Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 266 Three Ways to Develop America, Dongshengzhou and Xuanzhou [Please Subscribe]

For the four local chiefs, the Fengtian Palace was too tall and magnificent. When they suddenly arrived here, they felt like mortals entering heaven.

Zhu Yuanzhang, sitting high on the dragon throne, brought them a powerful sense of oppression. They felt as if they were facing a god and were trembling with fear.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Don't be nervous—as the first group of American chieftains to submit to the Ming Dynasty, we will not treat you unfairly. Announce your rewards."

The eunuch took out the imperial edict that had been prepared long ago and read aloud Zhu Yuanzhang's reward to the four local chiefs.

Because Xiong Bai led his people to integrate into the Ming Dynasty's garrisons, he was granted the title of hereditary centurion, and the other three chieftains were granted the title of chief of the chieftaincy, all of which were sixth-rank military posts.

The Ming Dynasty had a system of local officials in the vassal territories.

It's not that they don't want to reform the natives, but there aren't enough Han Chinese to migrate to many places, so the foundation for reforming the natives simply isn't there. You can't expect to reform the natives entirely, right? It's unrealistic.

Therefore, the native official system was quite applicable in the early Ming Dynasty.

From top to bottom, there are five levels of local official offices, namely: the Xuanweishisi has a Xuanweishi (third rank); the Xuanfusi has a Xuanfushi (fourth rank); the Anfusi has a Anfushi (fifth rank); the Zhaotaosi has a Zhaotaoshi (fifth rank); and the Changguansi has a Changguan (sixth rank).

The chief officer of each chieftain was one level lower than the chief officer of the garrison at the same level. This meant that when the Ming Dynasty launched a war, the chieftain led his troops and had to obey the command of the chief officer of the garrison at the same level.

Moreover, different chieftain offices often represent the Ming Dynasty court’s different attitudes towards a certain place, as well as the strength of its control.

For example, among all the chieftains, the imperial court had the strongest control over the Xuanfusi, even employing temporary officials. However, the Xuanfusi's primary responsibility was to monitor and appease the ethnic minorities in a particular area, which in turn meant that the imperial court had greater trust in the ethnic minorities in that area.

For example, the Xuanweishisi and Anfusi had a strong degree of autonomy, but it also meant that the local ethnic minorities had relatively low trust in the imperial court.

Zhu Yuanzhang had already discussed the development of America with Zhu Biao, Liu Kuan and others.

The program works together in three ways.

The first was to establish overseas garrisons, relocate Han Chinese or recruit indigenous people as military households, and exercise direct rule. Generally speaking, garrisons were established in strategic, transportation-focused, or resource-rich locations.

The second method was to subjugate the natives and appoint them as chieftains, who were then governed under their control. The chieftains also had to pay taxes and obey orders to march into battle.

Although the chieftains did not pay much tax and had almost complete autonomy in military and political affairs, they did not require the court to worry about them and had almost no administrative costs.

The third type is to set it up as an overseas vassal state.

If we extend the time period to five or six hundred years, China's governance of the chieftains in the southwest during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties (with the Ming Dynasty being the main one) was undoubtedly stronger than the overseas colonial rule of European powers.

Of course, the best way to absorb overseas territories is to migrate Han people there, but the current population of the Ming Dynasty is not large. If you want to migrate Han people overseas on a large scale, it is probably only feasible when Zhu Biao and Xiong Ying, father and son, are in power.

During this period, Lao Zhu could only lay the foundation.

Soon, the eunuch finished announcing the decree.

In Liu Kuan's opinion, Zhu Yuanzhang's rewards for the local chieftains were quite substantial. Besides official titles, he gave them a few hundred taels of gold and silver as a token gift, and mainly rewarded them with high-quality Ming Dynasty goods such as cloth, porcelain, glassware, ironware, and paper.

Moreover, the quantity is given according to the population of the four tribes. As long as these four chiefs bring back the rewards, the quality of life of the entire tribe will be greatly improved.

By then, with these four tribes as examples and knowing the powerful military strength of the Ming Dynasty, many indigenous tribes near the Ming Dynasty's several exploration and immigration bases in the Americas (actually garrisons) will inevitably come to submit.

As for those who are stubborn, unwilling to submit, or even actively provoke the Ming Dynasty, that is easy to deal with.

Destroy their tribe, force their men into labor, and marry their women.

It can help the Ming Dynasty solve the problem of insufficient manpower and imbalance of yin and yang in overseas garrisons...
···
After the court meeting, Liu Kuan took the initiative to stay at the back. When Zhu Yuanzhang returned to Fengxian Hall, he went to see him.

After the ceremony, Lao Zhu asked, "What's the matter?"

Liu Kuan went straight to the point and said, "Your Majesty, there is an important matter concerning the Native Americans that I forgot to mention."

"Oh, what's the matter?" Lao Zhu was curious.

Liu Kuan said, "In later generations, the Native Americans were almost extinct after hundreds of years of European colonization. You should know that at that time, the total number of Native Americans in the Americas was estimated to be tens of millions, which is about the same as the current total population of the Ming Dynasty."

"Besides the wanton slaughter and unscrupulous slavery perpetrated by European colonists, another important reason for this was the introduction of plagues such as smallpox by Europeans."

"The Americas and Eurasia were separated by oceans and were isolated from each other for thousands of years, so their resistance to diseases was different."

"For example, people in Eurasia may have developed a certain resistance to epidemics such as typhoid, smallpox, and plague, so even if they were encountered, they would not be completely wiped out."

"But the Native Americans have never encountered such diseases. If our smallpox, plague, etc. had passed through, very few Native Americans would have survived, and many tribes would have been wiped out."

"By the same token, some diseases that have persisted for a long time in the tropical jungles of America, Australia, and Africa can cause great harm if they spread to Eurasia."

"Therefore, in the future, if you are migrating to places like the Americas, you need to be careful to check the health of the immigrants and try not to let people with plague-like diseases go there."

"Similarly, if natives from America, Australia, or Africa come to the Ming Dynasty, they must be strictly inspected and even quarantined for at least a month before being allowed entry."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but frown after hearing this, and said with a hint of blame: "Why didn't you tell me about such an important matter earlier?" Liu Kuan was embarrassed, "I really forgot before."

He then added, "However, I have never heard of any serious plagues brought to Europe and Asia by Native Americans in history. On the contrary, it was smallpox here that killed many Native Americans."

"However, we now have a method of 'vaccinating against smallpox' that can be promoted in the Americas. This will certainly prevent the Native Americans from dying of smallpox in large numbers as happened in later history."

"And this method can also help the Ming Dynasty win over the hearts of the Native Americans."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression improved a lot. He said, "Go and talk to the Imperial Medical College about this matter and ask them to come up with a set of regulations."

"From now on, all natives from America, Australia, Africa, and even Southeast Asia entering the Ming Dynasty will need to be quarantined for a period of time."

"In addition, they need to select a group of doctors who can vaccinate against cowpox to prepare for the next trip to America with the Beiyang Navy."

Liu Kuan bowed and replied, "Your humble servant obeys your command."

In the following days, in addition to handling the official business of Tiangong Academy, he also had to visit the Ministry of Revenue's Agricultural Department and the Medical College from time to time to complete the two important tasks assigned by Lao Zhu.

The first priority, of course, was to cultivate the corn, sweet potatoes, and other foods brought back from America by the exploration fleet.

Because Lao Zhu specifically asked to find five things including corn, the exploration fleet not only brought back a lot of seeds, but also brought back some seedlings or mature plants.

With seeds, seedlings, and mature plants, Liu Kuan felt that there was a high possibility that the Ming Dynasty would be able to cultivate these five important American plants.

So, after telling the agricultural official in charge of the matter all the relevant knowledge he knew, he did not interfere much and just went to take a look occasionally.

As for the medical school, it was just a matter of a few words, and Liu Kuan had naturally taken care of it long ago.

It's July.

On this day, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered someone to summon Liu Kuan to Fengxian Hall to ask questions.

Zhu Biao was also present, and several large maps were prepared in the hall. Liu Kuan glanced at them and found that most of them were maps of America that Zhu had copied from him, so he guessed that Zhu was probably going to ask about America.

Sure enough, after the ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang said directly: "We are planning to establish a military headquarters in America. What do you think is the best way to set it up?"

Liu Kuan looked at the map of America not far away and said, "If we want to establish a regional headquarters in America, one is definitely not enough, and more is unnecessary. Therefore, I think we can first establish two regional headquarters, one for North America and one for Central America."

In fact, Liu Kuan felt that it would be enough to temporarily set up one Dusi in America, but considering that it was far away from the Ming Dynasty, if there was only one Dusi, the senior general who took office as Dusi would have a certain possibility of secession overseas - although this possibility was very small, it could not be ignored.

Therefore, it is best to temporarily set up two Dusi and let them supervise each other.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and asked, "Why not establish a South American Commandery? Didn't you say earlier that Spain later discovered several large silver mines in South America and mined a lot of silver, which increased the silver reserves of European countries and even the Ming Dynasty?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to borrow the map and explain it."

"Just go there."

Liu Kuan came to the large map of South America, pointed to the west coast, drew a line, and said, "Your Majesty, there is a very long mountain range here, which will be called the Andes Mountains in later generations."

"The land west of this mountain range is extremely narrow and mostly mountainous, not suitable for farming. Only in the northwest, near Central America, are there some plains."

"As for the silver and gold mines in South America, most of them are located in the Andes Mountains. The mountains here are continuous and tall. It's possible to mine them and transport the molten gold and silver, but it's not very cost-effective."

"Therefore, I believe that there's no need for the Ming Dynasty to rush into mining South American gold and silver mines. The Sado Island gold mine in Japan and the Iwami Silver Mine on the main island are both within easy reach. Even in Southeast Asia and Australia, there are numerous gold and silver mines. Both mining and transportation are much easier than in South America."

Zhu Yuanzhang stepped down from the imperial throne and walked to the map, asking again, "You said this area is all mountain ranges?"

"Exactly." Liu Kuan nodded, then pointed to the map of North America next to him and said, "Also, there are many mountain ranges in North America as well, but the west coast of North America is wider, making it more suitable for Ming Dynasty development."

"Besides, the climate and seasonal changes in South America are exactly opposite to those in the Ming Dynasty. If we really send people there, I'm afraid they may not be able to adapt immediately. It's better to take it step by step."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood in front of the map of North and South America and pondered for a while before sighing, "I originally wanted to lay a foundation for Biao'er and Xiongying to immigrate to America in the future. Since South America is far away, the terrain is not favorable, and the weather is different, I will leave it alone for now."

Then, he pointed to two places on the map and said, "We plan to set up the North American Regional Administration in Seattle and the Central American Regional Administration in Mingchangwei. What do you think?"

Liu Kuan said, "These two places are indeed suitable as the seat of government, but the names of Seattle and Mexico should probably be changed."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Even if you didn't mention it, I would have changed it. Seattle has many bays and islands, so I named it 'Dongsheng Prefecture' and built Dongshengwei."

"Mexico and Central America are densely forested and hot, and they're located at the intersection of North and South America, so let's name them Xuanzhou. As for the two continents, let's call them North America and South America to avoid any awkwardness in our conversation."

"Biao'er, you will be in charge of naming the guards under the two major military governors. The names of the Qianhu and Baihu divisions will simply be left to the commanders of the guards who will be taking up their posts in America."

After hearing this, Liu Kuan and Zhu Biao looked at each other, then smiled and bowed together, "Your Majesty is wise!"

　First update.

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)