Set up a province?
Qi Jiguang realized that His Majesty seemed to be very persistent about setting up a province. He wanted to set up a province the last time, and he wanted to set up a province again this time.
However, Qi Jiguang felt that it was inappropriate to set up a province north of Siping.
"Your Majesty, the north of Siping is sparsely populated. Is there a need to set up a province?"
Qi Jiguang looked at Zhu Yijun and said carefully. In fact, Qi Jiguang felt that there was no need to set up a province.
Siping only had one city, and you want to set up a province?
Although the place wasn't small, there weren't many people!
After hearing Qi Jiguang's words, Zhu Yijun didn't agree or disagree. There was no one to recruit and no city to build.
To Zhu Yijun, these weren't problems. As for immigration, Zhu Yijun had already thought about it. This was something that had to be done.
Because the Daming was about to face a new test, and that was the Little Ice Age.
Although the Daming was plagued with disasters, with floods here and there, and earthquakes the day after, the Little Ice Age hadn't really arrived yet. This was just a precursor.
Zhu Yijun remembered clearly that the peak of the Little Ice Age was in 1600, and it was now 1952.
He had at most eight years, and there were too many things he had to do in these eight years.
Once the year 1600 came, the seven northern provinces of the Daming would experience a drought. It wasn't just one year, but several years in a row.
After the drought, it would snow in winter, and snow would fall from the south to the north.
How cold would the weather get? In October, the rivers in Beijing would start to freeze, and the river would only thaw in April. Basically, it would be six months of winter.
South of the Yangtze River would also be frozen, showing how cold the weather was.
The drought and cold would cause a decrease in food production. The Daming would enter an unprecedented difficult period.
At the same time, along with the drought and cold, there would also be locust plagues, floods, plague, and so on. The Daming would enter a severe test.
In his previous life, the commoners had rebelled and struggled to survive. With limited resources, they could only rely on war to decide who would survive.
In this life, Zhu Yijun naturally wouldn't allow such a thing to happen. That would be a regression of civilization and a loss of power for China. Zhu Yijun naturally wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.
Everybody said that during the peasant uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the most famous one was Li Zicheng, or at least Wang Er, Gao Yingxiang.
In reality, this was not the case. The uprising had already begun during the reign of Wanli. In fact, at this time in history, there were already peasant uprisings all over the Daming.
Although such a situation had not occurred in this life, when the Little Ice Age fully descended, Zhu Yijun could not guarantee that there would not be a large-scale peasant uprising.
Once the uprising swept through Daming, Zhu Yijun's efforts would be in vain.
Under such circumstances, what Zhu Yijun needed to do was very simple: prepare as much as possible.
Liaodong was the most important. In his previous life, Liaodong took up too much of the Daming's energy, manpower, and resources. This had to be resolved.
When they really couldn't survive, be it the Jurchen or the Mongolian tribes, the first thing they would think of was to charge into the Great Wall.
Even if they couldn't charge in, they would still harass you all day and it would still take up all of Daming's energy. Zhu Yijun definitely wouldn't allow such a situation to happen.
This was also the reason why Zhu Yijun had to come to Liaodong in person to make arrangements in Liaodong.
Build a city, station troops, and ensure the food supply for the Jurchen and the grassland tribes.
Set up a province in Siping and completely control Liaodong. Then, use eight years to develop it.
Promote new crops in Liaodong and the Liaohe Plain would definitely become a new food production area.
Although the weather in Liaodong would be colder, it wouldn't be dry. There were enough rivers for irrigation. There were Liao River, Prince River, Hun River, Da Ling River, Xiao Ling River, Sha River, etc.
The middle and lower reaches of the rivers had a small gradient, and the water flow was slow. There were many meandering rivers and sandbars, crisscrossing inlets, and abundant accumulation. Even if nothing could be planted, potatoes wouldn't be a problem.
As for the problem of cold snow, the cold tolerance of the Jurchen and the Mongolians couldn't be compared to the Central Plains.
It wasn't that they could resist the cold, but they were well prepared to deal with the heavy snow in winter.
Animal skin cotton-padded jackets, felt hats, and boots made of animal skin were all on hand. The people of the Central Plains didn't have these.
Coupled with fire beds and imitation goods, even if the winter was long, they could survive.
This was also one of the main reasons why Zhu Yijun managed Liaodong and developed the wool textile industry.
The Little Ice Age was coming, and the imitation goods would definitely usher in a big boom. There was no doubt about this.
As for cotton, Zhu Yijun didn't think about promoting it. It was a drought and cold, and the grain production had to be guaranteed.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun had to solve the problem of Liaodong as soon as possible, and he had to do it in a relatively gentle way.
At the same time, the problem of the grassland had to be solved. Chahar couldn't be left alive. In history, because of the Jurchen, Chahar's Lin Danhan couldn't rise again.
But if he was given a chance, Lin Danhan might be able to succeed.
Developing Liaodong, taking care of Korea, expanding to the Japanese Empire, destroying Chahar, and incorporating Mongolia into Daming. These things had to be completed within eight years. Time was tight, and the task was heavy!
Only by completing these could Zhu Yijun feel at ease heading south. Otherwise, if the north was unstable, heading south would be a problem. Naturally, Zhu Yijun was very eager to establish a province, because he needed to strengthen his control over Liaodong.
"Qi, you!"
Zhu Yijun looked at Qi Jiguang and sighed. "I'm not an emperor who rejoices in grandiose achievements. I've been in power for twenty years, and I've been in power for ten years. I've taken every step steadily."
"I want to establish a province in Siping. This is something I've thought about for a long time, and I have my own difficulties."
Hearing Zhu Yijun's words, Qi Jiguang's expression suddenly became serious.
Having been by Zhu Yijun's side for so many years, Qi Jiguang knew this emperor very well. The two of them could be considered to be a good relationship.
Zhu Yijun treated Qi Jiguang like a scholar of the state, and he had absolute trust in Qi Jiguang.
Hearing Zhu Yijun's words, Qi Jiguang's heart suddenly warmed up.
Making things difficult for His Majesty?
How could that be? His Majesty was the holy son of Daming. How could he make things difficult for him?
If His Majesty made things difficult, then it meant that he, as a subject, had not done a good job. Then he should do it with all his might!
"Your Majesty, I've misspoken!" Qi Jiguang took a step forward and bowed.
"Since Your Majesty wants to do it, then I'll do my best. Wherever Your Majesty's sword points, I'm willing to be Your Majesty's vanguard.
Not to mention establishing a province, even if it's to destroy a country, I'm willing to raise troops and fight for Your Majesty. "
Zhu Yijun looked at the white-haired Qi Jiguang and smiled as he walked to Qi Jiguang's side.
"You have fought for the Daming your entire life. It is my fortune to have a subject like you, the Daming's fortune, and the world's fortune.
The day Chahar is destroyed will be the day you, Qi Jiguang, will be made a duke. "
"My words to Bu Zhai and the others were mostly words of comfort, but as for you, I hope that you will be made a duke."
"You will be the first general to be made a duke after the founding of Daming. I will make you, Qi Jiguang, shine brightly. I will wait for that day."