Jing Ci and others' understanding of Beixi County was still that of an extremely wealthy county.
No matter how wealthy a county is, it is still a county.
But……
Beixi County completely overturned their perceptions. Even though Beixi County was named a "county", it was actually the size of a state capital.
After several expansions, the size of the city has become somewhat more impressive than Yucheng, the "No. 1 city in the world" in Beidi.
As he stepped into it, Jing Ci felt more and more shocked.
The three-story urn city outside Beixi County was originally for purely military purposes, but due to the population of Beixi County was too large.
Even the Wengcheng has been transformed into a semi-military and semi-living one. Only the city wall area still maintains military use, and the internal space is almost completely filled with houses.
The first Wengcheng is the largest in area, with large fields planted and villages scattered throughout it.
Due to the cold weather in early spring, the fields were still desolate, but strangely, people often passed by the fields.
These people were either riding donkeys or driving carriages, and few of them were on foot.
Jing Ci was already so shocked that he couldn't help but grin from ear to ear: "Could it be said that... the people of Beixi County have become so wealthy? Even ordinary farmers can afford to raise livestock?"
She quickly turned around and ran to the team, finding Beixi County Magistrate Lin Quqi who came to meet her.
"County Magistrate Lin, where do these livestock raised by the common people come from? Are they being raised for wealthy families?"
Hearing Jing Ci's question, Lin Quqi couldn't help but smile and explain.
"These animals were purchased by the people themselves."
What? !
Jing Ci couldn't believe his ears. Even if Beidi produced horses, ordinary people would never be able to afford them.
Beidi relied on vast pastures and the cost of raising horses was relatively low. Even so, each horse cost twenty taels of silver.
Ordinary people in Beidi can only have one tael of silver per family a year.
In other words, to buy a horse, you need to go without food or drink for twenty years.
"County Magistrate Lin, how much money can these people save in a year?"
Lin Quqi blurted out without even thinking about it: "I think I have about eight or nine taels of silver."
This time, not to mention Jingci, even the Beidi merchants and officials accompanying him were shocked.
They looked at Lin Quqi with disbelief.
"An ordinary farmer can save eight or nine taels of silver a year? Isn't it possible that the food grown in Beixi County is made of gold particles?"
"Oh my god, you know, in Beidi, even the rich households can't save eight or nine taels of silver a year."
"Magistrate Lin must be joking."
Faced with everyone's doubts, Lin Quqi smiled slightly and explained proudly.
"All this is also due to the governance of King Qin."
"Everyone has seen that the Wengcheng in Beixi County alone has three floors, and the outermost Wengcheng has the greatest military role."
"If there is a war, the first level of the Wengcheng will store a large number of soldiers, horses and supplies as the first line of defense in the battle to defend the city."
"This first-level urn city, also called the outer city, covers an area of 20,000 acres, but there are only less than 500 people living in the outer city."
“These 20,000 acres of land are cultivated by these 500 people.”
Hearing this, Jing Ci couldn't help but frown slightly.
"Magistrate Lin, are you saying that these five hundred farmers are actually... all landlords?"
Landlord? Hearing this word, Lin Quqi couldn't help but feel funny.
This is Beixi County, and Qin Feng has already cleared out all the landlords and gentry here.
I am afraid that the real landlords will not be able to hide when they hear the name Beixi County.
"Princess Jingci, what King Qin hates most are landlords."
“In Beixi County, there are only farmers, not landowners.”
"All land in Beixi County is owned by the county government. Anyone who uses the land can only lease it and cannot buy it out."
"These five hundred farmers need to pay five taels of silver rent to the court every year."
"As for how much food is grown and how much money is earned, it has nothing to do with the county government. Moreover, according to the local laws of Beixi County compiled by King Qin, the county government must provide free help to the people if they need it."
Jing Ci couldn't believe his ears.
There are 20,000 acres of land in the outer city, but there are only 500 farmers. In other words, each person can get 40 acres of land!
What shocked Jing Ci the most was that these farmers, no... these farmers, only needed to pay five taels of silver in land rent every year and did not need to pay any additional fees.
All profits from the forty acres of land belong to the farmer.
Oh my gosh!
That guy Qin Feng must have been kicked in the head by a donkey. If all these 20,000 acres of land were controlled by the county government, how much profit could he make in a year? !
As if seeing Jing Ci's confusion, Lin Quqi chuckled.
"At first, I didn't understand the laws enacted by King Qin."
"It's almost like doing a good deed."
"But after a long period of verification, the facts have proved that King Qin's laws are beneficial and harmless."
"It is almost unrealistic for these five hundred farmers to cultivate 20,000 acres of land, so they must hire people in the city for a long time."
"And the salary of the people in the city is extremely high. Even if each household employs ten people, the wages alone will be as high as eighty or ninety taels of silver in a year."
"This is equivalent to feeding 5,500 people in Beixi County."
"Moreover, self-cultivation can also meet part of the food needs in the county. If there is a war and transportation routes are blocked, we can survive for a period of time just by relying on self-cultivated land in the city."
"Therefore, the actual income of these farmers is not too much, only eight or nine taels of silver. If the year is good, it may be more than ten taels of silver, but it can't exceed twenty taels of silver anyway."
Lin Quqi said it calmly, but Beidi's admission group was dumbfounded.
What do you mean, it can’t exceed twenty taels of silver anyway?
Ordinary people can live a good life if they can save five hundred wen to one tael of silver every year.
Those who have a balance of more than two taels are considered to be good, and they have no worries about food and clothing.
Only literati and talented people can save three to four taels of silver every year by relying on their salary and their own farmland.
A medium-sized merchant can make a profit of more than ten taels in a year.
A farmer living in an outer city in Beixi County can make a profit in one year, which is comparable to that of a small and medium-sized businessman in Beidi. This... this is simply unbelievable.
No wonder almost all farmers in the outer city raise livestock.
If the year is good, one horse can be sold in one year!
At this moment, Lin Quqi's remarks once again shocked Jing Ci and others.
"These animals are basically war horses and coolie horses that have been eliminated from the army or logistics."
"Each horse is worth ten taels of silver and is sold to the people who need it at a low price. It is also a disguised form of recovery of part of the original cost of training the horse."
