When Liang Zhen led his army to attack the Ferghana Basin, the main force of the Datong Army was dividing its troops to attack Urumqi and Balikun.

Both places were fertile land that could be cultivated, but at this time they were all nomadic tribes, and the cities built in the Yuan Dynasty had long been abandoned.

The Datong army was killed in Urumqi, and the local tribes fled directly.

Among them, the Kuben Noyad tribe fled to the northwest to join Dzungaria. Galdandorji fled northeast to join Heshut.

The Datong army did not chase after it, and directly placed 5,000 people here, and re-established a new city on the ruins of Yangji Bali City in the Yuan Dynasty. This is the bridgehead for attacking the northern Xinjiang, the Datong army labor division expedition, the ability to go north in a short period of time, the control of the Urumqi area is for the future.

The other Datong army, which attacked Balikun, also encountered little resistance.

The nine brothers who fled from Qinghai at the beginning have died of old age and illness, and only four of them remain. They had long been frightened by the Datong army, and directly abandoned the Balikun Basin and went further north to avoid the troops.

The Datong army also did not pursue, and immigrated to build a city in Balikun as a bridgehead for attacking northern Xinjiang in the future.

Seeing that the Datong army stopped in two places, it was nested in the Galdan operation with Buxel. The Heshute tribe of Balikun moved north, and inevitably competed with the northern clan for pasture, and the Heshute tribe fell into civil strife, and Galdan immediately decided to lead the army to attack.

Galdan won three battles and three victories, and the Heshute tribe was forced to surrender. After unifying northern Xinjiang, this gang actually claimed the establishment of the Dzungar Khanate, openly ignoring the existence of the Nanjing court.

The northern Xinjiang has not yet been taken, and the Yinli River Valley has not been taken, but the money, grain and immigrants have been almost consumed.

Jiang Liang applied for the allocation of money and grain on the one hand, and on the other hand, he applied for an additional 50,000 immigrants.

When the ministers of the cabinet received the news, they all felt that the Western Regions was a bottomless pit, and tens of millions of taels of silver were thrown into it and they saw a splash - in addition to military expenses, there were also immigrants and city construction that were too expensive.

The imperial court was heavily in debt, owing a huge loan to the Datong Bank, and a lot of that silver came from private storage.

Zhu Shunshui said goodbye to the old man and returned to his hometown, and before leaving Nanjing, he privately advised in the palace: "Your Majesty, most of the Western Regions have been recovered, and the rest can be taken slowly." The amount of debt owed by the imperial court today is so huge that it has never been heard of in ancient times. Cannot...... Desperate for military force! ”

"It has to be done once and for all." Zhao Han replied.

Zhu Shunshui sighed secretly, it's not good to persuade again, because persuasion is useless.

He is a little unable to understand the current financial model, the imperial courts of the past dynasties fought wars, and if the money was not enough, they would levy taxes, or collect salt and iron to make a wave, and the people would also be requisitioned without compensation. The current Datong Imperial Court actually borrowed money from the bank to fight the war, and did not use the money in the treasury, and the people were also paid a small amount of wages.

However, the livelihood of the people in China has not been greatly affected, but the price of grain has risen slightly.

Zhu Shunshui returned to his hometown, Wu Yingji was also frail and sick, both of them retired, Zuo Xiaoliang and Wang Tiaoding moved into the cabinet auxiliary government.

The imperial court once again issued an order to encourage the people of the southern provinces to emigrate, and also hyped it up in the newspapers, hailing the Yinli River Valley and the Ferghana Basin as the pearl of the Western Regions and plugging the south of the Yangtze River. In the past, immigrants divided their fields, they could become clerks after graduating from elementary school, and bachelors could also distribute interracial wives.

In the southern provinces, the contradiction between man and land has become a little apparent, and there are always people who are willing to emigrate.

Especially for bachelors who have too many brothers in the family, the fields that were previously divided can only maintain food and clothing. After they emigrated, they were able to leave a settlement fee to improve their family's living conditions, not to mention that they did not have the intention of going to the Western Regions.

In the year when immigrants were encouraged, tens of thousands of people signed up one after another.

Of these, 5,000 emigrated to the Fergana Basin, which has been renamed the Dawan Military and Civilian Mansion. The remaining thousands are planned to be placed in Yinli, and next year they will attack the Yinli River Valley.

Although the battle was not yet over, the imperial court had officially established the Anxi Protectorate.

Among them, Dunhuang and other places are assigned to Gansu Province.

In the Hami and Balikun areas, the Yihe Military and Civil Mansion was established, which was subordinate to the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate.

In the Turpan and Urumqi areas, the military and civilian government of the Cheshi division was established, which was subordinate to the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate.

In Aksu, Hotan, Kashgar, Yarkand and other places, the Shache Military and Civil Government was established, which was subordinate to the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate.

In the area of Green Ridge and Dawan, the Dawan Military and Civilian Government was established, which was subordinate to the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate.

Kyrgyzstan and the Yinli River Valley, preparing to set up the Yinli Military and Civil Mansion, which is subordinate to the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate.

After taking the northern Xinjiang and operating for another one or two decades, the Anxi Protectorate may have to be divided into two. The eastern part was to establish Xinjiang Province. The western part will continue to be governed by the Metropolitan Protectorate, and then the matter of establishing a province will be considered.

The household registration yamen of all provinces have been open to immigration business for a long time.

As long as you are willing to immigrate to the Western Regions, you can go to the county government to sign up. Provincial capitals, prefectures and counties will provide special immigration funds according to the number of immigrants each year, and this policy will continue for ten years.

It can not only enrich the population of the Western Regions, but also alleviate the contradiction between people and land in the country, only the imperial court has been losing money and throwing money.

Three to five thousand immigrants a year, sometimes even tens of thousands, ten years of perseverance, even the Fergana Basin, is enough to support four Han cities.

What's more, there are also businessmen who take the initiative to run over.

There is the Silk Road, and merchants are willing to go no matter how far they go. There are always some who want to stay in the Western Regions, first opening a trading post, and then engaging in various shop operations.

……

Shanghai.

A fleet headed north, and the crown prince Zhao Kuanghuan was on board.

The choice was a smooth season, and it was necessary to dock before summer to avoid a big storm for the prince.

The crown prince toured the north, firstly, to increase his knowledge, and secondly, to visit his teacher on behalf of the emperor.

Pang Chunlai has been sick for several years, sometimes good and sometimes bad, and it is estimated that he will not last long.

"Gross!"

For two whole days, Zhao Kuanghuan vomited on the boat, but the symptoms of seasickness were obviously alleviating.

On this journey, the ministers were opposed, believing that the prince should not go, and that other princes could be chosen instead. After all, at the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the crown prince Zhu Biao went to inspect Xi'an, and died of illness soon after returning to Nanjing.

Zhao Han insisted on letting the prince go, and he stayed in Nanjing all day, how could he do it without seeing the outside?

"Your Highness, are you more comfortable?"

"It's okay, I didn't get dizzy yesterday."

Although seasick, Zhao Kuanghuan is very happy, who among young people does not want to take a long trip?

After another day, Zhao Kuanghuan completely adapted, standing on the deck and enjoying the sea view. The vast and boundless sea made Zhao Kuanghuan feel relaxed and happy, and he even wanted to go to the Mongolian steppe to see, and he heard that the grassland scenery was also very magnificent.

Li Quan also accompanied him, and Zhao Han wanted the prince to contact the Four Seas Trading Company in advance, after all, this was a semi-royal enterprise.

"I heard that you went on an expedition to the South Seas and only returned to China last winter?" Zhao Kuanghuan asked.

Li Quan said: "Exactly. ”

Zhao Kuanghuan was curious: "Where have you been and what have you encountered?" ”

Li Quan recounted: "First I went to a big island called New Guinea, the name was given by the Portuguese, and then I dared to change the name to Nanban Island. ”

"Why the name?" Zhao Kuanghuan asked.

Li Quan said: "The natives of this island are all black, and there is a custom of headhunting. When it comes to headhunting, women and children march for men, and men go to attack rival tribes. They often raid at night, hunting for enemy heads. Some tribes made various decorative objects from hunted human skulls. There are also tribes that have cannibalistic customs, and they also eat the corpses of relatives, believing that they can carry the souls of their deceased relatives. ”

Zhao Kuanghuan was shocked and said: "Headhunters and cannibalism, the world is so big, there are really no surprises. ”

"It's remote, it's hot and humid rainforests, and it doesn't produce spices or food, so even Europeans don't want to colonize the island." Li Quan said.

Zhao Kuanghuan asked again: "In addition to Nanban Island, where else did you go?" ”

Li Quan said: "Further south, there is a big island called New Holland. It can't even be called an island, but a continent, which sails along the coast for five months. On the way, they had to be replenished with water, and their food was almost exhausted, so they were sustained by fishing and hunting, and finally had to return to Java. ”

New Holland is Australia, and the so-called five months have not completed the coastline because of frequent landings to explore the situation.

Several suitable places have been identified, mainly on the east coast of Australia.

Zhao Kuanghuan smiled: "If I weren't the prince, I would want to go on an adventure with you." By the way, that New Holland, what did you change to name? Are there natives on the island? ”

"I can't think of any good names, so I asked the prince to name one." Li Quan arched his hand and said.

Zhao Kuanghuan asked, "Is it more south than Java Island?" ”

"Exactly." Li Quan said.

Zhao Kuanghuan thought for a while: "It's better to call it Changsheng Island, or Changsheng Continent." ”

"Good name!" Li Quan immediately patted his ass.

The name "Changsheng" comes from the Taoist "Antarctic Immortal Emperor", which is also known as the Antarctic Immortal Weng and the Birthday Elder, and it is said that he lives in the extreme south.

Li Quan said: "On this Immortal Island, there are also natives. The people there also have darker skin tones, but they tend to be more reddish-brown. And the people on Nanban Island (New Guinea) have tended to be dark, only slightly better than the blacks in Africa. ”

"The natives of Changsheng Island have headhunter and cannibalistic customs?" Zhao Kuanghuan asked.

Li Quan shook his head and said, "I haven't encountered cannibals for the time being, and Changsheng Island is too big, and the indigenous tribes are very different. Some tribes are already able to build stone houses; Some tribes still live in grass huts and caves. Once, I was frightened by some indigenous tribe in Xia! ”

Zhao Kuanghuan asked, "But you want to attack outsiders?" ”

Li Quan explains: "No, they are very hospitable. At that time, we went ashore to look for water and met a tribe that used stone tools. They seemed to be performing some kind of ritual, the man broke the frog's belly with a stone knife, and the woman took the giant frog and bit it. Except for the entrails and the skin of the frog, the woman swallowed the rest raw. ”

"Ru Mao drinks blood." Zhao Kuanghuan sighed.

"Those women are begging for children," Li Quan said, "and the frogs lay many eggs, and the local natives worship them very much, believing that women can have more children by eating giant frogs." We went up to ask about the water source, but we didn't figure it out for a long time. The natives brought us back to the tribe and invited us to dinner, and they brought us all snakes, lizards, geckos, and the like soaked in blood. There were also natives who came over with spears and pointed at the pregnant women and chattered. We were all frightened, thinking that we had encountered cannibals, and hurriedly fled back to the sea. ”

Zhao Kuanghuan asked, "Isn't it a cannibal?" ”

Li Quan shook his head and said, "No." Later, when we searched for water, we happened to see a woman from this tribe fetching water. After communicating for several days, I probably figured out that the natives were really inviting us to dinner. They are very kind and welcoming, but they don't know how to eat cooked food or even make a fire. ”

Zhao Kuanghuan felt that it was too unbelievable, and there were still people who couldn't even make a fire.

Li Quan said: "We made a fire and roasted an animal that looked like a big mouse, someone as tall as a man, and a bag on its belly. After it is roasted, it is sprinkled with salt and invited to taste it by the natives. The natives were very happy to eat it, and learned how to make a fire with us, and exchanged their furs for salt. ”

Zhao Kuanghuan said: "The natives who can't make fires also know how to invite guests to dinner, it seems that Shengfan is not all evildoers." In the future, colonizing this island can be routinely indoctrinated, and the good can be tamed. ”