Chapter 188 Participation in Government Affairs

"Why?" Xu Zhenying raised an eyebrow. "Don't want to do it or can't do it?"

Xu Yinxi immediately said, "Capable!"

After a pause, she said confidently, "I can still do well!"

Xu Zhenying smiled, "That's right! I like girls who dare to think, dare to act, and dare to take risks! As I said, when the opportunity comes, grab it! Oh, and I'll give you my eldest cousin. He's been in the army for a few months and still has some advantages. Take him with you, and you'll have military support."

"yes!"

Xu Yinxi looked calm, but only her tense body and heaving chest betrayed her excitement at the moment.

The day is about to dawn.

Her Xu Yinxi's world also became brighter.

From Bianjing City to Lan County, from a girl waiting to be married who was ruthlessly abandoned by her fiancé to a female county magistrate in charge of a county, this step... she took stumblingly, but she finally arrived.

Xu Yinxi couldn't describe the feeling in her heart.

Thinking back to the timid self I once was, it seems like it happened in my previous life.

Her eyes were slightly red, but she suppressed it. She just held Xu Zhenying's hand and said word by word: "Sixth sister, thank you. I am willing to die for you in this life."

Xu Zhenying patted her gently and said, "I don't want you to die. I want you to live a good life, live a wonderful life, find something you love, and become the person you most want to be."

Xu Yinxi's eyes were misty, she stared at Xu Zhenying blankly, but a voice in her heart said: Xu Zhenying, do you know that the way I want to live the most is you, always you.

What you love is what I love.

Whatever you fight for, I am willing to fight with you.

I want to create a brand new world with you!

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"Oh, this is really a fight!"

The bulletin board of the county government office is always the most lively place in Lan County.

As soon as the day broke, the people entering the city surrounded it tightly.

Especially starting from half a month ago, the county government would post notices every Monday, explaining the new policies of Lan County, the general situation outside Lan County, and some life tips.

Nowadays, comprehensive education is being rolled out slowly. The first round focuses on people aged ten to fifteen. People of this age are easier to control than younger ones and are already sensible. After studying for a year or two, they can be drafted by Xu Zhenying and can start work immediately after training.

At this moment, the school had not yet opened, but some children had already joined in the fun, reading aloud the contents of the notice according to the pinyin above.

"Oh my God, is there really a fight going on in the southeastern coastal area? There's an emperor in the southeast, and there's an emperor in the north, and these two emperors are fighting? Oh, can someone tell me? Prince Gong's son was adopted by the late emperor, so what is his relationship with the rebellious Prince Ming?"

Someone laughed and said, "Oh, don't forget, we still have an emperor in Lan County."

"Student, what else is written here? Read it to everyone!"

The child's voice was still a little childish, and he read every word very seriously.

"What? There's a bunch of bandits in Shouzhou, and they've declared themselves kings? Oh my goodness, how many emperors does the Great Zhou Dynasty have now? Tsk tsk, this is really going to get chaotic."

"That's right! It also says here that the Tartars from the north are marching south. General Zhao won't be able to hold out for long. One hundred thousand civilians were slaughtered by the Tartars overnight. These bastards didn't even spare women and children. It would have been fine if they'd just burned and looted, but they even massacred the entire city!"

Everyone sighed.

"Hey, hey, hey, stop talking. Look at the bottom! This year, fixed taxation has been implemented. Why are the head tax and land tax in our Lan County so high? Two hundred thousand taels! Isn't this crazy?"

"What? Didn't we just pay the head tax last year? It's supposed to be collected every two years, so why are they collecting it again this year?"

"It says here that there are a lot of refugees in Jinzhou Prefecture this year. Many of the people who settled here from outside the city didn't register the same as last year!"

"What a joke! Our Jinzhou Prefecture suffered such a devastating disaster last year, and we didn't even receive a penny for disaster relief. Now we haven't even found land, and they're forcing us to pay taxes? 200,000 taels! That's a full 50,000 taels more than last year's tax!"

"This damned imperial court! Tens of thousands of people in Jinzhou Prefecture starved to death this year, and these damned officials are only concerned with their own enjoyment, treating us like animals. What the hell! Our Lan County has long been occupied by bandits, and who the hell is still paying taxes to the imperial court?"

The people around him kept trying to stop him, "Be careful with your words! Be careful with your words! You'll lose your head if you say that!"

"Be careful with your words! This is Lan County, Xu Zhenying's territory! It's not the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty. If they want to collect taxes from us, they have to see if our city lord agrees!"

"What if the city lord disagrees? When those rootless bastards from the Transportation Bureau show up, won't the city lord still have to pay taxes? We only have so few soldiers in Lan County. Are you really going to let the city lord fight against the imperial army?"

"Well, that's not necessarily true! Didn't they just recruit soldiers a few days ago? They said that the refugees selected 1,000 female soldiers and 3,000 male soldiers. Adding us young and strong men, if you calculate it this way, our Lan County can still gather 10,000 soldiers!"

"So what if you can gather an army? Are you trying to get the city lord to rebel?"

It has to be said that the people of Lan County are becoming more and more bold in their words. In the past, no one dared to even listen to these words, but now they dare to openly talk about rebellion in front of the county government office.

The reason was that Xu Zhenying had never been convicted for his speech, and he also encouraged everyone to discuss state affairs, especially the previous incident of the medical school. More than a dozen medical clinic owners jointly wrote a letter pointing out that the establishment of the medical school was competing with the people for profit.

The people of Lan County originally thought that according to usual practice, these dozen people would definitely be thrown into jail.

However, Xu Zhenying received them politely, listened to their opinions, and incorporated the clinic into the medical school.

Xu Zhenying even informed the people of this matter in a high-profile manner, saying that the people were allowed and encouraged to express their opinions on government affairs.

Therefore, the people of Lan County are very enthusiastic about participating in government affairs.

This has made life difficult for Xu Zhenying's subordinates.

Being an official in Lan County, one is afraid that others will know that he is an official. Otherwise, if he meets enthusiastic people who invite him to drink water and have a bowl of noodles, there is a possibility that the righteous people who are caught in the rumors will report it to Xu Zhenying.

"What rebellion are you talking about? We're talking about taxes! It's written here that this year's taxes must be collected within two months. Just wait and see, those eunuchs will be back to bully people again this year."

When talking about these eunuchs, the indigenous people of Lan County were filled with disgust and contempt.

When collecting taxes last year, the eunuch required all the citizens in the city to kneel down and greet him at the city gate. A person with all his limbs had to be carried in a sedan chair by eight people before he was willing to step into the city gate of Lan County. He was really arrogant.

Not to mention that eunuch took bribes and recruited many girls from good families in Lan County and brought them to the capital.

That caused widespread complaints in Lan County.

They really hate eunuchs.

In their hearts, they all hoped that the city lord could be tougher and not kowtow to a eunuch like Sun Qingchen did last year.

"There's good news!" The kid pointed to the notice next to him. "This is the notice from Lan County. The first item says that soldiers will no longer be given five mu of land. They will only receive one tael of silver and three meals a month. However, they will receive medical benefits and posthumous compensation."

"What is medical insurance?"

"As long as you're in the army, whether you're injured charging into battle, doing farm work, or even getting hurt while out and about, your medical expenses are all covered!"

The onlookers were shocked. "Does it count if you get injured while out having fun?"

"Of course, of course! Teacher Xiao Xu told us about this medical benefit a few days ago. He said that as long as you are in the army, as long as you have not been discharged, then no matter what you do, as long as you are injured, you don't have to spend a penny on medical treatment."

Everyone looked envious. You know, medical treatment and medicine were still very expensive in the Zhou Dynasty, especially if someone was injured or disabled, it could completely drag down the entire family.

Someone immediately shouted, "Oh, don't tell me, I think this medical benefit is even more cost-effective than dividing the land! Which soldier hasn't been injured? If you get injured, you might have to sell all five acres of land!"

"That's exactly the truth! Hey, young man, what is the compensation after death?"

The young man took a closer look and enthusiastically explained to everyone, "Posthumous compensation means that if you die on the battlefield, your family will receive a one-time compensation of ten taels of silver, plus an additional two taels of silver every month! This will last until your son or daughter reaches adulthood!"

"Then...what if my wife remarries?"

"If you remarry, as long as the child doesn't change his surname, I'll give him one tael! And one tael for the parents!"

Someone immediately covered his chest and said, "Amitabha, the city lord is truly a kind person!"

"This offer is too generous! It makes me want to join the army!"

"Then why don't you go? Weren't they recruiting soldiers a few days ago?"

"Oh, forget it! They said I was too short and wouldn't let me in!"

"There's a soldier in our village too, but I don't think he's very tall—"

Someone scoffed, "How can the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty compare to those of our Lan County? Look at our Lan County soldiers; they're tall, strong, and energetic, and every one of them can read and write! Just last month, there weren't enough people to plant sweet potatoes, and those soldiers had to help the people farm. Where have you ever seen such talented soldiers from Lan County?"

"That's right. Otherwise, with such high wages and good benefits, they naturally have to select the best candidates! In the past, the Great Zhou Dynasty begged us to join the army, but now it's us who are begging to join the army. So, our city lord is a man who can do great things!"

"Why did the city lord recruit so many people? There are already 7,000 to 8,000 soldiers. It should be more than enough to fight the bandits outside."

"How can we guess what the city lord is thinking?"

"Hey, hey, hey, stop arguing. There are several more items to come. The second one..." The man seemed to be just starting to learn pinyin, and he stuttered along with the pinyin above, "When dealing with members of the Xu family's government affairs team, you must not address them as Miss, Master, etc., nor by their courtesy names. Just address them by their name and title. If they don't have a title, they should all be addressed as Comrade So-and-so."

"Comrade?"

"Ah, if we share the same heart, we share the same virtues, and if we share the same virtues, we are comrades! It means we are all on the same path, and it expresses our kinship!"

"That's so weird, I can't bring myself to call him that. Take Ming Xiaoshuang for example, calling him Master Xiaoshuang is so much better! It sounds so affectionate and respectful!"

"Alas, the City Lord just criticized Master Xiao Shuang last time... Ah, Comrade Xiao Shuang, saying that calling us Master makes us seem like we're enslaved. The City Lord also said that the Xu family is of equal status to us, and that we ordinary people don't need to deliberately elevate them... Well, what's been on the City Lord's mind all day?"

The man scolded, but his face was somewhat smug. "Tell me, tell me, have you ever seen a high-ranking official who wouldn't let us kneel down and wouldn't let us call him Master or Madam? Not to mention the high-ranking official, even the soldiers guarding the city would treat us like dogs and let us bark at them!"

“Who says it’s not?”

"Our city lord is naturally a kind man!"

This statement immediately drew nods of agreement from the crowd. "Hey, hey, hey, and, yeah, here's a friendly reminder. The first National Medical Industry Technology Exchange and Development Conference will be held in Lan County. Many doctors will be attending. If you're planning to do business, plan ahead. Yo!"

The man exclaimed, immediately attracting the attention of others, "What's going on? What's going on?"

"Hey, it says here that the standardized breeding farm is open to the public for one day, and visitors are allowed! Yeah, it's the day after tomorrow!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone forgot about the medical conference. After all, medical care sounded too far away from them, and pig farming was closer to their lives. So everyone started talking about the standardized breeding in Lan County.

The man who had just entered the city saw everyone's excitement and was afraid of missing out on something good, so he quickly pulled the young man nearby and said, "Hey, brother, I haven't been to the city for a long time. What is this standardized breeding?"

"Hey, when the city lord first came into the city, didn't he buy up all the piglets in the city? He said he was going to set up a factory to raise them all," the young man said excitedly, as if he was about to break it down into pieces. "Legend has it that a pig can be raised to 100 or 200 kilograms in just half a year!"

"Oh, you forgot to mention the most important point!" someone nearby added hastily, "The City Lord said that standardized pig farming doesn't have any fishy smell at all, only the aroma of meat!"

"What, a pig that's not slutty? Is that true?"

"Hey, hey, hey, let me explain it in more detail. It's a pig that grows fast and isn't coquettish. You haven't seen one before, have you?" The young man laughed heartily. Although he hadn't seen the pig, he was already very pleased with himself. "Our Lan County is changing every day. I see you guys haven't been to the city for a while, right?"

The men nodded quickly. "Well, we took refuge there after the flood last year, and we just got back! Don't tell me, when we first entered Lan County, we almost didn't dare to go in. We thought this place was a fairyland—"

Everyone around laughed.