68 Chapter 68
◎ Reclamation ◎
For dinner that day, the Jiang family had local specialties.
A bowl of hair-thin vermicelli, with chicken soup made from red wine, topped with shrimp, clams, shredded chicken, a golden fried egg, and garnished with a few green vegetables. It is delicious and tasty.
One bite and the noodles are smooth and the soup is delicious.
Especially in this cold winter, eating a bowl of it can warm both your stomach and your heart.
And the basket of earthworms that Jiang Jingyun insisted on buying was made into crystal clear earthworm jelly, which was tender, crisp, and chewy in the mouth. When dipped in the specially prepared sauce, it had an excellent flavor.
Everyone enjoyed the meal very much.
"Burp," Jiang Qingrong burped without any image while lying on the chair after the meal, muttering, "This is too delicious."
Jiang Jingyun looked at her with a teasing expression: "Now you don't mind that it looks like a bug?"
"I don't mind, I don't mind," Jiang Xiaomei shook her head and said sincerely, "It's my fault that I have little experience and almost missed the delicious food."
Jiang Jingyun laughed when he heard that, and reached out to poke her head gently: "Little foodie."
The younger sister took his hand and said coquettishly, "Brother, let's go to the market tomorrow. There may be a lot of delicious food waiting for us to discover."
"Brother wants to go too." Jiang Jingyun said.
Jiang Xiaomei's eyes just lit up when she heard him change his tone and said in a sad tone, "But, big brother has to start working tomorrow, so he doesn't have time."
"Ah..." the younger sister wailed, then looked at her second choice, "Then third brother will go with me?"
Jiang Jingfeng shook his head, "I'm busy too."
The third brother passed the examination and became a scholar. He had planned to continue his studies in Guangzhou, but he happened to meet Jiang Jingyun who was sent to work as an official in a remote place not far away, so Jiang Jingfeng simply followed him.
My elder brother is a well-educated and talented scholar. Following him and having a personal teacher, isn't this better than going to school?
But there is also a price to pay, which is that you will often be caught by the big brother and used as free labor.
"Oh." The younger sister responded sullenly and never thought of asking Brother Xiao.
Although Xiao Muyan would definitely agree if she begged, his cooking skills were terrible, let alone choosing ingredients.
"Let Songhua go with you," Jiang Jingyun touched her drooping head, "and call Qingzhu along, the three of you can go around and if you don't understand something, you can ask the locals."
"Oh, that's right," Jiang Xiaomei clapped her hands and stood up immediately, "I'll go find her now."
Looking at his little sister who ran out in a hurry, Jiang Jingyun smiled and shook his head. She was at that age when she was innocent and lively, and staying in the capital city made her feel suffocated.
The next day, county government office.
The county government was equivalent to a local "small court". Although small, it had all the necessary facilities, including the magistrate, the county magistrate, the chief clerk, the registrar, and six clerks.
The county magistrate's left and right assistants were the county magistrate's assistants, one in charge of the grain department and taxation, and the other in charge of household registration and patrols.
These two aspects are what Jiang Jingyun mainly wants to hand over.
Today, the bedridden old county magistrate also showed up on crutches. With his assistance, the handover of work went very smoothly.
In order to avoid the embarrassing situation of "someone in the court suing me", Jiang Jingyun directly summoned all the officials in the county government and announced publicly that from that day on, he would take over the position of county magistrate and be in charge of the government orders of the entire county. He also posted a notice in front of the government office to inform the entire county of his succession.
Afterwards, he led Jiang Jingfeng, a new recruit who had already mastered Arabic numerals, and plunged into various accounts.
A few days later, the two men, with black eyes, stared at a thin piece of paper in front of them, which showed the result of their hard work day and night.
“The county has an area of 10,000 square kilometers, a population of more than 80,000, and less than 100,000 acres of arable land.”
“Each year, at best, we can only collect 70% to 80% of our taxes.
"The government storehouse is empty."
“Even rats don’t visit the granary.”
"Oh," Jiang Jingyun couldn't help but sneer. He would rather face the corrupt officials' falsification of accounts than accept the data in front of him, which was too real and sad, "the land is vast and the population is sparse, and the people are hungry."
Another hellish start.
The magistrate sat up there with a cold face, not saying a word; the people below were also silent and held their breath.
Jiang Jingfeng, who was sitting next to him, was very puzzled. He asked, "It would be fine if the villages near the sea had less farmland, but there are only five villages near the sea in the county. Why is the total arable land so small?"
Although the third son of the Jiang family is young, he is very good at arithmetic. He never bullies others by taking advantage of his power. He treats people gently and politely. People in the county government are willing to be close to him.
When asked, the county magistrate smiled bitterly and replied, "My lord, you don't know that Fu County is not only close to the sea, but also has many mountains. Mountains and hills alone account for more than 80% of the land. There are eight mountains, one water, and one field."
"Have you tried to cultivate terraced fields?" Jiang Jingyun asked.
"What are... terraced fields?" The county magistrate asked hesitantly with a puzzled look on his face.
Jiang Jingyun stared at him.
One month later.
"I heard that the county government issued a new decree, let's go take a look."
"What does it say?"
"I don't know. I can't read."
Ever since learning that County Magistrate Liu was about to retire, the people have been feeling uneasy. They are afraid that the next magistrate will be a corrupt official who exploits the people, but they also hope that another official like the previous magistrate will come along who is diligent in his work and loves the people.
There is no other reason, they have suffered for too long and can no longer bear any more hardship!
But unexpectedly, after the new magistrate took office, he only posted a notice of succession in front of the county government office, and there was no news from him since then.
Just when the people were feeling discouraged and thought that the county magistrate was a mediocre and incompetent person, they suddenly heard a new notice from the county government office and came to watch.
Two yamen runners had already been standing in front of the county government's bulletin board, taking turns reading the contents of the decree to the people.
"The county magistrate has issued an order to call upon the people to reclaim wasteland. Anyone who succeeds in reclaiming wasteland will own the land, and will be exempted from 30% of taxes for the first three years."
When these words were spoken, everyone was shocked.
"There is such a good thing? Are you kidding us?" Some people expressed disbelief, saying that there is no such thing as pie falling from the sky.
"If I can really have a few more acres of land, I won't have to starve next year." He believed it and had already begun to imagine the good days to come.
"Oh, so how much land should be reclaimed?" Some people are still confused.
"Didn't you hear what the official said? All the land belongs to us, so the more the better." This is because there are many men in the family, and they are planning to do something big.
The people gathered together, talking in a buzz, with uncontrollable joy in their eyes and brows.
But there were also people with clear minds who raised the question: "But where are the wastelands?" There is little arable land in Fu County, and any slightly flat land, whether fertile or not, has been planted with crops. Where is there any vacant wasteland for people to reclaim?
A word can wake a dreamer up.
"Oh, right? Where is the wasteland?"
"Could it be that the new magistrate doesn't understand the situation here at all?"
"Well, isn't this just nonsense?"
"Alas, it was all for nothing."
"Let's go."
Everyone shook their heads in disappointment and were about to turn around and leave.
"Hey, don't go," the bailiff stretched out his hand to stop him, saying anxiously, "I haven't finished talking yet, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
The magistrate had specifically reminded us that this decree was extremely important and must be broken down in detail and explained clearly to the people to make sure that everyone knew and understood its meaning.
"Don't worry about the location of the land to be reclaimed. The county magistrate is very knowledgeable and has already chosen a place for everyone."
In the past few days, Jiang Jingyun dragged the old county magistrate to visit several nearby villages.
Terracing cannot be done on just any mountain; it requires choosing the appropriate terrain, and the water source and slope must be considered.
But except Jiang Jingyun, no one else had ever heard of this thing, so he could only run to it himself, running from mountain to mountain.
His feet were covered with blisters from climbing mountains. Every night when I pricked the blisters and applied medicine to Jiang Jingyun's feet, he would cry out in pain, but when he got up the next day, he would continue to run around the mountains without saying a word.
After only two days, Xiao Muyan couldn't bear it anymore and went out with him. When they needed to climb a mountain, he carried him on his back.
In this way, they ran non-stop and it took more than ten days to survey several nearby villages.
In addition to selecting hills with suitable terrain, Jiang Jingyun also led a group of yamen runners and village heads to personally demonstrate how to plan the location and size of terraces according to the direction of the mountain, how to ensure that the fields are located at the same level, how to dig ditches to divert water, and so on.
As long as he knew it, he would tell it all without reservation.
After more than half a month of hard work, some results were finally achieved.
Then a notice was immediately posted to inform the people of the whole county so that more land could be reclaimed before the spring farming season next year.
"Since this is the first batch, only five villages have been confirmed, and the number is limited. Each household can get two mu of land at most," the yamen runner could only raise his voice in the chaos and noise at the scene. "The specific location and reclamation method have been informed to the village heads. You can go back and ask them and you will know."
"Those who are interested can register with the village head to claim the property. The deadline is seven days. No one will be accepted after the deadline."
"Time is short and the task is heavy, so everyone should hurry up and don't miss the spring ploughing next year!"
“If you have any doubts, you can always go to the county government office to ask.”
The people whose village names were mentioned scattered in a hurry and hurried back to find the head of the village. The remaining group of villagers who had not yet found their place of residence anxiously surrounded the yamen runners.
"Sir, why are there only those five villages? Isn't there any in Dongping Village?"
“And there is Santang Village.”
"besides……"
With everyone talking, the entrance to the county government office suddenly became as noisy as a market, even the voices of the bailiffs were drowned out.
"Clang!" The sound of a gong piercing the eardrums resounded in the crowd. The yamen runner looked at everyone with a stern face, "Silence! No noise in front of the county government office!"
Seeing that they were warned by the officials, everyone dared not make any more noise. They just kept their mouths shut and stared at him with anxious eyes.
"Please be patient and listen to me carefully." As it is a matter of food and clothing, it is understandable that the people are anxious. The yamen runner did not keep them in suspense and finished his words in a few words, "The magistrate is kind and cares about the people. He ordered us to go to each township and village for on-site inspection from now on. After confirmation, each household can receive two acres of wasteland for reclamation."
"So don't worry, it's just a few days later, but every village will have it."
After hearing what he said, everyone applauded and laughed.
"Very good!"
"Finally, there is some hope for the future."
"God has mercy on us. He has sent us another official who cares about the people."
The people knelt down in gratitude and kowtowed respectfully to the county government to express their gratitude before leaving happily.
From then on, people in all parts of Fu County began to open up wasteland and reclaim land in full swing, and the work did not stop even for a single day during the New Year.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
