Chapter 2554 Recognition
The two of them arrived outside the emperor's study together. They asked the eunuch to go in and report as if they were familiar with the place, and then they held hands and went to the side hall to wait.
At this time, Li Maoyue carefully read Bai Zhi's article.
Judging from the traces of brushstrokes, this article must have been written a long time ago.
It writes about the importance of encouraging agriculture and sericulture, as well as various measures for balanced development in the county, using Luojiang County in Mianzhou as a model.
Luojiang County is a lower-class county and is very poor, but even in this poor county there are still wealthy families.
Most of the poor people live in the mountains and are basically self-sufficient. Even if they have permanent farmland, the taxes are not heavy. However, because the mountain roads are difficult to travel, many people may never have been to the county town in their entire lives, let alone go to other counties.
Therefore, there is not much money at home because we don’t need it.
When seeing a doctor in the village or town, you can use food and cloth at home to pay off the debt, and you don't have to pay money.
Therefore, Bai Zhi believed that roads were very important. Only by letting them go out, even if it was only to the county town, when they had what they needed and needed money, then the things in their mountains could be transported out, because people outside also needed things in the mountains.
Although he didn't live in Qili Village for long, when Bai Dalang occasionally returned home, he would see his younger brother, a man of clay. In the spring, he followed Bai Shanzhouman up the mountain to look for mushrooms. In the summer, he followed the older children in the village to go fishing in the river. In the autumn, he followed the others into the mountains to collect bamboo rats. In the winter, he could even dig for the legendary sweet tree roots...
He knew that there were many things in the mountains that could be used as commodities, which could bring money to the mountain people and then be exchanged for what they needed.
Bai Zhi explained things in a simple and easy-to-understand way. Although the article was not short, Li Maoyue felt that he had not yet finished reading it and did not feel it was too long at all.
Li Maoyue thought to himself, he is indeed Bai Cheng's biological brother. Regardless of his ability to handle affairs, this article is written in a pragmatic and fascinating way.
Li Maoyue pointed at the table. In fact, the current situation in the eastern part of Tongbai County is somewhat similar to the predicament of Luojiang County described in the article.
Tongbai County is the source of the Huai River, with dense water networks in its jurisdiction. It is also in the Central Plains with fertile land. It should not be in such trouble, but the roads in the east have been in disrepair for many years and have been in a mess since before the war in the previous dynasty. After experiencing nearly 20 years of war in the previous dynasty, they voluntarily cut off the roads and lived an isolated life.
As the Minister of Personnel, Li Maoyue was also aware of the situation in Tongbai County. It seemed easy to resolve this dilemma by conscripting conscripts to build roads.
However, Tongbai County is densely covered with water networks, and floods occur frequently during the flood season. Therefore, most of the conscripts are assigned to river embankments and various water conservancy facilities every year. If they want to build roads, they will have to recruit more conscripts.
This is a taboo in politics. Even if building a road is a meritorious deed that will last a hundred years, people today will not be grateful for it, and even people in the future will always remember the bad reputation of this official.
Not everyone can see it, and even if people in the future enjoy this convenience, many people will not realize it and will not think that this is his achievement.
Moreover, are people today really willing to suffer so much for the sake of future generations?
This is an unsolvable problem.
Several county magistrates in Tongbai County were mainly cautious and prudent. Although they did not achieve much, their reputation was not bad, and the population and tax revenue increased.
But now the world is at peace. Except for places that have suffered major disasters, which county will not see an increase in population?
Minister Li was lost in thought, and in the midst of a seesaw struggle, a eunuch came over and said, "Minister Li, Lord Zhou, His Majesty invites you two in."
Minister Li came back to his senses and nodded. He stood up and looked at Zhou Man, asking, "Did Lord Zhou recommend Bai Zhi because of the affair between the Prince Consort and Bai Hanlin?"
Manbao was stunned for a moment and then shook his head, "No, he is also your student, the first one, so he is considered my senior brother."
"And am I the kind of person who recommends people just because of personal feelings?" Man Bao said, "I have studied it very carefully. My senior brother has both good character and talent. I think he can do it."
Li Maoyue: ...
This was the first time he heard that Bai Zhi was also a student of Mr. Zhuang, but if he was Zhuang Xun's disciple...
Li Maoyue, who was still hesitant, became more determined and went in with Zhou Man to see the emperor.
It happened that Duke Zhao and other military officers came out from inside. Those who entered let those who left. Man Bao and Minister Li stepped aside to let them out.
Duke Zhao looked at Zhou Man and then at Li Maoyue. He didn't understand how these two people got together, but he didn't ask too much. He nodded to them and left with his colleagues.
Only Wei Zhi and Old Lord Tang were left in the room. These two were the emperor's advisors, one handling government affairs and the other keeping an eye on all the civil and military officials, admonishing or impeaching them on the spot if they saw anything out of line.
It is also because of this that Lord Tang has successfully replaced Wei Zhi and become one of the most hated people in the court in the past two years.
The emperor had just finished dealing with military affairs, and for some known reasons, the military officers headed by Duke Zhao spoke like thunder when they were excited, which really gave him a headache.
Therefore, when he saw Li Maoyue and Zhou Man coming in together, he chose to talk to Zhou Man first, wanting to relax himself.
Manbao's memorial was very simple. Oh, it was not written by her, but by Xiao Yuanzheng. She just reported on his behalf.
To summarize the cowpox vaccination work so far, the Imperial Guards have all been vaccinated. After all, there is no need to recuperate first, nor is there any need to test again after the pox has broken out. Therefore, the Imperial Guards who break out the pox quickly and have small reactions can leave the imperial farm in two to three days, and one person will be immediately replaced when one goes out.
The Imperial Guards, whose pox outbreaks were slow and whose reactions were greater, could complete the vaccination within five days, so the process was very fast.
Later, when Zheng Gu and others had mastered the skills, they no longer needed Zhou Man and Doctor Lu to follow them all the time. They only needed to check on them occasionally.
Vaccination is extremely fast.
The emperor took a look and was very satisfied. He asked, "Since they have learned how to inoculate against cowpox, can they also carry it out in the local areas?"
"As long as we take good protection and isolation measures, we will be fine."
The emperor nodded in satisfaction and said to her, "Since that's the case, your Imperial Medical Bureau should prepare some regulations and have the local medical bureaus draft a set of rules. We can then start implementing this measure locally at a later date."
Manbao bowed and replied, "Yes."
She finished her work, but did not leave. Instead, she stepped aside and sat in her seat.
Li Maoyue then handed in his memorial, explaining in detail all the vacancies to be arranged today, and also mentioned the candidates he recommended and stated his reasons.
Li Maoyue listed a total of six candidates for the vacant position in Tongbai County, four of whom were new applicants, and the other two were people he thought could be transferred from other places. Before this, he believed that these two people were more suitable for the position in Tongbai County than these new applicants.
But when the emperor asked for his opinion, he paused and said, "I think the new Jinshi Bai Zhi is good."
Bai Zhi knew it, he was Bai Cheng’s biological elder brother.
The emperor became curious and asked, "Why is he suitable?"
"I have read one of his articles..." Li Maoyue spoke frankly, summarizing Bai Zhi's article, and then directly repeated a sentence from the original article, which was the key sentence.
Manbao raised his head slightly and looked at Li Maoyue, sighing in his heart, he was even better than her. She couldn't remember everything after just one look. She had to read it at least twice. For the more difficult parts, she would probably need to read them five or six times before she could remember them.
Sure enough, those who can stand here are all super powerful people, Manbao whispered in his heart, including me.
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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