Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 819 Development is the hard truth

Su Chen was in Jinling, and obtained intelligence about Bian Jing through the carrier pigeons of the Qingying Guard. He knew that the Song State was seeking stability. What Zhao Kuangyin did was in line with the historical trend, because this is what Zhao Kuangyin did in the history textbooks!
"It seems that I have only affected the South for now. In the North, the people and things of those regimes are still following the established historical trajectory and have not been affected much by me."

"It is now 968 AD. Historically, Zhao Kuangyin died suddenly in 976 AD, which is still eight years from now. If I spend eight years fighting the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin might still die suddenly. It would be much easier to wait for Zhao Guangyi to ascend the throne and lead the Northern Expedition myself. After all, Zhao Guangyi has lost many battles in history and has no ability to lead troops."

Su Chen was hesitant in his heart, but he was definitely not willing to wait for eight years. That was too passive. Once he settled down and got used to the stable life, the southern soldiers would be even more unwilling to march north!

Now that the South is unified, its population is no weaker than that of the North. As long as three years of food and fodder are stored, and with the promotion of Champa rice, the storage of food and fodder will definitely double.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population of the north grew to 4000 million, while that of the south was only 2000 million, which was the limit of the social carrying capacity at that time.

After the Han Dynasty, the north was in a state of war for a long time, while the south was relatively stable, which allowed the land in the south to be developed and the population to grow. During the Tang Dynasty, the population in the north and south had basically reached a balance.

By the 820th year of Emperor Xianzong of Tang's Yuanhe reign (237 AD), there were 1576 million households and million people registered nationwide. After the An-Shi Rebellion, the population of the South once again surpassed that of the North, and there has been no reversal since then.

By the first year of Chongning (1102 AD) during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, there were 2026 million registered households and 4532 million people in the country. The ratio of population between the north and the south was 64:36. After the Jingkang Incident, the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty and quickly occupied the north, but it was unable to eliminate the Southern Song regime.

There are many reasons for this. One reason is that the people of the Jin Dynasty were not good at water battles. For example, in the south, there were many rivers, lakes, and mountains and forests. It was not like the Central Plains where they could ride horses and march straight into the country, so they could not exert such great combat effectiveness.

Second, the people of the Jin Dynasty were not acclimatized to the local climate and could not adapt to the climate in the south.

Another very important reason is related to the population and economy of the Southern Song Dynasty. Because the population and economy of the south were twice that of the north, even if the northern territory was occupied and it seemed that half of the territory was lost, in fact the population and economy were only lost by one third. The foundation was not shaken, and the Song Dynasty was able to continue to fight against the Jin Dynasty and not even lose the upper hand.

The Jin Dynasty was able to destroy the Liao Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty, but it could not do anything to the Southern Song Dynasty. Later, the Mongols were able to easily destroy the Jin Dynasty and other countries, but they were still resisted by the Southern Song Dynasty for 40 years, which was also due to the support of the Southern Song Dynasty's economy and population. However, the court was corrupt and internal strife was serious. In the late Southern Song Dynasty, the power of the entire court was completely in the hands of the treacherous ministers Ding Daquan and Jia Sidao, so the foundation of the regime was damaged and collapsed.

Therefore, after Su Chen unified the south, the population increased by as much as that of the north. If he could mobilize the able-bodied men in the southern states and conscript them into the army, his source of soldiers would be no less than that of the north.

However, the northern males were strong and brave, while the southern males were slightly weaker in comparison. In single combat, the Wu army could not gain an advantage. In addition, the northern warhorse resources were abundant while the southern ones were scarce. If they were to fight head-on in the vast Central Plains, the Wu army would be at a disadvantage.

However, southern soldiers have a unique advantage in water and sea battles. Su Chen can rely on this advantage to send elite troops to quietly land along the coastline, first capture the coastal cities, and then recruit new soldiers in the fertile land of Jianghuai.

Huainan and Huaibei, as well as Shandong, are all densely populated and have abundant military resources, and can all be used. In this way, not only can they avoid the sharp edge of the northern cavalry, but they can also give full play to the strengths of the southern navy, slowly plan for the Central Plains, and gradually expand, which is not a bad way to win.

In addition, Su Chen started to improve the breeds of black pigs and fast-growing chickens, which would undoubtedly greatly increase the supply of food and meat, thereby improving the food standards of southern soldiers and greatly benefiting their physical fitness. In this era, meat was scarce, and beef and mutton were even more of a luxury, which was out of reach for ordinary people; and although pork existed, it was mostly black pigs, which grew slowly and were active, with strong male hormones in their bodies, resulting in a fishy texture, so it was not popular.

Looking back to the history of the Northern Song Dynasty, when Su Dongpo was the governor of Hangzhou, he used black pork as the base and slow-cooked it with various spices to create the world-famous Dongpo Pork. However, this delicacy was only available to officials, and ordinary people had neither abundant spices nor leisure time, so Dongpo Pork was naturally difficult to popularize among the people.

Su Chen, who traveled through time, was well versed in this. He knew that uncastrated black pigs tended to have a fishy smell due to excessive male hormones. Therefore, he vigorously promoted castration technology, kept black pigs in pens, and developed a new type of pig feed to accelerate the growth rate of black pigs, increase their size, and improve the meat quality, making it more delicious.

In this way, black pork was widely promoted in the south, which not only enriched the people's tables, but also provided a sufficient source of meat for Su Chen's army, which was a strategy that achieved multiple goals at one stroke. "For the time being, we will not care about how the north reforms. We will develop step by step and make changes in many aspects!"

Su Chen was determined to implement a series of reforms in order to accelerate the vigorous development of the Wu Kingdom. The first of these was to vigorously promote the cultivation of Champa rice. This rice variety can be harvested twice a year and is particularly suitable for growing in the fertile land of the Taihu Lake Basin, such as Jinling, Suzhou, and Changzhou.

These areas have been fertile land for rice cultivation since ancient times. The proverb "If Suzhou and Changzhou are prosperous, the world will be full" has been circulated as early as the Song Dynasty, meaning that the grain harvests of Suzhou, Changzhou, Songjiang, Huzhou and other prefectures around Taihu Lake are enough to nourish the entire world.

The widespread planting of Champa rice can alleviate the problem of food shortage. Food is the first necessity of the people. Food is the foundation of the country and the basis for the survival of the people. Su Chen is well aware of this, so he used this as a breakthrough to consolidate the country's economic foundation.

On this basis, Su Chen did not stop there, but continued to dig deeper into the business field. He set about improving the government-run and workshop systems in industries such as ceramics, colored glaze, tea, cotton, and silk, recruited workers extensively, expanded the scale of production, and strived for excellence.

At the same time, he actively developed trade relations with the Western Regions, Liaodong, Fusang and even Southeast Asia. Through foreign trade transactions, he continuously created wealth for the country and enhanced the economic strength of the Wu State.

Su Chen was far-sighted and set up several large-scale shipyards, focusing on building warships and commercial ships. These ships will play a vital role in future military operations and maritime trade, and attach importance to maritime transportation.

At the same time, Su Chen also sent capable personnel to the Western Regions, Qinghai, Liaodong and the vast grassland areas, spending a huge amount of money to purchase and exchange war horses.

He knew very well that in the Central Plains in the north, the terrain was flat and open, and the mobility and combat effectiveness of the cavalry were crucial. Whether it was charging into battle or launching a surprise attack, the cavalry played an irreplaceable role.

If one wants to confront the Song army head-on or compete in a field battle, a strong cavalry unit is undoubtedly the key to victory.

To this end, Su Chen set a goal - to build a cavalry army with tens of thousands of war horses.

However, the realization of this goal requires huge resource support. Whether it is food, currency, or ceramics, glass and other materials, they all need to be supplied continuously. Fortunately, he has the income from official kilns and workshops to support him.

In terms of promoting education and cultivating talents, Su Chen founded the Jinling Academy in Jinling. This academy not only taught Confucianism and classics, but also included disciplines such as philosophy, literature, history, and arithmetic.

At the turn of the Tang and Song dynasties, studying for the imperial examination was still the highest pursuit of scholars. Su Chen knew that if he wanted to truly cultivate talents, academies were indispensable and widely recognized. Therefore, he vigorously supported academies and also received support from scholars.

However, Su Chen's vision was not limited to the traditional classics. He had modern ideas and was very clear that true learning should be applied to the world and to the study of things. Therefore, in Jinling Academy, arithmetic and natural science were also given a very important position. He encouraged students not only to read poetry and books, but also to learn to study things and apply what they learned to practice, so as to avoid falling into the dilemma of rote learning.

In addition, Su Chen also ingeniously established a medical school and an engineering school. The medical school focused on the cultivation of medical theories and medical talents, striving to bring more medical experts to the State of Wu; while the engineering school was dedicated to the cultivation of engineering manufacturing talents.

Su Chen also established a hospital in Jinling, gathering some doctors there to provide consultations, and allowing young people who studied medicine to come and work there in the future, controlling drug prices and ensuring that ordinary people have basic medical services.

The entire Jinling and other places are in a state of disrepair. Under Su Chen's layout, they develop in an orderly manner and strengthen themselves. Their goal is to enrich the country and strengthen the military, and to reserve strength for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains and unify the world.