Since the emperor had spoken, Yang Fengfan led the team and took people to look around.

When it comes to the development of Pingwan County, even he is often surprised.

He had previously been a member of the Hanlin Academy, but he had not dealt with enough practical matters and did not take the power of business seriously.

But the facts have proved everything, and now is the time to report your political achievements!

"What is the current population of Pingwan County?" asked Emperor Jing.

"Your Majesty, the population of Pingwan County today has more than tripled since I took office, reaching a whopping 180,000."

Li Yansong and others looked at each other in bewilderment. No wonder it was so chaotic. It turned out that there were as many as 180,000 people in Pingwan County?

In fact, it is not difficult for many medium and large county towns to reach such a population, but judging from the regulations of the outer city walls and previous impressions, Pingwan County does not seem to have such a level of strength.

Seventy or eighty thousand people is a lot!

"Oh? Why is the population growing so fast?"

"Since I took office, I have fully implemented the policy of lenient business as set by the court. Once many paperwork procedures were cancelled, many merchants came here. Moreover, because it is convenient to do business here and the roads are smooth, workshops were set up here, and finally a large number of workers were recruited."

"This attracted many people to come and work."

"Later, more and more merchants came here, and competition formed among them. The wages kept rising, which attracted more people, and then all kinds of treatment became higher and higher."

"Artisans from other counties and towns around here heard that they could earn at least two taels of silver a month by working from 9:00 to 11:00 every day, and they could rest one day after working for six days. They all came here to seek work. It is still the same today, and the population is still increasing."

Fang Zheng nodded in approval, the treatment was indeed good.

Working from Si hour to Hai hour, you can work for six days and have one day off, this is the treatment for journalists!

For ancient people, 996 was pure blessing! How could there be a saying of "work six and rest one" in the past?

"Not only that, some people saw the business opportunity and started to set up stalls on the street to sell food. These things may seem insignificant, with small capital and little profit, but I have personally inquired and found that the monthly income of this small stall can be as high as five or six taels of silver. It is really amazing!"

"But I am really tired. I hardly have any free time."

With five or six taels a month, he is simply a small rich man hidden among the people!

Xu Wenshu was secretly amazed in the crowd. As he was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, he naturally knew more about commercial affairs.

However, I think such a harvest is only possible with the help of a large and dense population labor force.

"Business is booming here. How do you solve the problem of officials exploiting merchants? This is a hidden danger in many other places," asked Xu Wenshu.

Yang Fengfan smiled slightly: "Part of this comes from the strict discipline of the government office, and the other part depends on the Jinyiwei sent by Lord Fang."

"There is a Jinyiwei station in Pingwan County, which is responsible for dealing with officials who secretly extort merchants. After several rounds of heavy punishments, the previous trend of looking down on merchants has been greatly reduced."

"Moreover, if merchants have grievances, they can report them directly to the Jinyiwei guard station. After a long time, no one will dare to touch this brow."

Xu Wenshu was surprised and said, "How dare a businessman report an official?"

"Of course I dare. There is a public toilet near the Jinyiwei station. There is a mailbox in the toilet. As long as someone drops an anonymous letter, the Jinyiwei will come and deal with it."

Emperor Jing found it a little funny.

The report was made by anonymous letter, and the mailbox was set up in the toilet, so there was no need to worry about retaliation.

"Did you set up all this for the Jinyiwei?" Emperor Jing asked Fang Zhengyi.

Fang Zheng nodded: "That's right. When officials bully the people, the people have no means to fight back. Their only tool is to use the law to defend their dignity. The Jinyiwei is the sword in your majesty's hand, and naturally it is also a sharp weapon to protect the law and order and the people. If the law and order do not exist, there will be no way for merchants to rise."

"Secondly, I am afraid that the people are timid and afraid to seek justice for themselves even with legal protection, so I came up with this idea. It is impossible for someone to watch in a few toilets every day to see who has sent anonymous letters."

"After a long time, when the people know that the law is in their hearts, this method can be abandoned. I believe that in the future, an environment will be created where the law is the boundary and everyone obeys the law, and the people can protect their rights openly and honestly."

Emperor Jing nodded approvingly, feeling very satisfied.

Veteran officials such as Li Yansong also felt a little admiration.

Fang Zhengyi may be annoying, but he does his job well!

Xu Wenshu asked, "Why haven't we seen this in the capital?"

Fang Zhengyi bowed and said loudly: "Your Majesty is in the capital, under the feet of the emperor, the holy light shines, the world is bright, all crimes will be brought to justice, isn't it redundant to do this in the capital?!"

Xu Wenshu's face fell and he complained in his heart.

I just need to ask you a question, you bastard, just take a photo when you get the chance, right?

Li Yansong pondered and said, "But... Pingwan County is so crazy about absorbing the surrounding population, so the abandoned farmland may have become a problem, right?"

Speaking of abandonment, the atmosphere began to become a little heavy.

This is a matter of food security. No matter how rich you are, this is the foundation of the country!

However, Yang Fengfan was not panicked at all, and smiled and said: "Mr. Li is right. Pingwan County has absorbed strong laborers from the surrounding areas, and the old, sick and disabled have stayed at home. I also had such concerns at the beginning."

"But later on, we discovered that when these people had money, they would actively buy livestock and send them back home. This way, the labor shortage was quickly alleviated, and there was no such thing as abandoned fields. This ox was much more useful than a person."

"We just conquered the Jin Kingdom, and the pastures over there are good for us to feed our cattle...this isn't a problem anymore." Fang Zheng reminded in a low voice.

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