Upon hearing this, Qi Yuchen's face twitched. Could this really work?
Cai Bo nodded in agreement.
To make the argument more convincing, several more examples were given. For instance, a certain official, during his tenure, promoted the winnowing machine, greatly increasing labor efficiency and was rewarded by the emperor with a promotion of two ranks. Another official, valuing agriculture and sericulture, ensured that the grain yield in his jurisdiction far surpassed others during his consecutive terms as county magistrate, greatly pleasing the emperor and earning him a promotion of two ranks…
Thus, the next day, Clerk Qi and Magistrate Gao saw a Minister of Agriculture who seemed to be on steroids, except that his attire was... a bit flamboyant, but he looked full of energy!
Qi Yuchen was dressed in a black gauze robe, with a red brocade robe embroidered with dark patterns underneath. A jade crown held his hair up in a high bun, and a few strands of hair fell naturally on both sides of his face, fluttering in the wind... He was truly a dashing young man.
Qi Zhubu: "..."
Why is this guy dressed up so flamboyantly!
Magistrate Gao: "..."
Ah, youth is wonderful!
"Greetings to the County Magistrate and to Registrar Qi."
Upon seeing the two men standing in front of the steps of the yamen, Qi Yuchen hurriedly stepped forward and bowed.
Both men nodded in greeting, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, the magistrate entered the yamen first. The registrar, Qi, then took the opportunity to inquire what official business the magistrate was on.
Qi Yuchen quickly revealed his plans: "My lord, now that I have taken on the position of Minister of Agriculture, I am thinking of fulfilling my duties. I have heard from my subordinates that the autumn harvest season is approaching, so I plan to go out and visit some people to understand the growth of the crops."
Upon hearing this, Chief Clerk Qi raised his eyelids slightly. "That's excellent. It's commendable that you're so dedicated to governing. However, in the fields, the mountain roads are inevitably muddy and slippery, and there are many places that carriages can't pass through. I'm afraid your clothes will be quite inconvenient."
Qi Yuchen was taken aback; he hadn't expected this. However, what Chief Clerk Qi said made sense, since he had been in charge of agricultural matters in the past.
So they thanked him for his kindness and said they would go back and change into suitable clothes, while the rest of them rode on horseback.
Qi, the clerk, was quite satisfied with the young man's attitude. He gave him a few more instructions and assigned several junior officials with experience in grain collection to accompany him. Firstly, they were familiar with the village's layout and could easily guide him. Secondly, due to their work, they were very familiar with the local village head. Otherwise, given Qi Yuchen's dissolute young master attire, it would be hard for anyone to believe he had illegitimate origins. If a villager mistook him for a playboy coming to the countryside to pick flowers, it would be quite a laughingstock!
Qi Yuchen had no idea that the other person had imagined so much. He hurriedly went back to change his clothes, replacing the red brocade under his robe with a plain black robe, and also changing his jade crown to a smaller size. However, he still had red lips and white teeth, and long, elegant eyebrows and eyes, so this only meant he was less flamboyant.
That morning they visited two villages. The leading constable naturally guided him to the village with a better location; otherwise, they were worried that this gentleman wouldn't be able to handle it!
Shiligou was not originally in their plans. Although it has a good location and is close to the county town, in recent years the village has become deserted, with many people leaving. It is no longer the large village that it once was!
With fewer people, much of the land has naturally become barren. Last year, when they were collecting grain taxes, they almost failed to collect any!
However, things didn't go as planned. Although the entrance to Shiligou Village was some distance from the official road, meaning that after leaving the official road, one still had to walk along a village road to reach it.
Sitting on his tall horse, Qi Yuchen saw a golden expanse of rice paddies in the distance and could occasionally hear the laughter of farmers. Instantly, he became interested, turned his horse around, and rode towards Shiligou.
The person Qin San Niang met was naturally Qi Yu Chen, who was visiting the grassroots level.
Now, seeing this official heading towards Shiligou, the lower-ranking officials all complained bitterly. If they saw that the harvest in the fields there was not good, they would also suffer the consequences. In this hot weather, wasn't this just asking for trouble?
Regardless of their thoughts, they still had to keep up on their own two feet. However, they couldn't afford to ride on fine horses. The yamen didn't have many horses; they were traditionally reserved for constables on official business. What would they do if they needed to go out? They'd have to run for two days!
Fortunately, Uncle Cai was a man of principle. If there were no horses, couldn't he get a few donkeys? After all, they were following their young master around, running errands, so it wasn't right to make them run around all day!
Besides, if we delay the young master's schedule and hinder his progress, that would be a very serious matter.
Of course, with the Qi family's wealth, a few horses were just a drop in the ocean. But Cai Bo was good at dealing with people, so why was he being so ostentatious? Was he trying to overstep the magistrate and the registrar? Since their young master couldn't be stingy with food, clothing, and shelter, they could only pretend to be poor in other areas. A donkey would suffice!
But for the two constables, this was a timely help. Every day, it would be hard for them to walk on their own two feet. They naturally wouldn't complain that their mode of transportation wasn't a majestic horse; a donkey could also get them around.
However, the speed is less than satisfactory, since there is still a difference between the original version and the plus version.
When they caught up with Qi Yuchen, they saw that the man had already dismounted and was squatting beside a field.
Perhaps because she had never seen a rice harvest before, Qi Yuchen found it quite novel!
Chen Sheng looked at the flamboyantly dressed young man in front of him with a sense of novelty. These rich people really know how to have fun, coming to the fields to watch them work in this sweltering heat!
Indeed, the owner of this land is Chen Sheng, the village head of Shiligou.
Qi Yuchen inquired carefully about the harvest in the fields and the trivialities of the farmers' lives. As soon as Chen Sheng heard this, he knew that this guy was a young master from a wealthy family. Look at the questions he asked. Is rice made from paddy rice? Is it japonica rice if you remove the husk?
He really wanted to say, "It's no use telling you this, don't keep me from getting to work!" But as the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face, so Chen Sheng could only give him half-hearted replies.
Suddenly turning around, I thought, "Wow, are those two constables?"
Upon hearing the man's question, Wang looked up, immediately put down her sickle, and affirmed, "It's a government official. He looks just like the officials who came to our village to collect taxes before."
When Chen Jincai and his wife heard their parents-in-law say that the officials had arrived, they quickly peeked out. Everyone exchanged glances. Wasn't it the day to collect the grain tax yet? What were these officials doing in their Shiligou?
Ordinary farmers rarely see government officials. Although the clerk is not a regular civil servant of the government, but at most an unofficial staff member, a higher-ranking official can have a crushing effect!
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