Why do people who travel to Kanto choose to come to the snowy northeast instead of the rich Jiangnan?

I believe everyone knows the historical background of The Journey to the West. If the Central Plains and Shandong do not encounter natural and man-made disasters, no one wants to leave their hometown to experience a narrow escape. Historically, in the process of the Eastern Expedition, some Zhongyuan people came to the south of the Yangtze River, but it was definitely only a small part, even negligible.

Because Jiangnan was overcrowded at that time, there was no extra land for "outsiders" to farm. After all, the Han people had been to the south of the Yangtze River several times in several dynasties before the eastward journey, and it was precisely because the south of the Yangtze River was not enough to support the increase in population that the Han people moved further south, thus creating a Hakka group.

Throughout the history of China, Han civilization first gathered in the Yellow River valley, namely, Henan, Shandong, Hebei and its surrounding areas. Although the Central Plains experienced several "trampling" in the process of changing dynasties, it was able to restore population gathering every time. After all, there is enough plain farmland here.

But it is precisely because of the vast arable land in the Central Plains that the population in the Central Plains is too dense. Under the impact of war and natural disasters, the Han people in Zhongyuan wanted to find a new place with a vast territory and a sparse population. At this time, it is obviously the best choice to go to the customs, because the customs has long been regarded as a "prosperous place", which restricts immigration inside the customs, so the land carrying capacity is very strong. At that time, there were many "land for gold" outside the customs.

Perhaps the first people who set foot on the journey to Kanto were more bandits, wanted by the government, and some people who committed crimes in the local area. However, with the cancellation of the customs clearance policy and the success of the first batch of people, a large number of customs officials followed suit and embarked on the road to the north, which led to the famous immigration incident in modern history. In fact, for people at that time, coming to the northeast was their best choice. At least, it is no problem to have a full meal in the northeast through your own efforts.