Chapter 988: The Value of a Fief (Part 1)

Although one could tell from their respective expressions and tones that the two sides were not exactly close, the cooperation had now been barely reached, and this cooperation would not last for a very long time; as long as no more conflicts or problems arose during this period, and the bricks and tiles were fired smoothly, Huangpin would truly thank Heaven.

The Artisan then instructed the less-than-willing Workers to start digging the Brick Kiln; with many hands, the work was light, and this did not take much time—two days were enough to get it done.

At the same time, the production of brick and tile blanks also began; by the time the Brick Kiln was built, these blanks would basically be air-dried and ready to be loaded into the kiln for firing.

There was no difficulty in making the brick and tile blanks; the people here who made Pottery did not need to think twice to get started on these things, which were as simple as could be, and the only requirement from the Artisan was that the size and thickness must be consistent, otherwise there would be nothing but trouble when they laid the walls.

But this was also easy to solve: a stick tied with a rope, once pulled taut, could serve as a ruler, making it very simple to divide the mud into identical sizes.

Huaxia received news from Ping saying that he had successfully arrived at the Suiren tribe, and no further messages had been sent since, which meant everything was going smoothly.

As for Yulong, based on the time required for the journey, he had prepared the Cement, grain, and other supplies in advance, waiting to set off once everything was ready.

But what was troubling all the officials of Huaxia now was how to settle these nearly thirty thousand people, and where to settle them.

Huaxia City was impossible, Lema City was also impossible, and the Western Development Group's place was also impossible; as for Xiao Town, it was still under construction, and although it would be habitable by the end of the year, it could not accommodate so many people, and Xiao Town was a relatively important place, so it was better to settle their own people there first.

After much thought, Baifeng circled three pieces of land on the map and then summoned the officials for a meeting.

Baifeng said immediately: "The tribespeople of the Suiren tribe will be sent over soon. For the sake of stability, the first thing we must do is treat them as equals, treat them as true Huaxia people, and we must not harbor any exclusionary or resistant thoughts toward them."

The officials immediately expressed: "King, that certainly won't happen. Since the Suiren tribe has joined Huaxia, they are Huaxia people. We can even view wild people normally, let alone those coming from the Suiren tribe."

"That is for the best. Then the first problem to solve is where they will settle and live. We have selected these few places; take a look."

Baifeng pointed at the map and said: "Look, these places are not far from Lema City, at most a two-day distance. According to the map drawn so far, there are sufficient water sources, and there are forests, which means there is enough timber."

"The flat Sichuan land is also large in area, enough for them to farm there. My idea is to let them build the town in these places first, with houses built on the hillsides; the mountains are not high anyway, and the mountain bodies are very wide."

"Hmm, I have been to these places and have some impression of them. Houses can be built on the mountains, and on the flat Sichuan at the foot of the mountains, they can farm; there are also water sources, so it is all no problem and very livable."

"Originally, I was prepared to let the people of Lema City move there to develop and reclaim the land naturally as the population grew, but now that this situation has arisen temporarily, we will give it to them."

"By the way, I remember whose fief this is?"

Baifeng pointed his hand toward the crowd. Places not far from Lema City had long been enfeoffed by Baifeng. Such good land could not remain barren forever, but the owners of these lands simply lacked the ability and energy to develop them.

When Baifeng asked this, two people stood up immediately: one was Ben, and the other was Yishang. The higher the Nobility, the closer the fief naturally was to the city.

But now, to develop, their territory had to be occupied, which was certainly not acceptable, because these fiefs were now their private property and not something Baifeng could dispose of at will.

Baifeng understood as soon as he saw this. He then asked the two of them to sit down and said with great difficulty: "Because this is your fief, I have no authority to dispose of it, nor do I have the authority to take your private land for others to use."

"However, this is a relatively critical moment, and the current situation is also quite troublesome. Choosing these few places is also what I see as the most suitable for now."

"How about this: I will think of a compensation condition for you two. See if you can accept it. If you cannot accept it, our Huaxia land is vast enough, and I will find another way."

Ben and Yishang looked at each other. Although that was their fief, it was actually of no use at all. If Baifeng hadn't just asked, they wouldn't have even remembered this matter.

And did they have a choice? There was no choice. If they refused now, it would be tantamount to slapping Baifeng in the face and also obstructing the development of Huaxia. Baifeng said that Huaxia's territory was large enough to choose another place for the Suiren tribe to settle, but wasn't this also telling them that Huaxia was so big that he could also assign them worse fiefs in more distant places? No one said that fiefs could not be swapped.

To take care of everyone's emotions, Baifeng also hurriedly said: "Let me state my idea first; decide after you hear it, okay?"

The two of them could only nod and say okay. All the other people who had fiefs were also waiting to listen, because this was the first time, but it did not mean it would be the last, and it was actually closely related to the interests of others.

"I think of it this way: the fief is given to you, but from the time the land was divided to you until now, it has remained unchanged. It can be said that the land there has not created any value for you to this day, and you currently have no ability to develop it because you do not have that many people."

"Now, there are such ready-made people to develop it, but the people are not yours. Therefore, I think of it this way."

"Land itself, apart from resources, will not create value. But people, in a situation where they have nothing, also cannot create value. Only when people and land are together can they create value."

"If you want this value to reach your hands, it must be turned into resources or taxes. But you are private individuals and cannot collect taxes, while the government is the one that can collect taxes."

"You own the ownership of the land, and I own the power to collect taxes. Then, we can develop these lands together and turn the value of the land into real wealth."