Chapter 399: A Makeshift Team

The remaining dozen or so prisoners were sentenced by County Magistrate Yan when he was in office. They were relatively fair and there was no misjudgment by the gourd monk.

Those who have completed their sentences will be released, while those who have not served their sentences will continue to squat.

After a day of watching, the people finally felt that the world was clear and no longer upside down.

After hearing the case, Su Ying walked outside the yamen and said to the people:

"Fellow villagers of Rong County, while there are many people here, I have a message to announce. In view of the barren farmland in Rong County, we want to help farmers resume farming as soon as possible and prepare for the two rice crops in the spring.

The property confiscated from the homes of County Magistrate Wang, Huang San and others was returned to the original owners and the remaining balance after compensation was used by the state government to customize a batch of agricultural tools.

Jiangdong plows, rice-planting horses, pedal threshers, hoes, and oxen are sold at low prices to farmers in each village. Those in need should register in their respective villages and report to the county government as soon as possible."

"There is such a good thing? But I can't afford it no matter how cheap it is!" The villagers outside whispered to each other, some happy and some disappointed.

Who doesn't want to farm well? Who doesn't want to have a full granary? But without even the most basic farming tools, what's the point of even talking about farming?

"No matter how cheap it is, we can't afford it!" someone whispered.

"How could that be?" Su Ying smiled.

"Rong County is extremely poor. To support the farmers, the state government offers preferential prices, allows installment payments, and deferred payments without interest.

Payment can be made after six months or a year, and can be converted into money, cloth or grain.

Several families can buy it together, and after sharing the cost, each household won’t spend much money.”

"Really?" The villagers were overjoyed when they heard it.

The price is low, and there is no interest on installment and extension payments. But when you convert money, cloth, and grain into cash, you can actually afford it if you grit your teeth.

Now with two rice seasons, you can earn enough to live on after a year of hard work. It’s worth it!

"Of course, if you want it, go back and register quickly. The first batch of farm tools and oxen will be delivered in a few days. First come, first served!" Su Ying encouraged.

"Let's go home!" The villagers began to squeeze out.

"In addition, there is another announcement: the sugar factory will reopen and the sugar production will be done by the masters from Jinfengzhai in Wu County. You can sell sugarcane with confidence at the same price as in Wu County!

You can also sell it in the surrounding counties. Buying and selling is free, and the county government will not interfere." Su Ying continued.

"That's great!" said the villagers who had sugarcane at home happily.

Soon the people at the yamen gate dispersed, busy going back to register the required farm tools and busy going home to cut sugarcane.

"Master Su!" The merchants came with gifts to express their gratitude.

"Dear merchants, be polite! Rong County has wronged you! This was the personal act of former County Magistrate Wang Duanfang, who has been severely punished by the court!

The sugar factory will reopen in the next two days. If you are interested, you can wait for two days to see the quality of the brown sugar. If you think it is good, you can purchase some.

All the brown sugar in Wuzhou counties is made by the same master chef from Jinfengzhai, and the price is the same.”

Su Ying hopes to use this opportunity to stimulate the economic development of Rong County. Once this group of merchants leave, she is afraid that no one will come to Rong County anymore.

Rong County is already extremely poor and has a bad reputation. If it does not retain these merchants, it will be truly ruined.

"Uh!" The merchants hesitated.

I understand what Su Ying means, but my experience in Rong County was so bad that I wanted to leave immediately and never have anything to do with Rong County again.

"Dear merchants, Wang Duanfang has harmed Rong County, and it's not just you who have been harmed, the common people have been harmed as well.

Now that Wang Duanfang has been severely punished, there will be no more corrupt officials in Rong County. The brown sugar is of the same quality as in Wu County and Tong County. It would be better to buy some before leaving.

"Just think of it as giving the people of Rong County a bite to eat, how about that?" Su Ying advised.

The merchants were silent for a long time, then nodded and said, "For Lord Su's sake, let us wait a few days!"

"Thank you all for your support for Rong County! We will sell the soy sauce from Huanggou Village in Wu County to you, 500 kilograms per family!" Su Ying pushed out the soy sauce that had been brewed for several months.

"Thank you, Lord Su!" the merchants said happily.

The vermicelli, rice noodles, tea oil, honey and soybean oil in Huanggou Village are famous for their quality, so the soy sauce must be no bad either.

"Aying, did you give my soy sauce away as a favor?" Fuwang asked with a smile after returning to the public housing.

"Didn't we agree that all the products from Huanggou Village would be supplied to Fulong first?"

"Alas! There is no other way. For the sake of Rong County, please forgive me, Lord Fu!" Su Ying bowed.

Fuwang helped a lot, and I owe him a favor, but he also erased part of the goods given to him. It was really not fair.

"How about making some rock sugar to compensate me?" Fuwang liked the can given by Su Ying very much.

He was very sorry to learn that Su Ying had only made one batch as tribute, so he took the opportunity to make a request.

"Uh..." Su Ying hesitated for a moment, "Okay, it's not much, only ten pounds!"

"Okay!" Fuwang agreed without thinking.

Rock sugar is rare and in short supply. I guess His Majesty doesn’t even have ten kilograms!

After the criminal and prison affairs were settled, Rong County, which was in a mess, faced the problem of rectifying its administration.

Wang Duanfang brought disaster to Rong County, and the yamen runners acted as accomplices and pawns, but that doesn't mean other officials are clean.

Moreover, the fact that Rong County is in such a state of chaos is also due to the inaction of these officials.

However, it is impossible to settle all the accounts at present, so we can only make an example of them and kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, remove Wang Duanfang and beat Huang San to death.

Rong County will be restarted next, and the successor is unknown, so a lot of work must be done as soon as possible.

These officials must be mobilized! They can’t be allowed to slack off any longer! So all the officials in the yamen were summoned to discuss the matter.

First, a chancellor was seconded from Su Laosan's Lingnan Office to temporarily take over the position of county magistrate to specifically manage and implement all matters in Rong County.

Several chancellors and chief clerks came, all of whom were hardworking and capable low-ranking officials.

Rong County is a lower-level county, and the county magistrate is only of the seventh rank, which is considered a promotion compared to the ninth rank chancellor, although it is remote.

People who come from Sinong Temple are good at agriculture. With the support of the state government, I believe that Rong County will have a leap forward by this time next year.

Taking over a county like Xiaxia, where the foundation is rotten, is both a challenge and an opportunity, and it is easy to achieve results.

The only downside is that you have to stay in Rong County for at least three years.

After several discussions, the chief official Liu Zhang was selected to temporarily take over the position of county magistrate, and the household official Song Wansan was promoted to county chief official to assist Liu Zhang and take charge of agriculture.

When Su Ying reports to the court, she will also report this matter. If nothing unexpected happens, the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel will approve it.

Because no one is willing to come, and it is a hellish place where farmers are so poor that they can't even afford to buy farm tools.

Once the chief officer is appointed, the subsequent work allocation will be easy to carry out. Responsibility areas will be established based on the official management areas reported by that group of people.

Some people were shouting that it was not within their scope of responsibility.

Su Ying said directly, "If you don't want to do it, get out! There are plenty of people who can do it!"

These people are just eating and doing nothing, which is really unpleasant to the eyes. It would be a good opportunity to free up space for them if they quit. There are few literate and capable people, but there are some.

The counties could still put together a makeshift team by scrambling together. It's such a broken county, and it's just like this no matter how bad it is.

Su Ying was very reluctant to see these people give up, so she just wanted to change the bottom of the tin pot.

Those people didn't expect that Su Ying, a female official, could be so powerful, and their arrogance immediately subsided.

Don’t underestimate these insignificant positions. They are all controlled by local families. Although they are just clerks, they all have real power.

The strength of each family depends on how many positions it holds.

This really pissed off Su Ying. Other families took the opportunity to squeeze in and gave them the advantage for free. Only a fool would do that.

It is said that imperial power does not extend to the countryside, but Su Ying can win over a group of people, attack another group of people, divide them, and drive this group of people to work for me.