The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 784 The Determination of 600 Million People

Mo Zibu held Wu Wenyong and Wu Renjing's memorials in his hand, stroked his chin, and pondered for a moment.

He still trusted these two people.

Needless to say, Wu Wenyong was someone I personally promoted from a dying rebel leader to a position he had taken from a pile of corpses.

For more than 20 years, Wu Wenyong has been by Mo Zibu's side. Mo Zibu personally arranged everything from his growth to his marriage. If Mo Zibu can't be trusted, then no one can be trusted.

Wu Renjing was in a similar situation. Back then, his whole family was driven out of Jiading City by the people of Guangnan, but it was Mo Zibu who personally led a large army to save their lives.

Throughout history, there have been those who became arrogant after saving the emperor's life and were eventually executed, but almost none of those who were saved by the emperor became complacent and took advantage of his kindness.

Moreover, Wu Renjing, like Mo Zibu, was from Mingxiang. If he had any disloyal intentions, Mo Zibu wouldn't even need to intervene; any military or political official from Mingxiang would have killed him.

"Third brother, how much money did you make from the rubber plantation in Southeast Asia last year?" Mo Zibu called out, then remembered that his third brother, Mo Zhouyu, had gone to Kunming to oversee things and hadn't been around for a long time.

It turned out that after the eldest son, Mo Zhousen, went to Anxi to take charge, several of Mo Zibu's adult sons, who had always been around him, all chose to leave.

The second son, Mo Zhouxu, became the Minister in charge of railway affairs, holding the title of Minister of Works, and led tens of thousands of people to build railways everywhere.

The third brother, Mo Zhouyu, went to Kunming, mainly to coordinate the affairs of ethnic minorities in the Hengduan Mountains region and to prepare for control of the northeastern region of the South Asian subcontinent.

The fourth son, Mo Zhouzhe, went to India to urge the British to serve the Great Yu, and may be sent to Hanchuan (lower Myanmar) to oversee things in the future.

The fifth brother, Mo Zhouzhen, had already gone to Edo and was currently preparing to go to Kitagazu (North America) to deal with the Spanish.

The sixth son, Mo Zhouhuan, went to the northern desert. His maternal grandfather was Tushetu Shunyi King (Tushetu Khan) Chedendorji. A few months ago, this Khan fell while hunting gazelles and has been bedridden ever since.

This caused quite a stir. Not only were Chedendorji's sons engaged in open and covert struggles, but other tribes in the northern deserts were also stirring with ambition.

Of course, this restless activity was not about rebellion, but rather about setting their sights on Suwu City, which was controlled by Tushetu Khan, also known as Irkutsk.
According to the rules of the imperial court, Suwu City was directly under the jurisdiction of the court, but no suitable officials had been assigned there. After all, the Great Yu Dynasty possessed the entire South Seas and Oceania, as well as most of Central Asia and part of North America. Its territory was too large and too good, so no one was willing to go to the Central Xianbei.

Therefore, Mozibu had no choice but to give this territory to Tushetu Khan, including the garrison of three hundred men, who were also placed under Tushetu Khan's command.

However, what was a harsh and cold place for the Han people was quite rich for the Mongolians in the northern desert. Lake Baikal provided ample shelter from the winter cold, and the furs and fish were something that would make anyone envious.

Therefore, the position of Pacification Commissioner of the Central Xianbei was actually a lucrative post among the Mongols in the northern desert.

The reason Lao Liu Mo Zhouhuan went this time was to dispel the thoughts of these people fighting over it, and to return after his maternal grandfather Tushetu Khan Chedendorji recovered.

Of course, there is another important reason: the current Jebtsundamba Khutuktu is the nephew of the Great Perfection Wisdom Master (Dalae). Mozibu was no longer planning to let him go to the northern desert, so someone needed to take on the responsibilities of Jebtsundamba Khutuktu. This is why Mozibu sent Mozhouhuan.

This situation arose naturally without Mo Zibu's guidance, which shows that the eldest son, Mo Zhousen, already has the same prestige as Crown Prince Zhu Biao in the hearts of his younger brothers. The only variable now is whether the eldest son, Mo Zhousen, will die young from illness like Zhu Biao.

After a moment of silence, Mo Zibu felt uneasy. He was already fifty-one years old this year, and compared to the youthful ambition he once had, he increasingly cherished and longed for the feeling of being surrounded by children and grandchildren.

As people age, their greatest fear is being abandoned by the world as their physical strength and abilities decline. Their children and grandchildren become the biggest source of their sense of being respected by the world.

But Mo Zibu knew that his sons' choices were absolutely correct, because his eldest son, Asen, had gone to the distant Anxi Four Provinces. Now, no matter which adult son he kept by his side, it would arouse endless speculation. There will never be a shortage of speculators in this world.

But Mo Zibu needed someone to discuss things with, so he had no choice but to call over Prime Minister Luo Fangbai and Associate Grand Secretary Zheng Jinshui, who was also the Second Grand Secretary.

After reading the memorials of Wu Wenyong and Wu Renjing, Prime Minister Luo Fangbai said nothing, but Second Grand Secretary Zheng Jinshui jumped up in protest.

“Your Majesty, I know that you have always been kind and benevolent, but for our Great Yu, the court’s protection of the natives of Southeast Asia is indeed a bit too much. Now that all industries in Great Yu are thriving, what we lack most is labor. It is indeed time to use them.”

Prime Minister Luo Fangbo is already sixty years old this year. Ten years in office has greatly affected his health, and he is now at the age of retirement. Therefore, he has little to offer regarding policy.

He glanced at the somewhat excited Vice Grand Secretary Zheng Jinshui, then said to Mo Zibu, "Your Majesty, Vice Grand Secretary Zheng is not suitable to serve as Prime Minister. That would alarm the civil officials of the outer court."

Zheng Jinshui was taken aback and looked helplessly at the Grand Secretary Luo Fangbai. Mo Zibu also looked at Luo Fangbai, knowing that the Prime Minister was not there to cause trouble, but rather to offer his heartfelt words of loyalty and righteousness.

Zheng Jinshui has been following Mo Zibu since he was fourteen, and is practically his son. Now, the inner and outer courts stand side by side, with the inner court's power being roughly equal to that of the outer court. Moreover, Mo Zibu has introduced a republican parliament to divide the power of the outer court, or more precisely, to divide the power of the scholar-officials.

If, under such circumstances, someone almost equal to the emperor's son were to become the prime minister, the head of the outer court, then the officials of the outer court would truly have no hope left.

Mo Zibu knew of Luo Fangbai's loyalty. After thinking for a while, he said to Zheng Jinshui, "Ashui, Zhen is going to Beihezhou. Why don't you go to Osaka next year and lend him a hand?"

After the political implications were no longer a concern, Osaka became the undisputed center of the Japanese archipelago. The current Prime Minister of the Eastern Envoyage in Osaka is Hou Guan Hou Lin Qiaoyin. Mo Zibu sent Zheng Jinshui to the Eastern Envoyage in preparation for bringing Lin Qiaoyin back to serve as Prime Minister.

Zheng Jinshui was also very clear that the emperor hadn't called him Ashui for many years, especially since the emperor had started calling the fifth prince Azhen after Ashui. The implied meaning was quite obvious.

Immediately, Zheng Jinshui knelt down with a thud. "Your Majesty regards me as your son, and I have long regarded Your Majesty as my father. Whatever command my sovereign or father gives, I will obey without question."

This subject was truly a subject; he was both a subject and a son.

"Good boy!" Mo Zibu was powerless to change this most basic rule of the game, or rather, the cost of changing it was too high and not worth it, so he could only treat Zheng Jinshui unfairly.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty has always been unwilling to enslave the natives of Southeast Asia, but in my opinion, in this era of great strife, if China wants to occupy more territory, it cannot do without the strategy of using foreign races as slaves."

Your Majesty, I urge you to consider this: There are millions of natives in Southeast Asia. Should we continue to treat them like royalty, if we don't need them? They should be sent to rubber plantations, gold mines, and tin mines.”

Now that the chancellor's future was hopeless, Zheng Jinshui grew bolder and, for the first time, openly voiced his opinions to Mo Zibu. Mo Zibu had actually considered this issue many times before. His previous suppression of the slave trade was primarily due to his experience of the severe backlash against the United States from the later establishment of slavery.

Mo Zibu felt a chill run down his spine whenever he thought about the Black Lives Matter movement in North America.

One of the most important reasons that happened was the backlash from America's use of enslaved people; it was a case of ancestors enjoying the good fortune while descendants paid the price.

Therefore, Mo Zibu has always disagreed with treating the indigenous people of Southeast Asia as slaves and exploiting them, not because he is kind-hearted, but because he does not want to leave a mess for his descendants.

However, given the labor shortage in Dayu, the use of the indigenous people of Southeast Asia as slaves was already an inevitable trend. His forceful prohibition as an emperor was gradually becoming unable to withstand the surging desires of the people.

Even trusted ministers like Wu Wenyong and Wu Renjing were making suggestions, which shows how much the people longed for such a thing.

Mo Zibu also seriously considered this issue for the first time. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he was still too influenced by his past life.

The reason why the United States was later ravaged by the slave trade was not only because they accepted too many Jews without borders, but also because the United States never assimilated Black people.

In terms of heritage, the Americans, descendants of the Ansar pirates, have ample experience in keeping and training slaves, but severely lack experience and insights in assimilation.

However, after the sources of slavery and slave training from the Kunlun slaves and Bodhisattva slaves of the Tang Dynasty, as well as Silla maids, were cut off, the Chinese people had very little experience in this area.

However, China has had no shortage of experience in assimilating foreign ethnic groups since the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and this practice was not completely eradicated even in the Qing Dynasty.

Furthermore, the expression of Black genes, especially the gene for skin color, is extremely strong. This often leads to failure for white Americans who are willing to assimilate Black people because the next generation has too dark a skin color, ultimately resulting in the one-drop blood theory.

However, the indigenous people of Southeast Asia do not have such a terrible expression of skin color in their genes. Not to mention that there are a large number of Zhuang, Dong, Miao and Dai people among them, who are far from being black, and to be precise, they are not black.

In conclusion, even if the Great Yu Dynasty used slaves, it could still completely assimilate them within the next hundred years or so.

"Your Majesty, 187 chieftains from Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou have recently submitted memorials requesting permission to leave the mountains and settle in towns."

Among them, forty-seven chieftains of Guangxi, thirty-two chieftains of Guizhou, and thirty chieftains of Yunnan requested Your Majesty's permission to relinquish their fiefdoms and settle in Southeast Asia and other places.

Luo Fangbai then provided timely assistance by pointing to Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou—the three provinces with the most Tusi (chieftains). Many Tusi in remote areas no longer wanted to continue living a miserable life in the mountains, eating corn, and wanted to move to towns to enjoy a better life.

The biggest reason for this was the large-scale development of the Dayu Dynasty, which led to a rapid decrease in the population in the mountains. These most remote chieftains found it difficult to live in the deep mountains and dense forests.

Mo Zibu paused for a moment, then asked Luo Fangbai, "How many people are there in each of the three provinces of Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou?"

Without even looking at the data, Luo Fangbai looked at Mo Zibu and replied, "Currently, Guangxi has 4.8 million people, Yunnan has about 6 million, and Guizhou has less than 3 million."

"Ah!" Mo Zibu was extremely shocked. He remembered that three years ago there were six million people in Guangxi, nearly eight million in Yunnan, and he couldn't remember Guizhou, but it should not be less than four million. In just three years, with the terrifying birth rate of the Great Yu, how could so many people have disappeared?
Seeing Mo Zibu's shocked expression, Luo Fangbai slowly said, "The three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi are really too harsh. Apart from a few plains and valleys where crops can be grown, they are basically all high mountains and bad water. With the good plains of Southeast Asia and other places, who would want you to suffer poverty in the mountains?"

As he spoke, Luo Fangbai took out a small booklet, put on his reading glasses, and began to read. “Your Majesty, the population of these three provinces has decreased, but the population of Rinan Province has exceeded 20 million, Taiping is almost 30 million, Xinglong Province is 10 million, Nanji Province is 14 million, and Hanchuan has also exceeded 10 million.”

Good heavens, twenty-five years ago, Ri Nam Province, which is now northern Vietnam, had only six million people, Thai Binh (Siam) had only six million, Hung Long Province (Malay Peninsula) had five million, and Nam Khe Province (Java) had three million.

Now, the numbers have increased by two to three times, and in Nanchang Province, they have increased by almost five times. No wonder Guangxi has less than five million people, and Yunnan, with such a large area, only has seven million people. It turns out they have all gone to Southeast Asia.

If there are only so few people, those chieftains deep in the mountains really wouldn't be able to survive. What good is having land if you don't have people?

“Your Majesty, let alone the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, even Henan Province has less than 30 million people,” Zheng Jinshui said from the side.

Good heavens, when Mo Zibu was still fighting his way out of Hue with Chen Guangyao, Henan's population was already close to 30 million. More than 20 years later, Dayu's population has reached more than 600 million. The population has more than doubled in 20 years, but Henan's population is still close to 30 million.

No wonder half of the people in the four provinces of Anxi speak with a Henan accent; now I know why!

By this time, Mo Zibu also understood that treating the natives of Southeast Asia as serfs wouldn't cause too much of a problem, because given the Chinese population and their assimilation capacity, nothing would happen in a hundred years.

Do you see any Xianbei people crying out for justice everywhere? Can you even find a few Goguryeo or Khitan people?

For example, among the indigenous people of Southeast Asia today, Quang Nam Province has about 400,000, Vientiane Kingdom has about 600,000, Thai Binh Province (Siam) has about 1.5 million, Hin Long Province (Malay Peninsula) has 2 million, Chia Kheng Province (Kalimantan Island) has about 2 million, and Luzon has between 1.5 million and 2.2 million. In addition, the combined population of Java, Koh Samui, and Sulawesi is around 3 million.

In total, the indigenous people of Southeast Asia, excluding Sichuan and Hanchuan provinces, which is the indigenous people of later Burma, numbered around nine million. If the Zhuang, Dong, Miao, and Yao people are excluded, the number would be at most six million.

With Dayu's current population of 620 million and Southeast Asia's total population of 90 million, can't all 6 million natives be assimilated by them?

Moreover, even loyal ministers like Wu Wenyong and Wu Renjing were eyeing the business of turning the local people into serfs, and even Mo Zibu's attempts to stop them were futile.

In this world, no one will do a business that loses money without being prohibited, but no one can stop a business that makes a fortune, even if it means executing nine generations of your family.

“Then let it go!” Mo Zibu made up his mind and said to Luo Fangbai and Zheng Jinshui, “Once the Prince of Wanxiang returns to the capital, let’s start implementing the new law.”

"Your Majesty is wise!" Luo Fangbai and Zheng Jinshui knelt down at the same time to praise the emperor. The emperor had finally opened the floodgates, and the two of them no longer needed to persuade him from both sides.

"In addition, Your Majesty, I also have a proposal on financial reform here, which is the result of discussions among the relevant departments of the outer court. Please take a look."

Luo Fangbai submitted a memorial, which was a set of reform suggestions for the Dayu Dynasty, which was facing a shortage of money and an abundance of goods, which greatly hindered its economic development.

This was also his last major reform proposal as prime minister. Once this was completed, Luo Fangbai could happily and carefree retire to his hometown.

(End of this chapter)