“Now the Protectorate governs 42 states and 100 counties with more than 1.1 million households and more than 6 million people.

Ever since our Grand Administrator and Governor brought the students from Yuzhou to the Northeast, life has been getting better day by day, and the people who were originally scattered have come back to settle down.

Especially before the spring ploughing last year, many people in various counties and prefectures requested to settle down. I was a little flustered. I urgently borrowed a thousand students from the four masters and issued a recruitment order to make ends meet. According to the latest statistics, more than 300,000 people settled down in April alone, nearly 2 million people. "

"Ha ha"

Li Zhi laughed and said, "Then you have to thank Xiao Si and those three families."

Xue Rengui also laughed, but said: "Thanking Mr. Fourth is the right thing to do, but there is no need to thank the other three families. They followed Mr. Fourth and got a lot of benefits."

Li Zhi raised his eyebrows and asked, "Oh, tell me about it?"

Wang Zheng sighed and explained, “The First Emperor’s laws were strict and were only for his own selfishness. There were constant wars throughout his reign.

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The Northeast is mostly deep mountains and old forests. If one wants to gain a foothold on land, the first thing to do is naturally to cut down trees and find plains along the river to cut down trees. Not only is the timber convenient to transport now, but the harvest from farming will also be convenient to transport in the future.

Li Zhi laughed and said, "Haha, the ancients often said that the laws of the tyrannical Qin were harsh, but the Grand Steward always requires strict adherence to the laws of the Tang Dynasty. Isn't he afraid that people in the future will say that the Grand Steward is cruel?"

At this time, Xue Rengui issued an edict to call back the scattered people, which naturally achieved twice the result with half the effort. From the initial trials to the final surge back last year, the entire Northeast was completely stabilized.

Li Zhi was very satisfied after hearing this. The people's hearts could be used. With the strength of the Tang Dynasty, it would not be difficult to conquer any place. The biggest problem would be the subsequent governance.

Eat well, drink well, dress well, live well, if you get injured you will be treated and compensated, and if you die you will be compensated even more.

However, the refugees whose resettlement was suddenly interrupted felt a bit uncomfortable. After decades of peace in the Tang Dynasty, three or four generations of people had multiplied and the population was actually quite dense.

The aristocratic families, which had suffered relatively little damage in the war, were in even greater need of expanding outward. If it were in the past, they would naturally have plenty of ways to force ordinary people to give up their land and make them unable to survive.

Living between the white mountains and black waters, it is already difficult to survive. Death from time to time is very common for them. For them, the days of chopping wood are wonderful.

The Yuzhou system has made up for this gap very well.

After settling the Han people in the first year, Wu You and Wang Ying originally planned to recruit refugees from other ethnic groups to settle the deforested land. The Shiwei and Mohe people did not know how to farm, but the Goguryeo and Baekje people were both agricultural peoples.

The black soil in the Northeast is very fertile. After the new leaves of sorghum and other crops have rotted after one year, you can directly plant other things in the second year. There is no need to weed or fertilize the land. You can just dig a hole and throw some seeds in to get a good harvest.

At this time, people from the three major families came over and wanted the land. After several rounds of bargaining, they finally sold it to the three major families at the price of one string of money per mu of plain land, and one string of money for two mu of mountain land and depression land.

Even though there were many students in the medical school in Yuzhou, it was still a bit overwhelmed, mainly because the common people were a little scared. However, the Mohe and Shiwei people were not afraid.

But logging is risky. The newly arrived Han people wanted to make some quick money, so they specifically targeted large trees for felling. As a result, several people were killed and hundreds were injured on the first day. When a large tree falls, it often affects a large area, making accidents extremely easy to occur.

Last year, I issued an order to exempt the tax, but some people took the initiative to carry their grain to the government office to pay the tax. "

People from the three major families must be registered and are also responsible for building roads. They are exempt from agricultural taxes, but all things entering and leaving the Yalu River are subject to a 15% tax.

Li Zhi pondered for a moment, then continued, "But the laws of the tyrannical Qin were so strict, but the people still rose up in rebellion. Why is that?"

Xue Rengui sighed, "In fact, the reason is that the country is strong, and the people are willing to submit to it. In particular, the increase in ironware has played a decisive role. The people have enough ironware to use, and all aspects of their lives are much better.

"What the steward said does make some sense."

"I am not afraid." Wang Zheng smiled and explained, "The strict laws are actually to protect the people. Ordinary people are relatively simple in nature and generally will not violate the laws. On the contrary, some aristocratic families, officials, scholars, etc., violate the laws more often for the sake of their own interests.

However, when encountering the father and son Li Shimin and Li Zhi, things were not so easy. After all, the poor officials promoted through the imperial examination were still of some use. After the students from Yuzhou traveled around the world to study, life became even more difficult.

Wang Zheng smiled and said, "The people don't ask for much. As long as they can get by, they won't rebel against the court. General Xue, as long as he strictly abides by the Tang laws and treats everyone equally, I believe he will win the hearts of the people here."

It did not take me much trouble to resettle millions of people. After compiling households and dividing the land, I directly distributed 20 kilograms of iron farm tools to each household, and the people settled down on their own.

The three major families naturally got a bargain, but Wang Ying and Wu You did not lose out either. After they handed the land to the three major families, in addition to logging, they could also devote their energy to the sea and exploring to the north, and at the same time they could also recover a large sum of funds.

When they first came to the Northeast, Wu You and Wang Ying also set their sights on land. After all, only by standing firmly on the ground can they plan for other things.

The development of the four major border areas now is also an opportunity for the aristocratic families to expand outward. By migrating their people from the Central Plains, the living space of the foreign refugees will naturally be squeezed out.

"People do not fear death, so why should they be frightened by it?"

Later, they cut down trees one by one, first cutting down small trees and then big trees. However, there was still a risk. The dead branches of the trees in the Northeast that were hundreds or thousands of years old were as thick as thighs. Not to mention that they would fall down from time to time during felling, the dead branches that were ejected at the moment of falling could easily kill people.

After finally unifying the country, instead of resting and recuperating, he continued to fight wars in the south and the north, built the Afang Palace and searched for the elixir of life. The taxes and corvée labor were all too heavy.

The people can no longer make ends meet, so they naturally rise up in rebellion.”

Li Zhi raised his eyebrows and smiled: "In other words, it doesn't matter whether the laws are strict or not, what matters is that the people can live a good life."

"good."

"Haha, I think that having money is more important. If the First Emperor had as much money as I do, it wouldn't matter if he spent more."