Chapter 1177: Colonization Needs Leeks Too!

Seeing that the princes all had such high political awareness, the Zhu Emperor nodded with satisfaction — this was the benefit of having a wise sovereign on the throne: even a pack of "Pig Princes" now knew to work hard!

But knowing to work hard alone was not enough; they also had to know how to apply their strength, and how to borrow strength to strike at strength.

Colonization and nation-building burned money and burned lives, and it kept burning for many years at a stretch. They could not just pour in their own capital, or they would surely lose everything!

To give an analogy: apart from the United States, which had minerals underground (that region had gold mines aplenty!), and the Malacca principalities, which happened to sit astride a vital trade route and could conveniently run a roadblock-and-toll business, the other colonial nations were all like certain start-up companies of later ages — they had to burn investors' money ferociously, burn it for ten or twenty years before there was any chance of big profits. And this colonization and nation-building business burned not only money, but also human lives!

This was also why Zhu Cilang had always been hesitant and cautious about the question of colonizing the Southern Seas!

America Bay looked far away, requiring a crossing of the Pacific, but because there were ocean currents and wind belts to make use of, for Ming ship captains who could already measure latitude fairly accurately, crossing the Pacific was no more dangerous or time-consuming than traveling to and from the Southern Seas (both were one round trip a year). Although on the North Pacific westerly belt (the necessary route to the New Continent) fierce winds and towering waves sometimes rose (the great storms appeared mainly in winter), the trade-wind belt one had to pass through on the return from the New Continent was still very gentle, with typhoons only in late summer and early autumn.

Therefore the Ming's Pacific sailing ships usually avoided winter when sailing east, and usually avoided late summer and early autumn when sailing west. Thus the lives swallowed up on the trans-Pacific route were no more numerous than the lives swallowed up on the route down to the Southern Seas — shipwrecks and deaths were unavoidable! However, as the Ming's seafaring capability steadily increased, the mortality rate at sea was still acceptable, even lower than that of the Westerners sailing the seas in the same era — after all, East Asians were "immune" to scurvy!

But once the migrants reached their destinations, the mortality rates on the two sides — the Southern Seas and the New Continent — immediately became as different as heaven and earth. The America Bay region had a comfortable climate, fertile land, rich natural resources, and was also very "clean," with almost no deadly infectious diseases.

Migrating to Southeast Asia, however, was different. That region was hot and humid, vastly different from most parts of the Ming homeland, so many migrants would fail to acclimatize.

Even more terrifying, that place had always been a land of miasma and pestilence, where epidemics flourished. If there were ready-cleared land and cities to live in, the mortality rate could be a bit lower; if one went to open up the jungle, losing more than half within a few years would count as little.

In the just-concluded Battle of Pattani, the Japanese samurai legion commanded by the Southern-Expedition General Xu Zhengjing (Hoshina Masatsune) had repeatedly broken out in epidemics, losing more than ten thousand men in all!

Those who died of disease outnumbered those who died in battle by more than tenfold!

And the Ming migrants opening up semi-cleared lands in Ca Mau, Jinghai (the Jinghai Army had now been merged into the Ca Mau Army, called the Jinghai Prefecture of the Ca Mau Army), Siam, and Xiyang (the Xiyang Army) also suffered heavy losses from tropical infectious diseases, chiefly malaria.

According to a secret investigation by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the disease mortality rate among migrants within three years actually exceeded twenty-five percent — and this was the mortality rate even with large amounts of ready-cleared land available in Jinghai, Siam, Xiyang, and elsewhere.

And among the convicts exiled to Taiwan over the years, apart from those "remnants of the eunuch faction" who received the Zheng family's care, the disease mortality rate within three years was above fifty percent!

So the business of going down to the Southern Seas, to put it bluntly, was burning human lives!

What? There's cinchona bark?

It had not yet been discovered by the Spanish, and moreover the cinchona tree's place of origin was in the Viceroyalty of Peru in the Kingdom of New Spain, where Ming expeditions simply could not enter. Even if they could enter, it would be of little use, because no one knew what the cinchona tree looked like. To obtain this treasure, one had to occupy territory for the long term, then make contact with the local natives, and only then could one use various means to extract cinchona tree seeds.

Even if Zhu Cilang had some cheat-like method to get his hands on cinchona tree seeds, it would still take "ten years to grow a tree," and truly producing cinchona bark in large quantities would probably be a matter of twenty years later.

As for forcibly driving the natives to open up land and such — was that something honest and simple Han farmers could do?

Not to mention the farmers — even the landlords on the Ming side could not do it! If the Ming's landlords were all fierce men who went out with two blades at their waists and cut down any farmer who resisted rent and taxes, how could there have been any peasant uprisings?

Therefore, for a long time to come, colonizing the Southern Seas would be a history written in blood and tears.

Since it was a history of blood and tears, then "leeks" were needed — and "leeks" could not be forced to grow! They had to be allowed to grow willingly and voluntarily!

So forcibly colonizing Southeast Asia with such-and-such numbers was definitely out of the question. Otherwise, before much colonization of Southeast Asia had happened, the home country would already be in rebellion.

Moreover, the "leeks" also had to have some capital. Without capital, how could they serve as "leeks"?

Going down to the Southern Seas to open up land was, in the final analysis, a business, so one could not casually con a bunch of paupers into going south. If one did, the mortality rate would not be twenty-five percent but sixty or seventy percent — recruiting paupers, sending them south, then giving them land and tools all required public funds, and if after a few years seventy percent died and most of the rest went bankrupt from poor management, was that not just making a mess?

So they had to let "leeks" with a bit of capital, a bit of ability, and a conscience that was a bit wicked go down to the Southern Seas carrying dreams of getting rich and bringing glory to their ancestors.

That way the probability of survival would be higher, and it would also be easier for them to develop and grow.

"Since all of you are willing to plant trees for posterity, then We shall lead everyone together to plant trees!" Zhu Cilang said with a smile. "And We are quite experienced in this matter of planting trees!"

In fact, he did not know how to plant trees; he only knew how to harvest leeks. Right now, the princes in the Hall of Imperial Supremacy, craning their necks and fantasizing about their descendants being dukes and marquises for ten thousand generations, were in his eyes nothing but sturdy, thriving big leeks!

Zhu Cilang paused, then continued: "In this matter, you must listen to Us! You must do it this way — in a big business, one must take the long view and not rush greedily to rake in money. One must first cultivate competitiveness. Do you know what competitiveness is? In the Southern Seas, it means the manpower capable of opening up land and managing operations!

The place for cultivating competitiveness is the Kingdom of Luzon! The 250-li-square tracts allotted to you are not for you to rake in money, but for you to first cultivate competitiveness.

And to cultivate competitiveness, the first thing is to attract capable talent! Spare no titles or salaries, and do not be bound by convention. Therefore, of the 250-li-square tract allotted to you, taking 10 li to build a manor for your own family's use is enough; divide the rest into 24 baronies, all to be used for attracting talent.

And this talent must not be limited to one type. At the very least, you need great farmers, you need craftsmen, you need warriors and veterans specially responsible for cutting people down, you need Bureau Directors with some medical knowledge, you need scholars who can help with education and administration, and finally you also need monks and Daoist priests. And you must bring them in family by family, and also encourage them to bring their clients or clansmen with them to Luzon Island."

The Zhu Emperor was teaching the big leeks how to snare the little leeks!

Only when the big leeks snared the little leeks would the opening up of the Southern Seas have any hope!

Because the big leeks were few in number and had few lives to spare. Burning money could be done with theirs, but burning lives could not be counted on from them — the lives had to be supplied by the little leeks.

And these little leeks could not have nothing but their lives; they also had to have a bit of capital and ability, so that they could do things for the big leeks.

"Your Majesty," Commandery Prince of Yongming Zhu Youlang (the historical Yongli) said at this point, stroking his fine beard, "where are we subjects to go to recruit people who are both useful and reliable?"

Zhu Cilang glanced at him and thought: You, Emperor Yongli, were you not quite good at pulling in heads in history? Why are you asking Us now?

"There are many ways to recruit talent," Zhu Cilang thought for a moment. "You can openly advertise in the newspapers to recruit, you can send people to recruit from the Southern-Expedition Army, you can recruit from the Kingdom of Annam and the Kingdom of Japan. In short, do not be bound by convention, do not ask about origin, and look only at ability. Our twelve principalities will soon be recruiting, and at that time Uncle Prince can follow along and learn."

(End of Chapter)