Chapter 4350 Chapter 4352 [Southeast Asia]
"You mean Qiongzhou, Jiaozhi, Annan, and Champa areas?" Song Que asked.
Xiang Nan nodded.
"No. The climate in these places is hot, continuous rain, miasma is rampant, and poisonous insects breed. Even if they are captured, there is no value in using them. They are just a barren land." Song Que waved his hand and said.
In ancient times, although Southeast Asia was huge and rich in products, it was not a very good place.
On the one hand, Southeast Asia is in the tropics, hot and rainy, and it is difficult for Chinese people to adapt to this climate. Just like the French and German armies had difficulty adapting to the severe cold of the Russian winter;
On the one hand, most of Southeast Asia is still a wild land, all covered with dense tropical rainforests, and only coastal areas have a small amount of cultivated land.
If the army wanted to attack, they had to travel through mountains and rivers, brave the hot weather, and pass through dense tropical forests... which shows how difficult the march is.
On the one hand, there are many miasma poisonous insects in the dense forest, which can easily transmit various diseases, such as dysentery, malaria, typhoid, cholera... and once such diseases are spread, it will cause a large number of casualties.
After all, ancient medical technology was limited, and a cold could easily kill someone. The mortality rate of dysentery, malaria, typhoid, and cholera can reach over 60%.
On the one hand, although Southeast Asia is covered with tropical rainforests, the land is not actually fertile.
Because there is too much precipitation, a large amount of nutrients in the soil are lost, causing the plants on the ground to appear dense, but in fact the soil underground is very poor.
In modern times, it has become a land of plenty, which is entirely due to the rise of the chemical fertilizer industry. Otherwise, let alone three crops a year, it would be difficult to produce a thousand catties per mu, or even a hundred catties per mu.
And because it is covered with tropical rainforests, it is also very difficult to cultivate fields. In ancient times, there were no large-scale equipment, and it was difficult to clean such tall trees with such deep roots.
In China, it takes three to five years to reclaim a piece of wasteland, while in Southeast Asia it often takes more than double that time.
In fact, in the early Han Dynasty, the area around Taihu Lake, which is said to be "well-established in Huguang, has enough in the world," was a barbaric land full of swamps, lakes, and dense vines.
It was not until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty that people from the Central Plains moved south to avoid war and continued to reclaim and transform the area. It took hundreds of years. It was not until the Sui Dynasty opened the Grand Canal that the south of the Yangtze River developed rapidly.
So overall, Song Quecai doesn't think Southeast Asia has any strategic value.
Baal's painstaking efforts to conquer those wild jungles cost him far more than he reaped, so he was not interested in it at all.
In comparison, the Central Plains has developed for thousands of years since the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. It has a dense population, fertile land, a vast territory, and rich products. Fight this area to the north for the best results.
…
"Uncle, please rest assured that the problems you mentioned are not difficult to resolve." Xiang Nan waved his hand and said.
The hot climate in Southeast Asia is actually not too unbearable.
The summer temperature in Bangkok is usually 25 to 33 degrees, which is not much different from the temperature in North China.
What's more, Xiang Nan also has a way to relieve the heat and cool down. Not to mention using magic means to cool down, he can also use saltpeter to make ice cubes.
As for the issue of marching, don't worry. Song Que was worried that the tropical rainforest was not suitable for marching. But Xiang Nan had no intention of taking the land route. He was familiar with the sea route and could use large ships to cross the sea. As for the miasma poisonous insect plague, Xiang Nan also has a way to treat it. As for the problem of poor land, he can also use chemical fertilizers to solve it. As for reclaiming wasteland, it is actually not too difficult.
There are three major plains in Southeast Asia, the Red River Plain, the Mekong Delta Plain and the Chao Phraya River Plain. These three plains are all formed by the impact of rivers. They have deep soil, abundant water, flat terrain, and are more fertile than mountainous and dense forests. Suitable for reclamation.
Moreover, the combined area of these three plains is as high as 480,000 square kilometers, which is approximately equivalent to the combined area of the North China Plain and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain.
As we all know, the North China Plain and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain have been the most prosperous and prosperous areas in all dynasties. Therefore, once you occupy the three great plains in Southeast Asia, it is equivalent to owning half of the world.
Of course, after occupying Southeast Asia, you can also go south to Java and west to Tianzhu... There is a vast world and a lot to accomplish, so why stay limited to one place.
Just like the bearded man, he couldn't capture the Central Plains, so he went to Fuyu and established himself as king. A true hero, a true hero, cannot make great achievements.
Song Que was a little moved after hearing Xiang Nan's words, but he wasn't too cold.
For him, if he can, of course he still wants to win the Central Plains.
And with Xiang Nan's guns and other firearms, as well as sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and other crops, he could gather a hundred thousand troops in less than five years.
By then, even if Emperor Sui Yang combined with the other three great clans, it would not be enough for him, the Song clan, to fight alone.
When Xiang Nan saw this, he knew that he was not willing to follow his own arrangements, so he simply stopped trying to persuade him.
…
A few days later, Song Shidao returned to Lingnan with thousands of war horses. Also returning with him was Shang Xiuxun, the hostess of Pegasus Ranch. She was also the daughter of Lu Miaozi, the most skillful person in the world.
However, Lu Miaozi abandoned his wife and daughter for the underworld queen Zhu Yuyan, so Shang Xiuxun refused to recognize him as his father and has ignored him for twenty years.
This time, Song Shidao was ordered by Song Que to go to Pegasus Ranch to purchase horses. After all, before the emergence of tanks and machine guns, cavalry was always the strongest combat force in the cold weapon era.
At that time, Mongolia relied on more than 200,000 cavalry to fight from north to south, and from east to west. If Genghis Khan did not miss the holidays, and his four sons fought for power after his death, which led to civil strife in Mongolia, Mongolia would have really been able to penetrate the country. Europe. After all, Europe was in the Middle Ages at that time, an era of ignorance and superstition.
Song Shidao not only purchased 5,000 horses from Pegasus Ranch this time, but also chased down Shang Xiuxun, the owner of Pegasus Ranch.
Shang Xiuxun is a woman, but she can run such a large horse farm, which shows her ability. It can be said that she is not inferior to women. That's why Song Shidao fell in love with her at first sight.
After getting along for a period of time, the relationship between the two became closer and closer, and finally Song Shidao successfully embraced the beauty.
"Yes, they are all good horses. Miss Shang is very capable." Song Que nodded with satisfaction after seeing the horses his son brought back.
"That's natural, Dad, Miss Shang has always been very capable." Song Shidao also helped to speak.
Song Que smiled and nodded.
He was also very satisfied with his son's vision.
Shang Xiuxun is not only beautiful, but also capable. With such a wife to help him, there is no need to worry about his son not being able to inherit the family business.