Iron ore mining is a huge project, and the problem of insufficient manpower is immediately reflected.
There is no other way. We have to gather as many workers as we can. Anyway, all the mining work will be carried out first. There are only so many people at the moment, and there is no shortage of equipment for the time being.
Lin Xiaoman doesn't mind that the mining work is slow and the output is small.
Anyway, as long as we can mine and smelt it, that's enough.
Compared with weapons, the current problem is food and population.
The cultivation of sweet potatoes and corn has been very successful. Lin Xiaoman believes that there will be a bumper harvest next year. The key now is: the population issue.
Population recovery is definitely a slow process. Although Lin Xiaoman has formulated a series of policies to encourage childbirth, the results will not be seen within 10 years.
Just when we were worried about population, people came to our doorstep.
The governor of Youzhou next door sent people to ask them for help.
Youzhou was in a particularly tragic situation. A great disaster had occurred, and a large number of people had died. Due to the conscription, a large number of young and strong men were missing. There were only a group of old, weak and sick people left in the territory of Youzhou. Well, the refugees came.
Further west of Youzhou is Muzhou, which is a border state capital. Since the end of last year, several border states have been harassed by the Hu people.
Now, the Hu people have captured several county towns in Muzhou and have even reached the city walls of the provincial capital.
The Hu people came with great force, and the people in the captured county towns fled all the way. Fearing that the provincial capital would be captured and the war would spread to them, more than half of the people in the areas of Muzhou that had not yet fallen chose to pack up and run away as soon as possible.
Muzhou is adjacent to Baizhou, Youzhou, and Anzhou. Baizhou is all mountainous, with vast land and sparse population. Wild beasts often appear on the official roads. Anzhou is also at war, and the people of Anzhou are fleeing with their families.
Therefore, the fleeing people of Muzhou all flocked to Youzhou, and at the same time, many refugees from Anzhou also chose Youzhou.
Millions of refugees suddenly poured into Youzhou.
There are too many people and it’s impossible to accommodate them.
The governor of Youzhou has submitted several emergency SOS letters to the court, but no one paid any attention to him. The neighboring Baizhou and Minzhou were also watching coldly, each minding their own business, and no one lent a hand.
So, Youzhou came to Tongzhou for help.
After Lin Xiaoman and Yang Hanmo discussed it, they almost understood.
If refugees are not properly resettled, they can easily become a disaster. In addition to the refugee problem, there is also the Hu people!
Although Youzhou is poor and destitute, the Hu people don't know this! What if the Hu people come to attack Youzhou blindly? What should we do?
There was no military governor in Youzhou, and soldiers were being conscripted. Yang Hanmo speculated that the entire Youzhou probably had less than 10,000 soldiers in total, and all the young and strong men had been conscripted. If someone really instigated the refugees to rebel, or if the Hu people attacked, Youzhou would be completely at the mercy of others.
The imperial court was in great chaos now. I heard that their four brothers each brought 100,000 soldiers and horses, forming a 400,000-strong army to march north and attack Beiqing.
But until now, the northern expedition army is still blocked outside the Beiqing Gate, and it is said that it has not even captured a county town.
Now Da Gan’s troops are either fighting Beiqing or fighting against the Hu people in the western border. There are only a few soldiers around the capital, but they are all there to protect Jingzhou and cannot be sent out.
If the Hu people really occupied Muzhou, the imperial court would be powerless. By then, Youzhou, Muzhou's neighbor...
Therefore, all the officials in Youzhou must be in a panic now.
Now is definitely a God-given opportunity, the best time to swallow Youzhou. If the millions of refugees can be settled, he will have a firm foothold. Maybe next year, he will be able to directly attack the Southwestern Mo Kingdom like Beiqing.
Of course, it's just a thought. As long as Emperor Wusheng is still alive, Yang Hanmo doesn't have the courage to rebel against his own father.
However, when the old man dies, the throne will definitely not be his turn. Given the current situation, when the new emperor ascends the throne, he will definitely not be able to control the overall situation, and chaos will surely break out. At that time, he will declare independence!
The southwest is his territory.
The ideal is beautiful, but the reality is... he doesn't have many soldiers.
After some discussion, Yang Hanmo took 10,000 soldiers to Youzhou. After he withdrew the troops, Lin Xiaoman immediately arranged for militia.
Because of the household registration system, Tongzhou's population census has been preliminarily completed. Currently, the registered population of Tongzhou is 170,000. Lin Xiaoman, who has read the household registration information, knows that before last year's snowstorm, Tongzhou had a population of more than 600,000.
Oh, what a sin.
Although there were only 170,000 left, they at least escaped conscription. After careful selection, there were still 70,000 to 80,000 young and strong men.
It is not the busy farming season now, so Lin Xiaoman organized a nationwide military exercise.
Veterans lead new recruits to train!
It doesn't require you to be very powerful, as long as you can stab, chop and kill the enemy, that's OK.
Because he had no soldiers, Lin Xiaoman started thinking about various mechanical crossbows, city defense equipment, refugees, etc. For Lin Xiaoman, they were all labor.
A month after Yang Hanmo went to Youzhou, refugees began to pour into the northernmost county of Tongzhou. Because Lin Xiaoman had already made plans and preparations, a group of officials began to settle the refugees, assign them to villages, allocate land, and handle household registration... All work was carried out in an orderly manner.
With more people, Lin Xiaoman started working hard, adapting to local conditions. He set up a weaving workshop here, a dyeing workshop nearby, a papermaking workshop there, a pottery workshop there, an oil mill there, a carpentry workshop there, a blacksmith workshop there, a dyeing workshop there, and a small breeding workshop there...
Let’s start the manufacturing business!
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