Johime Three Kingdoms

Chapter 450 The discussion between the palace and the palace
The rumor that the Navy had discovered Danzhou quickly spread in Jinling under Bai Tu's deliberate promotion...

Almost “one state” of unclaimed land?

The pristine wilderness is definitely not as good as the reclaimed fields, let alone the fertile fields with water conservancy facilities, but if it is given for free, no one will dislike it—no matter how low the yield is, isn’t slash-and-burn farming good?

If Yizhou makes people feel like an overseas Huangdao, and after immigrating, they lose a little bit of peace of mind, then Danzhou, which has such a large area, does not have this problem at all.

This is why, given Gan Ning's character, he became cautious after discovering the size of Ganzhou. Even at the palace meeting, Lu Su and Jia Xu persuaded Bai Tu to be cautious...

"Given the size of Ganzhou and being located overseas, the governor must be chosen with caution." Jia Xu simply mentioned.

Lu Su said directly: "Yes, once the population of Danzhou increases to one million, if the Governor's Mansion has the intention of 'Zhao Tuo', it may repeat the mistakes of South Vietnam in the late Qin Dynasty!"

The two of them were talking about the same thing, but Jia Xu would not point it out directly - what if the future governor of Danzhou would hate me because of his limited power?
In contrast, Lu Su bluntly stated that people from aristocratic families or people with serious tendencies for personal gain should never be the governor.

Of course, because of Chu's current navigation technology, no one thought Danzhou should be abandoned.

With the area of ​​Danzhou, as long as it is managed properly, the Chu State can be invincible - even if there is a shocking reversal and the Jingyang and Yangzhous are pushed aside, they can still retreat to Danzhou and slowly plan for it.

Even if this unexpected situation is not considered, Danzhou, as an undeveloped land, can benefit itself.

Bai Tu agreed with Lu Su and others' views, but made slight modifications. In fact, Danzhou's shortcomings and advantages were not as obvious as they thought.

"As for the issue of maritime travel, in fact, with the current navigation technology of Chu State, and the ports of Youzhou and Zhouhu as relay stations, as long as the route is determined, Danzhou should not be as far away as imagined... Just like Yizhou, the first When I first found it, it took several months, but now it only takes ten months to get back and forth.

But in terms of land, although Danzhou is large enough, Xingba also emphasized in his letter that most of the land discovered now is mountainous. "

Bai Tu didn't say anything clearly about Ganzhou's geographical disadvantage. After all, there was no evidence, and... Bai Tu didn't want to dampen everyone's enthusiasm.

In fact, Bai Tu knew that in terms of fertile land, there are many volcanic areas in Danzhou. Under the buff of volcanic ash, the fertility of the land is indeed not affected, but... [-]% of the entire territory is made up of mountains, and only one-twentieth is plain.

Historically, in the late 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi conducted a comprehensive inspection of the land and discovered land with an annual output of 1800 million koku...

It is equivalent to 1/44 of the Ming Dynasty in the same period, and it is not because of the small population that there is less cultivation. At this time, the population of Danzhou is one-tenth of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the per capita cultivated land area is only one-fourth of the Ming Dynasty!

Perhaps the cultivated land in Ganzhou is not "barren", but it is definitely "poor". It is only because of its rich fishery resources and the fact that the untouchables can easily cope with it that the population is supported...

Historically, almost all farmers in Ganzhou grew rice, but most people could never afford rice in their lives. Rice and radishes were luxuries in the eyes of untouchables.

As for completely "relying on the sea and eating the sea", it is not realistic. When there was a severe drought in Huainan, the General Mansion had this experience - relying solely on fish and meat, people have no strength at all. According to the medical school, there is no staple food. Below, the consumption effect of fish is not good.

Gan Ning also mentioned to Bai Tu in his letter that Danzhou was mountainous, so Bai Tu mentioned it, but Bai Tu didn't say more.

After all, if the land was just "poor", it wouldn't be considered a defect now.

It is also impossible for Chu State to emigrate millions at a time. In the early days, it was only tens of thousands, and the top day was several 10. It is far from the limit of arable land in Danzhou. Moreover, in terms of fertility per mu, the volcanic ash Buff in Danzhou is still very large. It's awesome. Even after the population increases dramatically, if you cooperate with Chu's farming technology and cultivate intensively, there is a lot to be done.

More importantly, "reclaiming cultivated land" is only the basis for ensuring stable immigration and effectively integrating Danzhou into Chu State. The real competitiveness is fishery, animal husbandry and silver mining resources.

"However, the land in Danzhou is long and narrow, facing the sea on both sides, so there is great potential for fishing. In addition... there is finally a place with a lot of land and few people. Chu State is short of a horse farm. If the conditions are right, we can introduce northern horses in Danzhou in the future. "Bai Tu emphasized emphatically.

Herding horses is not only possible in grasslands, but also in suitable mountains and forests.

Although historically, the first introduced breeding horses in Danzhou were small and weak for a long time, but later history proved that as long as the "breeds" are well matched, tall horses can be herded in the mountains and forests of Danzhou. The Oriental horses during World War II In terms of size and charging power, it has surpassed the Mongolian horses of Chinese civilization.

Although the population of Jingyang is not as dense as that of later generations, with the development speed of Chu State, it is obviously not cost-effective to develop animal husbandry on a large scale.

"As for mineral deposits, I hope Danzhou can surprise us. The first batch of pioneers and the Ministry of Industry will also produce a group of surveying bachelors." Bai Tu added.

Actually... Bai Tu also knows, what mineral deposits are there in Danzhou?
There is no shortage of copper, iron, and tin, not only because the area is small and scarce, but because the mineral deposits are really sparse...

There is only one thing that is not lacking, but is very abundant - silver mines.

From the 16th century to modern times, one-third of the silver circulating in the world originated in Danzhou.

Bai Tu was worried about having enough precious metals as general equivalents to facilitate transactions. With the Danzhou silver mine in his hands, he could basically boldly support the silver standard without worrying about other princes suddenly producing large amounts of silver and impacting the Chu market... …

Fisheries, livestock, and silver mines are basically Bai Tu’s psychological positioning of Danzhou.

"Yes, the Ministry of Civil Affairs can also send a group of bachelors in farming to help clarify the land situation in Danzhou." Lu Su echoed.

"However, the people of Chu State are stable now, and the people are all grateful for the benevolence of the king, but in this way...only a small number of refugees from the Central Plains are not enough to open up Danzhou. If you want to relocate people, the method must be carefully considered." Lu Kang. Then he spoke.

Regarding Lu Su's previous hint that Danzhou could never be developed with aristocratic families as the core, Lao Lu was very calm.

The position of governor is indeed not suitable for people from aristocratic families. It is much more dangerous than Yizhou. Lao Lu dare not say that no one would think of separatist rule overseas if conditions permit.

However, Lu Kang is really not optimistic about the reclamation of Danzhou, and he only relies on ordinary farmers to complete the reclamation!
Whether it is Bai Tu's character or the culture of Chu, it is impossible to forcibly relocate the people, and if they do so voluntarily, what ordinary farmers crave more is stability.

In other words, Lu Kang did not want to fight for the position of governor on behalf of a wealthy family. If the Chu State had become a general trend and the wealthy family had not developed into a powerful family, and there was no ambition to separate the country, he would not be particularly demanding for this position, but for the common people. They still have to fight for the interests of the state...

(End of this chapter)