Chapter 835: One Secret, One Strategy

"Your Highness, currently Su City and Song City are both under the control of the Prince's Personal Army. This subordinate is preparing to dispatch a battalion to Lincheng in these two days."

About three days after leaving Yancheng, Zhao Xu and his party arrived at Jinling City in the evening.

While Chang Wei was outside the city to welcome Zhao Xu, he briefed him on the recent actions of the Prince's Personal Army.

"Are both cities empty?" Zhao Xu asked casually.

"They are not empty; we did encounter some commoners, but they are only ten percent of the original population," Chang Wei said.

Zhao Xu nodded; this was within his expectations. Not to mention Wu, even in the current era, a migration of such scale could not possibly take everyone away.

There would always be those unwilling to leave who would hide, waiting for the Shizu Army to depart before emerging.

Moreover, according to Xu Ke, quite a few commoners had fled back during this period.

"Zhong Li distributed fields to these remaining commoners and also provided them with rations. The commoners have settled down quite a bit, and their attitude toward the Prince's Personal Army has become more amicable," Chang Wei added.

"Hmm, this is the best propaganda," Zhao Xu said, very satisfied.

Li Zi City's slogan, "The Chuang King is here, no grain tax," led countless commoners to follow him.

The Jiangbei policy of one tax in ten and the distribution of six mu of land was similar in effect to that slogan.

Since ancient times, commoners had never paid such low taxes.

Whether to choose to defect to Jiangbei or continue following the Rich Clans, they would have their own scales of judgment in their hearts when the time came.

Entering the city, Chang Wei led Zhao Xu to the command room.

In the command room was a massive Sand Table, which encompassed the mountains, rivers, and cities of the entire Jiangnan region.

On the Sand Table, small flags were planted at the locations of Jinling, Su City, and Song City, proving that these places were currently under the control of the Prince's Personal Army.

"Your Highness, when Wu coerced the commoners to migrate west, it was right after the spring plowing, so every household had already planted their rice. It is now nearly June, and in a little over a month, this spring rice will be ready for harvest." Chang Wei pointed to the vast area between the three cities, feeling both happy and worried.

What he was happy about was that Wu had been meticulous in everything but missed this one detail; leaving this season's rice behind was practically delivering grain and fodder to their doorstep.

What he was worried about was that the commoners had all been coerced into migrating west; if these could not be harvested in time, they would rot in the fields.

Furthermore, the end of June was also the busy farming season for the commoners of Jiangbei; it was impossible to transfer commoners over to harvest the rice.

"I have noticed." During the Battle of Jinling, the fields had only been green rice seedlings, which did not attract much attention.

But now, the rice seedlings were robust, laden with rice ears, and the leaves had turned yellow.

The area between Jinling, Su City, and Song City—that is, the contemporary Taihu region—was extremely productive in grain.

Watching the rice rot in the fields, no one could stand it.

Moreover, if the Four Courts' plan could succeed this time, the commoners who returned successfully would also need to eat.

Harvesting the grain of Jiangnan would not only solve the problem of feeding the commoners, but there would also be a surplus.

Conversely, Jiangbei would have to transport grain to Jiangnan.

It had to be said, this was a thorny problem.

After pondering for a while, he said: "Do this,

During this time, inquire among the remaining commoners to find out which fields belong to the commoners and which belong to the Rich Clans and Shizu. Leave the commoners' fields untouched for now; as for the fields of the Shizu and Rich Clans, have the soldiers of the Prince's Personal Army harvest the rice when the time comes."

"How could the few men of the Prince's Personal Army be enough? Besides Ningzhou, other prefectures along the coast also need to harvest rice." Chang Wei shook his head, still looking troubled.

"There are other ways," Zhao Xu said. "I will order the newspaper office to publish a notice in the Jiangbei Newspaper, recruiting commoners to come to Jiangnan to harvest rice, giving them the harvested rice as payment. Those with large families will naturally be willing, and even those with few people can spare one person; the busy farming season will only delay them for a few days at most and will not affect their own harvest."

Upon hearing this, Chang Wei nodded slowly. "That is indeed a way; we can more or less transfer some commoners from Jiangbei."

Zhao Xu smiled. "Actually, the most fundamental solution is to let the migrated commoners return to harvest their own grain."

The reason he had told Chang Wei to leave the commoners' fields alone was that he had thought of an excellent idea.

Since ancient times, commoners have regarded their own fields as their lives.

They cannot bear to see the crops in their own fields unable to be harvested when the harvest season arrives.

In the current era, even if farm children work away from home, they must return when the busy farming season arrives.

Even if it means losing money, they must harvest the grain in the fields; this is a habit cultivated over thousands of years.

Therefore, if Xu Ke's men spread the news that the rice is ripe among the commoners, it will inevitably stir up their homesickness.

Even at the risk of clashing with the Shizu Army, they will want to return home.

Thinking of this, he shared his thoughts with Chang Wei.

"Your Highness truly has a thorough grasp of the people's hearts. Speaking for myself, even I would want to go home to harvest rice," Chang Wei laughed heartily.

Qin Shan and Guan Tong also laughed. Guan Tong said, "But this must be done quickly, otherwise it will be too late."

"That goes without saying," Zhao Xu said. After thinking for a moment, he added, "Where are Xu Ke's men? Have him come to see me."

The Four Courts had people in Jinling City, for the purpose of facilitating contact with members lurking among the commoners.

"Yes, Your Highness." After acknowledging the order, Chang Wei gave a few instructions to his personal guards.

The personal guards left, and before long, a young man walked in.

"Zhang Hang, Commander of the Supervision Four Courts, pays respects to Your Highness." Seeing Zhao Xu, the young man bowed and saluted.

"Rise." Zhao Xu looked at Zhang Hang; there were also ranks within the Supervision Four Courts.

Xu Ke was the Chief of the Four Courts, commanding the entire Four Courts, and Chai Wu was the Deputy Chief of the Four Courts.

Below the Chief and Deputy Chief were eight great Commanders.

Below the Commanders were ranks such as Thousand-man Commander.

Zhang Hang was stationed in Jinling, which basically meant he was responsible for affairs in Jiangnan.

"This time, your Four Courts must cooperate with the Prince's Personal Army, striving to have the majority of the commoners coerced by the Shizu return to their homeland through this operation," Zhao Xu said.

He paused and continued, "Your Four Courts are responsible for contacting the core members among the commoners who are prepared to rise up, while simultaneously spreading the word that the rice is ripe to guide the commoners' homesickness. Meanwhile, the Prince's Personal Army will break into smaller units, disguise themselves as commoners, penetrate behind enemy lines, cooperate with the commoners' uprising, fire the first shot at the critical moment, and cover the commoners' retreat to the coast."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hang felt a surge of joy. He said, "If we have the cooperation of the Prince's Personal Army, the great cause can be achieved."

"Your Highness is brilliant," Chang Wei nodded slowly.

The Shizu had been keeping an eye on the Prince's Personal Army; as soon as the Prince's Personal Army moved, they would become vigilant.

However, if the majority of the Prince's Personal Army remains stationary, and the two or three tens of thousands of soldiers are broken down into smaller units and disguised as commoners, perhaps they could penetrate behind enemy lines without anyone noticing.

When the time comes, if they coordinate with the commoners to rise up, there is no need to worry that the commoners will not follow them.

"Since that is the case, there is no time to lose; we shall act immediately tomorrow." Zhao Xu looked toward the two of them and gave a word of instruction.

Acknowledging with a 'yes', the two turned and left.

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