As soon as the villagers in front of him went up, they shouted, "Li Zheng, the county magistrate is here and is heading up the mountain."
When Zhao Guoliang and the villagers heard that the county magistrate was coming, they all stopped what they were doing.
Zhao Guoliang asked hurriedly, "Why did the county magistrate come here? Did you tell me what it was about?"
"No. The county magistrate saw that our village had water and found food on his own. He also praised our village for doing a good job."
When Zhao Guoliang heard the county magistrate praising them, he felt relieved, thinking it was definitely not a bad thing.
"Where is the county magistrate now?"
"In the back. Yongquan is accompanying the county magistrate to our place. The county magistrate wants to see us digging kudzu roots."
Zhao Guoliang came and said hurriedly: "Let's go and greet the county magistrate."
The villagers dropped their hoes and followed Zhao Guoliang down the mountain.
Wu Deyong climbed up with a grunt, and while panting he asked the yamen runner beside him: "Tian Wu...you said that if I...climb...like this...every day...can I lose...the fat...on my body?"
Tian Wu replied: "Sir, are you sure you can climb this mountain every day?"
Wu De supported his knees with both hands, took a breath and then said, "If I can really lose weight, I should be able to stick to it, right?"
"Your wife is increasingly disgusted with my obesity. She only lets me eat meat once every three days. If I continue to gain weight, I think your wife will probably not even let me touch oily food."
"I greet the County Magistrate..."
Zhao Guoliang brought the villagers down and kowtowed to Wu Deyong when he saw him.
Wu Deyong waved his hand and said, "All of you get up. What are you doing here? Will it delay your work?"
Zhao Guoliang said hurriedly, "No, no. Sir, if you have something to say, just let someone know. Why did you go up the mountain in person? The path on the mountain is not easy to walk on. What if you fall?"
"It's okay, it's okay. If I fall, it's my own fault. It has nothing to do with you."
Wu Deyong looked at Zhao Guoliang and asked, "Are you the head of the village here?"
Zhao Guoliang replied: "Yes, sir."
"Well, very good. You manage the village very well. If all villages can be like you, then my job will be much easier."
Zhao Guoliang said: "Thank you for the compliment, sir. We are forced to do this. If we don't find a solution, we will be the ones who will starve. Your Excellency is very busy, and we can't trouble you for everything."
"I heard that it was a woman who helped you find water and food. Where is she? Let me take a look."
Zhao Guoliang quickly looked for Zhang Hulan in the crowd, "Hulan, come here quickly, the master wants to see you."
For ordinary villagers, being summoned by the county magistrate is a great honor.
Zhang Hulanzi was at the back of the crowd. When she heard her name being called, she had no choice but to step forward.
Zhao Guoliang pushed Zhang Hulan in front of Wu Deyong and said, "Sir, this time our village is very grateful to Hulan, otherwise our village would not even have drinking water, and the whole village would probably have to flee from the famine."
Wu Deyong nodded, "Well, it's very good. Telling everyone about the life-saving food so that everyone can have something to eat, you have a broader mind than the average man. I believe that most people can't do this.
If most people found something edible at this time, they would definitely keep it a secret and secretly dig it up and bring it back to their family to save their lives.
Very good, you are really good. If my wife saw you, she would admire you very much. "
"Thank you for your praise, sir. This is what a commoner should do. We are all from the same village, so we should help each other."
Wu Deyong laughed loudly, "Haha, haha...Okay, neighbors should help each other."
"Let's go and see you guys digging kudzu root. I don't know if there's this stuff in other places. If there is, I'll have them all go up the mountain to dig it up."
Wu Deyong walked and said, "The court knows that you are having a hard time, so it has allocated relief grain. The court has also arranged for craftsmen from the Ministry of Works to dig a well, and they should be here soon. Let's just hold on."
When the villagers heard Wu Deyong say that the imperial court was going to distribute relief food, they felt more at ease. There are so many kudzu roots on the mountain that I can eat them for a while when I go back. If the imperial court distributes more food, they will definitely be able to survive this month.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!" Zhao Guoliang and the villagers expressed their gratitude repeatedly.
Zhang Hulan felt that the fat county magistrate looked like a corrupt official, but unexpectedly he was actually a good official.
When they arrived at the place where Pueraria root was being dug, Wu Deyong asked the villagers to continue with their work while he sat on the ground and gasped for breath.
Zhao Guoliang was accompanying him.
After a short break, Wu Deyong waved to Zhang Hulan, "Who is that..."
Wu Deyong looked at Zhao Guoliang and asked, "What's her name?"
Zhao Guoliang replied: "Her maiden name is Zhang, and her name is Hu Lan."
Wu Deyong shouted, "Zhang Hulan, come here."
Zhang Hulan walked up to Wu Deyong and asked, "What do you want, sir?"
Wu Deyong asked: "How do you know that Pueraria root is edible?"
Zhang Hulan replied: "I know some herbs. This kudzu root is also a medicine, but it can also be eaten as food."
Wu Deyong asked again: "Do you know anything else on the mountain that can be eaten as food?"
"Although the imperial court has allocated relief grain, I am not sure when it will arrive."
"The situation is not optimistic now. I have visited several villages in the past two days, and many villages are short of water and food. I have to find a way to allow the people to wait until the relief food arrives."
"Otherwise, if the relief food arrives but the people are starving to death, what's the point of the relief food?"
Wu Deyong then looked at Zhao Guoliang and said, "I have something to discuss with you. Your village now has water. If the villagers in the nearby villages have no drinking water, I will ask them to come to your village to get water. I hope you can agree."
Zhao Guoliang didn't know how to answer for a moment. Now that there was water in the village, people in his own village could use it however they wanted, but Zhao Guoliang was reluctant to let people from other villages come to fetch water.
At present, the water is not only used by villagers, but also used to irrigate rice fields. If people from nearby villages come to fetch water, the rice in the fields will probably be lost.
At this time, Zhao Guoliang also fully realized how determined Zhang Hulan was to tell the villagers about Pueraria root. If it were him, he might not be able to do it. At least he would wait until his family had saved enough before telling others.
Seeing that Zhao Guoliang didn't say anything, Wu Deyong continued, "You don't have to worry about running out of water. You just need to use the time it takes to dig a well. Once the well is dug and all villages have water, there will be no need to take water from your village."
Zhao Guoliang glanced at Zhang Hulan, who nodded at him. Zhao Guoliang nodded and said, "I will follow the arrangements of the county magistrate, but I have something to say in advance, I hope you will not be offended."
"What do you want to say?"
Zhao Guoliang said: "We just brought this water down from the mountain, and we don't know if it will always be available. If the water level is low, we will definitely use it first for the people in our village, and then give the remaining water to people in other villages."
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