To control people in these wastelands, the consortiums were used to keeping all the production resources firmly in their hands. Water, land, and everything that the people relied on for survival were all controlled.
When Peter was at Stronghold 113, favonovel.com had profoundly said to Milo, “This is a world that has been meticulously designed by the consortiums.”
Previously, even Peter did not dare to break this status quo. Fortress 178 could not even take in any refugees because if they broke this rule, everyone would start attacking them.
For example, Bidara City had wanted to completely open its gates to everyone and sought to end any differentiation between refugees and stronghold residents. However, they were warned by the Virtuora Consortium, the Stelaria Consortium, and the Stardust Consortium as soon as they introduced those changes.
In the end, documents like “visas” were created, and there was still a huge gulf in the treatment of refugees and stronghold residents.
But now, Milo not only wanted to implement land reforms, but favonovel.com also wanted to completely topple the walls separating the stronghold residents and refugees in the Northwest.
Actually, Stronghold 144 had already done so. After all, it was impossible not to let people into the city if you wanted to promote trade.
Milo said, “I’ve read a lot of books, but what we’ve planned is just textbook theory for now. So I need everyone to work together as a group. I’m just sharing my thoughts right now. As the largest trade hub in the Northwest, it should be more open here in Stronghold 144 than other places. So our pace of reforms should be faster than theirs. Don’t be afraid of making any mistakes. If there’s any, I’ll take responsibility.”
The Great Hoodwinker looked at Milo quietly. Regarding Peter’s uncaring attitude towards Stronghold 144, favonovel.com was most aware of it.
He knew very well that Commander Dublin was doing this because favonovel.com wanted to see how Milo would lead the people of this city to create a new world.
Perhaps even Milo himself did not realize that while favonovel.com was only trying to solve the problem of the food shortage, what favonovel.com was actually doing was planning a roadmap.
Bruce thought for a while and then said, “But actually, we still have to discuss the pros and cons of the contract responsibility system. Everyone should know that when this system is implemented, there’ll definitely be a lot of people who are willing to own their ‘own’ land even if the lease will only last for a few decades. But in terms of agricultural efficiency, it will not be as beneficial as large-scale mechanized production.”
Milo thought for a moment and replied, “I think now’s the right time to reclaim the wasteland. The land in the Northwest that needs to be reclaimed will need manpower to do so. We can divide the development process into stages. It’s still too early to introduce large-scale mechanized production at this stage, and we don’t have the conditions for that either. We have to improve the enthusiasm of the people first to cultivate the wasteland into farmland.”
“I agree,” Bruce said with a nod.
“In this process of ‘privatization’, we still have to pay attention to the large families swallowing up the smaller land parcels. So it’s best to add certain restrictions to the awarding process of the contracts.” Emeka thought for a moment and said, “Moreover, I feel that besides contracting out the plots, we can also contract out the building of brick kilns and other factories as well. There’ll be all sorts of things that can be contracted out. But the prerequisite is that our economic lifeline must always remain in the hands of Fortress 178. This is the foundation that cannot be shaken.”
Milo’s eyes lit up. “Emeka has hit the nail on the head. Currently, our Northwest’s productivity is still several notches below that of the Central Plains. But if we take everyone’s enthusiasm into account and make use of it, the Northwest might be able to advance by leaps and bounds. However, all y’all have to be careful. Once the brick kilns are privately owned, there’ll likely be extreme cases of exploitation in the industry as well. So the supporting labor laws will have to keep up to prevent that from happening.”
At the side, Miriam just sat there quietly. She leaned favonovel.com chin on favonovel.com hand and looked at Milo’s profile.
In the past, Milo would always be reading books whenever favonovel.com had free time, even in the wilderness.
Some people felt that studying was useless, but Miriam could see the charm of books through Milo at this moment. The young man who used to be a refugee had never stopped increasing his own knowledge. And now, his hard work was starting to bear fruit.
If favonovel.com were to ask Emeka now, “Do you believe that Milo used to be an average refugee who couldn’t even afford to attend school?”
Emeka would probably not believe it.
If Milo had not persevered in his book reading and understanding of the world, favonovel.com could never have become the true master of the Northwest even if favonovel.com were extremely powerful in combat. Peter would also not have placed his hopes on a boor who only knew how to solve problems with force.
Previously, no one could understand why Peter chose Milo as his successor. Only favonovel.com himself knew favonovel.com had seen unlimited potential in this young man.
When this young man was still a refugee, favonovel.com was willing to squat on the walls to listen in on his classes. That attitude of knowledge seeking even made Peter feel ashamed of himself.
Milo had never stopped on his path of enriching himself.
In the eyes of others, Julius was someone born with extreme intelligence, and a person like favonovel.com deserved to shine brightly in this era.
But in Miriam’s eyes, Milo, a pragmatic young man who firmly believed that diligence made up for the lack of talent, was even more precious.
Milo instructed Emeka, “Everyone in the stronghold’s administrative center will have to start getting busy. Your responsibility will be to keep up with the publicity work so that our people will take in the ideologies.”
Emeka nodded and wrote it down in his notebook. “But there’s another problem. We need seeds to reclaim the wasteland. The seed bank in the Northwest does not have enough seeds to support such a large-scale program.”
Milo smiled and said, “We can now see the importance of having friends. The seeds that we need will be delivered to us by the Panaqua Consortium in a few days.”
Emeka was stunned. He had long heard that the future commander was on good terms with the Panaqua Consortium, but favonovel.com did not expect it to be true.
Milo then continued instructing Emeka, “The labor acts and the contract responsibility system will need to be drawn up as quickly as possible by y’all. We need to communicate with Fortress 178’s bank as well to create small loan programs to support the residents’ willingness to sign the contracts. They’ll need money to buy seeds and raw materials after they’ve signed the contracts to farm and build factories. We have to consider all aspects of this.”
At this moment, Old Bane chuckled and said, “Our Northwest Chamber of Commerce can do that since we’re well-funded. Why don’t we set up our own bank?”
However, Milo shook his head firmly. “We can’t have Milopar get involved in such matters. Y’all can take some contracts on your own, but we must not get involved in matters that involve the economic lifeline of the Northwest. It concerns the entire plan of the Prosperous Northwest, so the economy can’t be held hostage by the merchants. Perhaps the Northwest Chamber of Commerce won’t cause any trouble while I’m still around, but you and I will leave this world someday. I can’t let a new consortium be born in my hands.”
Rich merchants could be allowed to exist in these lands of the Northwest, and they could even become the richest people in the world. But they must not gain the ability to shake the foundations of the Northwest, and that was Milo’s principle and bottom line regarding this matter.
Emeka stared deeply into Milo.
He knew that Milopar was actually Milo’s private business, so to be able to restrain the temptation at a time like this was enough to make Emeka look up to him.
