The rooster stood on the haystack and crowed.
Under the thin mist, the Chen family began to get up.
He first followed Su Wenhao in boxing.
Later, the Chen family children began to pack their books and pens, preparing to go to school.
The new Mr. Zhou was very strict with his students, especially the teenagers.
The three women of the Chen family—Su Liniang, Su Shuangshuang, and the eldest daughter-in-law Cuihua—were holding a tree branch and haphazardly gesturing on the ground while looking at the words on the paper in their hands.
Mr. Zhou's days are very full.
I spend two hours in the morning teaching children to read, and one hour in the afternoon teaching adults to read.
They had a very fulfilling life.
For breakfast, the Chen family ate stir-fried green peppers with eggs, millet porridge, and white flour pancakes.
Chen Erzhu has been visiting Mr. Zhou's house quite often lately.
I brought a plate of stir-fried green peppers and eggs, and then went to Mr. Zhou's house.
Mr. Zhou chuckled: "Erzhu is here."
As they got to know each other, Mr. Zhou gradually became familiar with the Chen family.
Chen Erzhu smiled and said, "Sir, my father asked me to bring you breakfast."
Mr. Zhou's mouth watered as he smelled the fragrant eggs.
After being bombarded with delicious food by the Chen family multiple times, he has gradually given up.
I simply couldn't refuse.
Since it's already been brought here, wouldn't it be a waste of time to not eat it?
Yes, I will definitely be stricter with the Chen family children and other children, otherwise I would be letting down these exquisite foods.
The Chen family's dishes smell amazing.
Aside from the rather monotonous breakfast, lunch and even dinner are prepared in various ways.
Ordinary farmers usually eat only two meals a day; only the wealthier households in the village eat three meals a day.
Mr. Zhou remarked: This family truly overturned his previous impressions of farmers.
The pageboy also glanced at Chen Erzhu with a bright smile.
He noticed this boy in the classroom. He listened to the lessons very attentively. Although he had just started learning to read, his handwriting was very neat and beautiful, and he completed his schoolwork very well.
It's just a pity that he's a bit old.
Otherwise, he would probably have already become a student of the lowest level of the imperial examinations.
He knew his master had a good impression of the boy in front of him, and he rarely smiled as he greeted him.
...
County government office.
Su Yong was handling government affairs; he and his advisor were discussing the tax revenue generated by the locust plague.
He frowned and said, "The people of Hongye Village are outrageous. Compared to Qingxia Village, Hongye Village harvested several thousand kilograms less grain this year. And other villages basically follow the orders of the county government, but this Hongye Village! They do whatever they want, shirking their responsibilities and being lazy."
Master Li scoffed, "In my opinion, Your Excellency should simply replace the village head of Hongye Village. What use is a disobedient village head to the county government? Your Excellency is too lenient."
Su Yong nodded.
"Maybe this person has lost his mind. Let's give him another chance. Actually, there were locusts last year, but they didn't gather in large numbers. Maybe he was a little careless and didn't take it seriously."
As if suddenly remembering something, Master Li asked, "What's the latest news from Magistrate Lu's side?"
Su Yong grabbed the latest official gazette and read the news.
"Several hundred refugees have been spotted wandering near Yingzhou Prefecture and have been stopped outside the city..."
Su Yong chuckled.
"I reckon our County Magistrate Lu is currently in a state of impotent rage."
Master Li chuckled.
"My lord, the imperial court's reward should be coming soon. If it weren't for your advance memorial, our county would have certainly suffered a severe locust plague this year. Your memorial will surely attract the court's attention."
The entire Yingzhou Prefecture was also busy, requiring all counties to rush to harvest the wheat ahead of schedule.
This series of actions may have saved the imperial court tens of thousands of catties of grain..."
Su Yong's face flushed.
"That's all thanks to Chen Lizheng and that farmer. I just don't know when the imperial court will reward him."
Master Li gave Su Yong a deep look.
Our county magistrate is kind-hearted. Generally speaking, when officials hear about benefits, their first thought is their own interests. But he thinks about the merits of others first.
There are not many good officials like him anymore, who did not try to claim all the credit.
there.
County Magistrate Lu slammed his hand on the table.
"My classmate in the imperial court sent me news that the reward for Su Yong is about to be announced."
I've been suppressing him in this county for almost a year, practically crushing his spirit... and this guy suddenly had a stroke of incredible luck, managing to get to the Emperor's ears by preventing a locust plague in advance, and even receiving praise from His Majesty.”
The clerk beside him said nervously, "Perhaps it was one of the farmers under the magistrate's command who came to inform him in advance?"
"The farmers made such a great contribution that I heard the entire Yingzhou Prefecture notified all counties to rush to harvest the wheat."
Having seized tens of thousands of bushels of grain, that farmer will likely receive a tremendous reward and rise to great heights.
County Magistrate Lu coldly retorted, "He's just a farmer. What right does he have to receive His Majesty's reward? In my opinion, at most, he'll be given some silver and some verbal praise."
The advisor thought to himself.
Not necessarily.
With such great merit, would His Majesty really be stingy? Perhaps he'll bestow upon her some honorary but sinecure—the kind that sounds nice.
The clerk spoke nervously, carefully choosing his words, afraid that any one word might displease the county magistrate before him.
"I wonder if the county magistrate will try to steal the farmer's credit?"
County Magistrate Lu scoffed.
“If I were him, I would definitely erase that farmer from the memorial or downplay his contributions. Such great merit, if it were all attributed to me, what kind of political capital and qualifications would that be?”
"I just don't believe that Su Yong is really that selfless. Is there really such a stupid person in the world?"
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