The three giants in the northwest jointly submitted the letter, and the influence can be imagined.
The Central Committee attached great importance to it, and Zuo Mengeng personally presided over the joint meeting.
"Extremely bold."
Hou Xun gave his evaluation, but his expression was smiling.
"We were determined to separate Shaanxi and Gansu, but we didn't expect that Xu Erdou would actually set his sights on Qinghai again."
The party was still smiling bitterly.
Since the Ming Dynasty, Shaanxi and Gansu have been connected as one, and they are also important for controlling the northwest.
However, for the sake of checks and balances, the empire established a province in each of the two regions, and also had the idea of allowing local governments to sink further.
We must know that since ancient times, officials of all dynasties have been floating at the top, and it is almost difficult to take root at the grassroots level.
However, in order to achieve effective governance, the political power must move downwards.
If the area under jurisdiction is too large and the energy above is scattered, it will be difficult to concentrate on downward cultivation.
Unexpectedly, Gansu faced great difficulties and had to rely on external support.
"Even if Qinghai is annexed to Gansu, it will be difficult to solve the problem of survival. In the end, the conditions in these places are too harsh and it is really difficult to develop."
Regarding Xu Erdou's request, the center was not particularly embarrassed.
Qinghai was not merged into Gansu, and it did not affect the overall situation. On the contrary, the local conditions made the central government very scratching its head.
Of course Zuo Mengeng understood what was going on in the northwest.
Not to mention now, even if science and technology are so developed in the future, the northwest will still lag far behind other places.
This is not a situation that can be changed in a short time.
"A grain of grain stumps a heroic man. A thousand words are said but ten thousand are said. Without grain, the northwest will have no future. And there is no way they can solve it by themselves."
He narrowed the scope of the issue and concentrated it on the food field.
This is also very recognized by everyone.
As long as the food supply problem in the northwest can be solved, long-term peace and stability in the northwest can be achieved.
We must know that the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty that just passed was caused by the lack of food due to natural and man-made disasters.
As long as the people have enough to eat, who will rebel?
But when it comes to the food issue, everyone frowns and is extremely helpless.
"The northwest is far away and the territory is vast. If we transport food by land, the cost will be too high."
Chen Zhi explained the difficulties.
"If a railway can be built in the northwest, this problem can be solved."
Wei Zihua was wildly imaginative, but everyone knew that it would be difficult to build a railway to the northwest for at least twenty years.
Zuo Mengeng was studying the map and thinking of ways.
"I think we've all been misunderstood."
He pulled everyone's thoughts back and approached the northwest's issues from a completely different angle.
"There is currently a shortage of food in the northwest. This is recognized. When the army enters the Western Region, the amount of food and grass needed is astronomical. It has to supply the local people, so it becomes a burden. But what if the local population is reduced?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly understood.
For a long time, the empire has been focusing on immigration to relieve pressure on the homeland.
However, in recent years, various places have experienced a shortage of labor force due to immigration. Some economically developed areas, such as Shandong and Jiangnan, have become large absorbers of the population.
In addition, the population in Northeast China, Southeast Asia, and the New World has begun to multiply and increase in number, so the intensity of immigration has dropped.
As a result, when we encountered the problem in the northwest, everyone did not turn around for a while and actually ignored this method.
However, everyone has different opinions on whether the northwest needs immigration.
Wang Yun said cautiously: "After years of war and disasters, the population of the northwest region is not large. In addition, it now has to bear the heavy responsibility of restoring the ecology. The current population may not be enough. If there are more immigrants, there will be
Won’t it cause the region to be empty and the process to be slow?”
Another headache.
The meeting fell into silence for a while.
Even Zuo Mengeng was stumped.
After all, the current situation was something he had never seen before, and there was no existing experience to draw from on how to solve it.
But one advantage of such a meeting is that it can brainstorm ideas.
Mr. Wang Xiangjin, environmental adviser to the Legislative Council, made a rare speech.
"The environmental problems in the northwest cannot be solved at once. This is a long-term and large-scale project. As long as this is clear, we can reduce the difficulty to a minimum from the small to the large."
Zuo Mengeng cheered up.
"Mr. Kang Yu, what do you have to say?"
Wang Xiangjin stood up, walked to the map, and explained it with examples.
"When it comes to environmental problems in the northwest, we only focus on the Yellow River and the desert. But as far as the Yellow River is concerned, if we want to completely control such a large river, a hundred years of work is not enough. In this case, why not focus on the small ones and start with
Where to start with the tributaries of the Yellow River?"
He also used medicine as a metaphor.
"The Yellow River is like an aorta, with surging water volume and vast territory. To control it, the investment cost is astronomical. And although its tributaries look inconspicuous, they are also the main source channels of sediment. In this way, we can
Focus our attention on these tributaries from the entire northwest, using rivers as the context. If these small and medium-sized rivers are improved one by one, can it also reduce the difficulty of managing the Yellow River?"
Everyone listened with excitement and inspiration.
Wang Yun was amazed when he took the case.
"This also has the advantage of greatly reducing manpower input. In other words, environmental governance in the northwest region no longer requires so many people."
He also walked to the map and marked the small and medium-sized rivers in the northwest region one by one with a pen.
Now everyone can see it clearly.
Take Shaanxi as an example. After removing the Yellow River, the area that needs to be invested in treatment has been reduced by more than three-quarters.
The Weihe River, Jinghe River, Luohe River, Yanhe River, Wuding River, plus some smaller rivers are all sources of water for the Yellow River.
As Wang Xiangjin said, if efforts are concentrated on regulating these rivers, the sediment content brought into the Yellow River from the northern Shaanxi Plateau will definitely be greatly reduced.
If the same method is used in Shanxi and Gansu, the problem of the Yellow River can be easily solved.
After all, after controlling the source of sediment and consolidating both sides of the Yellow River, it seems that the Yellow River will become clear just around the corner.
As the thoughts opened up, the meeting became silent. Everyone joined in to offer their opinions and suggestions, and a unified opinion was gradually formed.
The final decision was to immigrate from the northwest, start with environmental management on various small and medium-sized rivers, and at the same time vigorously transport food to the northwest.
"If the waterway in the Sanmenxia section of the Yellow River can be dredged so that ships can enter Guanzhong through the Wei River, the cost of transporting grain will be greatly reduced."