Chapter 130 Benefiting Future Generations

The two chatted briefly and found out that the village next door was called Jinfeng Village.

The leading Li man was called Ah Hei, who was in his early twenties. He was a famous handsome guy in the Li village. He was strong, capable and courageous. Many Li girls dreamed of marrying him.

Diexiu lost both her parents when she was young and depended on her Amo for everything. The last time she was there, it was because Amo was sick and in urgent need of money.

Fortunately, Su Ying did not bargain, and Diexiu was able to buy two prescriptions with the sixty cents. After taking the medicine, Amo gradually got better and is now able to go out to work in the fields.

As they were chatting, a group of thirty or forty people came from a distance.

When they arrived, Su Bucheng and his two younger brothers went forward to greet the officials from the county government and the state government.

This group of officials is a bit like the cadres who went to the countryside in the 1970s in modern society, all of whom brought food rations with them.

Su Ying directed the villagers to load the goods onto the ox cart and settled the bill with Shopkeeper Zhu.

"Shopkeeper Zhu, these are the new konjac flour and konjac noodles. Here's how to make konjac with konjac flour, and a few simple dishes using konjac flour. It's convenient to introduce them to customers when you sell them."

Su Ying took out two pieces of paper.

"You are so thoughtful, young lady!" Shopkeeper Zhu said with a smile.

"Here are a few pounds of tea oil, which was just squeezed yesterday. The quality is good. Send it to Mr. Hu Erlang." Su Ying asked Yang Erlang to carry a clay jar over alone.

Zhu the shopkeeper took it carefully and opened the lid. A special fragrance emanated from it. The oil was clean, clear and transparent, absolutely top quality.

In the morning, Su Ying poured out the clarified oil and took only the clear part on top, keeping the turbid part at the bottom for her own use.

The officials who went to the countryside were stunned when they saw so much vermicelli.

When they came, they were dissatisfied and disdainful. They were staying well in the yamen, sheltered from the wind and sun, but suddenly they received a notice that they were being sent to Wu County for observation.

What is there to learn from Wu County? The poorest county in the state! Observe how they are poor and poor.

Everyone came to Wu County with doubts, but they found out that they were not in the county government office, but in a remote mountain village below!

A group of people came to Heifeng Township by ox cart, walked another ten miles, and still had to go up the rugged mountain road, which was still more than ten miles!

What could be inside? They mobilized a large army to gather them and ran so far! Is the governor crazy?

When dealing with Su Bucheng, his attitude was not very friendly and was arrogant.

I'm an official, how can I let a fugitive come to receive me? It's an insult to my status!

When I saw baskets of vermicelli being loaded onto the truck, I was shocked. What was this? I had never seen it before!

When Shopkeeper Zhu opened the can of tea oil, everyone was even more shocked that something used by the nobles was produced here!

The people in Wu County government office were very calm because the county magistrate told them that they would have to learn a lot in Huanggou Village, such as building lime kilns, utilizing compost, rotating crops, raising bees and extracting oil.

The people in the provincial government and other county governments knew nothing about it and were all confused. They had never imagined that such good things could exist in such a remote area.

The Li people from other villages, like those from Jinfeng Village, were jealous and pulled Ah Hei to talk in slang, probably to confirm whether it was true or not.

The total bill this time was more than twelve strings of cash. Some empty baskets were filled with money, which moved everyone present.

Especially the Li people, they are used to bartering, and the money they get from selling their prey is immediately used to buy daily necessities. This is the first time they have seen so much money.

I wish the shopkeeper used an ox cart to bring money and take away vermicelli, and there was never any empty cart left.

"Shopkeeper Zhu, tell Hu Erlangjun to build a few more large iron pots. Besides cooking vermicelli, we also need them for the oil mill!"

Before leaving, Su Ying reminded him that the rest could not be said in public, and she believed Hu Erlang understood.

"That's a relief!" Shopkeeper Zhu left with his employees.

"Sir, this road is rugged and has affected and restricted the development of Huanggou Village. We are considering widening it into an official road. We will also need to transport tea oil and honey in the future."

Su Bucheng introduced him to Wang Yannian, the provincial recorder and military officer who led the team.

The six military departments of Sigong, Sicang, Sihu, Sibing, Sifa, and Sishi were the six departments of the prefectures during the Sui and Tang dynasties, corresponding to the six ministries of the Shangshu Province of the central court.

He was in charge of all aspects of the state's affairs, including examination of officials, etiquette, taxes, warehouses, household registration, post stations, prisons, and engineering and water conservancy projects.

The registrar was responsible for supervising and impeaching the officials of the six departments of the state, which was equivalent to the duties of the imperial censor and the left and right chancellors of the Shangshu.

"Well, that's good!" Wang Yannian nodded. "This move will not only benefit Huanggou Village, but also save the county government a lot of trouble!"

If every village were so self-motivated in its development, the government would save a lot of money and there would be no need to impose corvee labor every year.

Before he came, the governor specially hosted a banquet for him.

There were strange dishes on the table, such as hot and sour fern root noodles, fern root vermicelli stewed with meat, kudzu root vermicelli fried with meat, and a strange rice - egg fried rice.

These are different from the usual meals, with a special taste that makes people unable to stop eating. He almost choked to death on the fried rice!

When asked, the governor told me that this was vermicelli, a specialty of Wu County, and that the fried rice with egg was also eaten in Wu County.

At first he didn't take it seriously. What kind of splash could such a shabby place make? It was just vermicelli.

He was in charge of supervising and impeaching officials in the six ministries. He didn't understand why the governor invited him to eat vermicelli. Was he promoting a product?

However, after listening to the governor's account of what happened in Huanggou Village, Wang Yannian's blood boiled and he wanted to roll up his sleeves and set off immediately.

"Don't get excited. We let you lead the team on this trip, not only for you to see it with your own eyes, but also to assess the efforts of each county in promoting this matter." Lu Zhaoshi was amused by Wang Yannian.

This guy was full of ambition when he first arrived. He was angry at everything and everyone he met. But later on, he just did nothing and had to admit that this place was really powerless.

Now that I know about the changes in Huanggou Village, my cold heart has become lively again.

Lu Zhaoshi specifically reminded him of this because he was afraid that he would forget his duties and only focus on working in the fields.

As a recorder and military officer, Wang Yannian's main purpose was to urge the officials sent by the county governments to study seriously, replicate the book as soon as possible after returning, and revitalize the counties.

At least it can be promoted among the people so that they can have more food. If the county government is capable, it would be best if it could also produce special products like Wu County.

What Lu Zhaoshi was most concerned about was the method of composting soil and rotating beans. If successful, Wuzhou would become a fertile land with thousands of miles of fertile fields, which would benefit future generations.

It was not in vain that he had stayed in Wuzhou for so many years. Whether he was promoted or retired in the future, his name, Lu Zhaoshi, would be recorded in the local chronicles.

"Sir, I will definitely live up to your mission!" Wang Yannian bowed.

As soon as he entered Wu County, Wang Yannian was keenly aware of the differences among the people there. Although they were still poor, there was light in their eyes, and everyone walked briskly with smiles on their faces.

They went out of the city in groups of three or four, carrying baskets and hoes.

Walking from the county seat to Huanggou Village, you can see people busy working everywhere, and there is no sense of slackness at all.

Wang Yannian was very curious about what kind of person Su Bucheng, who came from the capital, was. He was able to stir up Wu County and even Wuzhou in just a few days.