"I'll give you a letter from Lei Shushan." Ao Huang said with a smirk.
Fang Yun was curious. He held the official seal in his hand and a swan goose turned into a letter. It floated in the air and he quickly finished reading it.
"This Lei Shushan is quite ambitious! It's fine if he wants to get the A grade for fortifications and agriculture, but he wants you, a true dragon, to join him. Actually, it's not a big deal. You're useless anyway. "Fang Yun deliberately paused here.
Ao Huang rolled his eyes and Nuu giggled.
Fang Yun continued, "However, he said that I'm about to be attacked by everyone and won't be able to pass the court exam. Even if I pass the court exam, I'll be destroyed by the barbarians. Joining me is the stupidest choice. These words are a bit too much. This letter is actually a letter of challenge to me! "
Ao Huang immediately nodded, "Yes, yes! I also think that it's too much. Why don't we … kill him? "
Yang Yuhuan and Su Xiaoxiao were stunned and then smiled. Ao Huang didn't speak according to common sense. Only Fang Yun could stand him.
Fang Yundao, "My energy is limited. I was hesitating about whether or not to get the A grade for fortifications. However, since he sent me a letter of challenge, I can't not accept it. Send a letter to him and tell him that he got an A grade in construction and agriculture in this year's Palace Examinations. Tell him to stop dreaming! "
Ao Huang grinned, "This is the unparalleled Fang Zhenguo! I'll send him a letter right now! "
After a few breaths, Ao Huang said, "I've already sent the letter. It says that the A grade for fortifications and agriculture this year will definitely go to you, Fang Yun!"
Yang Yuhuan and Su Xiaoxiao felt helpless. Fang Yun and Ao Huang had the same meaning. However, one said that "Lei Shushan won't get it" while the other said "It will definitely go to Fang Yun". The former was fighting back while the latter was provoking.
Fang Yun glared angrily at Ao Huang and said, "Now that you've said that, those people will definitely stir up trouble and criticize me."
"Let them criticize me. It has nothing to do with me anyway … Uh, I mean, let them criticize you. In the end, you'll definitely get the A grade for fortifications and agriculture, right? " Right? "Ao Huang said with a grin.
Nuu reached out her little claws to Ao Huang and grabbed the air. Ao was so scared that he quickly retracted his neck.
Fang Yun ignored Ao Huang and continued to read the Literature. He found that the price of food had increased by different degrees. In particular, the price of food in non-producing areas had increased by ten percent, which was higher than in previous years. According to the analysis of the Literature, it should be because the grassland barbarians would invade the South at the end of the year. All the countries had begun to increase their food reserves. The grain merchants were even more unscrupulous in their stockpiling of food, causing the commoners to suffer.
Fang Yun thought about it. The price of food in Ning An County wasn't high because it was a strategic location and had a large granary. When the price of food reached a certain level, it could be sold at a low price to attack the grain merchants.
The Literature not only recorded the anecdotes of scholars, good deeds, and good deeds, but also many problems. It was mainly news, such as the earthquake in Zhengde County, the spring flood in Nanshi County, the spring epidemic in Guangyuan Prefecture, and so on.
Other county magistrates and scholars didn't care about these, but Fang Yun read it carefully and thought about where these things would happen in Ning An County and how to solve them.
Through the Literature, Fang Yun found that there might be hidden dangers in the Yishui River in Ning An County. Thus, he sent private soldiers with experience in irrigation to lead the workers to inspect the dams on both sides of the Yishui River.
Ning An County was located in the North, so the frozen soil was slow to melt. If the frozen soil didn't completely melt by the 10th of February, it would affect the planting of seeds. The county magistrate would then have to go to the Divine Temple to worship the heavens and use the power of the temple to help the frozen soil melt faster.
Fang Yun had never participated in the worship of the heavens before, so he decided to gather the scholars and private soldiers for a discussion at night.
After reading the Literature, Fang Yun bid farewell to Yang Yuhuan and took Ao Huang to the workshop.
The workshop was one of the ten offices in the county office. In a normal county, it was just a cold office. However, in a large county like Ning An County, it was a lucrative job.
The geographical location of Ning An County meant that trade and handicrafts were developed. In order to prevent the barbarians from raiding, the land north of the Yishui River couldn't be planted. Only the south of the city had farmland, so agriculture was relatively weak.
Not far from the southwest of Ning An County was Jingguo, which was famous for its cotton production. This made Ning An County a major textile industry. However, Ning An County didn't produce ramie, so they couldn't raise silkworms. Thus, the linen and silk had to be brought from the south by Fang Yun.
After Fang Yun entered the workshop, he first chatted with the workers. Then, he asked the head of the workshop to lead the way to the county's weaving workshop.
Because Ning An County was a strategic location and was close to the cotton production area, 30% of the gauze, cotton, and canvas needed by the surrounding armies were supplied by the county. Most of the 30% was supplied by the county's weaving workshop, while the rest was supplied by the private weaving workshop.
This time, Fang Yun didn't take the Dragon Horse. He took a normal horse carriage. However, because of his special status, he needed to be protected. Behind him were 20 demon cavalrymen and 20 barbarian private soldiers.
The people on the side of the road whispered among themselves. They all guessed that these were Fang Yun's private soldiers. However, they couldn't be sure if the person in the carriage was Fang Yun himself.
The county's weaving workshop wasn't located in the city. It was located by the Yishui River outside the city. The scholars of the Gong Family had long developed a water-powered textile machine that was more efficient than hand-made textile machines.
After exiting the east gate, Fang Yun opened the curtains and saw the Yishui River in the north. Further away, there were rows of workshops.
Not only were there weaving workshops, but there were also all kinds of mills and blacksmiths that could make use of water power. It stretched for dozens of miles, making for a spectacular sight.
The head of the workshop was a scholar in his sixties. He had an amiable smile, but Fang Yun knew that this person was notorious for being ruthless.
"Lord Fang, in front of us is the famous workshop street. There are more than 400 workshops here. Half of them are private workshops, and the other half are owned by the imperial family and the county. The number of workshops owned by the imperial family and the county is similar. The imperial family of Jingguo treats its citizens well. If it were Wu Guo, the imperial family would own at least 50% of the workshops, the county's workshops would own 20%, the aristocratic families would own another 20%, and the commoners would only be able to fight for the last 10%! "
Fang Yun thought that it wasn't the imperial family that treated them well. It was Jingguo's decline. The imperial family's control was not as strong as before, and they had no choice but to let the commoners benefit. Half of the private workshops in Ning An County were owned by the aristocratic families.
The head of the workshop talked non-stop about the current situation of the workshops in Ning An County. He talked about everything, no matter big or small.
Ao Huang stared at the head of the workshop from time to time. He felt that this person had ulterior motives. He secretly transmitted a message to Fang Yun, warning him to be careful.
Fang Yun didn't think much of it. He smiled. The head of the workshop did have ulterior motives for telling him everything.
His first motive was to show Fang Yun the profitability of the workshops. As long as Fang Yun became greedy, he would be easily dragged down. He could either submit to the Left Prime Minister or lose his reputation.
His second motive was to warn Fang Yun that these workshops were all backed by influential people. Even the most inconspicuous workshop was backed by an aristocratic family. As for the Prominent Families, they couldn't interfere at all.
In an ordinary prefecture, there were only two or three aristocratic families. They were enough to make a county magistrate bow his head.
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