The Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 97: Shaanxi New Deal

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Shaanxi is mountainous and has the most abundant limestone in the country, which is the raw material for the manufacture of lime and cement.

Zhu Youjian considered that Yansui was the area where banditry was the most serious, and the production damage was particularly serious, so he decided to build two cement plants in Yansui to resettle the local males.

At the same time, Zhu Youjian mobilized local craftsmen to survey two vertical and one horizontal cement routes under the guidance of Fenwuying soldiers. He wanted to build Shaanxi into a modernized province, creating a provincial model for Daming.

These two vertical and one horizontal cement roads can connect most of Shaanxi.

The first vertical line starts from Yansui, passes through Yan’an Prefecture and Tongzhou to the south, and reaches Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi, referred to as Yanxi Road; the second vertical line starts from Ningxia Town (now Yinchuan) and passes through Lingzhou (now Wuzhong), Guyuan, Pingliang, and finally arrived at Fengxiang Mansion (now Baoji), referred to as Ningfeng Road; the horizontal line is much shorter, starting from Tongguan, going west through Xi'an, and directly to Fengxiang Mansion, referred to as Tongfeng Road.

These three concrete avenues, try to use straight lines, reduce the distance, and connect the state capital first.

Tongfeng Road is to strengthen the connection between Shaanxi and the capital and facilitate the mobilization of troops and materials; Yanxi Road and Ningfeng Road are to strengthen the internal ties of Shaanxi and facilitate the flow of personnel and materials in the province. It can be said that Tongfeng Road is the military lifeline of Shaanxi, while Yanxi Road and Ningfeng Road are the lifeline of people's livelihood in Shaanxi.

Originally, Zhu Youjian also planned to extend the longitudinal road south to Hanzhong, but the Qinling Mountains were separated from it. The project was too large, so Zhu Youjian had to give up temporarily.

Sun Chuanting, the new chief envoy of Shaanxi, finally arrived in Xi'an.

As early as when Zhu Youjian recovered Weinan and Tongzhou, the officials appointed Sun Chuanting. In the history of later generations, Sun Chuanting once served as governor of Shaanxi and plenipotentiary governor of Shaanxi's military and political affairs. However, he was upright, good at governance, but not very expert in the military, and was eventually killed by the peasant army. After his death, the situation in Shanxi eventually became uncontrollable.

"His Royal Highness, congratulations, within March, the 200,000 bandits in Shaanxi will be settled." Sun Chuanting bowed to the ground, not only because Zhu Youjian was the king of faith, but also because he was in admiration for Zhu Youjian's order and anger.

"Master Sun, get up quickly," Zhu Youjian gave a hand. "Master Sun, although Shaanxi's banditry has been eliminated, Shaanxi is too barren now. To govern Shaanxi, we rely on Master Sun." Sun Chuanting is not the military one. , Then use his ability to govern, Sun Chuanting in history is still a good hand in governing.

"His Royal Highness, I heard that you will not return to Beijing for the time being. It seems that we are going to grill a handful of Shaanxi's fire together." Sun Chuanting still knows the situation in Shaanxi. More than 200,000 bandits have swept over half of Shaanxi. Now, in Shaanxi, apart from the loess, I am afraid there is only the Yellow River.

Zhu Youjian exchanged ideas with Sun Chuanting about his thoughts on governing Shaanxi at the meeting and his current plans.

"His Royal Highness, transporting the grain reserves to Shaanxi can solve the food problem of the people this year, but Shaanxi has to fully resume production now, and it will not be completed in a short while. Moreover, if the severe drought in Shanxi is not eliminated, the grain next year will still be worried. "Sun Chuanting was not attracted by the bright future described by Zhu Youjian, and he was more worried about real problems.

Sun Chuanting’s worries are not unreasonable. Shaanxi has experienced severe drought for three consecutive years and almost no crops have been harvested.

What Sun Chuanting didn't know was that this was when the earth entered a small ice age, the climate became colder, and the precipitation moved south, leading to continuous severe droughts in the north. Without rain and cold, of course there is no harvest.

But Zhu Youjian from later generations knows a thing or two.

The cold and drought led to a sharp drop in agricultural production in the north of Daming. This is a reminder for Daming, who has a large population and is heavily dependent on agriculture.

Fortunately, Zhu Youjian came from later generations.

Fortunately, the Americans bred modern crops.

Fortunately, these modern crops have been introduced to Ming Dynasty.

These crops cultivated by the Native Americans entered the Southeast Asia with the ships of the Spanish colonists, and then from the Southeast Asia to Ming. Although it has not been introduced to the north, the southeastern coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Nanzhili in Daming have begun to plant them sporadically, and it is not difficult to obtain seeds.

"This, Master Sun, don't worry. I have sent someone to get some seeds for overseas crops. Even if it is drought and cold, it will not affect the growth of these crops."

"Not afraid of drought? Not afraid of cold? What are these crops called? What is the yield?"

"Master Sun guess the output? Going higher, guess."

"One stone?" Since it is not afraid of drought and cold, its adaptability is strong, and seeds with strong adaptability are generally not as high in yield as seeds suitable for unique environments. Shaanxi’s farmland is not as good as Jiangnan. It’s good to have two stones per mu of grain yield, so it guessed that the output of new crops is one stone. Zhu Youjian asked him to go to Gaoli to guess.

"One stone? Master Sun, should you be raising chickens? Go higher and guess." Zhu Youjian rolled his eyes, looking very contemptuously.

"Is it possible to reach two stones? It's about the same as the original grain?" This was the most troublesome problem for Sun Chuanting. He didn't care about Zhu Youjian's contempt. He only stared at Zhu Youjian with a pair of Danfeng eyes, staring blankly at Zhu Youjian, as if The output of new crops is a word of Zhu Youjian.

"Two stones? Haha, it's no wonder that Mrs. Sun can only be a chief ambassador at an age, a little bolder and a little bigger." Zhu Youjian's right hand kept waving upwards, as if he was directing a performing Huguang. Woolly monkey.

"Is it possible to reach three stones? Ah, no, four stones?" Sun Chuanting's mind really seemed to hide a woolly monkey. He felt messed up, and I don't know if Zhu Youjian was setting up the satellite.

"Master Sun." Zhu Youjian's voice increased by more than eight degrees, and then suddenly dropped by sixteen degrees, "Go higher and guess!"

"Could it be possible to reach five stones? No, ten stones?" Sun Chuanting felt as if he had become his brother, Sun Wukong, but he did not have his brother's spells.

"That's right." Zhu Youjian stretched out his thumb, squeezed a few times, and praised him fiercely. "But this is a guaranteed output. If the people master the technology and manage it well, it can reach twenty shi, even three Ten stones."

"..." This time it was Sun Chuanting's turn to roll his eyes, "His Royal Highness, is this true?"

"Of course it is true." Zhu Youjian was quite disdainful. "If I lied to you, the people will have no food next year, would you consider me willing to conquer Shaanxi again?"

"His Royal Highness, you are the minister's savior!" Sun Chuanting prostrated on the ground, his nose and tears poured into the loess. Food is his biggest hidden danger when he comes to Shaanxi, and Zhu Youjian has resolved his deadlock lightly. If Zhu Youjian is not too young, he would be willing to call his reborn parents and grandmother.

"Master Sun, get up quickly." Zhu Youjian wanted to adjust the atmosphere, but he didn't expect to make Sun Chuanting fall into the ground. But that's good, who would think he has too many fans? Qin Yongnian and Li Yuan from Shandong, Zu Dashou, Sun Chuanting, and Gao Yingxiang from Shaanxi, and Li Chunye from Jingshi.

But Zhu Youjian did not fool Sun Chuanting.

These modern crops are sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn that are very familiar to people in later generations.

Especially sweet potatoes, whose ingredients are similar to those of rice and wheat, are mainly starch, which can be used as the staple food of the common people, and the output can reach two to three kilograms. According to Da Ming's measurement, every stone is 58 kilograms, and the yield per mu is really 20 or even 30 shi.

Anyone who has planted these crops knows that these crops do not require high rainwater. When planting, piles of mounds are piled up on the land, called "ridges", and there must be a series of trenches next to them, just to let the excess rainwater run away in time.

In the normal years of the Ming Dynasty, people were proud of glutinous food, but Zhu Youjian came from a well-off generation. People have been looking for wild vegetables, malan, red taro, yam, black sesame, black corn and other coarse grains everywhere. Zhu Youjian has visited coarse grain production bases in the suburbs, so he has a certain understanding of the production conditions of these crops, and this is why he praised Haikou in front of Sun Chuanting.

"Master Sun, since you have arrived in Xi'an, the civil affairs of Shaanxi will be handed over to you. You are the parents of the people of Shaanxi!" Without the guts of civil affairs, Zhu Youjian can concentrate his efforts to start his industrial plan to rejuvenate the country.

"His Royal Highness, you are the prince and you are staying in Shaanxi. Let's help the people of Shaanxi get through the difficulties together." Since Zhu Youjian has special skills, Sun Chuanting doesn't mind dragging Zhu Youjian on, just in case he talks about new crops. If he can't meet the requirements, he can be pushed back.

"It's easy to say." The development of industry in Shaanxi is also inseparable from Sun Chuanting's help and cooperation. Now Zhu Youjian and Sun Chuanting have formed de facto allies.

Those who came to Shaanxi with Sun Chuanting, in addition to officials at all levels, there were also wealthy businessmen from the capital and Jiangnan. They all responded to the imperial call and came to Shaanxi with bank notes for development. This is the first batch, and businessmen will continue to enter Shaanxi in the future.

Soon, the writings of the Ministry of officials and the Ministry of War also arrived in Xi'an, agreeing to Zhu Youjian's suggestion that Zu Dashou was the governor of the trilateral and Gao Yingxiang was the prefect of Yansui.

Sun Chuanting is in charge of civil affairs and agriculture, Zu Dashou is in charge of military affairs, and Zhu Youjian is actually in charge of industry and commerce. Shaanxi has entered a new era that the world cannot see through.

In order to expand factories and tap the industrial potential of Shaanxi, Zhu Youjian sent a number of "mining experts" composed of personal soldiers to investigate and explore mining in Shaanxi. The "experts" were not afraid of the severe cold, surpassed the mountains and traversed the mountains in Shaanxi with maps.

The hard work of preparation has always been equated with returns, and the expedition team keeps sending beautiful messages.

To the west of Shenmu County, Yansui Prefecture, and Shuangquan Fort, near the Great Wall, a huge coal mine was discovered; Qishan County, southeast of Fengxiang Prefecture, discovered a gold mine; Yin County, southeast of Fengxiang Prefecture, a copper mine; even Zhu You When the prosecutors sent a visit to Wang Shurui and Wang Zhu Changhao in Hanzhong, the soldiers sent did not know the way and ran into Nanzheng County by mistake, but found iron ore in Nanzheng County.

A series of positive messages made Sun Chuanting, a newcomer to Shaanxi, so happy to sleep and restlessly, he often kicked the book boy who was serving in the middle of the night.

In fact, after hundreds of years of changes, Shaanxi has lost its glory in the Han and Tang Dynasties, and the Guanzhong Plain is no longer a paradise for farming people. Especially in the past three years, Shaanxi has experienced severe droughts in succession. The people have completely cut off their food and cursed this habitat that has nurtured the Han people for thousands of years.

Why did Shaanxi report good news once I arrived in Shaanxi? Is he really the lucky star of this land

Sun Chuanting kept asking himself, as if he hadn't done anything special.

Suddenly, Sun Chuanting discovered that these good news, whether they are new crops or various minerals, were related to Zhu Youjian, and these good news came from Zhu Youjian's side. Is Zhu Youjian a flying fairy from the sky? Or is Zhu Youjian creating a huge conspiracy