Chapter 511: Besieging Fengyi County (XIX)

Wei Ci muttered, “This is a good idea, but the Tsing Yi Army claims that there are 200,000 members in their army. There will definitely be more captives in the future. Do you want to send all of the captives to the mines? Even though the iron ore is rich, it won’t take long to finish mining.”

Once the number of captives exceeded a certain threshold, it would become a huge danger. Conscript labor in mining was definitely tough. If they were to mine for the rest of their lives, it was difficult to ensure that these captives would not find ways to unite and create trouble.

There could not be an insufficient number of captives because most manual labor was done by captives. However, there could not be an excess number of captives because that would be shooting oneself in the foot instead. If one wanted to have a good reputation and become a benevolent ruler, one had to think of a way to properly arrange their future path.

Wei Ci hoped that his lord could also earn an honorable reputation in other ways than good deeds. She should not suffer a loss like how she had in the past. He would not presumptuously make a decision for her. First of all, he did not have such an intention. Secondly, Her Majesty was not the kind of person to be controlled by others.

She could accept good intentions once or twice with a smile and not fuss over it. However, she would not be able to tolerate a person who kept making decisions for her arbitrarily. Therefore, Wei Ci only pointed the problem out. It would be totally up to her to make a decision. Even if he did not bring it up, she would realize the problem when there was an increasing number of people in the captive camp.

Jiang Pengji pondered and said, “Zixiao’s concern makes sense. All of the defeated troops can’t be held captive in the future…”

If one thought about it carefully, what Jiang Pengji said was quite wild. She already believed that she was the suzerain of the world when she had only conquered Xiangyang District and Chengan District. Was she not thinking big?

“… We’ll do it this way. These captives can first be dispatched to the mines for six months. If they perform well without any misbehavior, they can be given the chance to ‘redeem’ themselves.” Captives were considered to be slaves. Even if they were not officially registered under the household registration, they were considered to be her personal property. What if the captives wanted to be free again? They could do so, as long as they found a way to redeem themselves.

Wei Ci raised his eyebrows and asked, “Redemption? How?”

Jiang Pengji replied, “These Tsing Yi Army captives are different from the captives captured six months ago. Their behaviors and acts are very odious. If they aren’t properly tempered, they can only be regarded as scum and they can’t even be used at all. It’s better to let them mine for half a year as a form of meditation.”

Of course, during this period of time, these captives were still ‘slaves’.

“If they don’t stir up trouble and perform extremely well in the six months’ period, they’ll be given a chance to become garrison peasants and receive simple training. They’ll spend most of the time reclaiming wasteland for farming and ploughing. They can participate in other labor construction during the slack season. They’ll be given food or money according to the amount of labor they perform. If they can make contributions to our military, their slavery status can be removed at discretion and they can be free…”

Jiang Pengji was definitely not willing to feed a gang of useless captives. If their labor force was excessively oppressed and exploited, it would become a hidden danger. It was better to be strict and lenient and give them some good treatment and hope. This was not the final decision, but it gave everyone the general outlook on how to handle the captives.

There were too many abandoned farmlands in the north. After the severe earthquake the year before, a lot of farmland was uncultivated. Because of the Tsing Yi Army, Chengan District missed the autumn harvest the year before and the spring ploughing this year. This meant that almost nothing was reaped for two years. There were many farms but little grains. It was not known as to how many people were still enduring the torments of hunger.

Jiang Pengji had currently accumulated quite a lot of popularity points which could be exchanged for a lot of food, but she did not rely on this channel. A normal and healthy force should provide for oneself and even have abundant grain. Not only could they feed the people, but they also had enough money and grain for war. It was simple to exchange for food in the mall, but a complete grain production system was missing. One would have to starve if one left the system!

It should not be forgotten that she was just confining the ‘subsystem’. The noumenon was still hiding in the corner of the world. Besides, according to the several probes she had for the system, the popularity points could have other usages. Out of consideration, Jiang Pengji felt that the captives should not be idle and should still work hard to shine.

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Xu Ke was silent for a while. He was somewhat enamored of Jiang Pengji’s suggestion. She was giving the slaves a chance to ‘redeem’ themselves and did not take away all their hope. If the captives had the desire to advance, repent, and perform well for half a year, they could become garrison peasants. They could cultivate wastelands, grow crops for the military and distribute the autumn harvest among the officials and civilians. Jiang Pengji would not be too relentless on the ratio between the two.

If the farming tools, improved variety of seeds and cattle were provided by the government, the government and civilians would have 40 percent and 60 percent of the income respectively. If the farming tools, improved variety of seeds and cattle were self-provided by each household, the government and civilians would have 30 percent and 70 percent of the income respectively.

All of the farmland would be owned by the government. Troops would be dispatched to serve as instructors during the slack season to teach the principles of warfare and killing the enemy.

They would also have the opportunity to go to war. If they could make a contribution, they could break free from their slavery status according to the scale of their meritorious services. If they did not have such desires and only wanted to be a commoner, they could participate in other paid work during the slack season. If they worked for a few years and were even able to buy their own farmland, the government and civilians would have 10 percent and 90 percent of the income respectively.

Jiang Pengji told the two strategists about her ideas. The more she explained, the more ideas she had, the more dynamic her thinking was.

Her troops had the habit of working on farmland during the autumn harvest and spring ploughing. Because too many wastelands were cultivated the year before in Xiangyang District, each household was given a lot of farm land, so their hands were extremely full. The spring ploughing was very short, so it would be a pity to miss it.

If God was considerate this year, not only could the autumn harvest feed the military, but also the entire Xiangyang District. There could even be an oversupply. However, training was the main task for her troops. Farming and other labor were auxiliary. The main tasks of the garrison peasants were farming and labor. Training was auxiliary. Even if they were not excellent in combat, they were still better than ordinary people.

However…

Xu Ke frowned and said, “The distribution ratio makes it seem like we’ve conceded too much.”

The government had provided the farming tools, improved variety of seeds and cattle. They should receive 50 percent of the profit instead of just 40 percent. After all, the farmlands did not belong to the civilians and they did not even have to pay the rent. According to the lord, the grains received by the government included grain tax as well…

As a result, the ratio was even lower than the current grain tax.

“It can’t be calculated that way. It’s not much even if it’s counted thoroughly…” Wei Ci saw through the flaw within. “The lord isn’t planning to pay the garrison peasants, right? Even if they’re paid, I think they’ll be paid a lot lower than the troops.”

The grain which the garrison peasants received was indeed theirs. They could eat it themselves. Without getting paid by the government, if there was a war and the enemy had launched an attack, they even had to put up a defense with their weapons. This was equivalent to them farming on their own, feeding themselves and paying themselves. They even had to go to war…

From the heyday of Wei Ci’s memory, the current proportion of tax was a bit harsh.

However, its most attractive part was that the poor captives would have the chance to buy their own farmland with their efforts. The government would have one-tenth of the grain tax, just as Jiang Pengji mentioned before. The government and civilians would have 10 percent and 90 percent of the income respectively.

In today’s world, such tax proportion was something that the people did not dare to imagine.