Chapter 305: Divide the People


    Trantor: As Studios | Editor: As Studios


    Qi Haoran had always remembered what Mu Yangling’s words. What this eracked was notnd and grains, butbor and advanced farming techniques and seeds.


    Although there was a good mix of elderly, kids, and women among them, they all had good farming potential.


    Hence, Qi Haoran smiled and said, “Since there’s so muchnd in Hanzhong Prefecture, let them nt it. They’ll be able to support themselves next year.” But they’ll also consume a lot of grains over one winter. There are more than 12,000 people here. Assistant Commander Lu said anxiously, “Little General, let’s report this matter to the General. Although thend in Hanzhong Prefecture is deste, it’s not under our West Camp’s name.”


    Back then, when the Hu people entered the pass, many people in Hanzhong Prefecture fled south, leaving thosends deste. Later on, the nobles of the Jin Kingdom used them to raise sheep and horses. After the Great Zhou took thend back, they were transferred to the state. Although the poption of Hanzhong Prefecture had been increasing, it had increased at a very slow speed, so not muchnd was distributed.


    However, even if they couldn’t distribute thend, the government office wouldn’t give it to the West Camp.


    But Qi Haoran already had an idea in his heart. “Bring them back. When the timees, half of the 12,000 people will go to Hanzhong Prefecture and the other half will be enlisted into the army.” After a pause, he said, “That half refers to the 12,000 people. Those 6,000 young men will all be enlisted into the army.”


    Assistant Commander Lu’s jaw dropped. “Will Magistrate Fang agree?”


    Magistrate Fang was the magistrate of Hanzhong Prefecture and had only been in office for a year.


    Qi Haoran chuckled. “He’ll definitely agree. Hanzhong Prefecture has only expanded by more than 300 households a year. If I give him 6,000 people at once, he’ll be more than pleased with such a political achievement. Besides, the corn seeds are still in our hands.”


    Although Qi Xiuyuan had given the local governments corn seeds, there were not many of them. Most of them were still in the hands of the military. Therefore, if Magistrate Fang wanted the seeds, he had to build a good rtionship with the West Camp.


    It had to be known that in the annual political performance assessment, the increase in poption and the production of grains were the two most important assessment factors.


    When Assistant Commander Lu heard Qi Haoran’s words, he waspletely relieved. His expression towards the 10,000-odd refugees also improved a lot. At least they weren’t making a huge loss.


    Assistant Commander Lu was originally worried about losing money, but when he took them back to Hanzhong Prefecture, he realized that not only did they not lose money, they even seemed to have profited.


    As Qi Xiuyuan was recruiting troops, he had to pay for the recruitment. It wasmonly known as the settlement fee, and he had to pay each person at least two taels of silver.


    However, when he saw the 6,000 strong men that Qi Haoran had brought back, Qi Xiuyuan immediately got someone to pack up and stop the recruiting. What a joke. He saved 12,000 taels of silver in an instant.


    As for the old, weak, women, and children, Qi Xiuyuan did not mind. He took them to Hanzhong Prefecture and spoke to Magistrate Fang about it.


    Overjoyed to see so many people, Magistrate Fang immediately offered a high price for the 8,000 people. Of course, in return, he could give the West Camp three times as many military fields.


    Qi Xiuyuan was about to agree, but Qi Haoran, who happened toe to watch the battle, quickly blinked. Qi Xiuyuan changed his mind and shook his head. “8,000 people is too many. 5,000 at most.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “There are many families among them, so of course we can’t split them up. 5,000-odd is fine.”


    Magistrate Fang was so angry that his beard twitched. There were at most four or five people in each family who had fled with their families. That was just a fraction of the thousands of people discussed here.


    Magistrate Fang felt that Qi Xiuyuan was too petty.


    “The elders in those families are already in their sixties, and the younger ones are only five or six years old. There isn’t even a young man in his prime in those families. What use does the West Camp have for them?” Magistrate Fang said unhappily, “It’s not like they can go to the battlefield.”


    “Farming.” With a sigh, Qi Xiuyuan said, “Sir, as you can see, the borders have been unstable this year. Not only do the soldiers have to train in the army, but now, they also have to be responsible for their own rations and military sry. Manpower is needed to produce those rations? That’s why they have to farm. Although this group of people consist of the old and young, they are tough after what they’ve been through. Even kids can go to the fields at the age of six. If it weren’t for the fact that I don’t have anynd, I wouldn’t be willing to exchange thisbor with you.”


    Magistrate Fang frowned. “But seeing as it’s almost winter, food and amodation are a problem for these people. Does the West Camp have enough grains?”


    Qi Xiuyuan s eyes lit up. “That’s why I need your help.”


    “Don’t.” Magistrate Fang waved his hand and said, “I’m also fretting over here. Although the situation in Hanzhong Prefecture is better than Tongchuan Prefecture, there are also manymoners whock food and need relief.” At this point, Magistrate Fang rolled his eyes and said, “Speaking of this, I remember the grasnd sheep business in Hanzhong Prefecture. Last year, ady bought mutton from Hanzhong Prefecture and saved manymoners from hunger and cold. I heard that thatdy is General Qi’s subordinate?”


    Qi Xiuyuan knew that he was talking about Mu Yangling. Mu Yangling’s mutton businessst year was indeed carried out on arge scale. At first, it was only 400 to 500 taels of silver, then 1,000 taels of silver, then 4,000 taels of silver, before growing to more than 10,000 taels of silver. The mutton business only stopped when nting season began in spring.


    As there were not many people in Hanzhong Prefecture, there was not much farmingnd. Therefore, the grass seeds that had been nted in the fields previously thrived in spring. Thosemoners who had a taste of the benefits started raising sheep while farming. In any case, the Imperial Court was not like the Jin Kingdom who restricted them from farming or raising sheep.


    Who wouldn’t like an extra source of profits?


    “Are you talking about Ah Ling? That child is even more ambitious now and is tinkering with raising cows. Look, she has already bought a plot ofnd in Hanzhong Prefecture to build a cattle farm.” Qi Xiuyuan shook his head and said, “But that plot ofnd is only 300 acres. How many cows can she raise?” Magistrate Fang was stunned. “Why does Miss Mu like these Hu things so much? First it’s sheep, and now it’s cows?”


    Magistrate Fang frowned slightly. Although he hoped that Mu Yangling could buy more sheep to help the people under his rule survive another winter, it did not mean that he supported raising sheep and cows. It was fine since there was morend than people in Hanzhong Prefecture now, but should the poption increase in the future and everyone still did this without nting grains, wouldn’t that shake the foundation of the country?


    “Magistrate Fang, you’ve misunderstood.” Qi Haoran hurriedly exined, “Ah Ling doesn’t raise cows for milk or ughter, but water buffaloes or cattle that can help with farming.”


    Seeing that his big brother was also surprised, he said, “She feels that the profits from nting are too low at present. Firstly, it’s because of the seeds. Secondly, it’s because of the nting techniques. Thirdly, it’s because thebor is all tied to thend. The efficiency of farming is too low, making meticulous farming difficult.”


    Hearing Qi Haoran mention farming, Magistrate Fang couldn’t help but sit up straight. His eyes lit up as he asked, “And then?”


    “There’s no way to improve the seeds and nting technology for the time being. We have to do it step by step, but there’s a clear direction to improve thebor force. If every family had a plowing ox…” Qi Haoran did not have to finish his sentence and Magistrate Fang and Qi Xiuyuan already understood what he was trying to say.


    Nowadays, plowing in the fields required manpower. Sometimes, it took two people to pull the plow, plus another person to support the plow. That meant that threeborers were held up at once. However, it was different if they had an ox. One ox could rece twoborers, or even more.


    After all, an ox’s endurance was much stronger than a human’s..