In Yangzhou in April, catkins are flying and the scenery is fine.
When You Miao returned to Jiangbo Villa, he first asked You Hange to write a post, and then went to the Ministry of Housing to report. Then, even if he took over the military affairs of the Military Defense Department, the Ministry of War Pingxi did not dare to send You Miao a censor with the army, and no civilians came to lead the post. , presumably everyone has an idea.
And You Miao was not idle. On the one hand, he managed the army for Li Zhifeng, and on the other hand, he reorganized the affairs of the villa. Qiao Jue is good at doing business, but not good at managing the villa. During the year when You Miao went to Beijing, Qiao Jue could only keep the capital.
The first thing to do is to replace all the fields with grain. In the next few years, You Miao could almost foresee the future: the food production in Jiangnan would have to feed at least three times as many people as before.
These included refugees from the North, newly formed armies, and the resources needed to conduct trade with the South. Before the fall of the north, the war situation spread to the south, and many tenants who were afraid of death ran away. You Miao reorganized the land in the villa and recruited nearly a thousand tenants from Yangzhou. At the same time, he also encircled the official land around Jiangbo Villa, with a total of 34,000 mu.
In this way, a large area of land south of Guozhuang belongs to Jiangbo Villa.
In the past, in Yangzhou, it was difficult to encircle such a large piece of land, but if you are your own buddy today, how much wasteland you need is simply a matter of words.
Of course, You Miao did not dare to be too arrogant. He knew this and took advantage of the Ministry of Military Affairs. First, a document was handed over to Li Zhifeng to the Ministry of Military Affairs, saying that Jiangbo Villa was on the east and west lines, because he wanted to communicate with the Hu people. At war, the reserved area must be circled for turning. Pingxi approved the document, and then handed it over to Qin Shaonan from the Ministry of Household for stamping. As a result, a large area of unowned wasteland was under You Miao's control.
After the battle was over, we would re-plan this place, with half of it being included in Jiangbo Villa, and the other half being surrounded by Li Zhifeng. When the household was handed over, Qin Shaonan had to replace one of the documents with a wave of his pen. All this land belongs to You Miao.
You Miao and Li Zhifeng spent two days on horseback to inspect all the land, including the hilly areas, which were originally reserved by Yangzhou Prefecture. After the northerners fled to the south, there were a few courageous people who began to cultivate in the open space and try to farm.
A few peasants were farming in the fields, and when they looked up, they were a little apprehensive when they saw You Miao. Knowing that these people could not be expelled, You Miao showed them the official documents, informing them that these fields were under his control. But to cultivate, you can still plant. Just a quarter tax contribution.
Li Zhifeng was stationed at the border of the horse, and in front of him was a large expanse of mountains.
"You can plant some more tea." Li Zhifeng said.
You Miao shook her head slowly and said, "I don't have enough rice, so I can't grow tea, so I have to grow food and open up terraced fields."
Li Zhifeng snorted. He had never had any idea about farming. What You Miao said was what You Miao said. Next, You Miao went back to rectify the lease and divided the fields into upper, middle and lower grades. Originally, they stayed in the villa. The tenants who have not escaped will still pay taxes as usual.
When the news of the Hu people's invasion to the south came, nearly 60% of the tenants had left, and a large number of fields were vacated. You Miao took away their leases and recalculated them.
For the newly recruited tenants, Youmiao gave them agricultural tools and let them choose independently. Those who are willing to stay in the villa and plant high-quality fields must pay seven cents of the land tax. For those who plant new fields without owners, You Miao only receives six points. And those who are willing to enter the mountains to reclaim the terraced fields will be charged five cents of tax, with a three-year lease, and the increase will be calculated separately.
It took nearly half a month to Ji Tian and accepting the people. You Miao completed all the things, and then specially invited two housekeepers from Yangzhou to take care of the chores in Xinzhuang. The silver taels are spent like flowing water, to feed the land reclamation tenants, and to build a new village in the northwest and northeast, it is simply too busy.
But Li Zhifeng couldn't stop training, he was mostly outside during the day, and occasionally he had to eat and live with the soldiers at night. He was used to fighting at night, so You Miao was alone in the villa to deal with affairs.
During the day, Yumiao got up very early, and after breakfast, he wrote and painted in the study.
Chang Yuan came in, bowed and said, "Young master, there is a guest here."
"Who?" You Miao was a little surprised.
Chang Yuan said: "There are four people outside, who say they are the cousins of the young master Liuzhou..."
You Miao knew that this was a big deal, and hurried out, saying, "Hurry up and invite tea in the hall, and say I'll be there right away!"
The You Family has been entrenched in Jiangnan for many years, and has become a force that cannot be ignored. Among them, there are two big clans, one in Liuzhou and the other in Yangzhou. You Miao had made good friends with Liuzhou's cousin in the past years. He was very happy when he heard this, and hurriedly came out to greet him.
I saw four people sitting in the hall, and Qiao Jue greeted them with a smile. When the four saw You Miao, they stood up one after another. You Miao cupped their hands with a smile, and said, "What wind is blowing you here?"
An uncle called You Deming the youngest, who is about the same age as Qiao Jue, and usually hangs out with some nephews and juniors. "
You Miao fell down with laughter, and entered the hall to make tea herself. Qiao Jue smiled and said, "I saw your street a few days ago, isn't the business still doing well?"
Another person sighed, it was You Miao's cousin, who was usually unsmiling, the most stable of the third generation, called You Shu, took a sip of tea and shook his head silently.
You Deming said: "I'll tell you the truth, Miaozi, Brother Qiao, the clan moved here from Liuzhou a few years ago, and they all wanted to go back, so they didn't come up to you very much. I'm afraid to see the land in Jiangbei for a while and a half. I won’t be able to take it back, they all say that the new emperor is going to ascend the throne, and I don’t know what the situation will be in the future, so I came to ask you, if there is any errand in the new dynasty…”
You Miao smiled and said, "I'm not an official myself, do you think I have?"
Everyone thought about it too. There has been a lot of wind in recent days, but they are all quite complicated. They said that they would fight back, and then they said that they would settle down in Jiangnan. Without a letter of approval, You Shu interjected a moment later, "I heard that there is going to be a war? Do I have to retake Liuzhou?"
You Miao knew about Nie Dan's military plan, but if this battle goes on, at most Pei County will be recaptured. Even Biyu Villa is hard to say, let alone Liu and a large area of northern Suzhou.
"I'm afraid that in recent years." You Miao said: "It's difficult."
Several cousins nodded slowly, You Miao's heart moved, and the secret thought came just right, so she asked, "What are the brothers doing in Yangzhou City for a living?"
"How can I make a living?" You Deming smiled and said, "There are two bedrooms and three bedrooms, six bedrooms and twelve bedrooms. These bedrooms collected some money and donated two officials to the Ministry of Industry. Do you remember your sixth uncle's son? The one who summoned Youfa, and your third uncle's son, Youxi..."
"Remember, remember." You Miao couldn't stop thinking about it, remembering that the farmer in the field of the Ministry of Industry seemed to be a vaguely named Ji Guang, who was escorted all the way north by the Tartars when he fled a few years ago, and he even protected him once. He asked again, "Where is Yangzhou?"
"The grandfather's side has never been hurt." You Shu said: "The seven children of the clan have all entered the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Punishment as officials."