The Demon Lords-Chapter 770 - 169: King of the Wild People_1

"Up early today!"

"Hey... yo!"

"The wife steamed some buns for us!"

"Hey... yo!"

"If the buns aren't enough, we have more!"

"Hey... yo!"

"Brother, I'm like an old ox!"

"Hey... yo!"

"Busy day and night!"

"Hey, hey, hey, yo!!!!!"

A group of workers were dismantling a workshop. Some of the equipment was laborious and time-consuming to make, so it was best to transport it intact. Once they reached Snow Sea Pass and settled into the new workshop, they could immediately start a new cycle of production as soon as they found the raw materials.

Migration isn't like a military march. Marching requires speed and efficiency, but with this kind of mass relocation, it's hard to aim for speed.

Anyway, since they were starting out slow and couldn't hurry, they figured they might as well take all the useful things with them.

The blind man and Siniang sat in a carriage. Outside was the dismantling site.

"This is the true voice of the working people," the blind man remarked. "It's just that this work chant is also a bit bawdy."

Ever since the blind man started playing the erhu, his aesthetic sensibilities had slowly drifted away from those of a concert pianist, becoming more down-to-earth.

Of course, one could also say he had moved beyond so-called lowbrow tastes and begun to appreciate the voices of the common working people.

"Why don't you compose one for them?" Siniang laughed. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"No, no, that wouldn't do. These things are like comedy sketches—fun and amusing to listen to in private, but they lose much of their flavor if performed at the New Year Gala."

"Let's get down to business," Siniang said, rubbing her brow.

"Indeed, we must. A Ming said that what Snow Sea Pass lacks most is people, so we need to figure out how to migrate people there."

The raids by the wild people had nearly turned the area around Snow Sea Pass into a no-man's land. Ultimately, the development of any region depends most on its people.

"Let's hear your plan first," Siniang said.

The blind man nodded. "I plan to divide it into four steps."

Following this, the blind man took an orange from his pocket, peeled off a piece of the rind, placed it on a surface in the carriage, and said,

"The first step is to mobilize our base. I must say, regarding My lord's earlier requirement for us to open study societies and medical clinics in Shengle City—I understood at the time that it was merely a moment of his characteristic soft-heartedness. After all, one who doesn't manage the household doesn't know the cost of rice and firewood. But it produced an unexpected, beneficial effect. I believe at least half the people in Shengle City are willing to migrate with us to Snow Sea Pass.

"But it's hard to leave one's homeland. Most people are unwilling to leave their native place unless absolutely necessary. So, this brings us to the second step: public opinion and propaganda.

"These people have grown accustomed to the good life we've provided. We'll spread the word that after General Zheng is reassigned from here, the new city commandant will be a ferocious Yan officer—violent, rapacious, insatiably lewd, fond of drinking human milk, and even known to eat children.

"In short, we paint the bleakest picture possible.

"All the shops, restaurants, and teahouses in Shengle City belong to our General's establishment. We'll arrange for people to spread these rumors in every single one.

"Rumors spread like wildfire; if three people say there's a tiger in the market, it becomes true, even if it isn't. These common folk have no access to genuine affairs of state and military, making them the easiest to incite. Creating panic will be very easy.

"After these two steps, about ninety percent of the people in Shengle will likely follow us.

"But that's far from enough. Snow Sea Pass is much, much larger than our Shengle City, and its location is far superior. Naturally, its capacity to hold a population is extremely vast.

"To put it bluntly, even if all our soldiers and civilians from Shengle migrate there, it would be like trying to fill the gaps between teeth for Snow Sea Pass.

"So, for the third step, I plan to spread news far and wide around Shengle. We'll announce that we're hiring laborers, not conscripting them. We'll promise that anyone who helps us transport goods to Snow Sea Pass will be paid thirty taels of silver per head.

"Furthermore, we'll deliberately make it known that men, women, adults, and children will all be treated equally; anyone who can help transport goods will be paid at this rate.

"People in the surrounding regions will undoubtedly bring their entire families to cash in on this."

At this point, Siniang couldn't help but ask,

"We don't have that much money."

However, a moment later, Siniang seemed to realize something. She smiled and nodded.

The blind man also nodded and continued,

"Snow Sea Pass has practically become a no-man's land. What's most worthless there? Just like during the great westward expansion, land is the least valuable thing.

"Once we've tricked this large group of people into going to Snow Sea Pass, they want silver? Fine. But it's all converted into farmland. Thirty taels of silver, by our calculation, equates to a standard plot of medium-grade land, which will be given to them to farm.

"Don't want the land and still want silver?

"Then they'll have to wait. Wait until the silver is transported over before we can settle accounts. If it's delayed for a year or so, who can endure that?

"Besides, we have troops at our disposal. Are we afraid they'll cause trouble?"

"They wouldn't be able to cause trouble even if they wanted to, because many among them will be willing to take the land," Siniang commented.

"Exactly. Otherwise, what? They make the journey from Shengle to Snow Sea Pass, crossing half of Jin State, all for naught? They can just write it off as a long trip and return empty-handed.

"But how many would be willing to return empty-handed? What would they eat and drink on the way back? With their entire families, old and young, in tow, how many could endure the journey back to their hometowns?"