The mountains in the south of New Xi'an not only contain world-class copper and gold mines, but also rich resources of coal, iron, zinc, tin and bauxite.

After these mines were developed one after another, New Xi'an ushered in a new round of explosive growth.

Iron and steel mills, steel rolling mills and hundreds of downstream processing plants have settled here. The rapid industrial development has brought about a stronger population agglomeration effect, causing the city to expand rapidly.

In 1902, New Xi'an was ranked the seventh largest city in the Great Chu Empire, moving up two places compared to the city ranking 20 years ago, from the original 9th ​​to 7th.

This reflects, from one aspect, the rapid development of the new Xi'an city.

The Great Chu Emperor, Zheng Guohui, had seen this many times before, but he didn't show any surprise. Instead, he encouraged the officials of the Shangri-La Governor's Office and the New Xi'an Prefecture to "strive to go one step further."

On the large farm here, the Great Chu Emperor Zheng Guohui finally saw the combined agricultural machinery operation he had longed for.

Coincides with the summer harvest season

The golden wheat waves rolled in the vast fields, and the farmers were busy storing the summer rice grains in the warehouse. This harvest scene made him very satisfied.

In the countryside of Ningyuan County, 41 kilometers away from New Xi'an, the rice in the fields is golden and the heavy ears of wheat are bending their waists. It is the time for the second rice harvest.
On the dirt road beside the field
The Great Chu Emperor Zheng Guohui and a group of ministers and entourage stood under the dense shade of trees, watching the harvesting operations in the fields, pointing and talking.

"Are there many farms of this size in your county?"

"In reply to your Majesty, there are 3000 private farms in our county that cover over 37 acres. They are essentially all wealthy gentry from their respective villages, and are well-regarded figures in the county. Most of them have military experience."

"Oh, this one too?"

"In reply to your Majesty, the owner of this farm is surnamed Shi, and his full name is Shi Aquan. In his early years, he was a sergeant in the 6th Expeditionary Division. He participated in the Australian Expedition and made many contributions. It is through these years of accumulation that the farm has grown to its current size."

"So you're a veteran of the 6th Division. I remember thinking most of them were stationed in Australia back then?"

"Your Majesty, Shi Aquan was already married with a wife and children. He was not well-educated, and certainly not able to herd cattle or sheep. Therefore, he chose not to stay in Australia, but to return to the Empire for resettlement, eventually settling here."

"Well, from this perspective, the work of the Colonial Office in cooperating with the military in resettling retired officers and soldiers is quite effective."

After consulting local officials, Zheng Guohui, the emperor of the Great Chu Empire, gave it a high evaluation.

In the golden rice fields
Several tractors were like small boats sailing on the sea. Wherever they passed, the ripe rice stalks fell to the ground. Their speed was fast and good.

The workers following behind tied the harvested rice into bundles and left them in the fields.

When the hand tractor arrives at the rear, the rice bundles will be loaded onto the vehicle until it is as high as one or two people, and then it will be towed back.

The rice bales dragged back are placed in the thresher to beat off the heavy rice ears, and then transported to the threshing ground to dry, screen, and finally bagged, collected and transported to the rice mill for processing.

If the tax is paid, these bags of rice will be enough.

Careful observation

The local villages are well planned, which is also a characteristic of the rural areas of the Great Chu Empire.

From the founding of the country

The Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu State issued a special instruction on rural planning. The basic residential land of farmers was planned according to three mu of land, requiring a vegetable field in the front, a livestock shed and a hay shed in the back, and a separate morning toilet.

The village is planned according to local conditions with different types of "cross roads", "Y-shaped roads" and "H-shaped roads". Homesteads are set up along the roadside, with front and back yards not interfering with each other.

The wealthy gentry in the village can own a few more residential plots as long as they pay money.

In villages everywhere

Most of the wealthy families in the local villages are prestigious gentry in the village, and their houses are built in an exceptionally grand manner.

In comparison, the houses of ordinary farmers are much inferior.

Among the counties around New Xi'an, it still accounts for the largest proportion. It is a famous rice producing area, and the output of crops such as sugarcane, rapeseed, corn, wheat, and sweet potatoes is very large, which are important products for export.

In this busy summer harvest season,
The laborers in the hard labor camps and mines managed by the General Administration of Corrections all put down their jobs and went into villages in various places in large numbers to help farmers and receive some food compensation.

On the one hand, this supplemented the shortage of food in the labor camps, and on the other hand, it solved the problem of labor shortage during the busy farming season and helped with the harvest and planting, which was a win-win outcome.

In an era when agricultural machinery was underdeveloped, this was an important aid to agricultural production and required a large amount of labor to be involved in the busy farming season.

In the vast rice fields before us, dozens of convicts were busy in the fields, bundling the rice harvested by tractors and then loading it onto trucks.

Generally speaking

It was the busy summer harvest season these days, and people from the General Administration of Corrections would lead hundreds of convicts to the village, and then each household in the village would take some convicts back to work according to their needs.

The people from the General Correctional Service lived in Murakami and were provided with good food and drink by Murakami. They were mainly responsible for supervision and control to prevent the convicts from escaping or committing evil deeds.

The convicts working on the Shi Family Farm were provided with food and drink. While the food wasn't particularly good, at least they were well fed. These Javanese convicts were quite obedient. While there were some who were aggressive, they were few and far between, having long since been tempered by centuries of white colonial slavery.

After a few days of harvest
Almost every convict could carry back half a bag of rice, about 24 or 25 pounds. This was an established rule.

Then they gather in the village, where a leader from the Punishment Bureau calls out the names of the people and counts them. After confirming that everything is correct, they are led to the next village to rush to harvest, and this cycle repeats.

This has always been the rule within the Great Chu Empire, but in the past decade or so, there have been very few indigenous convicts. Most of them are wheat pickers composed of new immigrants who roam around villages and towns during the busy farming season.

After the Second East Indies War, large numbers of Javanese convicts were deported to the mainland islands, and the tradition was revived.

During this summer harvest
Local garrisons and militia also strengthened the garrison and inspection of the most important roads and passes in order to prevent the convicts under supervision from escaping, leaving the team, and any emergencies, so that they could be suppressed in a timely manner.

There are armed militiamen stationed at almost every important checkpoint in every village and town.

These indigenous convicts had almost nowhere to escape. They could not speak Mandarin or the local dialect. Once their bags were checked, they would be exposed and would only face more severe punishment.

Once local Chinese farmers are found to be harboring convicted laborers, they will also be severely punished, with their property confiscated and sentenced to hard labor for 1 to 3 years.

Every year, some people fall into this trap, which also serves as a warning to others not to use so-called sympathy to challenge the laws and regulations of the empire. Designated drivers absolutely cannot afford it.

Overall, this system works well.

Since there were many indigenous convicts working in the fields, there was a certain degree of danger. This made Lieutenant General Zheng Daqiang, the bodyguard, highly alert and set up several defense lines around them.

In the face of his strong opposition
The Great Chu Emperor Zheng Guohui was not in a position to casually approach the lower classes of the people, so he only held discussions with some representative gentry and villagers in the village, and each person was subjected to a strict body search.

Through discussions with gentry and villagers, Emperor Zheng Guohui of Great Chu was relatively satisfied with the development of grassroots rural areas and also put forward some suggestions for improvement.

For example, a village association could be established, with villagers electing the village head, village accountant, and village militia captain every three years. Village affairs should be made public, and mutual assistance among villagers should be promoted.

The village chief can be re-elected for a maximum of two terms, and a fixed system must be established, etc.

Agriculture is the foundation of a country, and rural areas are the most basic social life organizations and the most basic cells that make up human organs. Their importance cannot be overemphasized.

Through decades of practice, it seems that the traditional feudal rural areas dominated by gentry now have many problems and need to be reformed step by step.

After achieving the major strategies for the development of the empire, Emperor Zheng Guohui of Great Chu had the time and energy to focus on institutional construction at the grassroots level in townships.

In traditional rural-based feudal societies, although the government saves time, effort, and worry, it also has many disadvantages.

For example, wealthy gentry and the like, without any power constraints, are prone to being arrogant, bullying the common people, and becoming local tyrants who run rampant in the countryside.

Then, through family marriages and corruption, they formed local stubborn forces entrenched in towns and even county towns, damaging the interests of the majority of the people and hindering social progress.

Through this inspection

Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu State discovered that this phenomenon had intensified over the decades since the founding of the country, and had become an aspect that must be taken seriously.

Promoting and popularizing the village committee system is the latest effort to solve this stubborn problem.

In the past few days

After visiting more than a dozen surrounding villages, Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu became firm in his idea that the village committee system should be fully promoted, the sooner the better.

As the saying goes; a big store bullies its customers, and a powerful store bullies others.

This stems from human nature. It can only be achieved through reform through new systems, rather than expecting vested interest groups to voluntarily stop. That is unrealistic.

In 1902, the Shangri-La Governor's Office had developed from two prefectures and 11 counties to the current five prefectures and 28 counties, with a population of more than 1270 million, 100% of whom are of Chinese descent.

With Donggang Prefecture and Xinxi'an Prefecture at the east and west ends as the core, regional railway lines were built to connect the densely populated and prosperous areas.

Due to the obstruction of large rivers on the island, the main highway built along the northern coastline is more than 1530 kilometers long and is the main means of transportation between prefectures and counties.

The distance requires several ferries, but it is also the fastest land route.

In habit
Residents of Shangri-La Island prefer to travel by liner, which not only has a large passenger capacity, a comfortable ride, low fares and is more convenient.

There are passenger ferries between the prefecture and county lines in the morning. It takes about 4 days and 4 nights to get from Xinxi'an to Donggang.

Driving from Xinxi'an to Donggang is more than 1530 kilometers long and requires passing through seven ferry terminals. It takes a long time to travel through various states and cities, and it will take at least ten days.

I didn't eat well or sleep well along the way, and I lost a lot of weight after the run. It was quite painful.

How to choose? It's clear at a glance. (End of this chapter)