Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 324 It's Hard to Guard Against a Thief Within Your Own Family: North and South Seas (Part 2)

It's really hard to guard against a thief within your own household.

The problem is that Zhu Jue cannot only guard against traitors within his own family, and the Ming Dynasty cannot stagnate just because of the emergence of traitors within its own family.

He also had to deal with the rebels and the Jurchens, and he had to compete for overseas resources, so that the Ming Dynasty could truly become strong.

Having just confessed to the crime of treason within his own ranks, he began to consider the issue of Southeast Asia.

At this moment, the Haihe Shipyard has almost completed the construction of more than a thousand warships and gunboats. Taking over the South Seas will definitely not be a problem for them.

The question is, after taking over Southeast Asia, how to develop it, and how to make the resources of Southeast Asia benefit the Ming Dynasty.

If he gains no benefit after taking over Southeast Asia, he will suffer a huge loss.

At this point, he had sent thousands of ships to the South Seas, including more than two thousand warships, most of which were warships and gunboats. These warships would require more than 300,000 soldiers from the Beijing Garrison to operate.

There were also naval officers and soldiers who operated the Zhiyuan merchant ships, as well as young men and craftsmen who developed Southeast Asia; together, that numbered five or six hundred thousand.

He doesn't know how badly he would lose money if he couldn't make enough profit from such a large investment.

He can't be like the Yongle Emperor, who just sent his fleet to wander around Southeast Asia without making any money. He'd eventually run out of money if he did that.

The next morning around 7 a.m., he arrived at the port and wharf outside the mouth of the Haihe River.

At this time, thousands of warships and gunboats were brought out for drills. In addition, the large Zhiyuan merchant ships and medium-sized Weiyuan warships of the original Nanyang Fleet were also deployed. The entire port was almost filled with giant ships, which was quite a sight.

He held the binoculars up for a while before asking, "Youzhen, how's the land development going in Luzon?"

Ah!
Weren't you watching the warships drill? Why are you suddenly asking about the fields?
Upon hearing this, Zhu Youzhen thought carefully for a moment before cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, Luzon has a lot of land, but unfortunately, its population is not very large."

At this time, the entire population of Luzon seems to be less than two million, many of whom are migrants from the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the weather there is too hot, making farming quite difficult.

Lord Yang had ordered people to install the ice-making equipment and fans long ago, but unfortunately, it was too hot during the day, so if they wanted to do any work, they had to work from dawn till dusk, and they couldn't work for very long each day.

At this point, the total land cleared in Luzon is less than 20 million mu. However, we have transported a lot of saltpeter and phosphate rock there, so there is no shortage of fertilizer, and the rice yield per mu is quite high.

When I arrived, the first crop of rice planted this year had already yielded a bumper harvest, with an average yield of over three shi per mu. This single season alone produced over sixty million shi of grain.

There is so much grain that it is impossible for less than two million people to finish eating it. Even if the people there try their best to eat four or five catties of rice a day, and eat a full shi of rice a month, it would only consume more than 20 million shi.

Moreover, this is only one season's harvest. They can grow at least two seasons over there, and even three seasons wouldn't be a problem.

The key issue is population. Without enough manpower, the land there can't even be fully cultivated, let alone mined.

The South Seas are not small. Even excluding the Southeast Peninsula, the combined area of ​​those regions is roughly half the size of the Ming Dynasty. If the Indochina Peninsula is included, the land area is about the same size as the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

The entire population of the Ming Dynasty was at least over 100 million, so how come Luzon only had a little over a million people, less than two million?

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "What about Brunei and Java? Do they have large populations?"

That place used to be so hot it was unbearable; how could there possibly be a large population?

Zhu Youzhen cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the population of Brunei and Java seems to be only a little over one million but less than two million, and many of them are migrants from the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty."

Does this mean that the vast islands in the middle of Southeast Asia have a population of at most five or six million?
Such a vast area cannot be developed with a population of five or six million.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "How is the mining development going in Brunei?"

Someone has to go and mine this mineral deposit.

Zhu Youzhen cautiously said, "Your Majesty, Lord Yang has sent people to explore the area. It turns out that Brunei not only has gold mines, but also coal and iron mines."

However, there were very few able-bodied men there, and they also had to grow food to eat, so there weren't many able-bodied men available to work in the mines.

The coal and iron mines over there haven't been developed yet, and the people of Brunei are all eager to mine gold to make a fortune. Meanwhile, gold production over there has increased, now yielding about 100,000 taels of gold per month.

Sure enough, without enough manpower, even the mineral resources couldn't be developed.

He had promised the King of Brunei that he would increase gold production to 200,000 taels a month, and it had only reached half of that. Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then carefully instructed, "Go and tell Wen Ruo to buy up all the surplus grain in Luzon, at a rate of three shi for one tael of silver."

You plan to take the purchased grain to Brunei and Java, and then extend it on credit to the common people there, at a rate of two shi (a unit of dry measure) for every tael of silver, so that they no longer have to rely on growing their own grain to feed themselves.

Then, Wenruo was sent to conscript able-bodied men to mine there, developing gold, coal, and iron mines. The iron ore was to be smelted directly into pig iron, and the money owed for food by the common people of Brunei and Java was deducted from their wages.

Java hasn't even been conquered yet.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youzhen was taken aback for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "This subordinate understands."

That's not enough.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully and then instructed, "Tell Wen Ruo to build more houses with cooling fans in Luzon. At that time, I will order Xiong Wencan and Yang He to recruit civilians from the five southeastern provinces and the Central Plains to carry out development."

You tell Wenruo that at least 100 million mu of land in Luzon needs to be developed, and he calculates how many people are needed. Developing the land in Luzon is only the first step. Next, Brunei and Java will also need to relocate civilians there for development.

At least five million civilians will need to be relocated from these two locations. He'll have to calculate how many houses will be built, how much saltpeter ice-making equipment will be needed, and how many refrigeration fans will be required.

How many people would have to be relocated?

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youzhen was taken aback for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "This subordinate understands."

It was not easy for ordinary people from the five southeastern provinces and the Central Plains to migrate there; at the very least, there had to be enough incentives to motivate them to go to that unbearably hot place.

Furthermore, developing the mines over there will definitely require laying tracks and transporting a large number of horse-drawn railcars, and we don't even know how many horses we'll need.

Furthermore, it's not enough to just develop mineral resources there; industries such as fishing, timber, and even spice cultivation must also be developed to generate sufficient profits.

As he was pondering this, Zheng Zhilong suddenly came running over, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

This guy is finally back.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Yes, thank you for your hard work, Zhilong. You did a good job this time."

Uh, what's so hard about that?

Zheng Zhilong repeatedly cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I only took a boat trip there. It was not tiring at all. Your Majesty, the Duke of Zhongguo asked me to come and consult Your Majesty."

Oh, Qin Liangyu has other matters to attend to.

Zhu Jue asked directly, "What matter does the Duke of Zhongguo have that you need to consult?"

You can't just leave them there and ignore them.

Zheng Zhilong cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, the Duke of Zhongguo requests instructions: should her troops continue to garrison Lueyang and Shimen Pass, continue north to attack Xi'an Prefecture and annihilate the rebel Zhang Xianzhong, or return to Zhongzhou?"

I haven't thought about this problem yet.

Zhang Xianzhong has been defeated, but he is still entrenched in Xi'an Prefecture and may launch a surprise attack on Hanzhong. Sending the White-Clad Soldiers back to Zhongzhou is definitely not an option.

As for sending the White-Spear Soldiers north to attack Xi'an, it seems a waste of these rare elite troops.

The city walls of Xi'an were exceptionally high, and the White-Spear Soldiers were most skilled in mountain warfare. Sending them to attack the city would likely result in countless casualties.

These elite mountain warfare troops cannot be used so carelessly.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then solemnly said, "Send someone to tell the Duke of Zhongguo to let her lead her troops to rest and recuperate in the Lueyang and Shimen Pass area. Also, you must arrange for ships to deliver the grain and supplies to her in a timely manner."

Uh, so we're just going to make them wait around Lueyang and Shimen Pass?

What are you waiting for?

Zheng Zhilong really couldn't understand it.

(End of this chapter)