24 Put down your burdens
◎I think I have made the farm tools you mentioned to me last time◎
"What's wrong with you? I just told you that we should understand each other. Why are you making trouble before I even leave the county government office?" Ye Yunzhao frowned and looked left and right.
Liu Mazi snorted coldly, pointed at the other man, and complained, "The county magistrate is very clear-sighted. It's clearly him who started this trouble!"
Ye Yunzhao looked in the direction he pointed and saw the "Xianjiang" who had helped him out before.
Before he could speak, the servant beside him spoke up: "What does this have to do with my young master? It's you who insisted that we hand over the bag!"
Liu Mazi was furious and spoke without restraint, his words piercing the heart:
"Are you still going to wash and bathe with your bags on your back? In this situation, what's the point of being a young master? County Magistrate Ye, they are really looking for trouble!"
"you!"
The man was about to say something more, but Ye Yunzhao stepped forward and stood between them: "Alright! Alright!"
She first turned her head and said to Liu Mazi, "From today on, they are citizens of Lingnan County and our fellow villagers. Liu Yayi, you must be careful with your words."
Liu Mazi lowered his head and listened, not daring to say anything back.
Ye Yunzhao turned around again and said to the servant beside the thin man, "Yayi Liu is doing this for your own good. He has specially found a lot of people to boil water with him. We are just waiting for the water to boil. Everyone, go wash up."
"My brother has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. His words may have been offensive, so please don't take them personally. He's just anxious, and besides, he's asking you to hand over your baggage out of good intentions."
Ye Yunzhao looked at the servant holding the bundle tightly and explained, "Don't worry, this is the county government office. No one will steal anything."
Liu Mazi snorted softly behind her and muttered to himself, "What can a bunch of beggars have? They think too highly of themselves..."
Li Xianjiang said apologetically, "County Magistrate Ye, Cuiyi was rude. There are some letters left by my grandmother in the bundle. Now that I am separated from my grandmother, I can only express my longing for her through these letters. I hope Officer Liu won't be angry. Cuiyi, please put the bundle down quickly."
The servant named Cuiyi still looked quite unconvinced, and angrily placed the bundle on the stone table in the yard.
Ye Yunzhao smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Since it was just a misunderstanding, I'm relieved. Wait for Liu Yayi to prepare the hot water. Everyone, hurry up and wash up. We can just wait for dinner!"
Speaking of this, the atmosphere finally relaxed a little. Everyone laughed and said yes. The very few people who brought bags, like Li Xianjiang, placed their bags on the stone table.
Taking advantage of the crowd, Ye Yunzhao pulled Liu Mazi aside and carefully instructed him: "These people came here because of the war. I see that there are quite a few wealthy families among them. Don't ridicule them anymore."
Liu Mazi lowered his head, thinking that he had just spoken nonsense and had to ask County Magistrate Ye to help mediate. "I'm sorry, County Magistrate Ye, it was my fault just now. I just didn't know there was a letter in his bag..."
"Okay, you don't have to be sad. This matter is over. I'll go pick some mushrooms at the foot of the mountain and make mushroom and multi-grain porridge tonight as a reward for you."
Last time, Liu Mazi missed the crucian carp and mushroom soup made by Ye Yunzhao because he caught a cold. Later, the yamen runners who patrolled the streets with him said how delicious it was. This time, he must try the cooking skills of County Magistrate Ye.
Li Xianjiang on the other side was also whispering to Lu Yi.
"Why are you so abrupt and reckless? Why did your grandmother change your name to Green Clothes when she was alive? Have you forgotten?"
Green Clothes shook her head: "Green Clothes cannot forget, the old lady said that I have a quick temper, and the cold melon Green Clothes is the best to clear the heat, so I changed my name to Green Clothes."
Li Xianjiang glanced at him lightly: "Since you know, why don't you restrain yourself a little?"
"But that bag!" Lu Yi came back to her senses and lowered her voice again, "But in that bag there is the silver needle that the old lady passed on to you, it is very precious."
Li Xianjiang's expression was cold and gloomy. "Alright, don't bring this up anymore. I know what I'm doing."
"Yes, sir."
Ye Yunzhao didn't hear a single word of the private conversation between the master and servant. He was completely satisfied with the plan of picking mushrooms at the foot of the mountain.
She walked into the mountains with the big bamboo basket on her back, but it was getting late, so she didn't dare to go too far. She just walked around the foot of the mountain carefully.
Now that the weather is getting cooler, many villagers come to pick mushrooms, dry them in their own yards, and eat them in the winter to satisfy their cravings.
Therefore, there were fewer mushrooms on the ground than before. Ye Yunzhao walked around three or four times and only picked up half a basket of wild mushrooms. He also accidentally dug up a wild ginger. Fortunately, he was making multi-grain porridge, so these were barely enough.
On the way back to the county government office, Ye Yunzhao turned to Aunt Hu's butcher stall and bought a pound of fresh pork liver. He entered the backyard of the county government office with a good harvest.
This time she did not return to her own courtyard, but instead turned to another place. This place should have been a dining hall, hiring three or two cooks to cook for officials and prisoners, but Lingnan County was extremely poor, so there was no such facility.
Anyone holding any official position has to solve his own food problem. Prisoners are easier to deal with. When the time comes, each person is given a hard black steamed bun.
Although the canteen has never been used, a large iron pot was left when the Lingnan County government office was first built. It could be used to cook big pot meals on a regular basis, and it could also be used to provide porridge when the county was in trouble.
Therefore, no matter how poor Lingnan County was over the years, no one had ever thought of taking this iron pot.
She first lit the fire, washed the pork liver, and simply cut it into several large pieces. Then she washed the wild ginger, cut it in half, cut it into ginger slices, and threw them into the pot.
After covering the bag with the wooden lid, Ye Yunzhao hurried to the county government's granary and took out half a bag of old rice. He poured it into a wooden basin and washed it briefly, then washed the mushrooms he had worked so hard to carry back clean.
Although the mushroom and multi-grain porridge was simple, it couldn't handle so many people! After moving and washing all these ingredients, Ye Yunzhao was sweating profusely.
It’s a pity that there are only a few people in the county government. Some are patrolling the streets, some are guarding the city gates, and Ye Yunzhao, the county magistrate, has the most free time.
Just when she was busy as a whirlwind, Sun Ning, whom she hadn't seen for a long time, came.
At that time, Ye Yunzhao was about to bring a wooden basin of mushrooms soaked in water to the stove, but it was quite heavy, and she stumbled, almost wasting all her efforts.
It was Sun Ning who rushed forward and propped up the shaky wooden basin.
Ye Yunzhao looked up in surprise: "Why are you here?!"
The two of them lifted the wooden basin onto the stove. Sun Ning shook off the water droplets on her hands and took out the blueprint Ye Yunzhao had given her. "County Magistrate Ye, I think I've made the farm tools you mentioned last time."
"Really?!" Ye Yunzhao's eyes lit up and he hugged Sun Ning tightly, "I knew you could do it!"
She belatedly let go of her hand and quickly shook it off. Looking at the two handprints on Sun Ning's clothes, she said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I'm so happy just now that I accidentally soiled your clothes."
"Nothing." Sun Ning didn't care about this kind of thing at all. What's more, it was Ye Yunzhao who stained her clothes, so she didn't care even more.
"County Magistrate Ye, don't be too happy. I made a smaller one, and it looks pretty much the same as you described. I just don't understand its structure, so I thought you could come to my house tomorrow to take a look. If you find any problems, I'll make some modifications."
Ye Yunzhao was happy but she didn't forget her mission. She took two or three mushrooms out of the wooden basin and quickly cut them into dices. "Okay, I'll go check it out tomorrow."
Sun Ning looked at the large basin of mushrooms and asked with great tact, "Do you want to cut all of these? If necessary, I can help."
Ye Yunzhao rolled up his sleeves when he saw her talking, and said without hesitation: "Okay, Sun Ning, then please cut these mushrooms into small pieces, and I'll go get the pig liver."
Sun Ning is a practical person, and she is not talkative, so for a moment it seemed as if Ye Yunzhao was the only one in the kitchen.
While Ye Yunzhao was scooping the pig lungs out of the pot, he said, "Sun Ning, I have never treated you as an outsider. I... I plan to open a county school for girls."
This was the first time that Ye Yunzhao made his thoughts clear to others.
Sun Ning cut the mushrooms a little slower and listened carefully to Ye Yunzhao. "I plan to teach the girls and women in the county some skills to make a living."
"Most of them never received an education and married young. They each have their own difficulties. If they had a skill, that wouldn't be bad. What do you think?"
Sun Ning's voice was quiet, but with a smile on his face, he said, "I think it's great."
Ye Yunzhao poured clean well water into the iron pot, poured in the washed old rice, and some corn and millet, and poured them all into the pot:
"I have a humble request. Would you be willing to come to the county school and be a teacher?"
Ye Yunzhao thought deeply for several days. Apart from Sun Ning, she really couldn't find a suitable candidate to be the county school teacher. Today, she bravely spoke up.
Fearing that Sun Ning might not be willing, she quickly added, "We don't need you to teach them how to do carpentry work. All you need is to teach them how to split bamboo and make bamboo baskets."
"I do." Sun Ning looked up and smiled at her.
Ye Yunzhao was surprised and delighted. He had just touched the pig liver when he hugged Sun Ning again: "Oh! I forgot again!"
With Sun Ning's help, Ye Yunzhao's dinner was prepared very smoothly. When the rice soup in the pot was boiling, Sun Ning had cut all the mushrooms and poured them all into the rice soup. She stirred it with a large wooden spoon according to Ye Yunzhao's request.
Ye Yunzhao washed his hands very carefully, picked up the blanched pork liver, held it above the iron pot, and squeezed it hard, and the pork liver pieces turned into minced pork liver little by little.
In just a moment, the clear rice soup turned a light liver color. It looked ordinary, but its fragrance could be smelled from ten miles away.
Ye Yunzhao used a small wooden stick to pull out the charcoal from the stove. The fire gradually died down. She took the wooden spoon, filled a pot with pig liver mushroom porridge, and handed it to Sun Ning:
"Take this pot of porridge out and drink it. You and the yamen runners each have a bowl. And on the way, bring the person who has washed himself here."
Sun Ning received the order and did a great job. I don't know what she said in the yard, but everyone who came to drink porridge had to use ceramic bowls borrowed from the yamen runners' homes, which was very convenient.
Ye Yunzhao explained as he filled the bowl: "Because everyone has been hungry for a while, eating too much suddenly will cause diarrhea, so tonight we will only have one bowl of pork liver mushroom porridge per person."
Perhaps there were clothes in these people's bags. Ye Yunzhao found that after some people washed themselves and changed into clean clothes, the original odor naturally disappeared without a trace.
People were squatting in the restaurant's courtyard in groups of three or four, holding ceramic bowls. From time to time, words like "Drinking a mouthful of hot porridge warms me up all over," and "It's delicious, with the fresh taste of mushrooms" could be heard.
But at this moment, someone frowned and asked, "Why does it smell so strongly of pig liver?"
The man beside him said with a smile, "Come on, Third Brother, I know you don't like pig liver, but are you still thinking about eating fatty meat? It's good to have something to eat!"
The third brother snorted: "I think pork and mushroom porridge must be better!"
Before Ye Yunzhao could open her mouth to explain, a voice echoed from the long queue in front of her: "Although pig liver tastes strong, it is the best way to replenish blood. It is very good for everyone. It is County Magistrate Ye who has gone to such trouble."
She leaned over to take a look. It was Li Xianjiang again. Ye Yunzhao smiled and said, "We're all family. There's no need to be so polite."
After working all night, Ye Yunzhao was so tired that her arms were sore and painful. She rubbed her arms and walked towards County Magistrate Han. During the day, she told County Magistrate Han to remember to allocate wasteland to these people, but she didn't know how he was doing.
"County Magistrate Ye, you've come just in time. I have something to talk to you about."
As soon as Ye Yunzhao entered the room, County Magistrate Han, who was writing at his desk, stood up.
"What's the matter?" Ye Yunzhao asked, rubbing his right arm with a grin.
"Two hundred and thirty-five people. I've questioned them one by one, and there are seventy-two households in total. Currently, there's more wasteland in Xixiang, but if we divide it according to the law, then more than a dozen households won't get any land. County Magistrate Ye, how much do you think each person should get?"
This is indeed a troublesome matter. If you give too little, people will feel that you don't treat them as your own. If you give too much, it won't be enough.
"How bad is it?" Ye Yunzhao asked.
County Magistrate Han handed her the hemp paper in his hand and said, "It's not much. According to the law, there is still more than 170 acres missing."
Ye Yunzhao fell into deep thought for a moment. After a while, he whispered, "Last time, how many acres of barren hills did you say there were in Lingnan County?"
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