There is a Wansheng Town north of the Bianhe River, and the Wanshengmen in the capital came from this town. In the past, this was the Wansheng Army's garrison, with a large number of military camps around it. Now that the Wansheng Army has been dismantled, the barracks of Wansheng Town have been vacant. The Privy Council bought farmland next to it and changed it to a prison camp specially used to transform the Khitans. Most of the middle and senior generals captured in Youzhou in the war were closed here.

On the first day of the second month, Du Zhongxiao finished his work on the Privy Council and went to Wansheng Town to arrange the prison camp.

Cui Xiang, the commander of the prison camp, came out and accompanied Du Zhongxiao into the camp yamen.

Seeing Du Zhongxiao keep looking at the architectural layout here, Cui Xiang said: "This place turned out to be the commander-in-chief of Wansheng Army. We took it over and used it for the Prison City Camp. Most of the officials of the Prison City Camp are here."

Du Zhongxiao said: "The commander-in-chief yamen is useless. However, the prison camp is not a warrior. This yamen is too strict. It can be pushed down some walls, which will look wide and relaxed."

Cui Xiang bowed and said yes.

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "I just suggest this. You can discuss it yourself."

That's it, as the Privy Councilor, Du Zhongxiao would definitely work hard to do it. However, Du Zhongxiao didn't care much about these details. What he was most concerned about was how the prison camp operated and how to transform prisoners.

There were about 1,500 Khitan prisoners of war locked up here, most of which were high-ranking officials and nobles of the Khitans. Almost all of the famous Khitan families were locked up here, and few were missing. These people were transformed well, which would be of great help to the Khitan war later.

After entering the official hall, several other officials came to see him. The deputy commander Cheng Lian planned to set up food and grass officer Li Ji, and so on.

After tea, Du Zhongxiao said, "This prison camp is no better than other places. The people who are in charge of the Khitan officials and nobles. The most important thing is not how many days they have been in charge, but to understand as soon as possible what their identities are now and can be a polite person. If you release them in the future, you can be a polite person. It is naturally not easy for you to manage these people. If you do well, the court will be rewarded with great rewards."

Cui Xiang and others hurriedly bowed to him.

Du Zhongxiao said: "If you want to transform a person, it is not enough to rely on beating and scolding alone. Especially for the people who are locked up here, many of them have noble identities, and they have reached out to their clothes and opened their mouths to eat, but they do not know how difficult it is to farm. Therefore, the prison camp mainly farms. Now there are 1,500 people locked up, and the imperial court has bought about 70,000 acres of land around. According to the arrangement of one man to cultivate twenty acres of land, the rest of the land is used to plant mulberry and dates, and there are also pond or orchards. For details, please ask the local farmers and discuss it yourself."

Cui Xiang bowed: "Taiwei, I don't know how much grain you have to produce in a year. Can the Shufu have any arrangements?"

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "There are only not many of these people who are truly willing to cooperate with the work. Most of them depend on your management. In the first three years, the Shufu did not arrange the amount of grain produced specifically. If there are too many rewards, there will be fines. How much is more, how much is less, and how much is less, I will discuss it at that time."

Cui Xiang was a little embarrassed: "If this is the case, the prisoners know that there is no amount, so they are afraid that they will not work harder."

Du Zhongxiao said: "If the Shufu does not arrange it, it does not mean that you do not arrange it. The amount of grain produced by a mu of farmland nearby is there. You can ask for arrangements. The rewards that are good and those that are poor must be clearly distinguished. The so-called rewards should be mainly based on food, such as wine and meat. The so-called punishment is the first to be fine, and the second is to do more work. Those who are really stubborn and do not obey commands at all, and are detained alone. There is no need to be torture. As long as the food is not good, others are not allowed to talk to him. People, although they have hard bones, most people will still choose to do their jobs if they choose between doing work and locking up a person."

Everyone nodded.

Cui Xiang asked: "The most confusing thing for several officials now is what the imperial court sets up a prison camp. If they only need to keep them for a few years, they will produce more food and make some money every year, it will be a management method. If they really want to learn how to farm, it will naturally be another management method."

Du Zhongxiao said: "How much money can you make in a prison camp in a year? The most important thing is to let them understand how to live in the future. So besides farming, there are other things in the prison camp. For example, you can make wine, grow silkworms, weave brocades, plant fruit trees, and all kinds of things. Anyway, these people have to go out to live and learn these things when they come out here."

Everyone was silent for a while. After a while, Cui Xiangcai asked in a low voice: "Taiwei, are they just ordinary people when they go out of the prison camp? If they go out to be officials, we will be in charge of it here, and I am afraid there will be trouble in the future."

Du Zhongxiao said, "Don't worry, you are the people. The Khitan powers are mostly royal families. If they are allowed to be officials, how can the court pay so much for their salary every year? It is already a great grace to not kill them and allow them to be the people."

This is what Du Zhongxiao has always insisted on. After these Khitan nobles were captured, they could only be ordinary people. Even within one or two generations, the imperial examinations were not allowed. Not that no one proposed to be appointed as officials and raised by the court. Of course, some people suggested killing them directly. In Du Zhongxiao's opinion, capturing the enemy and also enthroning them as officials, so what do you think of the front-line soldiers participating in the battle? Killing them is even more unfeasible. If you don't say that killing prisoners is ominous, killing them, and the remaining Khitans will not surrender. It is a trouble for the future. After thinking about it, it is appropriate to carry out labor reform.

After hearing Du Zhongxiao's words, the officials felt relieved. The Khitan emperor, Privy Councilor, and prime minister were all kept here, and even the title was a big deal. Many people were born in wealthy families and had prominent families. If the court would still use it after they went out, they would cause trouble in the future and these officials would not be able to withstand it.

After talking about some details, Du Zhongxiao said: "There are also some Khitan officials who took the initiative to surrender to the court during the Battle of Youzhou. The court arranged for them to do things here and get some salary. They all have extraordinary identities and the salary they receive is not comparable to you. It is not the same thing, don't think about it."

Cui Xiang and others hurriedly said that they didn't dare. Yelu Xiantong and others could get dozens of stakes a month when they worked in the prison camp, but ordinary officials could not get this number. These officials knew that these people were originally high-ranking officials of the Khitan, and after surrender, the Song Dynasty should give them a heavy reward. The salary of dozens of stakes a month was largely a reward for them, not that those positions could really get so much money.

There is no way to pay money according to the official positions and titles of the Khitan. For the Song Dynasty, there were too many of these people. It would be better to let them be ordinary people, with dozens of stakes a month, so that they could live comfortably in Kaifeng Prefecture. In the prison camp, they were all familiar with the Khitans, and they were familiar with this kind of life. As for the future, they would not be able to control so much. After a few years, they would not be able to learn how to make money, so there was no way.

Looking at everyone, Du Zhongxiao said, "This is the first time we have done such a prison camp. Whether it can be done well depends on you. If you do it well, you will know how to treat the prisoners in the future. If you don't do it well, your career will be worrying."
Chapter completed!