Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

In Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting looked at the news coming from various places, sometimes showing joy and sometimes frowning.

Shaanxi has suffered a severe drought this year. It has not rained since May. The grain harvests in various places have almost failed and there are victims of the disaster everywhere.

Fortunately, the emperor had foreseen all this and agreed to his proposal for martial law, so that although there were minor disturbances in various parts of Shaanxi, no major disturbances occurred that affected the entire province.

Especially in the Yansui area, the emperor insisted on relocating 50,000 households, which greatly reduced the pressure of disaster relief. Almost all those left were wealthy households with surplus grain.

In the Pingliang area, the migration of the Han clan not only took many people with them, but also left behind food, houses and land.

This is the residence of the Governor-General of Sanbian. Under his personal leadership, it is also relatively stable and even absorbed some disaster victims from Ningxia.

It can be said that these places in northern Shaanxi quickly stabilized under the court's immigration policy, and the living standards of those who stayed behind were even better than before.

What Sun Chuanting needed to pay attention to was no longer disaster relief, but whether the Han people would be coveted by foreigners after they moved away.

Fortunately, after the current emperor ascended the throne, he has been on good terms with the various tribes on the grasslands, and even married concubines to them. In addition, the recruitment of the Panchen Lama also allowed some tribes on the grasslands that wanted to fight to move to U-Tsang, alleviating the border defense pressure of the Ming Dynasty.

To this end, Sun Chuanting specially summoned the Gansu Military Protector and asked him to obey the court's orders and open the roads to allow the grassland tribes to migrate.

With such a multi-pronged approach, there was no major chaos in Shaanxi, which made Sun Chuanting feel relieved.

However, the situation in Guanzhong made him very worried. In northern Shaanxi, the famine was so severe that the people did not even have the energy to rebel. They either starved to death or were organized to migrate by military households sent by the court.

Guanzhong was more prosperous and had more or less surplus food, so bandits arose everywhere. There were many small gangs of bandits who robbed the people everywhere.

Sun Chuanting’s main task now is to suppress bandits.

This made him admire the emperor's foresight, but at the same time he could not help but feel a little resentful -

If a protectorate was established in the entire Shaanxi province as he had proposed before, the situation in Guanzhong would be better.

Fortunately, after the martial arts conference at the beginning of the year, he recruited many strong men to serve as county lieutenants. Under their leadership, the militias in various counties were able to maintain some order.

Yang Zhaoji, the three-province bandit suppression commander, and Zu Dashou, the deputy general of the Shaanxi Fu Biao, also had strong troops under their command. After clearing out some old bandits at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, no major bandits appeared in Guanzhong.

But it would not be a good idea to continue the chaos like this, so Sun Chuanting planned to follow the advice of Yuan Shu, the Northwest Pacification Envoy, and crack down severely on bandits in the winter, just like the severe crackdown on bandits in the capital last year.

With this thought in mind, Sun Chuanting convened the members of the Shaanxi Counter-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee in Xi'an to hold a bandit suppression meeting.

As one of the committee members, Yuan Shu first introduced the experience of the Jinyiwei in Beijing last year's crackdown, and proposed to crack down severely on bandits according to the policy of Beijing last year.

Yang Zhaoji, the three-province bandit suppression commander, said:

“The capital is different from Shaanxi.”

"The capital is a city. As long as we conduct a thorough investigation, the bandits will have nowhere to hide."

"But the area in Shaanxi is much larger and has more mountains and forests."

"If we want to conduct a comprehensive investigation, we need too much manpower, and some people are actually bandits themselves."

This is the most difficult part, and also the reason why the bandits in Shaanxi are so difficult to eliminate.

Due to the drought, there was a serious food shortage, and some villages, or even entire villages, were infested with bandits.

They cannot survive without robbing, so they have no choice but to take the risk of robbing.

Yang Zhaoji encountered many such situations when he was suppressing bandits, which made him deeply feel the difference between suppressing bandits this year and last year.

If he could kill the chronic bandits without hesitation last year, he didn't know how to deal with these bandits who had no food to eat this year.

After all, the crimes committed by these people are nothing more than robbery. If the punishment is too harsh, many people will rebel.

His partner Yang He even strongly agreed with the proposal and said:
"In my opinion, we should still provide relief."

"As long as the people have food to eat, who would want to be a bandit?"

"Taiwan Governor Sun, how about we submit another joint petition to request disaster relief from the imperial court?"

Sun Chengzong shook his head upon hearing this and said:
"The court has no spare energy this year!"

"Your Majesty has used all the gold and silver to invest in immigration, and the palace's expenses have been reduced again and again."

"What's more, even if there is food, after transporting it thousands of miles to Shaanxi, only 20% to 30% can be kept at most."

"The imperial court is really unable to provide relief here!"

After hearing this, everyone fell silent.

They also believe that the current emperor is a good emperor, and that all the gold and silver used in the palace are used for immigration and disaster relief.

No matter when you meet such an emperor, you must praise him.

However, the drought in Shaanxi this year was so severe that there was little gold and silver left after it was used to pay for immigration and the salaries of Shaanxi's civil and military officials.

In Guanzhong, they were asked to find a way to produce food on their own, but they really couldn't.

Shaanxi Governor Shen Zizhang said:

"When it comes to disaster relief, the most suitable method is to provide work in lieu of relief. This is how the imperial court provided disaster relief in the Gyeonggi region this year."

"According to your majesty's prediction, Shaanxi will still face drought in the next ten years or so."

“The most appropriate thing to do is to build canals to prevent future droughts.”

Sun Chuanting agrees:
"Sun also believes that the canal should be repaired, so I asked His Majesty to send Brother Shen over."

"But a good cook cannot cook without rice. Where should the food come from to recruit disaster victims to repair the canal and provide relief work?"

After some discussion, some said to raise donations from wealthy households, while others said to mobilize funds from Henan and other places.

Finally, Yuan Shu said:
"Your Majesty has agreed to the governor's proposal to relocate the Qin vassal state, and the various royal palaces in the capital have also prepared many mansions."

"The conditions for migration are now in place, but we will have to migrate in the winter and suffer on the road."

Sun Chuanting had long ago requested the emperor to move the Qin vassal state, and the emperor agreed and asked him to make preparations.

However, this matter is of great importance, and the Qin vassal state is not willing to migrate voluntarily like the Han vassal state.

So Sun Chuanting had been preparing for it, but he did not take action. Instead, he first cleaned up the military settlements in the garrisons and made some money from them.

Now that they can no longer hold on, they have convened this meeting, planning to take action against the Qin Fan and use the money and grain accumulated by the Qin Fan to provide relief to the victims.

After Yuan Shu proposed it, Yang Zhaoji, Yang He, Shen Zizhang and others discussed it and quickly passed the proposal.

They didn't have much good feelings towards Qin Fan, so since the emperor had already agreed, they naturally wouldn't stop this matter.

But they also had to consider the weather. The emperor had even stopped winter immigration, so they naturally couldn't force the Qin vassal to migrate in the middle of winter.

If someone dies, these senior officials will be blamed and criticized.

Finally, after discussion, the Shaanxi Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee decided to confiscate the grain stored by the Qin clan and require them to migrate after the beginning of next spring.

When the decision reached the Qin Palace, the current Qin Prince Zhu Yi was furious. He was not very sensitive to the government affairs, and only then did he realize that the emperor gave him 500 acres of land in the capital in order to let him move the Qin Palace there.

In the future, the Qin vassal state will have to migrate overseas like the Han vassal state did.

How could he, who was greedy for the prosperity of Xi'an, be willing to do this? He shouted to Yuan Shu who delivered the order:

"Where's Sun Chuanting? Ask him to come over here!"

"I will stay in the Prince of Qin's mansion and see if he dares to move out by force!"

Yuan Shu remained calm, took out a decree and said to the King of Qin:

"This is the will of His Majesty. Qin Fan has long been allowed to move overseas."

"This is what the Crown Prince agreed to on behalf of the King in the capital. If the King does not believe it, he can go to the capital to ask."

After hearing this, Qin Wang Zhu Yi was furious. He had never thought that his son, who only knew how to enjoy himself, would be willing to move overseas.

This made him so angry that he shouted:

"I am the current King of Qin, and what that rebellious son says does not count."

"No matter what you say, I will stay in the Prince Qin's mansion."

When Yuan Shu heard him say this, his expression changed slightly and he said:

"So, Your Majesty is willing to give up the throne to the Crown Prince and retire in Xi'an?"

"Your Majesty has given instructions on this point, saying that the King of Qin is old and virtuous, so he can stay in the King of Qin's mansion to retire."

"From now on, the Qin Palace in Shaanxi will still belong to the Qin vassal state."

When Qin Wang Zhu Yi heard these words, his heart went cold. He never expected that the current emperor would be so cruel.

If he is unwilling to move his fiefdom, the throne will be inherited by the crown prince, and he will be imprisoned in the Prince of Qin's Palace and will never be able to go out again.

He wanted to say that there was no precedent for doing so, but looking at Yuan Shu's cold expression, he suspected that if he insisted, he might be framed by these Shaanxi officials and sent to Fengyang for imprisonment.

This really frightened him, and he pointed at Yuan Shu and cursed him a few times, but he finally accepted the order to move his fiefdom.

When Yuan Shu asked him to provide food, he did not dare to refuse, and took out the food accumulated by Qin Fan to provide relief to the victims.

With the food provided by the Qin Palace, the work-for-relief program planned by Sun Chuanting, Shen Zizhang and others finally began to be implemented. The water conservancy project previously planned by Shen Zizhang, Song Yingxing and others was quickly built.

This led to a rapid decrease in the number of bandits in Guanzhong, with most people choosing to work on construction sites to earn a living. Those who were plunderers and unwilling to change were targeted by Yang Zhaoji, Zu Dashou and others.

After these people were captured, those who had killed people were publicly executed, and the rest were sent to construction sites to take charge of dangerous areas.

This made the canal construction project much smoother and reduced the losses to the people.

Under such circumstances, Song Yingxing finally left Guanzhong and headed for Yansui.

He came to Shaanxi as a representative appointed by the emperor to Xu Guangqi to inspect farmland and water conservancy.

Because he was very proficient in water conservancy engineering, Shen Zizhang kept him in to plan canals and build irrigation tools such as waterwheels.

Now that the canal construction project in Shaanxi had finally started, he no longer needed to plan it. He was therefore freed up to go to Yan'an on the emperor's orders to investigate oil refining and try to use heavy oil for smelting.

When Song Yingxing arrived in Yan'an, the oil refining craftsmen had already separated various oils from petroleum by distillation according to the emperor's suggestion. After experiments, they determined the varieties mentioned by the emperor, such as kerosene.

Looking at the oil lamp made of kerosene, Song Yingxing found that this oil was indeed very suitable for lighting. It burned very brightly, and the flame was stable, without black smoke, lamp sparks, and no obvious odor. This made him sigh:
"Shen Mengxi is right. This thing will really be very popular in the world."

"With kerosene, people no longer need to use fat and vegetable oil to light lamps."

"I will suggest to your majesty that more oil be extracted in Yan'an."

The more kerosene is used for lighting, the less animal and vegetable oils are used, which can be used later for food instead of being burned.

Song Yingxing affirmed the work of these craftsmen and suggested that they go to Sichuan to find craftsmen to mine well salt and exploit the deep-lying oil.

They even mentioned the fire wells in Sichuan, believing that the natural gas that emerges from underground could be used for crude oil distillation during oil extraction.

As a result, the Ming Dynasty's oil industry absorbed well salt technology and mastered drilling technology as deep as a thousand meters for the extraction of crude oil.

After making various suggestions, Song Yingxing did not forget his purpose, which was to explore the process of refining iron with heavy oil according to the emperor's instructions.

There are no good iron ore in northern Shaanxi. The nearest iron smelting plant is in Jiaocheng, Shanxi.

So Song Yingxing took the distilled heavy oil, diesel and other products and transported them to Jiaocheng, Shanxi.

Jiaocheng belongs to Taiyuan Prefecture and is also on the post road from northern Shaanxi to Taiyuan. Song Yingxing traveled along the post road and found that although the large-scale immigration organized by the court had ended, there were still many disaster victims fleeing along the post road.

The post stations along the road also provided relief and directed the victims to Cangzhou. There were also some officials responsible for maintaining order.

Coincidentally, he met his brother Song Yingsheng, who was now inspecting the post roads under the orders of Zhang Mengjing and planning the Yancang Highway with officials from the Taipu Temple.

According to the emperor's order, the Yancang Highway should be straightened as much as possible to shorten the migration distance of disaster victims and facilitate the transportation of food.

Therefore, we must cut through the mountains and build bridges over the rivers, and open up new passages in some places that were originally inaccessible.

Taipusi was the most enthusiastic about this matter, because the benefits of the Beijing-Tianjin Highway were now very significant. The road maintenance fees collected by Taipusi were rising steadily.

Although there is no charge for the migration of disaster victims on the Yancang Highway, they need to work while the road is being repaired. And when merchants transport goods on the highway, Taipu Temple can also charge fees.

Now, Taipusi is preparing to build this highway into a major thoroughfare connecting the three provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Northern Zhili.

After learning that Song Yingxing was going to Jiaocheng to experiment with heavy oil ironmaking, the officials of the Imperial Household Department said happily:

"Iron smelting is good!"

"It would be great if we could produce steel bars suitable for making concrete."

"Cement concrete is very strong and is best used for road construction!"

"You guys can make more steel, we at Taipusi can take care of it all."

When the highway construction started, there was a huge demand for building materials.

After mastering the use of cement, Taipu Temple was no longer satisfied with simply using cement to pave roads. Instead, following the emperor's suggestions, it explored bamboo reinforced concrete and reinforced concrete.

Finally, they came to the conclusion that reinforced concrete was the best choice, but the price of steel was too high and the production was insufficient.

So they urgently needed more steel to pave the road, or even build reinforced concrete bridges as the emperor said.

After hearing what these officials said, Song Yingxing became more confident about his mission.

Even if the steel smelted with heavy oil could not meet the requirements of high-quality steel used in firearms, it could at least be used to make concrete. In this way, his mission would not be completely in vain.

Of course, what he was looking forward to more was to use heavy oil to smelt high-quality steel. This way, he could make more fire guns to pacify the Jianlu. (End of this chapter)