 Farming villagers in the north spent their days harvesting crops like wheat and millet , while farmers south of the Huai River engaged in intensive rice cultivation and had lakes and ponds where ducks and fish could be raised . The cultivation of mulberry trees for silkworms and tea bushes could be found mostly south of the Yangzi River ; even further south sugarcane and citrus were grown as basic crops . Some people in the mountainous southwest made a living by selling lumber from hard bamboo . Besides cutting down trees to sell wood , the poor also made a living by turning wood into charcoal , and by burning oyster shells to make lime and fired pots , and weaving mats and baskets . In the north traveling by horse and carriage was most common , while in the south the myriad of rivers , canals , and lakes provided cheap and easy water transport . Although the south had the characteristic of the wealthy landlord and tenant farmers , there were on average many more owner @-@ cultivators north of the Huai River due to harsher climate , living not far above subsistence level . 
