Chapter 890: Three Feet of Ice
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Third, discounts, volunteer consultations, medicine, and the human lives lawsuit will push the Bai Residence to the top of the limelight in a short period of time, causing the Bai Residence to sink deeper and deeper. I’m the only one they can rely on.”
Victory that was too easy to obtain often made one forget the pain.
The Bai Residence was willing to listen to her now because she could help the Bai Residence escape and easily help them escape. The Bai Residence might also be grateful to her, but they might not have the courage to resist the Han Clan.
“If I don’t force the Bai couple into a desperate situation and experience true despair, how can they be willing to be controlled by me?”
The land-owning class was not easy to deal with. The Bai Residence was a good opportunity. How to use the Bai Residence to uproot the Han Clan was her true goal.
Uncle Sun glared at her and shook his beard. “You’re simply comparable to Young Master Yin.”
Yu Youyao puffed up her cheeks indignantly. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. Letting the Bai Residence stand up to the Han Clan and uproot them will cause the land-owning class to suffer a huge blow. It can completely change the structure of the nobles.”
The power of the nobles was deeply rooted. Often, a single move would affect everything. Even the Imperial Court was very afraid of them, but the relationship of interests between the nobles was not strong.
For example, even though the Bai Residence had cooperated with the Han Clan for many years and had formed an inherent relationship of interests, once they realized that the land-owning class was unreliable, they would be willing to take the risk to escape the control of the land-owning class.
When the nobles of the North realized that the land-owning class was not unshakable, would they still continue to be manipulated by them?
Therefore, getting rid of the Han Clan was also an opportunity to break the alliance of the land-owning class.
Uncle Sun looked up. “From the looks of it, the Han Clan has made a bad move. Madam Zhang’s complaint gave you an opportunity to take them down.”
Yu Youyao said deeply, “There are pros and cons to everything. In the Book of Daoism, there’s a saying that disasters and blessings depend on each other. Fortunes and blessings are intertwined, and they’re integrated. They’re like Yin and Yang, transforming and relying on each other. When calamity descends, blessings lie dormant and hide. When blessings descend, there’s often a hidden danger behind them. Therefore, there’s no absolute good or bad in this world. It’s good to observe the changes in the situation and grab the contradictory points in the transformation of events. It’s good to make use of them. Bad things can also be transformed into good, and vice versa.”
Uncle Sun agreed deeply. The schemes of the land-owning class did not seem to hurt Yu Youyao at all. However, if Yu Youyao did not find the contradiction in this matter immediately and implicated King Li of Zhou’s death, stabbing the weak point of the land-owning class, the consequences could be imagined.
Yu Youyao sighed softly. “I’ve been in Xiangping for a while. Although it’s bitterly cold in the Liaodong area, the commoners are hardworking. The Heavenly Dao rewards hard work. Their lives shouldn’t be so hard, but because the nobles control the local resources and maliciously raise the prices, they’re suffering unspeakably.”
The main reason why the Liaodong area was so vast and sparsely populated was because of low productivity, causing the local economy to be backward, and the living conditions of the people to be difficult. However, Liaodong was filled with mountains, and the mountains were rich in mountain goods, wild animals, herbs, and trees. With such living conditions, it was impossible for it to be more difficult to live over time.
Dealing with the Han Clan was not only to remove the obstacles for Yin Huaixi and let him further control the entire North, but also to change the current situation in the North so that the people could live and work in peace.
Uncle Sun was a little enlightened. “I finally understand why Young Master Yin treats you differently.”
In his opinion, Young Master Yin was sinister, cunning, and scheming. However, Yu Youyao’s heart was like glass, pure and flawless. These two people were completely two extremes, but they just had to get together.
At this moment, he suddenly understood.
There was a concept of equality in Yu Youyao’s bones. Although her actions were restricted by dogma, her heart was independent, equal, and free. She was never restricted by etiquette, rules, and standards. She adhered to the principles of dealing with people. If others did not offend her, she would not offend them. If others respected her, she would respect them tenfold.
There was no pedantic Confucian philosophy like repaying evil with kindness.
Daoism did not have the belief that heaven, the earth, the king, one’s parents, and one’s teachers should be respected in that order. There was no etiquette between seniors and juniors, nor that women were below men. They believed that everyone was born equal and that the world was natural.
She did not learn Daoism, but her thoughts were in line with the philosophy of Daoism.
On this point, it coincided with Young Master Yin, who was a disciple of a Daoist. They were originally the same kind of people.
In this world, it was difficult to have many friends. People with the same thoughts could only be found by chance. This was a resonance of the soul and the recognition of thoughts.
Yu Youyao was the one who shared his thoughts.
At the mention of Yin Huaixi, Yu Youyao couldn’t help but miss him. “I’ve been in Xiangping for so long, but I haven’t received a message from my Nineteenth Brother. I wonder how he’s doing.”
There was no time to delay the resettlement of the refugees.
Yin Huaixi patrolled the various areas of Liaodong to make arrangements, deployments, and corresponding guidance to prepare for the resettlement of the refugees. He must be busy and couldn’t care about anything else.
Uncle Sun said, “Don’t worry. He’ll be back by the beginning of April at the latest. I heard that the resettlement of the refugees has already been carried out in Longcheng. A portion of the refugees have been relocated one after another. When the weather warms up in April, they’ll have to migrate greatly. We have to settle the refugees properly before the weather warms up in May.”
The first to be settled were literate and skilled refugees. Most of these people settled in the businesses under Yu Youyao’s name. When they arrived in a new environment and settled down there, they would obtain a job that could support their families.
Yu Youyao heaved a sigh of relief. “In that case, I think we can avoid the occurrence of germs. May is also the best time to plant the sweet potatoes, so it won’t delay the exploration. My Nineteenth Brother has already considered this.”
Yin Huaixi had thought of the problems she hadn’t thought of in advance and responded.
According to statistics, there were already nearly three million refugees in the entire Liaodong area. It was not easy to settle such a huge number of refugees properly.
Although the Imperial Court and some merchants who had come from afar to seek business opportunities had all given them material support, and the local nobles had no choice but to cooperate and work hard because of the national policies issued by the Imperial Court, Yin Huaixi was still the one who worked the hardest.
Uncle Sun smiled. “Young Master Yin has always been careful with his actions. The selection of the refugees’ camp has all been done while considering feng shui. It’s ventilated and the soil is dry and thick. It’s not easy for germs to breed in such a place. Every seven days, we’ll mix sulfur with wood ash and send someone to disperse it in the camp. All the refugees who have joined us have to be cleaned outside the camp and checked by a doctor before they can be resettled.”
There were many hot springs in Liaodong, so sulfur was not rare. If he had not taken precautions in advance, he would not have taken in a large number of refugees.
The matter of accepting refugees was personally arranged by her Nineteenth Brother in the name of a disaster. General An Yuan and Huang Wenxian were not aware of it.
The reason why Uncle Sun was so clear was probably because preventing the epidemic was very important. Yin Huaixi had discussed it with Uncle Sun.