Chapter 666: Such a Precious Land Should Be Occupied by the Virtuous

The establishment of the Laos Laos Laos Xuanweisi can be traced back to the Dali Kingdom during the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the Yunnan region was not in the hands of the Central Plains. The Dali Kingdom dominated the Indochina Peninsula. Under the Dali Kingdom, there was a small tributary country, the Jinglong Kingdom. After Kublai Khan conquered the Dali Kingdom, this Jinglong Kingdom took people and left Yunnan to settle in Laos.

Therefore, this place of Laos has been linguistically connected, culturally identical, and blood-related to the Miao people of Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty from the beginning.

The Mengle Laos Laos Xuanweisi is a native official in Yunnan of the Ming Dynasty. The Pacification Commissioner's surname is Dao, and the Pacification Commissioner of Laos also has the surname Dao. The first generation of Laos Military and Civilian Pacification Commissioner of the Ming Dynasty was called Dao Xiandai. 'Dao' means king in the local dialect.

Zhang Juzheng said that Laos was bullied, which was not nonsense, but really bullied for a lifetime.

In the 16th year of the Chenghua era, Laos paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty. The envoy cried in the court that Annam had invaded. The imperial court dispatched the internal official Qian Neng to mediate, ordering Annam to withdraw its troops. Annam withdrew its troops. In the 17th year of the Chenghua era, Annam's Le Hao led 90,000 troops, opened mountains into three roads, invaded and broke Ailao, and killed the Pacification Commissioner Dao Banya and his two sons, on the grounds of disturbing the superior country.

The Duke of Qian, Mu Cong, heard the news and had to order Dao Banya's youngest son to inherit his father's position, so the Laos Pacification Commissioner did not have his line cut off.

The Duke's Mansion can appoint and remove native officials of the Three Pacification Commissions and Six Comforts. Correspondingly, the Prince of Lu can also confer these overseas titles, because the status of overseas titles is approximately equal to these native officials of the Three Pacification Commissions and Six Comforts.

In the 44th year of the Jiajing era, the Laos tribute envoy cried again. Taungoo invaded and acted recklessly, burning, killing, and looting, doing all kinds of evil. Mang Yinglong's conquest of Laos was extremely cruel.

So Zhang Juzheng did not arrange Laos's situation to deceive the Emperor. Laos is really very difficult. It is beaten by Annam today, beaten by Taungoo tomorrow, and beaten by Siam. Life is really very bitter. Without a backer, it is so painful under the siege of wolves.

"Then order the Duke of Qian's Mansion to issue a decree for the Laos Pacification Commissioner to come and ask if a post road can be built there. If possible, Wang Jiaping will plan it, and we will prepare to implement this matter." Zhu Yijun listened to Zhang Juzheng finish the blood and tears history of Laos, which was really very tragic. It had been beaten for so many years and asked the Ming Dynasty for help every day.

The Ming Dynasty had no demands on Laos, but Laos had to ask the Ming Dynasty for help every time. This was fine once or twice, but after a long time, how could the Ming Dynasty keep helping? Saving the urgent but not the poor. Now Laos's situation is both poor and weak, and the Ming Dynasty has helped so many times without any improvement, so it can only give up.

Now, the Ming Dynasty wants to build a post road there!

Zhu Yijun does not understand military affairs. Ming military generals all trust the supply lines on land. Garrisoning troops must be garrisoned, but the supply of garrisoned troops needs to rely on the post road. Only by building the post road to Laos and having rapid deployment capabilities will others not dare to bully the Laos Laos Laos Xuanweisi!

Of course, when the Ming Dynasty persuaded the fight to achieve peace, it obtained some extra potash salt.

"Wang Qian sent a memorial, which is the research of his mistress." Zhu Yijun took out a memorial and handed it to Wang Chonggu.

"This rebellious son, he doesn't do his proper job all day long, and he researched something else!" Wang Chonggu was furious. His son was a very smart child, but he spent all day researching mistresses! And the more he researched, the more he had a way. He had already become the number one mistress researcher in the Ming Dynasty. It was truly helpless for Wang Chonggu.

When a child grows up, he doesn't listen to his father. Wang Chonggu said something, but Wang Qian couldn't listen to it.

Wang Qian listed the prices of selling daughters in five types of families in the memorial. This is the selling price, not the marriage price.

The Cai clan of Huzhou in Zhejiang is a big clan, and Cai Qiqing is the head of the main branch. In order to rush for joy for his wife, he spent 30 taels of silver to buy a concubine. This concubine was a girl from a good family. Although she hadn't read books, her family was well-off, and she had enough food and clothing.

The Huang clan of Xiaoshan was a prominent local family, but their fortunes had declined. The family had a daughter, and a fellow townsman named Fu Jiaze, who had long admired her, eventually bought the Huang daughter as a concubine for the price of two hundred taels. After the main branch of the Huang clan learned of this, they spread the word and struck this branch from the family genealogy.

A garrison commander in Suzhou was convicted and exiled because of unfavorable combat and had to go to the miasma place in Guangxi. His daughter did not want her parents to go to Guangxi to suffer, so she sold herself for 1,000 taels of silver to redeem her father's crime. This is the price of an official's daughter.

Ji Shuxin, the head of the main branch of the Ji clan in Zhenjiang, was the contemporary family patriarch. He had a daughter named Ji Shu, who was proficient in all the arts—zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting—and possessed considerable literary talent; she was a famous gifted woman in Jiangnan. Later, the Ji clan was implicated in the San Dou Ao private market case, and the family's savings of several generations were brutally confiscated by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The Ji family's fortunes declined, and in order to pay off her father's debts, Ji Shu sold herself for two thousand taels and was bought by the merchant Pan Shouchun as a concubine.

Not long after, Pan Shouchun sold her to a brothel. Pan Shouchun felt that being a concubine still had the style of a big family lady, and the merchant was impatient, so he sold her directly.

A Yangzhou thin horse only costs tens to 100 taels of silver, but a daughter of a prominent family can be sold for more than 200 taels.

"No, how could this Huang clan of Xiaoshan act like this? This branch suffered a disaster, not to mention helping, but sitting and watching the selling of sons and daughters. After the event, they opened the genealogy. It is somewhat excessive." Zhang Juzheng felt that the Huang clan of Xiaoshan's way of doing things was a bit dishonest. Encountering a disaster, not helping was one thing, but falling into the well was another.

Wang Chonggu waved his hands repeatedly and said: "Eh, the Grand Secretary comes from a small family, a hereditary thousand-household family, so naturally he doesn't know much about these things. This family is big, so there is no way to help. Okay, you helped this branch today, what about the other branch tomorrow? How to help so many branches? So we can only do this. This is already considered good."

"If this Huang clan of Xiaoshan had ruined the deal and then opened the genealogy, that would be falling into the well."

Zhang Juzheng was stunned for a moment before saying: "So these powerful and wealthy families are all heads of families like this?"

"Otherwise, can we take care of it?" Wang Chonggu said very definitely: "The Ten King Cities moved the princes of the Yan Mansion and the princes of the Hongwu era to the capital. As for the others, the commandery princes and the like, His Majesty didn't care about their life or death, just letting them seek their own way."

"There is simply no way to take care of it."

The clan is like this, interests come first. The Huang clan is already very conscientious. Not ruining the deal and then making trouble is already benevolent and righteous.

Wang Chonggu continued: "In the two Song Dynasties, a county princess only needed 5,000 guan to be bought. So in the seventh year of Yuanyou, the Empress Dowager asked Emperor Zhezong: 'One thing is very regrettable. The other day I went to ask the Tian family in the hat, and saw that the family had ten county princesses, each bought for 5,000 guan. Does the country need your money? Is it a match?'"

"Even a clan daughter only needed 5,000 guan."

Wang Qian's research on this is actually researching the word 'oppression'. The oppression of children by parents, his research complements the bullying of clansmen by clan power. This kind of bullying is not only manifested in eating the household, but also in various aspects of daily life.

How to break the oppression of clan power is the problem the Ming Dynasty has to face.

"Originally, in the section on the alienation of people by power, the terrifying nature of the imperial court's exploitation of the common people should have been clearly depicted, but Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi are still too timid," Zhu Yijun said with a hint of helplessness.

He actually wanted to encourage Lin Fucheng and the others to discuss the alienation of people by power, but Lin Fucheng didn't dare to go deeper.

Wang Chonggu shook his head and said, "Your subject, on the contrary, believes that the two men's discussion is already quite sufficient. Although Lin Fucheng does not discuss it separately in his *Travels in Baoding Prefecture*, the shadow of the imperial court is present in every entry. The emergence of the dike-lords was only because of the Tatar invasion in the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing, when Altan Khan invaded the capital region. Although there is no direct accusation, it still clearly expresses the terrifying consequences brought about by the imperial court's dereliction of duty."

"Like this time, if there was no connivance of the Yizhou Magistrate, how could the opium den exist so openly and brazenly, and be so bold?"

Every major case has the shadow of the yamen, and the current atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty court, for its own mistakes, is never avoided. For example, the difficulty of land survey in Sichuan was led by Zhang Juzheng, who liquidated the former Provincial Governor Luo Yao of the direct line.

This is already a huge progress. At least Wang Chonggu hadn't seen such a situation during the Jiajing and Longqing eras. This is the result of the performance evaluation method breaking the teacher-student system.

The Ming Emperor's southern tour team had already walked to Xuzhou City and stayed at the Yanqing Tower in Xuzhou.

Along the way, the Ming Emperor saw the real Ming Dynasty, with good and bad, with defects and vigorous vitality. These are all Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was never the earthly kingdom of God in the mouth of the Great Bright Sect. It has defects and contradictions.

But Zhu Yijun's first impression of the prefectures of the Southern Yamen was very, very bad. After leaving Taierzhuang and arriving at Xuzhou, Zhu Yijun walked very anxiously.

"Qi Shuai, I have a doubt. I have arrived in Xuzhou and found that this Xuzhou extends in all directions. This place can barely be considered to have mountains and water, and can be considered to be able to defend a bit. But compared with Shanhai Pass, Jiayu Pass, Juyong Pass, etc., it is much worse. From my superficial view, Xuzhou place has no danger to defend." Zhu Yijun didn't understand how Xuzhou became a place that military strategists must fight for.

This place simply cannot be defended. There are rivers, the Yellow River and the Grand Canal, but the water volume is not large, far from being a natural moat, and there are no majestic passes, and the terrain is very open.

"Your Majesty, precisely because of this, this is a place that must be fought for." Qi Jiguang smiled and said: "Xuzhou is a place where you can fight from the east, west, north, and south. You can't defend it. You can't defend the south, and you can't defend the north. So once there is a conflict between the north and the south, Xuzhou and Huaihai will become a buffer zone, a tug-of-war."

"If you retreat one more step, you will reach your own hinterland, so you must not retreat, so it naturally becomes a place of four battles."

"So that's it. Thank you, Qi Shuai, for clearing up my doubts." Zhu Yijun understood this time why Xuzhou became a place that military strategists must fight for in all dynasties. It is not because it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but because when you reach here, no one can retreat a single step. Retreating means exposing your heart, a moment of life and death.

"Xuzhou place is far inferior to the Shandong I passed through." Zhu Yijun said very unhappily about the Xuzhou he saw. He frowned and said: "In summary, it is that big money cannot be earned, and small money is looked down upon. Unlike Shandong, which wants to earn big money, and doesn't let go of small money. Seaweed, cotton, iron smelting, all are willing to earn. If you can't earn big, you earn small." Zhu Yijun could see the vitality of that development.

"The Xuzhou Magistrate did a very poor job."

Zhu Yijun was very dissatisfied with Xuzhou. Now Xuzhou is in the Southern Yamen territory, but he saw the problem as soon as he arrived.

Shandong wants to earn big money, such as the Mizhou Shipping Commissioner, which is earning big money. But places not within the radiation range of the Shipping Commissioner's economic zone are also willing to earn small money. Seaweed, cotton, iron smelting, all are willing to earn. If you can't earn big, you earn small. Zhu Yijun could see the vitality of that development.

But Xuzhou can't see it.

Zhu Yijun continued: "Specifically, the common people's dissatisfaction with the yamen is universal. It is that kind of universal, not individual in Yizhou. Here in Xuzhou, when mentioning the yamen, the common people frown. It is not dissatisfaction with any single room of the Six Rooms. Tax collection, criminal law, public security, etc., are all dissatisfied."

"The reason for this is that the Xuzhou Magistrate changes every three years. Before the face is recognized, he leaves. When the magistrate changes, the secretary follows, and the Six Rooms also follow. Just when it settles down, it changes again, leading to the failure of the yamen, the overall failure, and it cannot operate normally. Let alone the common people, even the gentry can't find anyone when they go to the yamen to do things, so they can only decide for themselves."

"And these four magistrates changed in twelve years, each leaving a mess. Liu Changqing in the first year of Wanli left a mess of the Yellow River embankment. Chen Wuyin in the fourth year of Wanli left a mess of coal mines. The next one felt that coal mines were not profitable, so he stopped and started tossing the Grand Canal. This Grand Canal developed halfway, and then it was replaced by the current Qian Zhiyi, who felt that the city wall had to be dismantled."

"This morning order and evening change, changing until the powerful and wealthy, down to the poor and hard laborers, are all crying out."

Zhu Yijun really felt the difference between Shandong and the Southern Yamen.

And these four messes in Xuzhou simply cannot be cleaned up. Each one wants to do something, but each time it is halfway, and people have no perseverance after being halfway for a long time, and they will become weak. The yamen is also like this. Four unfinished projects make the yamen untrusted.

"The only one who did better here is mining coal, but this coal is not given to Xuzhou, but transported to Suzhou and Hangzhou along the Grand Canal. I am very dissatisfied. Looking at it, it is bare, and there is not even a forest for shade. Without trees, it is difficult for the common people to use firewood. In the Xuzhou coal market, only firewood and charcoal are sold, and there are not even honeycomb briquettes." Zhu Yijun added the specific reasons for his dissatisfaction.

If it is a little rotten, it can be said to be accidental. This comprehensive rottenness is not even as good as Yizhou with opium dens. At least there are honeycomb briquettes to buy in the Yizhou coal market, and the masters in Yizhou prefecture city can be considered to have gotten rid of their dependence on firewood.

Xuzhou buries its head in mining coal, and the coal mined is sold to Suzhou and Hangzhou.

"As for the broken things of the bureaucrats, card-eating-taking-demanding, corruption, mutual protection, teacher-student system, prefecture-state-county school, etc., are all everywhere." Zhu Yijun tapped the table with his fingers and said: "Sir, do you think Xuzhou is rotten like this, or is the whole Southern Yamen like this?"

"All thirteen prefectures of the Southern Yamen are like this." Zhang Juzheng did not avoid this problem, nor did he excuse his disciple Li Le.

The Provincial Governor of Yingtian, Li Le, was the key winning move for Zhang Juzheng to defeat the Jin Party in the early years of Wanli. Li Le's ability was strong enough, but he just couldn't handle it. If it weren't for Shen Shixing's help, when the Jiangnan slave mutiny happened, when Cao Ge Suo Qi happened, Li Le would have already fallen.

Really too busy.

"The Southern Yamen was originally fourteen prefectures. Now the Songjiang Prefecture has been separated. It is better to separate the remaining thirteen prefectures." Wang Chonggu did not fall into the well and take the opportunity to attack and retaliate against Li Le, because if Li Le really fell, and a Jin Party or Labor Party member went up, it would be the same.

At that time, Wang Chonggu would also be unlucky.

Wang Chonggu thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, the Southern Yamen is rich, but this is a cesspool in officialdom. Whoever comes will be unlucky. Someone must suppress this cesspool."

Yingtian is the auxiliary capital; in terms of the system, it is a capital city, and it also has the Six Ministries, the Censorate, and so on. These fourteen prefectures of the Nanjing region are just this rotten; even Hai Rui cannot handle them. It is better to have someone suppressing this cesspit.

If the Southern Yamen's thirteen prefectures are not dismantled, the Southern Yamen simply cannot be good.

Zhang Juzheng then continued: "Your Majesty mentioned the four Xuzhou magistrates who left four pits. Why can they be promoted in three years? Because after three years, they can go to the Six Ministries of Yingtian to be officials, and then shake their bodies and enter the capital directly. This is completely different from the promotion of other prefectures, assistant ministers, and provincial administration commissioners before entering the capital. These officials simply don't have the heart to do specific things. Even if they want to do something, three years are not enough. What are they enough for?"

"Ling Butang can do it. It took several years in Henan to finish things. The flow of officials is too fast, which is this rotten appearance."

Li Le complained more than once, complaining that this staying capital system is the sky pit of the Ming Dynasty. Whoever comes to the Southern Yamen to be a Provincial Governor is rolling in a cesspool, and it is difficult to get ashore cleanly. The key is that this problem cannot be solved by Li Le's local governance. Only when the imperial court is determined to do it can it be possible to succeed.

Zhang Juzheng could only persuade him with good words every time, and there was no very good way. Dismantling the Southern Yamen is something only the Emperor can do.

Zhu Yijun stopped his fingers tapping on the table and said: "Li Yashi once told me a story about the Roman Emperor Galba, saying that after Nero died, Galba succeeded to the throne. As soon as Galba succeeded to the throne, he executed two capable generals. People generally questioned this decision, and then a proverb became popular in Rome: Once an emperor becomes an object of hatred, the good and bad things he does will cause people's disgust and malicious speculation."

"Just like after Song Gaozong killed Yue Fei, people were generally dissatisfied with him, so that he had to abdicate the throne to his adopted son."

Song Gaozong Zhao Gou had no descendants. His successor, Song Xiaozong, was an adopted son. Song Gaozong's abdication was reluctant, and Song Xiaozong's emperor was also very aggrieved.

Li Yashi actually wanted to say the trust trap. Once the yamen falls into a trust crisis and loses its credibility, true words, false words, good things, and bad things are all lies, deception, and evil.

The ground of Xuzhou has fallen into this trust trap. No one cares what the Xuzhou yamen does. Anyway, you definitely can't do it, and you will leave a mess.

Everyone is just making do. Good or bad, they can make do.

"Bad Sui Ning, bad Pei County, bad Tongshan County, this is what the common people said, not my arrangement of Xuzhou." Zhu Yijun's brows were twisted into a knot. He released the Night Scouts, and the Night Scouts told the Emperor the dissatisfaction of the common people. It was not just dissatisfaction with the magistrate yamen, but also with the county yamen.

Changing the magistrate every three days. When the magistrate changes, the county magistrate will also follow the wind. This caused the entire Xuzhou ground to have not had much development since the Wanli Reform. The only coal that could be taken out was transported out of Xuzhou.

"Zhao Mengyou, there is the latest situation." Zhao Mengyou said somewhat embarrassedly: "The Night Scouts discovered some things. The abduction in Xuzhou is very serious, and the human tooth firms are rampant."

Zhao Mengyou didn't want to put pressure on Xuzhou officials, nor did he want to add trouble to His Majesty. His Majesty's mood had been very good since leaving the capital, even if he discovered opium dens in Yizhou. But if there is a problem, solve it. Wang Yie didn't cover up or tolerate it, and even intensified the rectification of officialdom on the ground of Shandong.

His Majesty's mood became incomparably bad after walking out of Taierzhuang and entering Xuzhou territory. Zhao Mengyou really didn't want to add trouble to His Majesty.

But the abscesses in Xuzhou were too many, and Zhao Mengyou had to pick them.

"What's the situation?" Zhu Yijun leaned back. There were still problems he didn't know. Originally, he thought the four major unfinished projects were rare in the world, but there were even worse things happening.

"On the ground of Xuzhou, especially Feng County, almost every family has a child bride, and many of them are from Sichuan and Guizhou. The path is also down the Yangtze River and along the Grand Canal to Xuzhou. This situation seems to be very common in the Southern Yamen." Zhao Mengyou handed a written memorial to His Majesty.

After the situation was fully confirmed, Zhao Mengyou reported it. At least in the few places the Night Scouts had walked, it was all like this. Every household had this habit of child brides.

"The situation is indeed serious." Zhu Yijun finished reading the memorial and asked somewhat headachingly: "In my view, this Datong Prefecture is better than Xuzhou."

"Your Majesty, Datong Prefecture is poor, but Xuzhou is completely caused by inaction." Wang Chonggu still said two good words for Datong Prefecture. Datong Prefecture is outside the pass, outside Yanmen Pass and Juyong Pass. Development is not fast enough, but it has not reached the point where human tooth firms run around openly.

In order to transform Suiyuan, officials in Datong and Xuanfu looked for human tooth firms in their jurisdiction to do indicators. After all, if they caught more, they could be promoted.

At least the Datong women are quietly exiting the stage of history.

"Issue a decree to Li Le. If you have any ideas, you can do it boldly. If something happens, I will cover it for you." Zhu Yijun gave instructions on this bad situation. Before setting off, he felt that dismantling the Southern Yamen was a problem that needed to be discussed. Now it seems that he seriously underestimated the seriousness of the problem.

He had just left the Shandong boundary and entered Xuzhou, and he encountered so many annoying things.

Li Le mentioned more than once the normalization of the Southern Yamen, which is to separate Yingtian Prefecture as a staying capital, and divide the other twelve prefectures into three parts, becoming a four-level yamen of provincial administration commissioner, prefecture, state, and county. This conforms to the Ming Dynasty's institutional framework, rather than the current bad and chaotic framework.

The imperial court has always felt that the problem is not so serious and not so urgent.

"It is also difficult for Li Le. Rolling in such a cesspool for so many years without anything happening." Zhu Yijun used to think that Shen Shixing was stronger than Li Le, but now it seems that the situation in the Southern Yamen is more complicated than Songjiang Prefecture.

The human tooth firms in Zhejiang were physically liquidated during the process of the Zhejiang Nine Battalions entering the city to suppress bandits, which also led to the blocking of the road for human tooth firms to go south. The human tooth firm business in the Huaihai area became more and more prosperous.

Since things have reached this point, we can only use heavy punches to crack down.

Li Le wants to pilot regional governance. Now he can take action. Without changing the basic framework of the Southern Yamen, it is useless to exert effort in one place in Xuzhou.

Wan Shihe saw His Majesty was upset, thought for a while, took out a memorial, handed it to His Majesty, and smiled: "Your Majesty, the Jiugang Governor's Office sent a congratulatory report. The scale of the Ming Dynasty's plantations in Java has finally reached 1 million mu."

"This place of Java can actually be harvested nine times in two years."

The memorial was written by Yin Zhengmao, the Governor of Luzon, on behalf of the Jiugang Governor's Office, not reported by Zhang Yuanxun. Zhang Yuanxun was busy bullying Mang Yingli. Apart from returning to the Jiugang for supplies once a year, he simply ignored the affairs.

Wang Guoguang stood up abruptly, looked at the memorial, and asked eagerly: "How much? How many harvests in two years?"

"Nine harvests." Wan Shihe clarified this fact again. Java, which is harvested nine times in two years, is not Yin Zhengmao drawing a big cake for His Majesty the Emperor, using the special situation of a few mu of land to fool the imperial court. It is really harvested nine times in two years.

The Minister of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty, who was used to one or two harvests a year, was almost suffocated when he heard nine harvests in two years.

"Your Majesty, this place can farm. Such a precious land should be occupied by the virtuous!" Wang Guoguang's eyes shone. The Ming Dynasty naturally wants minerals, but we cannot put the cart before the horse. Places that can farm should naturally also be occupied!

As for what virtue is, let's not discuss it for now. Anyway, the Ming Dynasty must have virtue, and both civil and martial virtues are very abundant.

Thanks to the fertile soil brought by volcanic ash, abundant rainfall, and high heat at low latitudes, the 10,000 qing of 42 plantations opened in Java can reach nine harvests in two years at the highest.

Originally, there was no mature agricultural experience in the local area, and there was no mastery of high-end agricultural technology such as intensive cultivation. They didn't cherish the land very much. They just threw seeds and collected them depending on the sky. Zhang Yuanxun took the city of Malacca and began his journey of conquering Taungoo.

Zhang Yuanxun had no interest in things like transformation.

The national surname Zhengmao, who was a civil official, was very good at it. Plantations and copper factories were the two axes of Yin Zhengmao's rule in Nanyang, and the third was naturally the Ming Dynasty navy.

The pilot was very successful, and in order to nourish the land, Yin Zhengmao specifically ordered that we must not drain the pond to catch fish. We can only harvest three times a year, and the remaining three harvests must be planted with crops like soybeans to fix the fertility of the land. If we insist on extreme cultivation of nine harvests in two years, we will ruin the land in a few years.

"Occupied by the virtuous." Wang Chonggu also quite recognized it. If their hometown in Shanxi had such an environment, Shanxi would not have had a famine.

During the Yuan Dynasty, many Mongolian nobles grazed in Shanxi. Kublai Khan once issued five imperial decrees prohibiting Mongolians from grazing in Shanxi, but it was of no use. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, even these places in the Southern Yamen were full of pastures.

Shanxi suffered from land desertification due to overgrazing. Originally, the fertility was not enough, plus desertification, and the celestial phenomena were different. Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Gansu all became poor places. Agriculture is the foundation of everything. Without food, there is nothing.

If the Ming Dynasty masters a few more places like Java, the Ming Dynasty's food crisis can be alleviated. ===== CHAPTER 667 =====