Chapter 653 - Chapter 653: Chapter 297: Troops Head to Xichuan_2

Chapter 653: Chapter 297: Troops Head to Xichuan_2

However, the difficulties and obstacles faced in migrating to Xichuan Prefecture were much less compared to Qianzhong County.

After all, as the fertile soil that had been cultivated by previous Jinling dynasties, the prosperity of Xichuan Prefecture was world-renowned.

Jinguan City in Xichuan Prefecture, like Baling City in Dongting County and Xiangyang City in Xiangyang Prefecture, ranked among the world’s famous cities.

Such a rich and fertile place was extremely tempting for those in Chu State who lacked land and wanted to seize an opportunity.

Few people would go to Qianzhong County, a place with poor mountains and bad waters, unless they were forced to.

But when it came to Xichuan Prefecture, there were a lot of people signing up.

Take the current situation in the eastern three prefectures of Xichuan, for example. As the population has gradually increased to 880,000, it has become quite crowded for the local area.

After all, this is a mountainous area, with not much arable land available, and the yield of the fields is far inferior to those in richer areas.

There is a limit to the number of people that can be supported by this land of the three prefectures.

Just relying on the local grain production, supporting a million people would be the limit, and this limit is established under the condition of the local people living very frugally.

Although there is still some distance from this limit now,

the pressure of life has already started to show in some places.

Many low-income people with little land have had to give up farming and choose to work in the city to supplement their families’ livelihoods.

But in such a mountainous area, without a mature handicraft industry, how many people can the city support?

As the number of people working in the city increases, so does the competition for jobs, indirectly lowering wages and making it difficult to earn much money. At best, it could only provide enough for a family to get by.

Moreover, this subsistence line is slowly decreasing with the growth of the population.

It can be foreseen that if industrial reform isn’t carried out, more handicraft industries with economic value aren’t introduced, then the people of the eastern three prefectures will surely become poorer.

However, how to reform, whether to reform or not, these are all matters for local officials and court ministers. Lu Yuan doesn’t have time to care about these things, nor is he good at it.

He only knows one thing.

The people in the east of Xichuan Prefecture have already felt the pressure of life and have a strong willingness to migrate.

“No need for too many, just moving 200,000 or so out of the 880,000 people in the three prefectures would be enough.

In this way, the remaining population would average about 200,000 per prefecture, with each household having enough farmland. The production of local grain and living conditions would greatly improve.

Finally, in Xiangyang Prefecture and Dongting Prefecture, respectively, relocate another 100,000 to 200,000 people, bringing the total to 600,000 people.

Together with the displaced people from Yuzhong Prefecture and the remaining population within the Xichuan border, there would be about a million people.

With this many people, there would be enough support for the development of the west five prefectures in Xichuan.”

Lu Yuan made a plan in his heart.

…

Once the decision was made, Lu Yuan did not delay and immediately wrote a decree to be sent back to the country. He asked ministers like Cui Changqing to prepare and carry out preliminary immigration work.

With 200,000 troops under his command, including more than 100,000 elite soldiers, it was not difficult for him to drive out the mere 100,000 Nanzhao Army.

It was not even difficult to capture all of these people.”

As for the Big Emperor’s Son of Nanzhao Army, an Inborn Grandmaster, Lu Yuan could easily defeat him with one hand.

He just didn’t give him a chance this time.

If he had the opportunity, Lu Yuan wouldn’t mind killing another Inborn Grandmaster, achieving his fourth kill as an Inborn Grandmaster.

It just so happened that Nanzhao Country’s power had gone beyond the scope of a small country, with two and a half prefectures and an air of pre-Chu country’s conquest of the southwest barbarians at that time.

Facing such a southwestern hegemon, without weakening them, Lu Yuan felt uneasy even with the recovery of Xichuan.

A country that can send out an army of 100,000 and has three Inborn Grandmasters at their disposal, is a force to be reckoned with.

Just ask, who could be at ease?

At this moment, Lu Yuan could somewhat understand the feelings of the previous Emperor Yue Hongdao and the current Ning Country Jianwu Heavenly Son when they faced the forerunner of Changsha country and the current Chu State.

They must also have dreaded Chu State as Lu Yuan dreaded Nanzhao Country now.

They would have loved to eliminate this great threat once and for all, to solve their worries and then concentrate on dealing with other big countries.

“But nothing in the world can go smoothly. Just as Ning Country cannot conquer Chu State now, Chu State, with its current strength, cannot conquer Nanzhao Country.

This time, we can only kill and capture more Nanzhao soldiers, weakening the enemy’s strength.

At the same time, see if there is an opportunity to kill the Big Emperor’s Son, Zhao Changqing, and break the enemy’s arm.”

Lu Yuan’s eyes were aflame, his fighting spirit soaring.

Accomplishing either of these two goals would deal a significant blow to Nanzhao Country.

If both were accomplished, it would amount to reducing Nanzhao’s national strength by 20%.

With the spoils won by Huang Xuan’s southern central army, Li Xiong and Li River’s southern army,

it would not be a problem to deal a severe blow to Nanzhao and prevent them from recovering for thirty years after the end of this war.

At that time, Nanzhao, with its severely wounded vitality, would no longer pose a threat to Chu State until its strength was restored.