Chapter 893: Acceleration of the Battle for Hegemony (Fourth update, please subscribe)
"Due to the drought, victims from all over Shandong fled, made trouble, or prayed for rain. But praying for rain was of no avail. Many people starved to death, sold their wives and children, and died. Their suffering was beyond words..."
Reading the report in the Ming Daily, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Even though the news report was only two or three hundred words, he had some understanding of the "Dingwu Famine".
This great drought began in 1875. In that year, most areas of the northern provinces showed signs of drought, and the Zhili region showed signs of disaster in mid-spring. Rainfall remained scarce until winter. At the same time, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu and other provinces all experienced severe droughts in the autumn of that year.
This year, the drought has worsened and the affected area has expanded further. The main disaster areas are Zhili, Shandong, and Henan, and an unprecedentedly vast drought area has been formed, stretching from Liaoning in the north to Shaanxi and Gansu in the west and Jiangsu and Anhui in the south.
Although the disaster seems extremely serious now, it will only get worse next year and the year after. After all, this is a major drought that has affected hundreds of millions of people.
"According to official figures, tens of millions of people starved to death. In reality, the number should be at least doubled!"
When talking to himself, Emperor Zhu himself did not believe this number. Even if it was multiplied by two, it would probably be hard to convince people. Given the habit of those officials in our Qing Dynasty who whitewashed the situation for the sake of their red hats, they would be unworthy of their red hats if their figures did not shrink by 70% or 80%.
This is also the reason why Emperor Zhu dared to introduce so many immigrants, because the large-scale introduction of immigrants led to a decrease in Han immigrants in Northeast China and other places.
After all, those people were destined to starve to death in history. He said that the introduction was of a relief nature. Through large-scale disaster relief, more people were saved and then brought to the Ming Dynasty. In history, most of those people became starved to death and died on the way to escape famine.
The Qing Dynasty provided almost no disaster relief for this drought. Historically, it relied on donations from merchants in Jiangnan and Southeast Asia for relief. But this time? It relied on the Ming Dynasty!
In order to provide relief to the victims, the Ming Dynasty not only purchased millions of shi of rice from Southeast Asia, but also transported millions of tons of wheat, corn and other food from the mainland. The purpose was not only to save people, but more importantly to bring those people back.
Bring those compatriots who would have starved to death to the Ming Dynasty. They will become the cornerstone of the Ming Dynasty's national strength. With them, the Ming Dynasty can truly rise.
"Twenty million!"
Emperor Zhu said to Liu Kunpeng, the former Ming Dynasty Consul General in Haizhou and current Director of the Immigration Affairs Department.
"This time, we will strive to transport 20 million people to Ming! We will strive to introduce 7-8 million immigrants from China every year in the next two years. By the ninth year of Shengde, we will be able to reach the goal of 20 million!"
Taking advantage of the "Dingwu Great Famine" to bring in 20 million immigrants was the goal that Emperor Zhu set for himself. In fact, this was also the basis for the annexation of Brazil.
"With these 20 million immigrants, we have the confidence to digest the fat piece of meat of Brazil. Brazil... but it only has 10 million people. After the war is over, when those black slaves are liberated and sent back to their hometown in Africa, the population of Brazil will only be 6 or 7 million. We will have an advantage in population, so..."
Staring at Liu Kunpeng, Emperor Zhu smiled.
"Director Liu, you have a huge responsibility! Whether Ming can turn Brazil into a part of Ming depends entirely on whether you can accomplish this mission!"
When all this is completed, Ming Dynasty will not only obtain Brazil, but possibly even the entire South America!
"Your Majesty, this requires a boat!"
Liu Kunpeng said directly.
"The current immigration ships of the Ming Dynasty can only meet the needs of 2.5 million immigrants per year. According to the situation in China, the Immigration Department has purchased more than 36 merchant ships with a total tonnage of more than 187,000 tons from abroad and converted them into immigration ships. It is estimated that after the conversion is completed, 75,000 immigration spaces can be added. However, even so, the annual increase in transportation capacity is only about 500,000. To complete this task, at least 1.8 million tons of tonnage must be added to the existing immigration ship tonnage..."
Add 1.8 million tons of merchant ships in two years!
This is definitely an unprecedented challenge for the Ming Dynasty!
Not to mention that the Ming Dynasty can't do it, no country in the world can do it at the moment. And it's not just a matter of adding a few hundred merchant ships, it also requires hundreds of captains and tens of thousands of crew members. It's not just ships that will do.
"Then continue to build ships and buy ships. Anyway, what I need is people!"
In fact, as early as five years ago, Emperor Zhu had already begun preparing for this "migration of China to the southeast" - in the past five years, the number of students enrolled in the Ming Dynasty's merchant shipping school has increased fivefold, and the tonnage of merchant ships has also been steadily increasing.
More importantly, there are a number of immigrant ships under construction on the Ming dock, and the most important are the 16 large immigrant ships with a displacement of up to 17,000 tons. They are the symbol of the strength of the Ming shipbuilding industry and the basis for Emperor Zhu to bring people over from China.
"The first batch of new 10,000-ton immigration ships should be launched by the end of the year. You can go to the shipyard to supervise them. After all, immigration is the fate of our Ming Dynasty!"
Immigration is the destiny of a country!
From the day Emperor Zhu arrived at South China Bay, this sentence became the foundation for South China's survival, and also the foundation for Ming Dynasty's foothold in South America.
Why were Europeans able to gain a foothold here?
It depends not only on the musket in your hand, but on the people!
A steady stream of people and immigrants came from Europe to this land. In North America, tens of millions of European white immigrants turned the United States and Canada white. In Central and South America, white immigrants took control of the land by mixing with Indian women. In Brazil, millions of European immigrants reproduced with Indian women and female black slaves, making Brazil a so-called melting pot of races.
What about the indigenous peoples of the vast new continent of North and South America? They either "blended in" or disappeared, and in the end only a pitiful number of indigenous people were left.
In the final analysis, guns and cannons were just the beginning of the European conquest of America, while immigration was the key. It was with the help of millions of immigrants that they turned America into their new continent, their paradise, and even a localized version of European civilization in the New World.
Now, it's China's turn!
Maybe in South America, those white people came a little earlier than the Chinese, but it doesn’t matter. As long as the population is large enough, nothing will be a problem. Population will solve everything.
Just like the current Ming Dynasty, even though there are more than two million whites and mixed-race people, so what? They only account for 10% of the population of the Ming Dynasty. They will eventually integrate into the Ming Dynasty little by little in terms of language, traditions, and customs.
When those people who speak Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese die, this land will truly become the "homeland" of the Ming Dynasty.
"China's Southeast Crossing!"
After Liu Kunpeng left, Emperor Zhu walked to the map, looked at the vast ocean on the map, and talked to himself.
“The Dingwu Famine may be a tragedy in the human world, but it is the capital for the Ming Dynasty to dominate the world!”
This capital is people!
Only with humans can there be other possibilities...
(End of this chapter)
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