When Sinara and her maid Kafna arrived in Nanjing and marveled at the beauty and spectacle of the glazed tower of Dabaoen Temple, there were several cargo ships loaded with Nanyang rice.

They didn't know that the arrival of these cargo ships even boarded the Jinling Evening News that day - "100,000 shi of Nanyang rice arrived in Nanjing". As soon as this article was released, the rice prices in Nanjing and other places fell in response the next day, and even the grain prices in various places also dropped a lot.

Yan Ermei, who was in charge of Fuyi Department, came to the palace proudly. He first offered a gift and then said.

"I congratulate you for your Majesty!"

The gift was a small bag of rice, Yan Ermei said with a relaxed look:

"Your Majesty, since then, we no longer have to worry about the food in the world. This year, not only Taiwan and Hekou have achieved a bumper harvest, but the Tang Kingdom has also achieved a bumper harvest. These places can produce 500,000 stones of grain per year! From now on, we can transport 3 million stones of grain to the country every year! With these 3 million stones of grain, the court no longer has to worry about food."

In fact, in previous years, two or three million shi of scattered rice were shipped to the Ming Dynasty every year, but the rice was purchased by marine merchants, but now it was a colony... No, the Ming Dynasty had no colonies, and the Ming Dynasty had only a new territory, which was under the jurisdiction of Fuyisi. Immigration for the new territory that had lasted for many years finally saw a reward in the sixth year of Qiansheng - the three million shi of rice was rewarded!

"In another ten years, these places will be our new granary of the Ming Dynasty, Nanyang Feng, and the whole world is full!"

Zhu Guoqiang nodded and said:

"Nanyang is prosperous, the world is full! Yes, with Nanyang as the granary, our Ming Dynasty will no longer have any worries about hunger and food!"

In fact, Zhu Guoqiang has never relaxed his attention to grain. In the past few years, the planting area of ​​new crops such as corn, potatoes, and red taro has indeed increased significantly. But even so, it is still a drop in the bucket for the entire Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, with the prosperity of overseas trade and the expansion of overseas markets, cotton exports have surged. Moreover, the construction of machine yarn mills has also provided sufficient yarn for the cotton industry in the past two years. The only thing that restricts production is the production of cotton, so locals have changed to plant cotton. While "cotton and grain competition" frequently appears, it directly leads to a decline in grain output.

"Your Majesty is worried about the tight food supply?"

Yan Ermei asked,

In the past two years, the price of grain in Jiangnan has been higher than one day. Although it has not reached the sky-high price of three or four taels of silver per stone in the 16th and 17th year of Chongzhen, the price of as high as two taels and one stone will still starve to death!

"I think that to stabilize the price of rice in the south, I have to further increase the breeding... If 20 million stones can be added every year, then the people in Jiangnan will no longer have the worries of hunger and food, but in the short term, 20 million stones will definitely not be planted by immigrants."

What is the current population of the Ming Dynasty?

No less than 150 million!

This was even affected by war and plague. In fact, the population in the late Ming Dynasty might have exceeded 200 million. How much food does so many people need in a year?

Not only do people need food, but also cattle, horses, mules, donkeys and other poultry also need food, and winemaking and other aspects also require a lot of food.

So the demand for food will not be less than 700 million to 800 million stones!

Seventy to eight hundred million stones, not much. As long as the per mu of production capacity is one stone, one billion mu of arable land is enough. But in fact, the land in the north is barren, and many places have only seven or eight dollars of per mu of production. At the same time, many cash crops have been planted in southern Zhili, Zhejiang and other places, and crops such as mulberry silkworms and cotton also occupy a large amount of fertile land, thus reducing the supply of food.

Perhaps in another world, the Northeast is the most important granary in China, but in China during the Little Ice Age, can the weather in the Northeast meet the weather conditions for growing rice?

But aren’t the North Koreans growing rice the same? They can grow it there, and they can also grow it in the Northeast.

Then Yan Ermei said:

"General, this year, military households have tried to grow Korean rice in Heilongjiang, and have achieved a bumper harvest. They harvest no less than three or four stones per mu. I think that if the land can be reclaimed in areas with rich river water such as Heilongjiang and Mudanjiang, the government should not be difficult to purchase millions of stones a year! In this way, the Ming Dynasty had two grains, one in the South Ocean and the other in the Northeast. Although the Northeast is not as good as the South Ocean, if the South Ocean signs for grain collection, we can also call for food emergency rescue in the Northeast, and the other in the Northeast is flat in Zhili. A railway can be built to connect the inside and outside the pass. In this way, the people can move to the Northeast in large quantities, and the Northeast grain can also be transported to North Zhili and other places nearby."

"good!"

Zhu Guoqiang agrees,

"Your method is good! Let's discuss with Chen Changgeng and others to see if this railway can be put in the plan. Maybe it can't be built in the short term, but it is extremely necessary in the long run. Northeast granary..."

Zhu Guoqiang said with a smile.

"With these granaries, I can sleep soundly. After all, I don't feel panic when I have food in my hands!"
Chapter completed!