Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"So, what is Mr. Jiang's method to combat the Little Ice Age?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked respectfully.

In his opinion, Mr. Jiang's words are the general trend in the next hundreds of years, and the disasters that have befallen all living beings can be resolved with just a few words.

They are simply like those ancient military advisors with magical powers in the storybooks.

Mysterious and powerful.

Li Jinglong also looked expectant.

It was precisely because he understood the nature of wind and water through Jiang Xinghuo's words, and understood the terrifying impact of precipitation lines on farming civilization, that Li Jinglong became even more fearful.

Those who don’t know are fearless.

If it weren't for Jiang Xinghuo's words, Li Jinglong would definitely not believe it if he just told him what would happen if he lost three inches of rain every year.

But now, Li Jinglong knows very well that three inches of rain can mean the difference between life and death for the cultivated land in the north!

Therefore, although Li Jinglong did some thinking, he still could not think of any way to combat the Little Ice Age that lasted for hundreds of years from his own perspective.

After all...it's really hard to talk about things like natural disasters.

Moreover, even if there are ways to increase agricultural production, the population will increase accordingly!

Li Jinglong believes that this problem can be solved temporarily but not forever by simply increasing agricultural production.

So, isn’t this a cycle of death?

Li Jinglong shook his head slightly. In his eyes, it was indeed an endless cycle with no solution.

Jiang Xinghuo smiled faintly, looked at the two of them and said firmly.

"It's not that there are no ways. On the contrary, there are many ways. There are three strategies: upper, middle and lower. Which one do you want to listen to first?"

The two looked at each other, and Zhu Gaoxu said loudly: "You must listen to the best advice first!"

"Yes, but there is a prior statement."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and said.

"Whether it is the best strategy, the middle strategy, or the worst strategy. All the discussions and imagination we have done are very likely not what will happen in reality, so we only discuss the operational rationality of the countermeasure itself, and do not discuss the current Ming Dynasty temple environment. , whether it can really be realized in the future.”

Seeing the two people nodding in agreement, Jiang Xinghuo began to speak.

"The best policy, as the most effective solution, is actually the simplest."

"As long as the Ming Dynasty finds a more livable land before the population reaches its peak in the next one to two hundred years, and moves some of the population that exceeds the burden of cultivated land, this 'colony' can become the most stable when the climate collapses in the north of the Ming Dynasty. Ballast Stone Everything is difficult at the beginning. As long as you find a livable land to land on, and then continue to expand the livable land, and continue to transport people and materials, in fact, it will only take a few decades to basically stabilize and control the Ming Dynasty. An initial feedback will be formed, and as time goes by, this benefit will become more and more obvious, which can alleviate the disaster of the Little Ice Age that lasted for hundreds of years."

Jiang Xinghuo spoke slowly: "I can guarantee that the farming conditions in this new land must be better than the existing conditions in the Ming Dynasty. There are vast plains in the central part and a river system that runs from north to south. It also has rain and heat at the same time. Easy to farm.”

After a pause, Jiang Xinghuo added: "However, although it seems simple to say, this process will be relatively long, and it will also require a lot of manpower and financial resources. It can be said to be a blessing for generations, but it is time-consuming and labor-intensive."

Since this is a free discussion, it is of course assumed that the temple environment allows this kind of policy to occur.

Zhu Gaoxu and Li Jinglong both nodded.

After Li Jinglong frowned and was silent for a long time, he suddenly raised his head and said: "If the natural endowment of the new land is so superior, opening up the new land may be a feasible method. However, we in China have always settled down and relocated, how could anyone leave their home and career without doing anything? What about traveling thousands of miles away to find a life on a new land?”

Jiang Xinghuo pondered for a moment. If he told the two of them that in the future, many people would actually travel thousands of miles to dig for gold, just for a better life, but I'm afraid it wouldn't be convincing if it wasn't the current example.

But just as Jiang Xinghuo was deep in thought, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly interrupted.

"There must be a brave man under a heavy reward."

"There are so many people who want money rather than their lives. As long as they have a start and know that the world is vast over there, they no longer need to squeeze into one-third of an acre of land in their hometown. Instead, one person can cultivate thirty acres of land there. , naturally many people are willing to go.”

"What about relocation?" Zhu Gaoxu curled his lips, "To put it bluntly, isn't it just the benefits of taking risks, but not enough to make people risk their lives to do it?"

Jiang Xinghuo was speechless for a moment, and Li Jinglong was also a little embarrassed. The truth seemed to be true.

Li Jinglong thought for a while and continued to delve deeper.

"The Ming Dynasty will definitely have a strong national power and a large population within the next hundred years. Even if it is true as Gao and Gao Yu said, people who want to immigrate overseas will flock to it, but there is no other new land."

Li Jinglong asked a series of questions.

"In this way, it will be difficult for the small-scale immigrants at the beginning to accumulate enough resources for subsequent people to use. After the large-scale immigration has passed, they will definitely not be able to rely on farming to be self-sufficient in the first few years. How can such a large number of people obtain How about enough basic materials such as food and clothing? We can't let them starve to death. In addition, if a large number of immigrants really come, what will happen to the cultivated land in the Ming Dynasty? We will have to arrange manpower to maintain farming. If the immigrants are all landless The population is okay, but if there is real profit, many land-owning people are destined to sell their land and leave. What will happen if the food in the Ming Dynasty is not enough? These are huge projects!"

After Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he nodded repeatedly and glanced at Li Jinglong with approval.

This dear friend is worthy of being a military sage on paper. Not to mention his practical ability, at least when he talks about military affairs on paper, he is still sound and logical. Zhu Gaoxu feels that he is not at this level.

Faced with Li Jinglong’s doubts.

Jiang Xinghuo smiled and said: "Of course I have considered these issues. Let me talk about the latter point first. In fact, there is no need to worry about the cultivated land in the Ming Dynasty, because you can imagine that, first of all, the contradiction between man and land always exists Question, are you worried about the speed at which the people of the Ming Dynasty are giving birth to babies? As long as there is land to grow, many people can give birth to babies freely. "

"Secondly, as time goes by, more efficient implements for agricultural production will inevitably appear in the future. Throughout history, this is an inevitable phenomenon, and I believe that if the Ming Dynasty really embarked on the path of overseas expansion, roads, then world colonization and overseas trade will almost inevitably happen at the same time. In turn, in order to pursue profits, whether it is handicrafts or agriculture, more inventions and creations that improve production capacity will be produced.”

Li Jinglong thought for a while and then agreed with Jiang Xinghuo's statement.

Li Jinglong believes that if you don't worry about guessing the future Ming Dynasty based on the current Ming Dynasty, then what Jiang Xinghuo said is indeed very likely to come true.

After all, life is too short, and the life experience and experience a person can gain are also based on the current era.

As a result, people often can only see what is in front of them, and it is difficult to look to the future and imagine what will happen in the future.

In fact, this has nothing to do with intelligence, but the real limitations of the times.

The group of ancient people who stand at the top of the social pyramid are certainly no stupider than modern people. It’s just that there are some things that are difficult for them to understand and have never seen before. It’s like there is a thick layer of dark clouds that cannot be seen through, blocking the truth, so they think it is impossible.

If the clouds are cleared and the sun is revealed, and it is described to him in a reasonable and evidence-based manner, many truths will actually happen naturally and naturally.

This is the meaning of acquired education.

If you put a modern baby back into ancient times, he will be raised into an ancient person.

Vice versa, if a baby born in ancient times is adopted in modern times and receives normal compulsory education, then if the iteration gap in body genes, antibodies, intelligence and cognition are not taken into account, it is very likely that he will not be the same as the same age. There is not much difference among modern children.

Jiang Xinghuo plays the role of an educator.

The ones who were educated were two students who were well educated in the ancient Ming Dynasty (although some people were unwilling to learn), had rich life experience in traveling from north to south (cutting people from the north/escaping to the south), and had participated in practical work (killing people and commanding people to kill).

It is not surprising, then, to develop a vision that transcends the times.

Li Jinglong asked again: "What about the material issues for immigrants?"

Jiang Xinghuo said simply: "Take it step by step. Don't think about finishing things on a large scale at once. Immigration is actually like moving a mountain. It is a work that accumulates over time. If you think about it, how can you move a big mountain in one go?" Empty? Don’t they all have endless descendants?”

"So, this is not something that can be completed in one generation. It will take at least three or four generations to complete the initial construction. The first generation only needs to establish an outpost beachhead station; and then do a little exploration and build a suitable port. We will establish trading stations everywhere; then while exploring inland, we will improve port facilities and build a city; and finally we will consider marching into the inland and expanding the scope of cultivated land."

"in addition……"

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "The local people don't necessarily choose to kill them all."

When Jiang Xinghuo said this, he did not have the heart of a holy mother.

In fact, the new land Jiang Xinghuo mentioned was naturally the American continent.

As the saying goes, "Why don't men bring Wu hooks and collect the fifty states in North America?"

Let’s not discuss the feasibility and specific steps of immigrating from Ming Dynasty to America.

The North American continent alone is a priceless treasure that any country would be extremely coveted. The environment is so superior that it is unparalleled throughout the world.

Let’s not talk about the oil, coal, and various rare metals that will be necessary in the future industrial era. We will only talk about the value of natural resources such as fields in the agricultural era.

First of all, there are oceans on the east and west sides of the North American continent, which is conducive to the development of trade and transportation. In the interior, there are water systems running from north to south, which are extremely convenient for irrigation. There are also the Five Great Lakes, which account for 20% of the world's fresh water reserves. Precipitation decreases from southeast to northwest. , the moisture conditions are better.

From west to east, there are long mountains on the west coast, which can be like a natural Great Wall, effectively blocking the intrusion of cold currents; the central plains stretch as far as the eye can see and are extremely suitable for agricultural cultivation. The cultivated land area is so vast that it accounts for about ten percent of the world's total cultivated land area. First, it doesn’t matter how many people are fed; as for the east side, it’s a little worse. Although it has a temperate continental climate, with rain and heat at the same time, it is theoretically suitable for farming. However, whether the winter on the east coast of the North American continent is warm or cold depends on the specific conditions of the cold current. There is great uncertainty about the direction.

As for why the locals did not develop a huge empire in the agricultural era, it was due to two strange local factors.

Both factors can be solved by Ming Dynasty.

The first point, and the most embarrassing point, is that although the North American continent has fertile fields and a vast area of ​​arable land, there are no native food crops there!

There are four main edible crops native to North America: pumpkin, sunflower, chrysanthemum, and pigweed (similar to spinach).

As for corn, it was not until the Ming Dynasty that the North American natives planted corn on the east coast, which was briefly suitable for summer growth.

Without high-yielding food crops, there would be no basis for population reproduction.

In the era before Jiang Xinghuo traveled through time, it was proved that the fields in North America were not bad, but the indigenous crops were not good. The field conditions of the North American Great Plains, wheat, rice, anything can be grown, and the harvest will be the same.

Therefore, Daming only needs to bring the seeds of Daming's local crops, and they can plant freely. The first problem will naturally be solved.

The first point cannot be solved by food crops, and the second point cannot be solved by native North American animals.

North America has no native large mammals that could be domesticated for transportation or to assist in farming.

Under the premise of being "domesticable", mammals that can be "used for human transportation" include but are not limited to cattle, sheep (sheep carts), horses, camels, and mammals that can be "assisted in farming", including But not limited to cattle and horses

Unfortunately, the North American continent has none.

The horses and camels that lived on the North American continent became extinct 13,000 years ago, and the horses ridden by Western cowboys were all introduced from Europe.

It's okay to have no transportation mounts, but it's hard to walk at most, but without farming assistants such as cattle and horses, you can't click on the technology tree of "Iron Plow and Oxen Farming". The North American natives can only stay in the most primitive slash-and-burn farming stage for generations.

Do you expect turkeys or llamas to pull your plow?

Of course, the difficulties that the North American natives could never solve were just a matter of dozens of ships for the Ming Dynasty.

——This is the meaning of geographical discovery!

For some areas, the natural upper limit that can never be exceeded can only be exceeded by exchanging things that other areas are accustomed to.

Zhu Gaoxu asked in confusion: "Why did Mr. Jiang say that there is no need to exterminate the locals? Isn't it true that people who are not from my race must have different minds?"

Jiang Xinghuo recovered his thoughts and said.

"One is that Chinese civilization has a strong ability to assimilate small and backward ethnic groups. This has been verified countless times in past history. Of course, I am not saying that this kind of ethnic integration is just and correct. In fact, , this so-called 'fusion' is often accompanied by the pain and blood and tears of countless ancestors, and I will only talk about this result here."

Li Jinglong nodded, whether it was the Five Hu Dynasties that devastated China and the subsequent Northern and Southern Dynasties, or the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period when northern barbarians such as the Shatuo people merged with the Han again, or the Jurchens who caused the disgrace of Jingkang. Regardless of these The Hu people are so barbaric and good at fighting, but in the end they are assimilated into Han people.

"The second is that the indigenous people of the new land may also be the descendants of the Chinese ancestors, and there is no extremely unacceptable difference from us."

Jiang Xinghuo's theory is the "Yin people's eastward journey" theory that he saw in his previous life.

In order to uncover the Indian civilization, scientists in Jiang Xinghuo's previous life made many hypotheses, among which "the Yin people's eastward journey" was the main one, which was a hypothesis about the origin of the Indians in North America. Jiang Xinghuo could not guarantee whether it was correct, but At least it is possible.

The main reason why the theory of "Yin people's eastward journey" came into being was that the army that marched eastward disappeared during the Shang Dynasty. Through the confrontation between the Shang Dynasty and the American continent, it was discovered that when the army disappeared, a new civilization unexpectedly appeared on the American continent. ——Olmec civilization, so this also makes the statement of "Yin people's eastward journey" more reliable.

Not to mention whether primitive people from Asia to North America can do things, it is not impossible for humans who have entered a civilized society to do it.

The reason why many scholars recognize the relationship between the ancients of the Shang Dynasty and the Indians is mainly because the cultural relics unearthed locally are highly similar to various ancient cultural relics in China, such as pottery pots, oracle bone inscriptions, etc. Moreover, according to records, it is found that the Indians and the Shang Dynasty also have many similarities in their habits, as evidenced by stone statues of people kneeling and sitting.

Of course, this is only a prerequisite. The most important thing is that Indians and Han people are indeed not incompatible with each other in terms of various conditions. If they are like Kunlun slaves, Jiang Xinghuo will naturally do the exact opposite. proposed.

In fact, this is just Jiang Xinghuo's wishful thinking. If it is really implemented, the probability of killing them all is relatively high.

Jiang Xinghuo's words made Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu more and more curious. Only then did they remember that they were only focusing on discussing the possibility of immigrating to the new continent and had forgotten to ask where the new land was. They asked almost in unison.

"Where is the new continent? Why did Mr. Jiang say that it might be the descendants of the ancestors of China?"

Jiang Xinghuo compared his text map and drew on the far right side as a hint.

After reading it, both of them fell silent.

"Isn't it tens of thousands of miles away?"

"It's far away." Jiang Xinghuo nodded and admitted, "But the sea is different from the land. As long as the supplies are sufficient, it can be reached in just a few months with the wind, and the other sea route back is also with the wind."

Then, Jiang Xinghuo gave a rough outline of the route.

What Jiang Xinghuo said is to start from southern seaports such as Quanzhou Port, follow the westerly belt in the Western Pacific directly to Central America, and then go north along the coastline and return to Japan along the Pacific Rim Current.

This is a relatively mature transoceanic route in later generations. In the ancient era of sailing warships, even more emphasis was placed on the application of wind power. Whether a sailing ship goes smoothly or not is completely different.

Of course, if you want to sail across the ocean, your sails will definitely need to be improved accordingly.

Anyway, if traveling from Daming to North America, eastbound ships should take advantage of the westerly drift as much as possible to choose the shortest voyage route. They usually use great circle routes or mixed routes when sailing at mid-to-high latitudes, and transverse routes when sailing at low latitudes.

When returning to Daming from North America, ships should avoid typhoons and low pressures in the northwest Pacific as much as possible. This route also has two changes, which fluctuate with the seasons. Generally, it moves northward in summer and southward in winter to avoid the North Pacific. sea ​​fog and storm.

After listening to Jiang Xinghuo's explanation, Li Jinglong felt slightly relieved.

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu felt that this was indeed a good idea.

But Li Jinglong still shook his head: "The method mentioned by Mr. Jiang should be regarded as a good way to combat the Little Ice Age in the future, but it is too time-consuming and energy-consuming. It will take about ten or twenty years to be initially effective, and the investment is huge. , without the great determination of the imperial court and the efforts of one or two generations, I am afraid it would not be possible."

"Furthermore, if the reform is like that of the previous dynasties, the emperor who supports it will probably be completely abolished before it is completed and the results are not seen. This is the principle of the reform. Once it is completed, it will be cultivated. For the benefited class, the reform will be successful; if it fails and is abandoned halfway, it will naturally mean that the people will perish and the government will cease."