Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 1354 It’s not impossible

"Your Highness just said that the purpose of military farming is to allow more Han people to settle down in Yunnan. So what other means can be used to allow Han people to settle down in Daning?" Fu Youde asked.

"Old Master, we Han people are not only good at farming." Zhu Zhen said with a smile: "As long as we can make money and live a peaceful life, we Han people can do anything and do it well."

After a pause, he said in a deep voice: "I said that Daning is better than Yunnan, but I am not kidding you. Although this place is also outside the Great Wall, the Yanshan Mountains cannot be compared with the Hundred Thousand Mountains in the southwest."

"Yes." Fu Youde agreed: "If Yanshan is a wall, then the Shiwan Mountains are... countless walls. It is much easier to get to Daning from the inland than to Yunnan."

"So, it will be much easier to form close economic ties between Daning and the mainland." Zhu Zhen said with a smile, "Besides, the cattle and sheep on the grassland and the products of the mainland are both rigid needs for each other. They have all the conditions to form a close connection. They were just separated artificially before."

"So what I have to do is to let both parties re-establish this connection?" Fu Youde asked.

"Yes." Zhu Zhen said solemnly: "This requires a large number of manpower. As long as you create good conditions, businessmen will naturally recruit people from the mainland."

"What do good conditions include?" Fu Youde asked.

"Convenient transportation, safe environment, free trade, low taxes, and as little harassment as possible." Zhu Zhen pointed and said, "Just do these five things well."

"Yes..." Fu Youde took out a small notebook and quickly wrote down the key points. Then he thought: "The first one is very clear, just keep repairing the road. But the next four are complicated..."

"Yes, they are all big articles, but you have to learn to summarize them." Zhu Zhen then taught earnestly: "What is this outline? It is the cities we built this year. If you let the Han people live in the cities, you can ensure their safety. Put the mutual market in the cities, you can let them trade freely. At the same time, it is also convenient to supervise the government and the army, and prevent them from extending their hands too far."

"Right, right, right!" Fu Youde's eyes lit up and he said, "The city is the core and the key. It is very useful, not just a military station and granary."

"That's right. Cities are our grip on the grassland." Zhu Zhen nodded with satisfaction and said, "Compared to the boundless grassland, managing only a dozen cities, doesn't it feel much less stressful?"

"Really." Fu Youde smiled embarrassedly and said, "Just now, when I thought about managing such a large territory, my pants got wet."

"Hahaha!" Zhu Zhen laughed, then said seriously, "But you can't just focus on the city and ignore the grassland outside the city. That's absolutely not okay."

"Yes." Fu Youde responded quickly and asked, "Then what is the focus on the grassland?"

"In fact, the grassland is peaceful most of the time. After being in contact with them for such a long time, you can see that most of them are normal people like us. They are afraid of death and live a day-to-day life. They are not man-eating wolves. So as long as we ensure normal trade and can keep them well fed and clothed, and have enough daily necessities, most people will consciously protect the Han and Meng families."

Zhu Zhen changed the subject and said quietly, "But this is only the general case..."

"What about unusual situations?" Fu Youde stared at Zhu Zhen without blinking. "You need to pay attention to two points. One is to prevent the emergence of a strong man who can integrate the grassland in the short term, and the other is to avoid long-term population growth." Zhu Zhen lowered his voice and said, "When one of these two conditions occurs, the grassland will be unstable. When both conditions occur at the same time, the grassland will be in trouble."

"Yes, the new Genghis Khan." Fu Youde swallowed and said.

"That's right. This is why my brother must kill Yesudiel. He and his subordinate Mahamu are both capable men." Zhu Zhen sighed.

"But the grassland is still too big. There are still a lot of places in the north and west of the desert that can accommodate them. So we can't keep using this method. That will only force them out of our sphere of influence. Once they leave the greenhouse we have created, their threat will increase exponentially."

"The emperor also thought so." Fu Youde nodded and said, "That's why he has always focused on appeasement and not allowed us to kill too many people."

"Of course, nothing can be absolute. When dealing with such a strongman, high military pressure is indispensable, but the best way is to prevent them from integrating the various tribes through political division and disintegration." Zhu Zhen expected that if nothing unexpected happened, he would not return to the grassland, so he spoke very clearly.

"In fact, I have been making preparations in this regard from the beginning. I will divide the surrendered tribes into different guards in Daning as evenly as possible, and let Nahachu lead his people to the Outer Northeast to deal with his Nurgandusi. In this way, the remaining princes will have similar strengths, and no one will submit to anyone else, so naturally they will become a pile of loose sand."

"In the future, you must remember an iron rule: each tribe can only roam in its own garrison and must not invade the territories of other garrisons." Zhu Zhen said word by word, "Otherwise, you will be severely punished!"

"In order to prevent them from taking advantage of loopholes, we must also strictly prohibit the resale or leasing of pastures to outsiders. In short, all tribes must be firmly tied to the grasslands they are granted! Any tribe that dares to leave on a large scale without permission is plotting against their will! We will never allow them to resume nomadic life!"

Although Zhu Zhen did not specify the punishment, his murderous tone made his meaning clear. Fu Youde nodded solemnly and said, "I understand. Your Majesty, don't worry. Anyone who dares to cross the line will be killed without mercy!"

"Hey, don't be so extreme. There are many ways to do this, don't use a knife easily." Zhu Zhen hurriedly pulled him back and said, "And you'd better grasp the degree and don't get involved in their small-scale border frictions. Keep the conflicts between the tribes and avoid turning them into conflicts between Han and Mongolia, or conflicts between the government and the Mongolians."

"I understand!" Fu Youde nodded heavily, and said with great admiration: "Although I have said it many times, I still have to say that the person I admire most in my life, besides the emperor, is the prince."

"Haha," Zhu Zhen laughed out loud, "I remember last time you said, 'Except the Emperor and the General.'"

"This shows that I admire Your Highness more than before." Fu Youde finished flattering him and asked the last question: "Your Highness hasn't said how to control the population yet."

"This is a question that can be measured in ten or twenty years," Zhu Zhen said. "We have many tools, but most policies are formulated by the court, such as recruiting soldiers from various tribes on the grassland and dispersing them to garrison all over the country or sending them to fight on the battlefield. Another example is that when the time is right, we will register all the people, set up prefectures and counties, and take the population away from the hands of the princes. You can just follow the instructions when the time comes."

"Of course you can do something, such as encouraging intermarriage and letting soldiers marry more Mongolian women. This is more effective than anything else." Zhu Zhen finally teased Fu Youde, "It's a pity that you are old, otherwise you should take the lead."

"Ahem..." Fu Youde said awkwardly, "If the court really needs it, it's not impossible."

(End of this chapter)