Chapter 255 Population Exchange
"How is it?" Chen Gong asked softly, looking at Cheng Yu who walked in from outside with a dazed look.
Cheng Yu's face was gloomy. He gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words: "You are right."
"Fools can't count!"
Hearing the deep resentment and resentment in Cheng Yu's voice, Chen Gong couldn't help but sigh.
"Why do you have to be so harsh on the people at the bottom of society? It's good enough for them to live a good life, make their own small contributions, and not cause trouble for the government. It's extremely difficult to expect them to support the government unconditionally."
"But it was the lord who gave them food to eat! Gave them fields to farm! Gave them a home to live in! Everything they had was given by the lord, and it's only been a few short years, but the people's morale has become so lost!" Cheng Yu was furious and clenched his fists.
"Wrong!" Chen Gong shook his head, his eyes becoming deep: "Without the lord, they would not be where they are today. But everything they have was created by the lord and them together."
"You only see the gifts from the lord, but ignore the efforts and contributions of the people themselves."
"It's not that they are ungrateful. If it was in times of danger, they would definitely help with all their might. But now is a prosperous time! They also want to live."
"So what! What the lord wants is the world. As subjects, they should give everything for the lord!" Cheng Yu said stubbornly.
Seeing that he could not convince Cheng Yu, Chen Gong shook his head helplessly.
"Why bother so much?" Tian Ze came out from outside at some point, saw the two of them, and smiled indifferently.
"My lord!" The two of them bowed hurriedly.
Tian Ze waved his hand and said, "It is human nature not to want to give up what you already have. It is normal for the people not to want to migrate and to want to live a peaceful life."
"Besides, letting the people live a good life is what we all want, isn't it?"
He knew what Chen Gong and Cheng Yu were arguing about. It was nothing more than matters related to the migration of civilians and military expenses.
He is very open-minded about these things.
There were so many things he wanted to do: foreign conquests, development of the Northeast, canal construction, large-scale construction, population migration, and pacification of the grasslands...
If a generation can do any one or two of these things well, it would be good. Even a prosperous dynasty like the Sui Dynasty could not survive because of Yang Guang's turmoil and the people's misery.
However, Tian Ze did much more than Yang Guang, and he was able to hold on purely because of his high productivity and internal clarity.
Even so, these people have actually sacrificed a lot.
Not only did they have to bear the already high taxes, but because of the shortage of materials, Chen Gong and others quietly raised prices and triggered currency manipulation, so the actual cost was far more than that.
At this point, the people's power has been squeezed to a certain extent. Although the people seem to be relatively comfortable and prosperous, if it goes one step further, there will likely be a significant backlash.
Chen Gong asked Cheng Yu to go down and take a look, hoping that he could understand this point.
Whenever they strolled around Youzhou, Tian Ze and Chen Gong felt very gratified to see the people with rosy faces and full of energy, but Cheng Yu thought it was too wasteful.
Isn't it enough for the people to have enough to eat? Why do we have to live so well?
Tian Ze never thought about who could convince whom between Chen Gong and Cheng Yu. The two were in different positions and standpoints, so naturally they looked at the issue from different perspectives.
"Gongtai, how are the people doing in this migration?"
"It went quite smoothly." Chen Gong said.
"With so much money and food invested, it will naturally go smoothly." Cheng Yu said in a low voice with a little dissatisfaction.
"Okay, don't be angry. This is the first book in a series. You won't be afraid of being laughed at if it gets out." Tian Ze said with a smile when he saw Cheng Yu like this.
"How many people are expected to be relocated from Qingzhou and Jizhou this time?"
"The total is nearly nine million." Chen Gong said with a little pride.
Tian Ze was slightly stunned when he heard this. This number greatly exceeded the base number he had set at the beginning. He didn't understand why Chen Gong changed his attitude, but when he saw Chen Gong slightly signaled Cheng Yu, he finally understood.
It seems that Cheng Yu also supported this matter. It was necessary to migrate the population to Ji and Bing states in order to conquer Zhongyuan and Yizhou in the future.
After all, there are hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in both states. If the war is protracted, it is impossible to always send food from Youzhou all the way.
The Grand Canal under Tian Ze's rule has not yet been built to these two states, and it will take at least two to three years to complete.
Chen Gong has basically bitten off the issue of military expenditure and next year's war, and Cheng Yu can only make further efforts in these aspects.
Chen Gong didn't care about it. As far as government affairs were concerned, this was something that had to be done sooner or later. It was better to do it early, and it could also shut Cheng Yu up.
"Gongtai, thank you for your hard work!" Tian Ze has said this too many times.
Population migration is easy to say, but it is actually fraught with difficulties.
Not to mention the problems of organization, supplies and safety. You have to know that the people under Tian Ze's rule are living well, and it must be extremely difficult for them to move to another place without any reason, risking an uncertain future and losing their property.
Chen Gong and his men have been working almost non-stop this year. They started recruiting population as soon as the war ended, so they must have been very tired.
"It's my job. Thank you for your concern, my lord." Chen Gong said.
"It's almost winter now. The people who have landed in the two states must be well settled, and no problems must occur." Tian Ze said somewhat embarrassedly.
It seemed that every time he comforted Chen Gong and others, he would face a new big task next.
"Gong understands!"
"It will be fine after this busy period. Now that the population attraction has come to an end, it will be much easier next time."
Chen Gong's mouth twitched slightly when he heard this.
He just listened to it, he was used to it.
"By the way, Zhongde, how is the population exchange with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao going?" Tian Ze asked.
After the victory in the Battle of Hebei, Tian Ze captured many soldiers from Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's army. However, many of these people's families were still under the rule of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, so Tian Ze naturally wanted to trade with them and exchange population for them.
However, after preliminary negotiations, the two of them were relieved, but they also made demands.
Some of these captured soldiers had young and strong men at home, so they could not let them go. Instead, they wanted to exchange these soldiers back as a deal.
For Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, the common people would become a burden in the short term without their young and strong men in their homes. It would be useless to keep them, so it would be better to give them to Tian Ze.
And if there are young and strong people in the family, it is better to exchange them back. With family members to tie them up, this group of people will feel more at ease when fighting.
"It's not going very smoothly." Cheng Yu couldn't help but sigh when he heard that.
"What? Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are asking for too much?" Tian Ze frowned.
"That's not the case. This kind of thing is also beneficial to them, and they also know that we are very clear about the situation in their jurisdiction, so they dare not do anything tricky."
"After negotiations between our two sides, we have reached an agreement. We will hand over more than 8,000 soldiers, and they will hand over the families of the remaining soldiers to us, a total of about 150,000 civilians, and the price will be calculated separately."
"But..." When he said this, Cheng Yu's expression was a little strange.
"but what?"
"Many of the more than 8,000 soldiers we were going to let go don't want to leave now."
???
(End of this chapter)
