We need to find other ways to solve this problem. The best solution right now is to encourage the villagers to cultivate the land.
“Village head, how about we use a portion of the workshop’s profits to buy a batch of farm tools and encourage the villagers to reclaim wasteland and plant potatoes? What do you think?”
Since the founding of the Zheng'an Dynasty, farmers have been encouraged to reclaim wasteland, mainly to increase tax revenue. However, this is also a good thing for farmers.
However, clearing wasteland is very troublesome. It requires planning and surveying first, and then clearing away all the weeds and obstacles on the ground.
Another major challenge in land reclamation is tilling the land. Without oxen, it's impossible to till the soil deeply by hand alone, and the high-quality soil deep inside cannot be brought out. Even if crops are planted, the harvest will not be good.
The village head immediately responded, "This method works. Because of this workshop, quite a few people have been thinking about planting more potatoes next year, but I haven't agreed yet."
Upon hearing the village head's words, Meng Zhao couldn't help but feel curious. Seeing this, the village head patiently explained, "Although potatoes can be sold for money, they can't be used to pay taxes. The imperial court still collects land taxes in rice and millet. So I'm worried that if all the villagers rush to plant potatoes, when it's time to pay taxes, they'll have to use the money from selling potatoes to buy grain to pay the taxes."
"If grain prices rise and the money people earn from buying potatoes isn't enough to cover the grain taxes they have to pay, the consequences would be dire."
Meng Zhao then realized that there were indeed many things she didn't understand about the rules of ancient society. Fortunately, the village head guided her, which helped her avoid many problems.
The village head continued, "It would be perfect if we could cultivate wasteland. We can still grow grain and pay taxes on the original land, and use the cultivated wasteland to grow potatoes and sell them for money."
Meng Zhao agreed, saying that the village head knew much better than she did what crops were suitable for the land in the village, and it was best to leave these matters to him.
After the two finished talking, Meng Zhao saw the village head off, only to find that Madam Gu was having a problem.
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