Why did Shandong people go to Guandong instead of Jiangnan?

First, the South has a large population and less land per capita.

Although the south is relatively rich, it has a large population base, such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Although there is a lot of land, the local population is not too small to meet the needs of local people. There is no surplus land for Shandong people to cultivate. Most of the people who broke through the Kanto were bankrupt farmers. Without land, it is equivalent to cutting off their road.

Second, there are many wars in the south.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and the chaos in the middle and late Qing Dynasty both occurred in southern Shandong. In Henan and Anhui, the Nian army was rampant, and it took the Qing Dynasty more than 20 years to destroy it successfully, while in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it was the rebel land of the Taiping Army, which plagued it for about ten years. In contrast, the northeast is only overrun by bandits. Before the Russo-Japanese War, there was no major war. After the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the Central Plains and the South of the Yangtze River also fell into a situation of warlord melee. Shandong people avoided it and refused to immigrate to Jiangnan.

Third, the northeast is vast and sparsely populated, and the dietary customs are similar.

Northeast China is the birthplace of Manchu. After Manchu entered the customs, the population was only nearly 200 thousand, but the number of people who needed their control reached tens of millions. They are afraid that their rule will be overthrown one day, so they regard the northeast as their alternative. After all, no empire in history can rule for 10,000 years, and it is the best choice to retreat before they are overthrown. (However, these plans were later made for others, and that is another story. Therefore, they strictly control land reclamation in the northeast and restrict immigration. This has caused the situation that the northeast is vast and sparsely populated.

Fourth, it is more convenient to go to the northeast.

Shandong people only need to cross the strait in Jiaodong to the northeast, and they can reach Liaodong Peninsula in a day or two. If Luxi people choose land, although it was not a small problem when the traffic was inconvenient at that time, for the poor, there is nothing insurmountable except relying on their own legs or pushing wooden carts. Nothing can stop Shandong people who have lost their land from longing for land.