Chapter 135
Chapter 135
Although he said he would set off immediately, General Zhang couldn't leave so quickly.
After all, he had just arrived at Zhennan Pass and needed to build good relationships with the local soldiers.
Moreover, it would be better to recruit some soldiers stationed in Ning'an Prefecture locally.
Generally speaking, these military services are also an obligation of the people of Tianqi State, but the situation in Ning'an Prefecture is special. Until now, people have not been required to pay land taxes, head taxes, or even military service.
Let’s not talk about the land tax and the poll tax for now, and just talk about military service. Even in ancient times, when soldiers were being recruited, priority was given to children from good families. These were the people who fought the bravest in battle, because they were eager to achieve great things.
Only after the good families have finished fighting can it be the turn of the next level.
For example, the people of Ning'an Prefecture were not allowed to join the army. In fact, at the beginning, the Tianqi Kingdom did not really regard them as its own people.
Even now, General Zhang and his men subconsciously garrisoned in Zhennan Pass instead of Ning'an Prefecture.
There are not many educated people in Ning'an Prefecture, and only Liu Tongzhi and others are aware of this problem.
This is even one of the reasons why they are discouraged.
Fortunately, Tianqi Kingdom was strong enough to keep them from being harassed for decades. In fact, many local people in Ning'an Prefecture had already regarded themselves as people of Tianqi Kingdom.
But vaguely, you can sense that something is wrong.
This abnormality is actually a hidden danger.
But as long as the Tianqi army is stationed nearby, this abnormality will slowly disappear.
Ji Yuan is unwilling to wait until things break out before solving them. It would be safer to plan ahead.
General Zhang happily returned to the barracks to check the troops, then slapped his head, wondering why he had forgotten another thing.
Since you are cooperating with Ji Zhizhou like this, why don't you ask him for the person?
Who do you want?
Wu Renhao.
Since we have to find a new base and guard against the Jing people next door, we must recruit a capable general like Wu Renhao.
When General Zhang wanted to look for him again, Ji Yuan had already left with his trusted confidant Wu Renhao and the minor official Chai Feng.
The people in the Zhennan Pass Yamen should have felt relaxed.
Aren’t you happy that your boss has left?
But why does my heart feel so empty?
There is no way, since Ji Zhizhou is their backbone.
On the way back to Ning'an Prefecture, Ji Yuan encountered a road construction team.
When the people who were building the road saw Lord Ji, they all stopped to greet him.
Except for the prisoners who were almost cursing, the rest of the people were grateful.
The treatment for the road construction led by Lord Ji is really good.
If they work here for a while, they might be able to buy a cow this year.
Are you tired?
It’s really tiring, but fortunately it’s rewarding.
Ji Yuan actually felt a little guilty.
In July, the weather here is relatively cool and people can still work.
If you put it anywhere else, you will definitely get heatstroke.
So Ji Yuan gave the officials in charge a direct order: "Don't work when the sun comes out. Rest more and drink more water."
"Try to collect as much game as possible from the hunters around, so that we can have a good snack."
There are no farms locally, so if you want to eat meat in large quantities, you can only buy game from hunters.
Fortunately, there was enough fish.
There is abundant aquatic plants here, making it very convenient to eat fish.
The officials quickly agreed that the workers would not be allowed to get hurt and that they would arrange for everyone to rest.
In fact, the officials are not bad people. There is nothing wrong in working together in harmony.
This way of repairing roads is better than whipping people.
Who would be so perverted as to like hearing people scream?
Officials under Lord Ye also said privately that this was the most harmonious road construction team they had ever seen.
Of course, it was also made of silver.
Lord Ji, who usually does things quickly, did not rush the road construction team, as long as they proceeded according to plan.
This method does not have any major problems except that it is time-consuming and costly.
It’s just that most places don’t support such a large-scale road construction.
Speaking of which.
How much money did Dianzhou Prefecture and Ning'an Prefecture make from the rubber trade to be able to pay workers so generously?
Unfortunately, these people thought a lot but still couldn’t come up with the right idea.
Ji Yuan did spend a lot of money on road construction, using taxes on rubber and income from rubber workshops run by the government.
Why are you so willing to do so?
Because what's the use of the money piled up in the government treasury? Why should we give it all to the court to flatter it? Let those princes and nobles eat, drink and have fun.
To please them?
And then get promoted?
Why bother?
It would be better to find a way to distribute it to ordinary people.
These people did not participate in the logging, rubber, or even cloth dyeing business.
But they can also benefit from this cycle.
The process is roughly like this.
Ji Yuan figured out a method to dye cloth with rubber and made a group of people rich.
The income generated by this group of people was paid as taxes, and the taxes were placed in the government treasury.
In addition, the government proposed to build roads and bridges, etc., thereby recruiting another group of people to profit from it.
Under this cycle, most people can truly benefit from it, and they can also get infrastructure roads, so why not do it?
This is also the reason why Ji Yuan was very generous in paying for road construction.
Building roads is a must, and improving the living conditions of local people is also a must.
The two can go hand in hand.
Because of the generous amount of money, many people from other places even came to ask for jobs, so there was sufficient manpower for the road construction.
It is estimated that it will be completed before the estimated time.
He has said that the local people are not afraid of hardship, and the people all over the world are not afraid of hardship.
As long as they are paid accordingly, they are the most hardworking people.
All the way back to Ning'an Prefecture, Ji Yuan was very satisfied with the progress of the project.
It will definitely be completed before the end of the year.
After arriving in Ning'an Prefecture, Ji Yuan went straight to the prefectural government without stopping.
Ten or twenty thousand people secretly came here from Jingguo, and this matter must be dealt with quickly.
Liu Tongzhi was getting anxious and angry.
He is in his forties. His father and grandfather had experienced harassment from the Jing State, so he is still somewhat afraid of the Jing State.
Just as Liu Tongzhi was about to ask that question, he heard Ji Zhizhou say, "In less than ten days, Lord Zhang, the commander of Zhennan Ning'an, will lead his troops here."
Liu Tongzhi's eyes widened: "I haven't asked yet, how do you know?"
Ji Yuan smiled: "I am worried about this too."
Everyone knows that Ning'an Prefecture has no strategic location to defend.
The Laman tribe at that time was divided into Labei people and Lanan people, with the north close to Tianqi State and the south close to Jing State.
It is divided like this because they are on the same piece of land.
The location of Ning'an Prefecture today is the location of the Labei people back then.
The original land of Lanan served as a buffer between Tianqi and Jing.
But the north and south are so close.
As long as they enter the south of La, they can lead their men directly to the present-day Ning'an Prefecture, which was also the northern part of La before.
It was just like that in the past.
Ning'an Prefecture is very rich now.
One moment he was building roads, the next moment he was buying cattle, and his business was so big.
General Zhennan, who was also from Tianqi State, was jealous.
Isn’t the royal family of Jing country jealous?
If I tell you, no one will believe it.
A mouth-watering piece of fat meat, and no one is guarding it.
The more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I feel.
Now that people from their own country T have run to the other side, the royal family of Jingguo must be angry.
Not only did I not get to eat the meat, but the shrimps from my own home also ran away!
"I'm afraid these 18,000 people will become the fuse." Ji Yuan returned to Ning'an Prefecture, and naturally spoke more bluntly.
Liu Tongzhi also thought so, and could not help but nod again, sighing and saying: "Ning'an Prefecture is also the land of Tianqi State, why, why."
Ji Yuan looked at him and said directly: "Don't say anything more."
It's enough for them to know it in their hearts.
If ordinary people knew about this, the situation would only become more chaotic.
Liu Tongzhi had passed the imperial examination after all, so he still had some thoughts about this. He sighed again: "I am just talking to you."
Ji Yuan understood.
Otherwise, Liu Tongzhi would not have specifically chosen a time when no one was around to speak.
Ji Yuan thought for a moment and said, "It has been fifty-two years since Ning'an Prefecture was incorporated into Tianqi State."
"The fifty-year period has passed."
"I am planning to recruit soldiers locally this year."
Conscription?!
"Land tax and head tax will have to be paid sooner or later, so just get used to it now."
"Besides, we are recruiting soldiers now, so we should be prepared."
Jiyuan had not originally planned to be implemented so quickly.
I thought at least the road would be repaired first.
However, the fact that nearly 20,000 people fled from Jing State still caught others by surprise.
After Liu Tongzhi figured it out, he nodded and said, "I'll have someone draft the document right away."
"Well, we can discuss it together after General Zhang arrives."
The conscription was confirmed.
For the safety of Ning'an Prefecture, and also to promote the subsequent collection of land taxes and head taxes.
This has to be done.
After this matter is settled, we can talk about the "fuse".
Ji Yuan asked, "Why did the 18,000 people of Jing Country leave Jing Country? Do you have any explanation? Do you have any questions?"
That’s definitely true.
Everyone has always been confident in the work of Liu Tongzhi.
Liu Tongzhi told us what he had investigated.
It has been rainy here in recent years.
For example, in the thirty-eighth year of Huayuan, the year before the beginning of the era, Ning'an Prefecture suffered a disaster.
In the 39th year, it was all thanks to the full efforts of Liu Tongzhi and others that the local area did not suffer too much loss.
Forty years later, the canals and reservoirs in Ning'an Prefecture were repaired, and the rainwater from the mountains did not have much impact on the local area.
Just as modern people have become accustomed to convenient water conservancy facilities, ordinary heavy rains will not have much impact on people's lives.
But in ancient times, heavy rains would often cause floods, but relying on water conservancy facilities, ordinary disasters would not have much impact on people's lives.
The same is true in Ning'an Prefecture. After they built the canal, although they still paid attention to the weather, they were not as panicked as before, and no one talked about it much.
But in places without water conservancy facilities, an ordinary heavy rain may cause damage to the fields.
The people of Jing State, who live near Ning'an Prefecture, have experienced three consecutive years of natural disasters.
Life was unbearable, but the royal family still levied heavy taxes.
In this situation, it is impossible not to run.
Looking around, Ning'an Prefecture of Tianqi Kingdom is the best choice.
There was no need for anyone to think too much, as the footsteps were already heading east.
The same thing.
After passing the buffer zone of Lanan, you will go directly to Ning'an Prefecture, where you can just find a mountain to live in.
The lumberjacks who went to the mountains to cut trees became alert and after discovering something was wrong, they did not make it public but went straight to report it to the authorities.
Liu Tongzhi originally thought that this was a natural village that they had missed when counting the local population, and he was so anxious that his hair fell out.
The entire Ning'an Province is getting rich, how can we pull them down?
It would not have mattered if he hadn't checked, but once he did, he found that the number was nearly 20,000. Liu Tongzhi felt that he had no way of explaining to Ji Zhizhou.
Of course, after discovering their true origins, Liu Tongzhi thought to himself, "It might as well be an uncounted natural village."
"This involves the diplomacy of the two countries."
Their Ning'an Province is in danger.
After listening to this, Ji Yuan said directly: "Of course they are the population that Tianqi has not counted."
ah?
Ji Yuan said: "When we counted the population last year and the year before, we accidentally overlooked them. Now we can just fill in the gaps."
ah?
This is, recognizing the person?
Should we treat them as the people of Tianqi State or even Ning'an Prefecture?
"If we admit that this is a Jing countryman, what should we do?"
These people must be sent back.
But are they willing to return?
Definitely not.
On one side is the thriving Tianqi Kingdom, and on the other side is the covetous Jing Kingdom.
If they go back now, they will definitely be questioned by the officials of Jing State.
So, what will be the consequences if we force them to go back?
These people will inevitably flee in all directions and flee to various parts of Tianqi Country, and then they will be even more difficult to control.
It is better to unblock than to block.
Just let them stay here.
When Jingguo asked, he said he didn't know.
You say these are the people of Jing State?
Then produce the evidence.
When the questions are finally asked, it will inevitably return to the contest of martial arts value.
At that time, their Ning'an Prefecture's army had already been formed.
Ji Yuan analyzed all aspects, Liu Tongzhi understood it clearly, and immediately started to do it.
Those Jing people in the mountains were also very nervous, not knowing what would happen to them in the future.
Who wants to leave home?
But in Jingguo, it is really impossible to survive.
The royal family of Jing State wanted to skin people and draw their blood, and they were superstitious about sacrificing virgins.
We want both their food and their children.
This life is really unbearable.
Even in this state of anxiety, they did not forget to start farming.
It was difficult to cultivate the terraced fields, and they had no tools, so they could only find stones, sticks, or even use their hands to dig the fields.
This is incredible to modern people, and even to many people in Tianqi Country.
But the people of Jing are already accustomed to doing this.
When Liu Tongzhi came over with people from the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Households, he was deeply shocked.
An idea also came to my mind.
Fortunately, they are from Tianqi Kingdom.
It’s really a blessing.
When the officials came over, the leaders of the villages were still very nervous. Only when they were asked to count the number of people and report one by one did they come to their senses.
What, what does this mean?
Liu Tong knew: "Last year, Ning'an Prefecture omitted you from the population census, and now we have added you to the household registration."
"The canals need to be repaired quickly. If you don't have farm tools, you can rent them from the agricultural company. When the fields have a harvest, you can just pay the rent."
Liu Tongzhi explained everything that Ji Zhizhou had instructed him to do.
"If you don't want to rent it, you can go to Ning'an Prefecture to build a road through the household department and save some money so that you can live a better life."
"Besides, if you know how to chop wood, when the lumberjacks come over, you can join them and make money by chopping wood."
"The land will be distributed according to the number of people in each family, so don't worry."
After a series of policies, the locals are a little dizzy.
But to put it bluntly.
First register your situation, obtain the household registration of Tianqi State, and become a citizen of Tianqi State.
Then the household department allocated land to them and allowed them to rent farm tools.
Or you can take advantage of this time to work outside and earn money.
In short!
The Ning'an Prefecture government will not drive them away!
And help them settle down!
Some people who knew how to chop wood immediately stood up. There were both men and women among them. They had all heard of the Ning'an Logging Club, and some even came for the club.
With these people taking the lead, the subsequent statistical work will be easy.
The final count of the registered people, including men, women, old and young, totaled 23,194.
In ancient times, population was wealth.
Although only ten or twenty thousand people are nothing to the Tianqi Kingdom.
But the population of Jing State is nearly three million, and 23,000 people leaving at once is really not a small number.
The other party’s anger can be imagined.
It depends on when they will find out.
We are making arrangements here in full swing.
This group of people are also called Xinning people.
It turned out that they were calling for people from Xinning'an Prefecture.
But as time went by, we became Xinning people, which is a more intimate name.
The people of Xinning were organized by the Household Department to build roads, and they originally thought that they would have to do hard labor to earn money.
Who knew that when working in Ning'an Prefecture, you would have to take a break every hour and replenish water every time.
You can work for a maximum of four hours a day before taking a break. Not only are there three meals a day, but wages are also settled on a daily basis.
This group of Xinning people rubbed their eyes and wished they could stuff all the food into their mouths.
This made other locals feel sad.
The people of Xinning are so miserable.
Although they look skinny, they work very hard.
Oh, it’s so difficult.
People from Jingguo, because there was no language barrier, integrated smoothly into Ning'an Prefecture and became part of Ning'an Prefecture.
At the same time, Commander General Zhang arrived in Ning'an Prefecture.
This city on the border of Tianqi State opened General Zhang's eyes.
Seeing that the local customs were no different from those in Tianqi Kingdom, he couldn't help feeling that he was narrow-minded and subconsciously regarded Zhennan Pass as a garrison.
In fact, it is most reasonable to garrison in Ning'an Prefecture.
The arrival of General Zhang means that local conscription is about to begin.
Conscription is mainly divided into regular soldiers and militia.
The former are considered professional soldiers, needless to say, and can be trained according to the regular model.
The latter is to register the people of appropriate age, organize training on a regular basis, and when needed, the latter will be the second batch.
The recent changes in Ning'an Prefecture have been seen by many people.
General Zhang first brought 5,000 people, who were professional soldiers, to look for a suitable place to station in Ning'an Prefecture.
The recruitment of the latter militia was completed by Ji Yuan.
This was actually the normal process.
But the people of Ning'an Prefecture are not fools. They soon realized a problem and asked the same question.
"Ning'an Prefecture, are we going to recruit soldiers, pay land tax, and head tax?"
This matter has been hanging over the heads of the people of Ning'an Prefecture.
Although the people of Xinning are still confused.
Isn't this what has to be done?
In Jing Country, they not only have to pay these things, but also many miscellaneous taxes.
But for the locals, it still feels uncomfortable.
Although I was mentally prepared, I still feel sad.
Counting it up, this is the 52nd year since they were incorporated into the Tianqi Kingdom.
Are you sure you have to pay it?
Many people felt depressed when they thought that the government would take away 20% of the grain they had worked so hard to grow.
This frustration is normal.
Farming is not easy and food is so precious.
Even if the fields produce more now, do we have to pay the increased amount now?
So, have they worked so hard for so long just to help the government?
The possibility of having to pay land tax was like a bucket of cold water poured down on the heads of the people of Ning'an Prefecture.
If they were in other places, people might say that people in Ning'an Prefecture are pretentious.
Everyone else pays, why shouldn’t you?
But if you put it on yourself, even if you are knowledgeable and interesting, you still have to pay for it.
Thinking of this, my heart feels like it's being fried in oil.
Many people have already settled their accounts.
The autumn harvest is coming soon. One acre of land produces about 350 kilograms of grain. I hand over 70 kilograms and get 280 kilograms for myself.
It’s pretty much the same as before.
When Ji Yuan saw this, he knew that some things had to be done sooner rather than later.
Logically speaking, he should wait until the dispute between Jing Kingdom and Tianqi Kingdom ended before doing it.
But now it seems that we have to proceed according to the original plan.
Go find Champa rice, find better quality rice seeds.
This matter cannot be delayed.
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