With the commencement of the waterway project connecting Chang'an to Tongguan, Chang'an, as the confluence of the North and South Grand Canals, will become even more prominent in its future geographical location.
The imperial court inevitably shifted its focus to Chang'an, and many officials couldn't help but secretly speculate whether the emperor intended to move the capital.
However, since the emperor didn't say anything, they didn't dare to ask.
For a time, the focus of all the northern states was on the canal.
Of course, the imperial court did not give up on the development of Jiangnan. Although the canals in Jiangnan could not be dug at the moment, road construction was still possible.
Ganzhe (a type of orchid), gold mines, rice—we absolutely cannot give them up.
Soon, the Royal Trading Company began organizing manpower to go to Yuzhou and Xuzhou to build factories and prepare to build a cement road connecting Luoyang to Nanyang, Runan, Xiapi and Wujun.
Upon seeing this, the wealthy merchants who followed the Royal Trading Company also immediately took action.
The situation in Nanyang, Runan, and Xiapi was relatively good. Because of the rebellion, the local powerful families had been purged, so whatever policies the court implemented were effectively enforced.
Therefore, the officials of the three prefectures actively assisted the royal trading company in surveying roads and conscripting laborers.
However, things were not so peaceful in Yangzhou. The rebellion had not affected the area, so the local literati and powerful families still wielded considerable influence.
More than 80% of the land is still in their hands, and eight out of ten local households are their tenants.
Unlike the increasingly prosperous industry and commerce in the north, these scholars and powerful families in the south were still keen on exploiting the people and extracting wealth from the land.
Even those scions of prominent families who were assigned to the area by Liu Hong had to befriend and compromise with him in order to implement some of the court's policies. However, those policies were distorted when they reached Yangzhou.
For example, the tax policy formulated by the imperial court was originally intended to collect taxes in kind so that the people would have enough food to eat and not go hungry. However, it has now become an important means for scholars and powerful families in Jiangnan to amass wealth.
With the development of industry and commerce in the north, the Jiangnan region gradually became a supplier of raw silk and cotton.
Those scholars and powerful families also began to plant mulberry trees and cotton on all the land under their names, and their tenants had no choice but to follow suit.
For example, the raw silk needed for silk production was entirely controlled by local powerful families, from planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms to producing silk. The government simply could not accurately calculate the yield of one acre of mulberry fields.
Therefore, they decide how much raw silk they produce each year; whatever they pay is what they pay, and the government can't do anything about it.
The tenants under their names, in addition to paying taxes, also had to pay rent, so the amount of raw silk produced each year was already very small.
Since raw silk is inedible, the tenant farmers had no choice but to sell it to earn money to buy food.
Although the imperial court strictly regulated the price of grain, and the local powerful families dared not violate it, they did not sell grain at all. Instead, they resorted to the most primitive method: bartering.
They used their cheap grain to exchange for the expensive raw silk that the people had.
The raw silk produced by the people throughout the year could barely keep them from starving, and many others could only make a living by fishing and shrimping, so they naturally had no energy to cultivate wasteland.
Meanwhile, scholars and powerful families took advantage of the imperial court's policy of encouraging land reclamation, vigorously cultivating wasteland and acquiring large tracts of land for themselves.
The local government was aware of the shady dealings, but they were powerless to do anything about it. The roads were long and bumpy, and the losses along the way alone would be astronomical if grain were to be transported from the north.
Starting from Luoyang, it would take at least three months to transport grain to Wu County. Of the one hundred shi (a unit of dry measure), at most ten shi would be left.
With such low transportation efficiency, it was extremely difficult not only to meet the needs of the people, but also to ensure the supply of the troops stationed in the government granaries.
Where would we find the extra resources to supply the people with seeds and farming tools to cultivate wasteland?
Without land, people could only become tenant farmers, and as tenant farmers, they could not cultivate wasteland, thus entering a vicious cycle.
This was also the biggest headache for the imperial court. Without sufficient food supplies, the court would not have enough say in Jiangnan, and the idea of developing Jiangnan would become a pipe dream.
Road transportation became a crucial factor. Therefore, while digging canals in the north, building dry roads leading to the south became a top priority.
Upon receiving the imperial edict, Liu Fan, the governor of Wu Commandery, immediately summoned the magistrates of the counties under his jurisdiction and began to conscript laborers to prepare for the construction of a road leading to Xiapi.
The government also began to work quickly, but with little effect.
The people of Jiangnan were not enthusiastic about the road construction. Although the government promised to pay wages, those wages were not enough to buy food in Jiangnan. It was better to spend their energy catching more fish and shrimp.
Adding to the obstruction of those gentry and powerful clans, after five whole days, the entire Wu Commandery had only recruited less than a thousand laborers. The credibility and mobilization capacity of the government were shockingly low.
It's not that those officials are incompetent; if you don't have resources, who would be willing to work with you?
Moreover, in order to retaliate against the government, the scholars and powerful families in Jiangnan who controlled raw materials such as raw silk and cotton took the opportunity to raise prices and reduce sales volume.
This resulted in many textile workshops in the north losing their supply of raw materials.
November 10th.
When the news reached Luoyang, the officials were furious.
How can we develop Jiangnan if the roads are impassable? And how can we obtain gold, silver, and maltose without developing Jiangnan?
Cutting off someone's livelihood is an irreconcilable enmity.
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