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Chapter 975 Changes with each passing day 3
"But if we only rely on the disaster victims in a few key counties, Xiaoliuqiu Island is enough, but the Luzon Special Zone is probably a stretch, and the Annan Special Zone can only sigh in despair. Moreover, we have to develop Liaoyang Province in the future. The land there is not worse than here, and there are many mineral resources to be mined. We can't just ignore it forever."

But Hong Tao is not satisfied with these extra gains. Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan are not all severely affected areas. There are only a dozen counties that are prone to drought and floods, with a total population of only a few million. Compared with the special zones that are in urgent need of population, this is a drop in the bucket. It can only provide emergency relief but not solve the fundamental problem.

"Your Majesty, if you want to develop Liaoyang Province, you need a population of one to two million. With so many people, we... really can't do anything!" Hearing this, even Yuan Yingtai couldn't help but complain. A hundred thousand people were not enough, and this was too hasty.

If this trend continues, we may have to develop Wala and Outer Khalkha Mongolia in the future. It gives me a headache just thinking about it. It's such a big place, and we can't even get a few million people to come in and see anything.

"Yes, Your Majesty, governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. You have to work slowly and not do it all at once!"

Not only was Yuan Yingtai shocked, but Yang Lian, the Minister of Justice, also advised him. As the most loyal supporter of the emperor and the new policy, he was also the most unwilling to see someone ruin the achievements of the new policy, so even the emperor had to oppose it!

"My dear ministers, please don't jump to conclusions. Just listen to what I have to say. Before you followed me here, did you have the insights you have now?" Seeing that the most core ministers began to oppose, Hong Tao was neither angry nor anxious. He pressed his hands downward and began to explain his point of view.

"..." The ministers looked at each other, shook their heads, and waited to hear what was to come.

"As the saying goes, what you hear is not as good as what you see. The reason I just mentioned is only one of the reasons why the people of the Ming Dynasty are unwilling to come. The more important thing is that they have not seen it with their own eyes, but only heard it from others. Let alone the people, I dare not move my whole family.

If you want them to come on their own initiative, the solution is actually very simple, just show them the life in the Special Administrative Region and let them see it with their own eyes. Of course, it is impossible to let everyone come and see it, I think it is entirely possible to let the prefectures and counties organize the people under their jurisdiction to elect representatives to come and take a look on their behalf.

The travel expenses can be paid by Sun Moon Bank first, and the host party can count the number of people and their origins before repaying. Yuan Buzheng, are you willing to pay for the travel expenses of these representatives? "

After talking about the method of large-scale immigration, Hong Tao turned his face to the dark and thin Nanyang Governor Yuan Chonghuan. This tragic figure in the late Ming Dynasty behaved well during his tenure as Left Counselor, Right Governor and Left Governor in Fujian, Henan and Huguang.

He had neither shown any military talent nor made any major mistakes. In short, he had no special qualities. If his place of origin and background were not the same as Yuan Chonghuan in history, I would have thought that I had recognized the wrong person.

"Not only am I willing to pay for the journey, I can also build a house for them locally!"

Yuan Chonghuan was overjoyed when he heard this. Fearing that just reimbursing travel expenses was not attractive enough, he offered a more tempting condition. There was plenty of timber and wasteland on Luzon Island, so as long as he could attract immigrants to come and set up a farm, it would be no problem.

"Well, this won't do. It's suspected of bribery. If the Left Censor finds out, he will definitely impeach me. But we can try another approach. For example, whoever can persuade a family of immigrants to settle here can have a certain tax reduction or exemption. The more immigrants they bring in, the higher the tax reduction or exemption.

There is no need to wait for local governments to send people to inspect the area. We can take the initiative to do publicity. Let the local new immigrants return home with wealth and tell the truth about the living conditions here, which should also attract some people to settle down.

Write down all the conditions clearly and post them on notices. There must be no forced deception. Every immigrant household must be asked clearly when they come to register. Don't cause trouble for me, and save yourself trouble. Remember!" But this condition made Hong Tao shake his head repeatedly. Isn't this a disguised bribe? It is too easy to attract the attention of the supervisory department. To govern a place, it is necessary to vigorously develop the economy, but it cannot break the law.

If a cat is a good cat no matter whether it is black or white as long as it catches a mouse, the economy will develop, but bad habits will also be formed, and corruption will follow. It is hard to say whether the dividends of development can ultimately fall into the hands of the people.

It's the same word again, rules. Once the rules are set, they cannot be violated and must be followed in everything. If you find that the rules are hindering development, then modify the rules first. But before the rules are changed, you have to accept them even if they are unreasonable!

Only when the emperor and officials take the lead in abiding by the rules at all times will the people follow suit. It is best not to break the rules even once. If you break the rules once, there will be a second time, and then the rules will become meaningless.

Will this method work? Hong Tao thinks it will work. To put it bluntly, this is the pyramid scheme of later generations, except that the commodity has become a person. The principle is the same, and it still seizes the weaknesses in human nature.

Is it immoral or not? That depends on where you stand. Some new immigrants who were tricked into coming here by their relatives, friends, or fellow countrymen definitely regret it, and that is immoral. But there are also some who regret not coming here earlier, and that is good.

From the perspective of the ruler, there is only appropriateness and inappropriateness, not the difference between being immoral and being virtuous. The ruler only needs to make the majority of people appropriate, and has no obligation to satisfy everyone's wishes, nor can he do so.

"I will definitely instruct my subordinates to investigate every link strictly and never deceive the world and steal fame!" Yuan Chonghuan did not ignore the emperor's warning. He immediately became vigilant and recorded it carefully in a notebook as the focus of execution.

"In addition to the population, the public security situation in the south must also be thoroughly improved. If immigrants are constantly being robbed or even killed, it will have a huge negative impact on immigration work."

But Hong Tao was not as optimistic as Yuan Chonghuan. After more than 20 years of operation, the Luzon Special Zone had achieved good ethnic integration, but it was not impeccable. In the southern Bicol region and Mindoro Island, small-scale attacks still occurred from time to time.

Luzon is only the northernmost island of the Philippine archipelago. There is another large island called Mindanao in the southernmost part. There are hundreds of islands of different sizes in the sea between the two. The fragmented geographical features mean that it is unlikely that there will be the same ethnic group.

There are three major ethnic groups living on the island of Luzon, from north to south, they are Iloks, Tagalogs, and Bicols. Under these years of rule and assimilation, they have basically accepted the rule of the Ming Empire and started to integrate with the new immigrants.

Mindoro Island, which is separated from Luzon by a narrow strait, and a large number of islands to the south are mainly inhabited by Cebuanos and Visayans.

Due to its proximity to Batangas Port and pressure from the Marines, the Visayan people on the north side of Mindoro Island tend to identify with the rule of the Ming Empire, are willing to engage in commercial exchanges, and accept Taoist culture.

However, the Visayans living in the south of the island and the Cebuanos on other islands were more stubborn and unwilling to recognize the rule of the Ming Empire. They often joined forces with some ethnic groups from islands further south to launch harassment attacks on the southern part of Luzon. Although they were unsuccessful, the southern coastal areas were never developed and sparsely populated.

(End of this chapter)