Hearing Xu Erjue's description of Siberian products, Zhu Cijiong's eyes lit up, he thought that the development of Siberia would have to be promoted by himself, but he didn't expect that Xu Erjue had already led the Ming Royal Xinglong Business to develop first.

He couldn't help but be pleased: "Well, yes, since you find that Siberia is a treasure trove, you have to develop it well, Daming has spent a lot of money in order to compete for Siberia, I hope you can earn this money back as soon as possible, and create more wealth, and contribute to the development of Daming." “

This is obviously a compliment, but Xu Erjue's face changed when he heard this, and he said ashamedly: "The emperor forgives the sin, what the villain said is only what the merchants sent by the business have seen and heard over there, and the Daming Xinglong business has not made much money over there, and it only earned a total of hundreds of thousands of taels in half a year last year, which is a drop in the bucket compared with the loss of the army." “

Zhu Cijiong heard this, he didn't choke on the wrong point, and this guy was releasing empty cannons for a long time, causing himself to rejoice, this habit is not good, he asked in a slightly reproachful tone: "Since you know so much wealth over there, why don't you develop it?" “

Xu Erjue was frightened by this sentence of cold sweat, and he hurriedly explained in fear: "The emperor forgives the sin, it's not that the villain doesn't want to develop, it's really that there are not so many people in the Ming Royal Xinglong Firm, the territory of Siberia is simply boundless, and all the employees of the Daming Royal Xinglong Firm add up to more than 100,000, even if the villain stops all the other local businesses, let everyone go to Siberia and can't develop it!" “

Zhu Cijiong was stunned when he heard this, it seemed that he was wrong to blame him, 100,000 people, it would be good to be able to develop tens of thousands of square kilometers, but there were millions of square kilometers, besides, it was impossible for the Ming Royal Xinglong Company to stop all other local businesses and go to develop Siberia.

He thought for a moment and comforted: "It's my fault that blames you, you can consider hiring the herdsmen over there to develop, they are also the people of the Ming Dynasty, and it is a good thing for them to earn some money and live a rich life." “

When Xu Erjue heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief, and thanked him again and again: "Thank you for the emperor's forgiveness, the villain has also considered the problem of employing herdsmen, but the number of herdsmen over there is too small, according to the estimation of the merchants sent by the business, the number of herdsmen over there is less than one million in total, and most of them are women, children and the elderly, and the real young and strong are less than 100,000. ”

Zhu Cijiong asked curiously, "Oh, why are there so few herdsmen there?" “

Xu Erjue then explained: "This villain has sent someone to inquire, the population of the Siberian Khanate is not large, and most of them are gathered in the Siberian plain with abundant water and grass, and there are not many nomadic tribes in the plateau valley, plus several major wars during the invasion of Tsarist Russia, their population has been seriously damaged, especially the young and strong, and it is good for a large family to leave a young and strong laborer." “

Zhu Cijiong heard this and nodded, this is the truth, and it is completely consistent with the information obtained by Jinyiwei, most of the population of the Siberian Khanate is still concentrated in the plain area between the Yeni River and the Ob River, and there is still the territory of Tsarist Russia.

It is indeed a problem that there is an inexhaustible wealth and no one to exploit it, which he did not expect, could there be other problems?

He asked tentatively: "Erjue, as you can see, are there any other problems in the development of Siberia besides the population problem?" “

Hearing this, Xu Erjue thought about it carefully, and then replied affirmatively: "Yes, the villain feels that transportation is also a big problem, in fact, those herdsmen need more food, if there is food, they may be able to stabilize, gather together, and carry out some development, the caravan carriage organized by our Royal Xinglong Firm is limited, and other necessities of life with greater profits cannot be transported, and things with meager profits like grain, if it were not for their strong request, we would not even plan to transport it over to sell at all, That's a trade route that can't move thousands of miles, and it's better not to go by transporting some grain to earn that meager profit! “

When Zhu Cijiong heard this, he nodded again and said, "Well, are there any other problems besides the problem of population and transportation?" “

When Xu Erjue heard this, he thought about it carefully, and then shook his head and said, "The villain is stupid, there are only these two things he can think of." “

It's not easy to solve these two, Zhu Cijiong thought about it for a while, there was really no good way, he couldn't help but look at everyone present, these are all flexible minds and experienced people, they may have some good solutions.

So, he said directly: "Everyone has also heard that in order to develop Siberia, it is necessary to solve the population problem and the transportation problem, this huge territory of Siberia, endless wealth, must be developed, do you have any good suggestions on these two issues?" “

Everyone was actually thinking about it for a long time, and when he asked, everyone immediately began to offer suggestions, because everyone present knew that the emperor didn't like stuffy gourds.

The first to speak was Bi Maokang, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, who proposed: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that water transportation should be the mainstay, and it is difficult to build a railway in Siberia, but the rivers are accessible in all directions, and they are all ready-made, and there is no need to build them at all, as long as you build more castles with docks, which is conducive to transportation and invigorating commerce." As for the ships required for transportation, they can be mainly Fuchuan battleships or armed Fuship, and now the major fleets have begun to be refitted with super battleships, and it is suitable to refit Fuchuan battleships as armed merchant ships. “

When Zhu Cijiong heard this, he clapped his hands and praised: "Okay, Meng Hou, you take the lead and work with all ministries to draw up a specific charter." “

When Bi Maokang heard this, he hurriedly arched his hand and said, "Weichen obeys the order." “

Immediately afterwards, Sun Yuanhua, the secretary of the Ministry of War, proposed: "Your Majesty, Weichen feels that he can gradually move the Tunwei north to solve the population problem, and now, Liaodong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Sichuan, Yunnan, Huguang and other places are no longer borders, and there is no need to leave so many guards, and the redundant guards can be slowly transferred to the Western Regions and Siberia, so that they can go to logging, hunting, and fishing, and then the royal family will purchase them at an appropriate price, which is not only conducive to border stability, but also allows Tunwei to participate in the development and solve the population problem. It can also increase the income of the guards and improve the lives of the families of the guards, which is the so-called three wins with one stone. “

When Zhu Cijiong heard this, he clapped his hands again and praised: "Okay, very good, just do it, Chuyang will be in charge of you, and draw up a specific charter." “

The two seemingly difficult problems were solved by Bi Maokang and Sun Yuanhua in a few words, Zhu Cijiong was naturally overjoyed, but Cheng Guoxiang and Luo Yangxing were depressed, they also thought of some solutions, the problem Bi Maokang and Sun Yuanhua's methods were the most appropriate, and the emperor immediately made a decision, so that they had no chance to open their mouths and perform!