Chapter 4350 4352 [Southeast Asia]
"You mean Qiongzhou, Jiaozhi, Annan, Champa?" Song Que asked.
Xiang Nan nodded.
"No. These places have hot climates, continuous rain, rampant miasma, and breeding of poisonous insects. Even if they are conquered, they are worthless. They are just a wild land." Song Que waved his hand and said.
In ancient times, although Southeast Asia was large in area and rich in resources, 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 find it difficult to adapt to the cold winter in Russia;
On the other hand, most of Southeast Asia is still a wild land, all of which are dense tropical rainforests, and only the coastal areas have a small amount of arable land.
If the army wants to attack, it must travel through mountains and rivers, brave the hot weather, and pass through dense tropical jungles... The difficulty of marching can be seen.
On the one hand, there are many miasma and poisonous insects in the dense forest, which can easily spread various diseases, such as dysentery, malaria, typhoid fever, cholera... Once such a disease is transmitted, it will cause a large number of casualties.
After all, medical technology in ancient times was limited, and a cold could easily kill people. The mortality rate of dysentery, malaria, typhoid fever, and cholera can reach more than 60%.
On the one hand, although Southeast Asia is full of tropical rainforests, the land is not fertile.
Because of too much precipitation, a large amount of nutrients in the soil are lost, resulting in the plants on the ground looking lush, but in fact the soil underground is very poor.
In modern times, it has become a land of fish and rice, thanks to the rise of the fertilizer industry. Otherwise, let alone three crops a year, it would be difficult to produce 1,000 kilograms per mu, or even 100 kilograms per mu.
And because it is full of tropical rainforests, it is also very difficult to reclaim fields. In ancient times, there were no large-scale equipment, and it was difficult to clean up such tall trees and such deep tree roots.
It takes three to five years to reclaim a piece of wasteland in China, but it often takes more than twice as long in Southeast Asia.
In fact, the so-called "Huguang is ripe, the world is full" in the Taihu Lake area, in the early Han Dynasty, it was a wild land with swamps and lakes everywhere and dense vines.
It was not until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty that the people of the Central Plains moved south to avoid war and continued to reclaim and transform it. It took hundreds of years. It was not until the opening of the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty that the south of the Yangtze River developed rapidly.
So in general, Song Que did not think that Southeast Asia was worth attacking.
The painstaking efforts to conquer those wild jungles were far greater than the gains, so he was not interested in it at all.
In comparison, the Central Plains has been developing for thousands of years since the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. It has a dense population, fertile land, vast territory and rich products. Only by conquering this area to the north can we get 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.
Of course, there are extreme climates with a perceived temperature of over 50 degrees, but that is an exception. It may not happen once in several years or decades, so we cannot give up because of fear.
Besides, Xiang Nan also has ways to cool down. Not to mention using magic to cool down, he can also make ice cubes with saltpeter.
As for the marching problem, there is no need to bother. Song Que is worried that the tropical rainforest is not suitable for marching. But Xiang Nan did not plan to take the land route. He is familiar with the sea route and can use large ships to cross the sea.
As for miasma, poisonous insects and plague, Xiang Nan also has a way to treat it. And the problem of barren land, he can also solve it with fertilizers. As for reclaiming wasteland, it is 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 river water. They have a deep soil layer, abundant water, flat terrain, and are more fertile than mountain forests. They are all more 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 sum 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 wealthy regions in all dynasties. Therefore, once the three major plains in Southeast Asia are occupied, 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 India... There is a vast world and a lot to do, so why should you always be limited to one place.
Just like Qiu Ran Ke, who couldn't take over the Central Plains, he went to Fuyu to establish himself as king. A true hero, a true hero, can make achievements anywhere.
Song Que was somewhat tempted after listening to Xiang Nan's words, but he was not too cold.
For him, if possible, of course he would still strive for the Central Plains.
And with the guns and other firearms produced by Xiang Nan, as well as crops such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn, he could gather 100,000 heroes in less than five years.
By then, even if Emperor Yang of Sui and the other three major clans were combined, it would not be enough for his Song clan to fight alone.
Seeing this, Xiang Nan knew that he was unwilling to follow his arrangements, so he simply stopped persuading him.
…
A few days later, Song Shidao returned to Lingnan with thousands of war horses. He was accompanied by Shang Xiuxun, the hostess of Pegasus Ranch, who was also the daughter of Lu Miaozi, the world's most skilled hand.
However, Lu Miaozi abandoned his wife and daughter for the Yin Queen Zhu Yuyan, so Shang Xiuxun refused to acknowledge him as her father and ignored him for twenty years.
Song Shidao was ordered by Song Que to go to Pegasus Ranch to buy horses. After all, before the appearance of tanks and machine guns, cavalry was always the strongest 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 had not died, and his four sons had not fought for power after his death, leading to internal strife in Mongolia, Mongolia might have really been able to break through Europe. After all, Europe was in the Middle Ages at that time, an era of ignorance and superstition.
This time, Song Shidao not only purchased 5,000 horses from Pegasus Ranch, but also chased Shang Xiuxun, the owner of Pegasus Ranch.
Shang Xiuxun was a woman, but she was able to run such a large horse farm. Her ability can be seen. It can be said that women are not inferior to men. Therefore, Song Shidao fell in love with her at first sight.
After a period of time together, the relationship between the two became closer and closer, and finally Song Shidao successfully won 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.
"Of course, 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, there is no need to worry that his son cannot inherit the family business.