Dengzhou, temporary reel.
"Welcome your lord to return triumphantly!" After Yang Shanlu arrived, all of the envoy's staff came to see him, and Yang Shanlu felt very cordial after seeing them, but he didn't give too many false gifts. , But first listened to the report of the relevant Secretary, and learned that during the period of his expedition, the security in the five provinces was stable and the people lived in peace and harmony, Yang Shanlu was still very happy.
Now that everything is peaceful, what he has to do next is to prepare for the summer harvest with all his strength! Because this summer harvest can be said to be very crucial!
For example, since he governed the five provinces, there has been an autumn harvest before, and that autumn harvest can be said to have changed the nearly 40 million people in the five provinces from the state of precariousness to a state of initial stability, but the confidence is still It is not very sufficient, and the ability to resist disasters is not very strong. If there is a slight natural disaster, it is easy to return to a state of poverty and displacement.
But as long as this summer harvest is successful again, two consecutive harvests will be able to lay a solid foundation for these 40 million people! Every family has a well-off appearance, and when that happens, he can safely and boldly attack overseas. It is the truth that the so-called outside must be settled first, right
And for this summer harvest, Yang Shanlu is still very confident... Because as his governance of the five provinces gradually deepens, the gradual improvement of various field water conservancy, the application of fertilizer field powder is also more popular (and the price is also very low, Yang Shanlu only earns a cost price on this).
In addition, with the popularization of universities in various places, the promotion of various agricultural knowledge has also become more smooth, so all the above have laid a solid foundation for this summer harvest.
Of course, even so, Yang Shanlu did not take it lightly... because he knew that no matter how good the crops in the field grow, it does not mean a good harvest! Only when you receive the food in the warehouse, it will be a real harvest! It belongs to the bag for safety!
Therefore, based on the above concepts, Yang Shanlu started the five-province mobilization a few days before the summer harvest began, and prepared for various battles in the summer harvest. In addition, he must also do the work of "God", such as the number one agriculture under him. Expert Han Lin, do a good job of accurate weather forecasting, and make sure that the sickle will be harvested only after a few days of sunny days.
On May 25, the 16th year of Chongzhen, the first summer harvest in the five provinces officially began! And after the harvest starts, that kind of scene is really spectacular...
Because the government and military orders of the five provinces are now unified, and Yang Shanlu is firmly in the hands of the grassroots organizations, this kind of mobilization ability... Basically, all the 40 million people in the five provinces are mobilized. , Joined this summer harvest in the rush to harvest!
Even harvesting in such a vast area at the same time, even the air is full of the fragrance of wheat!
And when the harvest began, the chief agricultural scientist Han Lin came to give a boost again. When he was holding a handful of yellow wheat in his hand, he chewed a few in his mouth again, savoring the fullness and harmony. With the fragrance of the fragrance, he just smiled so that his eyes were out of sight, and said to Yang Shanlu: "Master Hou, it seems that this is a rare harvest!"
As for Yang Shanlu, I am very happy to hear it... Is there anything better than this for a country that is based on agriculture like Daming? Specifically, thanks to his new land reform policy, an ordinary household now has at least ten acres of land.
(When Yang Shanlu was punishing local tyrants and evil gentry and returning land to the people, ordinary people could get five acres of land, and those who didn’t have two and a half acres.) As for those with a large population, one It is normal for a household to own 20 or 30 acres of land! In addition, there are no exorbitant taxes, so with such a bumper harvest, you can really harvest and eat food for several years at a time!
What does it mean that the people are happy! This is called joy of the people!
After five full days of hard work, the summer harvest in Chongzhen's sixteenth year was over, and the final summary results were completely correct... This is a rare big harvest! It is unprecedented in history!
And objectively analyzed, among the five provinces governed by Yangshanlu, except for the relatively good natural conditions in Huguang, the other four provinces can be said to have ordinary conditions, even like Shaanxi and Henan, the natural conditions are very bad!
But now? With his full support, these five provinces have achieved excellent output! For example, in the provinces of Shaanxi and Henan that have been dragging their feet in the past, the grain harvested this time, in this season alone, has topped the output of the previous two full years!
As for provinces with good conditions like Huguang and Shandong, let alone! Both have achieved good results with an average yield of two stones per mu! You must know that if in the past, the production capacity per mu reached half a stone, it would be considered good. Thank God for blessing, the weather is getting better, but now
Even with such a good result, I don't know how many people laugh from ear to ear! After this summer harvest, almost every household is full of grain! Smell the fragrance everywhere! For them, the previous poverty life is gone forever!
Of course, this is also normal. Now basically every citizen has more than one year's surplus food, and the rice tank at home can't fit anymore. There is even surplus food to feed chickens and pigs to develop tertiary production! And don’t worry anymore, there will be robbers like locusts roaring in, grabbing their food! So can such a day be considered a good day for a lifetime
This is even true for the entire Ming Dynasty, because after the ordinary people have harvested so much food, the so-called warehouses know the etiquette, and the summer tax is very low now, who else will delay the payment?
It used to be a common phenomenon that it was impossible to hand over, but now... If anyone doesn’t hand over, they will have to be pointed behind! And soon there will be young officials who come to him to "talk", and even consider reclaiming his field... Is there such a good thing for those who just want to enjoy the benefits and don't want to fulfill their obligations
And in this way, the people in five provinces are actively paying summer taxes. What is the concept? The Taicang official warehouse of the Ministry of Households was soon full! Even afterwards, a warehouse will be urgently built to store food! So such a grand occasion...
According to some old officials who have worked in the official warehouse for decades, they have never seen it in decades! Did you see this scene last time, or did it appear in the era of Zhang Juzheng? But it doesn’t seem to be as good as that... So such a grand occasion...
That is to say, in general, this is to benefit the people and others, and to benefit the country and the people.
When the summer harvest was completed and the dust settled, Yang Shanlu breathed a sigh of relief... If this is the case, with such a material guarantee, then it is time to look overseas and start expanding the expedition fleet, preparing The next big voyage is.
And it has to be said that Yang Shanlu personally set off to Manchuka this time, and then easily solved the old thief Zheng Zhilong. It was still very wise. After all, it was very expensive to build an ocean-going fleet! But now? Yang Shanlu has no such worries at all! Someone pays for him...
Just like this time, he got more than tens of thousands of gold and silver from the old thief's hands! (This does not include the money obtained from Manchujia), and even the huge amount of harvest is worth checking several palaces in the first place! And it has to be at the level of the Prince's Mansion, so is there anything to worry about for such a big gain
So next, Yang Shanlu began to work in the shipyard personally and began to vigorously build ships! And not to mention other things, just like the big iron ship of "Shichang", he just launched 9 ships in one go!
Originally, this was absolutely impossible. You must know that to build such a large iron ship, the cost alone would cost nearly a million taels of silver! But now, let's make it in one word!
As for other more ordinary wooden boats, that is, an improved version of the Galen boat, Yang Shanlu is even more generous, and built a full seventy in one go! Anyway, there is money now, isn't it
And Yang Shanlu is very clear that this is different from the previous Zheng He's voyages to the West. It is not throwing money into the water, but will follow the fleet wherever the fleet goes, and the money will roll in!
(I want to say one more thing here, because Zheng He’s treasure ship sailed to the West was so costly that the Hubu Shangshu at the time was out of public mind. In order to reduce unnecessary expenses, Zheng He left the precious "Zheng He Nautical Charts" "It was burned! So that future generations can no longer go to sea!
The "Zheng He Nautical Chart" is a precious material that cannot be reproduced! This nautical chart started in Nanjing, and the seas drawn are all over the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean coast today, and have been drawn to the east coast of Africa!
In addition, various mountain shapes, islands, reefs, shallows and other landforms along the way are drawn, and the voyage, navigation landmarks, water depth, observation of the heights of stars, anchoring places, etc. are also shown. The detailed information is really a national treasure. Level of information!
But because the national treasury was emptied, the "loss is not worth the gain" was burned by the loyal minister! It's a sigh for such an ending! I'm afraid this is something Zheng He would never have thought of... But what about now? )
Therefore, with Yang Shanlu's correct guiding ideology, the great voyage can develop in a healthy way... It can even be said responsibly that when this super fleet is successfully built, every ship will be a ship at that time. A great money machine! You can bring back massive amounts of gold and silver and various other precious materials! The benefits are unimaginable!
(This does not include the interests of the colonies)
If you still don't understand it, just look at how the British Empire emerged in the original history.
For example, when the sun was still in the empire, Jevons, a famous British economist, once proudly boasted like this—
"... The plains of North America and Russia are our cornfields, Australia is our pasture, Peru is our silver mine, Canada and the Baltic Sea are our logging plants, India and China are our tea bases, and South Africa and Australia are ours. Gold mine, the East Indies provide us with sugar cane, coffee and spices..."
So it is conceivable how much profits will be made to colonize overseas! Of course, after the rise of Ming Dynasty, there is nothing wrong with the British Empire! And we also need to see that because the Chinese have a pure nature, by contrast, the people in these colonies will live a much better life than in history, and will no longer be regarded as beasts and horses! So, this can be seen as a win-win situation.
Then after such a great deal of work, three months later, a brand-new Great China Fleet was officially unveiled! And this fleet has reached an astonishing scale. For example, there are now ten large iron ships as the core of the fleet! That is, there are ten big steel ships that will never sink!
Including those improved versions of Galen ships that are also ahead of the world, they have been expanded to a full ninety ships! So in this way, the size of the Great China Fleet has been doubled five times, and it has a whole hundred big ships! (Twenty times the original Magellan expedition fleet!) And his true strength has increased by more than five times! So this scale...
And such a huge fleet can carry at least 50,000 combat personnel, except for sailors, and can reserve enough supplies for two years to sail around the world! Therefore, Yang Shanlu believes that with such strength, let alone singled out a country, it is no problem to single out the entire European continent!
Then, after all these were prepared, and with the warm-up from the previous expedition to Mansajia, the voyage of the end of Ming Dynasty can be officially launched.
And the first country Yang Shanlu wants to clean up is Goryeo! Pack the Korean sticks! (End of this chapter)