"In short, we in Silla City don't have enough manpower."
Not enough manpower?
Is it true or false?
Other city lords complain that they have too many commoners and serfs in their cities, so why does Silla City not have enough?
Jiang was lost in thought and didn't know what to say for a moment. After all, Rowling's words were completely different from what he had expected, which disrupted his thoughts.
After a long while, Jiang Zhengzhong finally asked tentatively, "So, Madam Luo, you want to borrow a group of people from me to help with the construction of your Xinluo City?"
“No, I want to buy people,” Rowling said.
"Buy people? How many?" Jiang Zhengzhong was even more surprised.
“Three thousand,” Rowling replied.
Three thousand! That's a lot!
Jiang Zhengzhong was greatly startled.
Luo Lin said with a smile, "Lord Jiang, are you unwilling? Your Jiangxia City has a population of about 90,000, of which 86,000 are commoners and serfs. What's wrong with selling 3,000 to our Xinluo City?"
“Lord Jiang, if you agree, the number of commoners and serfs in your city will decrease by three thousand, which will greatly reduce your burden. Meanwhile, our Xinluo City will have about three thousand more laborers. Isn’t that a good thing? It’s a win-win situation for both of us. Such opportunities are rare.”
Jiang Zhengzhong asked, "Only young and middle-aged men?"
"Yes, we give priority to young and middle-aged people."
Rowling smiled and said, "I hope Lord Jiang can sell us all those young and middle-aged men who have not started families or have parents. I will try my best to satisfy you regarding the price."
Jiang was secretly delighted.
A person who has not started a family and has no parents is, to put it bluntly, a bachelor.
Single men are definitely a destabilizing factor.
Hundreds of cases occur in his Jiangxia City every year, including robbery, theft, rape, and so on.
The vast majority of those who committed these crimes were men without relatives or families.
Now that Rowling is going to buy this type of person, it is certainly a good thing for him!
The problem is, there aren't that many bachelors in Jiangxia City; maybe a little over a thousand would be good.
There are plenty of unmarried young people, but very few who don't even have parents and are left to fend for themselves.
"Has Lord Jiang not made up his mind yet?" Rowling asked.
“Madam Luo, there’s a problem here. In Jiangxia City, there are no young and middle-aged men who have started families or have parents. We don’t have as many as you need,” Jiang Zhengzhong said.
"So how many do you have here?" Rowling asked.
"I can't give you a specific number, but it's probably more than a thousand people," Jiang Zhengzhong added.
“Then sell these thousand-plus people to me first. I’ll talk to our Luo family patriarch later and see what he says,” Luo Lin said.
"Okay, let's do it this way for now."
Jiang Zhengzhong smiled and nodded.
After dinner, Rowling took out a magical artifact from her storage ring.
This magical artifact is a mirror, which Ye Feng gave to her before she set off. It is called the Mirror of Unity.
The Heart-to-Heart Mirrors are a pair, one in Night Wind's hand and the other in Rowling's hand. As long as the straight-line distance is no more than three thousand miles, they can communicate with each other through the Heart-to-Heart Mirrors.
After taking out the Heart-to-Heart Mirror, Rowling took a light breath and circulated her internal energy into the mirror.
The frame around the concentric mirror shimmered with a faint silver light, and the smooth mirror surface rippled like water.
After a long while, Ye Feng's face finally appeared in the Mirror of Unity.
“Ancestor,” Rowling said.
"What is it? Speak up, I can hear you," Ye Feng said with a smile.
“I’m currently at the city lord’s mansion in Jiangxia City. Chen He is here as well. I just spoke with Jiang Zhengzhong, and he agreed to sell the population of Xinluo City to us. However, the price has not yet been finalized, and I’ve encountered another problem.”
"What's the problem?" Night Wind asked.
“Jiangxia City has no young adults who have formed families or have parents to support. There are only a little over a thousand people, which does not meet our requirements,” Luo Lin said with a wry smile.
“Then let’s buy them all, and then buy people with families, and bring their whole families over,” Ye Feng said.
“But in that case, a significant portion of the people we buy will be elderly people, children, and women. These people probably won’t be able to work for us.” Rowling frowned slightly, her voice hesitant.
Night Wind paused for a moment, then said, "Lorraine, you can't think about things like that. Population itself is valuable, and besides, we're not capitalists."
"What is a capitalist?" Rowling asked, completely bewildered.
“Capitalists are parasites that live off the working class. They live by sucking the blood of the laborers and do not produce any value themselves. Moreover, most capitalists are ruthless. They only care about those who can create value for them and bring them profits. Once that person has no value and cannot create profits for them, they will kick them aside,” Ye Feng explained patiently.
“Capitalists are truly despicable,” Rowling said.
"Yes, so we can't think like capitalists, and we can't become those kinds of despicable people."
Ye Feng smiled and continued, "Prioritize buying young adults who are single, then buy people with families, and buy their entire families. As for the price, you and Jiang Zhengzhong can discuss it; I won't get involved in such trivial matters."
“Yes, Ancestor.” Rowling nodded emphatically.
It was already daylight.
Luo Qing had just come out of the tent when she saw the little maid, Luo Xiaotong, running towards her.
"You were looking for me, Xiaotong?" Luo Qing asked with a smile, pinching Luo Xiaotong's chubby cheeks.
Luo Xiaotong quickly said, "Miss, the Ancestor wants you to come over."
"What does the ancestor want with me?" Luo Qing asked curiously.
"I don't know, the ancestor didn't say," Luo Xiaotong shook her head.
Luo Qing had no suspicions.
Although Ye Feng, Luo Lin, and Luo Qing all adored the little maid, she was, after all, just a little maid, and a rather silly one at that.
If there were anything important, Ye Feng would certainly not tell Luo Xiaotong. On the one hand, her status was not high enough, and on the other hand, even if he told her, she probably wouldn't understand, or even remember it.
"I understand, I'll be right there," Luo Qing said.
Inside the tent, Zijing was cracking open a handful of sunflower seeds.
"Old Deng, look at all those cement buildings that have been built. Why don't you move in? Living in a tent is so inconvenient, and it's not impressive at all," Zijing asked while cracking sunflower seeds.
Night Wind shook his head and said, "The buildings that are being built now are all ordinary residential buildings, intended for commoners and serfs. How could I possibly live in them?"
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