Winter days were a bit boring because Chen Xiaomi was pregnant, and Lu Lin didn't dare let her do heavy work.

Chen Xiaomi hugged the money jar and counted the silver.

In this quiet and cold winter, Chen Xiaomi's greatest pleasure was counting her silver coins.

"This silver is too little!" Chen Xiaomi said.

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation all cost money. Without some income, my meager salary won't be enough!" He now has to support quite a few people, which is different from when he started from scratch. Lu Lin raised his head and thought to himself: The burden on his shoulders seems very heavy now.

Chen Xiaomi shook her head and said, "I didn't expect that being an official would cost so much money."

"No, that's not it. We've spent a lot of money hiring craftsmen recently. Once we sell this curved plow, we'll see the return on our investment."

Lu Lin rubbed his chin, pondering for a while. During this period, he had been spending money. Although each transaction was a small amount, he had spent more than a hundred taels of silver in total.

Chen Xiaomi frowned and said, "I'm afraid not many people in Shaxian can afford this curved plow."

Moreover, these are farm tools, and most of the buyers are probably farmers, so it wouldn't be appropriate to buy them at an expensive price.

Lu Lin said dismissively, "If no one in Shaxian can afford it, we'll sell it to other places. With such good stuff, why worry about not being able to sell it? Besides, Ji Chengkang said that if this stuff is reported, there should be a reward. I wonder how much the reward will be. If the emperor is generous and gives me tens of thousands of taels of silver, then we can just live a life of leisure from now on."

Chen Xiaomi said helplessly, "You're really dreaming."

Lu Lin: "..." Who says otherwise?

This emperor seemed rather stingy; he was said to be a poor emperor. So, his idea was just that—an idea.

Chen Xiaomi, clutching the money jar, said, "If the emperor is going to bestow a reward, it shouldn't be small, right?" This is the emperor, after all; it would be so embarrassing if he didn't give a generous reward!

Lu Lin nodded and said, "You can never have too much silver. The more the better." Even a poor emperor is still an emperor, and a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.

Because of the long distance, it took a lot of time to deliver the curved plow to the capital. The emperor personally went to see the "handcart" being used for plowing and was overjoyed, believing it to be a sign of national prosperity. He praised the Ji family for presenting the "handcart" and ordered the Ministry of Works to manufacture a large number of these "handcarts" and strive to put them into use before the spring plowing.

Upon seeing this, the officials praised the emperor for his wisdom and virtue, which led to the appearance of this divine object.

Lu Lin was overjoyed to receive the imperial decree of commendation and the reward of two thousand taels of silver.

Lu Lin originally thought that being an official didn't seem to offer much financial reward, but after receiving this reward, he suddenly felt that the prospects of being an official were still very promising.

Ji Chengkang said somewhat awkwardly, "The Emperor's reward was originally more than two thousand taels, but as it was sent down the road, it was not that much. As for the silver that was embezzled, Ji Chengkang could do nothing about it. The military pay sent down from above was often reduced to half after being skimmed off layer by layer."

Lu Lin nodded, indicating that he understood. "Two thousand two is already quite a lot."

“The emperor originally intended to promote you, but since you haven’t been in office for long, the officials in the capital rejected the offer, saying that you should gain more experience and be promoted when the time is right,” Ji Chengkang said.

Lu Lin was far away in Sha County. Once the "handcart" incident had passed, the emperor was too busy with state affairs to think about it again. Lu Lin nodded and said, "With my limited abilities, I'm already barely qualified to be a county magistrate. It's better not to be promoted."

Lu Lin pondered that the reason his proposal for promotion was rejected was probably not just because he hadn't been in office for long. He came from a merchant family and had bought his official position. Most of the high-ranking officials in the court were Hanlin scholars, so how could they possibly look favorably on someone like him who had taken shortcuts?

In the eyes of many officials, he was a parasite for buying his way into office.

This system of buying official positions is a helpless choice made when the country is short of money. When the national treasury is full, people like him will be purged from the officialdom.

Seeing Lu Lin's indifferent attitude, Ji Chengkang held Lu Lin in even higher regard.

Several county magistrates in Shaxian County had failed to hold their positions. When Lu Lin arrived, the people of Shaxian County initially thought that he wouldn't last long either. However, seeing that Lu Lin had established himself and even become close with the patrol battalion, they couldn't help but look at him with new respect.

“Our military camp would like to order ten curved plows from you.”

Lu Lin was taken aback and said, "So many."

Everyone who knows how to make curved plows has signed a contract with Lu Lin. Although Ji Chengkang has the blueprints, Lu Lin is the creator of the curved plow, and Ji Chengkang doesn't want to offend Lu Lin by manufacturing curved plows in this place on his own.

"Officers and soldiers also need to eat."

With limited military funds, food supplies were tight, leaving the officers and soldiers with no choice but to become self-sufficient.

The patrolmen cultivated many vegetable gardens around the camp.

Many soldiers were sent to grow vegetables during their spare time, which solved most of their food problem.

Ji Chengkang pondered that with a curved plow, plowing might be more convenient, and the same number of people could manage more vegetable plots.

Ji Chengkang had the blueprints and knew how to make it, but since he owed Lu Lin a favor, he couldn't entrust the task to someone else.

Lu Lin nodded and said, "There are some in those warehouses. General, just take them. No need for the money."

"What should we do?" Ji Chengkang said somewhat awkwardly.

Lu Lin waved his hand and said, "The reward money from above has been allocated, which is enough for me to spend. General, please don't be shy."

Ji Chengkang estimated that it was a small amount of silver, but Lu Lin didn't care about it and said, "In that case, I'll accept it without being impolite."

Lu Lin smiled and said, "It's my pleasure."

...

The winter days passed peacefully, and Lu Lin would occasionally have someone pull a curved plow to circle the wasteland he had marked out.

The first time I went, I even hired a few helpers.

After that, it was no longer necessary. Every time the curved plow was pushed out, villagers who were watching would come up to help, taking the opportunity to observe the function of this farm tool.

Many villagers also asked Qin Yi if they could buy such a farm tool, and if so, how much money it would cost.

Qin Lang could only explain that the production of this farm tool was not high, and the government did not plan to sell it yet. However, if the production increased in the future, perhaps some could be sold.

Knowing that they weren't planning to sell it for the time being, many villagers were disappointed. However, they quickly realized that the item must be expensive, and even if they could buy it, they might not be able to afford it, so they were relieved.

"Your Excellency, Magistrate." Tian Zheng found Lu Lin and smiled somewhat obsequiously.

Lu Lin glanced at Tian Zheng and asked, "Is there something you need?"

Lu Lin kept a straight face, but he was secretly pleased. The blacksmiths and carpenters he had hired were probably former soldiers and were seasoned veterans. They respected Ji Chengkang, but their attitude towards Lu Lin, a pretty boy, was quite different. Lu Lin probably understood that these people were only working for him because of the money.

"You must have made quite a few of these handcarts already. Do you want to sell them?" Tian Zheng asked.

Lu Lin glanced at Tian Zheng and said, "This farm tool is very complicated to make. If you want to sell it, it won't be less than one or two taels of silver."

Tian Zheng frowned, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "So expensive!"

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes! It's that expensive. This thing is only used when plowing the fields. I'm afraid many farmers can't afford it. I'm not selling it, but I can rent it."

"Rent? How do you rent it?" Tian Zheng asked curiously.

"Borrow my farm tools for two days, and I'll work for you for a day. I can also rent this mule for a day, and you can work for a day. You stay at home all day eating grass and you've gotten so fat." Lu Lin shook his head and said.

Tian Zheng's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Sir, a carpenter like me can do carpentry, but what if a farmer wants to borrow from you?"

“I can do farm work, or anything else,” the Lu family member replied without hesitation.

"Sir, do you have so much work to do?" Tian Zheng asked curiously.

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes! Not yet, but when spring comes, we can start clearing the wasteland. I also plan to transplant some trees." Lu Lin had many ideas in his mind, but he hadn't figured out what to do yet.

Tian Zheng smiled, secretly thinking that Lu Lin had tricked the villagers into working for him, but Lu Lin's terms were quite reasonable.

"My lord, you are truly farsighted!" Tian Zheng said.

Lu Lin smiled and said, "No problem, no problem."

After asking Lu Lin, Tian Zheng borrowed one of his mules and a curved plow. Chen Xiaocai kept a record of the loan for Tian Zheng.

Tian Zheng led the mule and pulled the curved plow, feeling quite pleased with himself.

To show off the borrowed mule and curved plow, Tian Zheng didn't go directly to the fields, but instead took a detour through the village.

The villagers were actually very curious about the curved plow, but before, when Lu Lin asked them to take the thing to the field, many of the villagers didn't dare to look at it closely. But things were different when Tian Zheng took it back to the field.

Several people familiar with Tian Zheng rushed over and circled the curved plow, as if they wanted to dismantle it.

"Brother Zheng, this is what you guys came up with!"

Tian Zheng said with some pride, "Yes, this is what we made."

On the surface, Tian Zheng was smug, but in his heart he felt a little guilty. It was true that they made this thing, but the assembly had nothing to do with them. Before the finished product came out, they didn't know what Lu Lin was doing. However, no matter what, they deserved some credit for this thing.

"This new magistrate actually knows how to tinker with farm tools." A farmer was quite surprised. Daotian Zheng was also somewhat surprised, thinking to himself: The new magistrate looks like a pretty boy, not someone who works in the fields under the sun and wind.

In fact, the original owner was a farmer's son. However, Lu Lin became rich not long after he transmigrated. In the past few years, he has lived a life of luxury and his skin has become whiter and whiter. The calluses he had before have also disappeared, and he does look like a pretty boy.

After Tian Zhenglai borrowed the curved plow, other people came to borrow it one after another. However, the villagers still did not quite trust Lu Lin, the county magistrate.

The first people to borrow things from Lu Lin were the carpenters and blacksmiths in Lu Lin's shop.

Several carpenters became familiar with Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi, so they only needed to tell the two of them to borrow things. Gradually, the villagers saw that the new county magistrate was not someone who would bully others by relying on his power, so they all came to borrow things.