The next morning, when the sun had just risen, these officials were all woken up. Each of them had a bowl of rice porridge and the side dishes they had eaten yesterday. They had no choice but to help out. They couldn't do the slightly more technical work, and the villagers didn't expect them to do it either. They just let them carry water.
There was a water bubble in the mountains about a li away from the village. There was water flowing down from the top, rainwater, and a small spring over there so that the villagers would not run out of water. There was no one in the village to plant rice, wheat, millet, or sorghum.
There were also many vegetable fields. The price of vegetables was cheap, but they could be exchanged for money quickly. Once they were harvested, the strong laborers in the village would carry them out to sell. They took another route. Except for these officials who didn't know, no one would be stupid enough to go through so many mountains to exchange for money to buy salt, oil, and other things.
Life was a bit difficult, but it wasn't to the point where they had to eat chaff all day. There was also a small mill in the village. They cultivated some land in the mountains and planted soybeans. Occasionally, they could eat soybeans. Most of the soybeans were taxed. The wasteland that was cultivated was known to County Magistrate Cheng, but he didn't record it. This was to give the villagers some spare money.
During the New Year, County Magistrate Cheng even brought Zhangjia Zhuangzi's things here. Therefore, the villagers followed his arrangements. The villagers didn't care how high the official was or what rank he was. Whoever was good to him, he would listen to that person. When other people weren't looking, he was very respectful to County Magistrate Cheng. Last night, he even boiled water for him to take a bath. In the morning, before everyone ate, he first fried two brown eggs for County Magistrate Cheng and sprinkled some sugar on top.
County Magistrate Cheng Lingxiang ate the two fried eggs in small bites for a full quarter of an hour. He felt that the taste was better than the signature dishes of the three restaurants in the county. When he finished eating, he called the others to wake up. It was time to work, and they still wanted him to bribe them? Dream on! There was no more food to be served. Whoever worked would eat.
The work of the officials was arranged by the villagers. Some were far, some were near, some were light, some were heavy. When noon came, they would eat at the place where they were working. Someone would bring them food. The group of officials changed their clothes and began to grit their teeth and work. After walking for so long yesterday, their backs were sore and their legs were weak. However, they had no choice but to persevere. The two assistant ministers did not say anything, so how could it be their turn?
The two bailiffs did not do this. They said that they were going back to get money and things, so they quietly left with Zhou Qiao and Zhou Xihu. Zhou Qiao had to go to Zhangjia Zhuangzi to discuss some things and express his gratitude. He would be back in two days. At that time, the yamen would come back with them and bring some food.
As for the money, the county government had already paid for the food the officials ate. No matter how bad it was, it was still money. The people in the village did not lack this little bit of labor. If they could do it themselves, why would they need to find someone to do it for them?
"We're out. We're finally out." Zhou Qiao looked at the scenery outside the mountain and said comfortably.
"Sir, your carriage will be here soon. The people who followed you have been persuaded to go back. They said that you need to rest here for two days. Someone will take care of you, so you don't have to worry that they will come to find you themselves." A bailiff from the county reported to Zhou Qiao.
"Oh, that's good. An Ran is also there. Who's in charge in the county?" Zhou Qiong finally understood. It was no wonder that when they came here, the county had specially found some drivers to persuade the people from the prefecture to go back. They were also worried that if the yamen lacked a person in charge, there would be trouble.
The bailiff replied respectfully, "Sir, don't worry. There are still the Registrar and the County Lieutenant in charge of the county. These are all trivial matters. Sanshui County has Young Master Zhou to take care of it, so there won't be any big problems. Other than the Registrar, Sir Zhao, who is unwilling to talk too much, the others are all very harmonious. No one will be a hindrance."
Zhou Qiao was on the same side, so the bailiff said more.
Zhou Qiao did not say anything this time. He was relieved. At this time, his carriage arrived. The bailiff rode the horse and led the way. The few people disappeared at the foot of the mountain.
*****
After the wind passed, the people in Zhuangzi were still planting the seedlings. Some of the seedlings that could not be used were simply thrown away. The main family finally did something to protect the farmers. The seedlings that were to be planted in two days would all be planted by the main family. When they heard that the seedlings that were planted three times in exchange for the seedlings that did not fall, the farmers were all very happy.
The people in Zhuangzi were also checking the fields. They picked out the few seedlings that could not withstand the wind and moved a few seedlings from other densely populated areas. Then, they looked for the seedlings that were stronger and noted them down. When they were harvested in autumn, they would pick more seedlings. If the seedlings were still big, they would be kept as seeds.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan rode out on their carriages. When they saw the farmers' happy expressions because of the rice seedlings, they were also happy. From time to time, they would respond to the people who greeted them with the expressions and tone of a child.
"Father, why do I feel that the young master and young lady are the same as the rice seedlings when I look at them? They are older than other children of the same age. Their arms and legs are chubby and white. It is obvious that they can withstand the wind."
After Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan left, a ten year old child next to the adults looked at the young master and young lady and said to his father.
"Don't talk nonsense. How can the young master and young lady be compared to the rice seedlings? If I hear you say that again, I will give you a big slap on the face. " The father scolded the child. He squatted down and looked at the small seedling that had blocked the wind for other seedlings. His eyes narrowed.
"Oh, I won't say it again. But I still feel that way." The child agreed, but he did not change his mind.
When Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan arrived at the small bridge, they stopped and looked at the site that was still under construction. They hoped that it would be finished soon.
"Xiao Bao, when Zhou Xihu's uncle comes, how many things do you want to discuss? We can't talk to him in person. Let's think about it first. We don't want to make any mistakes. "Wang Juan got off the car and looked at the river that had completely stopped flowing.
"There should be three things. First, we need to discuss the long-term plans for some business with Zhou Xihu. Second, we need to ask him to help bring some fame to the restaurant here. Third, we need to ask him about the rewards from the province when someone helped when the country was in a disaster. As for what he wants to talk about, I don't know. I think he wants to meet the two experts from Zhangjia Zhuangzi.
Song Jinggong has mentioned more than once that County Magistrate Cheng wants to be apprenticed. I think some people are curious about this. Should we meet or not? If we meet, someone will pass the message back and forth. This is also a kind of meeting. I am afraid that he will ask the experts for their opinions and ask some sensitive questions. "
Zhang Xiaobao sat in the car and put his elbow on the handlebar in front of him. He pondered for a while and replied.
"I think we should meet him and listen to his opinion. That way, we can understand him better." Wang Juan suggested.
"Okay, we will ask someone to pass the message back and forth." Zhang Xiaobao agreed.
*****
At around four in the afternoon, a carriage pulled by three horses sped over from Tuqiao Village. The carriage stirred up a cloud of dust along the way. The horses looked exhausted. When they entered the Ge family's Zhuangzi, the road became difficult to travel on. Only then did the carriage slow down.
Zhou Xihu and his uncle were also very bumpy in the carriage. As soon as the carriage slowed down, they stopped. He and his uncle got off the carriage and walked over. When they first got on the carriage, he wanted to eat something. However, his uncle told him that it would take some time to get to the yamen from here and some time to get to the other side. The two of them left the village in the morning and were delayed for some time. If they continued to walk slowly, they would only arrive at their destination at night.
When they arrived at their destination at night, they naturally couldn't talk about it. They could only wait until the next day. They also had to see what time the two experts would wake up. If the two experts had the habit of sleeping in, they still had to wait. This would take an extra day.
Therefore, the carriage was in a hurry all the way. Fortunately, there were many horses pulling the carriage. If it were ordinary horses, they would have died of exhaustion.
After getting off the carriage, the two of them drank some water and let the carriage handle the horses. There was only one yamen runner to accompany them. The yamen runner also jumped off the horse and handed the horses to the carriage handle. The three of them slowly eased the uncomfortable feeling of the bumpy road while walking towards the Zhuangzi area of Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Zhuangzi.
At present, they were still in the Ge family's Zhuangzi area. As the Minister of Granary and Army, Zhou Xiu was in charge of the province's taxation and storage. Whether or not the local disaster would be reduced or exempted depended on the local disaster situation. Since they were here, they naturally had to take a good look.
He let the yamen runner lead them to a road in the fields. After the three of them turned around two houses that blocked their line of sight, a large paddy field appeared in front of them. There were people busily working in it. From afar, it looked like they were picking things out of the field.
"Could it be that the river here has been cut off?" Zhou Xiu had not inquired about the paddy field here, so he asked this question.
"It has been cut off. It was cut off a few days ago. The villages upstream have all diverted the water to their own fields. There is a small river here. This place is called Ge Jia Village. The water used is all diverted from the Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Zhuangzi. When there was no drought, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Zhuangzi stored water from six large ponds and dug seven wells. Now, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Zhuangzi have two ponds. Ge Jia Village has three ponds of Zhuangzi."
The yamen runner explained. When he mentioned the Zhuangzi of Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Zhuangzi, his tone was full of respect. It was not only because the Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Zhuangzi were powerful, but also because they took care of them. Usually, when they had something to eat, they would send it to the yamen and distribute it to everyone. Even now, they still had some wood ears that they could not bear to eat. His wife was pregnant, so every time she wanted to eat, she would fry some.
Every time they ate, his wife would softly say that she had found a capable husband, that their child had a powerful father, that they could eat fresh cucumbers in the winter, and that they could eat wood ears from big families at home. For a man, what could be more glorious than this?
A few days ago, Zhangjia Zhuangzi did not know who told him that his wife was pregnant, but Young Master Song actually sent some tofu skins and chili sauce, as well as a small jar of aged vinegar and a packet of white sugar. He said that the tofu skins were soaked in water, cut into pieces, and mixed with white sugar and aged vinegar. It was sweet and sour. If she wanted to eat spicy food, she could add the chili sauce.
When the other yamen runners looked at him enviously and saw his wife's smiling face when he returned home, which one of them did not feel proud? Not to mention saying good words or flattering him, even if he saw someone kill someone, he would turn his head and pretend that he did not see it.
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