I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 445: Strong protest must be made
Chapter 445

Cheng Shijie formulated the strategy, and it was he who came up with the idea of ​​changing the human race in Indochina. Now that we have started, there is no way to turn back, we can only grit our teeth and persevere to the end.

Difficulties are objective facts. The chieftains from Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Guangdong and Guangxi are mainly voluntary at this stage. If they want to change people's long-term and inherent concepts, the best way is to use facts as persuasion.Just like when farmers came to work in the city, at the beginning, many people would rather stay idle at home than go to the city to work. Until they saw that their villagers or acquaintances who went to the city to work made a lot of money, they began to go out one after another.

In terms of the fertility of the land, the Red River Plain is a famous barn in the world. Although the Red River Plain is only half of the Hanjiang Plain, the problem is that 90.00% of the fields in the Red River Plain are good paddy fields, which means that the Red River Plain has two More than 800 million acres of paddy fields.

However, as more and more chieftain soldiers and civilians poured into the Red River Plain, these lands gradually felt that they were not enough for settlement. The capture of Thang Long City was just the beginning, and this war could not stop at all.

After taking Shenglong City, Cheng Shijie returned to Liaodong. He was going to start to inspect Guangdong. Today's Guangdong is not the same Guangdong that had a lot of money 300 years later. Except for the Guangzhou area, other places in Guangdong are relatively wealthy. They were all desperately poor.

Poor mountains and rivers breed unruly people, and the public security in poor places is always not much better. People always have to find ways to survive, whether they are legal or illegal methods. Therefore, even on the edge of the Pearl River Delta, there are mountains everywhere. Thieves, bandits.

There are so many bandits and bandits who all keep an eye on those who have made money overseas and kidnap them when they see the opportunity.Therefore, rich people generally live in Guangzhou. Big cities are always safer than the countryside. Those who do not have this condition simply build watchtowers in their hometowns to protect themselves. The clan children work on the farm during the day and stay in the watchtowers with weapons to watch at night. It's like fighting a war.Those with greater financial resources built enclosures, and each enclosure contained hundreds of powerful rural soldiers. With such strength, even if the bandits wanted to attack them, they had to weigh them.

The sea was not peaceful either. As early as the middle of the Ming Dynasty, chaos began along the coast of Guangdong. Pirates were entrenched on the major islands and stared at the passing caravans like wolves. They traveled across the oceans to the European seas of the Ming Dynasty and were both merchants and pirates. The British, Maritime traders from the Netherlands and other countries have plundered coastal states and counties.

However, none of them had the courage to risk their lives against the giant Ming Dynasty. They just robbed a few towns and ran away, which was still far from the level of Japanese pirates.Bandits, pirates, clan forces, civil unrest... These forces are intertwined, making the situation in Guangdong extremely complicated. The Ming Dynasty's rule over Guangdong was limited to the Pearl River Delta. Outside this circle, political decrees would not work.

300 years later, Guangdong is the richest in the world, but 300 years ago, Guangdong was a shit basin. Anyone who is put here to be an official will be really unlucky for eight lifetimes.

Of course, Cheng Shijie is not afraid of trouble. It can even be said that he is a super troublemaker himself. He can create trouble and is of course good at solving it.

After capturing Nanjing, the Ming Royal Army instead sent six more brigades to the south of the Yangtze River, totaling ten brigades and 30 million troops, and began to suppress bandits from county to township. This strategy was actually to prepare for the development of Zhanzhou. As long as It is the captured bandits, unless the bandits and robbers who have great public resentment will be executed.

Other surrendered bandits will be put on ships and sent to Zhanzhou for labor reform. Now Huguang is split into Hubei and Hunan by Cheng Shijie. Now the development of the two lakes is on the right track. After the land is redistributed, agriculture Production was quickly restored, and factories began to bloom everywhere. Each county has several textile factories, cement factories, and steel mills. It is certain that in the next few years, the productivity of the two lakes areas will explode in a blowout mode.

There is no need for Cheng Shijie to worry about Hunan and Hubei. He focuses his main energy on Guangdong.When Cheng Shijie came to Guangdong, the No. 20 Sixth Brigade in charge of public security in Guangdong had basically wiped out bandits and bandits. The civil uprising had been solved by the land reform. Only ghosts were willing to cause trouble if there was land to farm and children had books to read. Civil uprising?

As for the clan power, it is nothing in the face of strong military strength. Besides, he doesn't look down on the benefits that the clan power holds. His eyes are on overseas, where is the real source of wealth.

Cheng Shijie came to Guangdong without any fanfare. Instead, he took Zhou Ning and a dozen guards with him, and carried a dozen carts loaded with goods, just like an ordinary caravan. Cheng Shijie used this method. It also examines the security situation in Guangdong.

When he came to Foshan, Cheng Shijie found that the public security in Guangdong was now very good, prices were relatively stable, and there were rare smiles on the faces of the people.

The taxes in the Ming Dynasty were not heavy, but were exploited by subordinate staff and officials. Since then, the people have been miserable. In the Dingxin Dynasty, there were no various miscellaneous taxes, and the official system was abolished. There is no obvious difference between officials and officials. They were treated differently, and all enjoyed the same treatment. They could be promoted, and their descendants could also take the imperial examination. However, there was no tax exemption for gentry in the Dingxin Dynasty. Just like officials, they also had to pay taxes.

Cheng Shijie casually asked a grain seller, "How much does this rice cost?"

"Eighty cents per meter!"

Cheng Shijie looked at the grain seller with a frown on his face and asked puzzledly: "Is it hard to do business?"

"Business is not doing well!"

When Cheng Shijie asked, he learned that the Liaodong Administrative Committee was also implementing Cheng Shijie's policy and adopting a work-for-relief approach to build roads, ditches, and bridges in Guangdong. The main purpose was to restore the station and restore traffic. Since then, Poor people can use the opportunity of working to earn food, and the life of grain merchants is difficult.

In particular, the government will forcefully set grain prices. The premium between the price of grain collected and the price of grain sold must not exceed 20.00%. Otherwise, it will be regarded as price gouging, which may range from fines to home confiscation.

Cheng Shijie did not pity the grain merchants. There were not many conscientious grain merchants. It was a common phenomenon to insert sand and pebbles into the grain. In times of famine, it was an opportunity for them to make a fortune.Moreover, this grain merchant has a certain threshold, and it has a great relationship with the government and gentry.

Except for the grain business, which is not very good, other businesses such as shoes and socks, needles, threads, salt, wine, and cloth are pretty good, and there are a lot of cries and shouts.

After half a month of inspection, Cheng Shijie finally arrived in Guangzhou.

The director of the Guangdong Administrative Committee was a Jinshi in the fifth year of Tianqi, and Guo Weijing was a censor. Guo Weijing was very lucky. As early as the eighth year of Chongzhen, he railed against Emperor Chongzhen and was dismissed from his post and imprisoned. Because he had no backing and no one to care about him, he almost He died in prison, so Wen Tiren and other incidents had nothing to do with him.

When Sun Zhili was reorganizing the Guangdong Management Committee, he promoted Guo Weijing, and he rose to become the director of the Guangdong Management Committee.

Cheng Shijie must have a problem here, but now there is a shortage of capable officials everywhere. As long as they have no serious faults, they can be used if they can be used.

Guo Weijing brought the leaders of the Management Committee and the Guangzhou Executive Committee to greet Cheng Shijie.

Cheng Shijie rested for three days in Guangzhou and then held a committee meeting of the Guangdong Management Committee. Of course, Cheng Shijie made important instructions at the meeting. First, he announced that he would build a steel plant with an annual output of more than [-] tons. The phosphate fertilizer plant has a capacity of more than [-] tons, and the cement output has been set at [-] tons.

Guo Weijing smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, should we be cautious about this matter?"

In Guo Weijing's view, Cheng Shijie was overwhelmed by his previous achievements, thinking that he could conjure a large amount of iron ore and phosphate rock like a magic trick no matter where he was!Building a cement plant is a bit more reliable. After all, Guangdong is quite rich in resources for making cement, but it is a bit outrageous to build a steel plant. Guangdong does not have large-scale iron mines at all.Cheng Shijie shook his head and said: "I have already considered this matter very clearly. You just need to carry out the order!"

"Is there something wrong with this location?"

"What's the problem?"

"In the South China Sea and on the coast, there is coal but there is no coal here, and there is no iron ore. It is easy to build a steel plant. How can we produce a steel plant after we build it?"

Cheng Shijie took the ore from Zhanzhou and said, "Use Zhanzhou's!"

As soon as Cheng Shijie mentioned the resources in Zhanzhou, Guo Weijing no longer objected. He immediately understood why Cheng Shijie did not directly produce steel in Zhanzhou, but placed it in Nanhai County. This was mainly to promote the economic development of Nanhai County.

If nothing is said, let’s start construction.

Cheng Shijie's second decree is much more reliable, which is to encourage wealthy businessmen in Guangdong to invest in setting up textile factories. The flax and cotton planting industries in Hunan and Hubei have been fully developed. In two years at most, the output of cotton and flax will be will increase dramatically, and a considerable part of this cotton and linen will be transported to Guangdong via waterways to be processed into cloth or even garments.

Hunan and Hubei cannot digest that much.This is the "division of labor" he proposed. The small-scale fights based on the family workshop model in the past have become history. Now, if you want to play, several provinces will join forces to integrate resources and everyone will play together, forming a mountain-top trend against competitors.

In the eyes of the wealthy people in Guangdong, this decree is quite reliable. They have been deprived of the power to annex land. They have to use their money to start a business, and the textile industry is very good.

Cloth was a very precious asset in ancient times, especially for a populous country like the Ming Dynasty. The gap was very large. As long as it could be made, there was no need to worry about not being able to sell it.

Moreover, Cheng Shijie also gave many discounts to those who invested in setting up factories, so there were not a few people investing in setting up factories at that time. The textile industry alone stirred up the water in Guangdong.In addition to encouraging everyone to engage in textiles, he also encouraged everyone to invest in the seafood processing industry. Guangdong is close to the sea and is extremely rich in seafood. Processing them into cans for export or transporting them to inland areas for sale is also a good and profitable business. This The decree also received unanimous support from everyone.

The current atmosphere of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia is a bit strange.

Whether it was Putmans, the governor of the Dutch East India Company, or the director and senior commercial commissioner, their faces were very solemn, because of the news that the Ming Dynasty was attacking southward from Annan and Toungoo, and these two armies, according to their reliable According to the intelligence, Ming Dynasty dispatched 80 million troops.

This means that there is another problem with the Dutch East India Company's annual report.

This means that the Dutch East India's investment in the Annan and Taungoo dynasties may be in vain.

Putmans, the Governor-General of Dutch East India, looked at the information in front of him and was speechless for a long time.

The Dutch East India Company had established a trading post in Nan'an more than ten years ago, but the Portuguese competed with them, and the two sides fought bloody battles, but no one could do anything about the other.

The Dutch East India Company is very powerful, with more than 150 armed merchant ships of more than [-] tons, and forty or fifty third-class battleships. But the problem is that they have too many colonies, and Portugal has been against the Dutch for a long time. It can be said that, If the Dutch support it, they must oppose it; on the contrary, if the Netherlands opposes it, they must support it.

Just like the Ming Dynasty, in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, the Dutch East India Company and the Ming Dynasty Navy launched the Penghu Naval War, and Portugal immediately strengthened its support for the Ming Dynasty. Of course, the support they provided also had a purpose and was equivalent to normal trade.The same was true for the strategy in Annan. The Dutch supported Lord Zheng, while the Portuguese supported Lord Nguyen. The two sides had been fighting in Nan'an for more than ten years, with neither victory nor defeat.

This is mainly because the two parties are equally powerful, and the Dutch East Indies cannot invest too much resources and strength. Their combined fleet is also the world's top fleet in Europa, but it is like spreading pancakes. There are not too many warships and armed merchant ships.

Even in a battle with the Ning Navy, the losses were heavy, and they were replenished in recent years, but the size of the Dutch East India Company's combined fleet could not be expanded.

It’s not that the Dutch East India Company doesn’t have money, it’s that they don’t have that many people. Like the Spanish Empire, most of the people the Dutch East India can recruit are broken farmers, thieves, scum and scum, although these people are There are problems with the product, but at least he is a part of the civilized world and can operate advanced warships.

As for the natives, they were not considered human beings in the eyes of the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch East India Company was very envious of the Ming Dynasty. Their support for Lord Zheng was limited in number. They gritted their teeth and squeezed out two to three thousand people like toothpaste to support Zheng Zheng. Lord, he was beaten unconscious by Daming with a stick.

Whether it is the Dutch or the Portuguese, supporting hundreds of musketeers to join the battle will not change the situation of the war at all. But the problem is that this is an East Asian monster house. Even more than 200 years ago, the Annamites had seen muskets and artillery. How about ignition? Facing the tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of troops that both sides can mobilize, the gunmen are undoubtedly a drop in the bucket.

"Your Majesty the Governor, those Ming people did not care about the reasons at all. They unscrupulously occupied more than 150 sugar cane plantations and more than 260 mines in Annan. Not only did they brutally and brutally kill our company's business professionals, they also All our assets have been seized! This is a provocation against our Dutch East India Company, this is an act of war!"

"Hans, how about you go and defeat the Ming people!"

Putmans looked calm. If the Dutch East India Company could easily defeat the Ming Dynasty, as Hans, a bastard, said, he would have issued an order for the combined fleet to send troops to attack the Ming Dynasty. But the problem is that it is really impossible to defeat the Ming Dynasty.

The last battle in the Beibu Gulf was still going on. The Ming Dynasty's Luzon Fleet and Yecheng Fleet often cruised on the route, either inspecting or sealing them up. They also knew that Nan'an had a lot of fruits and they were very cheap, but the Ming Dynasty's navy could easily get them. Two months later, all the fruits smelled bad.

"Is that all?"

"No, we can't let it go like this!"

Putmans said seriously: "We must express our strong protest to Ming Dynasty and protest against Ming Dynasty's barbaric behavior!"

(End of this chapter)