Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 319 Northern Barbarian Invasion Raises Concerns for the Nine Border Regions (Part 1)

The recapture of Liaodong, regardless of whether the Jurchen cavalry was annihilated, is a rare and joyous occasion.

One of the main reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty in history was that the Jurchens occupied Liaodong and established a foothold for their people to live and multiply.

If the Jurchens were to remain confined to the area between the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River, they would simply not have enough land to support a large population. Without a sufficient population, it would be impossible for them to unify the country.

It can be said that Liaodong was the key to victory between the Ming Dynasty and the Jurchens; whoever controlled Liaodong would control the world.

Of course, this only applies to the specific ethnic group of the Jurchens. Even if other ethnic groups occupied Liaodong, it would be unlikely that they would win the world.

Now that the Jurchens have lost Liaodong and their foundation for survival, it is unlikely that they will be able to seize the Ming Dynasty's territory again.

Liaodong was no longer just a simple border town for the Ming Dynasty.

With the advent of boilers and heating, the harsh winter in Liaodong was no longer a problem for ordinary people, and the Ming Dynasty could fully develop Liaodong.

This comprehensive development is not just about developing the fertile land of Liaodong. More importantly, Liaodong also has a large number of iron and coal mines, which can be directly used to smelt steel. At this time, the Ming Dynasty urgently needs a large amount of steel to lay tracks and develop land transportation.

Therefore, Liaodong was no longer just an important border town for the Ming Dynasty, but a treasure trove of resources.

If Liaodong could be developed, the Ming Dynasty would not lack steel and coal, and even food.

Therefore, Zhu Jue specially ordered someone to recall Sun Chuanting.

Last time they were only discussing the issue of laying tracks, but this time they are discussing the comprehensive development of Liaodong.

Around 9 a.m. that day, Zhu Jue had just finished reviewing the memorials when Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangshan, Song Yingxing, Song Yingsheng, Yuan You, and others had already gathered.

A huge map of Liaodong was already laid out on the table.

After everyone looked at the map for a while, Zhu Jue solemnly said, "Boya, the reason why Liaodong was lost was mainly because there weren't enough cities."

Liaoyang and Shenyang were essentially isolated, and there were few places to station troops or fortresses in the heart of Liaodong that could withstand the Jurchen cavalry. Therefore, if the field battle went poorly, Liaodong would fall.

Now we need to develop Liaodong, but even more importantly, we need to defend it. To defend Liaodong, we need to build more cities. As long as we have enough cities, even if the Jurchen cavalry were to invade the heart of Liaodong again, they would find it difficult to advance.

This doesn't really need much explanation. The Ming Dynasty's border troops understood this long ago: fortified cities are the nemesis of cavalry. Cavalry is only good in open field battles; sieges are a piece of cake for them.

Therefore, the original nine border regions of the Ming Dynasty were all densely covered with cities and fortresses, except for Liaodong.

The reason why not many cities were built in Liaodong is mainly because the winters are too cold. From a latitude perspective, Liaoyang is the northernmost of all the nine border towns. In addition, there are large plains to the northeast of Liaodong with no mountains to block the cold air. You can imagine how cold the winters are there.

It can be said that the severe cold in Liaodong cannot be resisted by simply warming oneself by a fire. In winter, it can truly freeze a person to death. This is the fundamental reason why not many cities and fortresses were built north of Liaoyang.

Things are different now. With boilers and heating, the harsh winter is no longer a problem.

However, this city cannot be built in just one or two days, or even one or two months.

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, do you mean that in addition to these five large cities in the heart of Liaodong, each with a population of over 100,000, we should also build many smaller cities?"

Of course, otherwise why would I specifically tell you this?

Zhu Jue nodded without hesitation and said, "That's right. In order to resist the Jurchen invasion, we must make Liaodong full of cities. There must be a city every fifty miles or so. Only in this way can we make it difficult for the Jurchen cavalry to move an inch."

Another benefit of building fortified cities is that they provide protection against the harsh winter. We will build fortified cities around the border garrisons and provide them with heated housing and courtyards so they won't freeze in the winter.

Uh, how many cities would that take?
Liaodong originally had twenty-six garrisons!

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting paused for a moment before cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, it's already June, and there are only about four months left before Liaodong freezes over. I'm afraid we won't have enough time to build so many cities."

You're talking about the efficiency of the past. If it were based on the efficiency of the past, it would indeed be impossible to build more than ten or twenty cities in just four months.

However, it's different now.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "Bo Ya, you forgot, we now have cement, and steel bars and wood are also readily available. You could say we have as much as we want."

Besides, since we're only building this to defend against cavalry raids, the walls don't need to be too high. A base about ten feet high is enough, and the arrow stalks on top only need to be about half a foot high.

The foundation for such a city wall doesn't need to be dug very deep, nor does it require any scaffolding; it can be built very quickly.

Cement? Oh, I forgot about that good stuff.

The reason why the original city was built slowly was that the city walls were usually glued together with lime and glutinous rice mortar. Boiling glutinous rice juice takes time, and sometimes not enough glutinous rice can be obtained.

Now it's different. You can just mix cement and fine sand and use it to bond bricks and stones. It couldn't be more convenient.

The question is, how much cement would it take to build so many cities?

Sun Chuanting nodded slowly, then asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, our cement production seems to be low these days. Do we have enough cement to build the city?"

Of course not, otherwise I wouldn't have summoned you all to discuss this.

Zhu Jue simply asked Song Yingxing, "Chang Geng, have the machinery and equipment for producing cement already started being built?"

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, construction began a couple of days ago."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "How many sets can you produce per day now?"

Uh, how many sets are produced per day?
Song Yingxing said cautiously, "Your Majesty, this cement production equipment is not commonly used, and we don't have a dedicated factory to build it. So I just made do and found a few spare factory buildings to build it on the side. Now we can barely build one set a day."

You're mistaken.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "It's not that the equipment for producing cement is not commonly used, but rather that we haven't yet started large-scale development and construction in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty."

Now, Liaodong is about to undergo large-scale development and construction. Next, we will gradually develop from Beizhili to Nanzhili. The demand for cement production equipment is enormous.

Here's the plan: you set aside two factory buildings specifically for building cement production equipment. You need to build at least two sets a day, and the cement production shouldn't stop. We need at least forty sets in Liaodong. After that, we'll see where else we need more.”

Well, we can still manage to carve out two factory buildings.

Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then pointed to the map and explained, "Boya, there are many cities that need to be built in Liaodong. Once these cities are built, troops will definitely need to be stationed there. Therefore, you don't need to concentrate all your troops in the Liaohai City, Liaohe City, Liaoyang City, and Hunhe City area."

The extra granaries, warehouses, and even barracks in these large cities can be used to install cement production equipment. First, clear out a house in each of these four cities that can hold ten sets of equipment, and then install forty sets of equipment in total.

As for the raw materials for cement production, limestone and clay should be easy to find, and Liaodong is not short of iron ore either. Order your men to search around the four cities and try to get supplies nearby. If you really can't find them, then mobilize the navy's fast ships to bring them.

In short, all forty sets of equipment must be installed this month, and each city must produce one million catties of cement per day, so you won't lack cement.

One million catties a day sounds scary, but it's actually only five hundred tons, which adds up to just over one hundred thousand tons a year. In later generations, cement production would easily reach hundreds of millions of tons, so a few hundred thousand tons is nothing at all.

Sun Chuanting was taken aback by the idea of ​​spending millions of catties a day. He paused for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue pondered again, "There's also the land in Liaodong. Now it's not a problem where we can spend the winter. You should have people clear all the land there so that the soldiers and civilians in Liaodong can make money by selling grain or even raising pigs."

"By the way, there seems to be quite a bit of farmland on the north bank of the Hun River. Have you ordered anyone to plant anything there?"

You also want to clear all the farmland in Liaodong. How many acres would that be?

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting slowly nodded and said, "Your Majesty, it's already June, and it's too late to plant rice and wheat on the north bank of the Hun River. However, planting sweet potatoes and potatoes is still not a problem. Your humble servant has already ordered people to plant them."

That's good.

What other issues remain in the development of Liaodong?

As they were discussing, Fang Zhenghua suddenly rushed in, carrying a memorial, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Zhongzhen has sent an urgent report from eight hundred li away."

Marquis Zhongzhen, Qin Liangyu?

By the way, Hanzhong!
These days he's been so focused on Liaodong that he's forgotten all about Hanzhong.

Zhu Jue took the memorial and glanced at it, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

Qin Liangyu's memorial was very simple: "Your Majesty, I have been fortunate to fulfill my mission. The rebel Zhang Xianzhong has been defeated. In this battle, I killed more than 30,000 enemies and captured more than 70,000. I humbly request Your Majesty's instructions on how to deal with the prisoners."

The Sichuan Army's White-Spear Soldiers were indeed formidable!
(End of this chapter)