Zhang Hulan's village was the official farmland of the Ministry of Revenue, and the people working in the village were all people from the vicinity of the capital.
At this time, many fields in the village had been plowed, but there were still many fields that had not been plowed. Many people were plowing the fields and repairing the ditches.
There was a special office in the village. As soon as Wu Bangtai and Zhang Hulan arrived at the village, the village chief brought all the officials of the village out to greet them.
I was quite surprised when I saw Wu Bangtai.
"Greetings, Lord Shangshu!"
Everyone knelt down and saluted.
These officials were only temporarily transferred here, but they had heard that the garrison commanders here were appointed by the emperor himself.
However, some of them were unconvinced as to why the emperor would personally appoint a seventh-rank official, and at that, a position with such hard work.
But when they saw the Minister of Revenue personally leading people here, they believed the rumors in their hearts and thought they had to be obedient in the future.
"Everyone, get up."
Wu Bangtai asked everyone to stand up, then pointed at Zhang Hulan and explained: "This is your Tunjian. From now on, Zhang Tunjian will be in charge of this place. You must do your best to assist Zhang Tunjian in doing his job well."
"I obey your command."
Then everyone bowed to Zhang Hulan, "We greet Master Zhang!"
Zhang Hulan said, "No need to be polite, we are all colleagues from now on.
I am new here, and I hope you will help me in the future."
Everyone said in unison: "We will definitely assist you wholeheartedly."
Zhang Hulan said: "Everyone, please introduce yourselves."
"My Lord, I am Xie Bangwen, the garrison commander."
"Your humble servant, Xiao Zuming, is the village chief."
There are also management personnel such as deputy village chief, chief clerk, and recorder in the village.
After introducing everyone one by one, the garrison commander took Zhang Hulan and Wu Bangtai on a tour of the village, and then Wu Bangtai returned to the Ministry of Revenue.
Zhang Hulan asked Dong Jianyong to go back and come to pick her up in the afternoon.
Xie Bangwen led Zhang Hulan to their office and said, "Master Zhang, this is your office. I am right next to it. Please feel free to tell me if you have anything to say."
Zhang Hulan nodded, and then asked: "How many people are working in the village now?"
Xie Bangwen replied: "In addition to you and me, there are currently 45 civilians working."
"Are they all permanent employees of the village or are they temporary?"
"These people were recruited temporarily, and they are all local residents. The village signed a three-year contract with them. After the three-year period, if they still want to continue working in the village, they can renew the contract."
"So, are the food and lodging of these working people provided by the village or are they responsible for it themselves?"
"They eat and sleep in the village, and each person has two days of rest each month. Their wages are five dou of rice and five hundred copper coins each month."
Zhang Hulan nodded slightly. This wage was about the same, with food and lodging provided, and five hundred Wenjia and five dou of rice a month, which was not a small amount.
Zhang Hulan continued to ask some questions, "How many cows are there in the village?"
"Twenty."
"Is the grain in the village?"
"Here I am."
“How many varieties are there?”
“There are currently five varieties.”
Zhang Hulan nodded again and said, "The weather is already very warm. Let's soak the seeds and plant them in the fields the day after tomorrow."
"OK."
Zhang Hulan asked again, "Besides grain seeds, do we have any other seeds here?"
Xie Bangwen shook his head, "We are newly established here, and we only have rice seeds for now.
If you want other seeds, you have to apply to the Ministry of Revenue.”
"Okay, I understand. You can go and do your work first."
I have understood the general situation, and I will learn the rest later.
"I'll take my leave."
Xie Bangwen bowed and walked out. Then a woman in clerk's clothes knocked on the door and walked in.
"Sir, my name is Xie Xiaoman, and I am your attendant. Please let me know if you have anything to say."
Zhang Hulan was surprised. A female clerk?
Zhang Hulan asked, "Your last name is Xie? Are you related to Lord Xie?"
Xie Xiaoman was a little nervous and excited, and replied: "Your Excellency, that is my father."
Xie Xiaoman saw Zhang Hulan's confusion, and she explained: "Sir, because you are a woman, the Minister asked to arrange a female clerk to take care of you, and my father recommended me, so I..."
Zhang Hulan smiled and asked, "Have you ever been educated?"
Xie Xiaoman nodded, "Yes, my father taught me to read since I was a child."
"Did you come here willingly, or did your father force you to come?"
Xie Xiaoman quickly replied: "I came here of my own accord. When I heard that you were a woman, I admired you very much. It is extraordinary for a woman to be an official. There is no precedent for a woman to be an official in our dynasty.
Not only in my dynasty, but also in the previous dynasty, I have never heard of women serving as officials. So I especially want to meet you and learn from you. "
"You have nothing to learn from me." Zhang Hulan said with a smile: "I am not afraid to tell you that I used to be a farmer."
"Then your land must be very well cultivated."
Zhang Hulan looked at Xie Xiaoman carefully and asked, "You are not very old, right?"
"The younger one is fourteen years old."
Zhang Hulan nodded. She was fourteen years old, not too old but not too young either.
She was fourteen years old at the time and had already gone out to work hard.
"Don't stand all the time, just sit down if you have nothing to do."
Xie Xiaoman responded, "Okay. If you have anything to say, please tell me."
Zhang Hulan also smiled and nodded, "Okay!"
Outside the house, Xie Bangwen stood quietly not far away. Hearing the conversation between Xie Xiaoman and Zhang Hulan in the house, he felt relieved.
…
After having lunch in the village at noon, Zhang Hulan went to the village again in the afternoon to see that the fields had been prepared for planting.
Xie Bangwen followed.
Zhang Hulan pointed to the water diversion channel beside the field and asked Xie Bangwen, "Where does the water here come from?"
Xie Bangwen replied: "When there is enough rain, water is brought from the river. If the river water drops, the village uses well water for irrigation."
Xie Bangwen pointed to a place in the farmland and said, "Look, sir, there is a well every few meters, which is used to irrigate the farmland."
"If there is a drought, wouldn't it be exhausting to rely on well water for irrigation?"
Xie Bangwen said: "What can we do? Just water as much as we can."
Zhang Hulan thought of the manual water press she had used in her previous life, and decided to talk to Wu Bangtai about it to see if the Ministry of Industry could make it.
If there was a water pump, it would be much easier to draw water from the well.
Zhang Hulan walked slowly along the farmland. Every few steps, she saw a manure pit, which was the same method of composting that she had mentioned before.
…
On her first day at work, Zhang Hulan didn't have any substantive work to do. She just got familiar with the people and the environment.
At 3 p.m., Dong Jianyong had already arrived and was waiting.
Zhang Hulan returned to the city with Xie Bangwen, Xiao Zuming and others.
Dong Jianyong smiled and asked Zhang Hulan, "How is it, niece? How do you feel about your first day as an official?"
Zhang Hulan smiled and said, "I didn't do anything today. I just walked around the village and drank tea..."
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