Chapter 1082

Old Li was so shocked he almost jumped up.

You must know that the entire Great Tang now only had ten million commoners.

Great Qin opened its mouth and wanted one million!

One-tenth!

This number far exceeded the expectations of Old Li and Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling's face turned black.

If Great Tang gave away so many commoners at once, large tracts of farmland would be left empty.

These farmlands would be seized by the clans.

It was equivalent to disguisedly subsidizing the clans.

"Your Majesty, this condition is unacceptable to Great Tang.

Giving away one million commoners will cause the entire Great Tang empire to shake!

This is shaking the foundation of the country and drinking poison to quench thirst!"

Qin Mu didn't feel that the condition he set was outrageous.

He started calculating with Old Li and Fang Xuanling.

"This is really not expensive!

You calculate, a fine-bred warhorse only costs ten taels of silver.

Great Tang commoners aren't worth more than warhorses, right?

In your Great Tang, buying a lively little maid costs at most six taels.

Among the commoners, there are men, women, old, young, sick, and disabled.

Averaging four taels of silver each is not excessive, right?

One million Great Tang commoners are only worth four million taels of silver!"

Old Li was speechless.

This calculation, step by step, had no flaws.

But he always felt something was strange?

Fang Xuanling protested in a deep voice.

"How can our Great Tang commoners be calculated in this way?

They will constantly multiply and produce new items." Qin Mu raised a finger and shook it.

"Minister Fang, you are wrong to say that.

In your Great Tang, maids and servants can all be bought and sold for a price.

They are all people; why can't commoners be priced like that?"

This left Fang Xuanling choked.

They seemed to have never considered this problem before.

Qin Mu's words had no problems.

The problem was Great Tang's system!

Fang Xuanling now understood a little why Great Qin wanted to abolish all low-status registrations.

Categorizing courtesans, maids, and servants all as ordinary commoners.

This was the answer!

This was the fatal flaw of the low-status registration system!

Old Li didn't have these realizations.

He instead felt that what Qin Mu said made a lot of sense.

According to this, Great Tang commoners could also be calculated at a discounted price.

Regardless of gender, age, or status, four taels of silver each was a fair price.

Thinking about it this way, one million commoners was equal to four million taels of silver.

This price was a bit expensive, but not unacceptable.

This time, they could use Great Qin's power to strike at the clans.

And they had also preserved the pirate army jointly operated by Great Tang and the Arabian Empire.

For the Great Tang court, everything was developing in a good direction!

"Great Qin Emperor, Great Tang agrees to this condition.

After we return, we will prepare one million commoners as soon as possible and send them to Great Qin!"

Fang Xuanling was still thinking.

Old Li had already agreed to Qin Mu's condition.

Fang Xuanling looked blankly at Old Li, countless thoughts flashing through his mind.

But he didn't say anything.

Old Li gave him a confident look.

He didn't know if he had suddenly come up with an idea?

The matter was discussed.

Qin Mu had achieved his goal.

There was nothing else to discuss, so he dismissed the court.

Fang Xuanling followed Old Li out of the Great Ming Palace.

With no one around, Fang Xuanling asked about the doubts in his heart.

"Old Li, why did you agree to Great Qin's condition?

Great Tang losing one million commoners will shake the foundation of the country and suffer a great loss of vitality!" Old Li patted him gently, comforting him.

"It won't!

The commoners of Jiangnan are mixed.

I've thought about it; these one million commoners will be selected from the Baiyue people of Lingnan.

It is equivalent to shaking the foundation of the clans, with no loss to the imperial court!"

So that was the idea?

Fang Xuanling was speechless again.

Old Li was not wrong.

Great Tang's current situation was indeed a bit complicated.

Ever since the clans had mutual suspicion with the Great Tang court, they had always wanted to manage Lingnan as their foundation.

Old Li's move to pull the firewood from under the cauldron could indeed weaken the clans' foundation.

No problem!

"Old Li, since you've thought it through, then let's do it."

Fang Xuanling said powerlessly and stopped talking.

Assisting Great Tang until now, he felt more and more tired.

Old Li's idea, on the surface, had no problems.

But it had huge hidden dangers.

The Baiyue people were also Great Tang subjects.

Now withdrawing one million seemed to weaken the clans.

But after eradicating the clans, Great Tang would have one million fewer subjects.

It was still shaking the foundation of the country.

In a word, Old Li's vision was not enough, far inferior to Qin Mu's foresight!

But Fang Xuanling also knew he couldn't say this.

The current situation was like this, and the clans were aggressive.

If they didn't use such a strategy to weaken the clans,

if the imperial court fell, it would be a total loss.

Of two evils, choose the lesser!

In this situation, Fang Xuanling couldn't give a better suggestion.

Let's just do it! ===== CHAPTER 1084 =====