“I don’t know where the refugees are, but someone definitely knows. Ancestor, wait a moment, I’ll call Chen He over.” As she spoke, Luo Lin sent out a communication talisman.
The message talisman had barely left his hand when it transformed into a golden light and flew out of the tent, heading into the distance.
Chen He arrived shortly afterward.
"Grandfather, Madam, you wanted to see me?" Chen He asked respectfully after bowing.
Night Breeze nodded and said with a smile, "Chen He, Luo Lin just reported to me about the situation at our camp, mentioning the problem of insufficient manpower—"
"Grandpa, you've finally noticed this problem?" Chen He said with a smile.
"You noticed that too?" Night Wind asked.
"Of course."
After nodding, Chen He said with great pride, "Most of the common people in other cities are idle and live in a daze all day. But the common people in our Silla City are completely different. Every common person here is very busy and has endless work to do every day. Although it is a bit hard, it is very fulfilling."
"Moreover, having work to do every day means that they have food to eat every day and can fill their stomachs through labor, which is something that the common people of other cities can only dream of."
Chen He's words reminded Ye Feng of four words—job.
In other cities, because there were a large number of commoners and serfs but far too few jobs, most commoners and serfs could not earn money and food even if they wanted to work, and were in a state of distress where they had no food to eat.
But in Silla City it was completely different; there were so many jobs that they far exceeded the population.
Therefore, in Silla City, as long as you work hard and diligently, you don't need to worry about survival at all.
From this perspective alone, although Silla City had not yet been built, the living standards of its commoners and serfs had already far surpassed those of other cities.
Not to mention that the hardworking commoners and serfs could also eat meat, which was something that commoners and serfs in other cities could only dream of.
Upon hearing Chen He's words, Luo Lin's face lit up with pride.
Night Breeze smiled with satisfaction and said, "That's for the best. What we need is a city-state where everyone can live and work in peace and contentment without worrying about survival."
"Can everyone live and work in peace and contentment?" Chen He muttered to himself, seemingly experiencing a certain feeling.
Ye Feng had no interest in continuing his casual conversation with Chen He. After all, the manpower shortage problem needed to be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise it would seriously slow down the development of Xinluo City and might even cause other problems.
So Ye Feng said, "Chen He, do you have any solutions for the manpower shortage problem?"
Chen He replied without hesitation, "Of course, we should recruit more refugees and let them come to live and work in our Xinluo City. This way, we will have more people and more labor force."
"What exactly should we do?" Ye Feng asked again.
Chen He said without hesitation: "Many commoners and serfs who cannot make a living in other cities will flee. However, commoners and serfs are the private property of the city lord. After they flee, they will become even lower-class people without status, that is, refugees."
"Refugees have no human rights and are not protected by the laws of our Hongtian Empire. Whoever captures a refugee can make him their slave, and it is perfectly reasonable and legal to kill a refugee."
"In that case, we might as well go find the settlements of those refugees in the wild and capture them all."
Ye Feng asked with a smile, "Don't you think this is wrong? Forcibly arresting refugees and bringing them to our Xinluo City, isn't that going too far?"
"What's so excessive about this? Although it was a bit violent of us to arrest all those refugees and bring them to Silla City, it was for their own good! How good can their lives be when they're exposed to the elements in the wilderness?"
"But once they come to our Silla City and become serfs, at least they won't have to worry about food anymore. They'll have houses to live in. Speaking of which, those cement buildings are really beautiful. Ancestor, do you really intend for everyone in Silla City to live in cement buildings? Even commoners and serfs can live in these cement buildings?"
Chen He went off-topic while talking, and looked at Ye Feng with an excited expression.
"Of course! The invention of cement has greatly improved the efficiency of housing construction in our Xinluo City. At this rate, it won't be long before we can build enough houses for everyone. What use are these houses if we don't let commoners and serfs live in cement buildings? Just for show?" Ye Feng sneered.
"That's true, Ancestor, you are definitely the most benevolent city lord I have ever met!" Chen He bowed and showed his heartfelt respect for Ye Feng.
“You’ve gone off-topic. Let’s get back to the story of the refugees,” Night Wind reminded him.
Chen He nodded and said, "I think the method of forcibly arresting refugees is feasible. They may resist us during the arrest, but once they arrive in Xinluo City, they will definitely fall in love with it. At that time, even if we try to drive them away, we will not be able to."
After a pause, Chen He continued, "But there's a problem here: how to find the settlements of these refugees. They flee the city because they can't make a living, so they hide in the wilderness, their settlements far from the city and very scattered. So finding their settlements is not an easy task."
"Lowling said you have a way to find the gathering places of those refugees," Night Wind asked.
“I do have a way. I used to be a rogue cultivator, and even a mercenary. I’ve traveled to many places, and I know how to gather information. If you give me a month—no, just half a month—I might be able to find a few settlements of refugees,” Chen He said confidently.
"Alright, I'll leave this to you. Once you find the refugee settlement, don't act rashly. Come back and report to me immediately, and I'll consider what methods to use to capture those refugees," Ye Feng said.
"Yes, Ancestor!"
Chen He nodded, then turned around and walked outside.
But just as he was about to leave Ye Feng's tent, Chen He suddenly stopped and returned to Ye Feng, saying, "I have another idea."
"What method?" Ye Feng asked curiously.
"The ancestor is asking you a question, so answer quickly," Rowling urged.
Chen He chuckled and said, "It takes time to find out where the refugees live, and it also takes time to capture them. So, it will take a long time to see the effects of this method of obtaining more people and labor."
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