Liu Mang's plan to recruit people was carried out after he issued the order to collect land, but the result was not so satisfactory.
The closest place to Shouchun was Si, Di Cai, and Peng City. These three places belonged to Cao Cao's Xu Province. When Cao Cao attacked Tao Qian, he fought on Si River, which led to the destruction of Si River. Not only did Tao Qian's army suffer heavy casualties and retreat to Peng City, but Lao Cao's own troops also suffered heavy casualties. In a fit of anger, Lao Cao directly made the area around Si River desolate.
Even if Cao Cao later assigned people to enrich Xu Province, it was not something that could be done in a day or two. Therefore, only two thousand people were gathered in Shouchun, waiting for Liu Mang's army to be assigned. Could it be that there were nearly three thousand people in Shouchun?
Ruyin was directly detained by Liu Mang. Sun Ce was also detained by Liu Mang. Only with people could he develop his army. If people ran away, what would he use to farm? Cao Cao was not in the mood to take care of them. He was now fighting fiercely with the Yuan Shao. He killed one hundred thousand of the Yuan Shao's navy. Now, Yuan Shao was left with one hundred and fifty thousand troops. Lao Cao's forty thousand troops could still hold on. At least in terms of provisions, there was a big improvement. Originally, they could only hold on for two or three months, but now, they could hold on for half a year.
"Only a few thousand people! How is this enough! " Liu Mang frowned. He needed a large number of people, so that he could maintain the war potential of the Lvbu's Army. He was not afraid of people starving to death because of the effect of sweet potatoes. Even if he wanted to use Yangzhou, it would be more than enough to feed half of the world's population.
"Milord, it's not that the subordinates are not doing their best, but the various warlords are obstructing the arrival of the common people, so it is difficult to meet the standards!" The one standing below was Liu Neng. He gave all the gold that belonged to the Liu family's private soldiers to the families that died in the battle. Liu Mang saw this but remembered it in his heart. When Liu Neng came back, Liu Mang appointed him to be in charge of the migration of the population.
"The various warlords obstructing us?" Liu Mang had a headache. In the early days of the chaotic world, people's lives were regarded as grass. Even a dog's life was more valuable than a human's life, so it was normal to see corpses everywhere. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, millions of common people were involved in attacking cities and seizing territories. There were countless casualties. The Yellow Turban Bandits, or rather, the common people who were carried by the Yellow Turban Army, were defeated by the Imperial Army. The Imperial Army did not care whether you were a Yellow Turban Bandit or not, and directly killed all of you. After killing you, you could get a reward based on your head.
After that, due to the constant chaos of war, the various feudal lords had reduced the taxes under their rule to the extreme. Many places had become desolate and uninhabited, and the food production was severely insufficient. The common people could not even afford to have enough to eat and wear. Once there was a famine, a large number of starving refugees would flood into the various cities. In order to prevent chaos under their rule, the feudal lords either drove away these refugees or sent their troops to kill them. They were all trying to drive these starving refugees out of their rule.
Now, there were only a few people left in the original 18 warlords, so the warlords began to care about the common people. Because of the common people, they could have people to farm for them. Before the chaos, the whole Han Dynasty had 40 million people. Now, it was less than half. A lot of air and fertile land were vacated, so the warlords began to care about the common people. This was the reason why Liu Neng was in charge of only a few thousand common people. The warlords would not easily let their common people leave their territory.
"Humph, do they think they can stop us?" Liu Mang coldly snorted. Population was a big problem. If it was not solved, then the Lvbu's Army would be defeated. Because the entire Lujiang had a population of only a few hundred thousand, even if all the people were soldiers, they would only have a few hundred thousand soldiers. Even if the tactics were good and the weapons were excellent, in this era of cold weapons, they would be killed by the enemy.
Jiangdong's Sun Ce had nearly 2 million people under his command. Even if Sun Ce lost 100,000 soldiers, he would not be too distressed. It was only the loss of 30,000 soldiers that made Sun Ce's heart ache for a period of time. 100,000 soldiers could be trained for half a year.
Hebei's three provinces, Yuan Shao's Jizhou, You Province, and Bing Province. The population of Bing Province and You Province was smaller, with a total of less than 1 million. However, Jizhou's population was larger, with more than 4 million people. That was why Yuan Shao could have 300,000 soldiers. If the Lvbu's Army was not Cao Cao but not Yuan Shao at Guandu, they would have been destroyed by Yuan Shao.
Cao Cao's Yan Province, half of Yuzhou, and the entire Xuzhou had a population of more than 3 million people. Most of them were concentrated in Yan Province. Half of Yuzhou had a population of less than 1 million people. Yan Province had a population of 1.5 million people. Then there was Xuzhou. At its peak, Xuzhou had a population of 3 million people. However, there were continuous battles. Cao Cao fought against Tao Qian, Lü Bu, Liu Bei, Lü Bu fought against Liu Bei, and Liu Bei fought against Cao Cao. In this way, Xuzhou only had 500,000 to 600,000 people left.
The most populous province was Jingzhou, with a population of 5 million people. Jingzhou was very rich. After all, since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, no warlord had ever attacked the hinterland of Jingzhou. No matter how strong Jiangdong's Little Conqueror was, he was still stuck in Jiang Xia and could not move. Many nobles and commoners in the Central Plains had taken refuge in Jingzhou. Therefore, Jingzhou was now very prosperous. This was why Cao Cao was able to deploy 300,000 naval soldiers in the later period of the Three Kingdoms.
Liu Zhang's population in Yizhou was not small. Although there were many mountains in Yizhou, they were also a natural barrier. Wars did not wreak havoc in Yizhou. Chengdu's Hanzhong was also known as the world's granary. However, Hanzhong was now in Zhang Lu's hands. If the two were to unite, they would have a population of about 3 million people.
Next would be Liu Pao. Liu Pao occupied Runan. Runan was close to Xu Du and could also be considered as half of Yuzhou. Cao Cao could be said to have indirectly helped Liu Pao, causing the population of Yuzhou to be about three hundred thousand. In addition to the people that Liu Pao brought from Xu Province, the population of Yuzhou was about five hundred thousand. Right now, the most impoverished would probably be Lu Bu's army, Wancheng, Zhang Xiu, and Zhili. Zhili was the result of annual campaigns. Ever since the eighteen warlords went to Hulao Pass to fight against Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhuo burned down the entire Luoyang. After Dong Zhuo died, Li Jie and Guo Si joined forces to fight against Lu Bu and Wang Yun. After killing Wang Yun and driving Lu Bu away, the two of them began to fight against each other. It could be said that Luoyang and Chang 'an had been completely destroyed. Adding up to a population of about two hundred thousand people, it would be considered not bad. Zhang Xiu and Zhang Xiu were the ones who were the most impoverished. Zhili was a place where the eighteen warlords went to Hulao Pass to fight against Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo burned down the entire Luoyang. After Dong Zhuo died, Li Jie and Guo Si joined forces to fight against Lu Bu and Wang Yun.
Wancheng Zhang Xiu originally occupied a city. He did not care about the population. His original plan was to wait for the best price. He had 20,000 Xiliang Cavalry and 10,000 infantry. He was ready to follow whichever boss was strong. He wanted to follow Cao Cao, but who told Cao Cao to have an affair with his aunt?
Finally, there is Lu Bu's army. Lujiang County is not bad, it has a population of more than a hundred thousand. However, in Shouchun, there are only twenty to thirty thousand people. Who let the Yuan Emperor come from here? He collected taxes for several decades. It would be a miracle if the common people could still survive.
Now, Shouchun's population was still the families of the Danyang soldiers and artisans brought by Liu Mang. The population problem was imminent.
Now, there were only two ways to get a large population. The first was to send troops to plunder. Just like how the foreigners plundered the Central Plains, they would send troops to plunder the territories of the feudal lords. Cao Cao and Liu Bei were regions that could be plundered. Jiangdong's Sun Ce was separated by the river. Jingzhou's Liu Biao only had Xinye, Yiyang, and Zaoyang. But now, there was a very serious problem!
Lao Cao was now fighting against Yuan Shao in Guandu. If you plunder Lao Cao, don't provoke Lao Cao and make him fight back. Jiangdong's Sun Ce had just reached a truce with him. Even if they fought, it would take some time. After all, Liu Mang's Army did not have a navy. Jingzhou's Liu Biao was still on a honeymoon with the Lvbu's Army. Only Liu Bei could be bullied. But there was a problem. Liu Mang had a lot of troops and was separated by the Huai River. The most important thing was that Liu Mang's Army had a lot of new recruits. Even if they fought, the casualties would not be easy. What Liu Mang needed now was rest. There was no benefit in starting a war. Otherwise, with Little Fire Chicken's previous temper, Liu Mang would have already fought.
Then they could only use the second method, which was to increase the welfare of the people in Shouchun to a certain extent. Men die for wealth and birds die for food. As long as they could survive in Shouchun and live a better life, who would be willing to stay and wait to be exploited?
"Liu Neng, spread the word. As long as they come to my Army, all the people will be rewarded with two mu of fertile land. The land will belong to them after three years of cultivation. The tax will be 30%. If someone opens up wasteland and helps us cultivate the wasteland for five years, after five years, the land will belong to the people like before!" Liu Mang said to Liu Neng. "By the way, the tax on the land of the soldiers who died in battle will be 20%." Liu Mang could not be biased.
"Two mu of fertile land?!" Liu Neng was also calculating. If Liu Mang was like this, then a family of five, with one child and four adults, would have nine mu of farmland. Nine mu of farmland, and 30% of the tax would mean that there would be six mu of farmland left. Six mu of farmland, ah, that was not a small amount of property.
But if the tax was reduced like this, what would happen to the army's expenses in the future?! Not only did the army need food, they also needed salaries. Relying on 30% of the tax would be like drinking the northwest wind. Even if it was fertile land, it would only be four hundred jin a year. One mu of land could only produce one stone. It was only enough to sustain the army's food and drink. There were also other expenses, such as river dikes, roads, bridges, disaster relief, and so on. If there was no surplus food, then what the hell was there to do?
"Milord, isn't this too high?!"
"You don't trust me when I do things! As long as we plant the fruits I brought, the yield of one mu of land will definitely not be less than two thousand jin. "Liu Mang revealed a number to Liu Neng. Originally, Liu Mang had only told this number to Xu Shu, Liu Mang, and the others. This was because Liu Mang was also not sure.
"What!" Liu Neng's eyes suddenly widened. Two thousand jin, what kind of number was this? Even during a good harvest, it would not be more than five hundred jin. Including taxes, it would be very difficult for a person to eat their fill. But Liu Mang could say two thousand jin. What kind of concept was this? It was four times more. Why was the birth rate so high in ancient times? Every family had seven or eight children and there was no family planning, but it was always in the tens of millions. Even if they died, it would not reach sixty million. That was because of the food problem. The common people simply could not eat their fill. If they did not eat their fill, they would naturally starve to death. With a high birth rate, the death rate was even higher. After that, China's population reached 100 million in a few thousand years, 200 million in a few hundred years, 300 million in about 40 years, and 400 million in about 30 years. During this period of time, it was because the food problem was solved. The first time the food problem was solved was when high-yielding plants like sweet potatoes and wheat were introduced into China. This allowed the population to grow.
The second time was Yuan Dada's hybrid rice. He directly solved the food problem of more than a billion people. If you ask why Liu Mang did not bring back hybrid rice, there was a reason. This kind of thing could only be planted once. After it was planted, it would have to be planted again. With the scientific level of the late Han Dynasty, how could it be possible?
"The two thousand jin I said is for dry land. If it is fertile land, then it should be around four thousand jin!" Since he had already told Liu Neng, he might as well tell him all of Liu Mang's guesses! Four thousand jin was already the minimum that Liu Mang said. This was because the normal yield of sweet potatoes in dry land was two thousand jin, which was four thousand jin. In fertile land, it could reach four thousand jin. However, there were no fertilizers in the soil here. Therefore, Liu Mang did not dare to make any guarantees and reduced the yield by half.
"My Lord, this …!" Liu Neng's mouth was wide open. He didn't know what to say. How was this food? This was a divine fruit. If it could reach this level, then Yangzhou would be able to feed all the people in the world.
"Go ahead and announce our policies. I want to see if they can stop us!" Liu Mang waved his hand at Liu Neng. Population was a big problem, and Liu Mang had too many problems to think about now. This was because the Lvbu's Army was completely poor. Its industrial foundation was zero. Such a warlord was not called a warlord. Not only did it have its own territory and its own army, but it was also self-sufficient. This was a true warlord. Like Li Jue and Guo Si, they only had subordinates, but they did not know how to work. They did not know how to manage, and in the end, they only became bones in the grave. Dong Zhuo left behind 70,000 to 80,000 Xiliang Cavalry. Including the infantries, there were 100,000 of them. This was a very powerful force, but now, it was gone. Except for Zhang Xiu who had 20,000 Xiliang Cavalry, the rest of the Xiliang Cavalry had disappeared from the stage of history.
… …
Liu Mang's decree was issued. This time it was the same as the recruitment order. It was disseminated by Yang Hong's intelligence and scouts. It was disseminated to the various cities of the warlords.
Jiangdong's Wuhu was under the rule of Jiangdong's Little Conqueror. "Did you know? Yangzhou's Shouchun, I heard that His Highness, the King Of Shu, is recruiting people there! "A mysterious middle-aged man in black suddenly said.
"Recruiting people? What's there to recruit people? " Someone interrupted. The mysterious man in black suddenly smiled. He was not afraid of people asking, but he was afraid that people would not ask. The other people also looked at the man in black. Weren't there a lot of people in this world? What's there to recruit?
"This is different. His Highness, the King Of Shu, wants people to work for him and become his people!" The man in black explained.
"Yangzhou's Shouchun, that's a few hundred li away from the Yangtze River. Who would be willing to go there? Moreover, Shouchun? Haha, my family escaped from Shouchun. That place is already deserted. The taxes have been collected for more than ten years. "Another middle-aged man expressed his disdain towards the man in black.
The mysterious middle-aged man in black also seemed to be a little angry. "What do you know? Shouchun is far from here, but His Highness, the King Of Shu, said that as long as you go there, each person can get two mu of fertile land. "He said and raised two fingers.
"Two mu of fertile land? Haha, that's a lot. My family now has dozens of mu of fertile land. "The middle-aged man who asked the question was still very disdainful. His family of four had ten mu of land, but the family still did not have enough to eat. They had no choice but to go fishing and sell the coarse cloth made by his wife.
"How can your fertile land be compared to His Highness, the King Of Shu?"
"Why can't it be compared? Shouchun's fertile land can't be compared to my Jiangdong's! " Shouchun was in the Jiangsu and Anhui regions of Huainan, while Jiangdong was in the Zhejiang and Anhui regions. In fact, there was no difference between the two, but the middle-aged man could only say this to save face.
"How much is your family's tax?" The mysterious man in black did not refute and instead asked.
"Thanks to General Wu Sun Ce's care, my family's tax is only sixty percent!" The middle-aged man was very proud. His family had once been Sun Cejun's soldiers, but they died in battle. Sun Ce would not be too disappointed with his subordinates. However, he could not be as generous as Liu Mang. He could only reduce the tax by ten percent to compensate the families of the deceased. Even so, he could still get two to three hundred jin of grain a year. It was really a lot! The surrounding people listened with envy, and the middle-aged man's vanity was raised to a certain extent. He looked at the mysterious man in black very proudly, but who knew that he would be met with contempt and disdain. "Looking down on my family? Tell me how much your family's tax is! "
The mysterious man in black stretched out three fingers and looked at the middle-aged man with a smile.
"Oh, so it's seventy percent. What qualifications do you have to laugh at my family?" The middle-aged man was disdainful. Three fingers was only thirty percent of the rations!
The mysterious man in black smiled and shook his head. "It's thirty percent. His Highness the King Of Shu said that as long as you go to Shouchun, you only need to collect thirty percent of the taxes for two mu of fertile land per person. Moreover, there will be no increase in taxes!" “
"How is that possible! You liar! " The middle-aged man pointed at the mysterious man and scolded. "Your Highness the King Of Shu only collects thirty percent of the taxes. With such a low tax, how can he feed the army? How can he pay the salaries of his subordinates?" Collecting fifty percent of the taxes was loving the people like his own children. Thirty percent? That would really be eating northwest wind! Now was not the time for a new Emperor to ascend the throne and grant amnesty to the people. Only then would it be possible to reduce the taxes. However, this man said that the King Of Shu only collected thirty percent of the taxes and never increased taxes. How was that possible? This was a complete scam.
The commoners by the side also nodded their heads in agreement. "That's right! How can it be thirty percent? Even if it's the Emperor, it's impossible! This must be a liar to deceive us into going to such a faraway place! "
"Yes, yes, we can't go, we can't go!"
The mysterious man in black listened to the discussions of the people and raised his arm. "His Highness the King Of Shu will not deceive people. Sigh, do you still remember the recruitment order a while ago?" When the mysterious man mentioned the recruitment order, the people present knew a little about it. This was because Liu Mang had completely offended the nobles in the world because of this recruitment order. Those nobles were eager for Liu Mang to do so, so Sun Ce did not stop the recruitment order from being publicized. Originally, the recruitment order was for the children of poor families, so these people also knew about it.
"So that's His Highness the King Of Shu!" "So it's him! I heard that the youngest son of the Zhao Family went to Shouchun to have a poor future! " The people once again entered into a discussion. They threw out their previous distrust of Liu Mang, but they still did not lower their guard.
"If it's not a scam, then how do you explain the three levels!" The middle-aged man was not convinced. Just now, he told everyone not to believe in His Highness the King Of Shu. Now, everyone did not listen to him, which made him feel very uncomfortable.
"Oh, you said before that Shouchun is now uninhabited. You also said that you are a person of Shouchun. Then let me ask you, do you know how much land there is in Shouchun?" The mysterious man in black pointed at the middle-aged man and asked.
"A lot, a lot!" How could the middle-aged man know how much land there was in Shouchun? He was just an ordinary person. He could only use a lot to explain the land in Shouchun.
"Hehe, yes, there are many, many. But now that place is desolate and uninhabited, there is no one to farm the fertile land. You came out to sell cloth, right?" The mysterious man in black looked at the middle-aged man and said because he was holding a coarse cloth in his hand. Although it was coarse cloth, it could be seen that the cloth was very tightly woven. It was a good cloth, at least among the coarse cloth, it was a good cloth.
"It's none of your business!" The middle-aged man held his cloth tightly.
"How much is this cloth?" The man in black pointed at the cloth and asked.
"Twenty copper coins!" The middle-aged man said a price. "Why, do you want it?" He was here to sell cloth and had almost forgotten to argue with others.
"Twenty copper coins? If I give you ten copper coins, will you sell it? "The mysterious man in black took out ten copper coins from his chest.
"Of course not! This was made by my wife. It's made of the best hemp. She weaved it piece by piece. I won't sell it to anyone if you don't pay twenty coins! "
"Not selling? What if I rob you? Then you will not have a single copper coin! "The man in black pretended to want to rob the cloth.
"You dare!" The middle-aged man held the cloth tightly in his arms. "If you dare to rob me of my cloth, I will fight you to the death!"
"Fight you to the death? I don't want to die! What if the government comes to collect your cloth? "
"Collect?" The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment. In ancient times, collecting was a good way to describe it, but in a bad way, it was robbery. Once the government went to war, it would naturally collect food and cloth. At that time, the cloth would be worthless. "How can that be? Wu Hou would not!" Although the middle-aged man said so, his expression told him that Wu Hou had collected it before.
"If the government collects it or sell it to me for ten copper coins, which will you choose?" The mysterious man in black asked.
"Of course I will sell it to you!" Although these commoners weren't educated, they still understood some basic interests. If they were expropriated, they would be worthless. The government wouldn't subsidize them. Although they were only left with ten coins after selling it to the blue-clothed man, it didn't reach the price of twenty coins that he had expected. In any case, he still managed to sell it and earned ten coins.
"Even you know this, let alone the noble King Of Shu! You see, your cloth is equivalent to His Highness the King Of Shu's land in Shouchun. If no one cultivates it, it will be as if your cloth was collected by the government. Then it will be worthless. But if someone cultivates it, like His Highness the King Of Shu said, each person will have two mu of land and the tax will only be 30%. This is like you selling your cloth to me. Although you will lose money, you will still make a profit. Furthermore, His Highness the King of Shu also said that as long as you have a half-grown boy, you will be rewarded with one mu of land. If you have a half-grown girl, you will be rewarded with half a mu of land. If you have a half-grown girl, you will be rewarded with half a mu of land. "This was Liu Mang's family planning plan. As long as you dare to give birth, Liu Mang will dare to accept. If you have 17 or 18 children, you will be given 17 or 18 mu of land. If you have a girl, you will be given half a mu of land. Liu Mang wanted to make the whole of Yangzhou into a land of population.
After the mysterious man's words, the rest of the people really understood. If you wanted to tell the people that His Highness the King Of Shu's land was better than no land, although this kind of logic was simple, but it did not leave a deep impression on the people. Moreover, it was easy for the people to hesitate. But now, with this piece of cloth as an example, everyone understood.
If each person had two mu of land, their family of four would have eight mu of land. After paying 30% of the tax, they would still have five mu of land left. But here, although they had ten mu of land, they had to pay 60% of the tax. Only four mu of land belonged to their family. Moreover, this land belonged to His Highness the Sun Ce and could not be bought or sold. This was not the key point. The key point was that His Highness the King Of Shu said that there would be no tax increase. Also, the first five years of land reclamation would belong to their family.
"If that's the case, are you still going?" The mysterious man asked with a smile.
"Yes, I'll go!" The middle-aged man quickly said. Many of the commoners on the side were also very tempted. The mysterious green-robed man released the last piece of news, completely suppressing their hesitation.
"Let me tell you, if you want to go, then hurry up. Although there are many fields in Shouchun, only 50,000 people will be given to the first to arrive! If you're late, there won't be any left. "50,000 people? Liu Mang's Shouchun, Hefei, and Lujiang could even take in 500,000 people. After all, this was Yangzhou, a place that was not inferior to Xu Province and Ji Zhou. Ji Zhou now had a population of four million (one million of which had been taken away by the Black Mountain Bandit Zhang Yan).
According to Liu Mang's estimation, half of Yangzhou under Liu Mang's control should be able to take in five to seven million people. Not only that, they can also export food. Liu Mang did not expect to increase the number of people under his command. However, if he said that there would only be 50,000 people, then the people would rush to report to him. Their enthusiasm would be aroused and if they were late, then there would be no fertile land to distribute. Even under Sun Ce's rule, there were very few people who starved to death. However, most of the people did not have enough to eat. This was because every year, Jiangdong would send troops to Jingzhou. In fact, this was also Sun Ce's helplessness. This was because there was only so much food. Sending these people to war would reduce the consumption of food. Now that he saw such an opportunity, how could he give it up?
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