Chapter 585 Misunderstanding
Zhou Jingyuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled awkwardly. "Princess, Anyang is indeed rich in salt, and the profits from salt are very generous, but the management rights belong to the Salt Administration, and I have no right to interfere."
Chen Qingqing was speechless. She coughed twice and asked, "What does the emperor mean by giving me the poorest county?"
The greed of people is like a snake swallowing an elephant. She collects all the tax revenue from so many lands, yet she is still complaining.
You should know that there are still many people in Anyang who cannot get enough food.
They work hard in the fields all year round, their sweat breaking into pieces when they fall to the ground, just for a bite of food.
But in the end, the grain they earned had to be used to pay rent and taxes, and they could only eat coarse grains and vegetables every day.
Zhou Jingyuan shook his head and sighed, "Actually, Anyang County isn't poor. The land is very fertile. It's just a pity that the good farmland is in the hands of a small number of people. Renting their land requires a lot of rent, which is why the people of Anyang are left with little clothes to wear and no food to eat."
Chen Qingqing nodded. The people under the feudal system really lived a hard life.
But she is very lucky because she comes from the modern era. China is prosperous and strong, and all the land is distributed to the members. Everyone has land to farm and everyone can have enough food to eat.
Although most of the public grain was handed over when it was first established, the country needed it and everyone had a responsibility, so everyone was willing to contribute their own strength.
Now that he has become the master of Anyang, if he can centralize the management of the fields in the hands of individuals and then rent them out to the people at a low price, the food problem should be solved.
I just don't know whether this idea can be implemented.
Chen Qingqing looked up at Zhou Jingyuan and smiled faintly.
"Master Zhou, I've also understood what you've said. I have a bold and promising idea that I'd like to try. I'm not sure if it's feasible, so I hope Master Zhou can help me understand."
Zhou Jingyuan misunderstood Chen Qingqing's meaning again, thinking that she was trying to do something strange to harass the people, and his tone was a little distant.
"I wonder what the princess wishes to do? Please let me know."
Ever since meeting Zhou Jingyuan, although he appeared respectful to him, his tone and body language showed his dissatisfaction with him.
Did he offend him? Or did he think of himself as a wicked person who oppressed the people?
If you want someone to completely change their perception of another person, you must prove it with your strength, otherwise everything is empty talk.
Chen Qingqing was neither anxious nor annoyed, as she would be the local emperor of Anyang in the future.
Since he is a local emperor, he should let the people of Anyang live a prosperous life and it is necessary to build Anyang into a paradise.
She smiled lightly and expressed her thoughts.
"Sir Zhou, the emperor has bestowed Anyang upon me, and it is my duty to ensure that the people of Anyang live a prosperous life, with money in their pockets and food to eat every day."
Zhou Jingyuan's eyes suddenly lit up. He had misunderstood. This Princess Anyang was not at all what he had imagined.
There was a hint of urgency in his tone, "Your Highness, do you really think so?"
Chen Qingqing nodded solemnly, "As the saying goes, 'A country is based on its people, and the people depend on food for their survival'. Although Anyang is a vast area, most people cannot get enough to eat.
The land was in the hands of a few people, while most people had only a small amount of land or no land at all.
My idea is to pool all the good farmland and rent it out to the people at low prices. Do you think this approach is feasible?"
Zhou Jingyuan had never heard of such a bold idea and was instantly shocked.
If the land can be centrally managed so that the people of Anyang can have farmland, it will certainly be a good thing.
But how could those rich and powerful people hand over their land to the government for management?
He calmed down from his excitement and shook his head regretfully.
"The princess's idea is good, and it will be a great benefit to the people of Anyang.
But...it's just that it's extremely difficult to implement.
The wealthy in every town regard land as their lifeblood, so how could they easily give it up?
"I know this is not an easy task, but for the sake of ensuring that every family has farmland and surplus food, we must give it a try."
Chen Qingqing knew that this matter was very difficult, but she was not going to give up, so she said casually,
"Tomorrow, inform those wealthy landowners that the government is buying their land at a high price. As long as they are willing to hand over their land to the government for unified management, they will be allowed to invest in any good industries in Anyang in the future."
"This..." Zhou Jingyuan looked embarrassed and hesitated to speak.
Chen Qingqing smiled faintly, "Master Zhou, if you have anything to say, just say it directly. Don't hesitate."
Zhou Jingyuan gritted his teeth and expressed his concerns. "Let's not talk about whether the wealthy agree to sell the land. Our Anyang government is so poor that we can't afford to buy the land at a high price. Even if it's five taels of silver per mu, we can't afford that much!"
Chen Qingqing frowned and thought. If one mu of land cost twenty taels of silver, and there were more than 30,000 mu of fertile land in Anyang, that would be more than 600,000 taels of silver.
If the emperor gets unhappy one day and takes away my title of princess, I will be at a loss.
No, you can't hand over the land to the county government. It's safer to keep the land deed yourself.
She chuckled, "Master Zhou, as long as they are willing to sell the land, I will take care of the money, but the land deed must belong to me."
Enclosing land, enclosing land openly under the name of the county government!
As long as the fertile land is under her name, she will definitely exploit the people even more severely than those rich people.
As soon as Chen Qingqing finished speaking, Zhou Jingyuan had this idea in his mind.
His brows knitted tightly together, and he said coldly, "So this is what the princess has in mind. I'm sorry, I can't obey your order."
Chen Qingqing immediately understood the meaning of his words and sneered.
"Master Zhou, you think too much of me. Thirty thousand mu of land is worth more than six hundred thousand taels of silver. I could never spend all that money in my lifetime.
If I wasn't thinking about the people of Anyang, what would be the point of having so much fertile land?
My restaurant, sugar mill, and clinic all make a fortune every day. Do I need to go through the government office to buy land?"
Zhou Jingyuan was speechless after hearing these words.
Yes, Chen Qingqing’s sugar factories are all over the Daning Dynasty, and white sugar is the royal supplier. How could she care about a mere ten thousand acres of fertile land?
It seems that I really judge others by my own standards.
After realizing this, Zhou Jingyuan quickly bowed and apologized, "I misunderstood. Please forgive me, Princess."
"You're also thinking about the people. I don't blame you. Please arrange this matter as soon as possible and let the county government handle it. When the spring plowing season comes next year, the people will have land to farm."
"Yes, I will invite the wealthy people from each town to the county government office as soon as possible." Zhou Jingyuan said sincerely, without any prejudice.
Chen Qingqing is indeed different from other girls in the boudoir. If she were a man, she would surely achieve great things...
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