allonlinenovel Chapter 872 Liaodong is the Liaodong of the Ming Dynasty
Chapter 872 Liaodong is the Liaodong of the Ming Dynasty
Hu Weiyong expressed his dissatisfaction with curses and swears.
Zhu Biao and Li Shanchang both looked very worried.
Yang Shaofeng's face was also ashen.
The problems in Liaodong can be considered, to some extent, historical legacies.
This story begins with the mastermind behind Li Shanchang's death.
Sima Yi.
Back then, Gongsun Yuan openly rebelled against Wei in Liaodong and declared himself King of Yan. Sima Yi was ordered by Cao Rui to send troops to suppress him.
To eliminate any future threat, Sima Yi launched a large-scale massacre in Liaodong. All officials below the rank of Gongsun Yuan were beheaded, more than 2,000 military officers and generals were killed, more than 7,000 men over the age of 15 were killed and a mound of corpses was built, and many other people were relocated to the interior. Nearly 90 percent of the Han Chinese population in Liaodong was lost.
The outcome, of course, needs no further explanation.
The development of Liaodong was interrupted.
The Xianbei regime filled the void left by the Han Chinese in Liaodong and began to rise.
Then came what some bastards called southward integration.
It's as if their ancestors never lived as sheep.
Of course, it's also possible that he never actually did.
People like them who forget their roots probably didn't have any good ancestors either.
What if it's a family tradition of guiding people?
Yang Shaofeng pulled his thoughts back from their escalating descent and couldn't help but sigh.
The solution to the problem, as Hu Weiyong just mentioned, is to send more people to Liaodong.
The key question is, where are we going to find so many people?
The entire Ming Dynasty had a population of just over 70 million.
Many state governments are currently facing a shortage of manpower.
There simply weren't enough extra people to be transferred to Liaodong.
As for drawing some prisoners and gentry?
Stop being funny.
The notorious, decadent writer Jia Jiansheng once said that discussing toxicity without considering dosage is nothing short of blatant thuggery.
How many prisoners and gentry were there in the entire Ming Dynasty?
Even if they managed to scrape together a few hundred thousand, throwing it into the Liaodong region would only be a drop in the ocean.
However, we cannot leave Liaodong undeveloped.
Putting aside everything else, the coal and steel deposits already discovered, along with the vast forest resources, already demonstrate the importance of Liaodong.
Just as Yang Shaofeng was pondering this, Li Shanchang suddenly spoke up, saying, "If all else fails, let's ask Bangzi and Ai Duzi for some men."
Yang Shaofeng immediately objected: "No way!"
"It's fine to send the Koreans and shorty to Dengzhou Prefecture to build roads, but it's not acceptable to send them to Liaodong to develop the region."
"Liaodong belongs to the Ming Dynasty. What's the point of letting those Koreans and short, ugly guys get involved?"
"They've just dirtied the land of Liaodong for no reason!"
Li Shanchang glanced at Yang Shaofeng and retorted, "Can cattle, horses, and mules dirty the land of Liaodong?"
"If you use oxen, horses, and mules to develop Liaodong, you still have to worry about whether the oxen, horses, and mules will get rotten hooves."
"But if you're using sticks and short, ugly people, why would you care whether they live or die?"
"If it dies, just throw it into a fertile field."
Zhu Biao also chimed in, "Brother-in-law, I also feel that using sticks and short people is more cost-effective, at least we can gather hundreds of thousands of people in the shortest amount of time."
Yang Shaofeng snorted coldly and looked at Zhu Biao and Li Shanchang, saying, "Then may I ask Your Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Li, is Liaodong, which was opened up by those Koreans and shorty, Liaodong of the Koreans and shorty, or Liaodong of my Great Ming?"
"Besides, what if a few of those hundreds of thousands of Koreans and short, ugly men escape when they're thrown into such a large area as Liaodong?"
"If he were castrated beforehand... I'm afraid that dead eunuch Chen Zhong would go crazy first."
After a slight pause, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Even if we really brought in hundreds of thousands of Koreans and short people, and indeed opened up land in Liaodong, the question is whether the Ming people who migrate to Liaodong will truly consider Liaodong their home."
"Which would they value more: an acre of inferior land that is divided up piece by piece, or an acre of fertile land allocated by the government?"
"Logically speaking, they would definitely value fertile land."
"But emotionally speaking, they probably prefer that small plot of land."
As Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, Zhu Biao and Li Shanchang fell silent.
This is an obvious fact.
Moreover, as the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao also had to consider another extremely important issue.
Why did the iron pot abandon Dadu and run away without hesitation?
To put it bluntly, it was because the Hu Yuan dynasty itself did not consider the Central Plains as its own home.
Why didn't they treat the Central Plains as their own home?
Because it was stolen, not earned bit by bit.
If we were to send hundreds of thousands of Koreans and short, ugly men to develop Liaodong, we would inevitably face an extremely messed-up problem.
The mediocre and short-statured people who have been used up are mostly reluctant to leave Liaodong, while the people who migrated there from the Ming Dynasty are likely not to care much about Liaodong.
Thinking of this, Zhu Biao couldn't help but sigh.
Li Shanchang smacked his lips, looked at Hu Weiyong, then at Yang Shaofeng, and finally could only sigh helplessly, saying, "If all else fails, we'll have to stick to the old method."
Yang Shaofeng's eyes lit up, and he asked, "What old method?"
Hu Weiyong glanced at Li Shanchang and said, "Are you ashamed of your position and the fact that you're hated enough?"
Li Shanchang said with a dark face, "Then what do you suggest we do?"
"Our Great Ming Dynasty has a population of only 70 million, with more than 1,000 prefectures and counties. That means each county has about 10,000 people."
"If you want to relocate people, there must at least be enough people to relocate, right?"
When the topic of relocating people came up, Yang Shaofeng suddenly remembered something.
Yang Shaofeng looked at Hu Weiyong and asked, "What about the Liaodong Farm?"
Hu Weiyong said with a dark face, "Farm my ass!"
"Don't you ever think about it? How many people are there on a farm at most?"
"The entire Liaodong region is so vast, do you expect those few people to reclaim and cultivate it?"
As Hu Weiyong finished speaking, the room fell silent once again.
After a long while, Zhu Biao finally spoke, saying, "Let's use the old method."
"However, this time we will not need an imperial edict or a military tally."
"I will personally go and speak to the soldiers."
"Everything is up to the individual."
"Those who are willing to go to Liaodong to develop and settle down can go."
"If someone is unwilling, we will not force them."
"This includes the people of Jiangnan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi."
"In the future, any relocation of people will be based on their own volition."
Yang Shaofeng immediately understood what the old method was.
The so-called old method was to send garrisons to Liaodong, where the soldiers would take on the responsibility of land reclamation.
Once a piece of land has been sufficiently cultivated, the garrison will be transferred to the next location, handing over the reclaimed land to the government, which will then distribute it to the people.
Theoretically speaking, this approach is actually quite reliable.
The problem lies in the lack of effective oversight, or rather, the numerous loopholes in this system. After the land is handed over to the government for allocation, the better plots often don't end up in the hands of the people.
Even if a few acres of inferior land were distributed to the people, it would often be taken over by others later.
Even the garrison itself had a whole host of messy problems.
Otherwise, the system of garrisons wouldn't have started to have problems during the Hongwu era, let alone been described as "corrupt" by the fourth prince during the Yongle era.