Chapter 1234: Land Policy (Part I)

Baifeng met with the group from the middle, though they could no longer be called an embassy, because they were Huaxia people, even if many in their party were unwilling to admit it.

One could only say they were personnel from the Suiren Clan side, who had come to deliver news, and there were also Huaxia officials among the results organized by the Suiren Clan.

As for the moderate faction that had no resistance to joining Huaxia, after entering Huaxia City, they immediately changed their thinking and became thorough fanatics; they were already impatient to join Huaxia, because behind that high wall was actually such a prosperous, such an advanced city—it was truly a place they could not even imagine, because they lacked sufficient material to imagine it.

The stubborn faction was also a bit shaken; they had not expected Huaxia to be truly this good, but their stubborn, arrogant hearts were not so easily dismantled. They liked it, and they envied the people here and the life here, but they were also thinking to themselves that Huaxia surely would not let their Suiren Clan people live such a life, and that they would certainly live worse than the Huaxia people themselves.

At most, it would be letting the Tribal Chief's family live a little better; it was possible that the Tribal Chief had sold them out, and that the Tribal Chief might have packaged and traded the entire Suiren Clan to Huaxia for the benefits Huaxia gave. Unless they could be shown what kind of life the ordinary people of the Suiren Clan lived, they would not be able to believe that Huaxia treated the Suiren Clan equally, and only then would they be willing to join Huaxia.

Baifeng still attached considerable importance to this group, and he insisted on having two courtyards cleared out for them to live in, with the cost being that two families moved directly into the large courtyards in their town.

If it weren't for Baifeng giving the order, they certainly would not have been willing, because the Suiren Clan people were surely very savage and very dirty, and who knew what their homes would be turned into by then; besides, there were surely lice everywhere.

Baifeng naturally would not let them do this for nothing; various forms of compensation in vouchers had already tempted them, especially the meat vouchers, which were for mutton, enough to tempt their middle-income class. Even if they bought meat vouchers at full price, they wouldn't get to eat meat many times a year, and for mutton, one still had to rely on luck.

Just by lending out their own courtyard for others to live in for a period of time, perhaps a few days, perhaps ten-odd days, they could obtain such compensation that could not be bought even with grain; what more could they ask for?

Not to mention, the Ministry of Rites had already guaranteed that servants would clean and tidy their rooms every day, ensuring there would be no mistakes; if it got dirty, it would be cleaned, and if it was broken or damaged, it would be replaced—Huaxia would cover it.

So what else was there to say? There was nothing to say; they moved directly. From the time the Ministry of Rites people went to negotiate until the whole family left, it took over an hour, and there was no property that absolutely had to be moved, because the biggest property was grain, which was secured by a door bolt and guarded by servants all day long, and the Suiren Clan people certainly wouldn't mess with it.

Baifeng, however, felt the necessity for Huaxia to expand again and build some guest rooms; it was truly too difficult to squeeze a house out of the inner rings, as they were packed full.

Like this, if a large group from some tribe came, dozens or hundreds of people, it couldn't be like this every time, could it? Letting them live in other people's homes? Was that appropriate?

The Xuanyuan Tribe had no such problems; the embassy was basically completed, and those Xuanyuan Tribe students who came to Huaxia to study had already moved in, so they no longer needed to live in the unified dormitories.

Although there were only those few large tribes left in the surrounding area, after all, the will of Heaven was hard to predict; who knew if some tribe might suddenly appear again to visit Huaxia?

Baifeng only knew of those few large tribes, but there were small tribes sandwiched between the large tribes, and there were also small tribes belonging to each large tribe, all of which could potentially become friends of Huaxia.

Just like the Fengbo and Yushi tribes of the Shennong Clan, both were famous tribes in history, but they belonged to the Shennong Clan, and their scale was not small; they left as soon as they said they would, and they could go to the Jiuli, so it was possible that other tribes would come to Huaxia.

Not to mention anything else, if the people of the Jiuli came to Huaxia in a large-scale embassy, Huaxia would have nowhere to host them. Last time it was just those few people, and living at Changle's house was fine, but what if there were more people? Wouldn't that be troublesome?

Baifeng looked left and right, and there was only the mountain behind; Baifeng's residence had been backed against a hill from the beginning, only it had gradually been reclaimed into terraced fields later on.

But now Baifeng felt that if he built his house on this hill, it would also be possible, so he could overlook the entirety of Huaxia; it was just that walking was a bit tiring, having to climb up and down every day.

Building embassies, guesthouses, and the like on high ground was not very good either; with Huaxia City in full view, what secrets would there be to speak of?

While waiting for the Ministry of Rites to bring back those people from the Suiren Clan, Baifeng was worrying about this matter. Sanxin saw Baifeng's appearance, as well as the recent arrangements, and immediately guessed the reason.

"King, are you worrying about housing? There is no more space in Huaxia City to build houses."

Baifeng nodded with a frown: "Yes, there is no more space in Huaxia City to build houses. There is basically no farmland left in the city; it has all become residential, but it is still not enough."

"The main thing is that our center is not enough; everyone wants to come to the center to live, but how much land can this center have? There is nowhere left to go."

Who knew that Sanxin would put forward a proposal that shocked Baifeng: "King, I have an idea that is like this: our Huaxia City, taking your residence as the center, should be divided into the First Ring, Second Ring, Third Ring, and then pushed out like that."

"Currently, most officials and Nobles live in the First Ring, including the offices of our various departments, which are also in the First Ring. In the Second Ring are those who are a bit wealthier, as well as those who followed the King to create Huaxia from the beginning."

"The Third Ring, Fourth Ring, and beyond all follow this logic, but many newly arrived officials live a bit far away; their parents couldn't do it, but they themselves worked hard, which is why they can have the jobs they have today. But just because they live too far away, they have to spend a long time every day going to work and coming home; if there is an urgent job, we can't find anyone."

"Therefore, King, I believe we should turn the Second and Third Rings into places for officials and some people who work in Huaxia City to live."

"As for the land, we can just go and collect it. There are many families who currently make a living by farming and working in factories, and in the Second and Third Rings, such people are the majority; they do not need such land."

"The land should be given to those who need it more, so that our Huaxia can develop better, and besides, it is not convenient for them to live here and go farm or go to work."