I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 381 Moving
The old man was somewhat tempted, yet also hesitant. "Where are we moving to?"

"The Northwest," Tang Zhao said, "now that the war in the Northwest has ended and everything is in need of rebuilding, it is a time when there is a shortage of people. In order to revitalize the Northwest, the court has issued many policies that benefit the people and encourage people from the South to move to the Northwest."

One of the people asked loudly, "For example?"

"There are too many examples. Let me take the land that everyone cares about most as an example. The imperial court allows each household in the Northwest to lease 30 mu of land. No rent will be charged for the first three years. After the three years, they will only have to pay 20% rent each year."

The people were overjoyed. If they only had to pay 20% of the rent each year, wouldn't they all be able to have enough to eat?
"In addition, the imperial court also encouraged the people to reclaim wasteland. For every ten acres of wasteland reclaimed, they could receive one acre of permanent land."

The old man opened his cloudy eyes wide, "Yong... Yongyetian?"

The people were in uproar. They were all tenants who dreamed of owning their own land, but after a year of hard work, they could barely fill their stomachs, let alone save money to buy land.

Land prices in Jiangnan are high. Ordinary barren land costs five taels of silver per mu, while top-quality paddy fields cost ten taels per mu. Even so, ordinary people cannot afford to buy them.

If we could clear a few hundred acres of wasteland in the Northwest, wouldn't we have our own land, and our descendants would never have to be tenants again?
"But...but the land in the Northwest is barren," a villager said timidly. "What if the harvest is meager?"

Tang Zhao was agitated. "Who asked? Who asked?"

The person asking the question was huddled in the crowd, but was pulled out by the concerted efforts of those around him and pushed to the front.

The man was terrified and immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

Tang Zhao personally helped him up. "The fact that you could think of this problem shows you have some ideas. What's your name?"

Seeing Tang Zhao's gentle attitude, the man boldly said, "My humble name is Liu Gou'er."

Tang Zhao's lips twitched slightly, and he said politely, "It's a good name."

Liu Gou'er grinned, revealing eight teeth. "My humble parents gave me this name, saying it would make me easier to raise."

Tang Zhao patted Liu Gou'er on the shoulder, "Brother Gou'er's concerns are valid, and the court has also come up with a solution."

"The Northwest has developed a method for composting fertilizer, which can improve soil fertility, and also produce potatoes with an astonishing yield. I can guarantee that you can eat potatoes until you're sick of them!"

The crowd laughed good-naturedly.

"Potatoes?" Liu Gou'er's eyes lit up. "But are they the round, mealy potatoes that are said to grow from a single plant weighing over ten pounds?"

Tang Zhao nodded. "That's right."

Liu Gou'er was so excited that he danced with joy.

"In addition to potatoes, the imperial court has also prepared cotton seeds for everyone. Everyone can set aside a few acres of land to plant cotton. After the cotton grows, it can be used to make clothes and quilts. If there is any surplus, it can be sold for some money."

In short, the imperial court has taken care of all aspects of everyone's life, including clothing, food, housing, and transportation. What are you still hesitating about?
let's go!

The people were also eager to go, but Jiangnan was thousands of miles away from the Northwest. Even if they traveled together, they would inevitably encounter dangers on the road. What if they encountered bandits, wolves, tigers and leopards?
Tang Zhao turned his head to look at Gu Ci.

Gu Ci said, “Gentlemen, there is no need to be afraid. The Northwest Army stationed on the north bank of the Yangtze River will soon break camp and return to its Northwest post. If you are willing, you can set off with the Northwest Army.”

With the Northwest Army escorting them, they wouldn't be afraid of bandits or even Turkic cavalry!

What are we waiting for? Let's move it!

The common people bowed deeply in the direction of Tang Zhao and Gu Ci, and then turned around and went home without waiting.

Only after the crowd gathered outside the farm dispersed did the guards relax their tense bodies.

I almost thought a popular uprising was about to break out.

Tang Zhao turned and walked towards the manor, with Gu Ci following beside her. "Are we just going to let them go back like this?"

"Otherwise what?" Tang Zhao retorted, his wife and children not around, and he hadn't even brought any pots and pans.

Besides, how can the news be spread if we don't go back?
Gu Ci: "If the powerful families and landlords are unwilling to let them leave," Tang Zhao continued, "if they have violated the law, then we will have no choice but to invite them to visit the yamen."

Gu Ci raised an eyebrow. "It seems the four great families have once again shot themselves in the foot."

Tang Zhao said smugly, "Their counterattack methods were all within my expectations, so naturally they couldn't come up with anything interesting."

Gu Ci looked at Tang Zhao's radiant and spirited appearance and thought it was extremely beautiful, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

In Zhao Zhao's words, it felt like a little dinosaur was pounding around in her heart.

Three days later, the latest group of tenants returned to the farm, packed their belongings, and, holding the hands of their wives and children, prepared to leave.

The manager quickly stopped them, asking, "Where are you going?"

The tenant honestly replied, "Northwest!"

The steward was bewildered. "What are you going to the Northwest for?"

The tenant said, "We'll clear the wasteland and earn permanent land."

Seeing the tenants of the village leaving with their families, the foreman panicked, shouting, "No one is allowed to leave! Without the master's order, no one is allowed to leave!"

The tenants protested, "We're not renting the landlord's land anymore, so why can't we leave?"

"That's right, we're not slaves, what right do you have to stop us?"

The steward roared, "They've rebelled! They've all rebelled! Men, give them a good beating!"

The thugs from the farm raised their wooden sticks and were about to step forward.

"Stop!" A constable rode up at full speed. "Who dares to lay a hand on me!"

The foreman's eyes narrowed when he saw the yamen runner. "Sir, these tenants have rebelled and want to leave the farm for the Northwest. I'm teaching them a lesson."

The yamen runner quickly unfurled the notice in front of the steward: "By imperial decree, no one may obstruct people migrating to the Northwest; those who disobey will be executed!"

The foreman stared at the notice with a grim face, then waved away the thugs after a long while, watching helplessly as the tenants left in high spirits.

The constables didn't linger, leaping onto their horses and heading to the next farm.

The thug looked at the empty farm and asked, "Manager, what do we do?"

The steward stamped his foot and said, "You keep an eye on the remaining tenants. I'll go into town immediately to inform the master."

In the following month, tenant farmers from farms in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan and Hubei provinces fled one after another, flocking to the north bank of the Yangtze River. The boatmen who stayed on the riverbank worked day and night to ferry people back and forth, making a fortune.

On the north bank of the Yangtze River, Chen Li, who was practically growing mushrooms from sitting there, was overjoyed to hear that a large number of people from the south of the Yangtze River had defected to him. He jumped up and down with joy and immediately went out to receive them. He arranged for the people to stay in the tents that had already been set up and ordered the kitchen to start cooking.

The people of Jiangnan sat in their warm tents, eating hot pork, cabbage and tofu soup and soybean dregs pancakes, their fatigue and anxiety from the past few days gone by, their eyes filled with longing for the future.

How many people are there today?

"Reporting to the General, there are 7,563 people."

How many more people are we short of 200,000?

"We are still short 57,231 people."

Chen Li counted on his fingers for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. But seeing the number of people increasing day by day, he knew that soon they would be able to gather 200,000 people and set off back to the Northwest.

He was really fed up with the hot and humid weather in the South!