Chapter 977

Qingzhou.

After waiting for two months, Zhu Sansi’s battle report finally made Xiao Ming’s heart settle. Although Zhu Sansi suffered some losses in Yakutsk, he ultimately survived the danger.

“This campaign has exposed our weak control over the Northeast. This is not a long-term solution.”

After forwarding the battle report to Pang Yukun, Xiao Ming frowned deeply.

After roughly reading the suggestions Zhu Sansi had made, Pang Yukun said, “This Zhu Sansi is courageous and resourceful. Implementing a military land system and relocating citizens to settle near Yakutsk is indeed the key to solving the problems in the Northeast. However, even the citizens in the passes are unwilling to go to the cold and barren land, let alone the Siberian snowy plains?”

Xiao Ming had also been thinking about this problem during this time, and he said to Pang Yukun, “The world bustles for profit. The reason why the citizens do not want to go to Guandong is simply that the profit is not enough. Since that’s the case, we will create a circle of interest in Guandong. In this way, there will be no need for the court to forcibly relocate them, and the citizens will go there by themselves.”

“What does Your Majesty mean?” A flash of inspiration seemed to appear in Pang Yukun’s mind as he thought of something.

“Fur trade!” Xiao Ming said contemplatively.

Pang Yukun smiled. This was exactly what he had in mind. He said, “Your Majesty once said that the reason why Tsarist Russia covets Guandong is because of its rich fur resources. This shows that profit moves people’s hearts, and I think this move of Your Majesty is truly brilliant.”

“This is only the beginning. I not only want to make the fur trade in Guandong prosperous, but I also want to attack Tsarist Russia’s fur trade in Europe. The fur trade is the main business of Tsarist Russia in Europe .” Xiao Ming narrowed his eyes.

The two battles of Yakutsk made Xiao Ming more and more wary of Tsarist Russia. He wanted to curb Tsarist Russia’s development before it could form a strong force.

This was not only for the current strategic consideration but also for the future, after all, no empire could last forever.

After him, who could lead the Great Yu Empire to stand out from the crowd?

“In that case, I will let Li Kaiyuan drive up the price of fur to attract merchants to Yakutsk , turning this place into a trading post and thereby stimulating the development of this region .” Pang Yukun said.

Xiao Ming nodded. The current Pang Yukun was no longer the Pang Yukun who only read sage’s books. He had also made some achievements in economics and industry.

Therefore, no matter what he said, the ruler and the official could always cooperate well.

“Remember, it is to drive up the price of fur from the Siberian region, not all furs. In addition, let the Chamber of Commerce establish an appraisal institution in Yakutsk to register furs from Siberia and issue certificates to prevent fraud.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Pang Yukun wrote down everything Xiao Ming said.

“In addition to this, there is another effective way, which is the incentive policy of conferring nobility and granting land. The cabinet can grant some of the land for conferring nobility in Siberia and the Guandong region. In order to manage their own manors, they will naturally have to buy slaves to go to these regions to operate them.”

“I have also thought about this, but I am worried that these nobles will be dissatisfied and harbor ill feelings towards Your Majesty,” Pang Yukun said with some hesitation.

Xiao Ming shook his head helplessly. This Pang Yukun’s ability to adapt was still a bit lacking. He said, “This is very simple. We can lower the standard for the grant. In the past, they had to make great contributions, but now small merits are enough. After all, Siberia is so big that we can’t even finish granting all the land. We don’t need to be stingy about this.”

The area of Siberia was twelve million square kilometers , which was almost twice the area of the Great Yu Empire’s current actual control. Xiao Ming was not worried about this at all.

Pang Yukun had always disagreed with the granting of land, after all, the old powerful families had just been eliminated, and this was clearly cultivating new powerful families. He said bluntly, “Your Majesty, I am always worried that these newly promoted nobles will form another force to oppose the court in the future. Siberia is far from the center of the empire. If there are too many nobles there, I am afraid that Siberia will be their domain in the future.”

“Even so, it is still much better than being controlled by Tsarist Russia. In my opinion, there are no perfect policies, only policies that are suitable for the current situation. Now, this honorary nobility and the granting of land in remote areas are policies suitable for the Great Yu Empire’s external expansion. Otherwise, who will manage the occupied land?”

Xiao Ming said every word clearly. Coming from the modern era, he understood the principle that policies should change with the times. For example, during an economic crisis, a planned economy could effectively control the country’s economy and prevent a more severe collapse , but after the crisis was over, a planned economy would restrict the country’s economic development.

It was clear that what policy to adopt depended entirely on the current situation.

The current Great Yu Empire needed to stimulate the people to expand outwards. Economic interests, honorary nobility, and the granting of land would make this strategy easier to implement.

And Siberia was only one example. With the occupation of Goryeo, Japan, the countries of Southeast Asia, Australia, and other lands one by one, he would constantly need people to settle and occupy them. There would even be enough land for every person in the Great Yu Empire to have a piece.

After a detailed explanation, Pang Yukun fell into deep thought again. He now finally understood Xiao Ming’s thoughts.

In fact, the emperor in front of him did not care about the long-term hidden dangers after these regions like Siberia and Southeast Asia were granted. All he needed was for these lands to be occupied by the people of the Great Yu Empire.

Even if these regions became independent in the future, they would still be of the same race and ethnicity, which was much better than letting Europeans establish a country there.

In fact, this idea was somewhat similar to Xiao Yuanzhi’s idea of granting land. Xiao Ming’s idea was that even if they fought each other, it would still be a family matter of the Great Yu Empire’s people, which was always better than being dominated by other races.

“Since Your Majesty thinks so, I have nothing more to say,” Pang Yukun said, frowning slightly.

Seeing that Pang Yukun was still a little uneasy, Xiao Ming walked to the map of Siberia and said, “Chief Grand Secretary Pang, you don’t have to worry too much. The honorary nobility system is not the same as the previous enfeoffment system. Moreover, these regions will still have Protectorates. This is a military institution that I am preparing to set up specifically to supervise the various ethnic groups on the border.”

Hearing this, Pang Yukun finally breathed a sigh of relief. This solved his worries all at once. With this Protectorate, the court would have absolute control over these places.

“I will go back and draft a list of names and add Siberian land to their rewards,” Pang Yukun said with renewed energy.

“En, also, you should count the number of prisoners in the Great Yu Empire’s prisons now. Send the prisoners who can be exiled to Siberia. These people are all troublemakers, so let them go and have a contest with the Tsarist Russians.”

Pang Yukun was stunned for a moment, then nodded. Today, Xiao Ming’s three-pronged approach basically laid out the method for external expansion.