Chapter 2848
It is somewhat ironic that in the early years, the Northern Region had to transfer refugees to the south on a large scale because there were too many refugees in its jurisdiction and it was difficult to resettle them. Thousands of refugees took boats out to sea at Zhifu Port and headed south to colonial settlement areas in Taiwan, Hainan Island and other places.
During the peak period, immigration ships departed from Zhifu Port every day, and tens of thousands of refugees left the country in a single month. Most of the resettlement places assigned to these northern refugees depend on luck. If you are lucky, they may go to Sanya and become employees of a collective farm; if you are not lucky, their destination may be somewhere near the sea near the equator, thousands of miles away from home. A small town, I will never have the chance to return to my hometown again in this life.
At that time, the Northern Region did not care to consider the specific whereabouts of the refugees. If they were not transported away as soon as possible, it would only lead to the rapid depletion of various materials in the jurisdiction, and then the situation would get out of control and fall into chaos. But few people could have imagined that more than ten years later, the Northern Region would once again be stumped by the population problem. However, this time it was not that the population was too large to feed, but that it was too small to meet development needs.
With the current population size in Liaodong, if we want to meet the labor force required for development through natural reproduction, we will probably have to wait at least a generation. The premise is that Liaodong can recuperate during this period and there will be no war or famine. Disaster.
"Then how do you plan to solve the population problem?" Bai Kesi asked.
Now that Chen Yixin has put this problem on the table, Bai Kesi believes that he should already have a plan to solve the problem, and it seems that there are not many options for the direction of obtaining a large number of people.
"Put pressure on Ming Dynasty and exchange immigration for peace." The plan given by Chen Yixin can be described as simple and crude.
Bai Kesi asked rhetorically: "The Ming Dynasty signed the armistice agreement with my country in order to preserve the population and territory as much as possible. Do you think applying pressure will be effective?"
Chen Yixin said: "Whether it will work or not will only be known after trying it. But as far as I know, the interior of the Ming Dynasty is not so peaceful. The harvests in the Ming Dynasty have not been ideal in recent years. If the year is slightly bad, famine will easily occur, and The peasant army in the Central Plains has been on the rise again in the past two years. If we are willing to accept the hungry people who are fleeing the Ming Dynasty and solve their potential troubles, then maybe we can sit down and negotiate the terms.”
Bai Kesi asked calmly: "Is it really that simple? If the year is good, there is no refugee wave anywhere, and there is no peasant army as you expected, then wouldn't your method not work?"
Chen Yixin sneered and said: "If you cooperate with us well, of course there will be no refugee wave and peasant army. But if you refuse to cooperate, it will be hard to say."
Obviously, what Chen Yixin said by "exerting pressure" was not just waiting for problems to arise within Ming Dynasty. If Ming Dynasty refused to cooperate in immigration, then Chen Yixin would probably try to create some trouble for Ming Dynasty.
Even if he does not go to war with Ming Dynasty, Chen Yixin still has many flexible means that he can use to achieve his goals. The Northern Region has enough power to influence the Ming Dynasty's grain market. As long as the funds are in place, it will be easy to create an artificial grain shortage. As for the careerists who want to raise troops and become kings on their own, there are countless people in the Ming Dynasty, whose strength has been severely weakened today. As long as some support is provided secretly, there is absolutely no shortage of people who are willing to jump out and cause trouble.
Of course, how to turn these means into real pressure at the negotiation table will test Chen Yixin's negotiation skills. If implemented properly, it might be possible to force Ming to cooperate.
Bai Kesi did not comment on what Chen Yixin said, but continued to ask from a different angle: "Do you think the immigration needs in Liaodong can be solved through this channel?" Chen Yixin said: "Even if it cannot be completely solved, it can at least alleviate the problem in some areas. The demand for labor force. I believe you also understand that the value that the same labor force can create in our hands is far greater than their contribution in Ming Dynasty. This can be regarded as making the best use of talents. ”
Bai Kesi pondered for a moment before responding: "This matter is not trivial. You go back and prepare a written report. I will take it back to Sanya and we will go through the process."
By going through the process, Baikes naturally meant taking the matter to the executive committee for discussion and decision-making. Whether it is the relationship with Ming Dynasty or the development prospects of Liaodong, they are very important to Haihan. If these two major events are mixed together, they must be authorized by the Executive Committee before they can be implemented.
Chen Yixin was not surprised by Bai Kesi's reply. He nodded and said, "Then let's talk about it for now."
Returning to the room later, Bai Letong took the initiative to ask his father a question: "The boy thinks Uncle Chen's plan doesn't sound practical, so why is his father willing to accept it?"
Bai Kesi said: "If these words were said by others, it might indeed sound a bit like bragging. But when Chen Yixin said these words in front of me, they were definitely not said casually, but after careful consideration. Maybe he has already prepared a written report and is waiting for my request.”
Bai Letong said: "But if we want to remove so many people from the Central Plains, Ming will not let go easily. If we really want to create chaos for Ming, it will inevitably lead to disaster. And with Ming's ability, if we can't control the situation , isn’t the world in chaos? This is also inconsistent with the idea of taking over the Ming Dynasty as peacefully as possible.”
Baikes said: "It is precisely because he has to act cautiously that I asked him to first submit a written plan to the executive committee for review. If the executive committee feels that the situation may get out of control, it may not approve his plan. But I think it should If we can find a balance point acceptable to both parties through negotiation, we don’t necessarily have to use coercion. We can also use inducements. ”
Bai Letong said: "How to implement this inducement? Is it possible that we still have to spend money to buy people? I have only read about this in books. I heard that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, a lot of money was spent to introduce people from all walks of life from the Ming Dynasty. Talents from all walks of life, should we do this again? ”
Bai Kesi shook his head and said: "That's not necessary. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, we did not have the capital to negotiate terms with Ming Dynasty, so we could only spend money to do things. But now the situation is different. We are the stronger side. If we relax our fingers a little, we can deal with Ming Dynasty. It's a very considerable benefit. For example, if we decide to postpone the acceptance of Shandong or other regions for one or two years, but require Ming Dynasty to provide immigrants in exchange, do you think there is room for negotiation on this matter? ?”
Bai Letong suddenly said: "What my father said makes sense. If we can reach an agreement on terms acceptable to both parties, that would of course be the best."
(End of chapter)