The Three Kingdoms began with island farming

Chapter 698 Time waits for no one
There are no friends forever.

Tianze and the Seven Kings trust each other but are also wary of each other.

Both sides know each other very well.

It was precisely for this reason that Tianze was well aware of the necessity of relocating people.

At the current rate of development of the seven kings, it will take less than twenty years for seven empires to emerge that are no less powerful than the Kushan Empire.

Among the seven kings, Liu Fan had the largest population of over seven million, while Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had the smallest populations of over four million.

Half of them were women from other ethnic groups.

Given the Seven Kings' personalities, they would stop at nothing to increase the population in the current situation.

Tian Ze's forces were all Han Chinese, and factors such as women's health, willingness to have children, pressure to have children, and treatment had to be taken into account. As a result, the number of newborns each year accounted for only about 10% of the total population, or about 6 million.

Among the seven kings, the Han people were mostly young men and women. Even excluding them, the remaining eligible women from other ethnic groups accounted for more than half of the total population.

The Seven Kings would never allow these women from other races to rest for a moment. Assuming they give birth once every year and a half, the proportion of newborns each year would reach more than 30% of the total population.

If Han Chinese are also included, the proportion of newborns each year will reach more than 40%.

Judging from the average age of these foreign women, the Seven Kings could continue this frenzied procreation for at least ten years.

Even based on the current population, the total population of the Seven Kingdoms is over 30 million, with 13 to 14 million new births every year.

In three or four years, the population will catch up with that of the present-day Great Qi, and in about ten years, it will likely be on par with Great Qi.

Even if most of these people are children, as long as they settle down for another ten years or so, when they grow up, how will they be different from the Great Qi?

And the biggest driving force behind this was actually Tianze himself.

Without Tian Ze's ambition to eliminate the other three great empires and allow the Han people to dominate the world, he would not have used his talent to give the Seven Kings a resource boost and used the Great Qi as a backing.

Why did so many courtiers previously oppose and support the Seventh Prince?

It's because they are all too aware of the Seven Kings' abilities.

In particular, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce were all men of great ambition and emperor-like qualities.

Give any one of them twenty years, and building an empire would be a piece of cake.

Western countries have a hard time containing them; they're lucky if they don't become stepping stones and blood bags for them.

Tian Ze single-handedly opened up the world, creating an era of rampant territorial expansion and population becoming the core competitive advantage.

The competition for population among nations has already begun, and even the Great Qi has been drawn into it; it's unlikely to stop anytime soon.

This era destined the Han people to become the protagonists of this world, and destined them to accelerate their reproduction, continuous exploration, and migration.

"Don't even think about it, my lord." Huang Quan said helplessly, looking at Liu Fan's regretful expression.

Of the seven kings, perhaps only Liu Fan truly harbored some hope.

Those four knew Tian Ze very well and simply didn't believe he would do anything "stupid." Otherwise, they wouldn't have been driven out of the Central Plains without any chance of fighting back.

As for the remaining two, they didn't even think of that point; they were just using their muscles to think.

"Alas, it seems that it is truly impossible to return to the Central Plains in my lifetime," Liu Fan sighed deeply.

Since everyone in the tent was one of his own, he made no attempt to hide his emotions.

Zhang Song's lips twitched slightly.

Where does my lord get such confidence?

Even if Tianze were to lose, it wouldn't be our turn to intervene!

It has to be said that Liu Fan's recent developments have indeed boosted his confidence considerably. His confidence has become somewhat incomprehensible to them.

Some of their decisions were so bold that even they were afraid, and at one point they felt they had misjudged their lord and that he was truly possessed by the spirit of the Great Ancestor.

Take population and birth rates, for example.

As the largest of the seven kings, and with the highest proportion of women from other ethnic groups, accounting for nearly 60%, Liu Fan was very clear about his advantages and unwaveringly promoted them.

With a total population of over seven million, Liu Fan set a birth target of three and a half million for them that year, with an annual increase of two hundred thousand.

Li Yan, who was in charge of the matter at the time, directly scolded Liu Fan for being delusional.

That's pure nonsense! It means that 90% of the women from other races have to give birth, and they also have to constantly wage war against and plunder women from other races to give birth.

However, Liu Fan retorted without hesitation.

What are you afraid of? What do you lack?
Those women from other tribes used to live worse than cattle and horses. They worked harder than cattle, ate worse than pigs, and couldn't even save their lives.

We give them a stable home, enough supplies and food so they don't have to worry about survival, and let them have a child every year. Is that so hard?

We have no shortage of food, but if we lack supplies, we still have a lot of debts owed to Daqi. Whatever you need, I'll give you.

With Tian Chengshou and Da Qi standing behind us, what are we afraid of?

If you don't take advantage of this opportunity, when will you?
Once Parthia and Rome are defeated by us in a few years, Tian Chengshou and Daqi will definitely withdraw all their support.

We don't have much time left!

Our current treatment is even better than when Tian Chengshou started his business. What can't we do?
Let's set a small goal: within ten years, let's strive to build a Daqi!

After a standoff, the eloquent Li Yan was completely fooled by Liu Fan, and in the end, he was all fired up.

The scene made Huang Quan, Zhang Song, and Dong He feel a little uneasy.

My lord has truly gone "crazy"!
Little did they know that Liu Fan was perfectly lucid at that moment.

If you're less skilled than others, you have to gamble to win! You have to go crazy.

The brave will die of overeating, and the timid will die of starvation.

He currently has the greatest advantage, but if he develops normally, he will definitely not be able to compare with the other six kings. Therefore, he can only take an unconventional approach to widen the gap.

Afterwards, Huang Quan and the others realized the significance of this and couldn't help but admire it deeply.

This is the difference between a lord and a strategist.

Strategists always weigh the pros and cons, and their first reaction is to give up if the risk is too great. They have a clear understanding of everything, but they are always indecisive.

This is why strategists often offer so-called superior, middle, and inferior strategies.

If it were him, he wouldn't know what to choose either.

A monarch is someone who can make choices, bear the consequences, and has an unwavering will.

Liu Fan's persistence and madness, on the contrary, gave Huang Quan and others endless courage.

Since our lord has gone mad, what do we have to worry about?
Many policies and strategies were formulated without much consideration for potential hidden dangers; they were bold and daring, with the leader as a safety net in case of failure.

This kind of gambling behavior is not a long-term solution and carries many risks.

However, it must be said that Liu Fan was very lucky.

His talent seemed to lie more in luck, yet many of the radical policies he implemented actually achieved excellent results, and the problems that arose were not significant.

Moreover, Sima Yi, who happened to be idle, was itching to show off his skills and started to "play around" using Liu Fan's platform.

(End of this chapter)