Chapter 186
Suihua, the host city, was the largest recipient of this population diversion, reaching a total of 150,000. Huining was second, with 90,000 to nearly 100,000 people. Other cities, such as Songhua Prefecture and Houcheng, only received 50,000 to 60,000 people. Jiachuan had the least, with fewer than 40,000.
There was no other way, since Jiachuan was the farthest north. Disaster victims came from all over the Central Plains, especially from the south. Some had walked two or three thousand kilometers before finally reaching their destination. From their perspective, Youzhou was already quite far north, and going any further was unsettling.
Seeing this huge population disparity, Jiachuan's deputy commander was about to cry.
Yao Chunnuan had no choice but to console him, saying, "It's okay. Perhaps Lord Jiang will cause a major disaster in Houcheng and recruit hundreds of thousands of disaster victims to Jiachuan."
Jiachuan's deputy commander was Pan Na's younger brother from the Gaoshan tribe. He was also quite familiar with Yao Chunnuan. He raised his baby face and asked Yao Chunnuan in a questioning tone, "Will it be possible?"
In fact, the officials in Songhua Prefecture and Houcheng who were responsible for recruiting disaster victims were also worried about the result that they only recruited 50,000 to 60,000 disaster victims. But with Jiachuan as a comparison, they could comfort themselves that at least they were not the last one, so that was enough.
So they all started to comfort the young man, "Master Pan, don't be sad. Look, we in Songhua Prefecture and Houcheng have only recruited 50,000 or 60,000 people. It's not that we didn't work hard, but that our opponents were too strong."
Brother Pan nodded in agreement, "Yes, sir, it's not that we didn't work hard, but Lord Xu and Lord Le are too cunning."
This outcome is easy to understand. Approximately 500,000 disaster victims arrived in Suihua. Of these, only 30,000 met the conscription requirements. The conscription office took away these 30,000 young and strong men, along with 60,000 to 70,000 family members, for a total of 100,000 people. The remaining 400,000 were divided among the other five cities and prefectures.
By this time, the victims were tired of walking and found Suihua a good place. The chief officer seemed kind and upright, so they didn't want to leave. It was estimated that the situation was similar in Houcheng, and Houcheng's harvest would be greater than that of other cities and counties.
Moreover, it is very likely that half or even more of the one million disaster victims who arrived in Yichun died on the way. They either died of hunger, illness, or accidents.
In other words, there could be one to two million people dying on the roads, or even more. This is Yao Chunnuan's estimate based on the data she collected, but she believes it's not far off the real number. Reality is so cruel.
By the time the hundreds of thousands of disaster victims had decided on their destination, it was already evening. After discussing with Xu Chong and Le Boming, Yao Chunnuan decided not to allow the victims to continue their journey or travel at night. Instead, they would rest in Suihua and Houcheng for the night before setting off again the next day.
Suihua also treated the victims to a dinner. Adults received two fist-sized coarse flour buns, while children and the elderly received one, followed by seaweed and egg drop soup, all available.
The victims were all very full and satisfied with the meal.
For many residents of inland cities, their first taste of seaweed egg drop soup was a breathtaking experience. Even years later, some still reminisce about that night's seaweed egg drop soup. Although they later learned that this soup wasn't particularly rare for people living in Youzhou, the flavor remains unforgettable.
After eating their fill and lying on the straw, smiles appeared on everyone's dark, thin faces. Since they decided to leave their hometown, they had not had a peaceful life on this journey. Displacement, hunger and danger followed them at all times. It was really too difficult. Now they had found a new support and could settle down tomorrow.
This night was the most peaceful night of sleep for hundreds of thousands of disaster victims.
As soon as they opened their eyes, they saw many horse-drawn carriages, ox-drawn carts and mule-drawn carts parked outside the temporary camp.
"Come on, come on, it's time to distribute breakfast. You can get your breakfast and start your journey!"
The disaster victims who had just woken up were quickly given two steamed buns by the Suihua staff as breakfast.
After each disaster victim received a breakfast, grassroots officials from various cities and counties called them on their journey.
"Everyone, please eat your breakfast on the way. Suihua is a bit far from our Songhua Prefecture, so the earlier you set off, the sooner you arrive!"
No one had any objection to leaving early. If you want to eat breakfast on the way, then so be it. We're not that particular.
Then, someone from the team announced, "Come on, let the sick, the elderly, and children under five get on the mule carts!"
When the victims heard this, they cheered, "That's great, thank you so much."
"Thank you, thank you. Just let the elderly and children get on the bus. It doesn't matter how tired we adults are. We promise we won't fall behind."
On the journey north, few children under five survived. The same was true for the elderly. Throughout the journey, they ate as little as possible, hoping to leave hope for their children and grandchildren. Children were even more vulnerable. The mortality rate was already high, and coupled with the famine, while conscientious parents wouldn't resort to cannibalism, some were unavoidably ruthless and stole children or secretly killed them for food.
At that time, Jiachuan's first-class carriage attracted so much attention that they had to arrange for all children under ten to sit in it before it was barely full.
After the carriages were filled, the troops from each city and county set off. They arranged the horse-drawn carriages first, followed by the donkey-drawn carriages, the mule-drawn carriages after the donkey-drawn carriages, the ox-drawn carriages at the end, and finally the disaster victims who traveled together.
Su Hua is Su Yibai's cousin. Because he is weak and does not meet the conscription requirements, he decides to go to Huining with his mother to settle down and see what he can do.
At this time, his mother was sitting on the ox cart, and he was following behind, with some people from Sujia Village next to him.
The driver muttered, "This old, unrepaired road is just too hard to drive on." He cracked his whip and said loudly, "It's a bit bumpy, everyone, hold on tight."
Victims: ??? They thought it was alright. The Suihua road was in better condition than many they'd seen, and it seemed to be regularly maintained.
The uncle driving the carriage shook his head at their words and said, "Wait until we take the new official road in Huining for the second half of the journey, and you will understand."
Su Hua found the uncle driving the carriage to be cheerful and couldn't help but strike up a conversation with him. "Uncle, are these horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts arranged by Lord Xu to pick us up?"
The uncle replied cheerfully, "Yes, in order to pick you up, we have mobilized all the horse-drawn carriages, donkey-drawn carriages, mule-drawn carriages, and ox-drawn carriages in Huining. Among these carriages, there are government-owned ones and private ones..."
The victims were flattered to hear this.
"Uncle, is this ox cart yours? If you come to pick someone up, won't that delay a day's work?"
"Well, that's okay. We came here because the government called us. It's a rare occasion that the government asked us to work, and we are here to pick up the elderly and children. It doesn't matter if we don't make any money in a day." The uncle went on to explain. Besides, the government would not let them work for free. They would also get some subsidies for working for the government, but this subsidy would definitely not be as much as what they could earn from working with a snail cart in a day.
Hearing this, the victims were surprised. In all their decades of life, this was the first time they had heard of the government giving ordinary people subsidies for working for them. Regardless of the amount, this attitude was rare. You know, in Daliang, ordinary people who worked for the government always worked for free; being able to provide them with a meal or two was considered a good thing.
Su Hua asked again, "By the way, what taxes do farmers in Huining have to pay?"
"In Huining, farmers are taxed only on the basis of their land, and the tax revenue is not high."
"No poll tax?"
"No..." The uncle thought about it seriously and listed the taxes to be collected from farmers. There were only one or two taxes, nothing else.
Upon hearing this, Su Hua did some calculations in his mind and realized, "Wow, the peasant tax isn't that heavy. This is 1 in 30." During the heyday of Daliang, the peasant tax was 1 in 20, and yet countless people praised it as Daliang's golden age.
Hearing his exclamation, the uncle proudly said, "In Huining, no, in the entire Youzhou, farmers' taxes are the lightest. Merchant taxes, craftsman taxes, and farmers' taxes are different and are a bit higher. Among them, commercial taxes are the heaviest."
"Why?" Su Hua was puzzled. Based on his understanding of Yichun, it didn't seem like a place that prioritized agriculture over commerce. Yichun's business was booming.
"Our Lord Yao said that agriculture is the foundation of local development and that we should encourage it more. Furthermore, it's difficult for ordinary people to make money. After a year of hard work, it's hard to make a living, except for just enough to eat and eat. Therefore, we collect less tax. Commercial taxes are the heaviest. Merchants are the ones who work harder. The greater their ability, the greater their responsibility. It's only right that they pay more taxes."
Su Hua listened to this, shook his head and laughed. These were just words to fool businessmen.
When Wang Lang heard the news from his subordinates who had been placed among the disaster victims, saying that Youzhou had absorbed millions of disaster victims through diversion, his face turned dark.
What made him even more upset was that among these one million disaster victims, the Yichun Recruiting Office was able to select nearly 50,000 new recruits!
Wang Lang knew that the conscription conditions in Yichun were very strict. The fact that they were able to pick out so many people meant that these 50,000 people fully met their conscription conditions.
Wang Lang asked, "Didn't you say that among these nearly one million disaster victims, few are capable of serving in the military? Did the 50,000 new recruits in Yichun just appear out of thin air?"
His subordinate was also helpless. He had carefully examined the victims and found that few could be drafted into the war. Furthermore, people like Su Yibai had clearly refused to serve in Jizhou, but he couldn't force them. His master had already killed many of the refugee leaders. If he had forced them to serve, the millions of refugees would have rioted. He had no idea these refugees were so good at pretending, feigning illness, old age, and weakness.
After hearing his subordinates' explanation, Wang Lang felt frustrated. The feeling that the situation was hopeless came back. He felt that no matter how hard he tried, it was all in vain, which made him very upset!
Houcheng, Navy Camp
Because of the ability, sense of responsibility and commitment that Su Yibai had demonstrated along the way, after Gu Bin reported it to the military and it was verified, Su Yibai was promoted to the rank of captain of a thousand men.
Not only him, but also those who have made outstanding achievements along the way have been noticed or promoted.
Those who joined the army were promoted to centurions and thousand-man commanders. Those who did not join the army were promoted to grassroots officials, such as Wutingzhang, Youjiao, Xiangzuo, and Likui.
This was an unexpected surprise! Su Yibai and the others finally realized that the Yichun City Lord's Mansion valued talent even more than they had imagined! What was said on the previous recruitment list was true: they only recruited people based on their talents and appointed people based on their abilities. As long as you have the ability, you will be given important positions in Youzhou.
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