The Princess of Northern Land
Chapter 832: Return (3)

Chapter 832: Chapter 832: Return (3)

"Consort," Xiao Yang deliberately asked, "it’s rather cold outside, shall we prepare the palanquin for you?" He wasn’t trying to test Lin Ziyin, but knew she would definitely decline his offer. That way, her image in the peasants’ eyes would grow even taller.

After the battle at Border City, Xiao Yang had taken Lin Ziyin, the new consort, to heart.

Thus, he spared no effort to create momentum for her.

Among the peasants of Border City, Lin Ziyin’s prestige was no lower than that of Chu Suifeng, the Prince. Not to mention the profound impression left by the battle at Border City, but merely the fact that Lin Ziyin, born in poverty, had ascended high yet did not forget these poor peasants was enough for them to be endlessly grateful.

Xiao Yang’s proposal did not surprise or alienate the peasants; on the contrary, they all knew that Lin Ziyin had been taken away by the people of North Country, and the North Country folks wanted to obtain the miraculous agricultural techniques of Prince Lin. Presumably, as a captive, the Prince’s Consort must have suffered a lot in North Country.

Looking at Lin Ziyin’s frail little frame, many peasants felt sympathy and pity for her.

"Yes, yes, we have prepared the palanquin," Lou Zheng spoke up loudly. He had been scared to death; with Prince Lin present, he had been trembling with fear, worried about making a mistake or saying something wrong to anger the Prince. Finally seizing an opportunity to shine, Lou Zheng immediately tried to show off.

"No need," Lin Ziyin declined, just as Xiao Yang had expected.

Chu Suifeng was also well aware of this. He did not oppose Lin Ziyin’s refusal and walked with her towards the fields.

Because there was little time, she could only visit one village, so the Lou Zhengs from nearby villages, having heard the news, brought some of their best farming tools over.

A large group of people followed Lin Ziyin and Chu Suifeng into the fields.

When the villagers turned over their fields in autumn, they divided the land into plots as required.

The length of these plots was also divided according to specifications. The aim was to accommodate mechanical harvesting and transportation in the future.

And within two days, the fields had small rivers and canals. Don’t underestimate these rivers; each type of waterway was different, as canals were designed to irrigate the fields, allowing for fish and shrimp breeding and water storage, while rivers were meant for the conveyance of water.

Originally, the villagers relied on the heavens for water irrigation, where lands close to a water source were considered better, and those farther away were of incomparably lower quality.

In the sparsely populated Northern Land, the peasants did not have much farmland. But Lin Ziyin, borrowing modern management methods, had the farmers register with the government offices and clear new land for farming according to the size of their households. The land they cultivated would remain the same for thirty years; however, the ownership of the land remained in the hands of the state, and they only had cultivation rights. The grain they had to pay each year was only a third of the yield, and the rest was theirs to distribute as they saw fit.

However, the sale of grains outside of the Northern Land was strictly forbidden.

These measures may seem small, but for the peasants, they were incredibly significant. They almost revered Chu Suifeng and Lin Ziyin as deities because of these policies.

You see, they used to give up to fifty or even sixty percent of their harvest to their landlords when renting land, and that’s not counting the taxes they had to pay on top of that, leaving them with next to nothing in the end.

But now, they only had to give up a third, and the rest was theirs. This was a tremendous boon indeed, and they had also heard that the corn and rice yields in Shili Village were astonishing. Moreover, the borders of the fields were not included in the tax calculation. With the fertile lands of the Northern Land, as long as they worked hard, this was a significant source of income.