Chapter 89 Herbs (Part 1)

Before the New Year, you must pay a visit to the superior

Fang Xin naturally wanted to pay homage to the prefect. Of course, he did not have the qualifications to pay homage to the provincial administrative chief and governor. The prefect was neither enthusiastic nor suppressed. He was so indifferent. After asking a few questions, he accepted his gift and asked him to leave.

It was also considered that he had done his best to be a minister, so Fang Xin went back naturally. At this time, he received a letter from his family, saying that He Yao and He Rong were both pregnant and everything was fine. Fang Xin answered it and smiled. This was something he deliberately left before the exam that day. Of course, it was not easy to send a letter from both places, but it was only now that he had confirmed.

After the 20th day of the 12th lunar month, the yamen sealed it and did nothing. Fang Xin took two mules and two people to check the whole county with his troupe Liu Jueming.

At the beginning, the snow fell slowly and slowly. Later, the snow was as vast as goose feathers. Turning around, the mule suddenly stopped. At this time, the entire mountain, forest, and plains were covered with heavy snow.

"Sir?" As the head of the class, the magistrate specially sent a thick brocade dress, a thick hat and a thick boot, which was quite warm. At this time, he asked in surprise and looked at him.

In the distance, a small village naturally uses thatched huts. If the hut is good, it is better to use wood, but if it is bamboo, it will be impossible to bear it. So, it snowed heavily overnight. It looked like several rooms collapsed. Looking carefully, a few women with thin clothes were holding their children, and there was a faint crying sound.

"Sir, sir!" Liu Jueming said in a stuttering manner.

Fang Xin just watched quietly, and heard the rustling sound of snow falling to the ground, the cold wind blowing through the forest, and the sound of crying, his eyes were neither happy nor sad, and he pondered for a long time before saying, "Liu Jueming!"

"I'm in a humble position!"

"It's rare to see such heavy snow here. I wonder how many families in this county have collapsed their houses. Do you yamen runners go out if you want to go out in the New Year?"

"Sir, of course we are willing to do this!" Liu Jueming quickly expressed his opinion.

"Inspector Zhang Yang is a good official. The county knows that he is still busy and has not returned home, but he is not legal." Fang Xin said calmly: "Don't follow me, go back and pass on my order. This year, the county has not yet used corvee service, so it's time to move now!"

Liu Jueming was shocked and said for a while: "Vietse, it's not good at this time, it's almost the New Year."

Corvey service is a free labor force that forced civilians to engage in in previous dynasties. According to the empire, it is stipulated that the government must engage in strong service and military service as a result of the government.

The use of corvee labor is very particular. Generally, during the slack farming period, the government is only responsible for eating and not paying wages.

"I said you don't understand, but you don't understand. Whenever you and Zhang Yang go to a village, they will recruit the man from this family to do things. This labor service is just to build a house. Do you understand?" Fang Xin glanced at him and said.

"Sir, do you mean to ask them to repair the house and give them food?" Liu Jueming was surprised again and asked.

"Yes, that's what it means. After eating and building a house, I ordered them to sweep some snow and build some roads at will, and make a name for them. The county can also speak to the above. The court has laws and regulations to open warehouses to save the people without following the order. Although they have made contributions to the people, they must be dismissed from their posts and taken to Beijing to wait for the sages. Therefore, of course, this county dares not open warehouses. However, every year, there are two corvee labor services in one county, and the government can provide food. The annual corvee labor service is one-tenth of the granary. Just do this." Fang Xin said sadly.

In fact, as a county magistrate, it is too easy to earn merit. Just say that the word "足冠网" is, if you do it well, it will be a benefit to the other party.

The so-called public servants are good at accumulating virtue, but how many of them really take this into consideration among the ten thousand officials?

10% of the food and 10% of the loss allowed to be consumed over the years are just the semi-legal gray income of officials, and this has become a trend.

"Yes, sir, really loves the people as much as your son, but there is no one around you now, I'll go back..."

"It's okay!" Fang Xin sneered, waved his hand, and a green light flashed. At this time, a tree as big as a bowl on the side of the road suddenly fell down, splashing snow chips.

"Although this vast land is vast, the county is confident and has some self-protection power!" As he said, his eyes calm and slowly entered the sheath.

It would be fine if it was an ordinary person. Liu Jueming, the leader of the troupe, could naturally have some knowledge of martial arts. He suddenly opened his mouth wide. Such martial arts are really terrifying and terrifying.

No wonder he dared to come alone to pick up the seat without bringing any soldiers and attendants.

It was a blessing to follow him that day. If not, I was afraid that there would have been dozens of corpses in the granary. Thinking of this, he suddenly felt cold sweat oozing out.

"You might as well go there quickly, and you know the destination of this county. It is not far from Guantian." Fang Xin said.

"Yes, sir, I passed on my orders from you, so I rushed over and listened to you." Liu Jueming responded at this time, turned around the mule, and turned around to convey the order.

Looking at him leaving from afar, Fang Xin walked slowly, alone, just thinking.

Being honest and wanting to be a clean official, not be able to look down on corruption. Of course, this does not work. This offends all your bosses, colleagues and subordinates. However, it is not possible to be a member of the crowd.

In fact, the first thing about selling boots is that the majority of officials, Xiao Ding, received benefits. For officials, it may be small numbers, but it is no longer a small number.

And 100,500 taels are not rare for these eighth and ninth rank officials. The county is very poor, and their corruption is just a number.

Of course, the county magistrate's business is definitely not in line with the system, so he must find a businessman to act on his behalf. Of course, this is still a bit controversial, but there is no need to consider it too much, because there are dividends, and now no one in the county government office will do something to stand out. Even if there is one, it is not a big deal.

Fang Xin can act like this and be so casual. Although he uses advanced knowledge, it actually lies in his understanding of human nature - if the water is clear, there will be no fish.

Of course, the most important thing is that he is here to earn merit and to attain the subtle and profound Confucianism, rather than to get promoted and make money.

This starting point determines the difference in state and means.

When he arrived at Guantian, an old man greeted him. He had seen the magistrate. He was a little surprised when he saw him alone, but immediately went forward to salute: "Xiaomin Zhao Fengming greets the adults. It's snowing outside. Come into the house quickly."

Fang Xin stopped talking and walked into the door in the snow. This was a small courtyard, with the main body as a tiled brick. Of course, it was covered with thatch and icicles were hung under the eaves.

There were three earthen houses inside, which were already pretty good at that time, but they were still very small. Fang Xin came in and saw a hot kang in the main room, and a thick table nearby.

"I asked for a trap. I was so hot when I knew I was coming."

Fang Xin smiled, but did not refuse. He took off his boots and went into a pit. Sure enough, it was burning and warm inside, and the quilt was hot, which seemed to be heart-wrenching. Zhao Fengming was the one who managed the official field and was also considered a minor official, so he would do something. At that moment, he smiled and said, "It happened that the villain came. The villain made a golden carp last night, weighing five pounds, which was not common. This is the blessing of the adults!"

Fang Xin looked over and saw two women treating a golden carp weighing four or five pounds. After a moment, he saw that the young woman was slow to move and said with a smile: "Okay, golden carp, this county likes it, huh? Your daughter-in-law has a body?"

"That's right! My son has been married for two years, and he finally has a body this year, and the villain is happy."

"Haha, this is a happy event. When I meet this county, I have to express it. Come on, I will reward you with this money!" Fang Xin laughed and said, "The women in this county have also become pregnant."

"How can a little man compare with an adult? The young man must be rich and noble. However, when the adult rewards him, the villain will happily collect it." The money he always costs is equivalent to about 500 yuan on Earth, which is very good, and this person happily accepts it.

A young man in his twenties came in with firewood on his back, kowtowed and greeted him, and then warmed up the wine. Suddenly, the aroma of wine, meat, and fish filled the room and spread out.

"Zhao Fengming, have you found what you want to find in this county?" After sitting down, Fang Xin said solemnly, speaking indifferently, but in the midst of his swaying, there was a great majesty, as deep as the abyss and as high as the mountain.

Zhao Fengming immediately knocked: "Sir, the villain has been running for three months and has found it."

As he said that, he found a box, which had dozens of grids, and each grid had a grass and a root: "This is Heizhi, this is Kosha, this is winter and summer, this is Zhu Ling, this is Dark Bamboo, this is Chen Gou, this is Xiangfu, this is Dougui, this is Dark Grass, this is sweet leaves..."

In such remote counties, there is actually no need for advanced technology. It is enough to introduce the technology at that time in developed areas.

The magistrate's work, encouraged farming and sericulture, opened up wastelands, and promoted production. Fang Xin also walked through the whole county and found that there were many mountains and few lands in the county, with a dignified land of 5,000 square kilometers, but most of them were mountains, forests and peaks. Only two small plains, as well as some very small river beaches and terraces.

It is difficult to walk and farming, and even if you develop slopes, it is difficult to make a difference. Especially when water conservancy projects are backward, the irrigation area in the county is only 30,000 mu, and the grain can basically be maintained self-sufficiency. This is the root cause of poverty.

Water conservancy projects need to be carried out, but according to estimates, the land that can be developed is limited, and it will reach the limit if it increases to 150,000 mu, which is less than one-third of the mainland.

As for mountains and forests, trees are also resources, some of which are precious woods. However, on the one hand, the wood grows for a long time, and logging damages the natural environment and leads to soil erosion. On the other hand, this is very likely to cause conflicts with the indigenous people.

For officials of this era, economic development is not the main indicator of political performance. What is important is governance, stability, and education. Therefore, if something happens, it will not only fail to achieve success, but also be guilty.

With these considerations, Fang Xin naturally had to focus on medicinal materials, and he had already had several prescriptions.

In fact, these prescriptions are not original to Fang Xin, but are recorded in the provincial tribute court, but no one cares about them. Fang Xin happened to be used. The one who hopes the most is the epidemic prevention pill. After all, this province is very similar to Yunnan on the earth. The biggest difficulty is that there are frequent plagues, which makes people afraid of it. But herbs, spices, and wood are rich - followed by prescriptions similar to Yunnan Baiyao.

Fang Xin ordered the people and others to find dozens of herbs, and also found the old doctors from the county government to get familiar with the situation, and these people did a good job.

Listening to the introduction, Fang Xin found a verdict in his heart and asked, "Does there be many wild lands in these places?"

Zhao Fengming took the few things designated by Fang Xin, looked carefully, and after reading them, he said, "Sir, these things are the little ones, and I have seen this group of people in the wild. Although I didn't look for them carefully, I guess there are still other places!"

Fang Xin nodded and said, "Call your son."

"yes!"

Not much time, the son came, looking like he was in his twenties: "The villain Zhao Dongmu paid a visit to the magistrate."

"I heard that you have been studying for a few years. There is an errand in this county for you to do. Can you do it?" Fang Xinsenran said.

Hearing this tone, his father Zhao Fengming suddenly felt a little pounding and winked. However, Zhao Dongmu was stunned and said, "Sir, I will do it!"

"Okay, go back and run a store in the county central government. This store is called Baicaotang. You can be the shopkeeper. I will give you money. Just buy these dozens of herbs from the people and let them go to the wild area first. The price depends on the price of traditional Chinese herbs in the county." Fang Xin said: "And just open the purchase, no matter how much it is, you can buy it after the New Year."

After a pause, Fang Xin sneered again: "This county has never been hungry soldiers. Now I will give you ten taels of silver to spend a good New Year. From now on, the monthly silver will be set at five taels, which is comparable to the eighth-rank official. The money for selling herbs will be given to you and a tent will be sent to you. You can do it well. This store is not the only one in the county, but the whole county. Don't let the county and other adults down, and there will be a future in the future, otherwise... hehe, do you understand?"

"The villain understands!" Zhao Dongmu has been studying for several years. Although he has not passed the scholarship, he understands the words, and cold sweat seeps out and kowtows.
Chapter completed!