PS: Something happened yesterday and it was broken. I'm sorry, but I brazenly continue to plead for everyone's support. I hope that friends who think this text can still read it can help recommend it. Thanks a lot!

Although it is based on the accumulation of various documents and archives over the past two decades, supplemented by the archives of various tax authorities, it is also a huge project for a regime that controls a million square kilometers of land area.

In order to accomplish this task of finding out the family's background, Shouhan mobilized tens of thousands of people, and selected thousands of educated people from among the army, the patrol inspection system, the police system, and the villages and towns who had been trained to do this work.

"My lord, after this inventory of acres, population, occupation, income and other matters, it must be even more important to govern in the future."

In the general's mansion, Shouhan and Li Peilin rarely stole half a day of leisure, each holding a carved glass, sipping the Ming Qian Longjing in the cup, watching the tender green tea leaves stretch their bodies in the hot water through the glass, doing all kinds of tempting postures.

"However, although the results in the future are quite good, the current cost is also amazing!" Li Peilin consciously and deliberately complained bitterly.

For this economic census, Shouhan specially allocated 500,000 silver dollars from the treasury of the general's mansion, that is, his personal belongings, to advance the economic census, and declared on the same day, "I paid in advance!" I'm going to have to pay back this money in next year's fiscal year budget! ”

Half a million silver dollars seems like a lot of money, but. Once you use it, you find that the money is spent like water. It costs money to assign a uniform number to the investigators, to print the survey form, to publish the investigation notice in the newspaper, to purchase pen, ink and paper, and to print the notice posted in the wharf market in the city, village, and town. Not to mention the food and allowances for those investigators.

After several months of investigation, a lot of money and food were naturally spent, but the results of the investigation were also huge and astonishing after comprehensive comparison and analysis.

September of the tenth year of Chongzhen. It is the season of osmanthus fragrance. After nearly half a year of investigation and statistics, a survey and statistics report was bound into more than ten thick booklets and sent to Shouhan.

This is the entire South China Army today, from military to economic, covering the number of population, the amount of cultivated land, and the types. Personnel occupation composition, industrial manufacturing capacity. Analysis of port terminal throughput and many other aspects.

Even if it was Xiao He's rebirth back then. will also sigh, although Qin's management is refined, but it is only for the agricultural society. It is amazing that a social structure like Nanzhong, which has entered the pre-industrial era, can produce such a detailed and extensive survey and statistics.

Population, no matter what form it is in, is a crucial strategic resource, and it is also a difficult problem that Shouhan has been trying to solve for many years. The rapid development of economy and technology, the use of various iron farm tools and fertilizers, and the popularization of new agricultural technologies seem to be a difficult problem that will always plague the top level of the Yugoslav Central Army.

Especially in labor-intensive industries such as mining and logging, a mine often needs to gather thousands or even tens of thousands of laborers and slaves to work there, like countless worker ants in the dark underground mines, sweating for the mining of coal and ores.

In order to have a sufficient population to support the industrial system and agricultural production activities of the Nanzhong Army, so as to ensure the military superiority of the Nanzhong Army, and to ensure the practice of "doing business with a sword and cultivating the fields" proposed by Shouhan, the Nanzhong Army almost racked its brains: to attract the mainland's displaced people to Nanzhong to settle for reclamation, and to turn the natives into official slaves. A large number of captives were put into low-level, labor-intensive industries such as mining, metallurgy, logging, road construction, port construction, and dock handling.

However, seeing the correlation of this population today is still very surprising to Li Shouhan and Li Peilin, two of the top leaders in the South Central Army.

"As of July 12, the tenth year of Chongzhen, in the jurisdiction of our Nanzhong Army, the people who have received the Huaxia household registration, the people who have done the long-term residence household registration, and the people who have the work permit in their hands, a total of 103000 and 632 people?!"

For this number, it was a bit unexpected for Shouhan.

"Are you sure you're not mistaken? Is there really so many people? ”

Shouhan was a little surprised.

"Are you also included in those native slaves and official slaves?"

According to the regulatory laws of the Nanzhong Army, the status of native slaves and official slaves was very low, and they were basically consumed goods. Although there is a proposition that the Han does not want the cattle to die, but in order to get more benefits, the cattle breeders do not care about the life or death of the cattle. A large number of official slaves and native slaves were swallowed up by the harsh working environment and high-intensity labor.

Almost every day, dead bodies are carried out in mines, forest farms, and docks, and several new graves are added to the nearby mass graves.

Therefore, in view of the high consumption and high mortality rate of these people, Shouhan only minds whether to count the current official slaves and native slaves into the population.

"If you go back to the lord, we will count those who have a household registration, registration and work permits, and those native slaves and official slaves in various places will be counted separately."

The official in charge of the economic census replied with some trepidation, and motioned for Shouhan to turn to the other pages to read.

Sure enough, through the guò label of the mouth paper, Shouhan easily flipped through the number of the Turen official slave part of the population.

"As of 12 July, there were 1,170,000 and 8,059 official and native slaves of all kinds in mines, workshops, forestry farms, wharves, and shipyards."

It is normal to have a population of more than 10 million people in such a huge area, as it is to reach Tamna Island and Kuyi Island in the east, to Shizhou in the south, to Telugu in the west, and to border Yunnan and Liangguang in the north.

However, how can the problem of feeding these tens of millions of people be solved?

Moreover, the food of the South Central Army is far from being comparable to that of the mainland officers and troops in terms of quantity, quality, variety, and calories. The diet of an ordinary soldier is that of a landlord with hundreds of acres of land.

The figures for another field are even more striking.

After 20 years of reclamation and hard work. As well as a large number of iron agricultural tools, because of the continuous promotion and use of Shouhan, the farmers' ability to reclaim land has been greatly strengthened, and the use of various fertilizers and agricultural technologies has made it less difficult to reclaim land and harvest a bumper harvest. Another important factor was that the Zheng family, the Ruan family, the Mo family, the Lao Kingdom, Siam and all kinds of chaotic sultans and earth kings were defeated by the Nanzhong army, and the land they owned became the spoils of the Nanzhong army. With the hard work of the new owners, these lands have also played a role in application.

"At present, our land control is at the level of 50 million mu, which can ensure military and civilian food and grain reserves. The grain in Siwucang and Changping in various places has been stockpiled with rice that can supply three years of food. ”

50 million acres?!

According to the standard of two crops a year, even if 500 catties of grain are produced per mu every year, it is enough to supply the daily food problems and industrial grain of more than 10 million people.

"My lord, it's not just that."

Cheng Xuan, who was the head of the household, saw that Shouhan's love was good, and he also let go of his courage.

"These 50 million acres of land. It is only the benchmark figure that we have calculated every year to provide grain and oil crops for the whole army. In addition, there are still some fields that have just been reclaimed and have not yet been counted, and there are also some things that are in a state of fallow and cannot be counted. If the lord wants to know this part of the situation. We've all done the statistics later. The number of fields in this part is about half. ”

Half of them. That is, about 20 million acres!

This figure made both Shouhan and Li Peilin very excited. King Qin went to Beijing this time. Let Shouhan have an intuitive understanding of the current situation in the interior of the Ming Dynasty. Food has become a more important strategic material than knives, guns and artillery. How much food there is, you can control as many people as you want!

"Have you counted the amount of cultivated land in Taiwan?"

Li Peilin suddenly asked Cheng Xuanlang.

"Hui Changshi, my lord. Economic censuses are conducted in the same way everywhere. Taiwan, Luzon, Manraka, Java and other places, although separated by the sea, but they do not dare to be careless at all, and their subordinates are afraid of mistakes, and the people sent are all old and serious, shrewd and capable people! ”

"At present, there are more than 70,000 Fujian immigrants in Taiwan who have settled there, and they have mixed with the original more than 50,000 people to form more than 2,000 enclosures, each of which is based on iron ploughs, and now there are more than 8,000 iron plows used for reclamation, and more than 2 million acres of land have been developed. In addition, more than 30,000 people have been naturalized into our Southern Ming Army. Several adults in Taiwan discussed that these people should also be organized into Baojia and implement the military law of our Southern Chinese Army of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Shouhan and Li Peilin glanced at each other, Taiwan's grain is also very important. At present, Chen Tianhua is suppressing thieves in Guangdong, and a large number of displaced people have left their homes because of the war, and with food, these displaced people can quickly integrate into the war and economic system of the South Central Army, and become an integral part of this huge machine. Because of its geographical location adjacent to Fujian and Guangdong, Taiwan's position in this war has become more and more prominent.

"Summons to Taiwan. In the future, their grain was only kept for one year, and the surplus grain was uniformly allocated by the general's mansion to Guangdong and Fujian to serve as military rations for Chen Tianhua and Lord Chen. In addition, you can also sell some of it to Zhejiang! ”

That Cheng Xuanlang immediately wrote down Shouhan's instructions in a notebook.

After checking the several numbers of population and agricultural production, Shouhan's heart was greatly relieved, and he motioned for Na Chengxuan to sit down and speak.

In addition to the 50 million yuan of farmland that can guarantee the supply of grain and other crops for Nanzhong every season every year, Nanzhong also has huge mountain forests, mountain pastures, and plantations, which provide the Nanzhong army with a large amount of timber, meat, skins, horses, cattle, sheep, cinchona, rubber, and other cash crops.

"Brother Zong, it's a pity! The tea we drink can only be imported from the mainland, otherwise, it is also a good thing to plant some tea trees in this southern middle! First, you can no longer import tea from the mainland, and second, you can export some tea to the outside! ”

Shouhan played with the glass cup in his hand, admired the shape of the tea leaves and the color of the tea soup, sniffed the aroma of the tea from time to time, and chatted with Li Peilin with regret in his mouth.

Speaking of this tea tree transplant, the two could only look at each other and smile bitterly.

For many years, Shouhan had been planning to take advantage of the natural conditions such as the climate and soil in Nanzhong to cultivate tea trees on a large scale here, so as to pirate the British business in Darjeeling in advance. Keep the gold-absorbing weapon of tea in the hands of the Chinese forever. Unfortunately, despite many efforts, all localities either strictly control the tea seedlings and seeds, or the tea trees that have been obtained with great effort are not suitable for the climate and soil in Nanzhong, and the introduction of seeds has to end in failure.

"Forget it! The tea matter is still left to the rich owners of Jiangxi, Fujian and Nanzhili! Silk tea tung oil porcelain export, I already own most of it. ”

Since tea, a cash crop with relatively high requirements for natural conditions and tea varieties, cannot be introduced for the time being, it is just necessary to put more effort into other aspects.

As for the production and sales of industrial products, this is definitely a major matter related to the life and death of the South China Army. Shouhan once said that there is no food and there is no stability, and there is no work and no wealth. No business, no life. No army is uneasy. After careful speculation, everyone felt that it made sense.

Since the introduction of cash crops mainly represented by tea could not be completed for a while, everyone's attention was naturally devoted to industrial products, which were the strong points of the Nanzhong Army, and were not affected by the weather time. As long as there are raw materials. It can be produced in an endless stream.

"At present, our South Chinese Army has five iron-making and steel-making blast furnaces. Each furnace can produce hundreds of tons of steel per day. The varieties cover pig iron, wrought iron, nine-turn steel, steel, iron steel and many other varieties. ”

When it comes to the secrets of the Southern Chinese Army, what Si Chengxuan said is also vague, presumably when he investigates that day. The investigators were also admonished.

Five blast furnaces, on average, produce hundreds of tons of steel per day, from pig iron to iron steel, a figure that Shouhan sees as a calculation error.

They are the total amount of production obtained by adding their respective numbers after surveying each blast furnace, but as everyone knows, each blast furnace has a different task, and after a large amount of pig iron is smelted, it is processed into various products such as mature iron, nine-turn steel, ordinary steel, and iron steel. This is tantamount to double-counting pig iron, the lowest-end product, with several finished products.

In fact, as the owner of several large enterprises in Ha Tinh, Shouhan knows better than anyone else about the actual output of steel. In the cabinet of his signature room are the reports of enterprises such as Ha Jing Metallurgy and Ha Jing Manufacturing, which clearly report the annual output of steel and the amount of steel processed.

At present, the annual output of steel in Nanzhong is only 300,000 tons. In addition to providing enough steel for the newly built villages and towns to ensure the daily use of production and living tools such as pots and pans, kitchen knives, hoes, ploughshares, spades and pickaxes, it is the knives, guns and small artillery needed for each new land. and the need for armor for mobilized soldiers who were selected by the one-armor-one-soldier system.

However, in addition, the South China Army has begun to implement ductile iron keels for the shipbuilding industry to ensure the construction needs of large ships.

Even so, before the development of ironclad ships and railways, which consume steel, Shouhan and his assistants have always been worried about where the steel will go, and have to find a new territory for this steel giant.

Therefore, going north to Foshan, west to Tianzhu, east to Kyushu and Honshu, have become the main ways to dump steel.

"I'm a little overwhelmed by just 300,000 tons of steel, and as you say, five blast furnaces produce hundreds of tons of steel every day, and I'm afraid I'm going to jump into the sea."

Shouhan silently calculated the gap between this statistical method and the actual production quantity in his heart, and couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. Only when the family knows the kind of subtle and dangerous relationship between the productive forces, the relations of production, and the market that Mr. Ma said, which cannot be seen or touched, but which actually exists.

"Hundreds of tons per furnace per day? That's 300 tons, it's 1,500 tons a day, and how many tons does it take to calculate only 300 days a year? 450,000 tons! That's half the amount of steel you're producing right now, are you going to let me die? ”

While smiling wryly, he used a red pen to mark the steel production column. It is marked that this number is problematic and can only be used for propaganda, not for actual deduction and estimation.

"Twelve docks can be used to overhaul and manufacture ships of tonnage below the Chang Sheng. In addition, there are 40 private shipyard docks, which can be used to build various types of ships. If the shipyard is open and the supply of timber is sufficient, we can make forty ships of all kinds launched every month! ”

This figure includes more than 200 fishing boats and small cargo ships in the private sector, not all of which are warships. If they were all ships like the Constant Victory, hundreds of sailors would have operated the riglines, rudders, and mast guns on them. Even the Dutchmen, the seamen, who are today, cannot afford to produce so many sailors.

However, the next two sets of numbers made Shouhan and Li Peilin more and more happy and sad.

"We have 17,800 workers in our porcelain workshop and glass firing industry. There are 12 porcelain kilns and 9 glass workshops. It can fire 900,000 sets of porcelain every year, including 600,000 sets of bone china, 200,000 sets of lily porcelain, and 100,000 sets of other coarse porcelain. The number of glass workshops is unknown, because it is closely related to the manufacture of clairvoyance, mirror manufacturing and other industries, and the subordinates are not too pressing. ”

For the huge profits brought to him by the porcelain and glass industry, Shouhan knows better than anyone else.

Chinaware. Especially those in the mid-to-high-end bone china and lily porcelain. Most of them went north to sell to the mainland, or went west, and were bought by European merchants, Tianzhu and Arab merchants. In exchange for a large amount of gold, silver and supplies. And glass, in addition to being installed on top of the house. Created the Crystal Palace and the Hall of Mirrors. It is more used to make mirrors, telescopes and artillery mirrors of various sizes.

And another set of numbers. It's about the textile industry.

"There are 1,239 Guoxiama textile machines in my Nanzhong, and more than 28,000 employees in the textile industry. It covers cotton sorting, carding, cleaning, weaving, machine maintenance. Garment and many other industries. ”

Closing the notepad in his hand, Na Cheng Xuanlang looked at Shouhan, carefully observing the expression on his face, as if he had something to say.

"Master Guo, if you have anything to say, just say it." Li Peilin on the side cheered him up.

"Yes! Thank you, Lord Changshi! Guo Chengxuan had the courage to express his views to Shouhan and Li Peilin.

"This investigation of the textile industry was carried out by my subordinates. Workshop owners everywhere, whether government-run or private-owned, have the problem of under-operation. The owners said that at present, the weavers have enough manpower, as long as they can spin and weave at home, with a little training, they can weave cotton cloth that is finer and stronger than Songjiang muslin. The textile machine can also work in three shifts, in addition to daily maintenance and overhaul, people can stop the machine, so that the output can be at least doubled. It's a pity, it's a pity......"

"It's a pity that the source of cotton is insufficient."

Shouhan replied to him.

"Yes and no?"

"The Lord Shengming Candlelight, sure enough, I can't hide anything from you!"

"Master Guo, you did a good job on this errand. But you should also find a problem, what I am lacking now is people! Not a person who plows the fields, but a person who can operate a big ship! ”

Only with enough sailors can the big ships built go to Tianzhu and other places to open up new markets for the steel industry, cotton cloth and porcelain industry in Nanzhong. At the same time, a large amount of cotton and other raw materials are exchanged for the textile industry.

Otherwise, the problem of insufficient transportation capacity will be a bottleneck that will plague the next development of the South China Army. It will even strangle the South Central Army.

"Then, my lord, we will go north to collect the Guangdong Navy Division and the ships along the coast of Guangdong! If the capacity is still insufficient, the Zheng Zhilong Sailor of Fujian Province will be incorporated together! In this way, ships of all sizes are in my hands, so why worry about the lack of capacity?! ”

"Brother Zong, what do you think?"

After sending Guo Chengxuan away, Shouhan looked at the results of this investigation of his family's background, and placed hundreds of account books on a huge long table, which basically truthfully reflected the national economy and war potential of the South Central Army.

However, Shouhan has not been able to make up his mind.

"Lord, if you plan to be a minister of Zhongxing Daming, then Liangguang Fujian must be taken down, if you only plan to be a feudal town entrenched in Nanzhong, enjoy wealth and honor, then Liangguang Fujian will also be in my control, and the lord can sit back and relax."

"Not only Liangguang, Yunnan in recent years into the south of the people is also increasing, last year when the lord went to Beijing to Qin Wang, Yunnan Prefecture Qianguo Gong Mu family actually sent people to ask for money and food, to ask us to return the population. I beat him out with a stick. It is said that later the Mu family was furious about this and recruited Tusi soldiers to prepare to go south to fight me. Fortunately, his ancestors had spirits, and the news that the lord was knighted in Beijing came, and he had to stop fighting. ”

Speaking of this neighbor in the north, Li Peilin is full of disdain.

"My lord! We now have as many as four or five million people, of whom more than half have household registration, and most of them have gone through several months of military training. The subordinates have checked, and there are no less than hundreds of thousands of people in Nanzhong's home who are equipped with armor, swords, and guns. ”

"At that time, whether the lord wants to be Guo Ziyi or break new ground, it's up to you to decide!"

Li Peilin's words were quite tempting, and Li Shouhan was also full of blood and blood.

"You're right. However, as you said, no matter what you do, the three provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, and Guizhou must be in hand! (To be continued......)