Traveling through ancient times.

Chapter 122 Hot potato?

The popularity of honeycomb briquettes has also boosted the sales of coal stoves.

Jiang Yizhou had asked Tianzhuang to prepare a batch before, and it was sold out in less than half a month.

Originally, ordinary people could not afford carbon stone. After all, that thing only burns for an hour and is gone after cooking a meal.

But this honeycomb coal is different. It can be used to cook and boil water. Two or three pieces a day are enough.

Families with slightly better financial conditions can certainly afford it.

Especially for many families around Yunshan, since everyone has a salary, this expense is just a drop in the bucket.

Those families who originally used carbon stone also chose honeycomb coal.

Jiang Yizhou promoted honeycomb coal to more places while expanding the scale of production.

The use of hydraulic power to achieve semi-automation greatly improves production efficiency.

The originally remote and impoverished place has become lively due to the rise of honeycomb coal workshops, and the workers and their families have stable jobs and income.

It also boosted the production of surrounding supporting facilities, creating a thriving industry.

Zhang Tao, the magistrate of Jiang'an County, greatly admired Jiang Yizhou and gave him many favors.

He thought of He Jimin, who had been worried about taxation before, but now he has become an advanced person.

It was because the head of the Jiang family reclaimed wasteland in Yunshan and led the surrounding people to become rich.

This not only solves the land problem, but also the resettlement problem of landless farmers - they have no way to stop the gentry and landlords from annexing land, because they have a lot of money and even have connections above them, and some of them can almost manipulate the prices of goods in a place.

If it was a good year, ordinary people could still barely have enough to eat, but once a bad year came, many people had to sell their land and children...

They couldn't do anything about these local tyrants and had to try to please them.

Anyone who wants to be a good official in these places has to have good relations with these people, and have to look at their expressions when collecting grain and taxes...

So, now that he saw the head of the Jiang family coming to Jiang'an County, Zhang Tao began to introduce the situation here, and deliberately pointed out that there were large tracts of wasteland in Jiang'an County near Beizhou. If the head of the Jiang family was willing, he would not collect taxes from her for five years.

What he thought was that if she succeeded in reclaiming the wasteland there, she would definitely need a lot of people.

It is impossible for her to go back to Yunshan to gather people, so she must recruit farmers locally.

This will greatly alleviate the crisis of these people becoming refugees.

Besides, once she reclaims the wasteland, she will definitely bring those good seeds with her, and then...

So, no matter what, he didn't lose out.

Jiang Yizhou did not hide her joy. Yes, her purpose in cooperating with the Huo family was to use this as a foothold and then extend from Jiang'an County to Beizhou.

She was just about to have a chat with County Magistrate Zhang, but unexpectedly the other party was more honest and brought it up directly.

Since the other party came with great sincerity, Jiang Yizhou did not act pretentiously and demonstrated his sincerity with practical actions.

Previously, the only information about this place was the descriptions from merchants traveling to Yunshan.

After County Magistrate Zhang offered to give her the wasteland, she immediately took people to investigate in person.

When County Magistrate Zhang saw the attitude of the Jiang family head, he thought that one really cannot judge people by their gender.

As a woman, she had no complaints despite the tiring journey, so as an official, I should naturally accompany her.

Traveling light, Jiang Yizhou only brought Liao Qi and Wei Ke, while County Magistrate Zhang brought two followers.

I wandered around the wasteland for a day or two.

The basic situation has been clarified, and Jiang Yizhou roughly expressed his thoughts.

In fact, the main reason for abandonment of land here is similar to that in Yunshan - lack of water.

Moreover, the terrain here is higher. The Canglang River is far away from here and the terrain is very low, so it is impossible to use a water wheel.

In addition, there is another problem: the wind and sand here are very strong.

Therefore, if we want to make use of this land, we must first solve the problems of wind, sand and water.

Very tricky.

It is also a very difficult situation for Jiang Yizhou at the moment.

But if you don't pursue short-term profits, but consider the long-term future, this place can still be run well.

County Magistrate Zhang asked in surprise, "Windbreak? You said you want to plant a large windbreak here to block the sandstorm?"

Jiang Yizhou: "This is the first step. The second step is still the water source. We can build an artificial canal from this place. In this way, not only will this area have a water source, but it will also be able to ensure stable irrigation here, instead of relying solely on the weather."

County Magistrate Zhang's voice trembled. "Build a canal? This, this..."

Now the county can't even come up with a few hundred taels of silver, and dredging and building river embankments are difficult problems every year.

Also building a canal? We need to open up this mountain, divert the water of Canglang River to the other side, and then build a series of water wheels and ditches to establish a new and complete irrigation system.

Just think about how much money this would cost.

So, who will pay for this money?

The county certainly can’t afford it if the head of the Jiang family is asked to bear it himself... The project is so huge, and the bribes will not only be this wasteland, but also the tens of thousands of acres of land downstream.

This……

Jiang Yizhou knew that County Magistrate Zhang was hesitant, so he took the initiative to say, "So, if Lord Zhang sincerely gives me this wasteland to take care of, I hope to get its permanent ownership, rather than the condition of producing grain in five years."

According to the wasteland reclamation order issued by the imperial court: planting grain within three years is considered a successful reclamation, and the land will then belong to the reclaimer.

Now, County Magistrate Zhang has extended the three years to five years.

But this is still not enough for Jiang Yizhou.

County Magistrate Zhang was a little hesitant. Although this was a wasteland, it was still tens of thousands of acres wide. If...

Finally, after thinking for a while, he said, "If the land is officially transferred to the name of the Jiang family head now, then he will need to pay taxes normally, this..."

"Then let's calculate it based on the lowest level of land..."

"This..." County Magistrate Zhang felt a little embarrassed. This was equivalent to giving wasteland to others and then collecting taxes from them.

But seeing that Master Jiang had already made up his mind, he asked someone to measure it and write it down in the contract document, requiring the payment of taxes to begin next year.

Although County Magistrate Zhang had accomplished a great thing, he still felt a little guilty and promised that he would do his best to cooperate if needed.

Jiang Yizhou came back with such a big hot potato, and her several managers were very surprised.

Although they were full of doubts in their hearts, they looked at Jiang Yizhou with burning eyes, as if they were more confident and expectant than Jiang Yizhou himself.

"Master, have you figured out how to develop it?"

"Master, just tell us what to do, and I promise to complete the task."

"The head of the family——"

Jiang Yizhou simply threw a bag of seeds to Yunxin and said, "These are some tree species I found outside. Ask someone with experience to cultivate them and tell me when they grow to half a person's height."

Yucui said anxiously, "Master, when do you start construction? I will send a few of the most capable engineering teams over there."