In mid-June, the long-drought north finally received its first rain since the beginning of summer. The drought was alleviated. The city of Xi'an was no longer dusty and the air was much fresher. Before June 15, the weather in Shanxi and Shaanxi Military and political dignitaries arrived in Xi'an one after another and held a special meeting.
The meeting was also attended by special commissioners from hundreds of counties in Shanxi and Shaanxi. The reason why Wan Lei summoned these grassroots officials was mainly because he wanted to do a major event in Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, which was related to the country and the nation. Future and destiny.
With the arrival of many officials, the city of Xi'an became lively. After hundreds of years, this city finally became a political center again, even if it was temporary. This also made the gentry and elders in Xi'an very excited, because they were also the first Once, I sat face to face with the legendary King of Peking and listened to and discussed politics at close range.
The location of the meeting was set in the former Prince of Qin's Palace. Hundreds of representatives were divided into several groups and gathered in a square outside the main hall. On the steps of the square were sitting important officials of the Shanxi and Shaanxi military governments. In the center of the steps was a The marble podium is also engraved with the eight characters "Honesty and tolerance are great".
In the afternoon, the host stood in front of the podium and said loudly: "Thank you for your hard work and coming to the special state meeting. Now I would like to invite Wan Lei, Chairman of the Peking Military Commission, Speaker of the Provisional Assembly of Beiping Province, and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Provisional Government of Beiping Province. The gentleman gave a speech, and everyone applauded and welcomed him."
As soon as the host finished speaking, all the military and political officials below took the lead and stood up, and warm applause broke out. They were all former members of the Peking Army and the Peking Parallel Province. They had participated in this kind of meeting many times, so they were naturally used to it. On the contrary, The newly joined gentry and elders were greatly surprised.
But we can't blame them for being rare. If it were in the past, most people would never see a king like Wan Lei. Even if they were lucky enough to see them, they would have to kneel down and kowtow. They couldn't even raise their heads, and they couldn't see each other clearly. Appearance. Now Wan Lei stood openly in front of the crowd and had close contact with them. This made them deeply surprised and at the same time, they also doubted whether they were dreaming.
"Everyone, please take a seat." A powerful and gentle voice sounded in the venue, reminding the gentry that they were not dreaming. When they looked up, they saw one person standing in front of the podium. Although he was not wearing a dragon robe, his face was He also exuded a confident and domineering air.
"Wan has summoned you to a special meeting this time because he has important matters to discuss with you. This matter is of great importance and involves the interests of hundreds of people in Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, so we dare not act hastily." Wan Lei glanced around and said: "I plan to seal off most of the plateau and mountainous areas in Shaanxi and Shanxi and classify them as protected areas, strictly prohibiting the entry of ordinary people."
"Seal the mountain?" The gentry below all looked at Wan Lei on the podium in surprise, and some even boldly asked: "Then, the people in that area will..."
"It's not a mountain closure, but a province closure. I have designated two lockdown areas. One is the Loess Plateau, and the other is the Taihang Mountains. The Loess Plateau is the largest area, accounting for almost one-third of the entire province of Shaanxi. Secondly, the Taihang Mountains also account for most of Shanxi, so it is more appropriate to use the term sealed province. This means that in any blocked area, most people will evacuate, and the prefectures and counties may be abolished or reorganized."
"Seal the province? Seal both Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces?" The officials and gentry were even more dumbfounded. Although they had heard that the imperial court designated Shanglinwan as a hunting ground exclusively for palace hunting, this was only a small area. Blockade, and Wan Lei said as soon as he opened his mouth that he would block most of Shaanxi and Shanxi, which made them feel unbelievable.
"Why? May I ask Mr. Wan why such a large area is closed?" asked an experienced official.
"Closing mountains to plant trees and returning farmland to forests." Wan Lei paused and then said: "Why is a country prosperous and strong? It cannot be measured just by the number of people and land. The key is to look at its gross national product. What is national product? Total value? To put it bluntly, it is the products produced by the people of the country."
"The reason why Beiping Province is prosperous and powerful is because of its high GDP. The annual output of Beiping Province is several times that of other provinces. Why can Beiping Province, with less people and less land, have such a high GDP? It is because of its production Intensification and specialization, farming specializes in farming, mining specializes in mining, and weaving specializes in weaving.”
"Now the Jiangbei region has been unified, but the regional differences between provinces are still very large. The Central Plains is suitable for farming. As long as the North China Plain is farmed well, one year's food production is enough to feed tens of millions of people. However, the mountainous plateau areas of Shaanxi and Shanxi are barren. , planting extensively but yielding only a poor harvest, with no farming value, it is better to return farmland to forests and focus on developing forestry."
"Developing forestry? Can planting trees feed people?" There was another discussion below.
"Yes, trees cannot be eaten, and forestry production cannot feed many people. But the key to the problem is the severe soil erosion in the Loess Plateau and Taihang Mountains, which has caused floods and droughts in the Yellow River and seriously endangered the two major grain-producing areas of Henan and Shandong. safety.”
"On the Loess Plateau, extensive planting has led to poor harvests. The poorer the people are, the poorer they are, and the poorer they are, the more they are cultivating. Soil erosion has become more serious, and the Yellow River has become more difficult to manage. The main grain-producing areas in the lower plains cannot produce normally. If this continues, both ends will be a mess. .In this case, it would be better for a strong man to cut off his arm, seal the Loess Plateau and Taihang Mountains and return them to forests, return the original source of the Yellow River to its original source, and create stable farming conditions for the lower reaches of the plain."
"This, this..." The people below began to whisper to each other. They finally understood. Wan Lei meant to sacrifice Shaanxi and Shanxi to protect the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Although they understood this truth, they found it difficult to accept it. After all, The ones who suffer are them and the ordinary people below them.
No, an old man stood up and asked: "If the Loess Plateau and Taihang Mountains are sealed, what will the people there do?"
"Of course we have a proper way to resettle these people. A small number of them will stay and plant trees, and we will give these people seedlings and wages. Most of the people will be divided and resettled according to the principle of nearby resettlement. Some will be resettled in the Loop, and some will be resettled." They will be sent to Hanzhong and some will be resettled in Henan. In short, they will not be displaced."
Wan Lei paused and then said: "Unlike the Ming Dynasty, we will not limit the people to the land, and with the advancement of agricultural production tools, there will be fewer and fewer farmers engaged in agricultural production. People will be liberated from the land and engaged in industry and commerce. In short, there is no need to worry about their employment prospects."
"In addition, we also have a draft economic development plan. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, we will increase investment in Shaanxi and Shanxi, build a direct railway from Peking to Xi'an within five years, and build a transportation link connecting all provinces within ten years. Internet. With convenient transportation, food and other supplies can be exchanged, so you don’t have to worry about going hungry.”
“At the same time, we also encourage industrialists from all over the country to invest and set up industries in Shaanxi and Shanxi to promote the balanced economic development of various places. As long as people are pragmatic and hard-working, they can have a decent job and live a decent life without having to live in a shaanxi and Shanxi province for generations. The ground faces the loess and the back faces the sky."