Iron Dynasty

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Outside Dengzhou City, Yang Chengye stood gazing at the vast coastline, his brow furrowed.

The endless sea and the salty ocean breeze were the challenges he had faced since becoming the Governor of Dengzhou.

With the Salt Transport Office headquartered in Dengzhou, his responsibilities were even heavier. Not only did he have to verify and report monthly salt production figures to Qingzhou, but he also had to deal with the relentless salt smugglers infiltrating the region.

Among the six prefectures, Dengzhou had the smallest population—only about 100,000 households. Most of these were scattered across counties outside the city, with Dengzhou itself housing just 50,000 households, totaling around 100,000 people.

Many of these residents made their living by fishing, as the sea stretched endlessly beyond Dengzhou’s walls.

But in recent years, Japanese pirates had become increasingly active along the coast, killing many fishermen and forcing others to abandon their trade.

Yet, fishermen accustomed to life on the sea had little interest in farming. As a result, the land redistribution policy had been poorly implemented in Dengzhou—especially in a coastal village called Yutai.

Nestled by the sea, the village had no arable land nearby. The allocated farmland was too far away, so the villagers refused to relocate, continuing to risk fishing in nearby waters. Some even turned to smuggling salt—a capital offense in the Great Yu Empire.

The rise of smugglers meant fewer official salt sales, severely impacting the Salt Transport Office’s revenue—something Yang Chengye could not allow.