Chapter 2074 Expedient Measures

Qiao Xuan felt like a fish in water and was in high spirits.

She was very happy about this, but she couldn't show it too much in front of Shao Yunduan, so she restrained herself and endured it.

She had long wanted to take a stroll through the mountains, rivers, and forests in Anze Prefecture, and now she finally had a legitimate opportunity.

A place to accommodate thousands of people cannot be too far away from a town, otherwise it will be difficult to manage and their lives will be inconvenient.

The resettlement site must be located in a relatively flat area with convenient access to water.

As for the place to be reclaimed, it is not a big deal if it takes more than half an hour or even an hour to get there.

It's just a little more walking, no big deal for them.

Three days later, Qiao Xuan selected a place and took Shao Yunduan and Jia Heming to see it to confirm that this group of refugees could be relocated there.

This area is about half an hour's journey south of Anzezhou City. It is a stretch of small undulating hills with only one slightly higher slope. Trees grow sparsely and it can be easily developed.

It's no problem to build a house to accommodate thousands of people.

The refugees living here have to go south for more than half an hour to reach a swamp.

Qiao Xuan used her special powers to investigate and found out that the swamp was the remnant of the Big Swamp. It was relatively easy to develop and the silt was not very deep. It could be reclaimed into paddy fields or fish ponds could be dug to raise fish.

About 30,000 acres can be developed.

The addition of 30,000 acres of fertile land is a great thing for Anze Prefecture!

After all, there are very few good farmlands in this mountainous area.

Even though everyone was enthusiastic about reclaiming wasteland, all they reclaimed were dry land and mountains.

Land reclamation, especially in mountainous areas, has never been an easy task.

It was easy for Qiao Xuan to do this, as it was all done with money.

Who can afford to smash the homes of ordinary people?

The trees, weeds, shrubs and thorns on the ground need to be cleared, and it is even more difficult underground, where the roots of various trees are very deep, and the roots of various grasses are intertwined like a fishing net and chessboard, making it very difficult to clean up.

That’s not all. In the first three years after the land is opened up, no matter what you plant, you will have to spend several times more effort to take care of it because weeds will grow wildly.

Just weeding can be exhausting.

In addition, after the land deed is obtained, taxes must be paid on the reclaimed land.

Although it’s not much, the production is not much either.

Plus, buying land also requires money.

Therefore, people generally seldom choose to reclaim wasteland.

The first few years were too hard to endure. Few people were willing to endure it unless they had no other choice.

It is now under the leadership of Qiao Xuan that the profits from planting various medicinal herbs, star anise, peppercorns and other economic crops can be seen, which is why more and more people are willing to open up wasteland.

But the total amount of wasteland reclaimed is actually not large.

At the moment, Jia Heming looked at the swamp with some hesitation, and couldn't help asking: "Madam, are you sure this swamp can really be reclaimed into good farmland? To be honest, there are many swamps in our Anze Prefecture. Some people have wanted to reclaim them into good farmland, but they all failed. This swamp is probably... not easy to reclaim."

Qiao Xuan smiled and said, "I'm not wrong. Don't worry, Prime Minister Jia. Each swamp is different from another. Some swamps are not suitable for reclamation, but some are. For example, the one in front of us is fine!"

Actually... it's just now, due to limited conditions. If it were modern times, even the worst swamps could be turned into fertile fields, it wouldn't be that difficult.

(End of this chapter)