While people were going home for dinner, Song Ning would stop at each plot of land for a while and sprinkle spring water on it.
These wastelands haven't been cultivated for many years, so even if fertilizer is applied, they won't become fertile immediately.
They would sprinkle a bowl of it every few dozen meters.
The land in front of us, which is over a thousand acres, has already been registered last time. Each family gets four or five acres, and any more than that would probably be too much for us to handle.
The Song family only took two mu of land. After distributing it to everyone, Song Ning wanted the rest.
Zheng Gaoyi thought Song Ning had gone mad. What did he want so much land for?
The Song family is still running a business. Only Song Dahai in the family can do farm work. The two mu of land is almost used up. Now each family is allocated five mu of land, and there is still a lot left after the allocation.
"You want them all?"
Song Ning nodded: "Anyway, there aren't many people around now, and these lands are just sitting idle anyway. Give them to me; I have a use for them."
Song Ning had this idea before. Tianxiang County is located in the north, with a large temperature difference between day and night and plenty of sunshine during the day.
Under such conditions, it would be a waste not to grow cotton and melons.
Although the items in her space are of excellent quality, they are not easy to take out. From now on, she will be able to eat fruit openly and legitimately.
If Tianxiang County wants to develop, it must have its own unique characteristics.
However, with so much land, it was definitely not enough to rely on just her family's small group, so Song Ning started recruiting.
She'd take anyone who knew how to farm and take good care of the crops.
Nearly a thousand acres of land would require a lot of people.
The people of Tianxiang County all had their own land to cultivate, so it was definitely not feasible. She asked Zheng Gaoyi to help her speak to the magistrates of Jiangning County and Yongning County and ask them to post a notice to recruit people who knew how to farm and tend crops.
Although the land in the space also belonged to her, the feeling was still different.
This is the true empire she aims to conquer.
Moreover, once she recruits people, they will be doing this for a long time. Over time, won't those people settle down here?
Will the population of Tianxiang County increase then?
Upon hearing Song Ning's suggestion, Zheng Gaoyi immediately agreed.
He then took out his map, which was now covered with many lines. Song Ning pointed to the areas on the map and said, "This area can be designated as the western suburbs. This area can be separated from the city center, and it can be used as a place for people to enjoy the spring scenery."
Zheng Gaoyi nodded and marked a location on the map.
"The most important thing in the county town right now is to build the city wall. Once the city wall is built, we can start planning the streets and layout of the town. I think the terrain of Tianxiang County is high in the north and low in the south. When building the city wall, leave a gap at the bottom of the wall in the other three directions, except for the north side."
Why is there a gap?
Song Ning feigned mystery: "You'll find out when the time comes."
Repairing the city wall was a major undertaking, and it had to be reported to the imperial court. Even if it didn't involve much manpower or resources, the court wouldn't ignore it. Zheng Gaoyi hurriedly wrote a report.
Song Ning made a rubbing of a map of Tianxiang County, intending to study it carefully.
When she chose to stay in Tianxiang County, she was already prepared to help, since her work in modern times was somewhat related to this area, so she knew a little about it.
Developing this city won't be easy.
But now that the most important problem has been solved, the whole thing will go much more smoothly.
That's money.
Song Ning heard that the magistrate's younger brother was a businessman who had earned more money every month over the years than the imperial court collected in half a year's taxes.
The Zheng family's business grew bigger and bigger, and they made more and more money. There was an exaggerated saying that the land in Lord Zheng's house was paved with money.
How much could a family normally spend? Later, the emperor took notice of him and he became a royal merchant. Every year, one-third of his earnings went to the national treasury.
Even so, the Zheng family had more money than they could ever spend.
So the magistrate wrote a letter home asking for money, the more the better.
Once the money issue is resolved, the rest is just a matter of time.
Song Ning was studying the map when Zheng Gaoyi suddenly looked up and asked, "Er Ya, how do you know all this?"
Without even thinking, Song Ning replied, "I read it in a book."
"What book are you reading? Can I borrow it and take a look?" What kind of book is so amazing that it even records these things?
"Those books were ones I read when I was in the village; they're long gone."
It's the same old story. Whenever someone asks, Song Ning just pulls out these same few lines.
But Zheng Gaoyi no longer believes it.
If it was seen in a book, why was she the only one who saw it, while others didn't?
The same suspicions also arose about Xie Linzhou.
There's been quite a commotion in Tianxiang County lately, and Xie Linzhou has also joined in the fun.
Although Song Ning had already told Zheng Gaoyi in advance that she didn't want to take the lead and that if anyone asked, she should say that it was all Zheng Gaoyi's idea and not mention her name, was Zheng Gaoyi the kind of person who could keep secrets?
However, our county magistrate managed to hold out for a while, but in the end, he couldn't keep it from Xie Linzhou.
"Tell me, who gave you this idea?"
Zheng Gaoyi coughed lightly: "You already guessed it, why ask!"
“Er Ya didn’t want to be in the limelight and told me not to tell anyone, but you’re the one who has to dig deep.”
Xie Linzhou took a sip of tea and said with disdain, "This tea doesn't taste good."
"Okay, I'll get you a better one next time. So, what do you think about what we were talking about earlier?"
Zheng Gaoyi couldn't find enough people to build the city wall in a short time. Since there was no war at the moment, he thought of having the soldiers build the city wall for him. Of course, the wages would be considerable.
"Don't worry, they won't suffer if they come here. They'll get food and lodging, and I'll even pay them. It's definitely a good job."
Xie Linzhou seemed lost in thought for a long time before finally speaking: "Fine, I'll help you this time."
Zheng Gaoyi laughed: "You're not only helping me, you're also helping yourself. Don't worry, I'll definitely put in a good word for you with Er Ya in the future."
Xie Linzhou kicked him directly: "Shut up."
"Oh, don't be shy. It's not a big deal if you like Er Ya."
Xie Linzhou glared at him: "Who said I like it? If you're really too free, I'll tell your old lady to come and keep you company."
"No, please don't." Zheng Gaoyi backed down. He wasn't afraid of anything else, but he was afraid of his old lady.
"If you don't like it, you don't like it. Anyway, Er Ya doesn't like you either."
After Zheng Gaoyi finished muttering, Xie Linzhou's expression turned sour.
The little girl had been avoiding him lately; every time she saw him on the street, she would run away as fast as a mouse seeing a cat.
Xie Linzhou was already in a bad mood because of this, and Zheng Gaoyi's exposure of his shortcomings made him even angrier.
"However, I heard from Tie Dan and the others that Er Ya and the Zhou family boy have recently fallen out and rarely see each other, so you still have a chance."
Although Xie Linzhou didn't like others constantly bringing up this matter, the news did indeed make him feel happy.
Even so, he would never admit to liking Song Ning.
I just thought that little girl was funny, that's all.
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