The next morning, after having breakfast, Gu Yuzhi boarded the carriage bound for Xinliang.
The official road leads all the way to Rong County, after which a side road must be taken to enter Xinliang. Prefect Qi had informed Gu Yuzhi in advance that even if they sped up, it would still take them at least three days to reach Xinliang.
Gu Yuzhi then understood what Prefect Qi meant by the vast and sparsely populated northern desert.
A trip to Xinliang would take about seven days, almost as long as the express delivery time from Changzhou to the capital.
After leaving Changzhou and traveling for about an hour, there were hardly any signs of human habitation on either side of the official road. As far as the eye could see, there was only wasteland. The autumn weeds were withered and yellow, and just looking at it gave one a sense of desolation.
Gu Yuzhi whispered, "Prefect Qi, there's so much wasteland around this official road, why don't you recruit people to cultivate it?"
Last year, when the Jiangnan region was flooded, the Emperor fell ill due to the shortage of grain in various granaries. It was only thanks to his elder brother, who was then the Crown Prince, that wealthy merchants donated grain and money, allowing the Emperor to safely overcome the crisis.
If grain could be grown in these areas of northern Mongolia, who knows how much food could be harvested? And if natural disasters occurred again, there would be no shortage of grain in granaries across the country.
“When I first came to the northern desert, I also recruited people to reclaim wasteland in this area. But unfortunately, the nature of this land is somewhat special. Many crops cannot survive, and even if they do, the yield is extremely low. At the end of the year, the people may not even be able to pay their taxes. So over time, the land has become barren.”
Shu Xiaohan nodded in agreement: "What Prefect Qi said is true. According to our country's previous documents, the northern desert is windy and sandy, the soil is desertified, the soil is loose and has strong water permeability. In addition, the lack of rainfall makes the survival rate of crops naturally low."
Gu Yuzhi was completely confused. He roughly understood what "insufficient rainfall" meant, but he had never heard of loose soil with high permeability. However, this did not affect his awareness of the seriousness of the matter.
Shopkeeper Wen quickly closed his folding fan and said sarcastically, "Teacher Shu, you spoke so eloquently yesterday, saying that Xinliang has a lot of wasteland and that His Highness should choose Xinliang first. Could it be that you're thinking about the quantity?"
Shu Xiaohan rolled her eyes at Manager Wen without any politeness: "Your vision is too narrow, isn't it?" She snorted and raised her chin: "In later generations, we can plant trees in the desert, although it is a semi-desertified land, so it is not a big problem."
Planting trees in the desert?
This was something Gu Yu had never heard of before.
His jaw nearly dropped in astonishment; he could hardly imagine what kind of world Teacher Shu came from.
Seeing Gu Yuzhi's wide-eyed stare, Shu Xiaohan, for some reason, felt a surge of pride. She cleared her throat and explained to Gu Yuzhi, "The land in Xinliang isn't all unsuitable for planting. There are always some good plots suitable for cultivation. These can be classified as Grade 1 land, which is suitable for growing grains. Further down, it can be divided into Grade 2 and Grade 3. Grade 2 land may require the cultivation of special crops, while Grade 3 land cannot be planted immediately. It needs to be maintained for several years to improve its properties before planting."
When talking about her major, Shu Xiaohan radiates confidence, as if she has returned to the time when she was teaching students at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
In fact, the division of land in the 21st century is much more detailed, but she was afraid that Gu Yuzhi would not understand, so she simplified it.
But just as she was about to continue, she saw Gu Yuzhi looking at her blankly, while Wen Xiuzhu next to her burst into laughter: "Teacher Shu, listen to this, listen to this, are you even speaking human language?"
Shu Xiaohan...
She felt she had been insulted, and she had evidence to back it up.
After a moment of silence, she pushed up her glasses and apologized rather perfunctorily: "Your Highness, I'm sorry, the students I've taught before all had at least a bachelor's degree. I haven't had much contact with someone like you who is only five years old."
When Shu Xiaohan was alive, she spent almost every day at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, dealing with crops, trying to reduce pests and increase yields. She even had very few opportunities to spend time with her two children.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen Gu Yuzhi from the series of host information provided by the system.
Shu Xiaohan let out a long sigh of relief; she had been a little anxious.
"Your Highness need not worry too much. Once we arrive in Xinliang, I will carefully examine it. If it is not much different from what I know about Xinliang, then Xinliang will definitely be Your Highness's first choice for your fiefdom."
The Great Sang Dynasty was not any of the dynasties she had studied in history; it only resembled cities from later times based on maps. Therefore, she had to go to the site to confirm it before she could.
The long journey was actually a bit boring. After hurrying along, the group took a short rest at a roadside tea stall at noon. Xie Changshi took out the rice cakes that Xu Mama had prepared and handed them over.
The entourage squatted or stood next to the tea stall, eating simple tea and rice cakes for lunch.
Gu Yuzhi's meals were prepared separately by Granny Xu and were slightly more refined than those of the accompanying staff.
He had just finished eating when he looked up and saw a group of people sitting under the shade of a tree not far away. He could vaguely make out that some of them were dressed as government officials.
Gu Yuzhi asked in a low voice, "Chief Secretary Xie, who are those people?"
Chief Secretary Xie looked in that direction and whispered, "They are exiled prisoners."
None of the group expected to encounter exiled prisoners here. The head guard, Qi Chenglang, unconsciously placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, his muscles tense, and he was on high alert.
Wen Xiuzhu waved his folding fan and clicked his tongue twice: "It takes us three days to get to Xinliang by carriage, and these exiled prisoners will take at least ten days to walk. If Your Highness really establishes a residence in Xinliang in the future, with more merchants coming and going, these wastelands will be full of business opportunities."
There's a saying that goes something like this: "The world is vast, and there's much to be done."
Gu Yuzhi tilted his head and thought for a moment, but still couldn't figure out what business opportunity Wen Xiuzhu was talking about. He said silently, "Manager Wen, Manager Wen, please explain in more detail."
Wen Xiuzhu smiled, his eyes narrowing into slits, a glint of shrewdness in them barely visible: "Merchants coming and going, carrying money or goods, can't just spend the night in the wilderness, can they? We've calculated the distance to build inns, are we worried no one will come to stay? Although Quanzhou borders the Northern Di to the north, if the trade market opens, it will definitely attract a large number of merchants."
As a businessman, he naturally understood how much profit trade with the Northern Di could bring.
Gu Yuzhi pouted and hummed softly, "I don't have any money right now. I can't even open a restaurant, let alone an inn."
The thought of this pained Gu Yuzhi deeply.
He lost his money and his business.
My dear brother, it's been over ten days. You should have received my letter by now, right? You wouldn't bear to let your younger brother become the most miserable prince in history, would you?
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