After Being Abducted by the General

chapter 111

These people had already heard about the changes in Youzhou from the local merchants, but when they actually saw the well-paved roads and the content and happy people, they were greatly shocked.

Times had changed, and as soon as they arrived in Youzhou, Yuan Li received the news. He sent two outstanding local men, Kong Ran and Gu Yue, to welcome these Confucian scholars and took them to visit some famous sights in Youzhou before arriving in Jixian.

During this time, Yuan Li quickly began to arrange the lantern festival.

A month ago, Yuan Li had ordered the announcement of the upcoming Lantern Festival in Jixian in mid-May on every market day. It was the first time Jixian was holding a lantern festival, and it had to be lively so that the people would come and enjoy it.

It was also an opportunity for these southerners to see the difference between Youzhou and the outside world.

While there were hidden undercurrents in the outside world, the people in Youzhou were living peacefully and even had such a bustling lantern festival, subtly indicating Youzhou's strength.

Making lanterns was easy to learn and affordable. After hearing that the government was buying lanterns, many common people used grass and wood to create lanterns to make some extra money.

The completed lanterns were gradually displayed in the market, under houses, along the roadsides, and by the riverside. Lanterns were everywhere.

The people were excited, and whenever they met, their conversations were filled with questions like, "Have you made a lantern?" "Are you taking your children to the Lantern Festival?"

Many merchants who were interested in the lantern festival didn't leave after the big market but found a place to stay and waited for the Lantern Festival to begin.

Yuan Song soon came to Yuan Li and said, "Jixian should be expanded again. More and more people are coming to live in Jixian. If we don't expand further, there won't be enough space for everyone."

Yuan Li readily agreed and let Yuan Song handle it.

Yuan Song was in a good mood and smiled, "The population in Guangyang Commandery is increasing. I believe the harvest in the next two years will be very good."

That was indeed certain.

After the influx of 500,000 refugees into Youzhou following the snow disaster last year, Yuan Li had distributed them to various counties in Youzhou and allocated uncultivated land for them to farm. The refugees from Bingzhou were also given land. The Yellow Dragon Rebellion wreaked havoc on many powerful landlords in Bingzhou, allowing Yuan Li and his followers to gain tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land without lifting a finger against the powerful landlords.

Why were the tax revenues collected by the Northern Zhou government getting lower and lower? It was precisely because of these powerful landlords and aristocratic families, each one of them possessing numerous hectares of fertile land and tenant households, essentially making them emperors of small territories.

As a result, ordinary people were left without food to eat, and as long as the rebels conquered one powerful landlord, it was like puncturing a mouse's nest, and they would gain spoils to sustain their ongoing development.

Now that Youzhou and Bingzhou no longer had such powerful landlords, all the land was firmly in Yuan Li's hands, and the grain production naturally increased year by year.

Yuan Li was truly short of people to work the land, but it was changing... rapidly. In the past few months, more and more refugees had fled to Youzhou, and the situation in Bingzhou was gradually stabilizing. Yuan Li believed that by the end of this year, the population of Youzhou would double.