Father can be an enemy to the country

"What a great idea!" Hu Quan exclaimed after hearing this: "Your Majesty can always break out of the rut and solve problems from a higher level!"

"Haha, actually, I am just an ordinary person." Zhu Zhen laughed.

"Your Majesty is really too modest." Hu Quan naturally didn't believe it.

In fact, Zhu Zhen is not overly modest. The reason why he can always come up with unexpected solutions and always solve problems beautifully in the end is because he can learn from history.

It's just that the history that others know is past history, and what he masters is 'future history'...

Now others are cheering that Dongchuan's copper output far exceeds that of the previous dynasty, but Zhu Zhen knows that the Ming Dynasty's Yunnan copper output is dwarfed by the later Qing Dynasty.

During the Qianlong period when mining was most prosperous in the Qing Dynasty, Yunnan copper accounted for more than 80% of the country's copper output. At that time, the country's copper materials were basically supplied by Yunnan. The output of Dongchuan Copper Mine accounts for more than 70% of Yunnan's copper output. So the current output in Dongchuan is less than a fraction of what it was at its peak.

So why is there such a big difference without significant progress in mining and smelting technology? There are naturally many reasons, but one of the most important is that in the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign, Huize County was established in the mountains of Dongchuan Prefecture, and all copper smelting was transferred to the county town, changing the original situation of nearby opening and decentralized smelting. status.

There are so many benefits to centralized smelting, such as easier production and transportation, and of course safer. This allows mine owners to make long-term investments with confidence and build larger-scale mining plants, which greatly improves production efficiency.

When the living environment is safer, more people will be willing to come to Dongchuan to make a living. The biggest obstacle to the development of Dongchuan Copper, the shortage of manpower, has been solved in this way.

Since then, the development of Dongchuan's copper industry has officially entered the fast lane. During the Qianlong period, it became a veritable "copper capital" and supported the Qing government's finances.

Some people even say that half of the credit for the Qing Dynasty's ability to rule China for more than two hundred years must be attributed to Yunnan Copper.

So if Boss Zhu knew about this, he would not give Yunnan to Mu Ying even if he was killed. It is estimated that Lao Liu will have to be driven out of Yunnan, and there is no chance of getting close to his cornucopia.

It's a pity that if Zhu Zhen doesn't talk about this, he will never know...

~~

The city Zhu Zhen wanted to build in Yunnan was Huize. However, he is not short of funds, so he is not in a hurry to create a copper city. Just let nature take its course and let it develop and grow step by step.

It is enough to solve the public security problem in Dongchuan for now.

The three of them walked along the bluestone road beside Jinchi Lake, under the weeping willows, and did not feel the scorching heat of midsummer at all.

"Let's talk about the situation in the military camp." Zhu Zhen said to his uncle again.

Today, Hu Quan is actually reporting on his work as the commander of the Yunnan capital. Naturally, Hu Quan already has a well-thought-out plan in his mind, and he talks like this:

"When the prince left Yunnan, it was at the end of the seventeenth year of Hongwu. At that time, there were twenty-three guards, eight imperial guards, and eighteen troops in Yunnan. In the past few years, the imperial court gradually transferred another twenty guards, with a total of one hundred and eight thousand troops stationed in the camp."

"Not counting Guizhou and outer Yunnan, the entire Yunnan metropolis now has a complete establishment of 43 guards, eight imperial offices and 28 offices, with 251 thousand-household offices, 2,551 100-household offices, and three There are 120,000 troops, including 250,000 garrison troops, which are stationed in towns, dam areas, along post roads, and at strategic locations such as ferries, passes, and key points. This prevents thieves and chieftains from rebelling; it is both convenient for gathering and fighting. The scattered farming has formed a strong control over the entire Yunnan!"

"What about grain and livestock?" Zhu Zhen asked again.

"According to statistics at the end of last year, Yunnan Dusi has a total of 243,000 horses, including 52,000 war horses, and the rest are Yunnan horses used to pull carts and plows; 180,000 cattle; With 1,570,000 acres of land and 2,330,000 shi of grain, the guard has not only achieved self-sufficiency, but it is also enough to support the army’s expedition!”

"Okay, the development is very rapid." Zhu Zhen nodded with satisfaction.

Of course, this is not due to natural population growth, but from Boss Zhu's strong immigration and settlement policy. Although they did not fight, most of the 200,000 troops mobilized to attack the Luchuan Kingdom stayed in Yunnan and garrisoned on the spot.

Now more than two years have passed, and these people have settled down, and most of them have brought their families to Yunnan to live permanently. Today, there are as many as 1.5 million military households and their families in Yunnan.

There are only more than two million Han people in Yunnan as a whole, and the number of military households exceeds 70% of the total population.

Most of the Han people in Yunnan were military households. The advantage was that they were particularly good at fighting and had good obedience, so Zhu Zhen was able to quickly open up the situation and gain a foothold in Yunnan. Therefore, Yunnan’s early immigration development mainly relied on Boss Zhu’s military settlement policy.

The reason why Boss Zhu supports Yunnan so strongly is that one is the importance of Yunnan itself, which makes him determined to digest this "barbaric land", and the other is his preference for Zhu Zhen, which makes him always unknowingly give too much.

Another very important reason is that the time is right. There is no war in the world, and Boss Zhu's army of more than two million has no place to use. If you cultivate villages in the interior, you will compete with the people for land and cause trouble. It is better to send them to the border areas as much as possible and let them cause trouble to the barbarians.

With the right time, right location, and the right people, Yunnan's military garrison naturally grew explosively.

Zhu Zhen revealed to Hu Quan: "Before returning to Beijing this time, my father and my elder brother told me that they would allocate another 40 garrisons to Yunnan for farming in the next five years. I will accept everyone, but my uncle will be worried."

"Hehe..." Hu Quan said with sweat on his forehead: "This is indeed a headache. The main reason is that after the 180,000 people were settled, there are not many good places left. If there are another 40 garrisons, they will definitely conflict with the chieftains if they are all settled."

"Hey, didn't my uncle just say that we should jump out of the rut and look at the problem from a higher level?" Zhu Zhen laughed.

"Your Highness is saying..." Hu Quan was stunned.

"Dad, Your Highness is saying, isn't there Outer Yunnan?" Hu Xian reminded me.

"Yes, young people are still quick-witted." Hu Quan slapped his head and said, "Outer Yunnan is not Yunnan!"

"That's right, our next work focus should be shifted to Outer Yunnan." Zhu Zhen said, "If you don't digest it quickly, you will poop it out again, which is equivalent to working in vain."

"The prince's words are rough but the truth is true..." The father and son of the Hu family were sweating, thinking that the prince had been hanging around with soldiers for a long time, and his words were getting worse and worse.

"In short, our next work focus should be placed on Outer Yunnan. We will strive to make Yunnan no longer divided into internal and external areas within ten years! Everything will become the same." Zhu Zhen said firmly.

At this time, he saw Deng Duo walking over from a distance with Pan Yuanming and Daotong, and smiled and said, "They are here, let's discuss it together."