3 Who would like to try it?
◎Can you lend me this three-legged plow?◎
Lingnan County, though remote and impoverished, boasts a remarkably suitable climate. It's the beginning of autumn, and gusts of mountain breeze, tinged with the moisture of clouds and mist, bring a refreshing coolness.
When Ye Yunzhao arrived at Sun Ning's house, the farmland was already crowded with people. She quickly loaded the iron plowshare and walked towards the farmland.
"Let's try it out in the Sun family's fields today." Ye Yunzhao looked at the man with the black mole, "The rest of you should move the three-legged plow to the fields."
As usual, Ye Yunzhao squatted down and rubbed the soil. The soil here was drier and harder than the soil in Dongxiang. This must be a low-quality field.
Ye Yunzhao waved his hand towards the headman standing by the field. Although he was called a headman, he was actually similar to the village chief in later generations. The headman in Xixiang was only in charge of about a hundred households.
When the village head came to Ye Yunzhao, she spoke: "Since the villagers want to watch the fun, go and borrow a yellow ox for me."
The village head nodded, and soon brought over a thin yellow cow.
Only then did Ye Yunzhao open his voice and shout to the villagers beside the field: "The triangular plow cart only requires one person and one ox to plow at least three acres of land every day. Is there anyone willing to try to operate it?"
The crowd was looking around, and soon a child came out. He had a childish face and looked no more than eleven or twelve years old.
"Erdan, stop messing around. You don't have the strength to pull it." The village chief scolded.
"If there's nothing else, let him come." Ye Yunzhao laughed.
Erdan drove the cow into Sun Ning's farmland. He held the reins in his left hand and a small bamboo stick in his right hand, and was about to drive the cow to start plowing the land.
"Don't be in a hurry." Ye Yunzhao said and winked at Sun Ning.
"Could it be that the county magistrate regrets his decision?" someone whispered.
Ye Yunzhao remained calm. Sun Ning quickly went down to the field, loosened the cloth bag in his arms, and poured the wheat seeds into the large hopper.
"Oh! What are you doing? Wheat seeds are so precious!" Another voice came from the crowd.
Isn’t this a waste!
Everyone stared at the plow cart in the field, and when the plow cart started moving, everyone gasped!
The village head hurried forward two steps and rubbed his cloudy eyes: "Fast! Too fast!"
The thin man from yesterday was also standing by the field, staring intently at the plow cart: "Village head, it's more than just fast! Look carefully, it can even sow wheat seeds!"
Everyone was shocked when this was said. A closer look revealed that within the three furrows plowed by the plow, just the right amount of wheat seeds had been scattered.
"The Sun family's fields are inferior fields," a peasant woman, carrying a basket on her back, lamented, "Erdan alone can plow them so quickly!"
Yes, the Sun family's fields were inferior. If the plow cart were on good farmland, wouldn't it be faster? Besides, Erdan was just a child, and it was so easy to operate. Wouldn't it be even faster if it were an adult?
Everyone standing by the field is a farmer. Given the advantages of this three-legged plow, why would Ye Yunzhao need to talk too much?
Some quick-witted people had already gathered beside Ye Yunzhao, with a smile on their faces: "County Magistrate Ye, could you lend me this three-legged plow cart?"
Ye Yunzhao smiled knowingly and said to the people beside the fields, "Since I am the county magistrate of Lingnan County, you can rest assured. I will make sure that everyone in Lingnan County can use a plow cart!"
"Inferior fields must be plowed by oxen. If it is good land, two people can easily pull it. After plowing Carpenter Sun's field, plow the fields of the people who borrowed the oxen first. If there are families who cannot afford food, plow them first." Ye Yunzhao explained carefully to the head of the village.
Upon hearing this, the village head's eyes welled up with tears and he could only express his gratitude.
The man with the mole stared blankly at the plow cart moving at breakneck speed across the field, a mixture of emotions welling up in his heart. He regretted what he had said yesterday. He rolled up his sleeves and strode across the ridge, shouting as he ran, "The plow cart promoted by County Magistrate Ye saves time and effort. It can plow at least three acres a day! The plow cart promoted by County Magistrate Ye saves time..."
When Ye Yunzhao returned to the county government office, before he even walked to the backyard, he ran into Liu Mazi who looked hurried.
When Liu Mazi saw her, he was startled. He lowered his eyes and pointed at the side door, saying, "County Magistrate Ye, you're back. County Magistrate Han wants to see you..."
Han, the county magistrate, had served in Lingnan County for eight years. At thirty, he was a man of integrity. When his previous magistrate was imprisoned for corruption, he was diligently leading the villagers in planting beans in the fields. When Ye Yunzhao took office this year, he traveled to Fu County in Yongzhou to learn bean-growing techniques, so the two had never met.
As soon as Ye Yunzhao entered the house, he saw County Magistrate Han stand up. He still maintained his usual polite demeanor, but his tone was extremely rude: "Ye Yunzhao! Are you crazy? How dare you promise in front of the people that everyone should use a plow cart!"
"Do you know how many taels of silver it would cost to make a plow cart like that? Do you know how much silver the county government has left?"
"That's really nonsense!" County Magistrate Han said, throwing the county account book in front of her. "Take a good look at it for yourself!"
Ye Yunzhao picked up the account book, glanced through it quickly, frowned, and asked, "Why is there only so little silver? Wasn't the previous county magistrate caught for corruption? Wasn't the silver he embezzled confiscated?"
County Magistrate Han looked at her, sighed deeply, and said, "Do you know who captured that man?"
"Jianzhou."
"Then do you know where Jianzhou is on official business?" asked County Magistrate Han.
Ye Yunzhao realized it later and said, "I was on official business in the state, so the confiscated money was used to fill the state government's treasury..."
"It seems you are not that stupid." County Magistrate Han shook his sleeves.
"But he was greedy for money from Lingnan County. How could he put it into the provincial government? This is against the rules..." Ye Yunzhao said gritting his teeth.
"Regardless of whether it's legal or not, we won't see this money."
Ye Yunzhao's face was solemn as she silently closed the account book. The money in the official account wasn't much at the moment. If the county's daily expenses were deducted, it wouldn't be enough to manufacture dozens of plow carts...
She thought for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Does County Magistrate Han know any carpenters? If they're willing to make a plow for you at a lower price, then there might still be some hope."
"I can certainly lobby for these on your behalf, but what about the iron? What about the wood? I don't have the nerve to let anyone give these to the county government for free."
"I believe the county magistrate has heard about how fast the three-legged plow cart can plow the land. There are only about 400 households in Lingnan County. If 20 households share one plow cart, then only 20 will be needed. In this way, the consumption of iron materials will naturally not be much. I will pay for it personally." Ye Yunzhao's eyes were calm.
"I was too abrupt this time. I didn't know the depth of the warehouse and made a promise without thinking. I won't do that again." Ye Yunzhao blamed himself secretly. "It's just that the autumn plowing is approaching. I would like to ask County Magistrate Han to find some suitable carpenters. If there are no carpenters, you can go to Xixiang to find Carpenter Sun Ningsun. I have a way to solve the problem of wood..."
At dawn the next day, Ye Yunzhao went into the mountains carrying his broken backpack.
The mountains were even more humid in the early morning, and the ground was soft. Ye Yunzhao's linen shoes, which had just been cleaned, were dirty again.
She didn't dare go deep into the mountains. She just wanted to find some eucalyptus trees on the hilltops. The bark of the trees was gray-brown, and the branches had long and thin whiskers. The eucalyptus trees could grow up to forty or fifty meters tall. If she could find three or five of them, the problem of wood would be solved.
Ye Yunzhao took a lot of detours. The mountain paths were very narrow and the branches of the bushes hit her face from time to time. In the broken backpack were the water spinach and small wild mushrooms she had picked up.
God helps those who work hard. When Ye Yunzhao was so tired that he was about to give up, he finally saw the eucalyptus tree.
She pulled out dozens of tattered red cloth strips from her bosom, tied one to the eucalyptus tree, and the rest she tied along the path down the mountain. Having resolved the major issue in her mind, Ye Yunzhao felt completely relaxed as she descended the mountain.
Because Xixiang is connected to the mountain, Ye Yunzhao came out of the mountain and simply turned into the village head's house.
In less than an incense stick's time, every household in Xixiang sent one person to gather outside the headman's house.
Ye Yunzhao was very pleased to see how quickly they gathered: this is the advantage of having a small number of people.
"Is the county magistrate going to give us plow carts?" a voice came from the crowd.
Yes, are you here to give us plow carts today? Everyone in Xixiang has seen how powerful the plow carts made by the county magistrate are, and since every family has a lot of land, they're all eager to use them soon. Those who own cattle are genuinely regretting it. If they had lent their oxen to the county magistrate yesterday, they would have been using the plow carts long ago!
Before Ye Yunzhao could say anything, the village head blew his beard and glared at the person who was talking, scolding him: "Stop messing around here! How can such a great car just appear like that?"
"The village head is absolutely right. A plow cart requires a lot of wood. Today, the county government needs dozens of people to go up the mountain and cut wood. But let me be clear: making plow carts is a benefit to the people, and there's no pay. Who's willing to do it?"
"I do!" As soon as Ye Yunzhao finished speaking, someone stood up.
The man looked like a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old, with a tall figure, but a little thin, and his cuffs and collar were covered with patches.
"Good! Loggers will have priority in using the new farm tools developed by the county in the past three years." Ye Yunzhao smiled and said to the village head, "Village head, write down his name. The number of spots is limited, first come, first served."
These words were like a red-hot iron thrown into water, stirring up a frenzy. Everyone had seen the plow cart the county magistrate had developed, but wouldn't other farm tools be even better?
"County Magistrate, can we eat even if we don't have wages?"
"Yeah, is there food?"
Felling trees is strenuous work, and now is the time for autumn plowing. Ye Yunzhao thinks that he cannot be too unscrupulous and neither pay nor provide food. Is this appropriate?
Inappropriate, extremely inappropriate.
Therefore, Ye Yunzhao smiled calmly: "I care!"
Seeing that they were eager to go, Ye Yunzhao added, "There are 135 households in the West Township, so 13 people will be needed. There are 277 households in the East Township, so 27 people will be needed. This is a rare opportunity. Anyone who wants to go should go and find the village head to sign up as soon as possible."
Soon, Ye Yunzhao returned to the county government office with the list written by the village head. A total of forty people from the East and West townships were sent. If they were quick, it would take at least two or three days to cut down the trees and saw the wood.
Forty young and strong laborers can eat a lot in two or three days!
Vegetables and grains were easy enough. I still had two copper coins, which I had intended to use to repair the kitchen, but that could be put off until the villagers' food supply was resolved.
But Ye Yunzhao couldn't afford meat for the time being. She could only pray inwardly: "It's good to have a mountain to lean on for shade, and good things will fall from the sky and fall on her head..."
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