At that time, the largest city in the world was Chang'an. What made Jiangnan so prosperous? It was because of its large number of cities.
If we talk about a single city, it still cannot be compared with Chang'an City. However, from the clothes of these people, it can be seen that this place is indeed much richer than the north.
From the end of the Sui Dynasty to the present, the north has been in war, and Jiangnan is also the tax base of the entire court. If there were no tax support from Jiangnan, Li Shimin's dynasty might not be stable.
Except for the capital, other cities in the whole north cannot be compared with Jiangnan. At this moment, Li Xiang walked down from the boat, looked at the people living and working in peace and contentment on both sides, and nodded with satisfaction in his heart. This is the basis for Li Xiang to fight outside.
Although Li Xiang's system can exchange a large amount of materials, many of them are still requisitioned from the treasury of Jiangnan. If it were not for the silent contributions of the people of Jiangnan, the Tang Dynasty would probably not be so powerful now.
"Your Highness, may you live a thousand years and a thousand thousand years!"
Whenever Li Xiang arrived at a place, the people of Jiangnan would kneel down and kowtow to him. Firstly, they no longer saw those Fusang bandits, and secondly, they bought a large number of cheap Fusang slaves.
You should know that many places in Jiangnan are short of human resources.
Although a large number of slaves were brought over whenever Li Xiang conquered a country, the number was not large and they had been divided up in the north. This time, Li Xiang used sea transportation as a tool, so the coastal areas of the Tang Dynasty would be able to reap the benefits.
Especially the area around Hangzhou Bay, which is the richest place in the entire country. The merchants in the south of the Yangtze River have more money, and the prices they pay for slaves are often slightly higher than those of merchants in the north, so many slave traders are willing to sell people here.
With sufficient labor, some previously sparsely cultivated land was also reclaimed. Coupled with the advantage of two crops a year, the grain output here was higher, and the local people also lived a good life thanks to these slaves.
Secondly, the money transported back from outside. After Li Xiang conquered Goguryeo, the merchants in Jiangnan also discovered business opportunities, so they pooled some money and went out to sea, all hoping to start a second spring for their careers in Goguryeo.
So far, they have been doing quite well. Every time during festivals, a large amount of money is shipped back from overseas, most of which is the harvest from Goguryeo's crops. This is all thanks to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had not conquered Goguryeo, where would we get this money?
"Your Highness, this is a golden statue made for you by our entire village."
When Li Xiang was inspecting the city of Hangzhou, an old man came over holding a golden statue, which was made entirely of gold.
"What's this, old man?"
After seeing this scene, Lord Wen, the governor of Hangzhou, did not let anyone stop it. This village should indeed give Li Xiang a golden body.
"Your Highness, please listen to him slowly. Once he finishes, this golden body will be necessary."
Judging from what Lord Wen said, it seems that the people in this village have made a lot of money from their own policies.
"Lord Wen is referring to our village, which has a total of 150 households. Over 100 of our young and middle-aged people are currently in Goguryeo. We have been allocated a large amount of land and a large number of Fusang slaves. Although we live in the bitter cold of the far north, our grain income from last year alone was 30 times what our entire village earned before."
The old man said happily that there was only one big family in their village. When the imperial court made the decision to emigrate, many people were watching, but their village was already organizing people to go.
Fortunately, they went early. The number of people in the first group was twice as many as the second group. It was because they had the adventurous spirit to go early. If the second group of people were not convinced, why didn’t you set off earlier?
Of course, these people also have the spirit of enduring hardship. In an environment of more than 20 degrees below zero, the crops can only be harvested once a year, but fortunately the place is relatively large, and there are a large number of Fusang slaves, so they brought back a lot of money from the village. However, one should never forget the well-digger when drinking water, so the first payment of this money will of course be used to create a golden body for Li Xiang.
"Old sir, this was all earned through the hard work of the people in your village. I accept this golden statue, but I will also give your village an amount of land from my Fusang land equal to the amount of this golden statue."
Li Xiang asked the young eunuch beside him to accept the golden body, but Li Xiang could not take the common people's things for no reason, even if they were given by the common people. The officialdom in the Tang Dynasty was still relatively clean, and Li Xiang could not allow himself to break this rule.
"How can this be possible? How can this be possible?"
The old man got anxious when he heard this. The whole village had asked him to come and give a gift, but who could have known that it would turn out like this? Wasn't it like His Highness had bought the golden statue? What did it have to do with the people in their village?
However, Li Xiang had already walked forward at this moment. The old man still wanted to say a few words to Li Xiang, but the people on both sides were too enthusiastic and did not even give the old man a chance to explain himself.
Along the way, Li Xiang also felt that when an empire walks on the right path, the cohesion of the people will be greatly strengthened. Now is the period of rapid development of the entire Tang Empire. From officials to the people, everyone has only one idea, which is to see what the outside world can bring us.
Li Xiang finally made some changes for all the people. Of course, this change was not enough. Only a small number of people left the country. Most people still liked to guard their own piece of land. In their opinion, no matter how good the foreign land was, it could not compare to the land left by their ancestors.
Of course, these people are all vested interests. It is too dangerous for them to go to the north of Goguryeo to find food. It is better for them to stay in their original place and live a slightly harder life.
Of course, everyone has their own aspirations, and Li Xiang cannot send all the people to the frontier to see the prosperity of the people in the south of the Yangtze River. Li Xiang also has a bottom line in his heart. He originally wanted to rest for a few years, but now it seems that there is no need to rest at all. The Tang Dynasty still has the strength to support another foreign war. After all, the previous wars did not harm the foundation of the Tang Dynasty.
This time, Li Xiang's inspection trip to Lingnan was to prepare for the next war.
