354, Going to the Countryside

354, Going to the Countryside

In August in Beijun, the sun is still bright during the day.

However, in order to travel faster and save some time, Lu Mingfei still chose to travel by horseback.

With Fu Lianxin leading the way, it took them less than an hour to reach the village where the Fu family lived.

When the villagers heard the sound of horse hooves, their first reaction was to think that the Hu people's army was coming to attack. However, when they saw that the people coming were Han Chinese in appearance and dress, and learned that they were not Hu people, the villagers relaxed their vigilance.

An old man leaning on a cane came out of the house and asked, "Where are you gentlemen from? What brings you here?"

"Old man, I am the county magistrate of our county..." Lu Mingfei got off the horse and explained his identity to the old man in a kind manner.

Before he could finish his words, the old man knelt down to salute him when he heard that he was the county magistrate.

"Common people, greetings..."

"Why!"

Lu Mingfei quickly grabbed the old man's hand, preventing him from kneeling down to him. What a joke! This man was his grandfather, and if he asked him to kneel down to him, he was really afraid of shortening his lifespan!

However, he grabbed the old man's hand, and when the villagers hiding in the house heard that he was the county magistrate, they came out of the house, knelt on the ground and saluted him.

"Everyone, please get up quickly. I just came here to walk around and see everyone." Lu Mingfei supported the old man in front of him and asked the other people who were kneeling to get up.

At this time, the people of the Fu family heard the noise outside and walked out of the house. When Mr. Fu saw Lu Mingfei and his son, he hurriedly brought his whole family over to pay their respects.

"No need to be so polite." Lu Mingfei gestured to Fu Lianxin to help his father and mother. He really didn't want these elders to continue bowing to him and kneeling.

Fu Lianxin held his father and mother's hands and gave his parents a look.

"Thank you, sir." Master Fu received his son's gaze, understood what he had said, and stood up straight.

An old man walked out of the crowd and bowed to the county magistrates, saying, "I am the village chief of this village. Nice to meet you, sir."

"It's the village chief. No need to be so polite." Lu Mingfei waved to the village chief.

"Since you have come so far, why don't you come to my house, have a cup of tea, and rest your feet?" The village chief invited the county magistrate. He knew in his heart that the county magistrate had probably come to their village just to see the new families that had moved in.

However, as long as those families are here, they are the villagers of their village, and no matter what, they cannot get past him, the village chief.

Hearing this, Lu Mingfei also gave the village chief this favor and gestured for the village chief to lead the way for them: "Okay, you can also show us around your village and tell me about the situation in your village."

"Yes, sir." The village chief was very happy to see that the county magistrates gave him such face. With a smile on his face, he led the county magistrate towards his home.

Mr. Fu asked the rest of the family to go back first, and he followed his son and the others, and followed Lord Lu to the village chief's house.

Along the way, he heard their Lord Lu asking the village chief how many people there were in their village, how many households there were, how much land they had planted, what the annual harvest was, etc.

From Lu Mingfei's questions, Fu Zheng knew that their Lord Lu was a man of action, otherwise he wouldn't have asked every question to the point. However, some of their village chief's answers were a bit vague.

I just don’t know if their Lord Lu heard it.

He had heard of Lu Mingfei's name when he was in Kyoto Prefecture and had read the essay he wrote for the imperial examination. He knew then that it was not unfair for his son to lose to such an opponent.

In fact, at that time, Fu Zheng still admired Lu Mingfei, a young junior, who was a boy from a poor family, but was able to climb up step by step and become the top scorer in the imperial examination.

However, he was still working in the Ministry of Personnel at that time. Although he admired Lu Mingfei as a junior, he had no chance to interact with such a junior.

In fact, at that time, he was very clear in his heart that even if a boy from a poor family passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar, without anyone to support him, it would be difficult for him to have a long-term official career. Although his son only took the second place, but with the support of their powerful Fu family, his son's official career would definitely go better.

What Fu Zheng himself did not expect was that his father would die with the late emperor, and everyone in the Fu family would go home to mourn, including himself.

The death of their father seemed to have started the bad luck for their Fu family.

The new emperor stepped down soon after he came to power, and a new emperor came to power. As soon as the second emperor came to power, their entire family was labeled as a party that wanted to depose the emperor and was imprisoned.

It was only after Fu Zheng saw his son that he understood why his family had been imprisoned. It turned out that his son was involved. However, when he saw his son again, his family was already on the road to exile.

He then realized that his son was not dead, but was saved by Lu Mingfei. The reason why his entire family was not sentenced to death but was sentenced to exile was also because of Lu Mingfei's help.

Walking with his son at this time, Fu Zheng asked quietly: "Why are you back again?"

Fu Lianxin lowered his voice and told his father about the government recruitment. He also briefly mentioned some of Lu Mingfei's ideas and said to his father directly, "Pick two people from your family and go to the county government to help Mingfei."

"Well, I'll ask them what they mean later." Fu Zheng was a smart man and immediately understood what his son meant.

The decline of the Fu family was a pain in the hearts of all of them.

The foundation laid by his ancestors was gone in his hands. Fu Zheng felt guilty towards his ancestors, but also wanted to get back on his feet with his own abilities.

However, they can forget about returning to Kyoto Prefecture now.

Here, the only person they know and can contact who has the power and is willing to help them is Lu Mingfei, who was transferred to Beijun to serve as the county magistrate.

After walking a short distance, they arrived at the home of their village chief.

The village chief's house was not big, so Fu Zheng and his son Fu Lianxin were talking outside the yard.

Lu Mingfei followed the village chief into his home and sat down. He said to the group of elders standing in front of him, "Village chief, head of the village, please sit down and talk too."

"I dare not. We young men can just stand and talk." The village chief replied.

After all, the official in front of them is an official, and they are the people. How can the people and the officials be on equal footing?

Therefore, even if their adults asked them to sit down and talk, the village chief, the head of the village, and the elders present did not dare to do so.

Seeing that everyone was really afraid to sit, Lu Mingfei didn't force them and talked to the village head and the head of the village about winter preparations: "Winter is about to come. In the next two months, you must lead the villagers to repair the houses that are likely to collapse, so that they won't be crushed by the heavy snow."

"Yes, yes." The village chief responded hurriedly, "I will ask the young and strong people in the village to help repair the houses in the village tomorrow."

"You guys can arrange this."

"The county government is recruiting people now. If the young and strong people in the village are free, they can go to the county government to apply for jobs." Lu Mingfei also told the villagers the recruitment information and treatment of the county government.

Winter was about to arrive, and he knew that the villages probably didn't have much food at this time. Given the current situation at the county government, he couldn't afford to buy enough money for food, so he gave it away for free.

In order to prevent people from starving to death at home due to lack of food when the cold winter comes.

It would be better to recruit workers in advance, use work as relief, and issue some subsidies. These people can work for the government and save some money to support their families, so they won’t starve to death.

After explaining some things in the village that needed to be explained to the village chief and the head of the village, Lu Mingfei stood up from the stool he was sitting on and walked outside.

Seeing the children outside watching the excitement, he remembered something else: "After February of next year, the county government's official academy will be re-established. In addition to teaching people to read and write, they will also teach people accounting skills. If there are boys in your village who are of appropriate age, from seven or eight to eleven or twelve, or fifteen or sixteen... girls, you can send them to the county to study and learn skills."

"I will invite two embroiderers to the county to teach the girls embroidery. After learning embroidery, the girls can also save money for their families. Even if they get married and become ladies in the future, they will be looked up to by others."

Fearing that the villagers would not let the girls go to school, Lu Mingfei talked about the benefits of letting the girls learn a craft.

Even if it is not for the purpose of letting their daughters get married and be looked up to by their husband's family in the future, there will be villagers who are willing to let their daughters learn embroidery just to let them earn money for the family by embroidering.

"As for the tuition fees, you don't have to worry. The government schools don't charge tuition fees. As for the rest, I'll let you know when the notice comes out next year."

"That's great." When the village chief heard that he didn't have to pay tuition, he immediately thought of letting his grandson go to school.

The same is true for other people. It is such a great thing that they can send their children to school without paying tuition.

Those families with daughters are all excited when they hear that their daughters can make money for the family by learning embroidery.

The Fu family father and son standing outside the crowd, as well as the people who came with them from Kyoto Prefecture, heard what Master Fu said inside, and many of them nodded in agreement.

"Let the girl learn embroidery? This sounds like a good idea." Fu Zheng nodded and thought about what Lu Mingfei mentioned in his mind.

After Lu Mingfei finished talking to the village chief and others, he left the village chief's house.

When he came out, he saw the Fu family father and son and several people he was looking for outside. He gave them a look that indicated that he had something to discuss with them.

"Everyone, please stay." Turning back to tell the village chief and the headmen behind him not to see him off, Lu Mingfei signaled Mr. Fu to take him to the Fu family so they could talk about something else.