New Shun 1730

A sophisticated ruler will definitely try every means to increase the number of small producers and self-cultivating farmers. From the perspective of feudal rule, Liu Yu's worries are very reasonable. The emperor said these words, most likely to use the Yellow River bursting to create a perfect buffer zone for small producers and farmers between the capital and Songsu.

Small producers and self-cultivating farmers are the most supportive of stable rule and almost the most conservative.

On the one hand, they are different from those poor peasants and tenants who have nothing. For poor peasants and tenants, they have nothing to lose.

On the other hand, they are also full of fear for the new era, or fear of change, because they have no ability to share a share in the new era, and they are uneasy about any change.

For the original Dashun, the Shandong issue is a big problem, and they dare not act rashly. Even the emperor is not qualified to take advantage of the opportunity to do things.

But now it is really different.

With the change of canal rice, the emergence of railways, the rise of sea transportation, and the strength of the navy, the emperor was 90% sure that he could complete the most favorable disposal method for the imperial power after the Yellow River burst.

Even if Liu Yu was not sure whether the emperor would think so, it was still very simple to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

Take advantage of the uprising after the disaster, eat the big households, etc. to eliminate some landlords; then send troops to suppress the rebels; finally appease and provide relief to the remaining people.

This is very simple. Don't block the hole, send troops to prevent migration, or fight slowly, three to five years will be enough to completely reshuffle.

At the same time, take advantage of the people's lack of livelihood after the disaster to reduce their resistance to migration, leave some people here to farm, and move to overseas or Heilongjiang.

In fact, with the transportation route of rice, financial capacity, and military capacity of Dashun at this time, the cost of doing so is the lowest, and it is also the most favorable choice for the imperial power.

On the other hand, from the perspective of truly solving the land system and overthrowing the feudal dynasty, the status of Shandong region has become quite embarrassing.

If Liu Yu had not carried out sea transportation and abolished the canal, once the Yellow River burst and the canal was blocked, a large-scale uprising broke out.

Basically... it was a forerunner for the king.

But this kind of forerunner for the king means that it can lead to chaos in the Dashun court and reduce the control over the local areas, and the suppressed class contradictions will break out one after another. And Dashun will definitely choose to focus on suppressing the resistance in the canal area to make the local resistance unable to be suppressed, and it is not guaranteed that it will succeed.

This is not to say that rebellion is addictive, but some things can only be solved in this way. Whether it is equal distribution of land to ensure that most people will not starve to death during the transition period; or to disintegrate the control of the gentry over the local areas and concentrate on immigration with the new face of the new government... It can't be done by relying on the old ship of Dashun.

However, the current situation is really that even if an uprising breaks out in the canal area, it is a dead end, and it is purely a sacrifice in vain and cannot affect the national situation. Moreover, it will be very easy to suppress, and it will not cause the severance of the economic center and the political center.

If the emperor is sophisticated enough, then the Yellow River breach problem means that the class foundation of the Dashun imperial power has been greatly strengthened.

The capital region can cultivate Mongolia and go to Guandong; the Yellow River will become a natural moat after the diversion; the reshuffle of Shandong will shape a large number of self-cultivating farmers and small producers - this is what Liu Yu said, those small landlords and wealthy self-cultivating farmers who are good families or blood tax border troops are the sharpest knives of imperial power. The big landlords and gentry are actually shit and extremely fragile.

In fact, in Liu Yu's view, when Dashun concentrated all its strength and completed the Indian War and this European War, the Dashun imperial power was no longer of much use. It is time to appropriately weaken and detonate those buried mines one by one.

Lao En said: In front of it, there is no ultimate, absolute, or sacred thing; it points out the temporary nature of all things; in front of it, nothing exists except the continuous process of survival and death, and the endless process of rising from low to high.

It's like the Western Trade Company of Dashun. Without the monopoly, exclusive, and centralized Western Trade Company of Dashun, Dashun would not be able to open up the European market. All small and scattered merchants would become compradors and be eaten up by European monopoly companies one by one. They would be beaten to death for smuggling in Xiaocang, and their ships would be detained and prices would be lowered in Batavia. They would be unable to open up the situation and could not bypass India, where the goods were homogeneously competitive.

But now, he is about to complete his mission and will become an obstacle to the progress of productivity, so Liu Yu has been thinking about killing him.

The imperial power will also be like this.

To some extent, Liu Yu jumped out to solve the Yellow River problem at this time...

Just talking about ideas and logic, it is actually similar to the ideas of some people who wanted to get rid of Stolypin during the reform of Tsarist Russia Stolypin in later generations - if it is really changed, it will greatly enhance the power of the imperial power and its ruling power will be greatly enhanced.

The Yellow River bursting had greatly shaken the rule of Dashun 20 years ago; but now, Liu Yu felt that an experienced ruler might take this opportunity to turn disaster into blessing and greatly strengthen the ruling foundation of the imperial power. At least judging from the emperor's ruling level and prestige at that time, it was very likely.

Even without considering these reasons, just from the perspective of personal conscience, Liu Yu also hoped to try to solve the problem of the Yellow River diversion in a way that man can conquer nature.

Do your best and leave it to fate. Whether it succeeds or not, do your best.

The breach is not a big problem. It is resolved almost every year and is blocked every year.

But the premise is that there must be a river. If there is no river, how can it be blocked?

Diversion is a big problem, because there is no river in the north, so flood irrigation can only be used, which will completely destroy the cultivated land system in Shandong - the Yellow River flood irrigation area will lead to serious saline-alkali disasters; it will lead to hydrological chaos; it will also cause the original irrigation system Complete scrapping is not comparable to a decisive battle, but a huge disaster involving tens of millions of people.

As a result, the emperor went from being confused at first, to silence, to wondering what Liu Yu wanted to do.

This is not an easy thing to do.

Moreover, taking history as a guide, I feel that except for the legendary flood control by Dayu, all the practices that can restrain the Yellow River seem to have failed.

After a period of silence, the emperor did not need to play this riddle with Liu Yu. Even though Liu Yu did not directly propose a clear plan to suppress Qing and control the Yellow River, it did not mean that the emperor did not understand what Liu Yu was talking about.

"Ai Qing, do you think the people will object to what you are going to do?"

Liu Yu did not hide anything and said bluntly: "Yes. Not only the people in the river area will, but also the people in the surrounding areas. The Yellow River is a disaster god, and the people living along the Yellow River, especially in the lower reaches, will suffer much more than elsewhere."

"If I were a Shandong citizen, I would also object to the danger of breaches, siltation, and fatigue of river engineering. There have been no dangers from the Yellow River for hundreds of years, and after the construction of the Taihang Embankment, there are no longer dangers from the Yellow River to the east of the canal."

"In addition, the river channel occupied land and the people settled down and relocated. It would be a lie to say that no one resisted."

"I can clearly say that the originally prosperous places in Shandong were Caozhou, Heze, Liaocheng, and Linqing."

"Once this is done, Caozhou, Heze, Liaocheng and other places that were originally the richest and most prosperous in industry and commerce in Shandong will become the poorest places in Shandong."

"Moreover, the section of the river from Kaifeng to Caozhou will be the most dangerous part of the Yellow River."

"As for the waterways along the way, they are all in ruins."

“The salt fields in Lijin and other places along the coast were all abandoned.”

“The drainage in the cities along the way is all in ruins.”

"If the people don't resist, it will be a rare thing in ancient times."

Since ancient times, the richest place in Shandong is southwest Shandong. But once the Yellow River changes course, southwestern Shandong will become the poorest place in Shandong.

Changing the course of the Yellow River will change many things and will inevitably arouse resistance. Not just the common people, but also the gentry.

No one wants a "bomb" placed at their doorstep.

The prosperity of Yangzhou City is no longer there, it is just Yangzhou. The surrounding areas, which suffered a lot from the river incident near Yangzhou, still support this. For example, the north and south of the East Bank are suffering from the Li Canal.

In the case of Shandong, serious dissatisfaction accumulated among some people because of the abandoned canal.

Farmers who are relieved of the pain of water transportation and grain will naturally benefit. But they are all independent small farmers, with no power and no voice.

And the people in the cities near the canal transport, the gentry along the way, the people there can make enough noise.

These accumulated grievances have been consumed by constant uprisings and suppressions over the years. Now Liu Yu's actions will obviously cause some more troubles.

When the emperor heard Liu Yu's simple answer and clearly stated that there would be resistance, he didn't think it was strange. This was obvious.

So the emperor asked again: "If Aiqing goes out to control Yanzhou, he really needs to build river channels and build river embankments. I ask you, is Aiqing really prepared to use the treasury to redeem it?"

Liu Yu's face didn't change and he said calmly: "Yes and no."

"Yes, we do have to pay."

"No, you have to pay money, but don't give it to your hands. As migration expenses, you have thirty acres of land to make up for your sixty acres of wasteland. If you give it to your hands, it will have no effect. It will not only intensify the land annexation, but also make the local people still Unable to go to land with fertile water and grass to cultivate wasteland.”

"The court should guide where the money goes. If the money does not want to go to immigrants, then it may not be possible to use the method of garrison to force the immigrants."

"Just like if money doesn't want to go to reclaiming Guandong and colonizing Nanyang, but insists on annexing land, then use all means to make them unwilling to go, unwilling to go, or unable to go."

"If you convince the people with reason, then you will obey. If you can't, then you will be forced to move. The court may also force you to issue a decree and stipulate that no one is in an uninhabited area. Anyone who lives here will be forced to move."

"Crying in ten miles is better than crying in the whole of Shandong. There is no way to achieve both ends of the matter. I have been thinking about it for several years, but I really can't think of a way to do it both ways."

"All we can do is put the money to practical use. Make sure that even if we travel across the ocean to Fusang, the mortality rate will be controlled at 5%. It can already be done to lower the mortality rate, it just requires spending more money. Prepare food supplies, and you can’t cram so many people into a ship like cattle.”

"Besides, if this is done for ten or twenty years, the annual consumption will not be very much. Take the Whale Sea immigration as a lesson. Early immigration is very expensive. Once it forms a large scale, produces a lot of food, and gradually develops industry and commerce, Immigration will be much cheaper.”

"If your majesty can agree to three or five things, on balance, it won't actually cost the court much money in food. If you can agree, this matter will cost the court 40 to 50 million taels, or even less, and it may be completed."