Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 169: To Pacify the Internal and External is Either Foolish or Malicious (Part 1)

Xu Guangqi worked tirelessly in the southeast for many years, and agricultural policies finally began to show improvement.

Once sweet potatoes and potatoes are gradually promoted, the problem of reduced grain production caused by the Little Ice Age can be solved step by step.

These two things are not suitable as staple foods, but they are quite good as side dishes or vegetables.

For example, sweet potato noodles, potato noodles, and even stir-fried potato shreds, stir-fried potato slices, braised potato chunks, etc., all taste quite good.

If all else fails, you can simply throw sweet potatoes and potatoes into the fire to roast them, then peel off the charred skin; that's still quite delicious.

Nowadays, disaster victims don't care whether it's staple food or side dishes. As long as they can fill their stomachs, they'll eat grass roots and even tree bark.

These sweet potatoes and potatoes taste much better and are much more nutritious than grass roots and tree bark.

The key is that both of these things have a very high yield. As long as the land is fertile and fertilizer is applied properly, the yield can reach four or five thousand catties per mu.

Even if the land is not very fertile and little fertilizer is applied, as long as the variety is good, it is not a problem to produce two or three thousand catties per mu.

It should be noted that current grain yields are quite low; even fertile land can only produce about two or three shi (a unit of dry measure), or four or five hundred jin (another unit of dry measure).

If you grow sweet potatoes and potatoes, the yield per mu is equivalent to twenty or thirty shi!
In other words, as long as other places can grow more than 10 million mu of sweet potatoes and potatoes, the food problem in the Northwest will be almost solved.

Is this difficult?
Actually, it's not difficult at all. Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Sichuan all have many mountains and numerous rivers, so droughts are unlikely to occur year-round. At most, there will be some floods.

If all else fails, there's always Liaodong. As long as we recover Gaizhouwei, Fuzhouwei, Haizhouwei, and the area leading to Pidao, we can develop tens of millions of acres of mountainous land there.

Zhu Jue saw hope in solving the food problem, and he became very enthusiastic. He rarely went to the shipyard anymore, and he was thinking about how to help Xu Guangqi promote sweet potatoes and potatoes widely.

There will definitely be no problem with the one million mu of sweet potatoes and one million mu of potatoes in Liaodong this year.

The area along the line from Santaizi River to Daliao River and from Daliao River to Haizhouwei that Sun Chuanting recovered amounted to seven or eight million mu of farmland. Adding the farmland along the line from Daling River to Santaizi River, that brings the total to over ten million mu.

The total number of soldiers and civilians in Liaodong in such a large area was less than one million. That means that each person had more than ten mu of land on average, enough to grow one mu of sweet potatoes and one mu of potatoes as vegetables.

There are also the three million mu of sweet potatoes and three million mu of potatoes in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Zhejiang provinces. Xiong Wencan should be able to push them forward now. After all, Suzhou Prefecture and the area around Taihu Lake have been purged by Wei Zhongxian. Other forces in Jiangnan who don't want to be purged again have to listen to Xiong Wencan.

If anyone dares to disobey, he wouldn't mind sending Wei Zhongxian to cleanse the area again; at that time, it wouldn't be a problem to cleanse out six million acres of fertile land!
These two million mu plus six million mu equals eight million mu. Although the first batch of crops will be consumed by the farmers, it will definitely be equivalent to four or five million mu.

If that ten million mu area is expanded next year, he can transport large quantities of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and even grain to disaster relief!
He got more and more excited as he thought about it. He had Lu Zhi and Wang Yingchao deliver oral instructions to Sun Chuanting and Xiong Wencan, urging them to cooperate with Xu Guangqi to vigorously promote the planting of sweet potatoes and potatoes.

Sun Chuanting responded very quickly; in less than three days, Lü Zhi returned.

Around 9 a.m. that day, he had just finished reviewing the memorials and was considering whether to go to the shipyard when Lü Zhi suddenly strode in, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty."

Having a ship is so convenient.

Zhu Jue asked rather impatiently, "So, what did Boya say?"

Lu Zhi quickly replied, "Lord Sun said there's absolutely no problem. The Xiaohai River defense line is almost finished, and the able-bodied men are going back to spring plowing. It's a good time to promote the cultivation of sweet potatoes and potatoes." Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "The Xiaohai River defense line was built so quickly?"

Lu Zhi nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, there is already a Haizhou Garrison City in the middle of the Xiaohai River. Lord Sun only needs to order people to build a few more fortresses and a dozen or so beacon towers on the left and right sides."

Moreover, it would be incredibly easy for the Jurchens to prevent them from building pontoon bridges. Each fortress only needed to be stocked with a hundred chariots and two thousand chariot soldiers. No matter where the Jurchens built the pontoon bridge, the chariot soldiers could arrive within half an hour. With a hundred chariots lined up on the riverbank, along with muskets and cannons, the Jurchens simply wouldn't be able to build a pontoon bridge.

Lord Sun also said that after the spring planting is finished, he plans to build another large city at the confluence of the Liao River and the Xiaohai River, specifically for the chariot soldiers to spend the winter there. The waterway transportation there is very convenient, and enough grain can be transported there by building some docks.

In this way, both the Liao River and Xiaohai River defense lines were virtually impregnable, making it almost impossible for the Jurchens to launch a counterattack.

Sun Chuanting is truly remarkable; he has been steady and methodical in his approach, doing an excellent job.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "What about the Jurchens? Has Boya found out their movements?"

Lu Zhi nodded repeatedly and said, "Lord Sun has roughly figured out the situation of the Jurchens. After he took over the Haizhouwei area, many soldiers and civilians from Liaodong in the north and south fled over there. Some even swam across the Xiaohai River to Haizhouwei."

These people also brought a lot of news about the Jurchens. At this moment, the Jurchens along the Gaizhou, Fuzhou, and Jinzhou lines were living in constant fear, as if they were ready to flee at any moment.

Meanwhile, a large number of infantrymen were stationed in Liaoyang. According to the Liaodong soldiers and civilians who had fled there, there were at least 50,000 Jurchen, Mongol, and even Han infantrymen stationed in Liaoyang.

As for the Jurchen cavalry, it seems they've detoured through the Khorchin grasslands to attack the Tatar tribes. This news is still uncertain, as Lord Sun hasn't been able to send scouts to either the Khorchin or Chahar grasslands to investigate.

Huang Taiji most likely led his cavalry to conquer the Tatar tribes. Without infantry, the capital region was inaccessible, and a large number of infantry were needed to garrison Liaodong. This guy could only use cavalry to bully the various Tatar tribes.

Zhu Jue nodded slowly and then asked, "When does Boya plan to send troops to recapture the Gaizhou Guard, Fuzhou Guard, and Jinzhou Guard line?"

Without hesitation, Lü Zhi said, "Lord Sun said that after the spring plowing is over, we will assemble a large army to try. If the Jurchens really flee at the first sign of trouble, he will chase after them. This year, we will first recover Gaizhou Guard, Fuzhou Guard, and Jinzhou Guard."

If the Jurchens put up a desperate resistance, then we should first take Gaizhouwei this year to consolidate the southern defenses of Haizhouwei.

Yes, that's good. There's absolutely no problem handing over Liaodong to Sun Chuanting for management.

Zhu Jue nodded with satisfaction, just as he was about to make arrangements for promoting the planting of sweet potatoes and potatoes in Liaodong, when Fang Zhenghua suddenly rushed in with a memorial in his hand, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Hong Chengchou has sent an urgent report from eight hundred li away."

What's this guy reporting now?
Zhu Jue took the memorial and glanced at it, then couldn't help but slightly purse his lips.

Hong Chengchou reported that Gao Yingxiang was leading more than 100,000 bandits who were wreaking havoc in Luzhou Prefecture and Zezhou. The bandits had captured Pingshun, Lingchuan, Gaoping and Qinshui, and were about to invade Pingyang Prefecture.

These guys, do they think I don't know what you're up to?
Gao Yingxiang, if you have the guts, go to Puzhou and wipe out the strongholds of the three powerful clans! Do you dare?
It seems that Lu Xiang-sheng has already established a defense line for the five southwestern prefectures of Beizhili. Gao Ying-xiang has no choice but to turn west.

That's about right. As long as the bandits don't sneak into Beizhili and wreak havoc, it'll be fine.

You want me to send a large army to suppress the bandits, right?
Zhu Jue frowned and pondered for a while, then decisively said, "Send someone to convey my oral decree, ordering Jian Dou to lead the Beijing garrison back to the capital."

(End of this chapter)