Chapter 167: The Princes Fall into the Trap The whole country was in chaos, but under Tian Ze's rule, everything was peaceful. Everyone was busy with farm work, water conservancy projects, etc. During the second five-year plan, Tian Ze accumulated a huge amount of food and fodder, which was just enough to support the resettlement of refugees from the Central Plains during the campaign against Dong Zhuo and the conquest and development of the Northeast Plain. As new refugees settled in, they would be self-sufficient within a year and could in turn supply large amounts of food and fodder. Therefore, Tian Ze is not worried about the problem of food and grass at all now, and he can recruit people from all over the world. "My lord, isn't the price you offer to the princes in the Central Plains a little too high?" Cheng Yu said with some doubt after learning that Cao Cao had given in. "Fifty dan of grain per person is really too much. It's OK for other princes, but for Cao Cao and Lu Bu, thirty dan of grain per person is enough." Cheng Yu knew very well that there was no shortage of grain under Tian Ze's rule. Recruiting one million people from the Central Plains would only yield 50 million shi of grain, which was nothing for the wealthy Tian Ze. The net output of the one million people under his rule was more than enough. But the transaction price is too high, it’s like aiding the enemy! Although both sides are getting what they need, to some extent they are supporting each other. Chen Gong shook his head and said, "The princes of the Central Plains are not fools. We are unwilling to give them enough food, and they are unwilling to give us population."
"After all, they are giving away the people they rule, not the refugees. We are taking food from them in the first place, so it's good that they are willing to exchange. Now their borders are blocked so tightly." "If the price is too low, the princes of the Central Plains will definitely not agree. If we can exchange more people and reduce the deaths of ordinary people in the Central Plains, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages for us." At this time, Chen Gong had already regarded all the people in the world as his own. He was just keeping them temporarily with the various princes. Sooner or later, he would take them back through various means. "The most difficult thing about this matter is to open the door. Tao Qian is fine, but Cao Cao and Liu Bei are both far-sighted people, and Yuan Shu is stubborn. If the price is not high, how can they be tempted?" "Now Cao Cao has opened the loophole. After he gets the grain, apart from using some of it to help the people, the vast majority will definitely be used to expand the army and fight foreign wars." "Once the army is expanded or a war breaks out, more food will be needed to sustain it. Otherwise, all the previous efforts will be wasted. The sunk costs will only increase." This was an open conspiracy planned by Chen Gong after learning from the history of the rise of the Chou State. Even if the princes in the Central Plains could see it, they had no choice but to fall into the trap. As for the issue of consumed food and grass, that is not a problem at all. With such a small population, the South consumed much more food and fodder to attract refugees. Moreover, the main expense for attracting refugees in the South was money, with food being just a side dish. The food consumption of water transportation was also much less than that of land transportation. According to the current grain revenue and expenditure under his rule, Chen Gong can at least ensure that as long as the number of refugees recruited from the Central Plains each year does not exceed two million, it will definitely not affect the normal operation and ensure sufficient grain and fodder surplus reserves. "I'm sure Liu Bei and Yuan Shu can't hold back any longer now." Dong Zhao said with a smile. Guo Jia glanced at Xun You, and seeing that he did not stop him, he took a sip of wine and said casually: "I have a feeling that in the next two or three years, the natural disasters in the Central Plains will be extremely serious, and this business will become more and more profitable." "Then we can lower the price from fifty dan to thirty dan, twenty dan, ten dan. Slowly lower the price, what do you think Cao Cao and his men will do?" After a little thought, Cheng Yu understood what Guo Jia meant. Food is always in short supply and food prices are rising. What should we do? We must buy and stock up as soon as possible! If you don't have money, you can only use population. The exchange rate has been declining. If you get rid of some people early, you can earn more food and feed more soldiers. And under such circumstances, who would dare to bet that next year's weather will be better? Two or three consecutive years of disasters are enough to turn the population from capital into a burden. The sooner they are thrown out, the sooner the peace will come. Otherwise, according to the original historical trajectory, the various princes would not have unconsciously carried out various acts of massacre at that time. The various princes were not unaware of the importance of population, but the Central Plains was still completely destroyed because of the great disasters in the following years.
Even Yuan Shao, who was relatively wealthy in Hebei, was forced to survive by eating mulberries, not to mention the princes in the Central Plains. After understanding the direction of the next move, Cheng Yu looked at the smiling crowd and couldn't help but sigh: "You guys are still evil!" He could almost foresee what would happen in the Central Plains next. In the situation of arms race and mutual conquest, the various princes would definitely roll inward and compete to exchange food with them. The princes of the Central Plains fought to the death. The winners would definitely give a large proportion of the people in the occupied areas to exchange for food. After all, they were all spoils of war, so they didn't feel sorry for it, and they didn't have a sense of belonging, and they couldn't afford to support them. If the loser wants to get back his position, he has to recruit troops again. Naturally, he has to exchange the people and fields under his rule for money and food to recruit and maintain the army. Who would complain about having too many soldiers? This is a bottomless pit, just like gambling with a loan shark. You always think about how to turn things around, but in the end, the only winner is the dealer. "If things go well, the princes of the Central Plains will attack each other, and we will be the ones who benefit in the end. The more intensely they fight, the more benefits we will gain." Chen Gong said. "The most ideal situation is that the princes of the Central Plains would fight back and forth, and constantly waste their internal resources. You take over two counties today, and I will fight back tomorrow. That would be great." "And when the population can be exchanged for money and food, these princes will be less aggressive towards the people. At most, they will rob and loot, and the population will be less damaged. After all, the price of people may be much higher than what they rob." Those are all his population! It doesn't matter if these princes fight each other, as long as they don't massacre cities and hurt civilians. Tian Ze sat in his seat, looking at the memorial in his hand, listening to the discussion of the crowd, and nodding continuously. War is inevitable, but how many people will die in a war? This is not the Warring States Period, and only 10% of the people from various princes joined the army at most. Looting, slaughter, famine and plague are the main reasons for the population decline. There are tens of millions of people in the Central Plains. If we mobilize a million young and strong people to fight in the war, theoretically, even if all of them die, there will still be nine million left. If the various princes did not trade with him, at the end of the war, it would be good if there were only two or three million people left, and they would always face the problem of food shortage. The strength comparison between Cao and Yuan in the Battle of Guandu is enough to show that the Central Plains had definitely been destroyed at that time. Otherwise, even if Cao Cao had to retain some troops to guard the rest of the areas, his troops would not be that small. You know, that was a battle that basically decided Cao Cao's life or death! If he was defeated, it would basically declare Yuan Shao's victory. Cao Cao could only mobilize less than 100,000 troops, which shows how devastated the Central Plains was. And if the princes were willing to cooperate with him and give him two or three million people, as long as he disciplined his soldiers a little, robbed money but did not kill people, it should not be a problem to protect four or five million people in the end, and he would also have plenty of money and food. Therefore, Tian Ze didn't want to get involved in the affairs in the Central Plains. You guys fight your wars, and I collect my people. We can all get rich together, how great is that. "Gongtai, it seems that Xingba is making quite a big fuss in the south! The population attracted this month is close to one million!" Tian Ze suddenly said while looking at the information in his hand. Chen Gong sighed softly after hearing this. He was happy but also a little tired. He now loved and hated Gan Ning. Gan Ning did too well in the south, which made him feel under great pressure. "Don't worry, my lord. The palace is continuing to recruit manpower, money and food, and will definitely not delay this matter. Even if Xingba makes a big fuss, the palace can hold on!" Chen Gong said solemnly. Chen Gong knew very well that this was basically the last difficulty before unifying the world. As long as they can hold on for another year or so, their population will exceed half of the world's population. Then they will no longer have any pressure, but will only be troubled by having too few people. It is always better to recruit more now. Upon hearing this, Tian Ze nodded. Now that Jiangdong has no master, all the princes in the world, except Jingzhou, have no large-scale navy, so the waterways along the coastline can be unobstructed. We only need to consider the issues of wind, waves and climate at sea. With the talents of Jiang Qin and others, these problems are not difficult to solve. "Our main expenditures now are on attracting refugees from the south, developing the Northeast Plain, trading with the people of the Central Plains, and building various local projects. In addition, there are expenses for the army and the official team." "The recruitment of refugees from the south is the biggest part. This year or so is a peak period, and then it will level off. It is estimated that it will take about three to five years for the development of the Northeast Plain to achieve self-sufficiency." "The impact on the transactions of the people in the Central Plains is not great, as the scale is just that small. The construction of various local projects is also a big part, and it needs to be maintained all the time without any delay."
Tian Ze concluded: "If we can hold out for a year, we can mobilize our troops. In three years, we can prepare to conquer the world." (End of this chapter)