This article is first published on the TaDu Novel App.

Someone in the crowd laughed and cursed, "You idiot, if you're going to pretend to be a fish, you should wait until the officials are gone. Pretending now will expose you."

After scolding him, he realized he was also foolish; the government officials were still there.

Xie Ming's expression was gloomy and unreadable. Shi Youli, who was standing next to him, glared at the group of people and thought they were idiots.

"Sir, please don't listen to their nonsense. This is not true. I personally oversaw this, and it will absolutely not happen," Shi Youli quickly assured him.

Unfortunately, this guarantee had no effect on Xie Ming. "Village Chief Shi, please just call me Xie Ming. I am only working under Lord Song and do not deserve the title of 'Lord'."

"How can we say you don't have a name? Let's call you Young Master Xie." Shi Youli wasn't stupid. He had already heard that the county magistrate had hired two scholars to work in the yamen. Although they didn't have specific official positions, they were all reported to the imperial court and were considered government officials.

Regardless of whether he was an official or not, just the title of "scholar" alone would make Village Chief Shi look at him with more respect, since his village didn't have anyone like him.

Xie Ming didn't dwell too much on the way he was addressed, but instead looked at the man carrying the bucket and asked, "Uncle, do you know what these fish fry are used for?"

The uncle glanced at him, then looked at the village chief, "I know, they're for raising in the rice paddies. I figured the water in the rice paddies isn't as much as the water in my family's water tank, so it would be much better to raise them in the water tank."

By then, I'll definitely be able to raise these fish to be fat and big, and my family will finally be able to enjoy some meat.

Website: Ta^Read Novels, welcome to download -^

"Is that what you all think too?" Xie Ming asked the others.

Many people nodded in agreement, but Xie Ming felt a headache coming on. "Village Chief Shi, how exactly did you explain this rice-fish farming project to the villagers?"

Shi Youli looked somewhat embarrassed. He hadn't expected the matter to be exposed so quickly. When he returned to the village and mentioned it, everyone disagreed, even with the option of tax reduction.

Looking at his own family and Butcher Ma's family's names in the record book, Shi Youli felt troubled. His village was inferior to others in every way. If there were only these two families left, how could he explain it?

The county magistrate had already scolded him when he came to inspect, and he didn't want to be scolded a second time.

So he said some vague things, like that the fish fry he sent could be raised and eaten later, even though they're not as good as pork, they're still meat.

He just didn't expect the villagers to be so naive as to speak out in front of the officials.

Seeing Shi Youli's expression, Xie Ming didn't expect him to explain anything anymore. At this moment, he was very glad that it was being carried out according to the principle of voluntary and involuntary actions as Xu Genshu had said, otherwise he didn't know what frightening consequences would follow.

"Young Master Xie, the villagers are just scared." Even at this point, Shi Youli was still thinking of an excuse to smooth things over.

"What are you afraid of?" Xie Ming's face darkened. "Are you afraid of not being able to eat fish or meat, or that the rice harvest will be poor?"

Password 563743675

"Fellow villagers, I don't know if any of you have seen the rice grown in other villages," Xie Ming said loudly to the people below, standing on the carriage.

The people below shook their heads; they were content to look at their own, why bother looking at others?

“You haven’t seen it, but Village Chief Shi has, right?” Xie Ming looked at Shi Youli. “Please tell me, Village Chief Shi, what are the differences between the rice grown in other villages and the rice grown in our village?”

Shi Youli didn't know the meaning of his actions, but he still walked to the edge of the field and began to recall what the rice in Dashi Village was like. "There was plenty of water in the field, and the rice was lush and green, looking better than the wild grass on the mountain."

"And love." It's about making people like the rice at first glance, "and there's a sense of impending harvest, the rice must be very plump."

As he said this, all he could think about were the Xu family's few acres of rice paddies. He was a farmer himself, and this was the first time he had ever seen rice growing so well.

"Village chief, you're not trying to fool us, are you?" said the old man carrying the water bucket.

“That’s right, where can you find such good rice?” an old woman chimed in.

In their village, the rice seedlings are planted in rows, but as they grow, many die, and in the end, only about half are left.

"I'm just bored, lying to you. Go to Dashi Village and see the Xu family's paddy fields. They're just as good." Shi Youli raised his voice when he heard someone questioning him. If Dashi Village weren't a bit of a distance away, he would have taken them there to see it.

Original text - from @-TaDu^~Novel App, for more free books please >downloadTaDu<^Novel-App. *.

A gruff voice came from the side of the crowd, "What the village chief said is true, he didn't lie to you."

Xie Ming turned his head and looked over. It was a very burly man. This should be Ma Hong's father, Butcher Ma. Don't ask him how he knew. The father and daughter looked quite alike.

Although Butcher Ma was a butcher, he was a very cheerful person. As soon as he arrived, the villagers would surround him and talk to him, all asking whether what the village chief said was true or false.

“They are my in-laws. I’ve seen them myself. Would I lie to you?” After Ma the butcher said this, everyone remembered the relationship between the Ma family and the Xu family, and they believed him.

After exchanging a few words with the villagers, Butcher Ma walked towards Xie Ming. Yesterday, when Xu Genshan went to his place to pick up ingredients, he had asked Xie Ming to look after him. Xie Ming was a friend of Xu's third son.

Butcher Ma couldn't be happier. Just the fact that Xie Ming was a government official meant he had to cooperate and do things properly. In this day and age, everything is about personal connections. If you could know someone in the government, that would be amazing.

I just didn't expect Xie Ming to stand out in the crowd like a rich young master.

Xie Ming had already gotten out of the car and bowed to Butcher Ma, saying, "Uncle Ma."

This address of "Uncle" was such a compliment to Butcher Ma, making him feel flattered. "Oh dear, I've always heard my daughter say that the young man who was recruited by the county government along with my brother-in-law is a young fellow. I never imagined that this young man is so formidable."

"Uncle Ma, you flatter me." Xie Ming smiled modestly. With Butcher Ma here, and interested in raising fish in rice paddies, things would be much easier.

TaRead Novels – Free, Ad-free, Pop-up-free, and you can even interact with other book lovers.

He called the villagers to the edge of the field, pointed to the rice and said, "Look, the stalks and leaves are full of holes bitten by insects. If this continues, the rice will be eaten by insects."

The villagers of Qingshan Village all knew about these things, but they didn't know how to solve them; they could only lament the loss of the rice plants.

“I heard from Village Chief Shi that the river in our village is the same one in Dashi Village. The water in their fields is a finger’s depth, but the water in our fields is only half a finger’s depth.”

The butcher answered the question by saying, "That river is too far from our paddy fields, so it's difficult to get water from it."

During droughts, many families carry water from the river to their fields, but the village is mostly populated by elderly women, who are too heavy to carry such loads.

Xie Ming understood, “Dashi Village has made something called a waterwheel. As long as the ditches are dug, the water can reach the fields, and then everyone will no longer have to worry about this.”

People's faces lit up with joy, and the old man with the bucket spoke up again, "This is good, this is good, we don't have to worry about the fish dying if we raise them in the rice paddies."

This time, Xie Ming didn't think he had said anything wrong. Considering the paddy fields in Qingshan Village, if fish fry were really put in, they would probably die within a few days.

In the end, not only will we not get the desired result, but we will also waste these fish fry.

"Fellow villagers, I have a few words I'd like to say to you all." After thinking for a moment, Xie Ming began to speak. His voice was loud and clear, and everyone quieted down to look at him.

The original text comes from Tower & Read Novels~&

"The rice-fish farming method is not just for everyone to eat fish, but to ensure a good rice harvest. You are all top-notch farmers, and you know better than I, a layman, how difficult it is to grow crops."

"After the fish fry are distributed, some people will keep them in the fields, while others will take them home. But I believe everyone understands that there is a difference between being full at one meal and being full at every meal."

"If you want to eat fish, just roll up your trousers and go to the river to catch some. But if you want rice, you have to buy it from your own fields."

“We have them right here in our own fields, but whether people choose to buy them or spend money to buy them is entirely up to them.”