Lujiang River is the northwest corner of Yangzhou, adjacent to Jingzhou and Yuzhou.

Yuan Shu chose this bridgehead for Sun Jian to garrison in preparation for his future attack on Jingzhou and defense against the north.

After all, Yuan Shu is not a person who sits still and waits for death. With his almost perfect start, how can he stagnate? He will definitely make great progress and take the initiative in the early stage.

Sitting on the main seat in the hall of the Lujiang Prefect's Mansion, Yuan Shu looked at the civil and military personnel under his command, and Yuan Shu felt extremely proud.

"Gongda, you have been in Yangzhou for a month, have you ever found out how the situation is in Yangzhou?"

After sitting down, Yuan Shu first asked Xun You, who came in advance to find out the situation.

Xun You stood up and said, "My lord, you have already made initial discoveries during this period."

"Yangzhou has a population of more than 800,000 households, totaling about 3.6 million. There are about 10,000 officials, large and small, and 80,000 soldiers. There are 3 million hectares of arable land, and the annual tax revenue is about 800,000.

Five baht coins and five million shi of grain. Of course, these are all apparent figures."

Hearing this, Yuan Shu sighed silently in his heart.

Although I was mentally prepared for the South in this era, I still felt a little disappointed.

The population of Jizhou in the north is about 10 million, which is about three times that of Yangzhou. This gap is a bit too big!

"Then what about the matter that I asked Gongda to investigate?"

Xun You sighed inwardly: "There are twenty-three aristocratic families in Yangzhou, large and small. The others are not of concern. There are only four major aristocratic families worthy of our attention. They are the four major aristocratic families of Lu, Gu, Zhu, and Zhang."

"The servant families of these four aristocratic families will total about 40,000 people, with an average of about 10,000 per family. The land they occupy occupies about a quarter of Yangzhou, more than 800,000 hectares. Together with other aristocratic families, nearly half of Yangzhou

All the land is in the hands of the noble family."

Hearing these shocking figures, Yuan Shu was already a little helpless.

Half of the fields in my own territory belong to the aristocratic families here!

Fortunately, the counselors under his command were all mentally prepared for the virtues of these aristocratic families, but the generals were surprised and started talking about it.

"Quiet!"

Looking at the angry generals, Yuan Shu could only comfort him.

"The family's troubles must be eliminated, but we must not do it too hastily. Gongda, go on."

"Furthermore, these aristocratic families also hide a lot of people and land. Although it is impossible to study it, through reviewing the records and visiting around during this period, it is estimated that the population is at least 150,000, and the fields are about 100,000 hectares, and all of them are

Fertile land. More than 90% of Yangzhou officials come from these aristocratic families. Every year, the tax revenue is inexplicably reduced by about half, and about a quarter of the soldiers are living on empty pay."

Hearing this, Yuan Shu clenched his fists tightly, and the veins in his hands popped out.

When the people below saw Yuan Shu's appearance, they did not dare to speak anymore and stood there filled with indignation.

Taking a deep breath, Yuan Shu said with a gloomy face: "Put these aside for now. Gongda, where is the other thing I asked you to check?"

Xun You breathed a sigh of relief: "There are seven shipyards in Yangzhou, with more than 3,000 craftsmen proficient in shipbuilding, and the total number of other craftsmen is about 13,000. In addition to aristocratic families, there are about 7,000 people from poor families, but their levels vary.

.”

After finishing speaking, Xun You bowed and returned to the queue.

Yuan Shu was silent for a moment, then said to Wen Wu in front of him: "Let's all share your opinions."

The military generals all looked at each other with big eyes and small eyes. Apart from fighting and killing, they really didn't know anything about these things, so naturally they didn't dare to stand up.

Among the counselors, Tian Feng jumped out as soon as Yuan Shu finished speaking.

"My lord, although the Yangzhou family's troubles are serious, they are within our expectations. Please calm down first and don't act rashly!"

Yuan Shu took a deep breath: "Understood, after all, I am from the Yuan family, and I have seen a lot of all this. In comparison, these people are easy to deal with. You know the power of my Yuan family in Yuzhou, they can't even compare together.

superior."

Tian Feng and Guo Jia are the only two counselors who know Yuan Shu's ultimate goal, so they naturally know Yuan Shu's thoughts.

Compared with Guo Jia, Tian Feng, who was more eccentric and focused on military affairs, was good at using force to overwhelm others, had a strong view of the overall situation and was well versed in political affairs, he was more comfortable handling this kind of thing.

Tian Feng summed up these things after a brief thought: "Lord, our most important goal at present is stable development to prepare for the coming chaotic times, so everything must be stable."

"At present, we have four main issues in Yangzhou's internal affairs. First, population."

"The land in Yangzhou is fertile and there are many fertile fields, and many places have not yet been developed. The main problem is that there are few people, there is no one to cultivate and open up wasteland, and the war potential is not enough, so we must introduce people from other states."

"This lord's identity plays a big role. He can ask the Yuan family to send a large number of people. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, countless people were displaced and Yi Zi cannibalized each other. And our Jiangdong has a vast territory, sparsely populated areas, and sufficient food, which is suitable for them.

Come. My lord can also send troops to Xuzhou and Yuzhou to gather the remnants of the Yellow Turbans and those who have left their homes. In addition, the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans and Qingzhou Yellow Turbans that the lord has recruited should arrive in a few days."

"Second, agriculture. There is no shortage of land in Yangzhou. Even though nearly half of the land has been occupied by aristocratic families, the remaining land is still enough for the people to cultivate. Moreover, there are still a lot of wastelands in Yangzhou that can be turned into fertile land with a little transformation. Newcomers to Yangzhou

We can gather the people together to cultivate good fields. First, the government will give each of them enough food to survive until next autumn, and provide them with seeds, housing and basic living materials. The first twenty acres of cultivated land belong to them.

themselves, and half of the remainder shall be counted as theirs, and the remaining half shall be ours.”

"The current agricultural tax in Yangzhou is 10% tax and 20% tax. It is best to keep it unchanged for now, but the tax for newly cultivated fields can be reduced by 10% in the first year."

"Third, there is the problem of soldiers. We in Yangzhou now have 80,000 soldiers on the surface, but in fact there are only 60,000, and their ages vary, and their combat effectiveness is very low. Therefore, I think we in Jiangdong should recruit soldiers again, and by the way

Now unqualified soldiers will be eliminated."

"Fourth, the problem of officials. Most of our officials in Jiangdong are from aristocratic families, but there are still many children from poor families. We can kick out some officials with poor political performance and bad conduct, and use more children from poor families. As for the corruption problem in the past

, we can not pursue it at all, but if it is discovered in the future, it will be severely punished."

"Feng has thought so much and asked the lord to make a decision."

Yuan Shu thought carefully and nodded: "Yuan Hao is right, but there are still some details that need to be revised."

"First of all, in terms of agriculture, we can provide them with housing and living materials, but it is not free."

After hearing this, Tian Feng immediately said anxiously: "Lord!"

Before he could speak, Yuan Shu interrupted: "Don't worry Yuan Hao, I have no intention of collecting money from them, but I will provide work in exchange for relief."

“Cash for work?”

"Yes, these people are idle. If I give them things, they will naturally work for me. The houses they live in are led by craftsmen and they build them themselves. The extra people go to build roads and build ships. Jiangdong

Although there are dense rivers and water transportation is developed, there are still many places where transportation is inconvenient, which just allows this group of people to build roads. Not to mention shipbuilding. There are too few people in the shipyards in Jiangdong now, so let this group of people help build ships.

, those with talent can stay as apprentices. In addition, wages will be paid to those who do more work and those who do well. You can handle the specific details yourself."
Chapter completed!