"General Cao, what do you think should be done about this matter of bestowing rewards?"

Holding the report of victory delivered by his subordinates, Damoshi looked at Cao Cao with a pleading expression.

"Your Majesty, you can designate a piece of land in Kushan. Our soldiers will not be picky. As for titles, we can grant them whatever we have in Kushan, such as baron or viscount!"

Cao Cao said with a smile, completely unaware of Damoshi's increasingly unpleasant expression.

In Damoshi's view, Cao Cao's words clearly meant that he wanted Cao Cao to cede territory.

Based on the current situation, once the Han army drives away the Xianbei and Xiongnu, he will have to grant away at least a million acres of fertile land and several thousand noble titles.

Not only will we receive far less grain and supplies, but we will also have to spend a lot of our salaries and resources each year to support these newly appointed nobles. In the long run, we will definitely not be able to cope.

"General Cao, what do you think? Could we convert all the fertile land and noble titles that should be awarded into gold and silver?" Damoshi asked tentatively.

He was unwilling to cede the land unless absolutely necessary.

Cao Cao's eyes darted around as he calculated, "That works too. In my Han Dynasty, one mu of land costs one hundred taels of silver, and titles can be obtained through donations. The lowest rank, viscount, requires five thousand taels of silver..."

"This...is so expensive?"

Upon hearing Cao Cao's offer, Damoshi was also taken aback.

According to Cao Cao's quote, one battle merit would cost at least 10,000 taels of silver, and 18,000 heads would amount to 180 million.

It's estimated that this is all the wealth the two families have.

Moreover, it is reported that the Xianbei and Xiongnu are still unwilling to give up and are wandering around the territory. If the Han army kills more of them, what should they use to reward them?

"That's natural. In our Great Han, the annual yield of one mu of fertile land is now six shi (a unit of dry measure) and one hundred taels of silver, which is already the lowest price."

As for noble titles, they can only be obtained through military merit and significant contributions; they cannot be bought with money.

"The price I, Cao, can offer Your Majesty is already very reasonable. Any lower, and I fear the soldiers will be unwilling to fight!"

In the end, Cao Cao gave Damoshi a meaningful look.

Upon hearing this explanation, Damoshi showed a hint of hesitation.

He understood what Cao Cao meant: the land and titles of the Han Dynasty were very valuable, and if he could not satisfy them, the Han soldiers might refuse to fight anymore.

When the Han army leaves, what will we use to defend ourselves?

"Your Majesty, I have a suggestion. I wonder if you think it's feasible?"

"General Cao, please speak!"

Cao Cao smiled and said, "Actually, our soldiers don't lack fertile land, and they can be granted titles by the court. What they lack is simply wives!"

Damoh was slightly taken aback: "Wife?"

"Indeed, Your Majesty, you may not know this, but the Emperor of our Great Han once issued an edict requiring soldiers to have more children."

Unfortunately, many soldiers don't even have wives, so how can they have many children? Therefore, what soldiers in the army desire most now is to have three or five wives!

If Your Majesty can grant this request, the soldiers won't care so much about fertile land or titles!

"I see..."

Upon hearing Cao Cao's words, Damoshi stroked his chin and began to ponder.

In Kushan, buying a young woman as a slave costs only fifty to one hundred silver coins, which is much more cost-effective than earning ten thousand silver coins for a battle merit.

"Your Majesty, I can decide to price those young women at one thousand taels of silver each. Besides using them to reward the soldiers, you can also use them to purchase our army's weapons and various supplies!"

Just as Damoh was pondering, Cao Cao's words also deeply moved him.

Damoshi asked with a look of interest, "General Cao, what is the value of your army's weapons?"

Cao Cao smiled slightly: "Two hundred taels for a long sword, three hundred taels for a spear, and one thousand five hundred taels for armor. In total, two women can be exchanged for a set of weapons and armor!"

Bows, arrows, and other weapons will be charged separately!

"Okay, this price is fair!"

Upon hearing Cao Cao's offer, Damoshi immediately nodded in agreement.

If we're talking about gold and silver, the Han army's weapons and equipment were indeed very expensive, but if we're talking about manpower, they were very cheap.

In the eyes of this third prince, ordinary people are nothing more than commoners; can they even be called human?

Cao Cao smiled and said, "In that case, Your Majesty, please prepare enough women as soon as possible. I also need to go and make arrangements for driving out the Xianbei and Xiongnu!"

"General Cao, rest assured, I will be ready in no time!"

Damoh patted his chest and assured him, then hurriedly took his leave.

After returning to the temporary palace, Damoshi summoned his ministers and told them about his discussions with Cao Cao.

The noble ministers also expressed their approval and support for this matter.

They never expected that a bunch of lowly people would be so valuable.

Some young women can save you hundreds of millions of silver dollars in expenses, and you might even be able to sell them for a high price. No one would refuse such a worthwhile deal.

After discussing it, a group of noble ministers excitedly left the palace and began to search for young women everywhere.

At first, these noble ministers were somewhat restrained and knew to spend some money to buy young women, and the common people were not so resistant to selling their daughters.

She'll get married sooner or later anyway, so selling her for a hundred or so silver coins isn't a bad deal, and she doesn't even need to provide a dowry.

For a time, the search for the woman proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

In just a few days, the group searched for three thousand women and exchanged them for three thousand sets of weapons and armor from Cao Cao.

Seeing that the Han army had admitted it, Damoshi and a group of noble ministers searched even more diligently.

In fact, quite a few people had their eyes on the refugees, but they were afraid that doing so would provoke resistance from the refugees, so they had to give up for the time being.

Ordinary people with families are easy to bully, but a group of starving refugees are not to be trifled with.

After the search of Dongdu City was completed, groups of searchers left Dongdu and began to search the surrounding villages and towns.

However, with a large population, there will always be a few greedy individuals.

These guys are not only unwilling to spend money, but they also treat this as a way to make money, so it's inevitable that they will use the pretext of conscription to commit robbery.

As more and more people break the rules, those who do follow the rules also become dishonest.

These men patronized all the women in the households whose daughters were between twelve and twenty-five years old, causing widespread resentment among the people.

In a short time, countless women were continuously sent to the Eastern Capital.

While Cao Cao was making arrangements and preparing to lead his army to join Xiahou Yuan, Damoshi had already gathered nearly 30,000 young women and sent them to Cao Cao.