On the 12th of February, the day before the Lantern Festival, a piece of news shook the entire China region.
The Protector-General of Shanhai City announced that Shanhai City would recruit five million players from the Nine Great King Cities and distribute them to the three provinces, sixteen prefectures, eighty-one prefectures, and more than four hundred counties.
The recruitment this time was still for players of the professions.
What was different was that Shanhai City was unprecedentedly open to casual players. According to the announcement, as long as they met the requirements and were willing to settle down in the counties of Shanhai City, they would be able to enjoy the basic welfare of the territory.
The local government offices would provide free housing for these players and provide them with necessities every month to ensure their basic needs and allow them to enjoy their old age in the game.
The announcement made it very clear that there would be one million casual players, which was twenty percent of the total number of recruits.
For this reason, the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Protectorate of Nanjiang would provide four million gold coins to carry out this resettlement plan. Basically, Ouyang Shuo would fork out all the profits from the sale of weapons and equipment.
At the same time, the Protectorate of Nanjiang would also borrow three million gold coins from the Bank of the Four Seas to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan. With the additional funds from the counties and counties, the total amount of funds would exceed ten million gold coins.
If the cost of housing and welfare were included, it would be an astronomical figure.
When the news came out, everyone's first reaction was, "Shanhai City has gone crazy!!!"
…
Of course, Ouyang Shuo wasn't crazy.
He had discussed this plan with the Civil Affairs Bureau for an entire day before coming up with it.
The announcement was only an outline of the plan. Following this, the Financial Department, the Inspectorate, the Industry and Development Plan, and the Bank of the Four Seas would cooperate with the Civil Affairs Bureau to formulate a detailed resettlement plan.
The counties and counties would also formulate a resettlement plan according to the local conditions and report it to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
The entire resettlement plan would be a huge project that would require at least one to two months to complete. It would take at least half a year to truly settle down and get on the right track.
Moreover, this was only the first step in Ouyang Shuo's plan of immigration.
There were nearly a hundred million players in the China region, and Ouyang Shuo's ambition was for Shanhai City to take in at least thirty percent of them. He wanted them to live under the rule of Shanhai City and get used to its management.
Of course, the prerequisite was for Shanhai City to further expand its territory.
Five million people was the upper limit of immigration that the Civil Affairs Bureau had calculated overnight. Any more would not only have a fatal impact on the industries of the counties, but it would also be a huge burden on the counties' finances.
On the surface, this was a losing deal.
In fact, that was not the case.
First, casual players only accounted for 20% of the total.
This time, the recruitment targets were mainly families. Families with elderly and children would generally have several Lifestyle players. Some elderly people were even Lifestyle players themselves.
In the 22nd century, humans generally lived a long life. People in their fifties or sixties could be considered middle-aged. As a result, the grandchildren of the truly old players had long since grown up, and the great-grandchildren of the slightly older players had already grown up.
Using a casual player slot to trap four Lifestyle players was worth it!
Otherwise, Ouyang Shuo would not have been confident in recruiting four million Lifestyle players in one go. After all, the underground world was about to be opened, and the shortage of raw materials in King City would soon be filled.
Secondly, increase the population and promote the territory's financial growth.
The development of the various territories in the wilderness had always been uneven, and many of the three provinces that Shanhai City had conquered were still far from being saturated with people. Coupled with the fact that they had experienced a series of wars, it had resulted in an awkward situation where the territory was vast but the population was scarce.
This was especially so for the first-level counties. Most of them were forcibly promoted from third-level counties. On average, a county city had a population shortage of 300,000 people. Just the first-level counties alone had a population shortage of more than 4 million people.
With the destruction of the territory's stone monument, the population growth of the various counties basically came to a halt. No matter how fast the newborn natives grew, they could not be counted on. Their contribution to the county's population was nearly zero.
According to the latest statistics from the Civil Affairs Bureau, at the end of Gaia's third year, the territory's total population was only 25 million.
The three provinces that Shanhai City occupied were already close to the size of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. After all, the Ming Dynasty's population had once exceeded 150 million.
The Qing Dynasty's population was even more terrifying, reaching 43.6 billion.
In comparison, Shanhai City was too pitiful.
However, Ouyang Shuo did not dare to bring in too many players at once. Once the ratio of players to NPCs became out of balance, it would cause a destructive impact on the weak governance systems of the various counties.
He could only bring in a batch first and slowly digest them before bringing in a second batch.
The digestion process was also the process of the various counties' rapid development. According to the Finance Bureau's calculations, as long as Shanhai City absorbed the five million immigrants, its financial revenue would increase by at least 30%.
With this calculation, the initial investment of ten million gold coins was very worth it.
It was also for this reason that after taking over Yunnan City State, Ouyang Shuo changed Shanhai City's strategy from internal to external. He did not plan on taking action against North Sichuan City State and South Xiangnan City State for the time being.
He was in no hurry to do anything to Jiangchuan Province and Minnan Province.
Ouyang Shuo's goal was very simple. He wanted to use the characteristic of the territory's stone monument to constantly spawn refugees to reserve as many natives as possible. This was so that the next time he brought in players, he could open up a bigger gap.
Thirdly, he would appropriately reduce the ratio of soldiers to civilians.
After this round of military reorganization, Shanhai City's field corps alone numbered sixteen, with a total military strength of 1.12 million. It did not seem terrifying. However, if the navy's five fleets and the various counties' garrison divisions were included, the total military strength would be close to 1.9 million.
According to the total population of 25 million, the ratio of soldiers to civilians was 1: 12. It was already very close to the danger level. By bringing in five million players at once, it would allow the territory to catch a breather.
The above three points were only secondary factors. Ouyang Shuo's main goal was to carry out the advice that his grandfather had given him previously. He wanted to drag as many grassroots players as possible onto the big ship that was Shanhai City.
Only then would he not become an abandoned pawn.
…
Regardless of Ouyang Shuo's considerations, the Nine Great Royal Cities were in a complete uproar because of Shanhai City's announcement. There were those who agreed and those who disagreed.
The Underground World was about to be opened, and the ambitious players were naturally unwilling to leave the Royal City at this time.
However, there were also some players who were tired of the various bloody battles that the various guilds had launched over the satellite cities. They were willing to move to Shanhai City to live a peaceful life.
This was especially true for those who had elderly or children at home.
The real battle for the satellite cities had not even begun, and the various guilds were already in a killing frenzy. It was not hard to imagine how fierce the official battle would be after the Lantern Festival ended.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that there would be rivers of blood.
At that time, it was unknown how many players would reincarnate, and their three years of hard work would go down the drain.
Regardless, Shanhai City's recruitment order was still very popular. After Shanhai City took over Yunnan City, the players of the China server recognized Shanhai City as the overlord.
It was safer to settle down in Shanhai City than in the Royal City.
…
Shanhai City, Ouyang Shuo's study.
Besides recruiting five million players, Ouyang Shuo was also preparing other means to deal with the imminent threat of the Silver Hand.
In the study sat the two leaders of the intelligence agencies, Shen Buhai and the Black Snake.
Previously, Ouyang Shuo had divided the work between the Shanhai Guards and the Black Snake Guards, but the division was not thorough. Because of this, it not only caused the two intelligence agencies to cross paths, but it also resulted in redundant personnel and a waste of funds.
To make matters worse, because of the cross competition, there were surveillance blind spots and blind spots. For example, the intelligence error in the Yunnan battle was caused by the two intelligence agencies' eagerness to perform, but they lost their cool.
After that black incident, the three intelligence agencies conducted a thorough introspection.
Ouyang Shuo looked at their investigation report and felt rather guilty.
Using the opportunity of the Silver Hand casting a net on Shanhai City, Ouyang Shuo was prepared to completely separate the two intelligence agencies, leaving no hidden dangers.
"All the operations of the Black Snake Guards in the China server, including the spies and spies, will be handed over to the Shanhai Guards." Ouyang Shuo's first sentence shocked the Black Snake.
"My lord?"
The Black Snake's face was pale. He thought that his lord was blaming him for the black incident.
"Could it be that the Black Snake Guards have lost the lord's trust?" The Black Snake felt bitter. Once the intelligence agency lost the lord's trust, it could only be disbanded.
Even Shen Buhai was a little surprised and could not make up his mind.
Ouyang Shuo waved his hand, gesturing for the two to calm down. He asked Shen Buhai, "After the Shanhai Guards take over, do you have the confidence to investigate the Mutants?"
Shen Buhai was a rigid person. He seriously thought about it before answering, "There will be a period of adaptation. After that, there shouldn't be too many problems."
The Shanhai Guards were no longer in the initial stage. There were also Mutants under their command. Moreover, the Shanhai Guards had also accumulated some experience in monitoring the Black Snake Guards.
However, it was not an easy task to take over all of them.
"How long will it take?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
Shen Buhai did not hesitate and said, "Two months."
Ouyang Shuo stretched out three fingers and said calmly, "I will give you three months. If you mess up, you know the consequences."
Shen Buhai felt a chill in his heart when he heard this.
"My lord, please rest assured. If I can't do it, I will willingly offer my head." Shen Buhai made a military pledge.
Ouyang Shuo nodded and looked at the Black Snake, who had calmed down a little. He said, "The Black Snake Guards have to cooperate with the Shanhai Guards and complete the relevant handover work as soon as possible. I will give you half a month. Is that enough? "
The Black Snake's voice was dry, but he had not lost his judgment. He calculated in his heart and replied, "Enough."
If he really wanted to handle the handover, the main things would be the roster of the informants, spies, and other members, as well as their contact information, a full set of intelligence files, and finally the major intelligence stations.
Most of the information could be completed at the headquarters in Shanhai City.
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