Recruiting Soldiers
"We're alone overseas. If we continue to farm and produce grain, we won't even have an advantage over Goguryeo, Fusang, or even Silla, much less the Great Tang.”
Zhang Xun looked at his subordinate and said.
"Our advantage lies in the navy! As long as we maintain the advantage of our navy, we can continuously absorb nutrients from the continent through the sea. In the Tang Dynasty, agriculture was the foundation. I'll take industry and commerce as the foundation!"
Industry and commerce as the foundation?
The group of officers under him looked at each other. They could not understand Zhang Xun's thoughts for the time being.
However... Given Zhang Xun's current status and prestige, even if he didn't understand, he would just do as he was told.
Zhang Xun sighed in his heart.
Most of his subordinates were only qualified officers, and they lacked strategists.
"Tomorrow, we will start building houses.”Zhang Xun said," In addition, the armory, shipyard, cement factory, logging, and exploration of the surrounding mineral deposits, especially the copper, iron, and coal mines, must also be carried out simultaneously!”
Zhang Xun had set a big goal. The 40,000 people under his rule would all be involved in this machine that was about to start operating.
If these tens of thousands of people went to farm.
Who would mine, who would make iron, who would build ships, who would build armaments, and who would become soldiers?
...
Clang! Clang!
The next morning, a huge gong sounded.
Soon, the tens of thousands of people who were in deep sleep were awakened.
At this moment, most people had already accepted their fate. After all, this place was isolated overseas, and it was impossible to return. Fortunately, Governor Zhang did not treat them badly and provided them with basic rations every day. Moreover, the land on Ryukyu Island was flat and there was plenty of water.
It was a land that was quite suitable for farming.
"Liuqiu Viceroy's Order: From tomorrow onwards, all rations will be suspended!! All the grains were sold at the price of Yangzhou City!”
"Liuqiu Viceroy's Order: From tomorrow onwards, all rations will be suspended!! All the grains were sold at the price of Yangzhou City!”
"Liuqiu Governor's Order: All land on Liuqiu Island belongs to the Liuqiu Governor's Office. No one is allowed to develop it privately!!”
"Liuqiu Governor's Order: All land on Liuqiu Island belongs to the Liuqiu Governor's Office. No one is allowed to develop it privately!!”
An armored soldier knocked on a gong and transmitted the sound to every ship.
A signboard was erected on a flat piece of land.
Some people began to get off the ship and came to the empty space.
"No more rations? Then what should we do?"
"Are we going to starve to death on this deserted island?"
The people listened to the loud voice in astonishment. No one could fall asleep.
They looked at the surrounding wilderness in a daze. Some sat on the ground dejectedly, some turned their heads to look west, and some began to sob.
They didn't give out rations, and they weren't allowed to open up wasteland.
What could they do?
At this moment, someone shouted loudly.
"Construction team hiring! Anyone who was over fifteen years old and below fifty years old would receive a monthly salary of three strings!!”
"The logging team is recruiting! Those who were strong and could use swords and spears were given priority. Their monthly salary was five strings!!”
"The cement factory is hiring, and the monthly salary is three strings!”
"Exploration team!"
"Shipyard…"
Shouts rang out one after another, causing the people who were already in despair to listen to these voices in a daze.
All the leaders of the recruitment teams were holding up signs that stated the number of people they were recruiting and the benefits they were receiving.
"Construction team? Building houses? Three strings a month?"
"Three strings? The most he had in Yangzhou City was Yi Guan.”
"Can there really be three strings?"
Everyone was extremely tempted.
In this era, the purchasing power of copper coins was still very strong.
Yiguan copper coins were four catties of copper. Even in Chang 'an, where the emperor was at, where dignitaries gathered, an ordinary family could only earn two strings of copper coins a month.
Here, he directly gave three strings!
It was no wonder that everyone was moved.
At this moment, the gong sounded again.
"Liuqiu Viceroy's Order: The army is recruiting men between the ages of fifteen to twenty-five! A monthly salary of six strings of coins, and fifty mu of high-quality paddy fields after fifteen years of service in the army!!”
After a few consecutive sounds, the sound spread throughout the entire water stronghold.
"Six strings of money per month? Fifty acres of land after fifteen years of service in the army?”
" Which paddy field?!"
"Don't worry about where it is. It's 50 mu!”
Someone's eyes lit up.
Land was extremely attractive to any Chinese.
Not to mention, the treatment in the army was so good!
Very soon, those who met the requirements flocked to the recruitment office.
As for those who did not meet the requirements, they flocked to various recruitment areas.
Zhang Xun stood on the deck of his ship and watched everything in front of him.
Of course, he could use force to drive the people to work.
but... This method was really too low-level.
He wanted a city, not a prison.
He had about four million strings of copper coins on hand. Other than the one million strings of copper coins he had used to smelt the bronze cannons, the rest of the copper coins would only rust if left in his hands. In fact, Zhang Xun preferred to use paper money, which was almost cost-free. But now, he did not have the conditions to issue paper money, so he could only use copper coins.
Copper coins were the hard currency of this era. In the countries of East Asia and Arabia, copper coins had considerable purchasing power.
He needed to put money into the hands of the people through various means. Only when they had money would there be demand for consumption. With demand, there would be a market. With a market, all kinds of industries would begin to appear.
In this way, a city was naturally formed.
At this moment, among the crowd of people, an old man was observing Zhang Xun's successive orders with interest.
"They actually didn't allow the population to go to agriculture, and they started to build industries and commerce. This Governor Liu Qiu has a big goal…"
The old man's eyes revealed a rather interested expression.
Then, he turned to look at the tall figure and walked over.
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