Huayuan County was different from Sanshui County. At this time, they were harvesting wheat. The winter wheat had already grown, but the work in the mountains was not done yet.
Most of the people who had land could only go back to harvest. However, the work in the county could not be left undone. Zhang Zhong originally wanted to ask the yamen in Sanshui County to release a notice to ask the people in Sanshui County to come and work.
However, he was stopped by Zhang Xiaobao. Zhang Xiaobao did not feel that it was better to ask the people in Sanshui County to come and work than other counties. The work in Huayuan County was considered basic construction and could not directly generate economic benefits.
If the people in Sanshui County came to work, no matter how much they ate and drank, the money they spent could not compare to the wages they paid. It was not a form of domestic sales to stimulate the economy. If the people in Sanshui County earned money for nothing, the people in Sanshui County would not come to live in Huayuan County. Sanshui County was better than the current Huayuan County.
It was better for the people in Sanshui County, but the promotion in Huayuan County was slower. Zhang Xiaobao asked his father to find people to spread the news in other counties that Huayuan County lacked people to work. There were places like Henan Province, where the wheat was harvested early and they were planting other crops. There should be people who were free.
In the surrounding counties, there were also people who were free. He called them over and asked them to build. During the construction process, he kept talking to them about how good Huayuan County would be after the construction and how much money they could earn by living here.
When they finished building, there would naturally be some people who liked Huayuan County and were willing to live here. Especially those who did not have land, it was easy for them to go anywhere.
Since it was close to the capital, there was coal, and the transportation was convenient, Huayuan County should not become an agricultural county. It should exist as a processing and auxiliary place.
When Zhang Zhong heard his son's words, he felt that it was reasonable. On the same day, he asked people to spread the news in the surrounding counties. At this time, there were already 500 people from the surrounding counties who came. Some even brought their families and prepared to live in Huayuan County.
Zhang Zhong divided the people into two groups. One group went to repair the road near the docks, while the other group went to repair the mountain. When outsiders came to the county, some of their needs increased. Even if these people were not very rich and spent less money, they were still spending money. Zhang Zhong paid them their wages every day.
In addition to the consumption driven by these people, there were also merchants who wanted to do business here. When they sold goods, they needed transportation, food, and a shop.
They were also a part of the consumer group. When they brought in taxes to the county, they also increased the demand for some goods in Hua Yuan County.
The middlemen at the docks considered the matter at Little Luoshui. Some of the merchants who were transporting goods felt that it was not worth it to continue moving forward. Coincidentally, Hua Yuan County also needed goods, so they directly transported goods from the docks to the county.
*****
The number of people in Huayuan County suddenly increased, making it seem more prosperous.
The law and order here was not like in Sanshui County. There were always people who wanted to do something, were caught, locked up, and then released to help repair roads elsewhere. Moreover, they were not paid.
It was not easy for Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan to walk around the streets now. Their families were afraid that something would happen to them if the streets were chaotic. Now, both families had moved to a place behind the yamen to live.
Fortunately, there were many courtyards, and there were still some people in Sanshui County. Otherwise, it would not be able to fit them.
Today, Zhang Zhong wanted to go out and have a look. In the morning, other than some official business, he also closed two cases. Basically, there was nothing important in the afternoon. Unless there was a death or an emergency, he would postpone it until the next day.
Zhang Zhong went out with the bodyguards and yamen runners. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan found an opportunity to follow Zhang Zhong out. With so many people protecting them, there was no need to worry.
The yamen runners were on the periphery, and the bodyguards were in front. There were some new faces among the yamen runners. Since Hua Yuan County received 80,000 strings of coins, they recruited more than 200 yamen runners at one time. Together with the original number, they were short of 300 people. They also bought some horses one after another, and less than half of them could ride on them to patrol.
As for the newly recruited yamen runners who did not have horses, they could not be idle. Other than patrolling in shifts in the county, they had to train in the field that was set up by the yamen.
At this time, the yamen runner who was walking on the periphery was a newly recruited yamen runner. He looked around vigilantly, as if everyone could hurt the county magistrate. It was obvious that he was a newcomer, and the old man would not be so obvious.
Wang Juan felt the changes in the county and asked Zhang Xiaobao, who was a little absent-minded, beside her, "Xiao Bao, Hua Yuan County has finished harvesting the winter wheat this time. Do you still want to continue planting the same as before?"
Zhang Xiaobao now had too many things to consider, including what Wang Juan was talking about. After being touched by Wang Juan, he raised his head, thought carefully and said, "Let's plant some vegetables.
Vegetables are not valuable elsewhere, but they can still be sold for a good price in the capital. Plant some cucumbers, eggplants, and other vegetables. We also need to plant many kinds of radishes. We can dry them in the shade and keep them for winter. We can't always rely on the same method of planting vegetables in winter. "
Wang Juan thought carefully and agreed. The capital was close to this place, and there was a large population. The consumption of vegetables every day was not small. It would take a long time to come back from the capital, but it would be faster to pull the vegetables over. There was no need to worry about the freshness of the vegetables. Bad vegetables could be fed to pigs and chickens.
"That's good. Then we have to send out the notice quickly. Otherwise, they will plant other things."
After talking about this matter, the two of them continued walking. Wang Juan asked again, "They haven't done anything yet. We can't always be on guard, right? There are thieves for a thousand days, but there is no such thing as guarding against thieves for a thousand days. "
"No, we still have to wait. We have already sent a letter of goodwill. Let's see what they will do. If they really live in the first family in Linshui for two days, we will send someone to talk to them. First, we will discuss whether we can cooperate. If they can, we will sign the document and tell them some details. If they don't want to sign the document first, we will directly tell them the details we have prepared and let them play."
Zhang Xiaobao did not seem to care much about the things over there. Usually, he was like this when he arranged things.
Wang Juan pursed her lips and smiled. She hoped that those people would not agree to sign the document first. They must want to cheat the details and do it themselves. Then, she would see what they would do with the details. She had seen it herself. If she did not have some experience in this area, she would have been cheated. Zhang Xiaobao was too bad.
The two of them spoke in a low voice. There were many people in the county, so it was noisy and no one could hear them. Only Zhang San saw the two children talking there and knew that what they were talking about was not a small matter. She took her son's little hand and said to the two of them,
"When next year comes, we will have to repair the shops on both sides of the county. Some of them are so old that they can be blown down by a little wind. Tell me, how should we repair them?"
"Pedestrian street." Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan thought of this at the same time. Now on the street, there were people driving carriages and people riding horses. It was too dangerous and smelly. In the future, they would let them take other roads and leave this place for people to stroll around. In particular, Zhang Xiaobao wanted to open a small supermarket here. As long as people strolled in, they would have a certain desire to buy something.
Looking at his father's puzzled eyes, Zhang Xiaobao said, "It's a place where carriages and horses don't go. What if someone gets hit?"
"Oh! That's fine. " Zhang Zhong knew that his son couldn't say much at this time. He would ask about the future arrangements when he got home. Now, he just needed to know that they didn't go by carriages and horses.
The group kept walking. As they walked, Zhang Xiaobao suddenly said, "Let's go back and write a letter to the people of the boat company. Let's give them another chance and let them take the initiative. Well, let's do it."
Only Wang Juan heard this and said that she wanted to go back. When Zhang Zhong was puzzled, he saw his son winking at him. He didn't hesitate to turn around and take people back to the yamen.
After a few words with his son, he wrote a letter and asked someone to send it to the Little Luoshui Wharf.
*****
When the stars and moon rose, the people of the boat company also arrived at the first restaurant in Linshui. Looking at the bustling scene here, they were angry again. The more prosperous this place was, the more business they would get.
The group went up to the third floor of the restaurant and chose the room that had a clear view of the wharf and the shops on the shore. They ordered a table full of dishes and ate as they looked. They looked at the dishes more often and were in a daze more often. However, they rarely ate. Occasionally, they would raise their cups and take a sip of wine. Basically, they didn't have much to say.
When it was midnight, Guo Ren finally couldn't take this kind of depressing atmosphere. The wharf below was lit up with lanterns, and there were still boats stopping occasionally. People were coming and going. For people who knew the business, this was money.
"Brother Weitong, hurry up and think of something. Last year, this place wasn't connected to the capital, so we could still bear with it. Now look, it's midnight, and it's still so busy. How much money have we lost?"
Guo Ren couldn't take it anymore. He threw his chopsticks on the table and stopped eating. He sat there and looked down. His expression also changed.
Everyone was thinking the same thing, but no one said it out loud. Now that Guo Ren mentioned it, they all gave ideas. Everyone thought about it and felt that it wasn't suitable. Another one was still not suitable.
When they were almost done, everyone was helpless. They could only look at Mi Fan. He had a lot of ideas.
Mi Fan was also worried now. He didn't know how to deal with the Zhang family. He couldn't even think about using force. It was also useless to use people from the government.
Just as he was worrying, the door was knocked open by a waiter. He came in and said respectfully, "Everyone, the Zhang family has sent a letter to everyone. I wonder if everyone is willing to accept it?"
Everyone was stunned. They had just sent a letter in the morning, and now there was another one. Did they regret what they did in the morning?
"Let me see." Guo Ren extended his hand.
"Give it to me." When the waiter came closer, Mi Fan took the letter and opened it. She suddenly burst out laughing.
After the waiter left, he said to everyone, "There's a way. The Zhang family still wants to cooperate with us in other areas, but they wrote out the most important thing. Hahahaha."
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