The Great Industrial Ming Dynasty Started from Beiping

Chapter 500 Zhu Gaochi’s Blueprint
If the Hexi Corridor is the passage between the mainland and the Western Regions, then Yilibali is also a similar passage.

Don’t lose Bali City.

Hei Erhuo Zhe led his tribe to move thousands of miles westward and arrived at Yilibaili City. Zhu Di led tens of thousands of troops to occupy this empty city.

Chen Cheng, a foreign affairs official, and his friend Li Xian from Shaanxi introduced the topography of Yilibali to Zhu Di in the hall.

at this time.

The wind and sand filled the sky outside the hall, and people could not walk around, so they could only huddle indoors.

The windows were blown by the wind, and the windows hit by sand kept making noises. Feeling the power of nature, the construction site for repairing the railway has stopped.

Hami and Yili have been building railways for many years. The main railway in Hami was completed last year, but later Hami fell into the hands of Guilichi.

Railways in many places were damaged by Ghostly Chi, but the destruction was not easy.

Just like the Great Wall, although it is constantly being destroyed, its foundation is always there. It is certainly easier to destroy than to build.

To destroy such a large project requires a lot of materials and manpower, and areas with backward productivity cannot persist.

So the Great Wall is always there.

The same is true for railways.

With the recovery of Hami, the railway has been reopened to traffic. However, the construction of the railway has been slow. Although it has not been damaged, it has only been built to Verumu.

Welumu is located three hundred miles west of Bielsbali.

The Protectorate of the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty once sent troops to farm here. The Tang Dynasty established Tingzhou in this vast area. Because the location of Weelumu was the seat of the Luntai Kingdom of the 36 countries in the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty, it was named Luntai County.

In the Ming Dynasty, due to the interruption of communication for hundreds of years, it was called Weelumu according to the local transliteration, which was Dihua in the Qing Dynasty map and Urumqi in later generations.

The Qing rulers defeated Jungeldan and the place was renamed Xinjiang.

"Don't lose eight miles to the north is a big desert, and to the south is an even bigger desert."

The map hand-drawn by Chen Cheng is very simple.

Zhu Di now has a headache when he hears the desert.

Many people in later generations subconsciously believed that the ancients did not understand the world. They could only say that they had entered a misunderstanding and regarded the social atmosphere of the Qing Dynasty as the entirety of ancient history.

Society develops dynamically, and there are different differences in different periods.

You can tell from the clothes that history is constantly changing.

The ancients’ exploration of the outside world never ended.

True.

There are huge misunderstandings about the world, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t understand everything. The closer we are to the surroundings, the clearer it becomes.

The exchanges of envoys between the Ming Dynasty and Central and Western Asia continued into the Wanli period. Even Turkey in later generations was called Lumi by the Ming Dynasty. There were five diplomatic records during the Jiajing period.

Including Zhu Di's five northern expeditions in history, he sent envoys to Central and West Asia to appease and win over other countries. It was not because he did not understand diplomatic strategies.

The ancients were bound by the limitations of the times, but they were not fools.

Chen Cheng and Li Xian were famous diplomats during the Yongle period. They spent their lives dealing with Central Asia, West Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Although they have not yet appeared on the stage, their talents are still favored by Zhu Di because of Zhu Gaochi and Chen Cheng's own experience in and understanding of the Western Regions.

Chen Cheng has been in the Western Regions for many years, so he is more familiar with the situation in Yilibaoli than Li Xian.

Pointing to the hasty map he drew himself.

"But don't lose eight miles to the west, all the way to Ala Mountain. The Ala Mountain Pass here is the only way to enter the north, and it can also be regarded as the only gap to defend against the north."

After hearing what Chen Cheng said, Zhu Di looked at the map carefully.

To the west of Alashan Pass is the Alatau Mountains, which is extremely famous in Central Asia, and to the east is the Barluk Mountains in Xinjiang. The gap between the two mountains is the Alashan Pass.

The northwest wind in Siberia blows southward all year round. After passing through the grasslands of Siberia and Central Asia, it finally arrived at the gates of Alatau Mountain and Barluk Mountain.

As the only gap here, Alashankou became the only outlet for such a huge wind.

Therefore, the wind in Alashankou is also famous for being able to blow people into the sky.

Strong winds above level 160 will blow for more than [-] days every year.

After listening to Chen Cheng's introduction, Zhu Di looked at the map quietly, with some shock on his face.

The endless mountains have blocked the entry of the army. The only gap is the area with strong winds all year round that can blow people and animals into the sky.

This is a natural hazard that is beyond the reach of manpower.

Zhu Di suddenly said: "No wonder Guilichi wants to capture Hami."

Compared to Hami, shouldn't Yili's temptation be greater? Moreover, Hami has already surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, so invading Hami would risk triggering a counterattack from the Ming Dynasty.

Through Chen Cheng's map, Zhu Di understood it all at once.

If you want to go south to Yilibaili in the desert, the only passage is Hami, because the opening on Yilibaoli's side, that is, the Alataw Pass, is too dangerous and difficult to pass.

Only by entering Hami through the gap in the mountains north of Hami can Guilichi invade the Yilipali area from Hami.

Then from the passage between the Jungar Basin and the Tarim Basin in Yilibali, don't miss Bali to Yilibali, and from Yilibali to Angan, follow Timur's march route and enter Central Asia. West Asia.

In short, the route of the Turkic and Mongol Western Expeditions.

Hami, Yili, the passage between Central Asia and West Asia is actually a route determined by the natural environment.

No matter how things change, human beings will always follow the holes left by the natural environment and humans.

Scholars of later generations often say that because China is located in East Asia, the mountains blocked Chinese civilization.

in other words.

These mountains protected the world and blocked the spread of Chinese civilization.

The Huns failed and moved westward.The Xianbei people failed to move westward.

The Turks failed to move westward.

The losers went to new lands, conquered the local areas, and established one country after another in Central and Western Asia.

Timur chose to conquer the west and establish the Timur Empire, while he chose to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, which proved which side was more powerful.

The losers in the competition between the desert and the Central Plains promoted a steady stream of Western expeditions, and then resurrected from the West with full blood. However, the losers in the competition between Central Asia and West Asia never succeeded in the Eastern expedition.

Zhu Di suddenly understood.

Although Hami and Yilibali are very large, the area that actually needs to be controlled is not very large. As long as the narrow plain area in the middle can be controlled, there are not many rivers here, and the rivers are all inland rivers, and there are endless basins and The desert can be brought under the rule.

After thinking about the whole story, Zhu Di did not rush to the west, but started planning.

The Tarim Desert is an uninhabited land. Coming out of the desert, the only place where people can live is the West Sea.

The West Sea became Bosten Lake in later generations, the largest freshwater lake in China in later generations.

Bosten Lake belongs to the Yanqi Basin, a closed mountain basin, and only one checkpoint needs to be built.

Therefore, Zhu Di asked to build a checkpoint in the West Sea.

Expand the three major cities of Turpan, Verumu, and Bali, reclaim wasteland in these three places, and relocate [-] military households from the interior.

Zhu Di's plan was quickly sent back to the capital.

at this time.

Zhu Gaochi was discussing Huguang matters in the Wenhua Hall with Minister of Industry and Jin Chun, the Ministry of Industrial Planning, the Ministry of Economic Regulation, the Military-Industrial Joint Office, and Gao Zhen, the chief treasurer of the China Heavy Industry Headquarters.

Gao Zhen was a little anxious.

The emperor's grandson requested the establishment of the Daming Iron Smelting Center in Wuchang Prefecture, Huguang, and the iron smelting industry can be said to be one of the core foundations of China Heavy Industry.

Jin Chun, minister of the Ministry of Industry, supported the emperor's plan.

The cost of transporting strips in Peking is high, and only Huguang Province is well connected in all directions, belonging to the middle area of ​​the Ming Dynasty hinterland.

The output of the steel industry is rising every year with the construction of railways. Whether it is due to production capacity or transportation needs, Huguang is more suitable.

Railways are open to traffic and water transportation is developed.

Radiating throughout the hinterland.

"The differentiation of production capacity industries is conducive to the development of the national economy." Zhu Gaochi did not arrange it randomly.

The benefits of a unified country allow the economic cycle of production capacity divisions to be maximized, which will bring about a larger economic cycle.

Establish the Ming Dynasty's iron smelting center in Huguang, promote the iron smelting industry in Shaanxi and Fujian, and build the industrial steel skeleton of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Gaochi had long planned to separate the iron smelting industry in Peiping and retain the iron ore industry in Miyun.

Although Gao Zhen resisted in his heart, the person in front of him was the founder of China Heavy Industries and the grandson of the emperor of Ming Dynasty.

Even if there are 1 people who are unwilling, he can't refuse.

This is Zhu Gaochi's prestige.

He can easily build it according to the blueprint in his mind, and the people below cannot object. It is not so easy to change someone else.

"The iron smelting industry in Miyun District remains unchanged at present. China Heavy Industry has organized a team of capable workers to support the construction of the iron smelting industry in Huguang area, absorb local iron smelting workers, and expand the recruitment of new workers, creating a scale of 30 iron smelting workers. iron smelting center."

The Huguang area was developed in the mid-Ming Dynasty.

The saying that "Huguang's harvest is sufficient for the whole world" replaced the agricultural pattern formed in the Song Dynasty that "Jiangsu's cultivation is sufficient for the whole world".

However, Zhu Gaochi does not intend to develop agriculture in Huguang on a large scale, and will only develop local land on a small scale.

Resources are everything, including land resources.

With resources, many conflicts and problems can be solved.

Huguang Province was Hubei and Hunan in later generations. Zhu Gaochi did not intend to split it up, but through immigration and retained the land resources in the hinterland.

Leaving it to future generations 100 years from now, I believe that the population of the Ming Dynasty at that time will undergo earth-shaking changes.

With the land in Huguang and the immigration from other countries, it is not a problem to continue for another 100 years.

200 years of upward development.

It is enough to support the heights that Chinese civilization can reach and establish the world pattern.

And if an uncontrollable accident still happens, there is nothing Zhu Gaochi can do, at least he has already laid the foundation.

In Zhu Gaochi’s blueprint.

Huguang, the hinterland, will be the supplier of steel needed by Ming Dynasty's industry. Shaanxi's iron smelting industry will become a steel supplier for northern development. Fujian's iron smelting industry will also become a steel supplier for overseas development.

At the same time, Shaanxi Province and Fujian Province have also become additional supplementary forces for Daming Steel's demand.

The development of Tianjin's fertilizer industry and the large-scale well system have not only increased agricultural income, but also enabled the use of more advanced and efficient agricultural machinery.

In the context of a substantial increase in food, it is a huge waste to rot in warehouses.

Feed more workers with endless food.

The production capacity is not enough and there are not enough people to make up for it.

When the blueprint for the Huguang Iron Smelting Center is completed, Daming's industrial development bottleneck will be greatly improved.

The number of workers building railways can be expanded to 140 million.

Now it’s not that we can’t allocate people, but that the output of the iron smelting industry can’t keep up.

(End of this chapter)