Chapter 617 Asking Yun Zhi for money (seeking votes and subscriptions)
January of the first year of Jianyuan was the first year with clear records in the Han tribe, and January 1 was designated as New Year's Day by Luo Chong. There was no fixed way to celebrate it, but on this New Year's Day, all the official factories of the Han tribe had a seven-day holiday, and all the government offices in various places had a holiday except for a small number of staff on duty.
And from this year on, the sacrificial activities of the Han tribe evolved from the central government to the grassroots. The power to sacrifice to the heaven, earth and the land was still controlled by Luo Chong, while the power to sacrifice to ancestors was delegated to the grassroots, and each household took advantage of the long holiday to start sacrificing to their ancestors, or the elders who had passed away.
Since sacrifices are to be made, food is indispensable. Therefore, the Han tribe began to spontaneously slaughter pigs and sheep on New Year's Day. People used pig heads and sheep heads as sacrifices to worship their ancestors. The remaining meat was made into various delicious foods. Some people pickled the meat and ate it slowly, but in general, they ate more meat than usual in these days.
At the beginning of the new year, everyone can eat better at the beginning of the year, and they also hope that they can be healthy and have more strength in this year, so that they can work more and have more harvests in the future.
After eating and drinking for a few days, everyone used the last three days of the festival to prepare various farm tools and seeds. The temperature after the festival has begun to rise steadily. Now is a good time for spring ploughing. No matter how busy you are, you can't delay the busy farming. This is the top priority for the Han tribe.
Until January 8, the day when the Han tribe officially started work, Luo Chong also ordered the counties under the Han tribe to start spring plowing. After all, the territory of the Han tribe is not very large now. Almost all of them are in the same latitude. The temperature in various places is similar. There is no need to carry out farming according to local conditions, because all counties are almost the same.
The weather on this day is very good, the sun is shining, the spring wind brings a long-lost warmth, and the smell of wild flowers makes people feel relaxed and happy.
As the leader of the Han tribe, Luo Chong naturally has the obligation to set an example for the people, so he personally drove the cattle to plow a few acres of land. However, Luo Chong's land is not planted with grain, but various vegetables, fruits and melons. There are several common vegetables in the Han tribe, and the red watermelons brought by Youfu's fleet last year, but the size of the watermelons is pitifully small, barely weighing two kilograms. In addition, there are cotton seeds that have just been found, and grape roots transplanted from the Zhu tribe.
Although Luo Chong's land is not used to grow food, it is the starting point of farming in the Han tribe. Many crops were planted in this land and then popularized to the people, just like corn and soybeans.
After finishing the spring plowing, Luo Chong stayed at home for two more days. After watching the umbilical cords of his two children fall off, he set off for Weishan County.
There are many new construction plans this year, but no matter which aspect, they must be carried out from Weishan County. It can be said that Weishan County is the focus of construction this year.
After Luo Chong came here this time, Yun Zhi still received him personally. Luo Chong was not polite to him. This guy was able to become the county governor of the Han tribe as a newcomer. He exchanged it for the guarantee of 50,000 people. Now a year has passed, and the 50,000 people promised by Yun Zhi have not been gathered yet. Luo Chong will naturally not be polite to him.
"It's been a year now, how many of the 50,000 people you promised are still missing? How long will it take to gather them all?"
Yun Zhi had long guessed that Luo Chong would ask this, so he was not nervous and directly said what he had prepared.
"Chief, there are now more than 28,000 people in Weishan County, but at the end of last year, the chief recruited a lot of people from here to serve as soldiers, so it is less than 30,000. As for when the task can be completed, I estimate that it will take at least half a year."
"Well." Luo Chong nodded, and then suddenly said to Yun Zhi, "Then you can take your time. The most important thing about this matter is stability. There is no need to be so anxious. You can also use gentler methods. What I want are obedient people, not slaves who have their toes cut off. I hope you can understand.
Oh, by the way, you have to draw up a list this month. I will transfer 3,000 households from Weishan County to your west to form Xingang County. The announcement of the migration will say that there will be free houses, tax exemption in the first year, and half tax exemption in the second and third years. Each household will receive two antelopes and a small cart for free. The head of the household must be under 35 years old and bring one generation of direct underage children. Sign up as soon as possible. The migration period is February 1st."
Luo Chong casually said the plan he had already thought of, but Yun Zhi got anxious when he heard it. He had finally used the chips of 50,000 people to exchange for a post of county governor. He was still thinking of using these 50,000 people to expand his power and become the strongest county of the Han tribe, but the leader now wanted to relocate 3,000 households with just one word.
This is 3,000 households, not 3,000 people. Since the leader said it was based on households, that means the heads of these 3,000 households must bring their families with them. A family has at least three or four people. 3,000 households means more than 10,000 people will be taken away. Half of the population of Weishan County will be moved away. Yun Zhi's hard work for a year will basically be wasted. He was beaten back to the state before liberation overnight by Luo Chong.
How could Yun Zhi, who wanted to become bigger and stronger, agree to such an order? So he immediately refused.
"Chief, aren't these 3,000 households too many? Our Weishan County is also a new county?"
Luo Chong replied calmly, as if he hadn't heard his complaint. "3,000 households are indeed not a small number, but you can indeed provide them, right?
And I'm not just targeting you to relocate people. Other counties and prefectures also have to provide some, but not as much as you do. They are all located in the old territories of the Han tribe. Except for themselves, there are not many people around. But it's different here. Didn't you say that you can get back more than 20,000 people in the first half of this year? You have the ability to replenish and restore, but they don't.
Besides, you keep absorbing population here, and a county is almost more than 30,000 people. Do you know how many resources are needed to support such a large city? Food and so on . Not to mention, just the iron tools, do you know how much more will be needed? How much will be consumed?
The Han tribe cannot increase the population without increasing the output. Otherwise, it will not take long. As the population of the Han tribe increases, we will only regress from the current glory to the savage era.
That's why we need to build a new steel county. Only by building this place can the new people you bring back have tools and farm implements to use. Otherwise, do you plan to let them continue to slash and burn? "
After hearing Luo Chong's explanation, Yun Zhi had nothing to say and could only pinch his nose and admit it. No matter what the leader's intention was, the leader's reason was indeed very sufficient. With the increase in population, the demand for iron tools also increased. He couldn't just take advantage without contributing.
In the end, under Luo Chong's deliberate coercion, Yun Zhi could only agree to this matter. Although he was not actually willing, Luo Chong did have the intention of deliberately suppressing him this time.
Look at the excuses Yun Zhi told me after coming here this time. This guy has always had a mysterious confidence that "as long as I haven't finished dealing with these 50,000 people, you dare not touch me casually." Luo Chong did not touch him casually, but I won't touch you, but I can touch your people.
Aren't you relying on the large number of people under you to slow down the progress? Now I have directly poached half of your people, you must find a way to replenish them. I want to see how long it will take you to recruit enough people.
At this time, Yun Zhi was still secretly competing with Luo Chong, so naturally he couldn't think of these things. After the immigration issue was finalized, Luo Chong asked again: "How are the captured prisoners?"
"To report back, Chief, they are all recovering from their injuries. They were tortured in winter when the weather was cold, and they are recovering well. Only three died among the more than a thousand people, which is already very good."
Luo Chong nodded again, and then asked for people again, "I want to take all these slaves away on February 1st."
"Chief!?" Hearing Luo Chong asking for people again, Yun Zhi immediately shouted excitedly, as if he wanted to say something, but Luo Chong didn't give him the chance at all, and said it immediately.
"Don't tell me you still need these slaves. What use do you have for them? These slaves are captured by the army and are also the public property of the tribe. I have the final say on how to distribute them. These slaves must be taken away, but
your Weishan County has made a relatively large contribution this year, so you should be given some welfare compensation. How about this? The women and children of the captives will be yours to distribute. You can use these women and children as a cover to attract those tribes that are still undecided to join.
Tell the outside world that as long as they join the Han tribe, you will give them a luxurious big house. If they are single, you can also give them women and even a child. Buy one, get one free. Look how convenient it is! They don't have to work hard themselves."
Yun Zhi almost vomited blood when he heard Luo Chong's proposal, but he had to admit that the method Luo Chong mentioned can indeed maximize the benefits of handling the wives and children of these prisoners of war, and there are several advantages to this approach.
First of all, it can attract foreign population to join the Han tribe, which is to strengthen the strength of the Han tribe; secondly, the wives and daughters of these prisoners of war are transferred to the newcomers who have just joined, which is to divert their hatred towards the Han tribe; finally, it is a question of exchange of interests. If these women are used to reward meritorious warriors, the warriors, as the people who destroyed their own tribes, will more or less bury some hidden dangers, and other than that, they cannot bring any benefits to the Han tribe.
So Luo Chong came up with such an idea. These wives of prisoners of war and the newcomers who have just joined the Han tribe do not know each other. Then send these people to live in a completely unfamiliar environment, and the living conditions are much better than before. I believe that it will not take long for such a combination to become real Han tribe members.
Yun Zhi was quite satisfied with this arrangement in the end, because as the leader said, he could use this group of women and children to recruit a lot of people to make up for the 3,000 households that were transferred by the leader before. Although it is far from meeting this deficit, it will not cause him to lose too much.
Luo Chong also agreed with this. You can't pull out all the leeks by the roots. You have to leave some for him so that it will be convenient to continue cutting next time
. Fortunately, Yunzhi didn't know Luo Chong's true thoughts, otherwise he was really afraid that he would be so angry that he would fall ill.
After arranging this matter, Luo Chong went to the floating island mining area again. This is the location where the new steel county was built. Yes, Luo Chong established the new steel county for the purpose of serving the mining area. If it is renamed, it is also okay to call it the home of miners.
After the new steel county is built, it will become a production and manufacturing center integrating ore mining, metal smelting, metal casting, and a one-stop production from ore to product. However, there is only a miner camp with hundreds of people in the floating island mining area.
The iron ore area here has always been presided over by Dali. He has been in the iron mine for three years and has made great contributions to the development of the Han tribe. Every year, he provides the Han tribe with hundreds of tons of fine magnetite.
Well, although it is only hundreds of tons of ore, for the Han tribe with such primitive traffic and transportation conditions, even if those miners can mine it, it is estimated that they can't transport so much.
But things will be different in the future. After the new city is built, except for the three minerals of silver, saltpeter and lead, all the iron ores mined by Xingang County will be produced and sold by themselves, and all will be consumed by the local steel mills. All the coke needed for ironmaking will be transported by water from Dongxin County to the coking plant on the lake island, and then transported by water from the coking plant to Weishan County, and finally transported by land from Weishan County to Xingang County.
Such process planning will greatly reduce the mileage of land transportation and improve the efficiency of transportation. From now on, Xingang County will no longer transport iron ore, but directly transport finished ironware or iron ingots.
When Dali learned that the leader was going to invest heavily in iron ore and build a city and county here, he was very excited.
"Chief, are you saying that we need to add a few more windmills to our new city, and build dozens of super-large blast furnaces?"
Luo Chong's face twitched unconsciously, and then he said, "We can build more windmills, but there is no need for blast furnaces. We don't need so many of them. As long as we have endless coke in the future, the blast furnace doesn't need to be stopped. This is a machine that produces molten iron all the time. By then, you can use five mills to supply the raw materials for a blast furnace.
But we need to build more converters for steelmaking. After the new steel county is built, we will use the converter top blowing technology to smelt steel. Although we don't have pure oxygen, even if we blow it directly with oxygen-enriched air, it will be faster than hammering it out one by one, and the quality will be better."
(End of this chapter)
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