The new county magistrate of Hongnong, Liu Yan, was a very unique official, at least in the place where he was in charge of.
He said that he wanted to develop tourism in Hongnong County, so he was very insistent on his idea. The county magistrate had always been in charge of making decisions in the county. The registrar was just a means to balance things out. Unless the county magistrate made a mistake, the registrar would report it to the higher-ups.
The deputy county magistrate was an official who helped the county magistrate, so he had no good ideas. The only thing he could do was to be passive.
Liu Yan wanted to widen the river that flowed past Old Willow Village and make the water shallower. The so-called shallower water meant that the water surface was close to the shore. After widening the river, the water surface would drop a little, but it would not reach half of the theoretical level.
He thought that in this way, people who were close to the shore would feel less scared and there would be more people walking on the shore. In fact, he had a problem with height sickness.
Since Old Willow Village did not agree, Liu Yan started from the upper reaches of the river. The river that flowed past Old Willow Village was not a big river, but a tributary of the Honglu River. If it was not on a military map, it would not be marked on it.
The source of the river was the mountain. The water flowed out of the mountain. Some of it was accumulated by the rain, and some of it was from the underground river.
The river was very deep. Every year during the rainy season, the water in the river would rise. In the past, it always washed the surrounding areas, but it did not cause much damage.
In the past, there was no village in the mountain. There were only a dozen families at the foot of the mountain. They collected firewood from the mountain or hunted some wild animals and cultivated a few acres of land for themselves.
Now, there was no one living at the foot of the mountain. They changed to a plain and raised poultry there. Therefore, they did not care about the area at the foot of the mountain. It was the right place to start.
Liu Yan came out early in the morning with a group of people to inspect the area. He looked at the streams flowing out of the mountains, converging together, and finally flowing into the river. He had the demeanor of a judge. He said to the people in the yamen, "Look at this.
"Here, this is the place. This is a treasure given to us by the heavens. It should be developed and used. It shouldn't be wasted here. Otherwise, it would be irresponsible to the people of Hong Nong and disrespectful to the heavens.
Look, how green the mountains are in front of us. Look, how clear the water is in front of us. The mountains are clear, and the water is clear. Isn't this a good place to travel? Some people travel to Luoyang, while others travel to Boxin County. We have also developed this place and connected it to form a line, so the tourism resources are shared.
Without such a development plan, without the idea of borrowing power, you are not qualified to be a planner. You are the sinner of Hongnong County. I don't want to be a sinner, and I hope you don't want to be a sinner either. "
After Liu Yan finished speaking, the surroundings were silent. No one applauded, and no one cheered. It was as if everyone had put all of their hearts and minds into the beautiful scenery in front of them.
"Little Tong, what do you think?" Liu Yan asked the newly promoted leader of the yamen runners when he saw the awkward silence.
The original leader had already resigned. He went to the office Between the Clouds and the Water to discuss with the waiter at the door. The waiter helped him find a new job. He organized a group of people to train at the pier of Honglu River and then patrolled the entire river. On one hand, he could prevent possible cases, and on the other hand, he could rescue people who accidentally fell into the water.
The salary was very high, three times that of a yamen runner. Moreover, there was no shortage of benefits. When patrolling, there would naturally be merchant ships or fishing boats that would deliver daily necessities to them.
They didn't need to take the initiative to ask for them, and the others didn't give them much. A fisherman would usually give them two fish or half a basket of shrimp. They would patrol a few times a day, and at night, they would have more food to eat at home. They didn't need to spend their usual living expenses.
It wasn't that they were unreasonable and would make trouble for the others. It was that the others felt that they were working hard and were willing to pay. If something happened, they would need their help.
Liu Yan was very angry about this. He thought that the waiter from Between the Clouds and the Water was deliberately going against him. However, he didn't dare to question him. First, the waiter had a powerful background. Second, he didn't think that he could argue with the waiter from Between the Clouds and the Water. The waiter from Between the Clouds and the Water was very talented and had to learn every day. If he really went to argue with them, it would be too embarrassing if he was stopped by them.
Since he couldn't teach them a lesson, he could only suppress his anger and observe the yamen runners. He promoted Tong Hui, who was usually the most honest one, to the position of leader. He felt that Tong Hui would definitely lead a group of yamen runners to follow him.
So now that he needed someone to help him, he asked Tong Hui.
Tong Hui had only been the leader for a day, but he didn't feel happy at all. Instead, he felt that he was being roasted on the fire by the county magistrate. If the yamen wasn't close to his home, he would also want to work in another place.
At this time, when he heard the county magistrate ask about him, he forced a smile and said, "Sir, I really don't know much about economics. I heard that there is a coal mine under this mountain. Why don't we develop it now? It's because Hong Nong doesn't need this resource now.
We'll wait for future development needs. For example, some industries that need heat supply. At that time, we can just mine this place. We don't move people here now because we are worried that one day we need to use it, and the local people can't move to another place.
If you want to turn this place into a tourist destination, you will have to build the infrastructure. You will have to build roads to the mountain, small dams, pavilions, and inns. After that, people will come to do other tourism related business.
What if we don't get back the money we invest? What will Hong Nong do when we invest in a company that needs heat supply?
And that river, you see that the bank is high because there is no water this year. Otherwise, the water would rise to the bank and even overflow. You said that we can expand it, but what if we put the excavated soil back into the sack and throw it into the river to shorten the distance between the river and the bank? What if it rains continuously? "
After saying this, Tong Hui lowered his head and didn't dare to look at the county magistrate's eyes. He said that he didn't know much about economics, but he had seen the plan. He was usually honest and was always willing to think about things.
The most important thing was that he patrolled the streets. Now, there were newspapers every day, big and small, and people everywhere were discussing it. Because of this, there were many disputes every day. Although not all of them were right, the atmosphere of the people participating in the discussion was very good. Everyone had their own analysis and found evidence to support their own arguments.
After a long time, basically everyone's' knowledge 'increased. They could understand the various policies of the imperial court. It was in line with a saying in the Analects of Confucius. If the people can make use of it, let them; if they can't make use of it, let them know. The people who knew how to reason would be more law-abiding. The people who talked about the policies of the imperial court would be more concerned about the affairs of the country. This was how cohesion was created.
Liu Yan hadn't announced his plan to expand the local economy. Otherwise, the resistance would be greater and he would be angrier.
Now he was very angry. The person he promoted didn't speak for him. Instead, he said that he would give him advice. It was as if he was new and didn't know anything.
"The transportation of coal needs good roads. Tourism also needs good roads. Even if other companies come in the future, the roads will still be used. Therefore, the waste of investment can't be counted in. The people who mine coal need a place to live. The hotels won't be used in the future. There's nothing wrong with letting them live there.
As for the foundation of the river, after the river is widened, it will be different from now. In the past, the water overflowed because the river was narrow. If the river is widened, it won't overflow. Am I right? "
Liu Yan refuted and looked at Tong Hui.
"Yes, yes." Tong Hui didn't want to say more to the county magistrate. He was just a yamen runner. Even if he said something wrong, the county magistrate wouldn't change his decision.
Liu Yan was slightly satisfied. He ordered, "Since you agree, find someone to start the initial stage of the excavation. Make sure that there are two meals a day. The monthly salary must be paid on time."
"Ah? Sir, that … you don't know. Now, the workers in our county have three meals a day. The salary is paid every day. "Tong Hui quickly reminded.
Liu Yan was stunned. He thought for a while and nodded, "Okay, I'll do as you say. They even need to provide breakfast here. That's not proper."
"That's not what I mean. Sir, the place you chose is far away from your home. It's impossible to let people go back and forth. The workers need to live in a simple house first." Tong Hui explained.
Liu Yan suddenly understood. He was thinking about other things and forgot about the road. He said, "Okay, you do as you see fit. Remember to find more people."
After the arrangement, he walked back with the yamen runners. When he passed by Old Willow Village, he saw that the market was open. At the same time, the boards on the bridge were laid out. He hesitated and didn't enter the village. He chose to eat in the market. He wanted to listen to what the local people said.
He thought that many people didn't have a good life and needed to work. Every day, they would wake up early to eat, then go to the factory or the workshop to work. They would eat at noon, work in the afternoon, go home at night, eat and sleep.
There was no difference between ten years and one year. It was the same for a lifetime. People with ambition should be like himself. They should always think about new things and change things through their own efforts. Only in this way can they live a better life.
"Old Zhang, this is the county magistrate of this county. Show him what you've got. If the county magistrate is not satisfied, you can't pay for it." Tong Hui played his role and shouted at a person who was selling boxed lunches at a stall.
Most of the boxed lunches were served directly. However, there were also cases where people didn't want to eat the cooked dishes or didn't want to eat the cooked dishes.
The 'boss' of the boxed lunches looked at Liu Yan and nodded. He thought about what to do as he walked to the back.
Soon, two cold plates were served. There was also rice wine with ginger slices, longan and dates. The smell depended on the individual's taste. Some people didn't like to drink this kind of wine with other things in it.
Liu Yan had suffered in Bajiang, so he didn't have high requirements for food. Moreover, he wanted to show that he was close to the people. Therefore, he didn't say anything after smelling the wine. Instead, he began to listen to others.
There was a lot of noise in the market. Some people were willing to let others hear their opinions.
"Have you heard? The new county magistrate's surname is Liu. His name is Liu Yan. " Liu Yan just started to listen when he heard someone mention him. He immediately became serious and wanted to see what the locals said about him.
"I know. He came from a small place. I don't know if he made some achievements there or if someone helped him. I hope he won't mess up Hong Nong. I won't allow him to mess up Hong Nong."
Another voice sounded. It was a rough voice with a hint of hoarseness.
Liu Yan was a little unhappy, but he didn't show it on his face. He was still a shrewd person.
"Your hope is probably going to turn into disappointment. He's already working on it. He wants to double the current size of the river and let the water rise. When I came over this morning, I heard from the villagers that they want to strengthen the tourism market and make Hong Nong a big tourism town."
"What? A big tourism county? Hong Nong's economic model is a transit and processing industry. If it is a tourism industry, how can other industries support it? The county's money is limited. If one side has more, the other side will have less. In my opinion, we should continue to support the artisanal workshops. We should use the good steel on the blade and invest the money in urgent needs. "
"What artisanal workshops? I mean to continue to build the wharf. Now the wharf's warehouse is getting less and less. There are also fewer auxiliary tools. We have to tear down all the small houses nearby, move the people away, pave the road, and build more warehouses. "
"You are all wrong. I think we should vigorously develop the special breeding of meat products. Think about it, there are more boats coming to and from the wharf every day, and the corresponding number of people also increases. There are also people migrating from other places. The demand for meat products is getting bigger and bigger. If we don't carry out special breeding, where will we get the meat products from? There are few local people, and we will have to increase the transportation cost. It will make the meat products we eat more expensive. "
"In my opinion, the first thing to solve must be the housing problem. Last time, there was a flood, and there was a construction. But obviously, with the increase of the migrant population, the existing housing can no longer meet the demand for living conditions. The best way is to expand the county's urban area."
"Look at you, all of you are like the county magistrate. Hurry up and eat. You have to work in the afternoon after eating. You talk about these useless things all day. Can you control the county magistrate?" Someone began to pour cold water on a large number of people, making the 'officials' who seemed to have a lot of power to return to their original identity.
"You still can't say it? So what if he is not the county magistrate? What can the county magistrate do? I just don't agree to invest the county's money on tourism. Shouldn't we say it on the notice board first? When the time comes, we will oppose together, and the county magistrate will have to put down the tourism. "
"No, I went to the county the day before yesterday, and the notice board was removed. You are dreaming, and I still have to tell you. Do you think it is the same as before?"
"Why is it removed? I suspect that the new county magistrate wants to pocket the county's money. Tomorrow, I will go and see for myself. If he doesn't restore the notice board, I will go to the place where the telegram was sent and report him. I don't care whether he has a problem or not, I will let the higher-ups check it first. "
The hot dishes were served. Liu Yan, who had not eaten yet, heard the words of the people at the other table and the people at the other table, and his heart was filled with hatred.
First, he hated the people for rejecting his plan. Second, he hated that someone wanted to threaten him and wanted to send a telegram. The higher-ups would definitely send someone, and he did not dare to stop them.
Of course, what he hated the most was the system of the notice board. The thing that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan did when they went to Baoxin County affected many places in Tang. Any ambitious local magistrate would set up a notice board.
It was clearly written on the board how the money came from, where it was spent, and how much the development plan needed to be adopted.
Liu Yan thought that this practice seriously slowed down the development of the county, and it was a great interference to the local magistrate. Usually, the local magistrate would come up with a good plan, but because the local people jointly rejected it, the local magistrate had to make a new plan.
What did the people know? If the people knew, what was the use of the officials? They could all be officials, so they could not let the people order the officials around. The most important thing for the people to do was to be obedient and act according to the requirements of the officials. Were the officials not more capable than the people? How could they harm the people?
Thinking about the difficulties he was going to face, Liu Yan felt that the wine and dishes were disgusting. The meat was too fishy to chew. Why did they put so many tendons in the dishes? And the wine bowl, no matter how he looked at it, it did not look clean. Did his oily hands rub against it?
After eating a few mouthfuls, Liu Yan could not eat anymore. He felt disgusted and wanted to vomit. He put down his chopsticks and signaled the yamen runner with his eyes.
Tong Hui was a smart person. When he saw the county magistrate put down his chopsticks, he immediately asked, "Sir, are you done eating?"
Liu Yan nodded with a sullen face. Tong Hui immediately ordered the other yamen runners, "Don't eat the dishes, drink the wine first. Lao Zhang, pack it up and put the rice in. When we are hungry, we can eat together."
Liu Yan took out a bill and slapped it on the table, "Today's food is not on the county's account. It's my treat, no need to pack it up."
"Sir, it's a pity to throw it away." Tong Hui was reluctant. The dishes on the table had not been touched.
Liu Yan stared at him, "I'm not throwing your money away. I have money, and I don't need to be greedy. Humph!"
After he finished speaking, he got up and left.
Tong Hui agreed and gave a yamen runner a look. The yamen runner nodded and waited for the county magistrate to leave in the car. The yamen runner carried the packed food and followed behind, but they could not eat it on the road, for fear of being seen by the county magistrate. When they got off work, they would gather together to buy some wine and continue to enjoy.
At this moment, the other people eating also knew who the person who left was. It turned out that the new county magistrate looked like this.
"Rich, humph! Can he be richer than the Zhang Family and the Wang Family? The last time Xiaobei and the others came here to eat, they did not throw away the food after a few bites. If they have money, they can just throw away the money. Why throw away the food? Oh no, the new county magistrate turned out to be such a person. Our Hong Nong is in trouble. "
A person looked at the county magistrate's team leaving and said to the people around him.
The people around nodded. They could see that the new county magistrate did not like to eat the food in the market. He did not even pretend to eat. He was far worse than Xiaobei and the others. Speaking of good food, no one in the Tang Empire could compete with the children of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family. But why could he eat it, and eat it very cleanly?
It showed that he had a different idea. Xiaobei and the others wanted to set an example for others with their actions, but this county magistrate wanted to prove that he was rich.
"Let's wait and see. If it doesn't work, we really have to send a telegram. We can't let him mess around in our Hong Nong. If Xiaobei had asked Liu Feifei to be a Level Five official, it would have been better than the county magistrate. Unfortunately, it is a Level Seven official. Although it is not under the management of the county, it is not under the control of the county yamen."
Another person said.
*****
Many people always lived in the same situation. As Liu Yan thought, they got up in the morning and did things according to the same routine every day. There was nothing new. As for the gains, they had more deposits in the bank, more new clothes, and more comfortable houses to live in.
The changes of ordinary people were always small, but they were always changing. As long as there was no problem with the policies of the imperial court, there would always be something new in the lives of ordinary people.
A month passed in this way.
The bulletin board of Hongnong County was set up again, and the income and expenses were the same as before. Of course, there was no introduction of using money to develop tourism. It seemed that the county magistrate didn't want to do tourism anymore.
Of course, ordinary people would not send a telegram. They still lived their normal lives.
Only people in the county knew that the county magistrate had not given up the idea of developing tourism, and he paid for people to work there first.
The person in charge was Tong Hui. He found a hundred able-bodied men and another ten to help with the laundry and cooking.
Then these people began to work. They dug the river, but they did not dig the river after the converging river as the county magistrate asked. They dug some small tributaries on the river.
Those that should be widened were widened and those that should be deepened were dredged. The excavated sand was transported to the flat ground and piled there. Several sieves were set up to separate the thickness of the sand and stones and filter the mud.
This part of the sand could be sold or used to build houses. Tong Hui was happy, so were the workers. They were paid a reasonable wage and had three meals a day. Sometimes, when their children were on vacation, they would come here to play with their wives and catch some river snails for a change.
They knew what was going on. The county magistrate asked them to dig the river, so Tong Hui had to order people to do it. But he did not want to dig the main river, so he cleaned up the tributaries first. If the county magistrate came and saw it, he would find various excuses.
While they were working here, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's team moved quickly. At noon, they finally crossed India and came to the seaside. After setting up the tents, only a small number of people stayed on guard. The others all went in to rest and did not eat.
When they rested until the evening, they got up one by one to eat dinner. They held a campfire dinner right at the seaside. All the food was roasted from the sea. They were tired of eating the food on the mountain recently.
The nine little ones were still leading the children in the tribe, teaching them how to eat the food in the sea, which part of the food was the best, and under what circumstances and what not to eat in order to avoid being poisoned.
"Finally, we're at the seaside. When we meet a ship tomorrow, we can ask them to help us send a message and mobilize more ships. When we go back, we'll stay in Lu Zhou for a few days and see how it's developed."
Zhang Xiaobao breathed a sigh of relief. After staying outside for so long, he also felt annoyed. The team did not play a big role in the war.
"Let's not delay outside and go to the capital earlier. We don't know how chaotic it is in the country. The faster the development, the more unstable the other aspects. We have to take a good look along the way and find a way to balance the situation." Wang Juan was thinking about the consequences of Zhang Xiaobao's national policy.
"You're right. I'm mainly worried about the officials. They don't have the ability, but they insist on proposing new plans in the name of development. It's easy to waste the local revenue. What's more terrible is that they'll cheat the farmers." Zhang Xiaobao agreed with Wang Juan while roasting the fish.
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