Emperor Liang and Chen Zheng were both lost in thought, especially Chen Zheng, who went over the feasibility of this matter in his mind.
After a while, Chen Zheng's voice sounded again.
"Master Qin, do you mean that these five strongholds are purely commercial cooperation?"
Qin Tianhu blurted out without even thinking: "That's right!"
"Although Feng'er is a court official, he should obey the court's orders, but the operating modes of the other states in Beijing and Daliang are indeed very different."
"Therefore, the northern border can only form its own faction. At the same time, it can also accumulate governance experience for Daliang."
"The northern border and the Central Plains are the commercial cooperation within Daliang."
"The Central Plains is rich in food. If we capture the southern border in the future, the food output will be even more abundant."
"If the Central Plains and the Northern Territory cooperate and learn from each other's strengths, it will definitely benefit the people of both places."
As the leader of Qingliu Zhengchen, Chen Zheng has been wary of Qin Feng from beginning to end, but regarding the cooperation between the two places, even Chen Zheng feels that this matter has great potential.
Chen Zheng immediately remonstrated with Emperor Liang.
"Your Majesty, it is the consensus of the world that commerce and trade in the North is developed. However, due to the long distance and the fact that various places are still recuperating, there are only a few people who can truly profit from the trade routes in the North."
"Although the Central Plains is the core of our strategy in Daliang, as long as we firmly control the military and political circles, on this basis, it is not unacceptable to transfer the people's livelihood management of the five strongholds."
Speaking of this, Chen Zheng suddenly remembered something and asked Qin Tianhu for additional questions.
"The food produced by these five strongholds..."
Before Chen Zheng could finish speaking, Qin Tianhu had already responded with a smile: "Every grain of grain produced is an asset of Daliang."
"Although these grains will be transported to the north, they will all be purchased at market prices."
"and……"
"Everyone should be aware of Feng'er's acting style. When the time comes, the food output and various accounts of these five strongholds will be extremely clear."
Although Chen Zheng was wary of Qin Feng, this was only for political purposes.
Chen Zheng has no prejudice against Qin Feng.
Besides, Qin Feng himself was extremely rich, so there was no need to skimp on food.
Chen Zheng immediately bowed to Emperor Liang and said, "Your Majesty, I think this matter is feasible."
In fact, as early as Emperor Liang learned that Qin Feng was not interested in the military affairs of the Central Plains, Emperor Liang had already been tempted by this plan.
It is a purely commercial cooperation. Qin Feng personally operates these five strongholds. The remaining strongholds can also take the opportunity to learn from Qin Feng's governance experience.
Moreover, the northern border itself is the territory of Liang. Even if there is no commercial cooperation, Emperor Liang must allocate grain to the northern border on time.
In this way, not only can Qin Feng manage and manage the stronghold on his behalf, but the grain produced can also be sold for money.
For Emperor Liang, this business was simply a piece of cake.
Emperor Liang no longer hesitated, and immediately waved his hand: "I promise!"
"The people's livelihood management rights of the five strongholds are exchanged for 30,000 taels of silver from the King of Qin in the early stage. All future grain output will be sold to the north at market prices."
Even the most cautious Emperor Liang and Chen Zheng agreed, and the remaining ministers naturally had no objections.
For a time, the entire imperial study room echoed with "Your Majesty's Holy Wisdom".
Emperor Liang was in a good mood. In addition to running these twenty-seven strongholds, Qin Feng provided money and manpower, and Emperor Liang could just sit back and enjoy the results.
There is another more important factor, which is that Emperor Liang had already understood the fatal weakness of the northern border.
That is "food".
The northern territory is vast and sparsely populated. Now that the population has suddenly increased, food rations have become a big problem.
Nowadays, although the northern border still collects grain, except for the self-produced grain, almost half of it is purchased from outside.
How easy is it to stock up on food rations for the entire northern border?
Besides...
In addition to the northern border, there is also the drag bottle of Sangzhou.
It can be said that as long as Emperor Liang holds the granary of the Central Plains, he no longer has to worry about the "loyalty" of the northern border.
This relationship of mutual benefit and learning from each other's strengths made Emperor Liang's power that had always been "empty" suddenly become extremely solid and substantial.
Within a few days, the news reached the front lines.
Liu Ming took the imperial edict and read it to Qin Feng. At the end, Liu Ming couldn't help but sigh.
"Your Majesty, I didn't expect that Your Majesty would agree so readily and that your trust in Your Majesty has reached this level."
Qin Feng smiled and said nothing.
Pure trust is meaningless. No matter how sincere Emperor Liang is, he is still worried about it. Qin Feng knows this.
Investing in the Central Plains Granary is both a commercial purpose and a political purpose.
Qin Feng deliberately showed weakness to Emperor Liang and showed the weakness of the northern border in front of Emperor Liang.
In this way, Emperor Liang could feel completely at ease.
Qin Feng knows better than anyone else that accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger. Now Qin Feng is powerful and has an extremely harmonious relationship with Emperor Liang.
But this southern war, who knows how long it will last, if the northern border is involved and both sides suffer, Qin Feng is not sure whether Emperor Liang will suddenly turn his back and take the northern border in one fell swoop.
People's hearts are separated from each other, so it's always right to be on guard.
However, now that the imperial edict has been issued, the focus is now on developing these twenty-seven strongholds.
Early the next morning, Qin Feng went to Lingzhou in person.
The land reclamation and the construction of the stronghold were carried out almost at the same time. However, these field soldiers were not real masons after all. The construction was extremely slow and the quality was unsatisfactory.
Qin Feng simply waved his hand and ordered the dispatch of engineering troops from the northern border to Lingzhou to participate in the construction of the stronghold.
In addition, for the sake of safety and convenience, the five northernmost strongholds in Lingzhou, one in front and four in back, were all placed under Qin Feng's rule.
In this way, these twenty-seven strongholds are divided into twenty-two Lingzhou strongholds and five northern strongholds.
The five strongholds in Qin Feng's hands were built first.
Qin Feng personally participated in the design of the blueprint. Each stronghold must accommodate a population of at least one thousand people.
Among these 1,000 people, 100 were soldiers guarding the stronghold, and the remaining 900 were all involved in agricultural production.
One hundred men may seem like a small number, and they may seem incapable of defending, but in fact, they are more than enough.
After all, the stronghold is built to the specifications of a military fortress. As long as the city is strong enough, no one can easily climb over the city wall.
Moreover, these one hundred defenders were just used to delay time.
The real defensive force is the Central Plains Imperial Party.
With the establishment of twenty-seven strongholds one after another, the Central Plains Imperial Party will definitely station troops near the strongholds, firstly to coordinate defense, and secondly to enhance their control over the strongholds.
Therefore, the army stationed here in the future will be the main force to defend the stronghold and can rush to support at any time.
Qin Feng has only one goal, that is, each stronghold must be able to hold on for at least one year when faced with a siege!
