Chapter 901

As for the Great Tang stealing people?

With ten million people, they wouldn't care if the Great Tang stole a few.

Moreover, the trap Qin Mu designed was precisely here.

As long as the Great Tang was bold enough, even if they stole all ten million Tianzhu people, he wouldn't be afraid.

Once these people went to the Great Tang, they would consume the Great Tang's stored grain.

In terms of the Great Tang's national strength, raising a million prisoners was already the limit.

One must know that these prisoners would have no land to farm once they arrived. No matter what work they did, they would be consuming the Great Tang's grain.

As time passed, the Great Tang would slowly discover that the surplus grain in the south of the Yangtze had all been consumed by these prisoners. By then, no matter how many people the Great Tang had stolen, they would have to obediently spit them back out!

There was no other way; grain was a fatal weakness, and no matter how they calculated, they couldn't make up for the deficit.

"Since you have agreed, we can start the transport.

The Tianzhu Continent has not yet been completely occupied by Great Qin. But I believe it won't take much time."

Old Li and Fang Xuanling had already agreed to help Great Qin with this matter. But in their hearts, they were still somewhat uneasy.

They hadn't discovered any trap, but out of wariness for Qin Mu, they were still somewhat uneasy.

After the morning court.

Old Li and Fang Xuanling were still worried, so they went to find Zhang Juzheng again. They wanted to inquire about some information from him.

"Zhang Xiang, is this arrangement of Great Qin transporting prisoners really true?"

When Zhang Juzheng heard this, he widened his eyes.

"What? Are you still worried that His Majesty of Great Qin would deceive you?"

The Son of Heaven, once a word is spoken, not even a team of four horses can catch it!

The so-called 'a monarch does not joke' naturally means he cannot tell lies.

Fang Xuanling hurriedly denied it.

"No, I absolutely dare not doubt it!

Transporting ten million people at once has never happened in history.

We just want to know why Great Qin would make such an astonishing move?"

As the Prime Minister of Great Qin, Zhang Juzheng knew many inside stories.

He leaned closer and lowered his voice to tell the two.

"Have you heard of the Luo Wilderness in the north?

Recently, the Kievan Rus invaded the Luo Wilderness. General Qi Jiguang wants to lead an army to compete with the Kievan Rus.

You know Liaodong is short of people. That is how this grand plan of migrating ten million people came about!"

Zhang Juzheng's words made Fang Xuanling and Old Li feel somewhat ashamed.

They had seen the Luo Wilderness in ancient books.

As for the Kievan Rus, they hadn't even heard of it.

Compared to Great Qin, their current horizons and knowledge were far behind.

"Zhang Xiang, the Luo Wilderness has been a land of bitter cold since ancient times, with no human habitation. What is the point of wanting that kind of place?"

Old Li understood the least.

Since ancient times, the goal of emperors of all dynasties was to occupy the Central Plains. If they went a little further in the four directions, they would dislike the climate and deem it unsuitable for human habitation.

Therefore, their thinking always stopped at the Central Plains.

Zhang Juzheng rolled his eyes at Old Li.

"According to your logic, Liaodong was also a land of bitter cold; why did His Majesty spend so much effort to develop it?

You have seen the results; was your view correct, or was His Majesty wise and martial?

Isn't it obvious at a glance?"

Scolded by Zhang Juzheng, Old Li was so ashamed his face turned bright red.

Indeed, the development of Liaodong had given Great Qin extremely cheap pig iron and coal.

This step, except for Qin Mu, no emperor in history had ever taken.

It was very clear that only Qin Mu was correct!

Now going to compete for the Luo Wilderness was likely the same.

Old Li felt his thirty-plus years of worldview was being overturned.

"Yes, yes, His Majesty of Great Qin is more far-sighted. Forgive me for speaking out of turn!" Old Li was afraid of making Zhang Juzheng unhappy, so he decisively apologized.

This scene almost made Fang Xuanling's jaw drop.

This... Old Li has changed!

He is no longer the little bully who didn't respect heaven or earth like before!

Since Great Qin really wanted to transport ten million Tianzhu people to Liaodong.

Then this matter could not be fake.

Old Li and Fang Xuanling felt as if they had taken a reassurance pill. This deal was truly worth it.

It could even be said to be the biggest deal they had made in their dealings with Great Qin.

Afterward, they could get a million prisoners, solving the Great Tang's problem of needing to produce cheap goods in one fell swoop.

"Zhang Xiang, thank you so much! If it weren't for you, how could the Great Tang have received such a big deal?"

In Old Li's eyes, the reason they were able to have such a big harvest this time coming to Great Qin was all because they knew Zhang Juzheng.

Things started to change from him.

Old Li and Fang Xuanling returned to the guesthouse happily.

Still immersed in that joy, unable to extricate themselves.

"Old Li, I was just thinking, why don't we follow Great Qin's example and put the prisoners on deserted islands to mine?"

One sentence made Old Li start to drift off.

To the north of Great Qin, there were the Mobei grasslands, Liaodong, and the White Mountains and Black Waters, and even the Luo Wilderness. These places they previously looked down upon had now become treasures in Qin Mu's hands.

But the Great Tang didn't have any!

The Great Tang only had some foreign nations to the south.

But before they could make a move, Great Qin had already beaten them to it.

"Sigh, by the time we realized we could use these wastelands, it was already too late. The Great Tang has no wastelands!"

Fang Xuanling offered a plan.

"Old Li, although we don't have a place as big as Liaodong, there are two other places we can use. One is Yingzhou, and the other is Zhuya."

The two places Fang Xuanling mentioned were two large islands.

Zhuya was closer, while Yingzhou was further away. Separated by the sea, there was very little interaction.

These two large islands were very big, with high mountains and dense forests.

Old Li pondered for a while.

"Seems it could work. Put the prisoners on the islands and let them farm, log, and mine. Let's also learn from Great Qin's set of methods!"

Old Li seemed to have found a new direction.

Suddenly, he sighed again.

"Unfortunately, the Great Tang didn't pay enough attention to navigation earlier; otherwise, we could have gone overseas to find more such wild islands!"

Who could say otherwise?

Fang Xuanling sighed; Qin Mu's ideas and methods were having an increasingly large impact on the world!