Chapter 1046 - Abduction (1/2)
Ren Xiaosu had no intention of fighting anyone on this trip to the Central Plains, so he was not going to bring too many people with him.
Moreover, the Central Plains was now the territory of the Wang Consortium and the Zhou Consortium. For the Northwest to carry out the Prosperous Northwest's plan there, it would be better to keep a low profile.
However, the Great Hoodwinker was still worried and insisted on following him there.
In the words of the Great Hoodwinker, he was in charge of the entire Northwest's field operations. With him around, the future commander could obtain any intel immediately.
Actually, everyone slowly realized that while the future commander's relationship with Wang Fugui ran deeper, it was the Great Hoodwinker who was Ren Xiaosu's second-in-command when it came to the political affairs of the Northwest.
On one hand, the Great Hoodwinker was indeed very capable. For example, Wang Yun and Ji Zi'ang, who had joined the Prosperous Northwest, were also recruited by him. He also carried out his intelligence gathering duties in a very dependable and orderly manner.
On the other hand, this Great Hoodwinker was way too good at sucking up to others. Furthermore, he was old, yet he was totally shameless when it came to flattering the future commander. He was way too good at cozying up to the powerful!
Before leaving, Ren Xiaosu had a short meeting with Wang Yuexi. Wang Yuexi asked Ren Xiaosu why he was going to the Central Plains at a time when the Northwest needed someone to take charge of the overall situation.
Ren Xiaosu replied he was going there to solve the population problem.
Wang Yuexi was stunned by the answer. In his opinion, the population problem could only be solved with time. Starting by encouraging the people to have children this year, there would naturally be a population increase in 15 to 18 years.
As for other ways to attract talent, it was not that they did not dare to think about it, but that it was truly impossible to achieve. The Wang Consortium stood firm between the Central Plains and the Northwest, so the Northwest would not have any such opportunity.
But when Wang Yuexi saw how relaxed Ren Xiaosu looked, he realized he apparently already had a plan.
…
At this moment, a large number of escapees and refugees had congregated outside the various strongholds of the Zhou Consortium. Their numbers easily exceeded everyone's imagination.
Actually, Ren Xiaosu and the Great Hoodwinker had also somewhat misunderstood the Zhou Consortium. In their opinion, it had to be the Zhou Consortium's inaction and internal strife that caused the escapees and refugees to starve.
But in fact, it was not that the Zhou Consortium did not want to intervene but that they really could not!
The Kong Consortium and the Pyro Company had a total of more than 40 strongholds in the North. Currently, they were almost half empty after everyone fled to the South. Some of the escapees had died along the way, but most still managed to reach the Zhou Consortium's territory safely.
Their numbers were definitely not something the Zhou Consortium could sustain.
Before this, the Wang Consortium had reestablished Stronghold 61 to take in the refugees, causing many of the Zhou Consortium's factories to stop operating and their farmlands to turn into wastelands. As such, the Zhou Consortium was now at a stage where they were unable to accept any more refugees. This made them care even less about whether the people lived or died.
Sometimes, the Zhou Consortium's people wondered if the Wang Consortium had already thought of this outcome when they announced that Stronghold 61 was accepting refugees from the other strongholds.
This was not to deify Wang Shengzhi's strategic foresight, but everyone had dealt with him for over a decade now. In the past, Wang Shengzhi had used seven years to plan a silkworm breeding industry to lure a large number of refugees into the mountains to breed silkworms, and that left the consortiums around the Wang Consortium extremely disgusted.