Three days passed quickly, and the day of Zhen Wanwan's appointment with Chen Yong arrived.
She got up very early and dressed Guabao and Tianbao first.
While Granny Zhang and the others were preparing for their trip, she sat at the table and ate her breakfast.
The weather was a bit warm today.
Zhen Wanwan was dressed a little too lightly, and as for the two children, she insisted on removing one of their layers.
This worried Granny Zhang greatly, as she feared the child might suddenly catch a cold.
After all, such a young child is at his most vulnerable.
Which mother doesn't keep her children at home? But Zhen Wanwan especially loves taking them out everywhere.
Zhen Wanwan's confidence stems from the support she receives from Tmall Genie.
With such a powerful advantage, what is she afraid of?
Those are health pills worth a thousand taels!
If you can't even withstand a mere cold, then what kind of magic touch are you talking about!
She understood Zhang Mama's concerns, but she didn't dare to state the reasons directly. She could only listen to Zhang Mama's occasional nagging while insisting on her own opinion.
It's not that she's too stubborn; didn't she see the cheerful little expressions on Guabao and Tianbao's faces?
No one knows a child better than their mother; she knew that the two children were also feeling bored.
Seeing that she couldn't dissuade them, Granny Zhang had no choice but to bring two more cloaks in case the two children got wrapped up in the wind outside.
Sometimes Zhen Wanwan felt that Granny Zhang was the real mother, and she was the stepmother.
When it comes to taking care of children, she is nowhere near as good as Granny Zhang.
The carriage arrived in the county town.
Looking at the bustling street, Zhen Wanwan felt as if there were even more people than before.
Because there were too many people, she got off the carriage at the city gate, just like last time, and prepared to walk.
This time, Granny Zhang and her group also came, making up a much larger group than last time.
She and Granny Zhang each held a child, while A-Yue and Xiao-Mei stood guard on either side of them to prevent anyone from accidentally bumping into them.
Before they even reached the most crowded area, they saw Chen Yong personally leading the yamen officials over.
Chen Yong's eyes lit up when he saw Zhen Wanwan, and he became lively all over again.
"Madam Zhen! You've arrived! They're all here! They've been waiting for you!"
As Chen Yong stepped aside, Zhen Wanwan realized there were two sedan chairs.
He then said, "There are many people here. It would be more appropriate for Madam Zhen to travel by sedan chair with the child."
Zhen Wanwan was somewhat surprised, but she appreciated Chen Yong's kindness.
There were indeed too many people today, and she didn't want to walk that far. Since there was a sedan chair available, she decided not to be coy.
"Lord Chen is so thoughtful, I thank you very much."
Zhen Wanwan gestured to Zhang Mama to take Tianbao into the sedan chair first, and then she took a few steps forward and got into the sedan chair in front of her.
With Chen Yong personally clearing the way, they arrived at the yamen quickly.
Zhu Yuan had heard the news early on; he had originally planned to come with Zhen Wanwan.
Unfortunately, there was an emergency at the yamen, so he got up early and went ahead of them.
Zhen Wanwan entered through the back door and happened to run into Zhu Yuan rushing over.
Seeing Zhu Yuan approach, Chen Yong shamelessly bowed and greeted him politely, "Sir, are you finished with your work? Would you like to join us..."
"Okay, lead the way."
Chen Yong swallowed the rest of his words and obediently led the way.
Zhu Yuan took the baby from Zhen Wanwan's hands, and Zhen Wanwan helped him straighten the wrinkles on his collar.
"Didn't you say you had something important to do? Why did you come here?"
Zhen Wanwan asked in a low, puzzled voice.
Zhu Yuan said softly, "Nothing is more important than my wife."
Upon hearing this, Zhen Wanwan secretly sighed. When she first met him, she thought Zhu Yuan was the kind of aloof and unapproachable beauty.
Now, in front of me, it's just like an obedient little puppy.
Most importantly... Zhu Yuan is obsessed with love!
She wasn't sure at first, but after observing him carefully over this period of time, she realized that he was a genuine love-obsessed person.
In her past life, when she saw those love-obsessed people online, she only thought they were terrifyingly brainless.
Now that man is her husband, she feels both happy and anxious.
She was very happy to have a man who loved her so wholeheartedly by her side.
However... even those with romantic infatuations should prioritize tasks.
When it's time to focus on her career, she doesn't want Zhu Yuan to waste his time because of her.
Zhen Wanwan looked at Zhu Yuan several times, and seeing his pitiful little eyes, she couldn't bear to lecture him.
She thought that she would probably never be able to resist Zhu Yuan's closeness and care in this lifetime.
Never mind, I won't be able to fight for him when he needs to do things in the future.
As long as they can't meet, Zhu Yuan is still the decisive man he always is.
Everyone went to the living room.
In the past, Zhen Wanwan would always go straight to Zhuyuan's office when she came over.
This was her first time in such a formal living room.
As soon as she entered, Zhen Wanwan received several stares.
However, their investigation was brief; they only glanced at the faces before withdrawing their information.
The group bowed deeply to Zhu Yuan, and then bowed to Zhen Wanwan as well.
Before Zhen Wanwan could react, Zhu Yuan pulled her to the seat of honor.
"Get up, everyone! You don't need to be so polite in front of Madam in the future."
Everyone was stunned, looking at Zhu Yuan in surprise, and then glancing at Chen Yong.
Chen Yong looked embarrassed and winked at them, trying to remind them.
The other county magistrates then stood up nervously.
Although they were subordinates of the Prince of Anqing, they were merely shields and did not spend much time with Zhuyuan.
In this short period of time, they only felt Zhu Yuan's indifference.
Unlike Chen Yong, who was also used as a shield, he seems to have had some incredible luck in the past year.
It actually caught Zhu Yuan's eye. Although he had the Xu family backing him, the Xu family was no match for the Prince's Mansion!
The once noisy living room immediately became serious and quiet because of Zhu Yuan's presence.
Zhen Wanwan also felt nervous in this atmosphere.
Even before she arrived, she was already speculating about the personalities of the county magistrates.
Upon seeing her this time, her anxiety finally subsided.
It was too serious, reminding her of the pressure she faced from her boss in her past life.
"Ahem... Everyone's here, so let's get straight to the point. The reason I asked you all to come here is because of Zhen Niangzi, and it's also about the sweet potatoes."
Chen Yong was, after all, the boss. Despite the immense pressure from Zhuyuan, he had to grit his teeth and get things back on track.
Reminded by him, Zhen Wanwan quickly nodded in agreement, saying, "Lord Chen is right. The reason for inviting you gentlemen here today is to discuss the issue of how to plant sweet potatoes."
Upon hearing Zhen Wanwan's words, the magistrates from the other counties could no longer hide their joy.
Although they had received word of it before they arrived, the news they heard with their own ears was more reliable.
Someone couldn't wait to ask first: "After learning of Madam's thoughts, I, your humble servant, have already instructed Wanfeng County, which I govern, to begin clearing the land on their own!"
Upon hearing this, the other county magistrates looked at him in disbelief.
Little did they know that this person, despite his seemingly nonchalant demeanor, had secretly laid a solid foundation!
Several county magistrates were secretly embroiled in corruption by their colleagues, and they were seething with resentment.
Someone reacted quickly and handed over the roster they were carrying.
"Madam, this is the latest population census and land area data for our Dahe County."
Reminded by him, the county magistrates who had missed the opportunity to act quickly pulled out the documents they had already prepared.
"This is from our Changshun County..."
"This is the arable land area of Hanshan County..."
"...Our Taihe County has the most mountainous terrain..."
Zhen Wanwan picked them up one by one and looked them over, carefully analyzing the characteristics of each county.
She was already familiar with Guangling County, so she didn't continue looking through the pages.
Wanfeng County is surrounded by mountains, making transportation inconvenient. Although there are many mountains, many places are covered with trees, and it has the smallest population.
Zhen Wanwan looked at the magistrate of Wanfeng County. Judging from his appearance, he was much thinner than the others.
The magistrate of Wanfeng County was surnamed Wu. His household registration was in another prefecture. Because his achievements after taking office were mediocre, he remained in Wanfeng County.
Zhen Wanwan felt that although this person didn't have much of an idea about being an official, he seemed to have a good personality, at least he wasn't the type to exploit the people.
Moreover, his clothes were neither old nor worn, suggesting that he lived a rather simple life.
"Magistrate Wu, I would like to ask, what does Wanfeng County primarily cultivate?"
After all, Anqing Prefecture is known for its rice cultivation, making Wanfeng County stand out as an exception.
Although the water resources are decent, the terrain is uneven and there are many trees, which is not conducive to the growth of rice.
As for the mountainous areas, during the year she arrived, the villagers did not grow any grains except for some vegetables to sell to wealthy people.
She anticipated that Wanfeng County and several other counties would be the same.
Magistrate Wu's heart skipped a beat. Because of the poor terrain, the annual crop yield in his county was much lower than that of other counties.
When he learned about the conditions for sweet potato cultivation, he was so happy he almost went crazy, and he was one of the first to come to Guangling County to inquire about the information.
He even disguised himself and went with the people to investigate the situation firsthand.
Seeing that it was indeed as he had imagined, and anticipating that Zhen Wanwan would eventually promote sweet potatoes in other prefectures, he realized that it was indeed as he had imagined.
He decisively returned to the county town and notified all the people of Wanfeng County to cultivate the wasteland on their own.
He and his men also cultivated more than ten acres of land.
Sure enough, not long after, he received a letter from Chen Yong. He immediately took out the list he had prepared and came over without stopping.
Now that he is personally facing Zhen Wanwan's soul-searching questions, it would be a lie to say he isn't nervous.
"Due to the terrain, the rice yield of the people in Wanfeng County, where I am located, is not high. So I let them plant some fruit on the wasteland and sell it to increase their income."
Zhen Wanwan raised an eyebrow, surprised that Magistrate Wu was actually quite clever.
In this era, merchants no longer held the lowest social status as they had in the ancient times she lived in.
If they can't grow rice and have no other food to replace staple food, then they have to find a way to do business.
Zhen Wanwan couldn't help but look at Magistrate Wu with new respect. She hadn't expected that beneath his ordinary appearance, he was quite resourceful.
"As far as I know, fruit sells for extremely high prices in other prefectures, so why was Wanfeng County's revenue so low last year?"
Magistrate Wu looked slightly embarrassed and then explained, "What you say is very true. Although Wanfeng County makes a living by selling fruit, the other prefectural cities are far away and it takes a month to go there. The fruit is also easy to spoil, especially in the summer. It is already very good if the villagers can barely make a living."
Zhen Wanwan nodded knowingly. That was indeed the case. There was no way to preserve food here, nor could ice be produced.
After a month of walking around, all the fruit had rotted.
She suddenly remembered the grapes she bought at the Songjiangfu Wharf; no wonder they were expensive and so many were rotten.
"I think I understand. The best time to plant sweet potatoes this year has passed. You'll have to wait until next year to plant them."
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Wu and the others all wore expressions of disappointment.
Zhen Wanwan looked at Magistrate Wu and said, "Lord Wu, next year, in addition to cultivating sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn, you can continue the fruit business."
Magistrate Wu frowned, thought for a moment, and then spoke up: "May I know why? I have heard that the sweet potato yield is 10,000 tons, enough to feed the people of the county, and there is even a surplus."
"Now, because of the war, many able-bodied men from families have joined the army, leaving only elderly parents and young children at home. If we were to manage them all, I'm afraid we wouldn't have enough manpower."
After all, selling fruit requires labor, and a trip there would take at least a month.
Instead of wasting time on this, you might as well stay home and tend to the land.
After all, if sweet potatoes were promoted in their county, the people would have enough food to feed their families, so why would they bother being fruit farmers who couldn't earn much money or exchange it for much grain?
Zhen Wanwan realized what was going on and understood Magistrate Wu's concerns.
His concerns were valid. If Zhen Wanwan were in his situation, she would also choose sweet potatoes without hesitation over planting fruit.
However… she didn’t want to give up the fruit business, after all, it was still easy to make money from rich people!
After thinking for a moment, Zhen Wanwan said, "Lord Wu, I didn't think things through. I understand what you're saying."
“My original intention was to give the people of Wanfeng County an additional source of income. I don’t want you to continue farming and planting fruit trees, but rather to stop cutting down the existing fruit trees and let them continue to flower and bear fruit. As for how to sell the fruit after it ripens, I can give you a guarantee.”
"As long as you can guarantee the fruit is fresh and tastes great, I'll take it all, no matter how many there are!"
Zhen Wanwan looked at the other county magistrates and continued, "The same goes for you. If you have any local specialties from your county, I will accept them as long as I need them."
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged surprised glances, their eyes filled with more than just joy.
Some even looked worried. Zhen Wanwan raised an eyebrow: "What other concerns do you have? Tell me all at once! The reason I invited you all here today is so that we can discuss things together and work towards a better life!"
Although the crowd didn't understand what "Xiaokang" meant, they could guess that Zhen Wanwan wanted them to get rich together.
Magistrate Wu began, “Madam Zhen, there is something I need to inform you in advance. There are thousands of acres of fruit trees in Wanfeng County, and every household has at least forty or fifty fruit trees.”
"If the people didn't have to sell the fruit themselves, even after accounting for some rotten fruit and fruit that didn't taste good, they could still get thousands of tons of fruit a year."
Are you sure you want them all?
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