participate in the European war, and then let the war continue."

Since the territory of the Ming Dynasty became larger and civil servants such as Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting joined the cabinet, the political issues of the Ming Dynasty changed from geopolitics to world politics.

Daming, which could only affect East Asia at the beginning, is now affecting the entire world.

Therefore, whether to continue the European battlefield is an issue raised by Sun Chuanting.

"Mazaran can't stand alone, and Franza's party struggle will not be too serious, so it is only possible to lose on the battlefield, and it is unlikely to fail."

Hong Chengchou opened his mouth, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he said firmly that Franza would not leave the battlefield easily, and then said:

"Right now, King Rodori (Sweden) is in full swing in the Central European battlefield, and Franji's allies are retreating steadily."

"I judge that King Gustav II of Rhodori will work hard to create opportunities to attract more Franji troops and inflict heavy damage on Franji."

"Looking at Europe, since the death of Louis XIII, there is no other king and general who can compete with this person. In addition, his country's soldiers and horses are elite, and Francois is bound to suffer a big loss from this person. .”

Hong Chengchou's politics and military are very superior. From his political judgment, France will not fall into civil strife that affects the battlefield, because the excellent situation created by Louis XIII and Richelieu cannot allow any French to give up.

In addition, he analyzed the European battlefield from a military perspective,

It can be said that the personal ability of the current Gustav II, the quality of the Swedish army under his command, and the large number of flintlock guns and artillery equipped by Ming Dynasty, the Swedish army is almost the best, so that the Holy Roman Empire and the Spanish army In the face of them, he retreated steadily.

In this case, as long as France holds the bottom line, the Protestant Alliance can still occupy the battlefield advantage.

Therefore, for the European battlefield, Hong Chengchou's attitude is that there is no need to worry, this war is far from over.

After Hong Chengchou said what he said, he won Sun Chuanting's nod of approval, and Zhu Ciran saw that Sun Chuanting nodded, and he no longer worried about the situation in Europe, but symbolically explained to Sun Kewang next to him:

"As for the European affairs, you send someone to inquire about Uncle Qi's attitude."

"Yes!" Sun Kewang's military is not very good, after all, he has no chance to go to the battlefield in his life, and he has no chance to hone his skills. On the contrary, it makes him less addicted to war.
For Daming, this is actually a good thing...

(End of this chapter)