Chapter 320

Otherwise, the great Liao would have wiped out the Jurchens long ago.

Where would Wanyan Aguda have come from to establish the great Jin dynasty?

176, I have two strategies!

"What methods? My dear minister, please speak!"

Zhu Youjian and Du Du Yinxi looked at Su Qiao expectantly as they spoke.

Su Qiao gave a shy smile: "I... grumble..."

Grumble...

Hmm?

Zhu Youjian and Du Du Yinxi's faces stiffened.

Zhu Yuanzhang directly slapped the bed with a loud smack.

In the group chat, he cursed with a laugh: "That lazy good-for-nothing!"

Emperor Chengzu Wen: "Th-this kid is something else."

Emperor Yingzong: "He's hungry..."

Su Qiao had barely eaten that evening, just a single bowl of porridge.

Hungry in the middle of the night, he had originally planned to have a maid bring some snacks to tide him over.

Who would have known that before he could take a single bite, Wang Chengen had him "dragged" to the palace by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Up to now, not a single grain of rice or sip of water had passed his lips.

By now his stomach had long since started to rebel!

At this moment, Wang Chengen had already summoned the imperial physician, and happened to hear Su Qiao's stomach growling.

"Your Majesty, please let the imperial physician examine you first; the dragon body is of utmost importance."

Zhu Youjian did not refuse, and instead spoke up: "Mm, Su Aiqing must be hungry. Have someone with no sense of the occasion quickly bring Su Aiqing some snacks—28—and tea as well!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Wang Chengen gave Su Qiao an apologetic look.

Su Qiao nodded. "In that case, then this minister shall respectfully obey. I really am hungry."

Zhu Youjian waved his hand and said.

"Good, Su Aiqing, eat a few pieces of pastry first to tide you over. The imperial physician can apply the medicine to me at the same time."

A moment later, palace maids brought in several plates of delicate pastries and tea.

Su Qiao didn't treat himself as an outsider at all.

Two bites per piece, then two sips of tea to wash it down.

Watching Su Qiao eat so heartily, Du Du Yinxi—who had also barely eaten and had chatted with Zhu Youjian in the palace for half the night—could not help but quietly swallow his saliva.

But out of pride, he could not bring himself to speak up.

He could only force himself to hold back.

After some difficulty, once Su Qiao had swept through three plates of pastries.

Zhu Youjian's cheeks and hands had also been smeared with ointment by the imperial physician.

After Su Qiao took a slurp of tea, he finally spoke.

"Your Majesty, Senior Du, to thoroughly resolve the Liaodong threat there are two methods—one is simple, the other is permanent and once-and-for-all."

"How does the simple one work, and how does the permanent one work?"

"The simple one basically requires no effort from the court; it only needs to imitate the 'Kill the Hu Edict' issued during the time of the Five Barbarians' Incursion!"

"Brilliant!"

Before Zhu Youjian could react, Du Du Yinxi could no longer contain himself and began clapping his hands with animated delight.

"The court only needs to spend a little silver, and those wandering knights and merchants will flock to slay the Jianzhou Jurchens and take their heads. The Tatars who flee will surely be split into pieces and dare not flee in organized formations. Although this increases the difficulty of pursuit for the court, for the wandering knights it is the easiest thing in the world. Impressive, impressive! Mr. Su is truly brilliant!"

Du Du Yinxi gave Su Qiao a thumbs-up.

Su Qiao modestly waved his hand: "Senior Du is too kind; this junior merely imitated the practices of the Ran Wei period."

Zhu Yuanzhang watched the chat group while stroking his beard, a gleam flashing in his eyes.

Emperor Taizu: "The Kill the Hu Edict? Hmph, don't say it, this kid's brain really works fast—it's exactly the right remedy."

Emperor Chengzu Wen: "Father, this kid is impressive. I think he suits my temperament. I'm even more curious about his once-and-for-all method."

Emperor Taizu: "Get lost, you show up everywhere, don't you?"

Emperor Chengzu Wen: "......"

Emperor Hongzhi: "......"

Emperor Jiajing: "Great-grandfather, I'm also curious..."

Emperor Taizu: "All of you, get lost! None of you sleeping, is that it?! Zhu Youjian, hurry up and ask about the second method!"

Zhu Youjian didn't dare speak, didn't dare pop up, and shivered with a sudden chill.

"Su Aiqing, what is the once-and-for-all method?"

Having received Great-grandfather's order, Zhu Youjian hurriedly pressed on.

Su Qiao slowly uttered two words: "Relocate the people!"

"Relocate the people?"

"Could it mean migrating the common folk?"

As they say, Zhu Yuanzhang truly had vision—the Du Du Yinxi he chose had a quicker mind than others and was also the first to think of certain things.

Zhu Youjian hadn't figured it out yet, and seeing Du Yinxi looking as if he'd suddenly understood, he grew a little anxious.

How come I'm the only one who doesn't get it?

"Du, my beloved minister, what does 'migration' mean?"

Seeing Zhu Youjian acting like such a blockhead, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help cursing him out.

Du Yinxi began to explain it to Zhu Youjian.

"Your Majesty, what Mr. Su means is that Shaanxi is suffering a great drought, the common people can hardly survive, and land annexation is also severe. Rather than let things be, we might as well relocate them to the Liaodong region. Once enough people have moved, there will be fewer Tatars in Liaodong, and instead it will all be us Han people, and at that point it will be much easier to govern."

Zhu Youjian nodded upon hearing this, then raised a new question.

"Du, my beloved minister, Su, my beloved minister, I understand that moving common people to Liaodong would make governance easier, but Liaodong is a bitter, cold land—surely it won't be easy for the people to survive, will it? And would common folk truly be willing to leave their homeland and migrate north?"

"Well…"

Du Yinxi didn't know what to do either.

Su Qiao laughed when he heard this.

"What Your Majesty has raised is not a problem. First, Liaodong is indeed bitter and cold—the winter is longer than in the Central Plains, and far colder; that is true. But it's not hard to solve: just plant more cotton to make cotton-padded clothes, and also make things like heated kang stoves and braziers. It's actually quite manageable."

"Second, the issue of difficulty surviving—and of grain—yes, for Central Plains people, Liaodong is barren, bitter and cold, the weather is also… uh… cold, and the grain harvest may not be much. But what this minister wishes to say is that although Liaodong's weather may turn cold faster, the land is not barren in the slightest—on the contrary, it is extremely fertile!"

"Oh? How so?"

"Your Majesty and Senior Du, think about it—is the Central Plains land, which has been plowed over and over for a thousand years, more fertile, or is the land in the middle of dense forests, where fallen leaves and soil have piled up goodness knows how long, more fertile?"

Zhu Youjian and Du Yinxi exchanged a glance and said tentatively, "The latter, presumably?"

"Exactly the latter!"

"Crops and plants, to grow, all need to absorb a kind of nourishment from the soil. The richer the nourishment, the blacker the soil; conversely, the yellower it is. The soil of the Liaodong plains is the kind of black earth you could squeeze oil out of!"

Su Qiao said this with absolute conviction.

Zhu Youjian caught up with his line of thinking at this point.

"Then by that reasoning, Liaodong's land is more fertile, so the higher the crop yields, is that right?"

Zhu Youjian slapped his thigh.

"What Your Majesty says is not far off."

Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer sit on the bed either; he stood up directly and shouted twice toward the outside.

"Someone come!"

"Your Majesty!"

Two palace attendants scurried in at once.

"Summon Jiang Huan."

"Yes, sir!"