Tianliangyuan

Chapter 256 Getting rich

Lantian County produces jade, with Lantian jade being the main product.

Lantian jade is one of the four famous jades, known for its warm and smooth texture and diverse colors.

However, even though Lantian has jade mines, it still cannot change the fact that it is still relatively barren.

why?

So what if Lantian County has jade mines?

Of the three jade mines discovered in Lantian County, one belonged to the imperial court, one was the emperor's private property, and the other belonged to the Zhao family.

There are jade mines, and indeed, they can be sold for silver.

But the real beneficiaries are the owners of the mineral resources, not the local people.

In fact, the existence of jade mines meant that laborers were needed year-round for mining and polishing, which ironically led to the abandonment of farmland.

In short: low productivity and limited resources controlled by a select few mean that ordinary people benefit only to a limited extent.

However, from another perspective, Lantian County is poor when compared to areas near the capital. Compared to some truly poor, remote counties, Lantian County is relatively wealthy.

Because Lantian produces jade, the county naturally receives much more tax revenue each year than ordinary counties that only farm. Therefore, Lantian County is actually a large county.

Originally, Lantian County had allocated a hill to her, but for some reason, Emperor Yong'an simply issued an edict to include the adjacent hill under her name as well.

Xu Zhaozhao felt that the Emperor was feeling guilty and wanted to make it up to her.

After all, they were treating her like a high-level employee, hoping she could make Lantian County prosperous. So they simply offered her more benefits, since they were only a thousand households in the fief, while the entire Lantian County had twenty thousand households.

Therefore, once she truly makes Yunqi Manor stronger and bigger, the ultimate beneficiaries will be the entire Lantian County, and even the entire imperial court!

Xu Zhaozhao was never one to engage in internal strife, so she readily accepted the reward.

Now that we're here, we should take a good look at these two mountains.

After arriving at the place, Xu Zhaozhao gained a preliminary understanding of it.

The formation of Lantian jade is closely related to the unique geological conditions of the area.

Xu Zhaozhao was extremely fortunate at this moment. In her previous life, she had been educated and happened to know a friend who studied jewelry design, so she had some understanding of Lantian jade.

Lantian County is part of the Qinling Mountains. Through long-term geological processes, including metamorphism under high temperature and pressure, the mineral components of Lantian jade crystallized in the parent rock. Its main components include serpentine and carbonate minerals, and it comes in a variety of colors, mainly green, white, and yellow, with green and white being the most common.

Xu Zhaozhao is now hoping that she will discover jade mines in these two mountains.

This is what you call a windfall!

Yunqi Mountain Villa now has more than 600 households.

Among them, some were people Changsheng had tricked into coming from among the beggars he knew before, while others came to seek refuge with Yan Shu and Li Sheng.

Both men came from impoverished peasant backgrounds. When their hometown learned that they had become successful and were working under the county magistrate, they naturally wanted to come and seek refuge with them. Life was hard back home, and if they could find a place to stay here, they would be able to live a peaceful life.

Putting everything else aside, the mere fact that it could increase the population of Lantian County was enough to make the county magistrate very satisfied.

Having people means having labor power, which allows for better development whether agriculture or commerce is prioritized.

Xu Zhaozhao wasn't in a hurry to explore the jade mine. It was getting late, so she decided to rest for the night and head up the mountain early the next morning.

After having dinner, Chen Cong came to thank Xu Zhaozhao.

“You don’t need to do that. Since he is your cousin, I should help him out. Perhaps he can become an asset to my third brother in the future? Besides, my cousin is also going to take the imperial examination. When he becomes an official, he will have the opportunity to thank me.”

Chen Cong was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.

Even if he had passed the exam, it would be impossible for him to be promoted to a high-ranking official in a short period of time.

This cousin of mine knows how to comfort people.

"In any case, I thank my cousin on behalf of my mother and uncle."

"Alright, I accept your greeting. Are you relieved now, cousin?"

Chen Cong's lips twitched slightly. Why did his cousin always sound so cheeky when she spoke?

The next morning, Xu Zhaozhao took Dingxiang and Zisu up the mountain first.

The three of them changed into more practical clothes, and Xu Zhaozhao used the plants and trees in the mountains to finally get a better understanding of the mountain.

She actually did it!

There really is a jade mine!

Moreover, it is a rare yellow jade.

This time, they've really struck it rich.

No business can make money as fast as having a mine at home!

However, we must not rush.

The most important thing right now is to clear the land first, otherwise if everyone comes up to mine, who will farm?

Now that we have curved plows, things are much more convenient.

But that's clearly not enough.

Xu Zhaozhao felt that the current agricultural work needed to be reformed, otherwise too many people were being involved.

However, Xu Zhaozhao thought of something.

She had heard people mention in her past life that although ancient monarchs hoped for a prosperous and peaceful country, they did not truly want their people to be wealthy.

As long as you have enough to eat and warm clothes, that's fine.

If everyone becomes extremely wealthy, trouble might arise, which would be detrimental to the rule of those in power.

Therefore, people often suggest raising taxes or levies when people are doing well.

Even more so, some people later spread the Qing Dynasty's "thirty-three taels of silver" technique for controlling the people. In short, it was a strategy to manipulate and restrict the economic behavior of the people by controlling the amount of silver in their hands, limiting it to thirty-three taels.

During the Qing Dynasty, the average annual income of ordinary people was about 33 taels of silver, while their average expenditure was 36 taels, a difference of about 10% of their total income, or 3 taels. Despite their efforts, the people could not make up the gap and could only toil all day long, with no time to think and no power to resist the Qing government.

Xu Zhaozhao had heard this kind of explanation many times in her past life.

However, none of them stand up to scrutiny.

Although such claims may be exaggerated or even false.

In short, it revealed the thoughts of those in power: they couldn't let the people be too well-fed or too idle.

When people are idle, they are more likely to get into trouble.

Therefore, rulers can see the country becoming rich and powerful, but they are unwilling to see the common people living too well.

Xu Zhaozhao is currently unsure whether Emperor Yong'an is also such an emperor, so some things cannot be rushed.

Since the imperial court values ​​agriculture and commerce, let's start with agriculture first.

If land reclamation is successful, then grain production will increase, people's lives will improve, and the grain tax will naturally be substantial.

Methods to increase grain production are no challenge for Xu Zhaozhao.

While we can't rush into other solutions, we can first let farmers try composting, and then try adapting to local conditions, etc. There will always be a way.