The next day, Zhao Minggeng waited at the inn early.

After you gentlemen have finished breakfast, I would like to invite you to join me on a tour.

The first stop was a visit to the grain fields.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our Hongling County is different from other places. The mountains are mainly red soil, and the plains are mainly yellow soil. To put it bluntly, the land here is not good farmland."

Therefore, we can only plant high-yield, drought-resistant crops.

These fields were all reclaimed after people from this county came here, and now they are mainly used for growing sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and soybeans.

As you can see, almost every household is a cow.

At the very least, there's one cow for every two households. After several years of breeding, some families already have calves.

Those who are lucky have already caught more than one calf.

In addition, each household raises a few chickens and pigs, so they don't lack fertilizer.

Gentlemen, come over here and take a look. This is a sweet potato field. The leaves of these sweet potatoes are edible for both humans and pigs.

"Their pigs are so fat, it's all thanks to the sweet potato leaves..."

As for the sweet potato residue and soybean cake that the pigs eat, he didn't mention them.

Now, everyone in the vicinity knows that the pork from Hongling County and Lingbei County is delicious.

Not only does it taste good, but it's also fattening.

After visiting the grain fields, they went on to visit the mountains. Zhao Minggeng's physical strength was far beyond that of these pampered adults.

Considering your physical condition, Zhao Minggeng has specially arranged for you to travel by carriage today.

Of course, they couldn't walk the whole way; even while sitting in the carriage, they would constantly look outwards.

Normally, even riding in a horse-drawn carriage in the countryside would be a bumpy ride, but now, after a long ride, the carriage feels very stable.

The adults then noticed that the roads in Hongling County were extremely smooth, paved with some unknown material.

Their envy and jealousy in the county reached a new level.

Under their respective self-governance, not to mention the countryside, even the streets of the county town are not as clean and tidy as the doorways of every household in the countryside.

The more I watch, the more upset I get, but I still have to keep watching.

After a whole day, we still haven't visited the kiln factory; we'll have to continue tomorrow.

After touring the kiln, the adults were quite amazed, looking at the red clay in the artisans' hands and then thinking of the various glazed porcelains displayed on the showcase.

It's hard to imagine the connection between the two.

Seeing the adults' excited expressions, Zhao Minggeng specially arranged a room and assigned craftsmen to teach them how to make ceramics.

They said the ceramics were made from the adults' ceramics, and once fired, they would arrange for someone to deliver them to your homes.

Who doesn't have dreams of their youth?

That day, the officials stayed at the kiln for a long time, and Zhao Minggeng arranged lunch for them.

However, in this brickyard, I could only eat communal meals like the other workers.

For adults, holding a wooden tray and queuing for food is a completely new experience.

Two dishes and a soup, with cornmeal steamed cake as the staple food.

Braised pork belly, stir-fried cabbage, and pork bone soup.

I thought that since we were eating the same food as the workers, it probably wouldn't taste good.

Once the food was in your mouths, gentlemen, please keep your mouths shut; the taste was quite good.

Some adults even ordered more food.

Zhao Minggeng smiled faintly, "The cooks at the brick kiln are specially trained."

The key is to make it taste good, and all kinds of seasonings are included.

After finishing the work lunch, I felt a pang of envy. Then I learned that the chef came from the Qingmiao Orphanage.

Since the orphanage was run by the Zhao family, the jealousy of the county magistrates miraculously subsided.

Even though they considered themselves to be of good birth, they were not wealthy enough to support orphans.

Zhao Minggeng was quickly branded as a member of a hidden family.

What's the point of comparing ourselves to others? There's no comparison.

We don't have as much money as them, we don't have as good a background as them, and we don't have as many people as them. They have several thousand children as a reserve force.

The excitement that you gentlemen felt after making the ceramics has faded.

They even vaguely regretted coming to visit.

If they had that kind of background, they might be able to turn the world upside down.

After resting for a night, we prepared to go to Lingbei County the next day.

The shortcut to the northern route has been opened up.

Therefore, people no longer need to take such a long detour to reach northern counties.

As the carriage reached the foot of the mountain, the sight of the towering peaks transformed into gentle slopes, with thriving vegetation, was quite awe-inspiring.

I've only heard of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains, but I've never seen a real path for moving mountains.

Because of its better infrastructure than Hongling County, Lingbei County has also developed quite well.

The whole city now looks like a painting.

Gone are the mud-brick and thatched houses and the chaotic streets of the past. Now the streets are orderly and well-planned, and every house is a spacious brick and tile house.

Many of them are even two-story buildings, which are very enviable.

Having learned from their experience in Hongling County, the pace of your visit to Lingbei County has quickened.

If the father-in-law can do so well, it's understandable that the son-in-law would do even better.

Whether they will strive to improve the situation after the visit or try to find a wife (or son-in-law) from a good family for their son or daughter remains to be seen.

In short, it's understandable that some people feel their administration isn't doing as well as they thought, given the unclear impact of the situation.

I don't know what kind of bizarre idea this is.

The prefect was the most moved; he too had risen through the ranks from county magistrate to his current position.

He believed that even if Hongling County or Lingbei County had been handed over to him, he might not have been able to govern them as well as the Zhao family father-in-law and son-in-law.

This time, the Emperor was truly reliable. When Zhao Minggeng and Xu Dongsheng reached the end of their terms, he didn't transfer them away; instead, he allowed them to continue serving their terms.

When Zhao Qingyan was six or seven months pregnant, the doctor finally arrived in Lingbei County with two midwives who were said to be the best in the capital.

Zhao Qingyan spent a lot of money to invite people from so far away.

When the doctor arrived, he first took Zhao Qingyan's pulse.

Upon learning that it was a girl, Xu Dongsheng was overjoyed, while Zhao Qingyan immediately began to make a study plan for the child.

These days, it's not easy for girls to survive. They need to have more skills and must never become the kind of naive and innocent girl who is out of touch with reality and the dangers of the world.

Seeing Zhao Qingyan's expression, the doctor thought she didn't like her little girl and regretted saying it was a girl.

The two midwives also touched Zhao Qingyan's belly, and the baby's position was normal.

She also gave many instructions, such as being active and eating less during the late stages of pregnancy.

Zhao Qingyan was well aware of these issues. She didn't want to have a difficult childbirth because the baby was too big.

Therefore, I paid attention to controlling my weight throughout the pregnancy, and my diet consisted mainly of high-protein foods and vegetables.

Apart from grapes, I didn't dare eat much of any other fruit.

It's said that eating grapes will result in having big eyes when you're born. Even though Zhao Qingyan knew there was no scientific basis for this, she still wanted to bring good luck.