To build the Great Wall on the sea, you must have a strong navy.
The admiral of the Navy, Jing Haibo Zhao Jun, and the Minister of Industry and Commerce presented Zhu Houcong with more specific difficulties.
Louis hasn't left the capital yet, and he doesn't know how serious the face of the Emperor of Heaven in the imperial study room is now.
"Is the gap in good wood to this extent?"
Zhu Houcong felt unbelievable.
Liu Tianhe is a pragmatic person who can do things on his own and innovate. In order to control the river, he developed special equipment to measure the sediment content of the Yellow River. Now it is time to systematically start the management of floods in the Yellow and Huaihe Rivers. He came to the central government to coordinate the specific work.
The affairs were handed over to Tang Shu.
But when he came to the center, he couldn't just deal with river management.
"Imperial city rest, Huguang Straight Road, Hetao, Xuanning Chi Road, Huanghuai Floods, Grand Theater, Heavy Industry Park..." Liu Tianhe listed these first, then looked at Zhao Jun, "allowing people's ships to launch into the sea, plus Shanghai
Master, there are so many places where wood is used nowadays. Folks and people also have to burn fires and charcoal. Not only giant trees, but also ordinary wood is in short supply nowadays."
The two of them came together and said that the reason was that the navy's expansion ship was short of huge wood, but Liu Tianhe wanted to say more than that.
He seriously submitted a memorial: "I have been paying attention to this matter since I arrived in the capital. Your Majesty, after hundreds of years, the Central Plains has been withered and dusty. Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the Yellow River changed its course, and the Huanghuai floods have become more and more serious.
All for this reason. After the reunification, His Majesty ordered Sun to join the government and go to Shaanxi to plant trees. His foresight and far-sightedness impressed the ministers. However, it was a drop in the bucket, and the court and the people could not live without wood for a day. Now, it is being cut down faster than it is growing."
Zhu Houcong read his report seriously. This was Liu Tianhe's research that he started to deal with the Huanghuai floods, but gradually it was not limited to this.
After reading the contents, Zhu Houcong came into contact with the shocking facts.
To be precise, it should be that the vegetation in the northern Central Plains has been severely destroyed since the past thousand years.
Throughout history, wood has been both a source of energy and a building material.
Liu Tianhe gave an example. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, officials already reported "Shaolin trees in Shandong." The Shandong here is not Shandong Province, but the entire Central Plains area east of Mount Wei.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Wen, the usurper of the Tang Dynasty, did one more thing: he destroyed the palaces, palaces, and folk houses in Chang'an, and used their materials to float down the Wei River. Chang'an has since been ruined.
Because he wanted to build his new palace in Luoyang, he could not find enough tall trees in the Central Plains area, nor could he find them in Guanzhong, so he demolished the existing Chang'an palace and private houses.
Similarly, the wood needed to build a large palace in Bianliang in the Northern Song Dynasty came from "Qinzhou". Qinzhou in the Song Dynasty was already in Gansu: "The market wood Qinlong, connected with the giant rafts from the Weida River, and the mainstays were gathered in the capital
."
But when the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty and wanted to rebuild Bianjing, all the giant trees in Gansu were used up, so they found more remote places: building cliffs and ravines, building long bridges for more than ten miles, transporting wood by cart, and opening up six mountains and rivers.
The road to Luo leads to Bianliang.
In the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Zhu Di intended to move the capital to Chang'an, but he could not find timber. During the Yongle period, the capital was moved to Beijing. To get timber, he had to go to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River thousands of miles away: Today, it is difficult to find single logs, and giant logs are produced in Huguang and Qiongya, Sichuan.
It is a ravine, an inaccessible place. If you cut it with an axe, you can reach the river in a few turns. You can also trace the river for thousands of miles, and then reach the capital. The time of transportation by water and land is uncountable.
"Su Zizhan was appointed in Guanzhong and wrote "Eight Views of Fengxiang". The poem goes: Kuangdang Qishan, the scenery is still shameful. Some mountains are as bald as ocher, and some water is as turbid as swill. Shen Cunzhong's "Mengxi Bi Tan" also says: Between Qi and Lu
The mountains and forests are all gone, gradually reaching Taihang, the west of Beijing, the south of the Yangtze River, and most of the Songshan Mountains are full of children. Zhangshui, turbid water, mulberry stems and the like are all turbid currents."
Liu Tianhe continued: "I and Jing Haibo are here today to present the matter directly and ask your Majesty to take charge of the overall situation. Now that shipping is booming, it is better to get wood from Huguang and Sichuan than from Fujian."
Jiaozhi comes from Nanyang, Korea, and Liaodong!"
Zhu Houcong listened and finally understood more deeply the financial pressure brought about by Jiajing's overhaul of the temples.
Although he is not overhauling the palace now, the Ming Dynasty's projects will only use more wood.
"Huguang, not Sichuan?" Zhu Houcong asked.
"Absolutely not!" Liu Tianhe replied decisively, "Learning from the past mistakes of the Huanghuai River, if the Yangtze River follows the same footsteps, there will never be peace in Huguang and Jiangnan! In fact, if it is just wood, it will not be a problem. However, now that the world is stable, Yunnan and Shaanxi borders
The city of Daxing, Huguang, and the fertile land of Sichuan will definitely have a prosperous population. With the harvesting of wood and the cutting of firewood and burning charcoal by the people, even if there is abundant rain in the south, there is no guarantee that it will not be thousands of miles of bald mountains and thousands of miles of turbid currents!"
Zhu Houcong understood what he meant.
The destructiveness of engineering wood is not bad, mainly because of the energy needs of the large population and the needs of private construction. When ordinary people cut trees, they are trees and shrubs.
As this continues over the years, the mountains have become bald, water and soil have naturally been lost, and flood pressure has naturally increased.
Zhu Houcong couldn't help but take a deep look at Liu Tianhe: From the time when Jiajing's southern tour in three years put him in charge of related matters, almost ten years now, Liu Tianhe has indeed become an expert in this field, and his understanding is quite good.
He knew that the problems in Shaanxi and Shanxi were serious, but he had so many things to do on weekdays that he did not consider the relevant issues comprehensively and deeply.
Asking Sun Yuan to plant trees only shows that he is aware and pays attention, but it ignores the impact of the court's decisions on the people in this era: so many projects must have a stable supply of wood.
Once a place becomes a timber supplier, it will naturally form the basis for the prosperity of related industries. There is also a demand for useful wood among the private sector. Whether it is from cost considerations or online convenience considerations, when the private sector is looking for these large timbers, they will also choose those.
Supply areas, thereby aggravating the consumption of wood in the source area, ultimately causing faster vegetation destruction and soil erosion.
This rule has been verified by the continuous transfer of timber supply locations in history. First it was Guanzhong, then Longxi, and then Huguang and Sichuan.
"Sea transport..."
Among the places Liu Tianhe suggested, the only one with real soil in the Ming Dynasty was Fujian, probably because...if it didn't spread to Jiangxi, the Fujian side would be bald, and it wouldn't affect the Yangtze River system?
No...he only mentioned one place, so it was actually suggested to only transport wood back from overseas.
Huguang and Sichuan are not allowed. Yunnan and Guizhou have to go by land first, and the cost is also not low. It is not as large-scale and low-cost as sea transportation.
And if it's shipping... he wants to get a little more of the 10 million taels of silver that Portugal is about to pay.
If the money is shipped from the west, why not first exchange it for some goods that the Ming Dynasty needs from Nanyang? The lumber from Nanyang is used for shipbuilding in the south, and the lumber from North Korea and Liaodong is used for the projects in Hetao, Xuanning and the capital in the north?
Zhu Houcong looked at Liu Tianhe: "The Account Department, Daming Bank, and Baoyuan Bureau all need a large amount of silver. It is not only needed for salary silver, but also for new money."
"I will only tell you what is going on. Your Majesty has decreed it!"
Liu Tianhe didn't talk nonsense either.
Everyone has their own needs.
Zhu Houcong sighed, even if he had a large sum of extra money, it would still be insufficient.
There is no way, there are indeed too many things he wants to do, and money is needed everywhere.
Silver, silver...
Zhu Houcong glanced at Zhao Jun.
After pondering for a long time, he said to Huang Jin: "Announce Liu Long and Yu Chengye."
One is outside Chengtian Gate, and the other is in the palace. The two will arrive soon.
Zhu Houcong first asked Liu Long: "There is still no news from Japan this time. Has anyone sent chess players to compete?"
Liu Long replied cautiously: "I haven't received any news from your Majesty yet. After the tribute was cut off, all exchanges were cut off. Gong Yongqing in North Korea and maritime merchants in Zhejiang who have dealings with Japan all said that Japan will be more chaotic this year. I'm afraid it's...
I can’t care about that.”
"Oh? What's new over there this year?" Zhu Houcong became interested.
"There are some rumors only recently. It happened at the end of last year and in the first month of this year."
Liu Long then reported to the emperor.
The country of Japan is now divided into sixty-six countries, large and small. In addition to the five Kinki countries, there are fifteen countries on the Tokaido Road, six countries on the Nankaido Road, ten countries on the Saikaido Road, and seven countries on the Hokuriku Road, plus Higashiyama Road.
, Shanyin Road and Shanyang Road each have eight countries.
In the future history, it will be called the so-called Warring States Period because they called the country based on the division of administrative regions. This was their divided feudal system.
Closer to the Ming Dynasty are the Saikaido, Sanyo Road and Sanyodo to the west of Kinki. Those who had more contact with the Ming Dynasty were the Ouchi clan, who had previously been powerful in this area, under the guise of the Ashikaga clan of the Muromachi shogunate, which was already weak in Japan.
Come pay tribute in his name.
"...As I reported, the Nanizi clan has occupied the eleven kingdoms of Shanyin and Shanyang. However, for some unknown reason, the third son of the Nanizi clan rebelled and his vitality was severely damaged. The Ouchi clan, which already occupied the seven kingdoms,
He was refused tribute by the Ming Dynasty. The leader at that time had passed away five years ago. His son was now ambitious. He not only opened up the Western Sea Route, but also took advantage of the Nizi clan's internal and external troubles to instigate the Mao Li clan, a member of the Nizi clan, to rebel. In the first month of this year, Na
The Maori clan has joined forces with several other members of the Nizi clan to establish their own clan, so there is a lot of trouble there now."
Zhu Houcong nodded.
Mouri's? Is it Moori Motonari?
He didn't know much at first, but after so many years of careful contact and a little bit of information collected through private contacts with private merchants, he still knew a little.
In the southwestern part of Japan closer to the Ming Dynasty, the two major forces have been confronting each other for a long time, and now a third force is finally beginning to rise. Since he has heard the name Mourimoto and has a vague impression of it, he must be the more outstanding figure in Japan during this period.
A character. But the two characters that Zhu Houcong has a direct impression of are Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu. I have not heard of these two people yet. They were not born yet, or they are too old.
young?
Zhu Houcong didn't care about this. Anyway, he only knew where Shijian Yinshan was.
If you are short of money, just look for it.
"It's better to make a big fuss." Zhu Houcong looked at Zhao Jun, "The Great Wall Company of the Sea has been set up. You can also send some generals with experience in naval warfare to go there. This first mission is to follow Xu Dong's ship in Jiangxi.
Let's go to Japan to explore Japan. There is a place in Japan close to North Korea, that Tsushima Island. First find a port, and then do business with them. It only costs money."
Zhao Jun is still not a marquis. Although the record of defeating Portugal is very good, in the Ming Dynasty's impression, Portugal is not as valuable as the heads of the southwestern barbarians, and the benefits of expansion are large enough, so he is still an earl.
But Zhao Jun doesn't care that much, as long as he can always take credit for his achievements.
Liu Long was shocked: "Your Majesty, Japan is alone overseas. Tsushima Island is very close to Japan. Now it is more related to the sea trade between Japan and North Korea..."
Zhu Houcong waved his hand: "It's not that the Ming Dynasty King is here in person, it's just private maritime merchants doing business and bringing some guards. I have already said that I won't go to war in these years, but I think they can now distinguish the pros and cons. Here.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the civilian maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty had a place to establish themselves, and there would be a steady stream of swords, guns, swords and halberds behind them to help them compete for supremacy?”
It seems that it is the Ouchi family who is starting to mine money in Iwamiyama now?
Once the silver is dug out, it must be used. Ming Dynasty only recognizes silver.
Liu Long had no choice but to explain: "Your Majesty, Tsushima Island has always been self-unified and had both sides. Now the island is also experiencing constant civil strife..."
"Oh?" Zhu Houcong was very interested, "There is also civil strife on Tsushima Island. What's going on?"
"...I heard that the last Yi chieftain was forced to commit suicide by his retainers, and then there was an endless struggle for power between brothers, uncles and nephews."
"Civil strife is good!" Zhu Houcong laughed, "This island is a great benevolent place. Since it is like this, it will be easier to establish a foothold. Didn't Li Yi say it in his thank you letter? Most of the Japanese goods are from Tsushima Island's clan.
The clan relies on the sea and is transported from Japan. It is not in direct contact with the Japanese rulers or the Ashikaga clan, which violates my taboo. It can be seen that this clan is a person who is willing to do business. Who would seize this opportunity to unify the country?
Ma Dao, I... No, the Xu family will help anyone."
As a test of the waters, this was the first step, and it was not the only thing Zhu Houcong called Liu Long and Yu Chengye.
After that, they discussed the Border Trade Department's expansion of external procurement of bulk timber commodities to strengthen economic ties with the subservient vassals, as well as coal mining.
The private demand for firewood and the heavy industry to be cultivated for coal both required the Ming Dynasty to intensify its efforts in coal mining.
At present, Zhu Houcong's most reasonable choice is naturally Datong, and...
"You can go to the north of Yinshan Mountain for exploration." Zhu Houcong looked at Yu Chengye and asked him to make arrangements, "Let the Mongolian people in the border area collect the coal in the north of Yinshan Mountain, and let the small tribes in the north of the border area collect it. The Ming Dynasty will collect the coal there.
Let’s see if I will rob those small tribes who are just trying to survive, or let them turn more and more towards the Ming Dynasty!”
Ming Dynasty provided goods and wealth.
When the offensive and defensive momentum changes, the alien forces in the fringe areas are the easiest to break through.
Tsushima Island is an important strategic point. North of the Yinshan Mountains, the southernmost area of Anda's influence, and even Khalkha, which was entrenched in the Outer Mongolia area where coal mines were rich in the future, may also choose another way of survival.
Things were arranged, and after some time, Zhao Jun came up with something that was a bit strange to Zhu Houcong.
"Yan Shifan?"
"...Yes. The head of the Xu family implores Your Majesty to do this important thing. His most capable man is Wang Zhi. However, Wang Zhi is now in charge of the Nan'ao Maritime Trading Company in Malacca and has no time to spare. But in the past, Wang Zhi was on Cat Ba Island.
On the contrary, I admire Mr. Yan very much, so I remembered what Wang Zhi said before to the head of the Xu family, and asked my ministers to invite Mr. Yan to come to the Maritime Great Wall Company to help the Xu family develop a port city on Tsushima Island."
Zhu Houcong looked at him speechlessly: "You mean your subordinates only know how to fight and kill, and Xu Dong's subordinates don't have enough talents to do this alone?"
"...The head of the Xu family is often in Ningbo, but he is also very busy. This matter is related to your majesty's grand plan. The head of the Xu family does not dare to neglect it, for fear that it will be difficult to achieve the goal after he promises it, and his majesty will be offended."
"That guy Yan Shifan..."
After returning from Jiaozhi, he, as the military attache of the Jiaozhi Propaganda Embassy, had made some merits and was promoted to the fifth rank, Qianhu. Now, Zhu Houcong was placed under Lu Bing's command again for training.
With this guy's character, Zhu Houcong never dared to entrust him with such a big responsibility.
He seems to have extraordinary talent when it comes to misfortune, and he has an indulgent temperament that he doesn't hide much.
Wang Zhi and him hit it off right away? It seems that there are indeed many aspects in common between the big pirate and Mr. Xiao Ge.
Now that he encountered this matter, Xu Dong actually wanted Yan Shifan to help him... no, help the emperor.
How come Yan Shifan is still loved by everyone?
Zhu Houcong was very weird. He asked Yan Shifan to bring disaster to Japan?
Seems pretty good...
But if this happens, Yan Song will definitely feel bitter.
He had such a son, even if he was blind in one eye, the emperor didn't have to send him so far away to Jiaozhi first, and then send him to Japan which was equally far away, right?
Moreover, this time was different from going to Jiaozhi. Over there, Mo Dengyong requested the Ming Dynasty to be canonized, and he did not dare to disrespect the Ming Dynasty. But the Japanese were bold and dared to cause chaos in Ningbo.
Now it is clear that they want to intervene in the war-torn Japan, where fighting and killing are the norm. If you are not careful, the Lao Yan family will be wiped out.
"This matter... I need to discuss it with Yan Song first."
That night, the Yan family and his son gathered together in Yangxin Hall after their shift.
Yan Shifan was only excited, but Yan Song was uneasy.
This private banquet only consisted of father and son, which was very unusual!
Heaven's grace is very heavy, I'm afraid it will be hard to bear.
Sure enough, he was polite to the end, and when the meal was almost finished, the emperor was shocked.
"Yan Shifan, I know that you also have the ambition to make great achievements. Now you have a great achievement, I wonder if you have the courage to do it?"
Yan Shifan's eyes shone brightly, and he said obligingly: "Your Majesty, I have never been timid!"
Zhu Houcong thought to himself that you have never been timid.
"Your Majesty..." Yan Song said euphemistically, "I, my father and my son, only obey your Majesty's orders. I don't know what your Majesty's great achievements are..."
Zhu Houcong said with a smile: "In Japan, Wei Zhong, the reason why you, as the chief of the imperial study room, suddenly moved the governor and then changed the governorship was because of Ningbo's competition for tribute. If Yan Shifan makes great contributions to Japan again, there will be a good story in the history books in the future."
Yan Song was gagged in advance and could not express his pain.
Your Majesty, Japan is a country without conquests! Not because I like it, but because the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and even Taizu Taizu of the Ming Dynasty suffered from Japan, and the gains outweigh the losses!
But Zhu Houcong's next words made Yan Shifan tremble all over: "For this merit, you can be crowned king."