Chapter 1023: Never stopped
Translator: Legge
To control people in these wastelands, the consortiums were used to keeping all the production resources firmly in their hands. Water, land, and everything that the people relied on for survival were all controlled.
When Zhang Jinglin was at Stronghold 113, he had profoundly said to Ren Xiaosu, “This is a world that has been meticulously designed by the consortiums.”
Previously, even Zhang Jinglin did not dare to break this status quo. Fortress 178 could not even take in any refugees because if they broke this rule, everyone would start attacking them.
For example, Luoyang City had wanted to completely open its gates to everyone and sought to end any differentiation between refugees and stronghold residents. However, they were warned by the Kong Consortium, the Wang Consortium, and the Zhou Consortium as soon as they introduced those changes.
In the end, documents like “visas” were created, and there was still a huge gulf in the treatment of refugees and stronghold residents.
But now, Ren Xiaosu not only wanted to implement land reforms, but he also wanted to completely topple the walls separating the stronghold residents and refugees in the Northwest.
Actually, Stronghold 144 had already done so. After all, it was impossible not to let people into the city if you wanted to promote trade.
Ren Xiaosu said, “I’ve read a lot of books, but what we’ve planned is just textbook theory for now. So I need everyone to work together as a group. I’m just sharing my thoughts right now. As the largest trade hub in the Northwest, it should be more open here in Stronghold 144 than other places. So our pace of reforms should be faster than theirs. Don’t be afraid of making any mistakes. If there’s any, I’ll take responsibility.”
The Great Hoodwinker looked at Ren Xiaosu quietly. Regarding Zhang Jinglin’s uncaring attitude towards Stronghold 144, he was most aware of it.
He knew very well that Commander Zhang was doing this because he wanted to see how Ren Xiaosu would lead the people of this city to create a new world.
Perhaps even Ren Xiaosu himself did not realize that while he was only trying to solve the problem of the food shortage, what he was actually doing was planning a roadmap.
Wang Yun thought for a while and then said, “But actually, we still have to discuss the pros and cons of the contract responsibility system. Everyone should know that when this system is implemented, there’ll definitely be a lot of people who are willing to own their ‘own’ land even if the lease will only last for a few decades. But in terms of agricultural efficiency, it will not be as beneficial as large-scale mechanized production.”
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and replied, “I think now’s the right time to reclaim the wasteland. The land in the Northwest that needs to be reclaimed will need manpower to do so. We can divide the development process into stages. It’s still too early to introduce large-scale mechanized production at this stage, and we don’t have the conditions for that either. We have to improve the enthusiasm of the people first to cultivate the wasteland into farmland.”
“I agree,” Wang Yun said with a nod.
“In this process of ‘privatization,’ we still have to pay attention to the large families swallowing up the smaller land parcels. So it’s best to add certain restrictions to the awarding process of the contracts.” Wang Yuexi thought for a moment and said, “Moreover, I feel that besides contracting out the plots, we can also contract out the building of brick kilns and other factories as well. There’ll be all sorts of things that can be contracted out. But the prerequisite is that our economic lifeline must always remain in the hands of Fortress 178. This is the foundation that cannot be shaken.”
Ren Xiaosu’s eyes lit up. “Wang Yuexi has hit the nail on the head. Currently, our Northwest’s productivity is still several notches below that of the Central Plains. But if we take everyone’s enthusiasm into account and make use of it, the Northwest might be able to advance by leaps and bounds. However, all y’all have to be careful. Once the brick kilns are privately owned, there’ll likely be extreme cases of exploitation in the industry as well. So the supporting labor laws will have to keep up to prevent that from happening.”
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At the side, Yang Xiaojin just sat there quietly. She leaned her chin on her hand and looked at Ren Xiaosu’s profile.
In the past, Ren Xiaosu would always be reading books whenever he had free time, even in the wilderness.
Some people felt that studying was useless, but Yang Xiaojin could see the charm of books through Ren Xiaosu at this moment. The young man who used to be a refugee had never stopped increasing his own knowledge. And now, his hard work was starting to bear fruit.
If she were to ask Wang Yuexi now, “Do you believe that Ren Xiaosu used to be an average refugee who couldn’t even afford to attend school?”
Wang Yuexi would probably not believe it.
If Ren Xiaosu had not persevered in his book reading and understanding of the world, he could never have become the true master of the Northwest even if he were extremely powerful in combat. Zhang Jinglin would also not have placed his hopes on a boor who only knew how to solve problems with force.
Previously, no one could understand why Zhang Jinglin chose Ren Xiaosu as his successor. Only he himself knew he had seen unlimited potential in this young man.
When this young man was still a refugee, he was willing to squat on the walls to listen in on his classes. That attitude of knowledge seeking even made Zhang Jinglin feel ashamed of himself.
Ren Xiaosu had never stopped on his path of enriching himself.
In the eyes of others, Qing Zhen was someone born with extreme intelligence, and a person like him deserved to shine brightly in this era.
But in Yang Xiaojin’s eyes, Ren Xiaosu, a pragmatic young man who firmly believed that diligence made up for the lack of talent, was even more precious.
Ren Xiaosu instructed Wang Yuexi, “Everyone in the stronghold’s administrative center will have to start getting busy. Your responsibility will be to keep up with the publicity work so that our people will take in the ideologies.”
Wang Yuexi nodded and wrote it down in his notebook. “But there’s another problem. We need seeds to reclaim the wasteland. The seed bank in the Northwest does not have enough seeds to support such a large-scale program.”
Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, “We can now see the importance of having friends. The seeds that we need will be delivered to us by the Qing Consortium in a few days.”
Wang Yuexi was stunned. He had long heard that the future commander was on good terms with the Qing Consortium, but he did not expect it to be true.
‘Ren Xiaosu continued instructing Wang Yuexi, “The labor acts and the contract responsibility system will need to be drawn up as quickly as possible by y’all. We need to communicate with Fortress 178’s bank as well to create small loan programs to support the residents’ willingness to sign the contracts. They’ll need money to buy seeds and raw materials after they’ve signed the contracts to farm and build factories. We have to consider all aspects of this.”
At this moment, Wang Fugui chuckled and said, “Our Northwest Chamber of Commerce can do that since we’re well-funded. Why don’t we set up our own bank?”
However, Ren Xiaosu shook his head firmly. “We can’t have Yunsu get involved in such matters. Y’all can take some contracts on your own, but we must not get involved in matters that involve the economic lifeline of the Northwest. It concerns the entire plan of the Prosperous Northwest, so the economy can’t be held hostage by the merchants. Perhaps the Northwest Chamber of Commerce won’t cause any trouble while I’m still around, but you and I will leave this world someday. I can’t let a new consortium be born in my hands.”
Rich merchants could be allowed to exist in these lands of the Northwest, and they could even become the richest people in the world. But they must not gain the ability to shake the foundations of the Northwest, and that was Ren Xiaosu’s principle and bottom line regarding this matter.
Wang Yuexi stared deeply into Ren Xiaosu.. He knew that Yunsu was actually Ren Xiaosu’s private business, so to be able to restrain the temptation at a time like this was enough to make Wang Yuexi look up to him.