sbdcsierra Chapter 876 I've been led astray by Yang the Madman again!
Chapter 876 I've been led astray by Yang the Madman again!
What's ten or twenty years?
My dad is only forty-five years old.
Even in twenty years, he will only be sixty-five years old.
This is the perfect age to strive and work hard.
Even if my dad messes up and rushes to retire and go back to farming, I'm only in my thirties, so I can work for at least another twenty or thirty years.
Even when I was on the throne, I didn't manage to control Liaodong. My son can take over.
In short, developing Liaodong often takes decades or even centuries, requiring two, three, or even four generations to work together. What is a mere twenty years?
Besides, what my brother-in-law just said was that "it will take at least ten or twenty years before we see any initial results."
What if it only takes ten years to see results?
I can just lie down and enjoy it!
Zhu Biao was increasingly pleased with himself and immediately said with a smile, "How about this, let's stop here for today. Brother-in-law, go back and tell my sister that we'll set off for Ningyang County first thing tomorrow morning."
……
As soon as he entered Ningyang County, Li Shanchang couldn't help but want to curse.
Can someone explain to this old man why a village with blue brick houses everywhere and people wearing new clothes is described as being so poor that it's practically bankrupt?
Why would a village surrounded by granaries, with enough grain to feed the entire village for three years, and where every household raises chickens and pigs, be described as having "no food for three days"?
What a fuck!
The whole village was filled with the sounds of cows, horses, donkeys, and all sorts of livestock bellowing. The stench of manure was so strong it made you want to die. This is what you call being so poor you'd drop dead!
Putting everything else aside, just look at those unruly kids running around everywhere—in Jiangnan, most three- to five-year-olds are still running around naked, but the kids in your Ningyang County village are already wearing clothes. That's what you call being so poor they're practically naked!
There was a supply and marketing cooperative in the village, which sold all sorts of things like needles and thread, and the key was that there were quite a lot of people buying them. That's what you call being so poor you'd fall off your backside!
What's even more infuriating is that you can actually buy candles made of whale oil in villages in Ningyang County, and even whale meat sealed in cans!
Damn it!
Whale oil and whale meat, that stuff is just openly displayed on the shelves of the supply and marketing cooperative in your village in Ningyang County. That's what you call being dirt poor!
"What a ridiculously poor person!"
As Li Shanchang glanced around, he sarcastically remarked, "No wonder some people say I'm an official from the countryside in the south."
"If you can't even understand the simple phrase 'poor to the point of losing your backside,' then you must be from the countryside."
"By the way, Your Highness, would you like to tell me properly how you can make all the prefectures and counties in the world as poor as your Ningyang County?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Biao and Hu Weiyong almost burst out laughing.
Yang Shaofeng's face immediately darkened.
Damn it, we're so poor we're practically bankrupt, right?
And you, official from the countryside—this wasn't my opinion—you old scoundrel, you wanted to project an image of "a prime minister with a belly that can hold a boat" in front of those scholars, but now you come here to mock me.
You're still not busy enough!
Yang Shaofeng was displeased and suddenly sneered, "Prime Minister Li, I suddenly remembered something, but I haven't figured it out yet. I need Prime Minister Li's help to think about it carefully."
Li Shanchang was ready for battle.
So what if we hurt each other?
"Your Highness, may I ask what it is?"
Li Shanchang said with a smile, "As long as we can solve the problem in Liaodong, or make all the prefectures and counties in the world as poor as Ningyang County, I will do my best to help the Prince Consort figure it out."
Zhu Biao and Hu Weiyong unconsciously moved to the side.
Yang Shaofeng's face grew even more gloomy.
Row!
You old scoundrel, you're really something!
If I don't show my power, do you really think I'm some kind of kamikaze? How dare you raise your voice in front of me?!
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "What I just thought of was how to solve the manpower shortage problem."
Ok?
As Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, Li Shanchang, Zhu Biao, and Hu Weiyong all unconsciously pricked up their ears.
Yang Shaofeng continued, "There are quite a few people on the Duogansi and Wusizang sides."
"As far as I know, 99% of the people there are poor."
"The rest are all noble lords who ride roughshod over the common people."
“Those people oppressed the people and committed all kinds of evil deeds. They even peeled the skin off fifteen-year-old girls to make the Sister Drum and used children’s leg bones to make drumsticks.”
"Such a horrific human tragedy has occurred on the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Shouldn't Prime Minister Li find a way to resolve this?"
Li Shanchang frowned slightly and asked unconsciously, "How do we solve this?"
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "Go and attack, arrest those who should be arrested, distribute land to those who should be distributed, let the people of the Western Regions live like the people of Han land, and send those noble lords to Liaodong to do hard labor. Isn't that a good thing?"
Li Shanchang nodded unconsciously, about to agree, but then suddenly came to his senses.
wrong.
I've been led astray by Yang the Madman again!
There are indeed people in the Western Regions, and perhaps, as Yang the Madman said, all sorts of human tragedies occur there.
However, while Yang the Madman can speak without any scruples, I cannot agree without any scruples!
As I said before, the most important thing right now is to support Xu Da and Chang Heizi in their northern expedition against the Yuan dynasty.
As long as Hu Yuan is not completely eliminated, the Ming Dynasty can send troops anywhere without worrying about being restrained.
Therefore, before completely eliminating Hu Yuan, everything else must give way to the Northern Expedition against Hu Yuan.
Besides, do you, Yang Dianfeng, think that everyone dares to be as unscrupulous as you and His Highness the Crown Prince?
You two just led your troops to Japan and went there. At most, you'll get a beating when you come back. Anyone else would have lost their head!
While inwardly cursing, Li Shanchang stroked his beard and said, "Your Highness, please don't be in such a hurry."
As the saying goes, you have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time.
"Take care of Hu Yuan first."
"The remaining problems can be solved gradually."
"But this village in front of us..."
Li Shanchang said with a forced smile, "I've been thinking about whether there's any way to make all the prefectures and counties in the world as poor as it is."
Ok?
So bringing up the Western Regions isn't enough of a strong argument?
Then don't blame me for increasing your strength!
Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Actually, it's quite simple."
"It's nothing more than building roads, planting trees, setting up workshops, and dividing up land to build canals for aquaculture."
"By taking multiple approaches and walking on several legs at the same time, we can naturally move very fast."
"The only problem is that we don't seem to have enough manpower."
"Seventy million people, more than a thousand prefectures and counties, that means an average of only seventy thousand people per prefecture and county."
"As long as Prime Minister Li can solve this problem and ensure that each prefecture and county has two or three hundred thousand people, everyone else will agree."