Three or five days later, Shi Kefa, who was in charge of Nanjing's military and political affairs, came to the door in person with a holy decree.

Fang Yuan secretly speculated about Shi Kefa's intention to come to the door, and welcomed him into the mansion.

Shi Kefa's face was gloomy as soon as he entered the door, he wrote all his dissatisfaction on his face, and directly read out the content of the holy decree, it was Chongzhen who ordered Nanzhili to play an exemplary role for the vassal kings and clans of the Zhu Ming royal family, and first settled 300,000 displaced people in Henan.

Fang Yuan came to his senses at this time, why did Shi Kefa come to visit with a face full of resentment, and Xingshi asked for the guilt, because this suggestion to open the gate and release water was put forward by Fang Yuan, in Shi Kefa's opinion, Chongzhen ordered Nanzhili to settle 300,000 displaced people first, which was to lift a stone and shoot himself in the foot.

Shi Kefa read out the holy decree in front of Fang Yuan, and he didn't have too much politeness, and said straight to the point, "Fang Junmen, Your Majesty has put down the important task of resettling 300,000 displaced people in Nanzhili, since this proposal to open the gate and release water was put forward by Fang Junmen to His Majesty, how many homeless people are planned to be resettled in the four prefectures under the jurisdiction of Fang Junmen?" ”

Fang Yuan could have imagined before he made a twist and turn that as soon as this policy of opening the floodgates and releasing water was implemented, it was not only Shi Kefa who was offended, but even the entire bureaucracy, and the king of the Ming Dynasty was offended all over again.

The entire Ming bureaucracy did not want Chongzhen to adopt the method of strategic decisive battle with Li Zicheng. In this way, no matter whether the decisive battle is won or lost, it has nothing to do with the bureaucracy, and everyone does not have to bear any responsibility. Even if the war is defeated, the responsibility is also Sun Chuanting, Zhou Yuji, these soldiers, the big deal is that Li Zicheng fights in Beijing City and surrenders directly, anyway, they are all part-time workers, who are they working for is not a part-time job?

And Fang Yuan's strategy of opening the floodgates and releasing water was to pull the entire bureaucracy into the water. Because nominally, it was the vassal king and the clan to resettle the displaced people, but in order to achieve such a large number of displaced people, the bureaucratic system at all levels of the Ming Dynasty must go all out to provide logistical support, and if there is any civil unrest at that time, who can afford to bear the responsibility? I'm afraid that I will be beheaded by Chongzhen immediately.

Therefore, these bureaucrats will definitely hate Fang Yuan to the bitter end, and they will definitely work together to oppose Fang Yuan's proposal in the court.

As for the vassal kings and clans of the Zhu Ming royal family, as the victims of the final payment for the resettlement of the displaced people, no one would want to suddenly bear the cost of resettlement of these two or three million displaced people.

In the face of the overt or implicit resistance of the entire bureaucracy and the Zhu Ming royal family, the pressure on Chongzhen to implement this strategy of opening the floodgates and releasing water can be imagined. Chongzhen was also forced to be helpless, so he issued this holy decree, and first assigned the important task of resettlement of 300,000 displaced people to Fang Yuan, the initiator.

If Fang Yuan succeeded in resettling 300,000 displaced people, the bureaucracy, the vassal kings, and the clan would have nothing to say;

If Fang Yuan was unable to settle the displaced people, the other vassal kings and clans would have sufficient reasons to oppose it, and the policy of opening the floodgates and releasing water would have to be abandoned.

And Shi Kefa, who is the general military and political director of Nanjing, is just a member of the bureaucracy, obviously angry with the bureaucracy, Fang Yuan caused the matter, but the entire Nanzhili under his jurisdiction is involved, it is strange that he can have a good face to show Fang Yuan.

Facing Shi Kefa's questioning, Fang Yuan saw it in his eyes and said with an unmoved face, "It turns out that Shi Shangshu is worried about the resettlement of displaced people!" How much is Shi Shangshu going to place? ”

Nanzhili is a rich land in the world, and the land has long been carved up, where is the excess land in the government? As for grain, Jiangnan's taxes are heavier than those in other regions, bearing more than half of the country's taxes.

Shi Kefa was furious at the thought of relocating 300,000 displaced people, and said in a cold voice, "Your Majesty gave all the four prefectures that produced the most grain in Nanzhili to Fang Junmen, what can I do?" Naturally, it should be up to Fang Junmen to decide, and everything to arrange by Fang Junmen! ”

What he said was to put the heavy responsibility of resettling the displaced people on Fang Yuan, and he couldn't complete the task pressed by Chongzhen, which was also Fang Yuan's dereliction of duty, and it had nothing to do with him.

Fang Yuan looked at Shi Kefa, who held the military and political power in Nanjing, in front of him, and couldn't cry or laugh.

Shi Kefa guarded Yangzhou and martyred, and his integrity was indeed commendable.

However, when he arrived in Yangzhou Mansion, he neither organized the army for war, nor did he prevent the soldiers from fleeing, and he was not even willing to cut down a few trees, what great contribution did he make to defend Yangzhou?

Knowing that he would be defeated, he led Yangzhou City to resist for only one day, which led to a ten-day massacre in Yangzhou. Before he died, in order to fulfill his own integrity, he dragged the people of Yangzhou City to accompany him to the funeral, is he really a loyal minister and a hero?

In the final analysis, this Shi Kefa has no military and political ability to turn the tide at all, and is just a bureaucrat with integrity. If he was just an ordinary literati, Fang Yuan would naturally admire him, but he held the important weapon of the country, but he fought such an almost humiliating Yangzhou defense battle, which was really difficult to respect him.

Fang Yuan still said with a flat smile, "Shi Shangshu, this is the importance that His Majesty attaches to you and me, making you and me a role model in the world, are you sure that I am in charge?" ”

Shi Kefa saw that he didn't have a backache when he was standing and talking, and said angrily, "Fang Junmen, I don't have land and surplus grain in Nanjing to settle the displaced people. Since Your Majesty really values Fang Junmen, it is so good, I will settle 20,000 displaced people in Nanjing, and the remaining 280,000 displaced people will all be handed over to Fang Junmen, which makes Your Majesty look at Fang Junmen even more. ”

Fang Yuan didn't seem to hear the sarcasm in Shi Kefa's words, and said with a smile, "Shi Shangshu, are you sure that Nanjing only accepts 20,000 displaced people?" ”

Shi Kefa didn't give in at all, "Yes, Nanjing's people can only accept 20,000 displaced people. ”

Fang Yuan said happily, "Since Shi Shangshu is so humble and gives me all the benefits, then I will be disrespectful, and the remaining 280,000 displaced people will be received by my Suzhou Mansion!" ”

Shi Kefa saw that Fang Yuan took over the task of rehousing such a homeless person and was still happy like a pie falling from the sky, I don't know if he was talking back, or pretending to be dead, so he confirmed to him again, "Fang Junmen, there is no joke in the military and politics, so it's decided?" ”

Fang Yuan restrained his smile and said solemnly, "I'm definitely not joking with Shi Shangshu, Shi Shangshu sent 280,000 displaced people to Changzhou Mansion, and I will immediately take over and settle them in Suzhou Mansion." ”

Shi Kefa was still worried that Fang Yuan would suddenly regret it, so he signed a resettlement treaty with him, stipulating the number of displaced people he and Fang Yuan would resettle.

The resettlement contract for displaced people is to be made in duplicate, with the official seals of both parties and the private seals to confirm that they are clear.

Fang Yuan did everything he could to meet Shi Kefa's request, if Shi Kefa didn't mention it, Fang Yuan would also mention signing this resettlement treaty, otherwise when the time came, the court would be in trouble, and those bureaucrats would force Fang Yuan to accumulate strength in secret, intending to rebel.

Shi Kefa and Fang Yuan signed a resettlement treaty, and then left Canglang Pavilion with the treaty.

Fang Yuan sent Shi Kefa away, and Qin Zhan, who had been silent for a long time on the side, couldn't help but ask, "Boss, Shi Kefa is simply too deceitful, why did you promise him to accept so many displaced people?" ”

Fang Yuan stared at the homeless resettlement contract in his hand, and said with a sneer, "Fourth, tell me, what is the most valuable thing in this world?" ”

Qin opened his mouth and said, "Silver? Land? ”

Fang Yuan said in a deep voice, "It's the population!" Population is the most important resource in the world. The greater the population, the richer my jurisdiction becomes, and all industries can prosper. In the peaceful and prosperous era, if you want to move so many people to Suzhou Mansion, the imperial court will not agree. This kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Shi Kefa would give it up, it can be seen that this person is really a man of few eyes! ”

Qin Zhan said again, "But 280,000 people are 280,000 mouths!" Can Suzhou Mansion be settled? ”

Fang Yuan knew that the population of Suzhou Mansion was about two or three million now, and the population of Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty reached a maximum of five million, which shows that the entire Suzhou Mansion is indeed very rich, as long as the food problem can be solved, it is more than enough to support at least two million more people.

Fang Yuan said lightly, "Fourth, my previous recital suggested that the two million people who migrated from Henan, as long as Your Majesty is willing to nod, there is no need for other vassal kings to settle, even Suzhou Mansion can eat them all." ”

"Even, plus Songjiang Mansion, Changzhou Mansion, Yangzhou Mansion, even the entire population of Henan and Huguang has been moved over, and I am also happy to accept it. If Suzhou can have a population of 5 million, Songjiang, Changzhou, and Yangzhou together can have a population of 15 million to 20 million, which is enough to dominate the entire south of the Yangtze River. ”

"When the time comes, there will be soldiers, grain and grain, craftsmen and craftsmen, merchants and merchants, no matter the war, infrastructure, the development of industry, the tertiary industry, there will be inexhaustible people's power, and it can really be called the prosperity of all industries and the strength of the world."

Qin Zhan suddenly realized that in Fang Yuan's heart, he had already planned a huge grand blueprint.

Fang Yuan was secretly amused, those rat-eyed cabinet scholars in Imperial Court Mountain, and even Shi Kefa in Nanjing City, regarded the displaced people in Henan as fierce beasts, thinking that they had a problem for Fang Yuan. In fact, who would have thought that this was really feeding a piece of fat to Fang Yuan's mouth.

Fang Yuan ordered Qin Zhan to send Jinyi Wei to immediately inform all the officials of the Suzhou Prefecture, Wu County, Changzhou County, Changshu County, Wujiang County, Kunshan County, Jiading County, Taicang Prefecture within the jurisdiction of Suzhou, officials above the county lieutenant level in various prefectures, counties, and counties, including all the big merchant gangs including Dongting Merchant Gang and Xu Hua, all of them gathered at the Suzhou Mansion Ten days later to discuss the specific matters of resettlement of the displaced people.