Chapter 468: Chapter 235: Starting Well but Ending Poorly_3
Translator: 549690339
“Indeed, it’s time to consult Wuan Marquis.”
“And we should also send someone to inquire on the court’s side. Now that Xichuan has been recovered, our fiefdom edict and the land of the fiefdom should be confirmed soon.”
Jihui and Qiao Kangquan urged at this moment.
Seeing Lu Yuan, Yan Wangqiu, and Su Xuange as pioneers, dominating one side and imposing, the two latecomers were already extremely envious.
Previously, Xichuan hadn’t been taken back, so the court couldn’t settle them.
But now that the territory has been recaptured by Lu Yuan, shouldn’t the court’s promised fiefdom be settled?
Facing these urgings, Shangguan Ming had to say, “I will send a messenger to Xiangyang and the court soon, so you don’t have to worry.”
Seeing him say so, the three of them let him off.
Afterward, they chatted for a while, and Shangguan Ming and the other two left the city.
Now that Wushan Pass has been captured by Lu Yuan, there can’t be too many large armies stationed in the city, so Shangguan Ming had no choice but to continue squatting in the main camp outside the city.
However, not long after several people left, when night fell, Jihui and Qiao Kangquan quietly returned to the city and went to see Lu Yuan.
As for this, Lu Yuan seemed to have expected it, and directly invited people to a prepared secret room.
After sitting down and having premium tea, Jihui said: “King of Changsha, the two of us came here to discuss the matter of exchanging territories with you.”
Qiao Kangquan on the side also said: “Indeed, the matter mentioned by King Changsha before has always been in our minds. But there was no opportunity to have a face-to-face discussion. Now that we finally meet, we can have a good talk with King Changsha.”
Lu Yuan, who was sitting in front of them, showed a smile on his face and then said, “You two…”
It was quiet at midnight, and the candlelight was dim.
In the secret room, the future big events of Xichuan and Hanzhong prefectures were quickly confirmed by the three people.
After midnight, Lu Yuan personally sent the two away, his face full of smiles.
They had reached an agreement just now.
In addition to the original agreement, Lu Yuan can use the three prefectures of Xixiang, Baishi, and Nanjiang in Hanzhong to exchange for the three prefectures of Wushan, Linjiang, and Yuzhong in Xichuan, without changing the conditions.
On this basis, if there is still surplus land in Hanzhong under his control, he can continue to exchange territories with the two of them until the territory of Hanzhong is exhausted.
The reason why Jihui and Qiao Kangquan could propose such conditions was mainly due to their continuous exploration during these months since the Northern Expedition.
After sending scouts uninterruptedly into Xichuan, the two finally figured out what was going on there.
Population decline, poverty, and bandits were rampant, resulting in extreme destitution…
In short, any words describing a terrible and bad situation could be applied to Xichuan.
If the two of them were to like such a place, that would be surprising.
Previously, because there was no other choice, even knowing that Xichuan was a pit, both families were willing to spend decades of effort to restore the place.
But now that someone is willing to exchange territories with them, and there are better options, they naturally won’t be the scapegoat anymore.
Therefore, Lu Yuan and the two of them hit it off immediately and reached a consensus.
“I just hope that after accepting Hanzhong, these two won’t regret it and secretly curse me.”
Looking in the direction of the two departing people, Lu Yuan thought so.
The main reason for this was his previous arrangements in Hanzhong.
Two months ago, he left Lan Cai’er in Hanzhong to supervise defense while collecting the local money and grain and relocating the people.
And this policy of collecting money and grain and relocating people targeted the entire Hanzhong territory, naturally including the three prefectures of Xixiang, Baishi, and Nanjiang.
Although the implementation of this strategy has not been long, just two months, the latest news he received a few days ago was that a month ago, nearly 30,000 households had been moved from Hanzhong and had begun to be sent to the area of Dongting and Jiangnan.
According to the speed of these immigrants, these people should have arrived in Guining Prefecture by now and would soon reach the boundary of Dongting Prefecture.
And this was the news from a month ago, and another month has passed since then. The immigrant work over there should be going even more smoothly.
It is conservatively estimated that by now, the number of evacuated households in Hanzhong should be around 60,000 to 70,000 households.
And this is not the end.
After Lu Yuan captured Hanzhong City, he checked the household register of the prefecture and knew that there were 582,103 households in Hanzhong, with a total population of about 3 million.
His goal is to relocate at least 200,000 households, or 1 million people.
Even if there is enough time, more people will be moved, as many as possible, and they will never be left to the Zhou people.
Of course, although the relocation targets all households, for the three prefectures of Xixiang, Baishi, and Nanjiang, Lu Yuan pays special attention not to overdo it, and only relocates up to one-third of the population.
After all, it has to be exchanged with people. In case the transaction can’t be completed and the territory cannot be changed, he still has to be careful about his appearance.
However, no matter how you say it, the three prefectures of Xixiang, Baishi, and Nanjiang, compared to before, must have suffered losses in both population and wealth.
Therefore, it is certain that Jihui and Qiao Kangquan will have opinions in their hearts.
However, no matter how much loss there is, these three prefectures are still better than the prefectures and counties of Xichuan.
So, there is no need to worry that they will not agree to the exchange in the end.
After all, in theory, in this transaction, even after Lu Yuan’s manipulation, the two of them are still at an advantage.
Of course, Lu Yuan will not suffer either.
Essentially, this is a transaction where one is willing to fight and the other is willing to suffer.