Tiger Owl

Chapter 315 Migrants to the South
In the afternoon, Gan Ning returned to his residence. He sat down in front of the brazier in his study, warming his hands by the fire. The hot charcoal quickly dispelled the winter chill. At that moment, his wife, Da Qiao, entered with a cup of ginseng tea.

"Husband, drink it while it's hot!"

Gan Ning took the teacup, slowly took a sip, and the scalding tea slid down his throat, quickly warming his body.

"Husband, I heard the negotiations are over?" Da Qiao asked casually.

Gan Ning nodded. He knew what his wife wanted to ask. The end of the negotiations also meant that the marriage between Gan Ning and Cao Cao was finalized.

"Let me tell you, the daughter of Cao Cao who was married into the alliance was not Cao Ya, but her younger sister Cao Jie."

Da Qiao was stunned. During this time, she had been studying the information brought to her by the head manager of the business. Cao Ya was sixteen years old, slightly tall and strong, skilled in martial arts, and could draw a bow and shoot arrows. She had already studied this information thoroughly and thought of various ways to get along with her.

Unexpectedly, her husband's words overturned her research of the past few days.

"Why change the person?" Da Qiao asked, puzzled.

“Cao Ya is already Sun Quan’s fiancée. Sun Quan has just died. To use her to continue the marriage alliance would be a loss of national dignity and would be disrespectful to me personally and to Western Chu.”

Gan Ning spoke casually, but Da Qiao immediately understood. Political marriages don't consider feelings; they value form and dignity more. It's acceptable for a widow from a respectable family to marry into an individual family, but it's certainly inappropriate as a political marriage.

"So what does this Cao Jie look like?" Da Qiao stammered.

Gan Ning shook his head. "I don't know either. I've never met her. I only know that she is Cao Ya's younger sister and Cao Cao's fourth daughter."

"Cao Ya's sister!"

Da Qiao's brain immediately started working. She quickly extracted some key information, like peeling back layers of an onion. Cao Ya was only sixteen years old, so Cao Jie was at most fourteen or fifteen. And then what? It seemed there was no more usable information.

Gan Ning placed the empty teacup on the table and said to his wife, "She left Hefei the day before yesterday. If it's by fast ship, she'll arrive in Chaisang the day after tomorrow or the day after that. You can prepare a courtyard for her!"

Da Qiao was stunned. They came so quickly. Why? She didn't elope. Why didn't they wait until the six rites were completed before giving her a grand wedding?
Gan Ning seemed to know what she was thinking and smiled faintly, "In order to make me believe in his sincerity, Cao Cao first sent his daughter to my residence as a hostage. After the six rites are almost over, he will send her to my brother Cao Zhi in Jiangdong and marry her from there."

'Hostage!' Da Qiao suddenly understood, and after a moment's hesitation, she added, 'She might still be young.'

"I know that marriage is just a formality, a necessity for political alliances."

"Okay! I'll go and tidy up the empty yard."

Gan Ning’s mansion has a total of five courtyards, and the last empty courtyard is finally going to be used.

With the signing of the ceasefire agreement, both sides began to quickly implement the treaty. Cao Cao, in particular, was eager to retreat north and implemented the various treaties extremely quickly. Cao Cao's troops in Jiangxia and Lujiang counties withdrew rapidly, and the 10,000 troops stationed in Shuxian County withdrew overnight, quickly retreating towards Hefei. Without large carts and supplies, each soldier carried food and supplies, and the retreat was very hasty.

As Cao Cao's army retreated, the officials who had temporarily remained in Jiangnan began to return quickly. With the assistance of soldiers and other officials, they began to rebuild order. For these officials, the real test was the impending wave of refugee resettlement.

The most prominent Yiyang Three Passes also became deserted overnight, as large numbers of refugees began to migrate to Jiangxia County. The 26,000 households of refugees from the seven counties of Runan County were the core of this ceasefire agreement and the real reason why Gan Ning was willing to sign it.

However, the final number of refugees continued to change. Initially, the number of refugees was 26,000 households. As the refugees moved south to Yiyang Sanguan, many new refugees heard that they were migrating to Jiangxia County and Lujiang County. They also abandoned their homes and followed the refugee group south. More than 2,000 elderly and weak people could not withstand the cold winter and died during the migration. As the number of refugees increased, many more died of illness. In the end, the number of people who entered the refugee camp in Jiangxia County was 31,400 households, with a population of 230,000.

The temporary refugee camp was set up in the north of Anlu County, with Zhuge Jin and Lü Fan in charge of resettling the refugees. Time was of the essence, and the refugees had to be properly settled before the spring plowing season. The two had a clear division of labor: Zhuge Jin was in charge of Jiangxia County, and Lü Fan was in charge of Lujiang County. They had officials, soldiers, boats, food, tents, and various other resources under their command.

Everyone was spinning like a top, with batches of people leaving the refugee camp every day to be resettled in various counties. Fortunately, there were many empty houses in Jiangxia County and Lujiang County, which were left behind by the people who migrated to the south. Although the houses were empty, at least the walls and roofs were still there, so people could still live there.

People began to appear in the once empty fields, weeding, tilling, and fertilizing the somewhat barren farmland. The farmers who had acquired land quickly got busy.

Gan Ning appeared on an inspection tour in Xunyang County, in the southern part of Lujiang Commandery. It only takes a little over an hour to get there from Chaisang, and he can return on the same day.

Yang Jing, the prefectural magistrate of Lujiang, and officials from Xunyang County surrounded Gan Ning, who stood on the official road, watching the busy people in the fields.

Yang Jing explained to Gan Ning: "Four thousand households, about 20,000 people, have been allocated from Xunyang County. Most of them will be settled in the county town, and half will be settled in the countryside. All the people have been settled and are being given a subsidy of one jin of rice per person per day."

Gan Ning didn't say much, but asked again, "How was the land allocated?"

Land is of paramount importance. No regime can arbitrarily distribute land to peasants, and the same applies to Western Chu. If land were granted arbitrarily, it would not only be unfair to military households but also violate basic principles and bottom lines.

"Strictly in accordance with the land decree signed by the Marquis of Chu, all land was confiscated by the government and then distributed to immigrants. They were exempt from rent and taxes for the first three years, and from rent for five consecutive years of continuous cultivation. After ten consecutive years of cultivation, each household was granted ten mu of basic land."

Gan Ning nodded. Just then, he saw an old farmer pulling weeds a few hundred paces away, so he walked up to him and asked with a smile, "Where are you from, sir? What is your surname?"

The old man dared not be negligent and quickly stood up and said, "My surname is He, and I am from Dingying County, Runan Prefecture."

"How many people are in your family?" Gan Ning asked again.

"There are seven people in my family: my wife and I, our two sons, our grandson and granddaughter, our eldest daughter-in-law, and our youngest son who is not yet married."

Gan Ning smiled and said, "In this situation, we can consider dividing the family property, which would allow us to obtain more land."

"Yes, our family is discussing this matter. The eldest son will be transferred out, and we are also considering having the younger son join the army so that he can get twenty acres of military farmland."

It seems these farmers are not slow-witted; they are all getting information as quickly as possible and seeking the greatest benefit.

Gan Ning didn't ask about the other person's family. He looked at the land and asked with a smile, "What do you plan to plant?"

This was the old man's specialty. His eyes suddenly lit up with confidence. He scratched his head and smiled, "It's too late to plant winter wheat. Besides, the land has been abandoned for a year and needs to recover its fertility. I plan to plant black beans all over the place. Planting beans can fertilize the soil, and black beans have a high yield. I also heard that the government will exchange two catties of black beans for one catty of wheat to support us. That will provide us with food for the year."

Gan Ning was very gratified. A conversation with an old farmer gave him hope. One leaf could tell that autumn was coming. That was enough. At noon, Gan Ning took a boat back to Chaisang.

(End of this chapter)