Chapter 305: Divide the People
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qi Haoran had always remembered what Mu Yangling’s words. What this era lacked was not land and grains, but labor and advanced farming techniques and seeds.
Although there was a good mix of elderly, kids, and women among them, they all had good farming potential.
Hence, Qi Haoran smiled and said, “Since there’s so much land in Hanzhong Prefecture, let them plant it. They’ll be able to support themselves next year.”
“But they’ll also consume a lot of grains over one winter. There are more than 12,000 people here.” Assistant Commander Lu said anxiously, “Little General, let’s report this matter to the General. Although the land in Hanzhong Prefecture is desolate, it’s not under our West Camp’s name.”
Back then, when the Hu people entered the pass, many people in Hanzhong Prefecture fled south, leaving those lands desolate. Later on, the nobles of the Jin Kingdom used them to raise sheep and horses. After the Great Zhou took the land back, they were transferred to the state. Although the population of Hanzhong Prefecture had been increasing, it had increased at a very slow speed, so not much land was distributed.
However, even if they couldn’t distribute the land, the government office wouldn’t give it to the West Camp.
But Qi Haoran already had an idea in his heart. “Bring them back. When the time comes, half of the 12,000 people will go to Hanzhong Prefecture and the other half will be enlisted into the army.” After a pause, he said, “That half refers to the 12,000 people. Those 6,000 young men will all be enlisted into the army.”
Assistant Commander Lu’s jaw dropped. “Will Magistrate Fang agree?”
Magistrate Fang was the magistrate of Hanzhong Prefecture and had only been in office for a year.
Qi Haoran chuckled. “He’ll definitely agree. Hanzhong Prefecture has only expanded by more than 300 households a year. If I give him 6,000 people at once, he’ll be more than pleased with such a political achievement. Besides, the corn seeds are still in our hands.”
Although Qi Xiuyuan had given the local governments corn seeds, there were not many of them. Most of them were still in the hands of the military. Therefore, if Magistrate Fang wanted the seeds, he had to build a good relationship with the West Camp.
It had to be known that in the annual political performance assessment, the increase in population and the production of grains were the two most important assessment factors.
When Assistant Commander Lu heard Qi Haoran’s words, he was completely relieved. His expression towards the 10,000-odd refugees also improved a lot. At least they weren’t making a huge loss.
Assistant Commander Lu was originally worried about losing money, but when he took them back to Hanzhong Prefecture, he realized that not only did they not lose money, they even seemed to have profited.
As Qi Xiuyuan was recruiting troops, he had to pay for the recruitment. It was commonly known as the settlement fee, and he had to pay each person at least two taels of silver.
However, when he saw the 6,000 strong men that Qi Haoran had brought back, Qi Xiuyuan immediately got someone to pack up and stop the recruiting. What a joke. He saved 12,000 taels of silver in an instant.
As for the old, weak, women, and children, Qi Xiuyuan did not mind. He took them to Hanzhong Prefecture and spoke to Magistrate Fang about it.
Overjoyed to see so many people, Magistrate Fang immediately offered a high price for the 8,000 people. Of course, in return, he could give the West Camp three times as many military fields.
Qi Xiuyuan was about to agree, but Qi Haoran, who happened to come to watch the battle, quickly blinked. Qi Xiuyuan changed his mind and shook his head. “8,000 people is too many. 5,000 at most.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “There are many families among them, so of course we can’t split them up. 5,000-odd is fine.”
Magistrate Fang was so angry that his beard twitched. There were at most four or five people in each family who had fled with their families. That was just a fraction of the thousands of people discussed here.
Magistrate Fang felt that Qi Xiuyuan was too petty.
“The elders in those families are already in their sixties, and the younger ones are only five or six years old. There isn’t even a young man in his prime in those families. What use does the West Camp have for them?” Magistrate Fang said unhappily, “It’s not like they can go to the battlefield.”
“Farming.” With a sigh, Qi Xiuyuan said, “Sir, as you can see, the borders have been unstable this year. Not only do the soldiers have to train in the army, but now, they also have to be responsible for their own rations and military salary. Manpower is needed to produce those rations? That’s why they have to farm. Although this group of people consist of the old and young, they are tough after what they’ve been through. Even kids can go to the fields at the age of six. If it weren’t for the fact that I don’t have any land, I wouldn’t be willing to exchange this labor with you.”
Magistrate Fang frowned. “But seeing as it’s almost winter, food and accommodation are a problem for these people. Does the West Camp have enough grains?”
Qi Xiuyuan’s eyes lit up. “That’s why I need your help.”
“Don’t.” Magistrate Fang waved his hand and said, “I’m also fretting over here. Although the situation in Hanzhong Prefecture is better than Tongchuan Prefecture, there are also many commoners who lack food and need relief.” At this point, Magistrate Fang rolled his eyes and said, “Speaking of this, I remember the grassland sheep business in Hanzhong Prefecture. Last year, a lady bought mutton from Hanzhong Prefecture and saved many commoners from hunger and cold. I heard that that lady is General Qi’s subordinate?”
Qi Xiuyuan knew that he was talking about Mu Yangling. Mu Yangling’s mutton business last year was indeed carried out on a large scale. At first, it was only 400 to 500 taels of silver, then 1,000 taels of silver, then 4,000 taels of silver, before growing to more than 10,000 taels of silver. The mutton business only stopped when planting season began in spring.
As there were not many people in Hanzhong Prefecture, there was not much farming land. Therefore, the grass seeds that had been planted in the fields previously thrived in spring. Those commoners who had a taste of the benefits started raising sheep while farming. In any case, the Imperial Court was not like the Jin Kingdom who restricted them from farming or raising sheep.
Who wouldn’t like an extra source of profits?
“Are you talking about Ah Ling? That child is even more ambitious now and is tinkering with raising cows. Look, she has already bought a plot of land in Hanzhong Prefecture to build a cattle farm.” Qi Xiuyuan shook his head and said, “But that plot of land is only 300 acres. How many cows can she raise?”
Magistrate Fang was stunned. “Why does Miss Mu like these Hu things so much? First it’s sheep, and now it’s cows?”
Magistrate Fang frowned slightly. Although he hoped that Mu Yangling could buy more sheep to help the people under his rule survive another winter, it did not mean that he supported raising sheep and cows. It was fine since there was more land than people in Hanzhong Prefecture now, but should the population increase in the future and everyone still did this without planting grains, wouldn’t that shake the foundation of the country?
“Magistrate Fang, you’ve misunderstood.” Qi Haoran hurriedly explained, “Ah Ling doesn’t raise cows for milk or slaughter, but water buffaloes or cattle that can help with farming.”
Seeing that his big brother was also surprised, he said, “She feels that the profits from planting are too low at present. Firstly, it’s because of the seeds. Secondly, it’s because of the planting techniques. Thirdly, it’s because the labor is all tied to the land. The efficiency of farming is too low, making meticulous farming difficult.”
Hearing Qi Haoran mention farming, Magistrate Fang couldn’t help but sit up straight. His eyes lit up as he asked, “And then?”
“There’s no way to improve the seeds and planting technology for the time being. We have to do it step by step, but there’s a clear direction to improve the labor force. If every family had a plowing ox…” Qi Haoran did not have to finish his sentence and Magistrate Fang and Qi Xiuyuan already understood what he was trying to say.
Nowadays, plowing in the fields required manpower. Sometimes, it took two people to pull the plow, plus another person to support the plow. That meant that three laborers were held up at once. However, it was different if they had an ox. One ox could replace two laborers, or even more.
After all, an ox’s endurance was much stronger than a human’s.