Chapter 1174: Labor Reform

Following the "arduous and exceptional" negotiations between Pei Yanran and Xie Fang, both sides finally reached an agreement regarding the Mercenary Legion.

Although outsiders do not know what the agreement specifically entails.

It is said that when Xie Fang walked out of the negotiation room, he was streaming with tears.

After wailing to the heavens for a while, his mood finally calmed down.

What a disaster!

This Pei Yanran, she is simply...

Fortunately.

Regardless, he had managed to secure those 150,000 troops of the Longyan Army.

As for what the contract is like...

No one knows.

In any case.

The grand and mighty military leasing was set in motion in Australia.

Of course, this matter could not be accomplished overnight.

The destruction of one One-Eyed Dragon Pirate Group was still not enough to make those with ambition truly behave.

In dealing with these unstable elements, Xie Fang did not mince words; it was just one word.

Seize!

Toil!

Kill!

After the 150,000 leased troops were ready, he first issued another announcement.

In Australia, no one is permitted to possess private armed forces of more than fifty people!

Those who possess private armed forces exceeding fifty people and have not registered with the Australia provisional government—seize!

Those who engage in fighting and brawling, act with bravado, or disrupt social order in Australia—seize!

Australia is free, but freedom must also be restricted by rules and regulations; here, you may use your clever brain to do anything, but as long as you commit the most base "armed conflict," I am sorry, seize!

Within the cities, Xie Fang is in control; outside the cities, Xie Fang must also manage.

Those who engage in illegal land reclamation or illegal grazing—seize!

Before this, Xie Fang had always been copying Liu Zheng's policies; in Australia, he could have completely copied Liu Zheng's homework from governing Liaodong.

But this time, he did not do so.

Even though Xie Fang had made significant progress compared to before, his essence was still that of a representative of the Landlord Class.

The Landlord Class has a near-obsessive fixation on land.

As for capital, Xie Fang could allow it to grow freely, but land—he must hold it firmly in his own hands!

The land all belongs to him; only with his permission can one go to reclaim it or graze on it!

In other words, no matter how glamorous or wealthy the investors coming to Australia are, as long as they want to use land here, they must be his tenant farmers!

Although his thinking was somewhat paranoid, the direction was correct.

There is a term called "adapting to local conditions."

It means taking appropriate measures based on the specific circumstances of each place.

Liaodong and Australia are fundamentally different, so one simply cannot copy and paste.

Liaodong is the inherent territory of the Longyan Empire, where Liaodong people have lived for generations, and everyone has a strong sense of national and patriotic identity;

Whereas Australia is a newly discovered continent; because it is an immigrant nation, there are many ethnicities, and the centripetal force among the people is insufficient. At this time, a strong government is needed to hold them firmly together; therefore, 100% ownership of the land is of paramount importance.

Because there are too many people coming to Australia to invest, it is a mixed bag, with all kinds of people.

They have governments in exile, they have pirate groups, there are oligarchs from various countries, political losers from other nations, as well as corrupt officials...

Xie Fang naturally knew that if these people gathered in Australia and were not governed properly, they would be one bomb after another, ready to explode at any time...

Therefore.

Following the military leasing policy came the management of land.

He must firmly control these people in his own hands, within his own rhythm!

Australia, and

other countries have all sorts of differences.

It is not just the differences in politics and culture; the Geography is also very different.

For example, Liaodong is located in the Northeast Asia region, and coupled with the Little Ice Age, the climate is relatively harsh, so people's enthusiasm for developing this place was not particularly strong.

But Australia is completely different; most of Australia is in the tropical and subtropical zones, and except for the deserts in the central and western parts, the rest of the regions are very suitable for human habitation. People's enthusiasm for developing this place is far stronger than that for Liaodong.

When the Liaodong region opened up policies for land development, even as a single-ethnic area, many bloody incidents occurred.

If Australia were to open up policies for land development, the expansion and annexation among multiple ethnicities would turn this place into a disaster zone nurturing war!

Therefore, land must be held in his hands.

He certainly did not want this place to truly become a masterless land hosting a "tower defense game."

Xie Fang employed a two-pronged approach; the Jawa Indigenous Army and the elite mercenaries of the Longyan Empire were all deployed, and in less than three days, they had seized nearly twenty thousand people.

Although compared to the total number of people currently in Australia, these twenty thousand are but a drop in the bucket, Australia has just been developed, and the judicial and prison system is not yet perfect; twenty thousand people have already greatly exceeded the carrying capacity of the existing prisons.

Although the security situation in Australia has improved greatly, Xie Fang cannot bring himself to be happy.

These twenty thousand people are an enormous drain.

They have not created any wealth for Australia, yet they consume a large amount of grain every day.

The current Xie Fang is no longer that playboy Supreme Prince; he is now a head of the household.

One does not know the cost of firewood and rice until one manages a household; he is naturally unwilling to provide food and drink for over twenty thousand people for nothing.

Furthermore, as time passed, some new situations also emerged.

Because the "treatment" in the Australia prisons was truly quite good, many tribal refugees from other regions chose to "lie flat," deliberately disturbing social order just to get into prison and secure an "iron rice bowl."

This made Xie Fang somewhat break down.

And this situation was only intensifying...

More and more people from other countries were rowing small rafts just to come to Australia.

Isn't this Heaven?

It is far better than their war-torn countries.

With more and more prisoners and increasing daily consumption, slowly, Xie Fang could no longer hold on.

"Speak up, everyone. Faced with this current situation, what Method should we use?"

Compelled by the pressure from Liu Zheng's side, he naturally could not go to ask Qin Zhangfeng and the others for advice, so he could only seek help from the "Think Tank" he had newly recruited.

Xie Fang knew very clearly that relying on himself alone, he was simply incapable of managing such a large Australia; he needed wise men and he needed a Strategist, so he widely recruited talents from all over the world.

Promising generous rewards, he soon recruited a group, and after final screening, the current twelve remained.

After Xie Fang raised the question, these Think Tank members offered their opinions.

"Viscount Xie, in my view, we should strike while the iron is hot and simply kill them. Without the people, there will be no consumption; in any case, they are useless people."

A thief-eyed Strategist was the first to stand up and offer a plan.

"Fantastic nonsense! That is nearly thirty thousand people, not thirty thousand pigs. You say kill them just like that? Drag him out, useless thing."

Xie Fang rebuked him angrily.

Indeed, cutting the Gordian knot like this was the best Method, but Xie Fang was not a bloodthirsty person. Those were nearly thirty thousand human lives! He could not bring himself to do it!

Firstly, his conscience would not allow it, and secondly, reality did not permit him to do so either.

Australia was currently in a period of absorbing population; if Xie Fang's reputation for slaughtering foreigners were to spread, outsiders would be too afraid to immigrate here anymore.

The most important thing for a region's development is population; if the population does not go up, even with more investment, it is all in vain.

Xie Fang also knew clearly that at that time, he wouldn't need to wait for his own internal collapse; Liu Zheng would deal with him directly from the outside.

"Viscount Xie, why not let these people build their own prison cells, farm their own land, and cook their own meals? Let them know that this is not a place for recuperation and leisure. Over time, the number of people will naturally decrease," another "smart aleck" said.

Hearing his words, Xie Fang almost said "bullshit" again.

Listening to his meaning, he wanted to expand the prison? Thirty thousand people building a prison—did he want to turn this Australia into the world's largest prison?

Although it was also a stupid idea, his direction was still correct.

That was labor reform.

While ensuring they were well-fed and well-rested, he would tap into their potential strength; this would also save the money of nearly thirty thousand hired laborers. It was killing two birds with one stone.

As the saying goes, three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang.

This labor reform actually activated everyone's thinking all at once.

Xie Fang, too, felt his furrowed brows slowly relax.

Northwest Pacific.

A group of high-ranking Tsarist Russia commanders were deliberating in a temporary military camp in the South Kuril Islands.

"General, the number of outer island guards for the Longyan army has been decreasing for three consecutive days. Scouts just reported that now, the outer island guards on Kuye Island are fewer than two thousand, and among them, some are in a state of extreme lethargy. It is estimated that the number of people capable of fighting on the island should be less than ten thousand. Marshal, this is an excellent opportunity for us. Let's move!" Xie'er'gai urged somewhat anxiously.

Plague!

In the minds of these Tsarist Russia generals, this must be the effect of their Plague!

That's right.

Once they used a thing like the Plague, there was certainly no one who could escape it!

If they, Tsarist Russia, could not withstand it.

Then, Longyan would be even less able to!

And...

As early as a few days ago, Tsarist Russia had confirmed that the Plague had already begun to spread among the Longyan army.

Therefore...

What are we waiting for now!

Xie'er'gai was anxious.

As a trusted general under Ushakov, he was very worried that Ushakov would lose this excellent opportunity!

Time waits for no one...

Peter the Great had only given them one month; at this moment, ten days had already passed.

"Yes, Marshal, Longyan must be unable to hold on anymore!"

"Launching a general offensive at this time should be no problem!"

"Marshal, opportunity knocks but once!"

However, faced with these people's suggestions, Ushakov still kept a gloomy face and did not speak.

This made the others look at each other in dismay again.

When Ushakov used the Plague tactic, wasn't he waiting for today?

Why now that it has come...

The intelligence was already very certain, yet he was hesitating instead?

They could not figure it out.